#Boro fans storm the National Gallery with the light & dynamism of a Caravaggio. A fantastic night. A highly charged atmosphere of optimism and hope. Thousands of fans. Flares. Loads of beaming kids there for the first time, making memories & charging their cultural batteries. These things matter.

I can’t stand the stupidity anymore

It’s a beautiful day, Bluesky is open, and people are having a wonderful time.

Isee this as like the Karanka play-off season. He’s getting his bearings, he knows where he is short, who is not good enough mentally & physically to play his way. Next year he will tweak it and Gibbo will support him and there will be no fannying around. Automatics #Boro #UTB

FT: 0-1. Absolute sickener as they score in stoppage time but blunt #Boro didn’t do enough and while they edged the stats they didn’t threaten or work the keeper. Gutted after a dramatic week. Automatic next year. No messing about with the Wembley curse. #UTB

Bastard. Bugger. Twat.

HT: Nils. #Borohave edged it in terms of possession and territory but lacked serious penetration and #Hull not really in it for long spells but had the best chances and grazed the bar. Missing Conway. Still, plenty of time and Hackney to come on. #UTB

Come on #Boro - SIXTH TIME LUCKY! A lucky loser reprieve. A second chance. Go and grab it by the throat and kick its effing teeth in. #UtB

Our bizarrely resurrected Tiger tonking Wembley Wonders #UTB #Boro

Drawn the short straw with seats… #UTB #Boro

It’s been a crazy season. We bounced back from Edwards betrayal & reshaped on the hoof under Kim on playing some amazing football along the way. #Boro were cheated out of the play-offs and ZAP! Reinstated. Glorious 2nd chance. Let’s grab it. Nothing to lose. History beckons. #UTB

My girl lapping up the atmosphere at the boozy #Boro base camp in Trafalgar Square.

Owwwwaaaayyyy! #UTB #Boro

The tin-eared, self-serving #Southampton statement is a PR disaster. On brand though. Press officer closing down questions. Cheat boss walking out. Bellend-Whatsit's vile taunts to Ayling. Arrogant hierarchy. Daft fans. Denial. Self-pity. What a mess. A club with an asterisk.

My daughter has just said: “Southampton can’t complain. They lost the appeals fair and square over two legs.” #Boro #UTB

“I got caught shoplifting and now the owner has kicked me of of the shop. And I’ve only done it three times before. It’s a disproportionate punishment.”

One of most destructive acts of the Cameron-Osborne era was the decision to target austerity on local government.

Southampton kicked out of football’s richest game for spying on opponents ft.trib.al/5uh9tcs

#Southampton will have to sack the manager the second the appeal is rejected to firewall themselves from the shame and create some plausible deniability. #Boro #UTB

Of course, the main lesson of all this is: don't fuck with Gibbo. #Boro #Southampton

A statement from MFC: Middlesbrough Football Club welcomes the outcome of today’s Disciplinary Commission hearing. We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct.

I know there’s a lot going on with the Labour Party, but it is all in the bounds of democratic politics. This however, paid collusion between the leaders of two political parties in the run up to election, if true, is a scandal of staggering propositions

Maybe the kids will save us after all

there’s a nest of baby bunnies in my backyard and it’s one of the most beautiful things that’s ever happened to me

This edition of #totp from 1999 is basically a series of contrived boy/girl bands doing line-dancing routines with as much effort going into the overly elaborate dance moves as into the harmonies. It is proto K-Pop factory product.

Lively debate down the other end of room about the moral outrage that is “Rachael inequality.”

Lively debate down the other end of room about the moral outrage that is “Rachael inequality.”

If you get caught doping, that’s it. That’s the offence. You get banned. It doesn’t matter if you only finished fifth and it didn’t affect the podium places. Some transgressions are fundamental. #spygate

Some really interesting legal phrasing in this. Fair play to the EFL for the swift statement but there is lots going unsaid. Confirms date of play-off but adds: “Supporters should, however, be aware that the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings may yet result in changes to the fixture.”

Mahler’s 5th Symphony, the adagiatto on Radio Three with Georgia Mann right now: absolute banger.

😢Kim Hellberg visibly fighting back tears in emotional 15 minute #Boro press conference at St Mary's. Said he was 'disgusted' by Southampton's conduct after last week's spying mission. Has he spoken to Tonda Eckert? 'No, I have nothing to say to him'

Proud of the team and club for the moment created this week, the atmosphere and unity. It shows what #Boro can do when fully focused. And it may not be over yet... hope Hackney & Conway are fit for the final. #UTB

Bugger. Whistle. 1-2. A few tired swings in a fatigued final flurry but not enough to claw it back after a sickening late winner. Gutted. #Boro should have wrapped it up in the first half on Saturday. Brilliant, pulsating, feisty first 45, can't fault the effort. #UTB

BASTARD! #UTB #Boro

#Boro #UTB

Boro #utb

FT: 1-1. Very ragged second half, #Boro have rode their luck and been under the cosh for long spells. Both sides had strong penalty shouts. Saints driven, have the confidence of long unbeaten run, niggly too. Even the ball boys. Still in it though. Wembley up for grabs. #UTB

Surly burly ball-boy wrestling with a #Boro player to prevent a restart of play. This club are riddled with bad sportsmanship top to bottom. #UTB

HANDBALL! #Boro #UTB

HT: 1-1. Simmering, snarling, spitting, spicy showdown bubbling with tension & sub-text. Great stuff. #Boro got well worked opener in a bright start then had to hold off #Saints as both sides traded blows. Boro had chances. Sickening late leveller from a cheap free-kick. #UTB

Bugger. #UTB #Boro

This already bubbling game won't take much to boil over now. Expecting 'handbags', 'melees' and 'fisticuffs'. #Boro #UTB

Faint-heart #Saints fans have stopped booing. No staying power. Or the weight of guilt. #UTB

YES! YES! JUSTICE! #Boro #UTB

Come on #Boro - let's get #theEFL off the hook! #UTB

#Southampton Temu-build-up copying everything about the #Boro home game (apart from throwing missles) - and have even copied the ground. #UTB

Well, I'm ready. #Boro #UTB

Southampton doyles helping fire up #Boro by shotting missiles at the team coach, giving the EFL something else to discuss. They’re struggling to do the ‘binoculars’ gesture though, what with their knuckles dragging along the floor. #UTB