Hi everyone, Been a while since I posted (used to be active in the pre-Venkys days), but I wanted to pass on a message to see if anyone could help with some fundraising ahead of the Boro game coming up after the international break on the 27th. A good mate of my mine from uni is a Boro fan, and his little boy Henry has been fighting a very rare form of cancer for almost a year. It’s pretty expensive, despite the NHS’s best efforts as looking after Henry is a full-time job right now and they've had to relocate near the hospital in Newcastle. Boro fans have been amazing and raised over £40,000 to help out. I’m hoping it’s possible to get the word out to Rovers fans so that anyone who’s able to can contribute ahead of the match. If you're able to contribute anything then there's page on the Middlesbrough website at https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/2024/october/07/an-update-on-henry/. I live in Canada now so I'm pretty out of the loop on matchday activities, but I wonder if there's a way to raise awareness among the fanbase ahead of the game away to Boro. Thanks! Alan

Anyone remember that lad on here who was obsessed with him and hated Souness for leaving him out. tom007 maybe? Wonder if he's moved out to Oz too now.

Best Rovers game I've ever seen live. Just to add to what's already been mentioned; remember Souness' tactical gamble paying off, dropping Reid and Emerton who were playing as wide men and playing 4 central midfielders as he bought in the previously (and in future) unheralded Andresen and Douglas. And Zat Knight getting away with GBH on Jon Stead early on, can't remember if it was before or after the first Rovers goal.

Could go either way as both sides look pretty inconsistent. 1-1 draw, Rochemback for them and Benni for us.

Can't see this being a classic. I'm feeling optimistic so 1-0 with the goal going in off Savage's knee.

Sounds like Bentley had a half decent game out on the right. He's obviously a skilful player but I've been saying for some time that we just don't know his best position (we do know it's not central midfield though!). On the right he should have more time and be able to give us some creativity, I'd like to see him given an extended run there.

2-1. Scrappy win but hopefully we can get our season going.

Hmm defensive crisis but I can't see things getting any worse. 2-2 McCarthy and Reid for us, Beattie with two for them.

2-2 Benni and Roberts for us, O'Neill and Mendes for them. No idea as to who Pompey will have bought in by saturday and who will be in our eleven. Will probably be a fairly nervous affair and could go either way.

Second in the hardest English III last season. A last day loss saw me finish one point behind the leaders. Some tough teams coming up will mean next season will be tough too, hopefully I can finally win III.9 though!

Top preview Joey. Well done for providing some excellent reading matter!

Tough choice but Nelsen it is for his consitency. Always there and always solid. Bellamy's been spectacular but missed too many games through injury to have had the same effect as Nelsen while mentions must also go to Reid and Neill for improving so much and Friedel for producing the same quality as always.

Sorry philip but what game were you watching? Portsmouth were by far the better team and we were extremely fortunate to get a point. They didn't let us settle or give us time and as a result half our team went missing. There's little point in anyone eyeing up Pompey players over the summer as on displays like that they won't go down. An inspired Friedel performance and two world class goals from Bellamy saved us today. Nelsen and Zura did alright I thought and coped moderately well with Lua Lua though I thought Nelsen's performance dropped in the second half and he appeared at fault for allowing Todorov to get free and equalise. Gray and Neill both had absoloute mares, if I was being generous I'd say the crowd got to them. Mokoena stabilised things a bit and was an improvement on Gray though only just. I thought Savage was awful today, he couldn't string a pass together and may have been moved out to the right wing to do less damage. Reid at least got stuck in though without much effect and Bentley showed a few nice touches and did well for the goal. MGP took AWOL to new levels of truancy. Emerton came on for the last five minutes and injected some pace and running. He seems to do well in this role and makes a decent impact substitute atm. Unlike some people I thought Dickov didn't do too badly, he showed some nice touches in the second half and linked well with Bellamy. Still he needs to keep his mouth shut and I'm not sure playing him as a partner for Bellamy works, they're too small. Pongolle would still surely be a better option.

Late reply here. Are you training him? If so and he's over 21 or so I'd sell as it's probably not worth training him. Otherwise I'd hang onto him purely because he's a better long term prospect. You'll have to replace the outstandings more quickly.

Top stuff as ever Colin and congratulations on getting Adrian to answer the questions. It's confirmed my opinion of him as an all round top bloke.