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Flying flanker Mustapha Carayol has returned to the Riverside Stadium today and revealed he has signed a new deal with Boro.
That is good timing for both parties.
For Boro they are can freshen up the squad with a jet-heeled winger who now has vital pitch minutes under his belt after a year out following his cruciate injury.
Those five games may not have him quite up to full speed but they will have sharpened him up and nudged him towards the match fitness he was missing when he joined Brighton on loan.
And that could give Aitor Karanka an explosive attacking option from the bench that may just give Boro a match-winning edge in the vital games to come.
The boss has praised Muzzy whenever he has quizzed about him during his frustration year in the injury wilderness and clearly knows he has a galvanising potential if fit and harnessed.
And for Carayol it is good timing too: he steps back into a squad who - after Saturday’s showdown with the Seagulls - are potentially three games away from the Premier League.
Promotion to the big time beckons for Boro and Muzzy now has a chance to gate-crash the party at an historic moment, to be part of the squad that hits the jackpot and become a Wembley hero.
And he also now has the security of a new, improved two-and-a-half-year Boro deal under his belt.
Carayol’s Riverside future was looking more vulnerable at the turn of the year: he hadn’t really established himself under Aitor Karanka and had been publicly berated for his attitude; he faced competition as Yanic Wildschut had been signed and Adam Reach had matured as rivals in his position; and after a year out he had a lot to prove to a manager unwilling to try risk playing him in a system that demanded full pelt intensity for the full 90 minutes.
Crucially he was also about to drift out of contract in the summer.
There was interest from several clubs as the loan deadline loomed with Nottingham Forest keen to push through a loan deal with the hint of a full time close season move if he could show he still had the trickery and the afterburners to tear through defences.
The suggestion was his agent had been sounding out potential employers with a view to a move on a free.
But Boro moved to protect their interests and activated an option for a one year extension to his existing deal.
That deal of course was on a fairly modest wage that reflected that he had arrived on a £100,000 move from Bristol Rovers.
His new deal will give him a healthy pay-rise and a possible Premier League future at Boro.
And, should he move on - and he is aware of the fickle nature of football - Boro will be able to command a fee.
“I’m open to everything, you can’t shut any doors in football,” he told the Brighton media.
“One moment you’re loved and the next you’re not, but I’ll wait to see what happens in the summer and hopefully next season I’ll be a Premier League player.”
Let’s hope he is.
It's one of the world’s most popular TV shows - and now fantasy drama Game of Thrones has a touch of Teesside about it.
Series five of the worldwide phenomenon is currently showing on Sky Atlantic.
And making her bow in it is Teesside actress Faye Marsay, who plays The Waif.
Faye, 28, is no stranger to sci-fi and fantasy parts, having appeared - to huge critical acclaim - in the Christmas 2014 edition of Dr Who.
But her role in Game of Thrones - in which she made her first appearance on Monday night - could give the Loftus girl’s already impressive career an even bigger boost.
Adrian Rogers
It’s all a far cry in scale from her amateur dramatic days on Teesside when, having decided she wanted to act after seeing a panto at the age of six, she took several roles - often in productions with Redcar’s Spotlight Theatre Company.
She was also cast as Sue in a Redcar-based coming of age comedy drama, Is That It.
After attending Guisborough’s Laurence Jackson School and Prior Pursglove College, where she took drama, theatre, film and English, she studied theatre and performance at the University of Leeds before attending the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
And since pipping 20 other students from leading drama schools to the Spotlight Prize in 2012, following in the footsteps of the likes of Judi Dench, Albert Finney and Jim Broadbent, her career has really taken off.
Highlights have included playing Richard III’s wife Anne Neville in TV mini-series The White Queen and Candice in popular Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat.
She also secured her first major film role, Steph Chambers in hit British comedy Pride.
But with her roles in Dr Who and now Game of Thrones, where the character she portrays is blind, the sky may well be the limit for the actress and staunch Boro fan who proudly states on her Twitter page: “Grew up in Teesside”.
A bride was left in floods of tears after hotel staff cut into her wedding cake - and found it appeared to be mouldy.
Rachael Goodman had been talking about her dream wedding cake for months, telling hubby-to-be Chris, 24: “I want that cake!”
The Stockton mum had sent a picture of the cake she wanted to Guisborough-based Mandy Barber’s Cakes Of Elegance via Facebook.
And the 18-year-old’s mum Angela Green and mother-in-law Lynn Wallace paid £115 for the three-tier sponge cake.
On Saturday, happy couple Rachael and Chris tied the knot at Sporting Lodge in Thornaby with their daughter, 17-month-old Lillie Jane, as bridesmaid.
But when the evening celebrations began at 7pm, the couple struggled to cut the “hard” cake - which, although pretty, Rachael says didn’t look much like the picture she she sent to Ms Barber.
Worse still, when staff took it away to cut, they were horrified to discover what appeared to be mould.
Rachael said: “The manager called my mother-in-law in to see the cake and she came out of the kitchen sobbing.
“I went into the kitchen to see it and ran outside and broke down in tears.
"My husband was crying because he knew I was going to be absolutely devastated.”
The couple had decided to cut the cake as soon as the evening reception arrived but the upset that ensued threatened to ruin their first dance to Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud.
“I had to concentrate on making the first dance as special as I could without having to break down in floods of tears again”, Rachael said.
Staff at Sporting Lodge saved the day by going out and buying three replacement cakes.
But despite the “lovely” gesture, Rachael says the embarrassing event still put a dampener on the day.
“The first half of the day had been fantastic, but after seeing the cake it just wasn’t the same.”
After contacting Ms Barber, Rachael received a message of apology from her via Facebook which read: “I am so sorry about your cake and feel I have let you down.
"I have never had any problems before with mouldy cakes, as they are made fresh and not frozen and your cake was made on Thursday.
“All I can say is I am sorry and I will give you a full refund as soon as possible.”
She then requested Rachael’s bank details to be sent via text.
The Gazette has made several attempts to contact Mandy Barber but has so far received no response.
Controversial plans for a housing development on green wedge land in Ingleby Barwick have been resubmitted.
But the proposal has been reduced to 200 homes from the 550-home development rejected by Stockton Council in April last year.
The new development, on an 80-acre site next to Thornaby Road and the new Free School site, proposes “a range of well designed, energy efficient homes”.
The planning application says there will be “an emphasis on creating a strong sense of place and to include areas of open space for public recreation, amenity, and landscape, providing a good standard of amenity and public realm for the future occupants.
“The scheme proposes to encourage walking and cycling with a view to reducing car usage.”
Hundreds of people signed an online petition against the original Thornaby Road plans for 550-homes and 21 letters of objection were lodged.
Concerns had included loss of greenfield site; shortage of school places particularly at primary level; that Ingleby Barwick does not need more housing and the impact on wildlife.
The developers appealed the rejection by Stockton Council’s planning committee and a public inquiry had been due to be heard on February 10 at Stockton’s Baptist Tabernacle.
But the appeal was withdrawn after Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Environment, refused permission for another neighbouring 550-home development by Jersey-based Tiviot Way Investments.
Councillor Kevin Faulks, of the Ingleby Barwick Independent Society, said the new 200-home application was a “cynical move”.
“It’s like they are saying lets drop it to 200 homes and maybe planners will say that’s not too much,” he said.
“But you have always got in your head that they will come back in the future and put the other 300 in.”
Cllr Faulks added: “We are trying to get the message across that we will keep fighting against these developments.
“We just don’t think that they are needed. Ingleby Barwick is too big as it is and it hasn’t got the infrastructure.”
In March, plans were resubmitted for the neighbouring Tiviot Way 550 homes scheme.
The revised “Ingleby Manor” plans propose a “quality residential development” of 550 two, three and four bedroom homes, with a local centre and open space and park areas.
The application says: “The Ingleby Manor development will provide much needed residential accommodation.”
Both applications will be heard by Stockton’s planning committee at a future date.
Campaigners are planning a further protest at the Wilton 11 energy plant this week amid concerns over pay and worker safety.
Unite officers say they have “outstanding concerns” following talks with the company and staff and several protests at the construction site for SITA UK’s £250m plant
Officers, they claim, weren’t allowed to take an interpreter when talking with non-English speaking workers on-site - and the company hasn’t provided information they requested on pay rates for workers.
They also say SITA hasn’t given clarification about a serious accident involving a contract worker at the site last Monday.
SITA has confirmed there was an accident and a full investigation is now underway.
But the company has denied withholding wage rates from the unions and says interpreters were provided for on-site meetings. It has also dismissed as “unfounded” previous allegations by protesters about the employment of “cheap foreign labour” and workers’ terms and conditions, which have led to several protests in the last few months.
Campaigners claim there’s wide support for this Thursday’s early-morning protest at Wilton.
Steve Cason, Unite North-east regional officer, said: “We still haven’t had the information we’ve requested from SITA and it’s causing anger. We want them to clarify wage rates of all the contractors on site.
“Photos were taken of scaffolding on-site that was left unsafe. They have been sent to the HSE, SITA hasn’t confirmed this.
“We were given access to the site, but weren’t allowed to take an interpreter and so we couldn’t get any information.
“There are still a lot of outstanding concerns and issues that we’re not getting information on, it’s very frustrating.”
A spokesperson for SITA UK said: “Regrettably, an employee working for site contractor, Baldwin Crane Hire Ltd, suffered a serious injury whilst de-rigging a crane. The employee was taken immediately to hospital, where he underwent surgery. He is now recovering at home and our thoughts are very much with him.
“We take the health and safety of all employees, whether directly employed by SITA UK, CNIM/Clugstons or their subcontractors, extremely seriously and workplace health and safety remains our top priority.
“While it is our view that one accident is one too many, it is worth noting that 602,545 man hours have been worked on the site without a reportable accident until now. The site has recently been awarded a Gold Award following an independent audit.”
The spokesperson added that all workers, irrespective of their nationality, have “rates of pay equivalent to or higher than each of the unions’ relevant national agreements.”
Agreement was reached in February to allow union access to the site to discuss pay and working conditions with staff, they added. Interpreters were provided, workers informed of union visits and contractors agreed time off and private meetings for workers if required.
“Claims by the Trade Unions that individuals were somehow discouraged from speaking with them is hugely disappointing, given the large amount of time and effort that went into organising and promoting, what was, a genuine opportunity for the unions to meet the workforce,” the spokesperson said.
They added that the company remained open to further future visits by union representatives to the site and would work with them to ensure that anyone who wants to has opportunity to meet with them.
Steel unions have given official notice of their strike ballot to Tata Steel UK in an on-going pension row between the steelmaker and its staff.
Community, GMB and UCATT have given legal notice of the May 6 ballot with a fourth union - Unite - expected to follow in the next few days.
If enough of Tata’s 17,000 UK workers including 1,500 on Teesside vote for industrial action, it could trigger the largest private sector strike in recent times - and the first national steel strike in three decades.
Unions campaigning for Tata Steel to “lift the threat of closure” of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) are urging members to vote in favour of ‘strike action and action short of strike action’.
Tata says it has offered to keep the scheme open “subject to modifications” and has repeated claims its “door remains open” to further talks.
But unions say they had no choice but to call the ballot, after the steelmaker refused to re-enter “meaningful discussions” about the future of the scheme.
Roy Rickhuss, chairman of the National Trade Union Steel Co-ordinating Committee and General Secretary of Community, said: “Unfortunately there is no sign of Tata showing any willingness to work in a collaborative and co-operative spirit and re-enter meaningful discussions with the trade unions about the future of the BSPS.
“To defend the hard-earned pensions of our members, we have no choice but to ballot for industrial action.
“This is not a situation we wanted to find ourselves in. The unions were prepared to discuss changes that resolved the challenges faced by the scheme but Tata rejected that constructive offer. We are urging our members to vote for strike action.”
Dave Hulse, GMB national officer for steel added: “Tata has refused to sit down and talk again about a proper solution and has given us no option but to ballot our members. Our members are determined to stand up for their pensions and they will now have the opportunity to show their resolve by voting for strike action.”
Nick Blundell, UCATT Regional Secretary for Ucatt, said: “Our members are united in their opposition to the closure of their pension scheme and we are urging them to vote yes in the ballot to defend their pensions.”
A Tata Steel spokesman said: “The company tabled proposals to the national officers of the trade unions whereby the defined benefit (final salary) scheme would remain open to future accruals subject to a number of modifications.
“As agreement with the trade unions on these proposals could not be reached, the company has initiated a 60-day statutory consultation period with scheme members on a proposal to close the scheme to future accruals for existing members.
“The consultation process provides opportunities for employees to comment on the proposals and to suggest alternatives that they wish the company to consider, other than the proposal of closure to future accrual. The company also remains committed to providing employees with competitive future pension provision.
The spokesperson added: “We have made clear to the unions that our door remains open.”
Ballot papers will be posted to union members from Wednesday, May 6 and workers will have until the end of the month to vote.
