The Middlesbrough Gazette
Match19 Feb 2029
Middlesbrough refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 68 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market19 Feb 2029
Max Arfsten hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Middlesbrough can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Jaka Bijol in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Middlesbrough this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Feb 2029
Still nobody has beaten Middlesbrough
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market19 Feb 2029
Mansfield Town expected to open talks for Adilson Malanda
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Middlesbrough will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Door shut on Jordan Longhi
Middlesbrough asked and Reading said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match17 Feb 2029
Middlesbrough see off Leyton Orient
Three points for Middlesbrough, 1‑0 the final word against Leyton Orient in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Looking ahead19 Feb 2029
Top-of-the-table clash for Middlesbrough
Leeds United next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Jaka Bijol stands above it all
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.55 on the card, and the Middlesbrough support went home talking about one name.
In brief
- The dugout Alfie Jones left out for the big one
- Squad David Watson signs a new deal
- The dugout A satisfied Luke Matthews