Are Middlesbrough the Premiership’s greatest enigma?

Mention Middlesbrough and you immediately think of Jekyll and Hyde for that is what they resemble; an unpredictable, sometimes brilliant but often dire team.

Yesterday was no exception, a commited and polished performance saw ‘Boro record a deserved draw against champions-elect Manchester United. This had been preceded by losing to Chelsea last week when Gareth Southgate’s men hit the woodwork three times.

And so Middlesbrough represent one of the Premiership’s greatest enigmas.

Give us a link, Sam?

Listening to Radio 5 Live this morning, I was delighted to hear the words “Midtable” and “Mediocrity” together in a sentence.

Mark Benton (the Nationwide advert King) was talking to Sam Delaney about his beloved Middlesbrough team and Sam posed the question as to who was the better midtable team…well there was only likely to be one answer from the Teeside lad.

But fancy mentioning Midtable Mediocrity and not giving us a credit?! And to add insult to injury there was a glaring error – clearly Spurs are the best (yet mediocre) midtable team.

Listen to the podcast from the show here http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/eamonn/rss.xml

And seen as we have mentioned him, a little clip of Mark in one of the few good commercials swamped in a bog of mediocre ones. 

King Kev all at sea on the Tyne

Messiah: Promised deliverer (Oxford Dictionary)

The King may have returned to St James’ Park but the jewels are not shining in the Messiah’s crown. Did Kevin Keegan believe that Newcastle were one attacking display away from a goal-fest of yesteryear? If he did, he was sadly deluded.

The sleeping giant of the north-east has never been in such a deep coma. True, they possess a defence resembling Humpty Dumpty’s wall but they are also blessed with players of international quality. The likes of Michael Owen, Alan Smith, Obafemi Martins, Nicky Butt, Mark Viduka, Damien Duff and James Milner have the so-called “X Factor”