Fútbol amistoso: Celtic vs Middlesbrough
Martes, 22 de Julio del 2008
16:00 Chile, 17:00 Argentina, 22:00 Madrid, España, CET
Link

And fans can complete their kit purchase by having any name and number printed on the back of the shirt for only £15. This service is available online as well as via the club stores.

The strip is a blast from the past. Unveiled today, the new shirt sees a return of the blue and black vertical stripes that were so popular with the club's supporters in the early 1970s.

Featuring black shorts and socks with a blue trim, the stunning new kit made its Boro debut when Gareth Southgate's team take on York City at Kit Kat Crescent on Friday night.

2008-09 season card holders will have an exclusive opportunity to buy the new away strip from 9am on Thursday, July 24.

The kit will be available to season card holders only from both MFC Retail stores between 9am and 9pm on July 24 and from 9.30am to 5pm on Friday July 25.

As 2008-09 season cards have not yet been sent out, staff will have details of all 2008-09 season card holders on hand for reference.

The change strip will be available on general sale from both stores between 9.30am and 5pm on Saturday July 26 and between 10am and 3pm on Sunday July 27.

The full strip can also be ordered from July 24 via Boro's online store on the club's official website here at mfc.co.uk.

All sizes of shirts, shorts and socks are available of the new away strip and the new-look home kit that has proved a huge success says its launch in May when Boro hammered Manchester City 8-1.

Prices remain the same for a seventh successive year, with adult shirts priced £40 apart from small sizes, which are just £35. Children's sizes are £26 and £30.

Shorts are £17 and £19 for adults, £13.50 and £15 for children. Socks are priced £6, £7, £8 and £9. Mini-kits for infants aged 12-18 months, 18-24 months and 2-3 years are also available, priced £26.50.

*What do you think of the new kit? Let us know at editor@riverside.mfc.co.uk.

Traduzindo

Novo olhar sobre tira venda esta semana

BORO de novo olhar-á ir longe tira a venda a temporada cartão titulares apenas na quinta-feira e sexta-feira.

E os fãs podem completar a sua compra por kit ter qualquer nome e número impresso na parte de trás da camisa por apenas 15 libras esterlinas. Este serviço está disponível on-line, bem como através do clube lojas.

A alma é um sopro do passado. Inaugurada hoje, o novo camisa vê um retorno do azul e preto listras verticais que eram tão popular entre os adeptos do clube, no início dos anos 1970.

Apresentando shorts e meias pretas com um caimento azul, o atordoamento novo kit Boro fez sua estréia Gareth Southgate, quando a equipe de ter em York em Kit Kat Crescent na sexta-feira à noite.

2008-09 temporada cartão titulares terão uma oportunidade de compra exclusiva da nova faixa de distância das 9h de quinta-feira, 24 de julho.

O kit estará disponível para temporada cartão de ambos os titulares apenas MFC Lojas entre 9h e 9pm em 24 de Julho e de 9h30 às 5pm na sexta-feira, 25 de julho.

Como temporada 2008-09 cartões ainda não foram enviadas para fora, o pessoal vai ter todos os detalhes da temporada 2008-09 cartão titulares à mão para referência.

A mudança fita estarão disponíveis em geral venda de ambas as lojas 5pm entre 9h30 e no sábado, dia 26 de julho e entre as 10h e no domingo 3pm julho 27.

A faixa completa também pode ser encomendado a partir de 24 de julho através da loja online Boro sobre o site oficial do clube aqui em mfc.co.uk.

Todos os tamanhos de camisetas, shorts e meias estão disponíveis da nova faixa de distância e de olhar o novo kit casa que se revelou um enorme sucesso diz que o seu lançamento, em maio, quando Boro marteladas Manchester City 8.1.

Os preços continuam a ser os mesmos para um sétimo ano consecutivo, com camisas adultos priced £ 40 para além de pequenas dimensões, que são apenas £ 35. Children's tamanhos são £ 26 e £ 30.

Metragens são £ 17 e £ 19 para adultos, £ 13,50 e £ 15 para crianças. Meias são preços £ 6, £ 7, 8 e £ £ 9. Mini-kits para crianças com idades compreendidas entre os 12-18 meses, 18-24 meses e 2-3 anos estão também disponíveis, preços £ 26,50.

O que você acha do novo kit?

Featuring black shorts and socks with a blue trim, the stunning new kit will make its Boro debut when Gareth Southgate's team take on York City at Kit Kat Crescent on Friday night (July 18, 7.30pm).

The Poland international had offers from PAOK in Greece last week but has rejected them, but said he is ready to quit FC Porto. His agent also has offers from England and Germany for him.

Tricou polo de antrenament Errea al echipei engleze Middlesbrough. Produs oficial al clubului, polo-ul are mărimea M, e din bumbac 100% şi e în stare bună.

Calitate: 2 stele

Preţ: 15 lei, plus 7 lei transportul oriunde în ţară.

Boring, slow, clunky and a bit of an afterthought, most of the club websites served as nothing more than a place to buy tickets without having to queue outside the ground or to read an “exclusive” interview with the latest overpriced idiot, trotting out the tightly scripted lines from the club’s PR people.

This has bothered me for ages. Football clubs have a ready made social network, and the biggest and best clubs should have been at the forefront of using the web to leverage this, bringing together fans from across the world with a combined interest. And, unlike a lot of clubs, this shouldn’t just extend to putting the same news on your site in Korean and Simplified Chinese. An international web strategy that is not.

I’ve been delighted therefore to see Chelsea really taking their club website to a new level. This started with the launch of BlueTube (crap name, great idea) in December 2007. The Chelsea website describes BlueTube as an opportunity to “show us how you celebrate being a blue” and as you can guess, is a site whereby you can upload video of your own, as well as watching videos posted by the club itself.

I’m not a Chelsea fan, so I don’t know how far they’ve taken this concept but I’d love to see clubs using online at the heart of their communication with the fans, second only to the in-stadium experience. How about asking fans to recreate famous goals in their back gardens (Phoenix from the Flames anyone?) and then having a competition to find the best – the winner getting to recreate it at half time during the game, the video being played on the big screen.

How about asking fans to post pictures or videos of themselves in club kit at landmarks around the world, and showing them on a loop while the teams warm up on a Saturday.

This may already be happening of course. And if it is, I’m sure Chelsea will be the ones to do it. Even this week they have announced that by registering on the site you can personalise your own homepage, in much the same way as the BBC have done. It’s simple. But it’s brilliant. Each and every fan has a favourite player, or a part of the club that they are more interested in than others. Give them a reason to register and you can engage with them on a wholly different level.

Compare that with the experience you get on the website of my club, Middlesbrough. It’s the same news that is available elsewhere. I’ll have read 99% of it by the time I grudgingly click on www.mfc.co.uk. Going to the Boro homepage is like jumping in a time machine and going back to the Internet in 1997. Only it doesn’t bring Juninho back into our midfield, unfortunately.

Multimedia content is pitched as if it has a cutting edge wow factor, and not simply expected by anyone and everyone these days. And they still make you pay for it. No thanks guys. And that is not even mentioning the online club shop, which is a little like a GCSE computer science project. And not even a very good one.

Things may improve at the Boro shortly. The viral video done with David Wheater was a good indication that there is some good, creative stuff going on. It should have come after the website was sorted out in my opinion, but I guess there may have been pressure to drum up short term half season ticket sales that led to this tactic. Understandable I suppose, if a little short term.

It’s not just Chelsea that are miles ahead of course. Man Utd are also good at what they do, and I’ve not looked at all of the sites one by one in detail. Chelsea have just combined some really neat stuff with some good publicity of it.

Still, didn’t help them when John Terry stepped up to that penalty in the Champions League final.

Barcelona are keen to boost morale by bringing in a sunny summer striker.  But, when that fails, they may bring in yet another sulky, has been one from England in the person of Andriy Shevchenko.

Arsene Wenger will hope he found another Flamini in Werder Bremen midfielder Amaury Bischoff.  So expect the young Frenchman to mope around, grow a ratty beard, fill in at a number of positions and become really awesome just as his contract runs out.  The boss may also keenly examine Obafemi' Martins' £13m release clause, when Adebayor fucks off to whatever big club it is this week, or maybe Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for £21m if he's in a spending mood.

All that time in Austria has got "Rock Me Amadeus" stuck in the heads of Real Madrid and Manchester United, who both want to import Columbian forward Radamel Falcao from Argentine club Boca Juniors.

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate dug up Didier Digard, who is a bit too nubile for PSG's tastes, but he may have to put him back after the PSG board bungled up the transfer deal.  The French giants wanted the 5m euros up front, rather than in two separate payments.  No word on whether that was in non-consecutive unmarked twenties.

Whos who...

Richard Talbot the chair
Richard is the AHRC Research Fellow in the Creative and Performing Arts at Newcastle University, UK www.richardtalbot.org/

20 mins presentations by invited artist...
Sian Bowen
Kate Davis
David Musgrave

The audience... that included attendees from North East Art Teacher Network Elizabeth Kane and George Peak!

Introduction

An interesting introduction by the chair Richard Talbot introduced the notion of the relationship between 2D and 3D art forms within drawing... he talked of his own personal drawing practice as building or making.
Speculated on the intentions that artists and people in general have for drawing... emphasised drawing as a method of reassessing our knowledge of the world.

Richard Talbot pointed to recent exhibitions of drawing at Kettles Yard particularly a show curated by Barry Phipps who displayed drawings of artists, surgeons, engineers, astronomers and architects together linked by a thread of speculation and open ended thinking.

"Lines of Enquiry: Thinking Through Drawing" at Kettle's Yard Gallery, Cambridge (2006).
http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/exhibitions/archive/linesofenq.html

Sain Bowen

Looked at the work she had made from a number of residencies (Villa Roma, Italy [2000]; Metal Residency; Kyoto Art Centre Japan [2006] and the V&A [2006-2008])

Sian Bowen work was interested in/investigated a number of interconnected issues
- Tensions
i) Between Surface or figure and ground… creating ephemeral drawings by scavenging support material e.g. old wallpaper, and using reflective pigments on reflective grounds etc.
ii) Between damage and the creative impulse… drawing by burning in a manner that must be ‘controlled’ to a certain degree.

- Directing light
Light activating a drawing (how a drawing changes in different lights, how this is controlled in different settings) shadows as part of a drawing.

- Intimacy and scale
Using old love letter obliterating the written meaning but holding onto the sense of intimacy, the mark a fingerprint leaves

METAL www.metalculture.com/
Kyoto Arts Centre, Japan www.kac.or.jp/english/
Sian Bowen at the V&A www.vam.ac.uk/collections/paintings/sian_bowen/

The final squad of 18 will be announced nearer to the tournament's start date of July 14th. You can view the full provisional squad here.

Staying up there until Sunday, which is Fathers day.. tried to buy him a bottle of <a href="http://www.harpers.co.uk/products/5770/Famous-Grouse-launches-limited.ehtml">Famous Dad</a> but sadly the supermarket where I went had either sold out or just not put any out, just the normal Famous Grouse.

so yeah.. a new post when I get back

An injury time penalty by Ivica Vastic has given co-hosts Austria a chance to go one better than their cohorts Switzerland at Euro 2008, as Josef Hickersberger’s side ensured a significant third and final group game against Germany on Monday.

Poland had taken the lead, admittedly against the run of play, from a Roger Guerreiro tap-in, when the Brazilian born player swept home from a suspiciously offside position.

Prior, Austria had squandered a trio of gilt-edged opportunities, Martin Harnik and Christian Leitgeib failed to beat Artur Boruc with the goal at their mercy. Firstly, Hanrik’s one-on-one effort was blocked wide by the Celtic man, and saw another goal bound effort stopped by the foot of the impressive Polish custodian.

Leitgeib also failed in his duel, after being released by Andreas Ivanschitz.

A less chaotic second half saw a reassured Poland exert themselves on proceedings with Guerreiro and Jacek Kyrznowek in dominating form. They could not add to their lead however, with Jurgen Macho making a fine double save from Jacek Bak and Mariusz Lewandowski in the 65^th minute.

Poland were made to rue their missed chances in stoppage time, as Howard Webb adjudged Sebastian Prodl to have been hauled to the ground by Lewandowski with 92 minutes played.

Austrian fans were left clinging to hope for their final group game as their domestic Player of the Year Ivica Vastic restored parity with the game’s last meaningful kick.

Buoyed by their opening game performance against Croatia, co-hosts Austria expressed their confidence in proving that they were a better team than they thought by shedding their relatively conservative 3-5-2 formation.

Josef Hickersberger replaced wing-backs Joachim Standfest and Ronald Gercaliu, as well as midfield enforcer Jurgen Saumel, with full-back Gyrgory Garics, and genuine wingers Christian Leitgeib and Umit Korkmaz.

Hickersberger’s bravado was rewarded from the start with a flurry of threatening attacking intent.

Korkmaz, the jet-heeled Rapid Wien left-sider, gave Marcin Wasilewski a horrendous opening half hour, in which Austria should have taken a three goal lead. Martin Harnik, impressive in his endeavour against Croatia, passed up two opportunities, denied by the excellence of Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc.

Ten minutes had elapsed when Mariusz Jop failed to deal with Wasilewski’s pass and allowed Hanrik a clear run at goal. The Werder Bremen striker found only Boruc’s considerable anatomy with his pallid shot and Poland escaped.

The same player struck at goal two minutes later after Korkmaz left Wasilewski dizzy on the left wing. His pull back to the penalty spot was met by Hanrik who saw his chance blocked away by the impassable Boruc.

The suspect Polish offside trap, exposed so overtly by a pacy German side on Sunday, was once again not functioning satisfactorily as Christian Leitgeib raced onto a Andreas Ivanschitz pass. The Salzburg winger saw the goals shrink as he bore down on Boruc, and fatally squandered another key opportunity.

The Poles gradually settled into the game thereafter, with Roger Guerreiro and Jacek Krzynowek wresting control of the midfield. On the half hour, Austria were punished for their profligacy as Poland delivered a sucker punch.

Ebi Smolarek’s exquisite cross-field pass found Marek Saganowski on-rushing towards the penalty box. He beat Middlesbrough’s Emanuel Pogatetz all too easily to find the Brazilian born Guerreiro sweeping the ball home to steal the ascendancy, and score his first international goal from a dubious position.

A shell-shocked Austria failed to shake the cobwebs before the break as Poland entered the interval with an unlikely lead. Leitgeib fired a free-kick over in injury time as the co-hosts sought a reprieve.

After seeing Mariusz Jop endured a torrid 45 minutes, Leo Beenhakker replaced the central defender at the break with Pawel Golanski, and reshuffled his back four. The Poles enjoyed a better share of possession as the side adopted a less jittery look. Golanski, however, was at the centre of attention when he looked to have brought Andreas Ivanschitz down in the area; Howard Webb waved away the Austrian protests.

Roger Guerreiro orchestrated the first Polish chance of the half; his chipped through ball found Austria on the turn, and Ebi Smolarek had his shot blocked out by Jurgen Macho.

The Austrians found the second half a different prospect than the first, as they saw themselves chasing, rather than controlling possession.

The Poles continued to create the better chances; Just past the hour, Guerreiro found Jacek Bak with a pass across the box. The central defender controlled on the chest and fired a close range volley which was repelled by Macho. The ex-Chelsea keeper was also equal to Mariusz Lewandowski’s follow-up effort.

Jacek Kryznowek, Steffen Effenberg-esque in stature, saw his 35-yard free-kick tipped over by Macho soon after. For all their first-half pressure, by the close of the second, Austria were evidently blunted. Artur Boruc scarcely had a significant touch, as his assured back-line kept the hosts at bay. Guerreiro lit up a relatively muted closing stage with an array of trickery and skill as Poland sought to see-out a testing encounter.

However, there was to be a sting in the tail for the Polish as Austria were handed a championship lifeline deep into stoppage time. After ignoring a Howard Webb warning about jostling in the penalty area, Mariusz Lewandowski hauled Sebastian Prodl to the ground and the Englishman pointed to the spot. Ivica Vastic, 38 years of age, sent the home supporters into raptures and set up a crucial fixture with Germany on Monday.

They were undone by Luka Modric's early winning penalty for Croatia – awarded for a foul by Rene Aufhauser and the fastest-ever spot-kick in the tournament – but went on to give Slaven Bilic’s side a real run for their money, and finished the game looking by some distance the more likely to score the next goal against a tired looking Croatian team.

Nevertheless, the 1-0 defeat, following Switzerland’s by a similar score 24 hours earlier, meant Austria had become the sixth host nation to lose their opening match of a European Championship tournament. Now they must strive to avoid joining Belgium (2000) as the only host country not to survive the group stage since the introduction of the knock-out rounds in 1984. Since then, seven teams have managed to survive the group stage after losing their opening match. Portugal and England were the last teams to achieve this, at Euro 2004.

Austria’s defeat by Croatia also means they have still not won a game at a major tournament since 1990, although they can take much encouragement from a spirited display that flew in the face of their recent form - a mere two wins in 16 matches, which had left morale at a low ebb going into the tournament.

Referring to the penalty, coach Josef Hickersberger acknowledged: "This is the worst possible start you can have in an opening game of a tournament. After four minutes, we conceded a goal and we took some time to recover. For the first 30 minutes, the team wasn't playing well, we were nervous. But after that, we followed our tactical plan and we did it well. We even dominated the second half."

He added however, "The team is very depressed," so it is to be hoped he has managed to lift them  in the meantime, because they showed, especially in the second half, that they are better than they seem to think they are. After losing his opening game in the qualifying

As for Poland, they will be hoping to shrug off their opening defeat against the powerful and impressive Germans, in the same way that they bounced back after losing their first game in the qualifying tournament, eventually finishing on top of their group ahead of Portugal

That successful qualifying campaign meant Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker had done what no previous tactician had managed or Poland – taken them into the finals of a European Championship.  However, the experienced Beenhakker is still looking to end a personal winless streak at major tournaments. He has not celebrated victory now in eight matches embracing four matches with Holland (1990 World Cup), three with Trinidad and Tobago (2006 Fifa World Cup) and one with Poland.

Beenhakker felt the Poles had matched the Germans for much of that first game, despite the 0-2 scoreline.  “There was a moment in the second half where we were totally dominating the game," he reflected, immediately afterwards. “But it was over after the second goal (by Polish-born Lukas Podolski). We played for 70 minutes at the same level as them. The last 20 minutes we want to forget."
 
He insisted though that the result would not dent confidence within the squad. “Everybody was upset about the result and not happy, but we are still in the tournament and that's what it's all about," he said. “We have three or four days to recover physically and mentally and it's part of being a professional. Everybody is a bit upset now. On Monday we will see how the team is, then we will start up again. Knowing these guys are mentally strong and against Austria, they will be ready."

With both Austria and Poland making their debuts at the European Championships, the two countries remain the only participating teams never to have scored a goal in the competition.

Joachim Standfest went closest to changing that for Austria when he headed their best chance of the first half wide, before Umit Korkmaz had a fierce shot well saved after the break and Roman Kienast headed narrowly wide as they searched for an equaliser that would not have flattered them against Croatia.  However, the Austrians ultimately paid the price for lacking genuine quality in the final third.

In Klagenfurt meanwhile, Poland keeper Artur Boruc had to save brilliantly from Germany captain Michael Ballack but had little chance against Podolski for the two decisive goals. The Poles might have opened their Euro account when Wojciech Lobodzinsi played in Maciej Zurawski, but the  ex-Celtic star pulled his shot wide from a decent position. Brazilian-born substitute Roger Guerreiro, replacing Zurawski forced Per Mertesacker into a timely intervention to clear the danger, and later produced an excellent cross for Marek Saganowski, whose near-post effort was blocked by keeper Jens Lehmann.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, on the judging panel for man-of-the-match (Podolski), was impressed by what he saw of Poland, saying they performed well against illustrious opponents, and attributing their defeat in part to the solidity of Germany’s defence.

Hodgson said: "Germany are a hard team to beat because they have a lot of experience, pace and strength in their team, I thought the Polish had an equal share of possession but came up against a strong defence.  At 1-0 down they were having to chase the game so they were always in danger of being caught on the counter-attack as they were obliged to throw people forward. But they can feel a little hard done by."

Looking ahead to Thursday, Austria coach Hickersberger insists his team will be going all out to win.
"It will be an all-or-nothing match," he said. "The loser will be out. Anything less than a win will leave us virtually without any chance of getting through the group stage."

His captain, Andreas Ivanschitz, is targeting the same level of performance from Austria as they produced against Croatia, but with a better result.

"I think this match is going to be even harder than Sunday's. I expect Poland to be more battlesome, they have great physical strengths,” he said. “They surely have some weaknesses, too. We analyzed them, but I won't speak about it. I know they are plagued by several injuries. Of course, their line-up interests me, but I'm more interested in our own.

"We are at our best when we play offensively. But we have to take care of the right balance. We must avoid at any cost that Poland takes the lead. No team that dropped behind has won so far at the tournament."

Meanwhile, Poland’s striker Euzebiusz (‘Ebi’) Smolarek is equally adamant that his side must triumph in both their remaining group matches if they are to keep their adventure alive.

"We simply have to go out now and win our last two games," he said in the immediate aftermath of the Germany defeat. "We have to play Austria next and we must win that one if we are to have any chance and then we also have to beat Croatia and that won't be easy.

"The Germany game is gone now and we have to put it behind us. We will think about the game, we have a two-hour drive home so we have time to think and talk. We will wake up on Monday morning and talk again, but then we have to forget about this game and move on."

Austria and Poland have met on seven previous occasions, Austria winning three times and Poland four, with no draws so far.  The Poles have won both competitive matches, 3-2 and 1-3 in the qualifying tournament for the 2006 World Cup – and in fact they’ve scored at least three goals in each of their last four games against the Austrians.

TEAM NEWS

Austria

Hickersberger is hopeful striker Roland Linz will have recovered from the ankle injury he suffered against Croatia, but Roman Kienast will come in should Linz not be deemed fit enough. Linz trained on Tuesday despite being told to rest by the team doctor, and Hickersberger said: "I was surprised that he did take part but he wanted to fight for his place in the starting team."

Kienast, who came off the bench to play for 17 minutes against the Croats, is looking to start. “I hope I will play from the beginning but that is up to the coach," he said. "I am happy Roland was back in training. There is no harsh competition between the two of us. I have a lot of self-belief and I try to convince the coach he should pick me because of my performances."

Meanwhile, captain Andreas Ivanschitz should play despite torn ligaments in his right knee, but Umit Korkmaz is also in contention for a role in midfield.

Martin Hiden will win his 50th cap for Austria if he plays, while at 38, Ivica Vastic – who became the fourth oldest player in the history of the European Championship on Sunday – will become the oldest goalscorer ever at the tournament if he finds the back of the net.

Sebastian Prodl, Jurgen Saeumel and Emanuel Pogatetz will be suspended if they receive another caution.

Poland

Roger Guerreiro is expected to take the place of injured Poland captain Maciej Zurawski (thigh), while Jakub Wawrzyniak could come in for Pawel Golanski at left-back.

While Beenhakker would not confirm whether Roger would definitely start, the South American  forward clearly excites his coach, who enthused: "He is great. He's amazing, he's fantastic. He sees solutions and makes choices on the field that are, well, it's Brazilian. I cannot explain it in any other way."

Mariusz Lewandowski and Ebi Smolarek will be suspended if they collect another yellow card, while defender Jacek Bak, who plays his club football at Austria Vienna, will be up against team-mates Joachim Standfest and Ronald Gercaliu.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Austria - Emanuel Pogatetz: The Middlesbrough defender was lucky to stay on the pitch against Croatia after his man-handling of Ivica Olic should have brought a second yellow. He will need to more controlled against Poland, particularly as the 25-year-old is one of the relatively few Austrian players with extensive experience in playing in one of Europe's major leagues. He was banned in 2006 for  criticising Hickersberger and Ivanschitz, but is now back and a key member of the side.

Poland - Ebi Smolarek: The 27-year-old Racing Santander forward is the son of Wlodzimierz, who  played in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals for the Poles. Ebi hit nine goals during Poland’s qualifying campaign to become, like his father before him, something of a national hero. Although he has not lived up to expectations in the Spanish League, it will be to Smolarek that the country looks to break their scoring duck in European Championships as they seek their first win.

PREDICTION
 
After being so impressive during qualifying and then coming up against one of the formidable tournament favourites in Germany, Poland have no reason to start doubting their capabilities. But  co-hosts Austria proved far more resilient in losing narrowly to Croatia than their woeful pre-tournament had led most to expect. They could prove troublesome for both Poland and Germany. But although they may avoid becoming the tournament’s whipping boys, still expect a Polish win in a close-fought affair.

Austria 1-2 Poland

'Well, I mean, the gaffer would be giving his team talk just 5 minutes before the game and Woody [Woodgate] would be sitting there pushing with all his might to make sure he'd shit himself in front of us all', a stunned ensemble of journalists were told by current Boro defender David Wheater. Woodgate, now at Tottenham Hotspur, apparantly developed the ritual after accidentally papping himself in the changing room before his Boro debut.

George Boateng described how the Boro players had jokingly reminded Woodgate of his Real Madrid debut - where he scored an own goal before being sent off - in the lead up to Woodgate's Boro debut against Arsenal. Boateng continued, 'the pressure was too much for him. I remember Gareth [Southgate] was giving us some final words of wisdom before the game and I saw Jono's face turning green and we all knew what was coming...'

'There was shit everywhere' Stewart Downing chipped in, 'Woody had to change his kit sharpish, and we didn't know whether to laugh or cry, I mean it was hilarious but that smell almost made me phyiscally, actually, literally, properly sick'

Woodgate went on to lead Boro to an unlikely point away from home against the Gunners, and quickly attributed the success to his outburst of pre-match self-defecation.

'Next match he was just sitting there with a massive grin on his face, and I had the misfortune of being next to him. Just as I turned to ask him what he was chuckling about I saw a smear of sticky brown bum butter sliding down his leg', Downing continued, 'he's just a filthy bastard'.

Euro 2008 finally got underway on Saturday afternoon after weeks of anticipation across Europe. Not that you would have known in Britain, as the country's media have chosen to somewhat ignore the showpiece event until the week of its kick off after none of the home nations managed to make it to the Alps. And this lack of interest even threatened, albeit briefly, to spill on to me, as I was unsure about including it on my blog.

But, with a feast of football to look forward to over the next month, I had to include it. Switzerland kicked off proceedings with the Czech Republic, who in my opinion are definitely one of the dark horses to look out for in the championships. The Czechs impressed me in their 3-1 defeat of Scotland prior to the tournament, though George Burley's team were very much understrength.

The Swiss themselves have a decent pedigree in recent years, so a close content was anticipated. And it was, with the Czechs scraping a one goal victory thanks to Vaclav Sverkos. The Swiss, who will be without captain Alexander Frei for the rest of the tournament due to a knee injury sustained in the game, had a dramatic late penalty appeal for handball turned down, as well as hitting the bar through Johan Vonlathen in a second half dominated by the co-hosts.

So it was a nervy start for Karl Bruckner's Czechs, but it was not so for another fancied team, Portugal, as they confirmed their status as Group A favourites with a comfortable victory over Turkey in Geneva. Phil Scolari's team played with a zest and a flair throughout that the Turks couldn't match, with Cristiano Ronaldo in menacing mood, hitting the post with a first half free-kick. Striker Nuno Gomes also hit the woodwork before he played a one two with centre back Pepe, who slid home the opener on 61 minutes.

The Portugese were impressive to watch and Gomes hit the bar with a header before Sporting Lisbon captain Joao Moutinho set up Raul Meireles to seal the win in stoppage time. A convincing and well deserved win, and you feel it will be hard for either Switzerland or Turkey to qualify for the quarter finals at the expense of the Group A pacesetters.

The opening matches of Group B took place yesterday and it was Austria's turn to light up their own tournament. They were up against the much fancied Croatia, and this author has them down as real dark horses to go all the way. Having witnessed at first hand Slaven Billic's side at Hampden in March, I believe they are a good side with excellent individuals, technical ability and a great team ethic. The Austrians are ranked 92nd in the FIFA World Rankings, as opposed to Croatia in 15th. On paper, it was a total mismatch in favour of Croatia.

But this didn't matter little, as Austria put up a very creditable performance in the Ernst Happel Stadion, which will host the final. However, Luka Modric's 4th minute penalty after Rene Aufhauser felled Ivica Ollic was enough to give Croatia a win they barely deserved, as the hosts threw everything at them in the second period. Umit Korkmaz saw a shot well saved while Roman Kienast headed narrowly wide as Austria narrowly missed out on a draw they at the least deserved.

A win then for Croatia, but much for Billic to mull over ahead of their next game, against Germany. Comparing the performances of Croatia and the Germans, Billic's team will have to up their game significantly if they are to defeat the 3 time world champions as they impressively dismissed Poland in Klagenfurt.

This was an eagerly anticipated game, given the history between the two countries and the rather heated build up in the Polish and, to a lesser extent, German media. I expected a fierce contest but what we got was a competitive game played in the right spirit, with some good football. While the Poles certainly played well in spells, particularly at the start of the second half, they lacked penetration to hurt the German rearguard, even though they did look shaky at times.

And Germany punished them and deserved the win, handed to them by a Polish born striker. Lukas Podolski, who moved from Poland to Germany when he was 2 years old and subsequently went on to represent Deutschland, fired them on the path to victory on 20 minutes, aided by some horrific Poland defending. They were static as Miroslav Klose broke free and squared for Podolski to tap home.

Germany's attacking play was a joy to watch, with Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack in impressive form in midfield, initiating their side's attacking play. While their opponents had them on the back foot in the second half, Chelsea star Ballack forced a brilliant save from Celtic keeper Artur Boruc after a fierce drive before Podolski wrapped up the win with 18 minutes to go.

There was good fortune about it, as Klose completely miscued what appeared to be a shot from a Bastian Schweinsteiger pass, which fell to Podolski who smashed home a brilliant volley past the helpless Boruc. This was a confident, assured and at times classy German display, and they showed why they are my tip for the tournament.

Poland however simply must win against Austria on Sunday to have a chance of going through, and the same has to be said for the Austrians. Germany take on Croatia next and I feel that will be a lot closer than tonight's game for Germany, and I expect a much a much improved Croatian display. However, I expect both to progress from Group B.

So there we go then, impressive early starts for Germany and Portugal. Croatia and the Czech Republic look nervy early on. Later today I'll focus on Group C, or the 'group of death'. France take on Romania at 5pm, before Holland and Italy play at 7.45 in what is a mouthwatering clash. Its a game where the beers are being well chilled in preparation.

Until then, Auf Wiedersehen........

It is 10 years since Austria last qualified for a major tournament - the 1998 World Cup - and their participation in Euro 2008 was secured as co-hosts rather than through a qualifying group. In fact this will be Austria's first-ever appearance in a European Championship, as they failed to qualify on every one of their previous attempts. Their underdog status is underlined by the fact that they are by some distance the lowest-ranked team involved in Euro 2008, having slipped out of the top 100 in Fifa's official rankings following a poor run of just one win in 14 matches up to the start of this year.

On the other hand Croatia, who were quarter-finalists at Euro 96 and finished third at the 1998 World Cup in France, looked a fluid and potent attacking force during their qualifying campaign, the highlight of which was beating England convincingly home and away. However, the Croats suffered a body blow in February, when star striker Eduardo da Silva had his leg shattered playing for Arsenal at Birmingham. The Brazilian-born forward had contributed 10 goals in 12 qualifiers, and his absence is bound to be felt by Slaven Bilic's side. He had been the attacking focal point of an adventurous 4-1-3-2 system deployed by Bilic, a departure from the more physical approach adopted in the three preceding tournaments (World Cup and Euros) when Croatia, having qualified, got no further than the group stages.

Even Austria's coach, Josef Hickersberger, only feels his team have a 40 per cent chance of beating Croatia. But although they have lost all three of their previous matches against the Croats, Hickersberger insists his side should not be written off prematurely, and says home advantage underpins his 40 percent prediction.

"Croatia are a world-class team," he said, "so my prediction is very optimistic. But if we have a good day and a little bit of luck, we can beat Croatia."

Remarkably for a national team about to embark on the biggest event their history, Hickersberger has had to address poor discipline within his squad this week. He said some of the Austrian players lacked concentration in training, while one arrived late for a team meeting.

"The team was not as focused anymore as it was before, the attitude just wasn't right," complained the coach. "We can't afford that, even if the rainy conditions were difficult. If we are not 100 percent sharp against Croatia on Sunday, we have a huge problem."

The Austrians were held to a 1-1 draw by Nigeria in a friendly last week before thrashing Malta 5-1, but Hickersberger feels his side can get through a tough group. "We have set ourselves a big goal," he said. "We want to reach the quarter-finals and in the last days I have become more optimistic.

"We don't need to go to the betting shop to know our rivals are all favoured ahead of us. However, we have the home advantage and we have a chance of getting points. I know it was not ideal that we let Malta and Nigeria score goals but this happens to teams like Germany too. We will work on it," he added. He has been working on it for a while, struggled to achieve a balanced side that can consistently get results.

For Slaven Bilic, the challenge is somewhat different: he believes his side are capable of winning the whole tournament, but following the loss of Eduardo he has to get his players believing too. He is convinced he has the players available to improve on Croatia's Euro 96 and 04 showings, and possibly spring a surprise.

"I believe that we are strong enough to take the title," he said. "The team is both good and solid, we qualified for the Euros from one of the more difficult groups and we most notably of all beat England on two occasions during the qualifiers.

"On paper, there are the usual favourites: Germany, France and Italy. You could also include Spain and Holland. And the English too would have also been among the favourites...if they had qualified."

One of Bilic's key creative forces, Portsmouth midfielder Niko Kranjcar, claims victory on Sunday is vital.  "I always say the most important thing is to win the first game. I think we've proven over the last two or three years that we really have a team that can beat anyone. If we prepare well, we're a team who can give anyone a good game. Hopefully with a bit of luck, we can go pretty far."

Bilic is looking to Kranjcar, new Spurs signing Luka Modric, and Mladen Petric to provide the midfield invention that can drive Croatia to a new level of achievement. "Our top three players should be 100 per cent inspired throughout the tournament and the rest of the team will have to be at their best too if we are to progress from our group," said the coach.

"We won't reach the quarter-finals just by keeping it tight at the back. We need our three magicians Modric, Kranjcar and Petric to make things happen. These strikers are the best we have, not including Eduardo da Silva, whose absence is obviously a severe blow because the whole team played better when he was with us. However, he didn't take us to Euro 2008 on his own and we must make do without him. I've faith in the players who are here and we are convinced they will start firing on all cylinders at a crunch time. They are top-level strikers who score regularly for their clubs so it's not time to sound alarm bells, but we have to improve."

Croatia were less than impressive in beating Moldova 1-0 last week, then drawing 1-1 with Hungary on Saturday, and Bilic knows things will need to improve the moment the tournament gets underway. "We have been a threat to our rivals far too rarely, we have to be more aggressive," he said. "We defend as a team and we have to attack as a team too, meaning that our midfield must carve out more supply routes to the strikers.

TEAM NEWS

Austria

Emanuel Pogatetz is expected to be available after suffering a calf injury in training, manager Hickersberger saying there was only a small chance he wouldn't be fit in time to face Croatia.

Croatia

Slaven Bilic has named his strongest team to face Austria, and said he will be keeping to the same formation he used in Croatia's recent friendlies against Moldova and Hungary.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Austria - Roland Linz: The Sporting Braga striker is said to be a summer target for Premier League clubs West Ham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Fulham. He will be leading the Austrian attack as he was last week against Malta when he scored twice and was watched by representatives of up to five English clubs. Linz, 26, scored 11 league goals for Sporting and will be hoping to impress would-be suitors during the tournament.

Croatia - Luka Modric: The inspiring midfielder starred for Croatia against England in the qualification campaign and has now agreed to join Tottenham in a £15.8million deal from Dinamo Zagreb. Before arriving at White Hart Lane, though, Modric wants to make a big impact at Euro 2008. He is seen as the natural successor to Croatian hero Robert Prosinecki and has been compared by some with the great  Johan Cruyff, often deployed in the middle of the pitch, but with the freedom to make the sort of penetrative forward runs that unhinged Steve McClaren's England.

PREDICTION

Austria legend Hans Krankl suggested that the country's fans needed to be "realistic" about their team's chances. Krankl said getting past the group stage would be a "great, great success." That put their prospects into sharp perspective, and although Greece upset the odds in sensational style four years ago when  surprising many by winning Euro 2004, few are expecting Austria to cause a similar shock, even on home turf.  The backing of the crowd will be vital to the team, but as the weakest (lowest-ranked) team in the competition without as yet a settled side, Croatia - one of the world's top 13 teams - look the likelier winners. The Croats looked slick and inventive in qualifying, and although expectations are high, which can be a problem, and Eduardo is missing, which is a burden, they should ease past the co-hosts.

Austria 0-2 Croatia

Ramsey, 17, has been linked with a move to the Premier League with a host of clubs said to have been interested, ranging from Arsenal and Liverpool to Everton and Newcastle United.

He put in fleeting performances of great promise during the Welsh side's run to the FA Cup final this season, and it now look as if he will be joining the Red Devils this summer, subject to personal terms being agreed and the player passing a medical.

The player has been likened to fellow left-sided Welsh stars such as the legendary Ryan Giggs and Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale, who is of course still a youngster himself.

Whether Ramsey can emulate Giggs is another matter entirely, but having only debuted this season, he has made a fairly impressive start, with the highlight being his performance in the FA Cup semi-final win over Middlesbrough.

It is thought the deal will see him loaned back to Cardiff in his first season in order to gain further playing time.

The following statement was issued on the clubs' website (http://www.manutd.com).

Manchester United is delighted to announce it has agreed terms with Cardiff City for the transfer of Aaron Ramsey subject to terms being agreed and the player passing a medical.

I went back down to the 'boro for the weekend for the Middlesbrough Music Live festival, the only people still stranded down in the halls were Matt and Sheila - I'm not complaining, although it was a bit boring with my room being completely empty and all. The festival started off good (only because half the people there were skinny scene kids... yum), but towards the latter half of the day it turned into a charv's family day out on the main stage. There were a few drunken fights/riots, usually when the performing band started playing Pigbag... bleh. Ash were awesome live, I've been wanting to see them for ages now, and I managed to get on the front barrier for the whole set ^^ Apart from the whether and having to stand for 11 hours straight in the mud, a great day!

Oh, and if you were the cute girl wearing the Metallica hoody that smiled at me, let me know. You were only a few rows behind me, but I lost sight of you after The Delays finished their set... damnit. Don't you just hate it when that happens? ¬_¬

So, next week is the big week with the Degree Show opening night on Thursday. We get Monday and Tuesday to put it all together, I haven't seen my space yet but I hope its not too big because I'm worried I haven't got that much to hang! I will have to go for the minimal look.

Its taken me ages to get around to posting this because for some reason "Safari" kept "unexpectedly quitting "whenever I tried to use Wordpress. It let me do everything else though so maybe it was a hint! Anyway I just had to dash into the village to download Firefox instead and it seems to work miles better.

These pictures are from various projects, first, second and third year, with the little jacket being one of my favorite pieces from Minor Project. It's a combination of techniques on recycled woolen blanket,including heat transfer printing and appliqué using heavy wool dyed with Elderberries.The design still on the hoop is part of a dress for Final Major Project,you can't really tell in the picture but the flower is screen printed devoré cotton so it is actually transparent.

I've been getting some nice comments on "Stitchin Fingers" which have been cheering me up alot but I still need a plan of action for finding work. We had an Enterprise Day at college yesterday. The most exciting thing about that was hearing about Platform Arts who are converting part of Middlesbrough train station into studio space for artists. Middlesbrough has had a pretty grotty image so this project, as well as Mima and Cleveland College of Art and Design ought to help make it a bit more vibrant and cultured...hopefully.

Meanwhile, its all wonderful in the garden. We spent yesterday making improvements to the willow house which now almost has a door, thanks to Jake, and no thanks to a HUGE BUG which made us all scream like fools ( I think it was a Cockchafer, can that be right?!!).

BBC'nin Premier League'de her ay atılan en güzel golü seçtiği "Ayın Golü" yarışmasında Aralık ayının en güzel golüne imza atan Middlesbrough forması giyen milli oyuncumuz Tuncay Şanlı, BBC'de cumartesi akşamları yayınlanan "Match of the Day" programının Sezonun Golü ödülünün adaylarından biri oldu.

15 Aralık 2007 tarihinde Derby County deplasmanında, Stewart Downing'in sol kanattan yaptığı ortaya gelişine sol ayağıyla harika bir vole vuran Tuncay Şanlı Aralık ayının en güzel golünü atmıştı.

İşte Premier League'de ayın golleri ve "Sezonun Golü" ödülü adayları:
Charles N'Zogbia (Newcastle United)
Middlesbrough-NEWCASTLE -26 Ağustos 2007

Emmanuel Adebayor'un 2. golü (Arsenal)
Tottenham v ARSENAL -15 Eylül 2007

Carlos Tevez'in ilk golü (Manchester United)
MAN UTD v Middlesbrough -27 Ekim 2007

Luke Young (Middlesbrough)
MIDDLESBROUGH v Tottenham -3 Kasım 2007

TUNCAY ŞANLI (Middlesbrough)
Derby v MIDDLESBROUGH -15 Aralık 2007

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
MAN UTD v Portsmouth -30 Ocak 2008

Daryl Murphy (Sunderland)
SUNDERLAND v Wigan -9 Şubat 2008

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
MAN UTD v Aston Villa -29 Mart 2008

Stiliyan Petrov (Aston Villa)
Derby v ASTON VILLA -12 Nisan 2008

Fabio Rochemback (Middlesbrough)
MIDDLESBROUGH v Man City -11 Mayıs 2008

The goalkeeping situation needed to be addressed and it's great that a solution has been found so early in the transfer window. He's not one I would have immediately thought of but I'm very pleased he has joined the squad.

With rumours of Stockdale also signing from Darlington, it's very likely that Warner will be shown the door along with either Niemi or Keller. I'd like to see Keller stay because I actually rate him even though he is nearly 40. Niemi doesn't have the commanding presence that is needed from a keeper at this level.

A good first summer signing. Hopefully there's a few more to come.

For more on this story:

Schwarzer Signs - fulhamfc.com

Schwarzer agrees Fulham move - skysports.com

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James literally bought this XBOX 360 Arcade console for the latest and greatest Grand Theft Auto release. He also bought Grand Theft Auto seperately. He's selling both together as a neat package on eBay. He has completed GTA and subsequently has no need for this XBOX now (we're not console players, apart from the Wii, but that doesn't count!) So yeah, its ACTUALLY brand new!!

So please please PLEASE help us in our funding for our big bad move to the big bad smoke!

Clearly this package is well sought after, still! So get you bidding guns at the ready! [Please pass on the details of this auction to your family/friends/related parties! Thanks!]

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE eBAY LISTING NOW!

Ms. Judy Pink.

1. Manchester United (1st)

As I expected. The best team in the league. With Ronaldo on their side they simply scored too many goals!

2. Chelsea (2nd)

Not quite good enough, although they nearly made a shock comeback after beating United at the end of the season!

3. Arsenal (4th)

Looked less of a threat towards the end of the season. They need a bit more experience in their side.

4. Liverpool (3rd)

Still not quite good enough. Torres was one of the best players in the league though.

5. Everton (11th)

Ok, so I was way out on this one. David Moyes proved just how good a manager he is, even if he does look like a skull as Dave keeps telling me!

6. Aston Villa (9th)

The money and the manager have paid off for Villa. Just managing to secure an Intertoto spot with a solid season. O'Niel has the potential to take them even further.

7. Blackburn Rovers (7th)

I was gutted to get this one right in the end. 7th place, despite being three higher than the previous season, leaves Rovers out of Europe. What an achievement for a small town club to finish 7th though, a real testament to the manager. Santa Cruz is signing of the season!

8. Portsmouth (8th)

The FA Cup winners secured a Uefa spot with their Wembley victory and it was a good season for Harry Redknapp's man, exactly how I predicted!

9. Manchester City (17th)

A solid start and City looked like challenging higher up, however the wheels fell off a little but City can be proud of their top half finish. Their owner will disagree with me though...

10. West Ham United (13th)

Not much in the way of expectations and something of a nothing season for the Irons. A safe season for the previous seasons relegation scrappers who can look forward to progressing next year.

11. Tottenham Hotspurs (5th)

Surprised everyone with their shocking start to the season but finished comfortable in mid table. Winning the League Cup gives them European football as well... The jammy s***s...

12. Newcastle United (6th)

I expected Fat Sam to work wonders at St. James and it didn't happen. Although I do feel that the Magpies excitable board booted him out a bit rashly, Keegan came in and eventually turned things round. Next season is massive for Newcastle.

13. Middlesbrough (14th)

Possibly the most boring team in the world. Nothing exciting ever happens for Middlesbrough Football Club. Another season of midtable mediocrity and I'm sure there is more to come!

14. Wigan Athletic (15th)

Survived a relegation scrap quite comfortably in the end. I think they may struggle next season. Steve Bruce, despite being a whining git, did the job at the JJB.

15. Sunderland (10th)

I though Roy Keane would steer Sunderland to a more succesful first season. In the end, step one is consolidation and it's time for them to build for a better second season.

16. Bolton Wanderers (18th)

Up until the closing moments of the season I was spot on with my bottom three. Bolton managed to escape, but great things need to be done for the Trotters to survive much longer.

17. Fulham (19th)

What a turnaround. As I said with Bolton I had this one spot on as well. Roy Hodgson showed just how good a manager he can be as he pulled off the great escape for Fulham.

18. Reading (12th)

Gutting for the Madejski faithful as they suffered heartbreak right at the end. Steve Coppell will be sought after and I can't see him hanging around. Things look bleak for Reading now.

19. Birmingham City (16th)

Looked as if they were doing ok until right at the death. A 4-1 win over my beloved Rovers wasn't enough for them and the fans blamed the board... I'd say the team had more to do with it to be honest.

20. Derby County (20th)

Crap. Good riddance.