[NoSkillz]

Sat. March 29, 2025

Barclays Premier League
Middlesbrough (11-7-13, 40 points, 10th) vs. Dover (22-5-4, 71 points, 2nd)
The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, UK

Betting Odds: Middlesbrough: 4-1 Draw: 5-2 Dover: 4-7 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 9W 2D 4L

Middlesbrough are on a terrible run of form, having gone eight games in all competitions without a win and in the league, they haven’t won since late December, a full THREE MONTH stretch without a victory. This coincides with the departure of manager Tony Mowbray, who left Middlesbrough for Liverpool on December 20th. Norwegian Kjetil Rekdal replaced him and he’s still looking for his first Premier League victory. It certainly isn’t Roland Hoxha’s fault, as the speedy striker has 25 goals in 32 games this year.

We have an incredibly taxing schedule coming up, with major games against Liverpool in the FA Cup, a league game against table toppers Manchester United and the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against OM. So we will use a slightly less than full strength side today. Getting a rare start in midfield is Emmerson Harvey and we also start Saber Nasri and Emerson on defence. Ingo Wilke is in goal for the second game in a row, as Manuel Perez is still a bit tired after getting back from his international appearance.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Rafinha, S. Nasri, R. Hamon, Emerson
M - A. Bamba, E. Harvey, B. Raab, G. Bolis
S - A. Broomes, Chiquinho
Bench - C. Guzman, M. Mutesa, A. Rocca, N. Cairney, M. Pedersen, G. Allan, M. Lugo

Holy smokes - Middlesbrough are playing a 3-5-2 formation with a SWEEPER, something I haven’t seen since my Conference days! They have two centre half backs, two wing backs, three central mids and two strikers. Very defensive formation and much different from Tony Mowbray, who prefers a very aggressive offensive system. Sheesh. These guys will be tough to break down. Sinan Bolat is in goal. I tell the team to play well for the Dover fans travelling to the game tonight.

15’ - We’re in complete control early and have a corner. Benedikt Raab crosses to the near post and the ball comes off Chiquinho’s foot and right to Rayane Hamon, who slams the ball into the back of the net! DOVER GOAL 1-0

That didn’t take long, as Middlesbrough go to a flatter formation, with four defenders and a sweeper in behind.

28’ - Incredible. Already, we have Andy Broomes with the “cross of death” above his name, signifying an injury but he can play on. Now, it’s Arsene Bamba getting taken down and he needs to come off. In comes Mads Pedersen. DOVER INJURY - ARSENE BAMBA

35’ - We win possession in midfield and pass to Andy Broomes. He dekes past a Middlesbrough defender just on their side of half and is off to the races. The sweeper gives him WAY too much room, taking away a potential pass so Broomes dribbles in on goal and sends a ROCKET past Sinan Bolat and into the net. BRILLIANT goal! WOW! DOVER GOAL 2-0

HALFTIME - Middlesbrough are terrible and haven’t even shown up today. We held 60% of possession and a 16-3 (5-2 on target) shot advantage. I’m pleased!

Middlesbrough come out in a flat 5-3-2 to start the second half.

52’ - Middlesbrough are playing with much more urgency to start this half and their manager must have read the riot act. They’ve had a few great chances already and have a free kick from just outside the area that we head out. Broomes gets to the ball first and simply outraces the back two defenders to go on a full field BREAKAWAY! He’s in on goal and shoots past Sinan Bolat and it’s IN! That’s two BEAUTIES for Broomes! DOVER GOAL 3-0

72’ - We have a free kick from the left byline and Raab crosses into the box but Emmerson Harvey is taken down…that’s a PENALTY!! Up steps Andy Broomes to take it and he calmly sends a shot into the right corner of the goal for his HAT TRICK! What a GAME from Broomes, with all three of his goals scored after he got injured! DOVER GOAL 4-0

75’ - We earn another free kick and Raab’s cross is to the far post and there is Saber Nasri heading it home as we continue to PILE ON! DOVER GOAL 5-0

We take out Raab and Broomes and bring in Andrea Rocca and Manuel Lugo.

83’ - Middlesbrough have possession off a throw in and a cross comes into the area for Taksiarxis Fountas and he delivers a beautiful header that is past Wilke and IN. It looked offsides but the goal counts and it was a lovely one. MIDDLESBROUGH GOAL 5-1

85’ - Goodness gracious. Mads Pedersen coughs the ball up in midfield and Roland Hoxha just blazes down the pitch. Rayane Hamon inexplicably doesn’t challenge him and Hoxha just dribbles in on Wilke and shoots past him and in. What a horrible two minute stretch. MIDDLESBROUGH GOAL 5-2

Poor finish to a nice game.

Middlesbrough 2 - 5 Dover
Goals - Andy Broomes 3 (9.6), Rayane Hamon (7.7), Saber Nasri (8.8)
Assists - Benedikt Raab 3 (9.2), Saber Nasri, Mads Pedersen (7.0)
Man of the Match - Andy Broomes
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (8.4), Emerson (7.1), Rafinha (7.0), Gianluca Bolis (7.0), Emmerson Harvey (7.0), Chiquinho (7.0)
Attendance - 27,897

Great game by Raab, who has simply been superb in his first season with us. Middlesbrough really turned it on in the second half and we ended up with only 54% of possession and a 26-13 (11-10 on target) shot advantage.

-- Injuries continue to pile up. Andy Broomes suffers a bruised thigh and will miss about five days, thereby missing our big FA Cup quarterfinal replay against Liverpool midweek. More pressing is the loss of Arsene Bamba to a sprained ankle and he’ll miss 4 weeks. Geez - Bamba has been very injury prone lately. DOVER INJURIES: Andy Broomes (Bruised Thigh - 5 days); Arsene Bamba (Sprained Ankle - 4 weeks)

-- In other Premier League action, Man U wins easily over Everton 3-0, Chelsea wins 3-1 over Burnley, Reading wins 4-0 Aston Villa while Newcastle drops a 2-0 decision to Tottenham. In Sunday action, Sheffield Wednesday upends Sheffield United 3-0 while Man City shockingly loses to Liverpool 2-1. Arsenal beats Sunderland 2-1 on Monday night.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 32 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Manchester United - 82 points
2. Dover - 74 points
3. Chelsea - 65 points (after 31 games)
4. Manchester City - 61 points (after 31 games)
----------------------------------------------------
5. Arsenal - 54 points (after 31 games)
6. Reading - 49 points
7. Sheffield Wednesday - 49 points
----------------------------------------------------



Contracts Expiring

-- We have two senior team members with expiring contracts and one of them is a long-time Dover player in Andrea Rocca, with the other being reserves fullback Carlos Guzman. Rocca’s agent wants a huge salary increase and that’s definitely not in the cards for the 27 year old midfielder. Rocca is still playing at a high level, is loved by the fans and I’d still like to keep him around but I’ll wait a bit longer before re-opening contract talks. Guzman is cheap and I’ll definitely look at bringing him back as depth.

-- We also have numerous staff members and U18 players on expiring deals but nothing worth noting here.



April Update

-- A very busy and difficult month lies ahead. Only three Premier League matches as it stands right now, with matches against table toppers Manchester United (home), Reading (home) and Aston Villa (away). I play in Liverpool tomorrow in an FA Cup quarterfinal replay and have both legs of the Champions League quarterfinal against OM. If we prevail in either or both, we’ll also have semi-final matches in both competitions take place at the end of the month. WOW. So that’s eight potential matches!

-- We get positive training reports for Emmerson Harvey, Mwemere Mutesa, Gary Archer, Stuart Cousins and Eneko Remirez. Negative reports come in for Benedikt Raab and Lyubomir Kunchev. Yikes. Raab has been SENSATIONAL all season and is a front-runner for our player of the year award. I don’t say anything to him but admonish Kunchev, who is our third-string right midfielder.



Barclays Premier League Team of the Week

-- Ingo Wilke, Saber Nasri, Benedikt Raab and Andy Broomes make the league’s team of the week.



Premier League Monthly Awards

-- Benedikt Raab made “four dazzling appearances” in March and wins the league’s player of the month award in a walk! Fantastic! Even better is the fact that we SWEEP the top three, with Andy Broomes coming in second and Saber Nasri coming in third!

-- Continuing the Dover theme, we see Rafinha named as Young Player of the Month! Cool!

-- Despite winning all four of our games in March, I only come in second in the manager of the month voting behind Jurgen Klinsmann, whose Man United side also won all four games.



Injury Update

-- Claudio Contreras should be returning in the next few days from his thigh strain. Andy Broomes (bruised thigh) and Renato Gaucho (broken ribs) could be back within the week as well. Paul Moses and Arsene Bamba are on the long-term injury list.



April Board Confidence Update

-- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the club. Our stature increase continues to be the main positive and no negatives this month!

-- We made a profit of £569,000 last month.



Next Up

-- We try to finally find a way to get past Liverpool, this time in a FA Cup quarterfinal replay.