Excellent words from Bigal, Royston and Ptc, all in praise of one of our finest ever captains. Alongside Mick Mills and Holland. And I go back to Billy Baxter. He will be sorely missed.
Hmmm, the word legend is used far too often and cheaply in my opinion. For me there are only a few true Legends, not sure how you come to the conclusion that someone is a club legend but I think much of it has to do with a constant high level input, on and off the pitch, over a long period of time. Crawford The Beat Warky Mills Butcher And maybe Holland are club legends but can't say there are many more. There have been many great players but legends for me is a level up. Morsy for me is on the cusp but not quite there as not had the longevity. He will, however be sorely missed and has been an absolute beast in our promotion years!! Would you guys put the likes of Whymark, Mariner, Osman, Burley as club legends or just club greats, I just feel legends are the absolute creme de la creme of a club but that's not saying the others haven't been special players Just slung Holland in there to have a more modern day player, tbh, thinking about it, i probably wouldn't have him on that list
Lots good points Spanish. I think it is because he was an inspiring skipper who drove the team on, bossed the midfield to win 2 consecutive promotions, that he has been so highly rated and admired. Less so for his occasional crass tackles! And we all know that he found the Prem a step too far.
Totally agree with Spanish.. he's been fantastic for us since he signed, and a true leader for 3-4 seasons...but a legend? Nah, not for me.
Maybe not a legend is some eyes, the definition is down to individual preference but he's got to be our most significant player and influential captain of the past 2 decades
Does a legend have to he in a winning team? Is it not about what that individual has done for the club, and over a significant period of time? Probably get laughed at by many, but what chambers did over a much longer period, albeit with an awful team, deserves a l9t of credit
Morsy has done more for the fortunes of the club than Butcher did. Butcher came into a successful team and carried on the good work. Morsy took a League One side by the scruff of the neck and led it back from oblivion. He’s up there with the very best.
Bit late to the party, but I think Morsy should rightly be claimed as a modern day club legend. Certainly the best captain we’ve had over the last two decades. As others have said, he was a key part of the back-to-back promotion teams. Not to mention, he’s been a great player for us (bar some difficult moments in the second half of last season). For me, he’s below the captains of our historically successful sides like Mills, Beattie, and Butcher. I’d also put Holland ahead of Morsy purely due to that 5th place Premier League side in 2000/01 (and I think Holland was the better player). I understand Morsy wants to play in the Middle East and earn more money. He’s at an age where Father Time will catch up with you at the top level. But I think it’s a bit of a shame because he could’ve still done the job for us in the Championship for one more year and added to his legacy if we get promoted this season.
£20m would be a record transfer fee spent for a Championship club. Apparently we’re willing to pay him £35k a week too. Middlesbrough fans will probably bemoan a “sideways move” to a fellow Championship side - but I think most football fans recognise we’re a much safer bet for promotion than Boro. For context, as a parachute payment club, we’ve got to throw our weight around financially to maximise our promotion chances. We’ve seen several key players depart this summer, so there are gaps in the squad to fill and central midfield is the lightest area of the squad. Hackney is somebody with a big reputation at this level and has the potential to be a Premier League starter. He’s highly regarded at England U21 level. He’s had a great couple of seasons at Boro. If it costs us £20m to bring in somebody who could be our midfield engine for the next few years, it’s a no brainer for me. If he’s good and gets Premier League interest in the future, we’d be making a profit. If we get promoted and he adapts well at a Premier League level, then that fee will look a bargain. It does put a lot of pressure on him, but we’ve got a great manager and club atmosphere to protect him. Lack of Premier League interest does give me pause for thought, but I can’t see many PL clubs spending £20m on a “project player” with no prior PL experience in this PSR age.
I don’t remember him to be honest, the majority seem to think he is sound. £20m on someone who could be the difference between promotion or remaining in this division is nothing and you’ll have money to spend
Whatever happens if we're going to be title challengers (which everyone had us as) we need to get some major signings in very quickly. I'm worried that we're not at the races to do that currently and my gut feeling is we should've brought more signings in quicker to have given the best chance at the autos. I think this is a strong division and we're going to need a fast start which I'm not sure we're capable of currently. For me we need a minimum of 2 CMs and 1 striker. Preferably 3 CMs and 2 strikers. We're 1 injury away upfront from having to rely on Al Hamidi as our main striker. I think that issue can probably be solved relatively easily. I have real concerns about the CM. It's the lack of personel, the fact we need new players in such an important position, if we get those in now it still concerns me that they've got less than 2 weeks to bed in before the season begins. It is an area I have had concerns about the past 2 seasons mainly tactically due to how we often get overrun. Another concern is that over the past season we've signed alot of players in those forward positions and not one has managed to nail them down. There's been so much chopping around in those positions we've not seen any consistency in anyone's performances. Also whilst I don't think it's as big a concern it's still a concern, the right side looks defensively fragile after losing Tuanzebe. Under McKenna we've generally had Tuanzebe or Donacien who have been superb at 1v1 defending which in a team which attacks so much has been really important. We've also generally had Wes Burns who really helps out defensively, I'm not convinced others in that role will do as much defensively that side. As I said at the start I'm not writing us off but I do feel the cumulative impact of the factors I've outlined doesn't put us in contention for the autos.
