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Boro legend G Friend was frozen out by Toxic Monk


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2 hours ago, Owls Loyal said:

The Middlesborough Gazette view:

 

"George Friend has cemented his status as a Middlesbrough legend"

"Then, after working hard to regain his fitness over the summer, he started just five league games back in the Championship under new manager Garry Monk before being dropped to the bench.

One of Tony Pulis’s first acts on taking charge was to restore Friend to the first team and that’s where he’s stayed pretty much ever since, playing every minute of every league game.

That’s a remarkable record for a player who puts his body on the line every time he pulls on a shirt.

He even wore a mask to protect the nose he broke at Stoke earlier this season.

It’s no secret George Friend is a nice bloke. He speaks well, he’s polite, considerate, inquisitive and well informed.

Friend was resilient, honest, hard-working and thoroughly decent. In other words everything that’s good about Boro and Teessiders. Not bad for a Southerner."

The Evening Gazette - the most biased and ill informed North East Newspaper - please tell me that's not the source of this thread? :tango:

Every Teessider is a 'Legend' in that newspaper - even people that have just driven through :tango:

 

On a side note, my Boro season ticket holding mate said, George Friend was dropped (and rightly so) because he was too slow. Make of that what you will. Maybe Monk laced his boots with concrete or possibly force fed him heavy stodgy foods pre-game.

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26 minutes ago, Andrew6666 said:

The Evening Gazette - the most biased and ill informed North East Newspaper - please tell me that's not the source of this thread? :tango:

Every Teessider is a 'Legend' in that newspaper - even people that have just driven through :tango:

 

On a side note, my Boro season ticket holding mate said, George Friend was dropped (and rightly so) because he was too slow. Make of that what you will. Maybe Monk laced his boots with concrete or possibly force fed him heavy stodgy foods pre-game.

 

The fact is he was dropped along with a few other senior players under Monk. They performed badly and Monk got sacked. Pulis took over, brought the experienced players back and results improved. 

Ask your mate what he thought of Monk because the general feeling among Boro fans was not positive. 

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2 hours ago, @owlstalk said:


 

Best players or most disruptive toxic ones?

 

I'm just glad results, morale and performances have shown a clear sign of improvement since the manager removed 'the most disruptive toxic players...........

 

2 hours ago, @owlstalk said:

PS When Westwood and Hutch were last in the side there were very few lauding them as legends at the time

 

Nobody is saying that, just making the point that when you can barely beat anyone in the division for 2 months it is making a rod for your own back by excluding players who could help. 

As above, has their been any positive signs from the team since he excluded them because if not his approach is failing. 

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32 minutes ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

The fact is he was dropped along with a few other senior players under Monk. They performed badly and Monk got sacked. Pulis took over, brought the experienced players back and results improved. 

Ask your mate what he thought of Monk because the general feeling among Boro fans was not positive. 

Didn't mind him, would have kept him over Pulis, few odd signings (we haven't seen this bit yet) but they were on the downward slope anyway. Pulis was negative so didn't like him, likes Woodgate (ex player reason).

 

Like I say, I'm from the area and just wanted to state the truth from Boro fans on here rather than putting out false information.

 

On a side note, The Evening Gazette often prints articles about the local teams (Boro, Hartlepool, Darlington) and players in particular, it is not strange to see an article about a player with a completely different player shown in the photo (that's how poor this newspaper is). But everyone is a 'legend', that is guaranteed in that newspaper. 

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8 minutes ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

I'm just glad results, morale and performances have shown a clear sign of improvement since the manager removed 'the most disruptive toxic players...........

 

 

Nobody is saying that, just making the point that when you can barely beat anyone in the division for 2 months it is making a rod for your own back by excluding players who could help. 

As above, has their been any positive signs from the team since he excluded them because if not his approach is failing. 

 

What is most annoying here is that the first Monk publicly made any comments hinting at an issue with Hutchinson was post-match of the Millwall game on Feb 1st, so the day after the window had shut (and after any possible replacements could be brought in).

 

We'd just sat through another less-than-inspiring display, and another questionable performance from Pelupessy, coming might I add after an even worse defeat to Wigan midweek when Hutchinson first didn't play (but may have been injured anyway). Luongo was already injured too. So all in all, it's not as though the decision to exclude Hutchinson was made in the context of a relatively much healthier squad.

 

Of course, Monk could also have played for time a little by at least telling a white lie and saying that Hutchinson was injured for the Millwall game - entirely believable after all, since we all saw him hobble off against QPR as well as miss the Wigan game. But instead he just forced his own hand needlessly, making it very difficult for himself to resolve the situation without losing face. I don't get the impression of a carefully thought out decision here at all.

 

Hutchinson might very well be a problem character, and the rest of the squad might not get on with him particularly well - but seriously, toxic? I keep reading this, as a character trait attributed to him. It's hard to imagine we've ever been able to win any games with him in the side if his character has had such a detrimental effect. But of course, it's clear that whatever problems exist within the squad at the moment, they've had little to do with whatever way Hutchinson has supposedly contributed to them.

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On 01/03/2020 at 10:05, hirstyboywonder said:

 

You think Hutchinson and Westwood sit back and laugh? We have had a few players who have taken the p**s in terms of the effort and commitment they put in but I think it is harsh to label these two with that.

Steve Bruce was widely seen as the best manager we have appointed in many a year - he was so impressed with Westwood that he urged the club to offer him a new contract and he had Hutchinson involved regularly.

 

Westwood has stated that Monk has told him he does not feature in his plans and has had to accept that.

 

Hutchinson played well in the cup win at QPR and hasn't been since. In answering questions on this Monk told us that he knows what a successful dressing room looks like and he has sent Hutchinson off to academy team training for the benefit of the team.

 

Since making this move we have played 8, won 1, drawn 3, lost 4. All against sides below us in the division, the vast majority with spineless performances that have been embarrassing to watch.

 

That's how I see it.

Hmmm sounds like a team just going through the motions with nothing to play for, getting beaten by teams scrapping for their safety in the division putting a shift in. It's happened many a time before. Most of this lot weather they do or don't like monk look like their already thinking about lazing on a sun lounger sipping a fancy ice cold one of some description. 

 

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On 01/03/2020 at 09:52, S36 OWL said:

 

Is it Monks fault the same players were frozen out under Jos? 

 

 

Jesus Christ man, get with the program. Everything is Monks fault. The sinking of the Titanic, Coronavirus, Donald Trump’s hairstyle, losing the cup final replay against Arsenal. 

Such is his status as bad guy, he’s  been asked to appear in the final episodes of Homeland, where it will eventually make sense.

 

Monk out !

 

:1276983839_MonkHome:

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1 hour ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

The fact is he was dropped along with a few other senior players under Monk. They performed badly and Monk got sacked. Pulis took over, brought the experienced players back and results improved. 

Ask your mate what he thought of Monk because the general feeling among Boro fans was not positive. 


One of my best mates is a season ticket holder at middlesborough and has been for 20plus years - he can’t stand monk and blames them for where they find themselves now.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Hookowl said:

According to transfer market George Friend has only played and been named in their squad 5 times this season.

Has he been injured or frozen out? :ph34r:

Toxic hamstring. 

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1 hour ago, ka58 said:


One of my best mates is a season ticket holder at middlesborough and has been for 20plus years - he can’t stand monk and blames them for where they find themselves now.

 

 

I’ve got a good mate who lives on Teeside and says Boro have never been the same since Bernie Slaven hung up his boots.

 

WTF:

 

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3 hours ago, shezzas left peg said:

Hmmm sounds like a team just going through the motions with nothing to play for, getting beaten by teams scrapping for their safety in the division putting a shift in. It's happened many a time before. Most of this lot weather they do or don't like monk look like their already thinking about lazing on a sun lounger sipping a fancy ice cold one of some description. 

 

 

Trouble is that well might not be the case and they know that as well as we do. You don't 'go through the motions' for half a season when you are in 3rd place with 23 games to go.

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9 hours ago, trevdi9 said:

I used to work across the river tees just opposite middlesborough's ground some 30 years ago and they were moaning about monk before he was even thought of as their manager George's Friend told me lol 

 

They also blame Monk for the demise of the shipbuilding industry in the North East. 

 

Apparently he had a liking for the local lager, effected his judgment. @Eightace told me.

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11 hours ago, hirstyboywonder said:

 

Trouble is that well might not be the case and they know that as well as we do. You don't 'go through the motions' for half a season when you are in 3rd place with 23 games to go.

Depends if your on a big fat wage, it's January and your contracts up at the end of the season. You either want to leave becouse this place is run like fawlty towers or know your not getting offered a new one.. 

I said it before with boyd, Jones, abdi etc. They knew they would be replaced as would more than half this sqaud if we did go up to manage to stay up, so whats the motivation to get promotion if you'll be surplus to requirements anyway??.

How many of this sqaud do you think are actually capable of playing Premier league for a team above the bottom 4??

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