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THE SCOTT STONEHOUSE COLUMN 10-8-05
The Scott Stonehouse Column's third installment, straight from the 'Noise' of New Marske
Rodolph Douala - Part II
So, with Boro having bids of €6m, and €7m (or £4.09m and £4.77m respectively) rejected by Sporting CP it looks as if Douala will be staying in Portugal, for the time being at least. Douala has commented on the speculation. Or at least his agent has and says that with him been cup-tied for UEFA competitions, he won't be going anywhere.
"I can assure you that the player is not interested in moving to Boro. We've told that to Sporting Lisbon and we've explained that the reason is because he cannot play in UEFA competitions this season. It's got nothing to do with Middlesbrough as a club - it's a good club with good players and a respected manager. But we've been thinking seriously about this and it's a waste of time Sporting pursuing this with Boro. It's difficult to envisage us changing our mind. We appreciate the interest of Steve McClaren. The problem is that there's no prospect of European football."
McClaren still wants him though. He said "There are three other competitions." Obviously Premier League, FA Cup and the Boro Cup (Carling Cup) but for now, this looks dead in the water.
Peter Lovenkrands - Sign Him On
So, the pacy Danish attacking midfielder has been in impressive form for Rangers recently, scoring a 30 yard screamer and also scoring an over head kick. It doesn't matter what league you are playing in, 30 yard screamers and over head kicks are impressive. But I'm sure Don Mackay or another Boro scout has been watching him in action, or I sure as hell hope he has.
Inspirational performances, and every goal-scoring performance like the ones he has been giving so far will no doubt bump up the price Rangers will ask for him. He could be, and I stand by my word that he certainly is, the spark we need from midfield to replace Greedy Boots.
Joseph Desire Job - Move To West Ham On, Off...Back On?
Job's move to Upton Park has been off and on this week, with the player reportedly failing to agree personal terms. Then when West Ham offered a new deal that he agreed on he failed the medical.
Well it looked as if manager Alan Pardew was ready to gamble on Job despite his fitness, but Job has since rejected the offer he previously agreed. The reason behind this is thought to be interest from a French club.
Job has been a good player for the club, and his goal in the Carling Cup Final will make him a legend and a hero for all-time with the MFC faithful. Whatever he decides to do and he won't get much action here this season, he looks set to depart.
Szilard Nemeth - Staying Put?
Looks as if Szilard will be staying on Teesside, putting the rumours of a move to Wigan, Sunderland or Ipswich to an end. The striker has picked up an ankle injury which puts him on the sidelines until early September at the earliest, and with the interested clubs unlikely to want him while he is injured, he looks set to move at the end of the season, or even January if a club comes in for him then.
Boro v Liverpool - At A Glance
I'm sure people reading this have either watched it on Prem Plus, seen Match Of The Day, read match reports or were even at the game. The crowd, 31,098 was decent. The Liverpool end wasn't full and I don't know whether this was due to MFC cutting the amount of tickets we give them or down to them not selling out.
The top of the North East corner and top of the South East corners had the usual empty spaces, and same for the West upper towards the North and South stands. Nevermind. The next home game, Charlton is never going to get arses on seats, but the lure of Henry, Pires, Hleb, Ljungberg and the Redcurrant Brigade the week after just might see the first sell-out of the new 2005/06.
Spurs And Birmingham Away - Update
Got my ticket for Spurs away as I'm sure I mentioned last week. 'Selling the Lower first', the women at the counter said, which I found a bit strange. Usually you can pick and choose, especially when they are charging extra for the Upper. I thought they would want to get rid of them first, but anyway Lower will do me. Wherever I'm sat I think I will see the first defeat of Boro's season.
I don't believe the hype with Spurs, about them pushing for a top four finish and all the rest of it, but Defoe will be full of confidence after a start for England against Denmark and will be too much for Southgate and Bates. He really is the key to the Spurs team, so if we can keep him under wraps i think we can grab a win, but if Defoe is left to run riot it could be a tough task for Schwarzer.
I'm buying my Birmingham ticket on Thursday. I've been to St. Andrews twice and seen us lose twice. 100% record. And if we are to go to the next level then we have to look at Brum and they are the type of club we should be beating, home and away. Let's hope I can watch us turn the past fortunes, or mis-fortunes of St. Andrews around.
Gotta dash, freshen up on my passing and creativity skills, the rate at which McClaren is keeping the chequebook inside his pocket, anybody could get a game in midfield these days.
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