City Slickers prove too pacy for Boro battlers

The team announcements asked a few question for those of us gathered in the concourse pre kick off. Downing obviously is still on the naughty step yet Gaston was on the bench, go figure as Brad would probably say. Clearly Stewy must have been very, very naughty compared to Gaston. Incredible that not only was he allowed into the Riverside after recent showings but also got one of the best seats in the house. One rule for one and another for another it would appear, whatever the reasoning for the Uruguayans inclusion and the omission of Pally Parks finest it left a bitter taste with many.

As the Teams came out I admit to a feeling of que sera sera not that I thought for one second Boro were going to Wembley more just a case of whatever will be will be. And so it was, a side full of £50m players against a side with a few £5m players (not counting Stewy of course or even the recently purchased Bamford) was always going to be a tough ask. A team full of gifted talent and skills against a side that are generally pedestrian and so deep in their own half aqua lungs and flippers wouldn’t go amiss were ripped apart as City without fear of a Boro assault piled men and bodies forward and put Boro under pressure from the off and ripped us apart with some slick quick passing.

With Toure under absolutely no pressure he splayed the ball out wide and Zabaleta fired a fierce ball into the middle where the blue shirts had set up base camp and despite Sterling doing his best to miss Silva managed to eventually turn it in. Two minutes, 40 seconds on the clock, 0-1 and the random Cup attendees were still trying to find their seats whilst balancing their Burgers, Chips, Coffees, Fanta and various designer shopping bags.

At that point the omens looked bad, in fact we were cut open so easily and quickly that it looked like there was little on the field in Red that could put up any sort of defence with a likely cricket score looming. The rest of the half seen Guzan and Gibson having several discussions about our defensive organisation, I’m not sure what was being said but clearly Brad was not too happy about something.

To be fair it could have been about any number of things, our midfield seemed porous to City charging forwards. Grant seemed slow and hesitant at times, Adama was running around in circles beating three City players before losing possession, Sane was tearing Barragan apart (as he has with many Premiership defenders since his arrival). We looked and were very ragged but on the positive the normal backs to the wall keep them out at all costs and don’t attack default was no longer an option as this was a knock out competition with only the winners going to Wembley. As a consequence we saw Boro attempt to attack but the contrast in build-up and style was light years apart and try as we might our slow passing game was easily read and intercepted and picked off.

On 15 minutes it should have been 0-2 after Sane skinned Barragan but his shot come cross across goal was fortunately missed by Aguerro. Our only outlet was a long ball up to Gestede who clearly is still in favour with the Boss who did win aerial duels but unlike City who would have had 4 or 5 players like as not following up and supporting our offensive threat was somewhat reticent. In fairness de Roon who was playing as the advanced midfielder did pick up one knock down but his snatched shot was both woeful and wide. We did manage to get the ball up to Gestede again and he

managed winning his duel got a header off that went over but in all honesty our long balls looked more in desperation than as any part of a game plan. In fairness to Benin’s best, Otamendi and Stones looked very uncomfortable against him but with no one near him his battles were in vain. Whether it was the extra effort required in being a one man attack or simply a question of warm up routines and stretching but for the second week we saw a Boro player leave the field early in the first half with a hammy. Twenty six minutes gone and AK was forced to put Negredo on.

On paper we shouldn’t be able to live with City purely on the amount of spend between the two squads but in fairness to Boro a few did role sleeves up and get stuck in. Guzan was Boro MOM between the sticks, Gibson had one dodgy moment but was class apart from that, Fabio struggled against Zabaleta at times but still pushed, chased, ran and harried and was unlucky in the second half to see an attempt cleared after a Negredo knock down. The fact that it was our LB attacking on the edge of the 6 yard box tells its own story. Our Dutch International de Roon ran and chased and fought as did Clayton. Grant gave a 100% but at this level struggled with the pace speed and athleticism of his opponents. Indeed de Roon put in a cross that was met by Stuani and caused Bravo to make a save late in the first half.

For me the most stand out performance apart from Guzan was Stuani, he really put a shift in, tackling, fighting (literally at one point) and looking determined not to give up. No goals but an honourable days graft as was Negredo when he came on who chased down Bravo in goal and got at the susceptible looking City defence as they passed the ball out and not always convincingly. Traore was a mixed bag, when he got a chance his pace led to a few runs down the flanks and crosses but one in the first half was wayward but another did find Negredo in the second for the aforementioned Fabio effort on 77 minutes.

For all our best efforts we never really looked likely to make a serious impact apart from a first half effort that was cleared off the line whereas in reality how City didn’t score at least 5 was down to Gibson and Guzan (who in my opinion done enough to keep his starting spot). When the second half started City once more came out all guns blazing with de Bruyne looking lively causing problems. By now we were playing far higher up the pitch and despite the fact we only had 31% possession we actually looked a lot better than of late. The fans stuck behind the players and kept with them even when Gaston came on for the weary looking Grant there was a mixed reception with a crescendo of boos drowned out by polite applause overly extended from the appreciation of Grant’s departure.

Meanwhile Guzan was inspired tipping away a Silva shot from the bottom corner and again palming away the same from Sane but was helpless with Aguero making it two for City from Sane’s cross. He then went on to block another Silva effort with his legs and reach spectacularly to prevent a Sterling effort. It ended 0-2 but as the day trippers dawdled away in the last ten minutes the stalwarts remained to clap the players off the pitch.

Tactically there was little on offer and starting with our predictable defensive line up didn’t help and handed City the initiative. Interestingly Pep was stood watching our warm up routines so whether that gave him any clues I don’t know but on the day we were simply beaten by a far better side and although there will be some who no doubt will lay a lot of the blame at AK’s door and some of it fairly City quite simply had far better players.

214 thoughts on “City Slickers prove too pacy for Boro battlers

  1. I think that again the fact we failed to score tells its own story. Yes, Man City are a great side filled with players much better than ours, but the fact is that great managers are able to get players to ‘ punch above their weight’ and AK isn’t able to achieve it. Without a major change in strategy Championship here we come.

  2. Nicely written as usual RR – I also noted a comment describing how the stadium was ‘half full’ at the final whistle. Seems to be a case of ‘They came, they saw they left!’ Question is how many will come, see & stay when we are back in the Championship?
    I suppose those with 10 or 20+ years as supporters can legitimately say we’ve seen it all before. So, another relegation would just be that, another one. Some might be sayin ‘Hang on Spartak, we’re tbe mighty Boro & there’s loads of games left yet!’ I’d reply that indeed they are correct but now we’re second from bottom, out of tbe FA Cup & the teams above us are starting to pull away. Unfortunately, tbe way I see it we’ll be lucky to find 10 more points. Still AK has said he will try to keep us up, so that’s something.

  3. I never expected we would win and I thought we would get hammered by 3 or 4.0 and would have been by even more if it weren’t for Guzans saves and City’s wayward finishing.
    Now down to 19th in the league And we still arnt scoring or genuinely look like scoring and for me we’ve had it. Hull and Swansea both capable of wins and goals as are the rest down there with the exception of Sunderland. I think the only thing we are competing for now is avoiding 20th position.
    Karanka has fallen out with too many players and jettisons them from the squad regardless of ability! His post match comments on why Bamford and Downing arnt in the squad was that he needs eighteen fighters,when asked if Ramirez the player who wants to leave,has mentally left and has showed no interest on the pitch since then,has shown more fight than them he replied “much more”
    Karanka could do with a few lessons in man management,that was poor from him,he’s going run out of players by the end of the season at the rate he falls out with them then seemingly holds an endless grudge against them.
    You can’t tell me that Straight down the Tunnel Ramirez shows more heart and passion in training than Bamford and Downing?? Gibson more or less said last week he hasn’t pulled his weight,what must the other players think when they see all this happening?
    Now we have a hamstring injury crisis Ayala Friend Espinosa and Gestede,Chambers stress fracture and out of form and out of favour players.
    This is turning into the biggest disappointing season and it’s criminal to be slowly slinking out of the PL without a fight having fought our way back here. We’ve all seen it coming and nothing has been done to stop it!!

  4. Spot on nevergiveup. Our first eleven today was at best a mid table championship side. Our squad, through sales or man management is now vastly inferior to the team that got us promoted. No adomah, Ayala, downing or Ramirez for that matter. The first eleven today had no goals in the team. Look at the career goal stats of that starting eleven and for most of them those were obtained at a lower level.
    How has this been allowed to happen? If you’d told me that after the January transfer window we would have traore and stuani supplying chances for gestede I’d have thought you were in la la land. And that is not meant to be disrespectful to any of those players just that it shows how far we’ve fallen.
    How could we spend nearly ten million on bamford and not even have him in the squad?
    The wheels have well and truly fallen off and unfortunately ak has to take the majority of the blame.
    Today, we huffed and puffed. Even if we had our best team out we may have struggled but if that team is our best eleven players that we have available then heaven help us there’s a major rebuilding job to do in the championship.
    And make no mistake that’s where we are heading.

  5. Thanks for the match report RR – I agree with that assessment, Boro tried their best but were second best all over the pitch. The game reminded me a bit of our cup final against Chelsea – as soon as the early goal went in you knew our chance had gone.
    Nothing is really going Boro’s way at the moment – more injuries and our key players seem to be either off-form or their interest has waned. Stuani appeared to have one of those games where he seemed to be one-step behind everyone else and Adama sadly looks to be severely lacking a football brain. He’s actually nearly a year older than Dele Alli so he shouldn’t be regarded as a complete novice – he’s probably gone backwards in his development in the last month.
    I know I’ve been critical of Karanka but it looks like he’s got a lot of problems to solve and I’m struggling to decide who our best XI are anymore – there’s probably only 3 or possibly 4 players who are playing anywhere near their best at the moment.
    It’s looking ominous and I doubt our next game will give us any relief – everyone needs a lift but it’s hard to see where that is going to come from. I’m almost starting to look forward to the international break…

  6. It was interesting watching on TV in a break from wallpaper removal.
    Cant fault the players for effort, outclassed but we had players booked when we could get close enough to foul them.
    A couple of things came over from the commentary, neither full back got much help.
    Time again the Citeh wide attackers were allowed free runs at and behind the full backs. The old days of a ‘welcome’ in the opening minutes for the opposition vanished as Stuani allowed Zaballeta the freedom of the Riverside for the first goal.
    The rest of the game we were changing shadows and daft as it sounds could easily been level due to profligacy by Citeh but it was matched by our inability to take any chances.
    We move on to ManU, a decent back four in the treatment room. Meanwhile Paddy and Downing sat on the sidelines.

    1. I just do not understand AK´s comments when he says that he wants 18 fighters. Is he saying that Bamford, who AK must have had the final say on signing him, just is not up to it?
      Whilst I appreciate we have some injury problems and others have said as much, what we have now would not of got us out of the Championship last season.
      We have let go players who are far and above better than what we have now. The transfer policy and selection of new players has been abysmal to say the least. Where does the fault lay?. We need to know, but probably won´t……is it Mr Gibson. Orta, Gill or even AK. There have been some absolutely bad buys. Who is choosing these players and paying them EPL wages.? We know all transfers are a gamble to some extent, but we have bought quantity with no thought to quality.
      de Roon at 12 mil. AV give him a 7 today, yes energetic, but he is just like a headless chicken IMOP. Negrado, who RR thought had a reasonable game, was not even nuisance value. He did not even look that interested. Mind you would you be?
      I could go on and on with this rant, but to what purpose. We are doomed, we may even end up below Sunderland.

      1. Pedro
        Negredo was constantly chasing and running around on his own trying to close down the City defenders and Bravo, putting them under some pressure. He rarely had the ball but put a full shift in selflessly trying to create something for himself and nearly did when he put a sliding challenge in on Bravo in the box which at least won us a throw in when Bravo then sliced the ball in a blind panic. Negredo had little to no service so was unlikely to trouble the keeper let alone get a goal but at least ran and tried to do something. It was the proverbial silk purse out a pigs ear.

  7. Downing has spat his dummy out at other clubs , so I am supportive of Karanka on his decision. He wanted shot of Downing in January. When will Downing realise that he is way past it . Only decided to come to Boro to see out his career on big money wages . He has been very disappointing to say the least. After today’s result at Hull , Boro are well deep in trouble on all fronts.From the manager / backroom staff etc . What does Steve Agnew do apart from sat on the bench saying nothing. It is the championship for Boro now and a massive big clear out is expected which is no bad thing . We have so much deadwood at the club at the moment.

    1. Brave
      It’s important to get your thinking clear when you are in a hole, otherwise you keep on digging.
      The statements of AK studied in depth, condemn him out of hand, most of them make no sense, a lot of them are insulting to some one, mainly the players he is supposed to be man managing.
      His team selections are, at best, strange, at worst, perverse.
      To take the ManCity selections, as we have not the players to cut up rough, it would have made sense to play Downing, at home in the company of class players, does not give the ball away, has been o.k. when he has got on the field.
      Why would you allow Ramirez on the park, long ago finished with the club, not too bothered and shows it .
      When are we going to give Traore the ball in the clear to run on to, seems a good plan. He is fast, and he doesn’t have to beat four men every time he gets the ball, does he?
      and why not play him in the middle of the park?

    2. It isn’t possible to know how much input Steve Agnew has, unless you know how much AK ALLOWS him to have. Do you think AK is the sort of chap to have an open discussion about tactics and personnel, or would your guess be that it is more a case of “It’s my way or the highway”?

  8. Braveheart….the difference between AK and Gaurdiola on the touch line says it all. the first stands hands in pockets, whilst the second is gestating. jumping up and down giving instructions to his players.
    Mr Agnew…..well I do wonder what his input is?

    1. Nice one, Pedro. Gestating! I love it. I didn’t realise he was pregnant!
      AV gave Traore 6 today. Like Werder, I thought he was awful. He constantly made the wrong decision and frequently lost the ball in dangerous positions because his brain tells him he has to dribble out of every impasse. A 3 at best.

      1. Clive
        Traore appears to have a heart the size of a pea and a footballing brain of similar cubic mass. He has absolutely no concept of reading the game and when to make runs or when to keep it safe. No doubt he would make a great 100 metres sprinter but that doesn’t make him a footballer. Adomah may not have had his speed but would have had a few goals and assists to his name even if he did walk for free in the summer.

      2. Clive
        Just a thought on Traore.
        Very fast, very good dribbler, facing an old timer at fullback. I would imagine the only thought that the opposition had to give to our set up was to put an extra man as cover for Zabaletta.
        I hate to think what the score would have been had we fielded a.n.other in his place
        Has it occurred to you that we might occasionally give him the ball with an open field in front of him, plus someone to pass to, could be a good plan. Or maybe it gives the team a rest as they watch him beat four players, without, of course going anywhere near him, after all they might pick up a loose ball and that would never do, would it.

  9. Traore is absolutely wasted in our team. We make him look awful because to create anything in our team you do actually have to beat three or four players.
    Put him in a team where he’s higher up the pitch. He only has one man against him and he’d be a different player completely.
    Put him in our team where we try to play on the counter attack and where he is the only player with any pace. Then guess what he has no support and no one anywhere near him. Imagine de roon, clayts or lead boots trying to keep up with traore in full flow.
    The reality is ak doesn’t have a clue offensively. He doesn’t know how to get the best out of any of our players. Put traore in a team with quality players around him who get up the pitch, move into space, give him options he’d suddenly look a far better player. Hence why Chelsea were interested!!

    1. Paul
      No doubt the fact he plays at 78 whilst the rest are on 33 and a 1/3 is a major factor but that doesn’t explain away his inability to cross a ball or simply pass it. He is a bit of a novelty act but the only novelty we have capable of creating something.
      His efforts would likely be far more productive further up the pitch in and around the opposition’s 18 yard box attracting fouls but that of course is down to tactics and the Manager.

      1. I was talking to a guy after the game who reckoned Traore’s best position might be up front down the middle. Given that most centre halves are not the speediest of individuals, he might have a point.

      2. I agree, his game does still need a lot of work. But that’s why he’s playing for us and not one of the big boys.
        Still think we need to utilise his strengths and support him higher up the field though!!
        I always feel crossing is one of those things that to some extent all players have in their locker. It’s simply a case of cross it enough times with enough players in the box to aim for and eventually you’ll pick out a good cross. Problem is we only ever have one player in the box so you need to either be incredibly lucky or incredibly accurate to hit that man (and hope he’s not marked!)

  10. I am 59 so I have been through many ups and downs with our club, but I just want this season to end, every weekend is like groundhog day, we lose, we fail to score, we don’t”give it a go” and our manager tells us he was proud of our effort. This season is like death by a thousand cuts, half the team are not trying and quite frankly this has been far more soul destroying than other relegations I have gone through, I just want it to end.

  11. Sadly Geoff, I agree with you. I knew it would be a hard grind this season and that 17th would be acceptable. However, we appear to be going down without a fight with performances that the manager considers acceptable.
    I was able to make the game today and can confirm that RRS report, excellent as always, was accurate and reflected what I saw.
    I didn’t expect a win really although hoped for at least seeing a rare goal. There is clearly something wrong somewhere in the team set up.
    Now I know money plays a big part and City won the game of top trumps in spending but Boro showed no real intent.
    The crowd were brilliant in their support apart from the early leavers. Barcelona did it with 7 minutes to go but we never looked likely to come back after the second.
    I always keep hoping for a Steau like comeback but today the manager and players didn’t have this in them.
    Going to have a final beer and hope that the season ends soon.
    But I will be there next year supporting my team come what may and if there is a positive, as a distant fan who can’t justify a season ticket for the time involved to see a game, then getting tickets will be easier!
    UTB

    1. I’m not sure I agree that Boro had no intent today, Geoff and Becky’s Dad. I thought we had plenty of effort and endeavour and that everybody worked hard for the team, even Ramirez. It’s just that we were completely outclassed by a very good side.
      It must be boring watching City every week, though. I’m sure I’d get tired of all that superb movement, the zillions of chances created and all those goals.

      1. Sorry Clive but I have to disagree, Ramirez and Negredo to me both looked disinterested and in the second half particularly we hardly got out of our half. It’s funny my son and were both saying to try Traore as the main man up front, I know its not Karankas style but a ball over the top would frighten the centre backs and whilst Traores crossing is woeful at times he may have a shot him. The worst that could happen is that it would keep the centrebacks deeper in their half. I never expected to win today but as Clive Allen said on the commentary, as the home team we went out with a wimper. I suppose we all have different standards.

      2. Clive
        You have put the spotlight on our biggest problem, we play very badly against the dross(i think our nickname amongst the bottom fishers is ‘the bridge over troubled waters’)
        Then when we have to play the very good teams, the players get frightened and decide that they will have to try very hard to avoid a whitewash. Sound familiar?, it means that no one can pin them down, one minute hope is in the air the next they are being trashed by no hoper’s.
        I think the above describes our season beautifully, fortunately the football doctors have an easy cure for it. It called p45 and refers I think to something called, and I hope I’ve got the pronunciation right,’ a long holiday for the manager’
        I do not say this lightly, but because this season has gone beyond repair, and the next few months will be desperately needed to carry out repairs, just to get next season on something approaching an even keel.

  12. Next season after the sale of some wanted players,we will be the wealthiest team in the championship, then we will see how the great Steve Gibson reacts.

  13. Next season…. for a change, I would like the manager to be set a target – Goals for more than 120. Goals against? don’t care…..
    Due to work commitments I am in China first week of April and will miss all three of our winnable games. Maybe thats a good thing as I cant see us winning any of them. So for me the season is over.
    The team have no quality ifght back back to rely upon. Huffing and puffing is not going to get us anywhere.
    Feeling very black this morning . . .

  14. I agree with Clive. Gaston was much better yesterday than ever after his injury. And the team tried much more – City were just much, much better than us.
    Gaston has been very rusty since his injury but this was definitely an improvement. We also know he had his heart set for playing Champion’ League. But we saw some glimpses of the old Gaston.
    Well, that was most of positives so far. Next Man United – we cannot expect much from that game, but AK will do his best to trick his old pal.
    But we need to get a break and a result. The players are really lacking in confidence now.
    I am never going to give up hoping. We need a few performances like against Everton, and we back in.
    Let’s keep on supporting the mighty reds.
    Up the Boro!

  15. Nice report RR, even though your main headline shows we were playing Oxford yesterday. UTB
    🔴 Oops, Well spotted! That was my fault I was putting the graphic together quickly before cooking dinner, changed all the stats and stuff but overlooked the largest text in front of me – werdermouth

  16. I wonder if we’ve got it wrong about Ramirez last week. Everyone seems to be assuming he wasn’t putting 100% in (and to be fair Ben Gibson seemed to allude to it) but perhaps he was having an off day – he has had them this season, and was in fact dropped at one point.
    I can’t understand why AK would continue to have him in the team unless he feels so desperate that he has to make a special case for him.

  17. No Downing and no Bamford? Anywhere.
    I think buying Bamford must have been an act of philanthropy to take him away from the horrible place he was in, sadly he seems to have entered an even worse nightmare. Or is there a plan to keep him training hard until the Championship kicks off at the beginning of August? Hopefully all the other injured players will be back by that time.
    OFB, I knew we would lose yesterday and any way now we can concentrate on the league the trouble is my deep seated Boro supporters pessimism can’t even see us scoring never mind winning.
    The present tactics won’t even make us into a yo-yo club. A yo-yo goes up and down, Boro go from side to side.
    Somebody mentioned three ‘winnable’ matches coming up.
    ‘Yer having a laugh like’.
    UTB,
    John

  18. borophil
    If you asked me one thing I would like to see on this blog it would be that we don’t say the players are not trying. We wouldn’t like it if someone said it about ourselves or family.
    On occasions a player may appear out of sorts and could have done more but in general I believe they will be trying.
    I watched the England v Scotland international yesterday and the Scots were similarly outclassed. It would have been easy to point fingers at a couple players because they never laid hands on English shirts.
    Sometimes you just cant get near the opposition.
    That is all different to the fact both Traore and Stuani left the fullbacks exposed which led to City to cut us apart. Our passing wasn’t good enough to trouble City often enough, we wasted the few chances we had.

  19. A bit on Sunday Supplement about Boro.
    They think we are likely to go down. Time for a change? ManU coming up.
    Gibbo likely to stick.
    Lincoln were more competitive in the first half at Arsenal than we were against City. So defensive.
    Discussed the signings, Bamford not even in the team, Downing came back and cant get in to the squad.
    Comments ended with Traore, Guzan and Gestede from Villa. Buy championship players and get championship football. Begs the question who is buying the players.
    Tried to summarize as best I can.

    1. Ian
      It pretty much reflects similar discussions on here for months now. If you but cheap you buy twice unfortunately. I’m sure Mr Gibson’s Haulage business pay a lot more attention to detail when purchasing a fleet of vehicles than the club does when buying players.

  20. Redcar apologies for not saying thank you for your excellent match report. It must be disheartening having to go through the match a second time, especially when there has been little to write home about at times this season.
    Ian, you are probably correct in that players are not trying on purpose. However could Chelsea last season have been an exception?
    With the Boro players it may be they are trying, but is it their best. Take Leadbitter, you know he is always giving 100% even if he looks out of sorts. The difference may be fine a line, RR has talked about that extra 1 or 2 % many times. When a team is fired up they appear to be giving their all, even that little bit extra. We have seen that many times over the last couple of seasons when we were up against EPL teams when we were in the Championship.

  21. Going back to my earlier rant….sorry about that.
    I know it sounds like a stuck record player, but the Boro’s transfer market dealings have been abysmal, I do not think anybody could put up a rational argument for the club.
    But as many have said with regards to our buys over the last two seasons and previously under SG1 as Ian reminds us, there has to be accountability. You cannot continue making bad buys, the wrong players, positions not covered.
    That is unless you own the club and have poured money in season after season to get to the promised land. May be you would not accept criticism and talk about a failed policy. Because that is what we have and by god is it going to cost us big time at the end of the season.

  22. I’d barely taken my seat when the match was effectively over. A recurring theme that once we go a goal behind we are unlikely to score and almost unthinkable that we will win. And of course that’s what you would expect when it’s City but its been the case with Bristol as well as Manchester, we just don’t have the capability to change our approach and evolve and make teams have to think. They know what we will do and so do we. And all we have is a pacey project with no productivity and a want away winger (if not two now) to keep our hopes alive of creativity and goals.
    Out of all the talk of dossiers, homework, attention to detail, it is inconceivable that Karanka didn’t know Gestede hadn’t won a premier league game in 30 odd matches. That’s a headline, not a hidden detail that should be missed. Very poor stuff across the board.

  23. Redcar
    Belated thanks for the report. Werder, yourself and Simon give us plenty to chew on.
    It must be hard for the players, they give it their best shot but the lack of quality will show through.

    1. Nonsense!
      You can move mountains with inspired and motivated men and women. However, you need an inspirational and knowlegable leader and belief.
      Maybe Simon can describe for us the World Cup game of Ireland v Holland or was it Scotland?
      I thank you!

  24. Our performances are getting worse as the season goes on,we’ve scored two league goals since January 1st and collected three points what makes anyone think that we are going to double our win tally and collect a few draws in the remaining eleven games to claw our way to safety??
    If we think that’s going to happen then we are as deluded as “amazing” Karanka is in his post match assessments!!

  25. Thought on Traore.
    Wenger bought the young Thierry Henry as a very fast tho wayward winger and converted him into a deadly centre forward. Henry would be placed as high up on the pitch as possible but on the touch line, on the shoulder of the full back, not the centre half. He was a false number nine, long before Barcelona invented the position.
    This widened and lengthened the pitch, it also meant he had a short route to goal and could invariably beat his marker in a straight sprint towards goal, especially onto a diagonal through ball.
    Yes, Henry became a more accomplished finisher than I ever expect Traore to be, but playing T there would at least exploit his pace far more than we do currently.

  26. As posted by many the recruitment of new players has been very poor, but is the reality that we can’t attract the players that are wanted or needed. The reasons for this are many fold, we won’t pay the price/wages, players don’t want to to play our dynamic exciting form of football. The team is relegation fodder or they just don’t want to move to the people’s republic of Teesside. The poor recruitment doesn’t paper overt he fact that we play sterile soulless football which is terrible to watch. Where is the incentive to renew my season tickets, the football will not change while he is in charge he is wedded to this system come hell or high water. In my eyes the season is an unmitigated disaster we were always going to struggle but the football we play is poor. Rant over

  27. Just a point on Gestede: a lot of people are highlighting his appearances in losing sides. We all know that one player can’t be solely responsible (perhaps unless you are the dodgiest of dodgy keepers).
    From what little I have seen of Rudy, he looks both a greater aerial threat and more mobile than Negredo. To me he seems far better of the two in terms of value for money.
    Of course, neither are overly effective because we are not a creative side. Even more so now as confidence has dropped away week by week. Gestede is on a bit of a hiding to nothing.
    I agree with those above who have suggested trying Traore up front, particularly Chris’ idea of trying to emulate Henry in coming in off the flank. Who would play the Bergkamp role though?

  28. Maybe I’m in the minority (I often seem to be!) but I wouldn’t describe yesterday (or the previous home game) as sterile or soulless. I thought it was a good game up until the 2nd goal, the first half in particular was pretty evenly matched, it was just a shame we conceded so early.
    My main problem with yesterday was the way we sleepwalked at the start of both halves – I know City are a very good team and from Guardiola’s comments it sounds like they were particularly good yesterday – but after the decent first half we should have come out firing in the 2nd but we seemed to be lacking energy and tempo.

    1. You will never walk alone, Phil. I will always be here for you. We need to keep positive and see that running a team is not so easy.
      Up the Boro, the Boro is staying up!

    2. Boro
      Teams know that we start the match by going back towards our own goal, so they immediately pour forwards and press, so the early goal was waiting to happen.
      Just imagine, had we kicked off by getting the ball forward for Traore to have a run at their defence, we might have had the early goal.
      We think the big clubs like us doing that, but the dross like it better, to them it’s a treat to be allowed to attack at will with no come back, and boy do our results against them show it.

  29. Obviously we know what Adama’s strengths are, I think we saw just one example yesterday of where he needs to play – further up the pitch wide on the right with space to run into.
    It’s probably always going to be problem under Karanka that he will be expected to track back and support the full-back, which is going to leave him mostly too deep with too much traffic to get through.
    Also he doesn’t understand the concept of a shoulder charge – it has to be his shoulder against his opponents shoulder – not the middle of their back!
    Theoretically he could play centre-forward but don’t remember him having the composure when seeing the goal in front of him to turn into Henri anytime in the next ten games.
    We probably need to have a ball player in midfield as from what I recall yesterday the attempts to play him through were mostly over-hit and he pulled up as the ball was unreachable even with his pace.
    Don’t know what’s happened to Fischer either – he also has energy and looks to get forward – admittedly he didn’t come off in the last few appearances but then again who has?
    Overall it’s increasingly hard to see a way out of this situation – the key game will be Palace at home to Watford before we play Man Utd – if they win then Boro will essentially need to win two more games than their relegation rivals to stay up, which may well mean five wins from the last ten.

    1. Weirder
      It’s strange that we all know that, or think we know that, Traore could be the answer to a maidens prayer, very fast runner in a team of slow coaches. Yet the people in charge stick grimly to their mantra, ‘he needs a lot of work’
      As a side issue he has laid on chances and goals, and two of the better ones were from the middle of the pitch, there’s no point in going over old ground, but surely he must be a bigger handful with more room to burst clear.
      And I still think it’s time and more than time that action is taken. Being reasonable in an impossible situation is the height of folly. Things are happening at lightening speed, whilst we stand around having a good think.

  30. There was one point where Negredo won a great flick in and Traore was just waiting to see what happened, instead of anticpating where Negoredo would flick it to and getting there first. By the time he realised the moment was gone. It’s that sort of tactical awareness that he lacks. I said a lot earlier in the season that we should consider him in the no.10 role – give him no defensive duties, let him drift where he wants, and when he gets the ball just run and run and run.

  31. Yes, I remember it well.
    That glorious day at Lansdowne Road when Ireland eliminated the Dutch.
    Gary Kelly was sent off. The visitors missed sitters. But then Steve Finnan galloped forward to receive a pass, and crossed for McAteer…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePNST9aczFI
    It bothers me that Keane and McCarthy couldn’t see eye to eye, although I suppose that in turn transferred itself to on the pitch success during that qualifying campaign. Unfortunate that it all exploded in Saipan, but c’est la vie.
    Although Keane would later say, with regards to Saipan: “In defence of Mick, what was going on was a joke… I know when I became a manager myself I appreciated what a hard job it is.”

  32. On the few occasions when they are in and around the box, I don’t think our players gamble or attack the ball. They seem to want the ball to come to them after a lot of intricate play. Maybe this just highlights the lack of quality or confidence in front of goal.
    I thought we improved on recent displays yesterday but I don’t think we can turn round our desperate plight, especially with all the apparent dicontent in the background.
    Miracles do happen but I think that’s what’s required for us to survive.

    1. Steely
      One of my recurring beefs is that we pass to statues, there is no movement off the ball dragging defenders or midfielders wide to open up spaces. Then we hang onto the ball far too long, looking to play a perfect possession keeping pass to a static object.
      Playing quick, slick, one touch balls into open spaces, anticipating a red shirt shirt to read the next phase of play thereby carving defences open just doesn’t happen. I have a double theory on that, one is that the players are coached in such a way that such game plays are frowned upon as it involves an element of risk in losing possession. The other is that the type of players we sign do not posses those attributes or if they did they crash and burn at Rockliffe where it is sucked out of them.
      It is probably a mixture of both but with regards to the second theory coincidentally a fair few naughty stepped individuals readily spring to mind. Knock downs, flick ons, through balls, one two’s, making the ball do the work covering ground quickly, having the opposition back pedalling as we cut them open just doesn’t happen under AK.
      Congested backwards and sideways passing just doesn’t cut the mustard at this level and I suspect the Players are now starting to express the same which may in part explain Gaston’s desire to leave and certainly Stewy and Negredo’s recent episodes and that’s without considering, Rhodes, Bamford, Adomah etc.

    2. Steely
      I believe that we are completely uncoached in the attacking side of the game, we completely ignore the curve shot into the far corner(just watched the spurs midfielder use it to put them one up)
      We will not, under any circumstances shoot instantly, or on the volley, or through a crowded six yard box, we do not employ the short backswing, or, for that matter, the long range snap shot. We do love the leaning well back and putting it over the bar shot, I believe several of our players have taken a masters in that particular shot.
      During the match, shortly after they had taken the lead one of ours had the ball at his feet, corner of the box, no defenders keeper on the near post, he chose to go for the near post.
      Free kick, corner of the box, our man chooses to take it early, misskicks it completely, the ref says that’s fine and play goes on(would he have allowed it if it had scored?) dont think so.

  33. My quote of the day comes from “TheRedNine”, in the Guardian’s comments section.
    “The thing with the cult of the football manager (c. Barney Ronay) is that not only do fans and newspapers believe in it, once players start winning they believe in it too.
    “I don’t think Claudio (Ranieri) fell for the illusion, but perhaps he didn’t work as hard as he could have on new tactics and bringing in new blood.
    “Oddly enough we’re coming to the end of this era. Klopp, Simeone and a few others can rage against the dying of the light all they like every weekend, but they’re all an endangered species now.
    “The footballers are running the show, and the writing’s on the wall.”

  34. I think there is a consensus that:
    a) the players we have are not good enough;
    b) Karanka’s tactics are not helping matters.
    I have been watching Boro nearly 30 years and for the first time am starting to dread our matches. Though having seen us v Soton, Watford, Palace and Stoke, has not led to any anticipation of upcoming fixtures. Lennie’s outclassed PL strugglers at least scored a few goals and even during the relegation under Southgate there was hope at times that (remember the Liverpool game) we might just get out of it. Present situation seems hopeless (at least for me disproving the clockwise quote), for all talk of the 3 winnable games in April, do we realistically think we will win any of them? Two 0-1s and a 0-0 v Burnley my prediction.
    I do not think getting rid of Karanka will save us from relegation, that ship has sailed unfortunately. The only reasons to act now will be to give his successor time to assess the squad and make an early start in purchasing new players next summer. May also save us from having to watch any more games as grim as Palace and Stoke.

    1. I agree with everything you have said apart from the players not being good enough. I think that we do have a good enough squad if he actually played them all and allowed them to play. With more support Negredo could do a great job and I think that Bamford would relish playing off him.

  35. Adomah was my favourite player while at Boro. But when he left, I don’t think I have missed him much.
    I don’t think he has cemented a starting place at Villa this season. And Villa haven’t played that well either.
    So please do not use Adomah as a stick to beat AK. There are other reasons we are in bottom three (or two) now.
    Secondly, don’t suggest that AK is not allowing the players to attack. Like he would be a small child with just one idea on his mind. He not a stupid as he has said many times the tactics are being chanced but the players lack self-belief and confidence now.
    I still trust AK. We were so close with the performance vs. Everton. But now our defence is not working with all the injuries. Luckily we have an international break coming up.
    We need the defence back working and also Gaston, de Roon and Traore functioning in midfield. Or Fisher. We just have to get back to the basics and have the team working again.
    Up the Boro!

    1. Jarkk
      Admire your positivity, but, the pundits on the box, whichever channel you watch, are giving the most awful signals to us the fans, and to Steve Gibson. They will not give too much stick to a condemned club, but for once they are trying to help, so it would be wise to listen to them.
      They say the following. No shots, no one in the six yard box, no one up field, no goals, certain to go down with those stats.
      We should listen to them, and change our manager, now. There is lots of work to be done before the season end, and it will not include him. Too many grudges, not enough togetherness. He has been allowed the cup tie, that should be it, over and out.

    2. Without scoring goals we are doomed. What have you seen in the AK ‘master plan’ that gives you hope that we will suddenly become a goal scoring machine when we haven’t managed it in all of the time he has been in charge.

    3. Jarkko
      I’m not using Adomah as a stick to beat AK with I’m using Adomah as a stick to beat the entire club with. I have no problem in moving players on and bringing new ones in that ultimately is the fate of all footballers and football clubs.
      My beef is that you don’t move players out and bring poorer players in. Adomah was the best we had in that position, whether he is or was good enough for the Premiership is irrelevant as what was brought in subsequently weakened the squad, arguably I can say the same about Nsue and others, there are now too many examples.
      Some of it is without doubt AK’s fault and his poor relationship and man management skills but a huge part of it is the much heralded and lauded back room infrastructure and in particular the recruitment department who have been masquerading as skilled professionals for a considerable amount of time now and getting away with it under the watch of Neil Bausor and Steve Gibson who do not come out of it with much glory. Under par, underperforming individuals are dragging the club back down to the Championship and with a more expensive but poorer team in January 2017 to the team in January 2016 despite “giving it a go” and being in the Premiership. Contrast that with the huge change in personnel at Burnley compared to their Championship team.
      Steve Gibson and all those under him have performed like the Grand old Duke of York (marched us up to the top of the hill and marching us back down again). There are far too many areas of MFC which have been found wanting for what is required at this level, even down to the shirts, unprofessional, cheap, second rate and it has permeated right through the club.
      Those are the reasons which are precisely why we are second bottom and didn’t see it coming despite many on here warning about performances and a lack of attacking willingness back in September. In fact upon reflection some of us complained about the shirts even way before then.

  36. Its interesting to see that the local media seem to have hardened their opinion and comments on Karanka and his “its not my fault” and his other bizzare comments.
    i still have a feeling that he could still go but no one was saying anything yesterday. It was very very quiet………………………………………………………

    1. OFB
      At the risk of being arrogant on behalf of all of us on Diasboro (and beforehand Untypical Boro) I think there is far greater brevity and reality on here than elsewhere. I would even propose that that is the reason that the “Fans Forum” appears exclusive rather than inclusive (though I still go along with the musings of Groucho Marx on that one).
      Whilst having a PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) is a wonderful thing Teessiders are by nature very down to earth people, blunt and direct with it. Fluffy waffle is all well and good but the culture in these parts is to call a spade a shovel and usually a shovel covered in brown stuff with an Anglo Saxon adjective in front of it.
      There has been far too much foreboding stuff put in print on here, too consistently and for far too long for it to be dismissed much longer. The truth hurts as they say and the manipulation and subsequent turning of the local media is little surprise apart from its timing that is.

  37. I know there are some people who can find enjoyment in almost anything, but It’s pretty hard to blame any Boro supporter for not feeling positive right now – It’s not like they are being over-critical of their team in some self-introspective sense of entitlement.
    A national newspaper has just labeled Boro the second most boring team in PL history – incidentally they came second to a team who employed such tactics to finish in 11th – so our supporters are not only suffering the tactics but they can’t even take consolation that they are a means to an end.
    If Boro fail to score against Man Utd then the supporters will go into the international break knowing that their team will resume in April having only achieved two league goals in three calendar months – OK managing a team may not be easy – but how easy is it to watch a team scoring less than a goal a month! Goal of the month for Boro fans has now become a statistical aspiration rather than a competition.

  38. Jarrko, here are some stats of your former favourite player.
    Played in 30 matches, 23 starts. Only four Villa players have more game time minutes. Scored 3 goals AND nine assists.
    Now compare that to Adama, who we did a swop for. OK you will tell me one is in the Championship whilst the other is in the EPL. But our current wide player has played how many Jarrko, scored how many and had how many assists.
    I think it is a stick to beat AK and the super dooper recruitment team with.

  39. Wedermouth, that is a pretty damning statistic although on the basis of if you didn’t laugh, you would cry, then I did laugh out loud at the Goal of the month bit!
    Without goals we are doomed am afraid and I can’t see where they will come from.
    OFB has his contacts and still feels AK will go, so we will see I gues……

    1. Simon
      Interesting post and makes one think !
      The problem is we don’t really want Karanka to fail as it will be the end of a complete change that we have gone through the past three exciting years
      No one likes to see people lose their jobs and I have had to make people redundant over the years and it was never easy
      But and it’s a big BUT
      WE DONT WANT TO GO BACK TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP ‘!!!

  40. We’re in the Promised Land & IMHO it’s beneficial to stay there, rather than spend infiniteum in the Championship. To that end I say it’s time for a change & AK to go. All those in favour please press my ‘like’ option.
    I politely suggest that all optimists who don’t have misty optics to outline alternatives to get out of this mess which was predicted many months ago.
    Only woofing like 🐕

    1. It’s only in the world of football that people give so many numpties so much benefit of the doubt.
      Get the manager out & give us well deserving supporters a chance to stay in the EPL Promised Land & however much money it might take it is more than worth it.
      SG : Please give the fans something to cheer about again because we deserve it.
      Please feel free to disagree & hey, only woofing like 🐕

  41. So Karanka saw “lots” of positives from yesterday’s football lesson from City. The man is delusional.
    No doubt he would have found positives if he had been the captain of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg and was going down. “Our navigation was so good we found the only iceberg within miles”. “The iceberg was stronger than us but we gave it a decent contest”. “Yes, we are struggling to keep the ship afloat but I’m confident that it will be OK in the end”.

    1. I’ll bow to that not being stern about it hopefully we’ll bridge the port hole we’re in amd end up amidships in the table.
      After all every ship needs an anchor !!
      I think it’s an anchor ….,.

  42. What a contrast to the last time we played city in the FA cup. I suggested before the game that we try Traore through the middle.( we’ve got nothing to lose).We keep hearing about our need to get our defence working again, well guess what you only win games by scoring goals, so unless Karanka is prepared to totally change his timid, defensive mindset and do something to get those goals, then we need to act by getting someone who will.
    Some have questioned the players commitment but I honestly think the players are fed up with the tactics , the defence know that however well they play the ball is just going to keep coming back at them, the midfield are all defensive and are playing as such, no creativity being displayed, as for the poor bugger up front ! his role would drain anyones confidence.
    4 wins with our amazing Manager who seems to be doing his best to destabilise the club by his finger pointing at the admin, players and supporters…really Mr. Gibson you would never allow this behaviour by any Manager in your business life, you need to act and demonstrate you are not happy owning the team who plays such boring negative football.
    We need a team to support who at least “give it a right go”
    The clock is ticking…….and the silence is deafening.

    1. The sort of form that has seen us achieve those 4 wins didn’t just start this season. It was evident in the run in at the end of last season when our form dipped after the upturn from Charltongate.
      Of course having gained promotion especially in the spectacular and euphoric manner of the final day it was consigned to history and understandably so. In solving all problems you have to trace them back to the source and our struggle to win games hasn’t just been in the Premiership. The foundations of our present inability to win games stretches back even further.

  43. Interesting that Guedioura didn’t make the bench on Saturday yet his omission hasn’t even been mentioned or discussed anywhere.
    That in itself is possibly the biggest damning indictment of our Transfer activity.

  44. Elsewhere, Mel Morris at Derby says they need to put building blocks in place.
    Schteve Sep 2013 to May 2015
    Paul Clement June 15 to Feb 2016
    Darren Wassell Feb 2016 to May 2016
    Nigel Pearson May 2016 to Oct 2016
    Schteve Oct 2016 to March 2017
    I think he may needs some footings because his blocks keep falling down.

  45. Braveheart –
    Yes, I read that this morning and my view is that if you are a defender or defensive midfielder under Karanka then you would probably feel that your game has improved. Though if you are an attacking player and the team isn’t scoring or creating many chances then you are likely to be less than pleased with the situation.
    So It’s probably a case of the players that are having their reputations enhanced being on board versus those who think Karanka’s style of play is detrimental to their standing or career stats.

  46. SG’s daughter tweeted yesterday anymore negative comments about her dad or Aitor and they are blocked.
    I guess that means SG is fully behind Aitor then despite the deafening silence 😩

  47. Never
    So it seems.
    Elsewhere Gary Rowett looks certain to get the Derby job. He interviewed very well when they were recruiting Nigel Pearson.
    He did a great job at Brum and deserves his chance at Derby.

    1. Congratulations on the 100th Ian, it makes a rare treat to see some attacking prowess in the final third, in fact its exciting to see anything in the final third these days!

  48. In the concourse before the game I heard plenty of opinion on what the score would be, 3 or 4 nil to City seemed to be the general consensus. When we went a goal down after a couple of minutes I was inclined to agree that we were in for a stuffing, but in fairness the Boro players gritted their teeth and got stuck in as best they could. City, presumably knowing Boro never come back from a goal down and with an eye on a champions league fixture played at half pace, so a stuffing was averted.
    It was a pity Gestede went off injured he was winning high balls before his injury and making things a little uncomfortable for the City centre backs, I would have thought with Gestede in the team Downing on the left wing was an obvious pick, I’ll come back to that.
    I disagree with Redcar’s assessment of Negredo’s performance, I thought he was weak, but I can forgive him that given that the only time he ever sees his team mates is in training.
    Back to Downing, I read that Karanka hasn’t picked Downing or Bamford because he needs ‘fighters’, he can pick me if he likes and I’ll go and pick a fight, not sure it would improve Boro’s results though.
    If Bamford isn’t a fighter why, knowing we were in a relegation fight did Karanka buy him in January? As for Ramirez, Karanka thinks he’s a fighter? God help us.
    As for Downing, Stuani picked on the left instead? Is Karanka having a laugh? Stewie isn’t in the best of form, but he’s a better player than Stuani in that position any day of the weak. Stuani spent large parts of the game in his own half just a few yards in front of Fabio, a strange position for an attacking left sided player. It meant we had no threat what so ever on that side.
    For me, Stewie on the left, Traore on the right, Gestede as the target man and midfielders getting into the box to challenge for the second ball doesn’t seem like an outrageous tactic to consider using.
    Losing to City isn’t a sin, they’re a class side, but even though I enjoyed watching a decent/honest Boro performance, I didn’t see any signs of tactical bravery from Karanka.
    Finally, a comment on Steve Gibson’s daughter and Twitter. Firstly SG is a hero and anyone slagging him off is an idiot.
    Secondly, if you’re the Chairman’s daughter and your on Twitter you’re going to get idiots tweeting rubbish, shutting your Twitter account down might be worthy of consideration.
    🔴 You ended up in the spam folder for some reason Nigel – can’t work out what the spam filter finds sometimes as usually most spam is very obviously spam – sometimes an IP address can be listed but since you used your usually one it’s probably not – though your second query post went into the approval folder so who knows what the algorithm has decided – maybe the CIA are watching webcams for Boro supporters who use the word ‘enjoyed’ in their posts… werdermouth

  49. Yes Ian, choosing a new Manager is far far harder than choosing a new player. No room for error and all the baggage, sorry I mean assistants, that come along as well.
    Maybe SG for that reason alone is reluctant to let AK go. All the turmoil, all the pay offs, players who may not fit the next Managers system. Lose all the best players, give away the ones not wanted by Mr New.
    Start again recruiting for the Championship. Well that bit may be reasonably easy we have plenty of them with experience.
    No, just maybe SG may just stick with AK.

  50. With McClaren getting the boot and being allowed to focus on his first love of carpet trading, I’m having nightmares that we will wind up sacking Aitor and going for Schteve, presumably because he’s available and it all went so well last time…. My personal feeling is that unless we start getting properly pummelled, the players revolt, etc, we’re stuck with/lucky enough to have AK and his staff for the rest of the season. It’s got to be an impossible decision for SG to make, especially because at least one of the January signings was clearly not AK’s and he can always cite that as a reason why he deserves better treatment. In the meantime the season meanders towards relegation, as always a sad climax to our year-on-year efforts to return to the top table. Tragic really.
    By the way loving the site – so pleased you guys have found a new home. I was a regular reader, very occasional contributor to AV’s blog and thought it was splendid, for his honest insights but more importantly for the community that built up around it. As a onetime Boro blogger it’s really refreshing to come across intelligent and thoughtful discussion, something that should always be cherished because it isn’t easy to find, as I’m sure you all know.
    🔴 Welcome to Diasboro Mike hopefully it will keep the torch burning for thoughtful discussion on all things Boro – werdermouth

  51. Pedro
    There have been several ownership changes over recent years at Derby, Mel Morris took over in 2014.
    Since we appointed Bryan Robson there have been 23 managers and interim managers at Derby County. Some turnover.

  52. I would have thought the ‘closing date’ for sacking the manager was next Sunday evening latest, although making an assessment as to whether he stays or goes on the back of a performance against Utd would seem a tad harsh.
    Personally, I think AK is here until the summer at least. If we stay up and I was AK I would quit and walk away with my head held high and CV enhanced, job done.
    Relegation and given the style of play AK aspires to is so unpopular with a large section of fans I cant see SG keeping him on.

  53. Nigel
    The season ticket sales may give some guidance to SG. Having gone through the long slump we are now getting on average over 28,500 boro fans each week, a slump in renewals will be food for thought.

  54. What I’m hearing about Bamford is not going to make AK popular at all.
    The deeper our struggles, the more bizarre his public utterances have gotten.
    Eight times he has suffered serious blows and pressure, eight times he has answered his critics superbly.
    But I feel this current run is a step too far.

    1. It was a very strange comment to make about a young footballer who is widely acknowledged to have gone through a horrendous time and desperately trying to recover confidence as well as fitness. Very poor judgement or perhaps was lost in translation.
      With regards to Stewy I suspect its water off a ducks back and the feelings are very much mutual. To select Gaston who again ran straight off the pitch when many fans stayed behind to applaud their efforts despite the result totally flies in the face of his “fighter” comments.
      Each week now we seem to be scratching our heads at what appear to be borderline eccentric comments.

  55. Mr Parker’s Dog post March 12 at 8:11
    In response to the above post where he has asked people to press the “like” button for those in favour of getting rid of AK, if we are going to start things like that, then it is only fair to have a “not like” button also.
    BoroPhil (@PhiliusBoro) and jarkko, you are not the only ones that feel the way you do and maybe myself (and possibly others) should voice our support more, futile as it might be against the main contributors, even if we just press the like button on your posts.
    Simon Fallaha post March 12, 2017 at 8:04pm. I totally agree with that article and I believe that SG is thinking in the same vein, I still believe that AK did not get the players that he asked for and wasn’t too impressed with what he got but he will make do with what he has at his disposal and try to keep us in the Premier league. If we do get relegated then the present structure, in my humble opinion, will be our best hope of a straight return to the Premiership.
    I am sure that the article in the gazette from an interview with Adam Clayton, will be rubbished and ridiculed by some, even to the extent of saying he had to say that as it is in his new contract but I believe there is unity with the players and the management and I also saw effort on Saturday against a much superior team. I was one of the many who stayed and applauded them of the pitch, the only sad thing about the game was when I witnessed Boro “supporters” booing one of their own players coming onto the pitch.
    Another thing I find baffling is someone like Stuani, who in my opinion, though not technically gifted as some players, always gives his best, anyway he may get into a scoring position and misses or his effort is saved and the crowd groan, yet Traore constantly runs down the wing and either runs the ball out of play, loses possession or delivers a woeful cross and people applaud and when he has not got the ball he stands about like a lost little boy, at one time on Saturday I thought Grant was going to go over to him and pull him by his shirt into position.
    Come on BORO.

    1. Exmil
      Come on and post more often we desperately need positive posts to balance opinion on here and elsewhere especially as it appears even the Gazette lads have turned or are turning. Where we winning each week or challenging for a Europa cup spot then I’m sure there would be far more supportive posts. Opinions usual reflect what happens on the pitch.

  56. Exmil
    I am guessing he is referring to the comments about needing 18 fighters on the pitch. Also Bamford can play for the U23’s if he wants, I don’t think the latter was specifically a criticism, I think was in response to a question about could Bamford play for the U23’s.

  57. exmil – I agree with you regarding Traore, has he ever supplied an assist, I’m not sure he has.
    On Saturday I saw him do all the hard work in beating City defenders, get himself in a great position for a cross and then manage to put in a woeful cross which went high and wide.
    Again, I’d rather see Downing in the team than Traore.
    When Karanka says he wants players who will ‘fight’ implying Downing and Bamford wont/don’t, I’d like to know exactly what ‘fighting’ Traore, Ramirez and Stuani do that Bamford and Downing don’t do.
    As for where we are on the supporter spectrum, I’m pretty closely aligned with Borophil and jarkko but I’m struggling with the turgid, defensive football Karanka has drilled into the team.
    As for players brought in, I wouldn’t criticise Karanka or the club for what was/wasn’t possible in January, getting any player to come to a relegation threatened team isn’t going to be easy.
    However, I do believe the manager is ultimately responsible for the players signed and those signed in the summer haven’t been fit for purpose:
    Valdes – good, Fabio – good, De Roon – average, Negredo – who knows, never sees the ball, all the rest are poor signings. Also, AV alluded to , in a piece in the Gazette, the fact that Steve Gibson was reluctant to sign Ramirez on a permanent deal. The implication being Karanka insisted, which looks like a major error of judgement.

    1. Nigel
      The error of judgement was not telling him that he could go and play champions league football with Leicester,(if we won three matches before the window closed) now that’s man management, because he has all the talent in the world, when he wants to use it.
      Traore put three passes along the goal line against west ham, one was taken, and two were watched by two boro players from ten yards away as the ball ran out of play, I think they were holding hands.
      He layed it on for ? Against Oxford, good goal too.

  58. Anyone who boos their own player when he comes onto the pitch is an idiot.
    There were plenty of fans applauding the team at the end and it was good to see most of the players respond. In Ramirez’ defence maybe he ran straight down the tunnel because he didn’t fancy being booed again….
    🔴 For some reason Nigel all your comments are either going direct to spam or being held for approval – it may be IP address related but there are no clues at my end – it just means I’m having to approve your comments before they go live – werdermouth

      1. No, you can choose a setting to approve all comments but then the discussion is dependent on me manually reading all comments before posting them and that would slow everything down and be a full time job given we get around 400 each week.
        Thankfully the Diasboro community has been around quite a while before this site and the house rules are pretty much adhered to without the need for moderation – though an occasional reminder is needed now and then during an odd unintentional lapse but it’s never gone any further – e.g. putting a particular IP address or email into a pre-moderation list.
        I have the power to edit any comment but I rarely intervene, usually my main problem is de-spamming lost posts, mistyped words or breaking up long posts where people forget to use paragraphs with a blank line in-between so that they’re readable.
        I’m of the view that people can be trusted and the odd reminder is enough – I don’t think anyone in our community come here to create a nuisance and if they did they wouldn’t get the attention they seeked – there are other forums for those who need to engage in all that stuff.

    1. I’m about to watch the Chelsea v Manure game & I’m asking myself : ‘What has AK taken & implimented with Boro from his plenty time with JM, apart from defensive strategies ?’
      I can’t think of any at present, but hope to be enlightened sometime soon, so please don’t just press the ‘like’ option.

  59. Exmil,
    Seriously no player is going to come out and rubbish the Manager, they know the consequences having seen others “naughty stepped” or shipped out. Also its not just about them its relocating their families, kids to new schools etc.I am sure lots of us have worked under Managers we would have loved to hang one on but discretion being the better part of valour stuck it out till they moved or were moved on. As for Gibbos daughter and fools on twitter why do they even allow themselves to be abused by keyboard cowards, stay off the stupid thing. Having said that I would not be letting my kid defend me , unless I was incapable of sticking up for myself.

  60. Exmil –
    I’m not in favour of having a dislike button for the following reason – people who agree with the general thrust of something in a comment can affirm it with a like rather than repeat the point so don’t need to explain why they like it – whereas if you disagree with something then it’s better to explain why rather than bluntly clicking dislike as in general this forum is geared towards discussion and exchange of ideas. I believe having dislikes would just cause unnecessary friction and probably discourage people from making comments.
    Besides I don’t think Mr Parker’s Dog’s comment was a serious attempt to start a petition to oust AK – it got two likes, one of which was from themself, so not a pressing need to consider introducing a dislike button.
    Diasboro posters, and indeed many Boro fans, occupy the wide spectrum of views on the issues that affect the club – I respect that there are many supporters who will back the manager simply because they believe he deserves to be backed – likewise many will have felt they’ve seen enough – and probably there’s a chunk in the middle who watching and are just resigned to just waiting for Steve Gibson to decide what he wants to do.
    I know many may feel Diasboro has a bit of a negative vibe but the reality is since we came into existence on 2 January this year Boro have not won a league game and only scored two goals – it’s almost an unprecedented bad run even by our Xmas slump standards. So I would have been amazed if the majority were still supportive and many hadn’t run out of patience
    I don’t think the main contributors have an agenda to push but just reported what they have witnessed and express their view, try to analyses what is going wrong and put forward ideas to see if they either make any sense or be shot down. Unfortunately, I’m the kind of person who looks at problems and wonder why they are happening and try to work out what needs to change or what could be done better – I can accept valid reasons if they add up and make sense – my problem is that all too often Karanka this season has said a lot of strange things that were at best ill-conceived and at worst attempts to deflect genuine criticism onto others.
    It’s still possible Karanka will turn Boro’s slump around and keep us up and that would be a mighty relief – but at the moment I can’t see too many positive signs of that happening so I’m left to ponder where is this all going as an outside observer looking in. Whereas Steve Gibson is on the inside looking out and only he will decide whether his manager is the right man for the job from his perspective – naturally he also has a personal relationship with Karanka so he’ll want to give him as much time as he can afford.

    1. Werder
      Lovely piece, expresses all the angst of a football follower going through the ultimate disaster, the very bad run with the ultimate kicker, its not ending, and it is getting worse, and the manager has started making silly statements to the media. The media are not very nice people, so why are they holding their fire? That’s easy, when you hit a golden seam of comedy statements you keep quiet, for this is the gift that will keep on giving, all they have to do is ask him and he will give up pure gold. Happy days.

    2. werdermouth march 13th @ 2:44pm :
      You got the gist of my comments ‘spot’ on. Being a one paws typist it would’ve taken me forever to give the reply wot you did, so thanks 🐕🐾🐾

  61. Man Utd striker crisis, now lets see we only have to worry about Mkhrtarayan, Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Herrera, Young and that’s if Rashford, Rooney and Martial have not recovered by Sunday, should be an easy 3 points then lol.
    Come on BORO.

    1. Herrera got his marching orders tonight so I’m assuming he will now miss Sundays game as well as Zlatan.
      I didn’t watch it through travelling again but apparently Pogba was garbage. I reckon stick de Roon on him to man mark him out of the game and we could be onto something.
      When was the last time Mourinho lost two in a row? Or maybe that should be when did we last score a goal.

  62. I have a theory that the club’s plan for some time now is to be relegated under Karanka, return to the Championship with the idea of bolstering the club’s finances and securing its long term future courtesy of the parachute, and have another tilt at promotion next season.
    The puzzling purchases of Bamford (currently deemed not fit/good/enthusiastic enough to feature in a match day squad) would seem to fit in with this theory as they are definitely more Championship than Premier League and it’s seems Karanka wasn’t party to their acquisition.
    To me, this can be the only reason for Steve Gibson to persevere with current head coach!

    1. Could be that he can’t attract anyone suitable given his insistence of sticking his sneb in when it comes to player purchases or not as the case maybe.
      All this guff about the most supportive Chairman in football IMHO is simply a myth. SG is first & foremost a millionaire+. Anyone who reaches such a financial pinnacle ain’t going to give it away if they can help it.
      The managerial failures we have seen are down to poor judgement & primary focus on money.
      SG didn’t splash the cash for GS1 or Mogga. In fact, he didn’t for McClaren. That stash came from the banks in glory years.
      He kicked out the boat for GS2 but the Scots munchkin failed. He again lashed out the cash for AK & only just got over the line ie. goal difference.
      Why big sums for AK? Coz of the billion+ available in the EPL. Still, the screw was tighened after the De Roon transfer fee.
      This is football by finance. Nothing more or less. The football takes a back seat. The fans are powerless to a great extent, but then generally the wishes of the unwashed masses are subserviant to the greater powers that be.
      Ain’t it the truth.
      You’ll get no hero worship of the self serving greater powers from Spartak.
      Just sayin, like, like.

  63. Didn’t Bamford have a publicised conversation with Karanka who promised to take him away from all problems?
    I don’t know what is going on, just like thousands of others, was it just club spin although some comments seemed to come from Bamford.
    It is all just a little surreal and is almost happening in a parallel universe, comments lost in translation, etc., etc. The only solution seems to be ten defenders and goalkeeper and go for a thrilling 0 – 0.
    Hang on, that would just mean pulling the lone striker back. The opposition must love our utter predictability.
    UTB,
    John

  64. I have heard rumours that Downing criticised AK and said something to the effect of “we’re going to get relegated”. Obviously I don’t know how true that is but it makes sense given he can’t get near the team. If it is true then that implies non-commitment to the team cause and I can see why AK leaves him out. There are various comments on here and on the Gazette exclaiming how AK has seen Gaston put in more commitment that Downing or Bamford. AK said that was only in the past week – its entirely possible Gaston has actually decided to try hard once again, rather than AK simply using it as an excuse to play his star man.
    On transfers, I believe that our policy since promotion has been to not commit unsustainable sums of money on players in case we get relegated. To me, that makes complete sense. If we go down and keep the core of the squad intact we will be in as good a position as any other team to get promoted, without too big a financial risk if we didn’t. QPR overspent and were very close to (or maybe even did) get sanctioned, and in any case it didn’t work out for them.
    If we get relegated I personally would choose to keep AK. He is a novice coach and I’m sure he dislikes Boro’s problems in front of goal as much as any supporter. Surely he will only improve with time. Burnley got relegated under Dyche having scored very little. They built on that squad, got promoted and are now acquitting themselves well. I think that is a good model to follow.
    However, I don’t know how much animosity there was towards Dyche from Burnley fans at this point in their relegation season. My feeling is the anti-AK sentiment amongst Boro fans is greater, and this would tie SG’s hand in the event of relegation.

    1. Gojira
      A thought on the Downing statements, a player of his class who cannot get near the team and having to watch the slow motion train wreck, is to be commended for stating to the manager, ‘ at this rate we are going to get relegated, why not play the best players and go for it in a big way’.
      The posters on here have been asking the question for months now. ” is anyone telling him that we are going down, and if not, why not?’
      So I think it is a bit off for one of us to be outraged when it happens.

  65. After another day of some interesting comments, my two pennies worth.
    I have been thinking along Simolar lines to Cassandra and also Spartak has an interesting take.
    Football is an odd business model at our level and in some respects who could blame SG for taking some cash back.
    We wil never know what goes on in the background but if the plan is to regroup next season, with AK at the helm, the fans may desert the ship. The football is not attractive to watch and we are not guaranteed to go straight up with the defensive set up.
    I don’t think booing any player or manager ever helps, if I feel disgruntled, then I won’t applaud but boo, never.
    I want to see Boro do well, but also want some entertainment and the occasional goal to cheer.

  66. I agree that the blog is taking a very negative tone and I also agree that this is primarily because since Christmas we’ve been dreadful.
    What I want to know is how as a boro fan can you be positive about what is currently being played out on the pitch? And how can you be happy with the ridiculous comments our manager keeps spouting after every game?
    I want Middlesbrough to be challenging for Europe, winning the league if possible. However, im realistic enough to know that’s not going to happen at least for a little while 😉 My point being is im not going to sit idly by and watch turgid dross every week and say it doesn’t affect me or it doesn’t matter. I hate it. Emotionally it’s killing me.
    Throw into the mix that our squad appears to be getting weakened through an inept transfer policy and a manager who peeves off anybody who disagrees with him. What started as a dream where “we’ll give it a go” has become nothing short of a nightmare. And worse still this nightmare continues to be played out in front of me.
    Yes I know we’ll have parachute payments for getting up in the first place but remove the disillusioned elements of the squad and what we’re left with would struggle getting themselves out of the first division nevermind the championship. If you think ak is the man to get us back up I would say look at the squad now minus downing, Ayala, Ramirez, negredo (and possibly Gibson). In terms of creativity and spark we’d probably be in a worse position than when ak took over. Given his track record in this area would you bank on him getting it right?
    Throw in our current form and the need to hit the ground running in my opinion we’d be more likely to be in villas position rather than newcastles.
    Just to put things in a different context. I heard an amazing stat that pochettino at spurs has actually made a net transfer profit since he’s been at spurs. Now I appreciate its a different club in a different area with a bigger history, but it shows what can be done if you scout well and build a squad piece by piece, always improving on what you had before. Something we appear to have singularly failed to grasp as we build a squad but actually weaken the first team.

  67. Steve Gibson obviously wants Boro relegated because he can then ‘pocket’ the £40 million parachute payment, where as if we stay up he’d only ‘pocket’ the £100 million payment for being in the prem.
    Of course, that makes perfect sense……………….
    And of course Spartak is right Steve Gibson is clearly on the take, why else would he give £10-£12 million a year to the club and take nothing back for years on end, why else would he pay off the bank loans Spartak refers to, why would he do all that?
    Well,l because he knew one day he could ‘pocket’ £40 million from a premiership relegation, of course makes perfect sense.
    He didn’t give all that money to the club because he’s an altruistic entrepreneur did he, of course not.

    1. Nigel
      You have just touched the sore spot that is itching at every Boro supporter.
      Everything you say is obvious to everyone(very very obvious) so why would any chairman let an employee take a wrecking ball to his wallet, his hobby, his team, and his dignity.
      It is quite mad, there is no reason to suffer it. The problem is that Steve is a Gentleman, and Gentlemen finish last.
      There has been a major problem with this team, whatever it’s composition, and that is the ability to throw in a no show whenever they fancied.
      And that cancer has been allowed, with plentiful excuses.
      The result is as you see, they have thrown in a monster set of no shows, together with strange and wonderful selections, punishment details , naughty stepping, black balling, old uncle tom cobbly and all.
      We will draw a veil over the strange statements in interviews with the national press, because they will come back to haunt the club, not the manager, he will be gone.

  68. Despite saving the club and bringing us to Wembley, Cardiff and Europe SG like all of us has his flaws. Who on earth in their right mind would appoint a rookie with no managerial experience in the most demanding league in the world.
    If that wasn’t bad enough the crown jewels were then sold off on the same Manager bringing in players with no experience of the level they were required to play at or even the country. Seven bleak barren years then followed until the last day of the Season and suddenly we were back. After a long hard and at times extremely painful passage of history AK restored our place at the top table.
    So we then went out to “give it a go” by buying was it 10 or 11 players before August (or thereabouts, don’t take it too literally) most of whom had zero Premiership experience. OK Valdes had a collection of Mancunian splinters, Negredo half a season or so and of course ironically one of the cheapest Fabio had some experience of the Premiership. The rest were all players with no experience of the Premiership, sound familiar?
    Throw in that our Manager himself is a Premiership novice and its hardly the type of business plan anyone with an ounce of wit would sign off in a “real world” Commercial environment.
    Whilst AK drives me up the wall with his negativity and fallings out with anything and anyone that doesn’t just sit there shouting “defend” Father Jack style I do have sympathy for the predicament he is now in and the mental pressures it is obviously bringing.
    Some people learn from their mistakes and don’t repeat them whilst some just have to stick their tongue back on those little square battery electrodes.
    If we do go down I don’t fancy our chances with what will be left especially bearing in mind that the bulk of the Championship side that got us up were Mogga’s men.
    Anyway speaking of Mogga and linking that to my next point. On a positive I see that Jarkko’s fellow countryman Mikael Soisalo bagged himself a hat trick tonight against Blackburn’s development squad. A few crackers as well by all accounts!

    1. Typical as I finger type the above on me not so smartphone OFB already broke the Mikael Soisalo story. Who says its all negativity on here 😉

  69. Seems not so long ago we were hearing rave reviews about our “kids”. Now they barely rate a mention or get anywhere near the first team, lets hope Fry gets a go.
    Will this Finnish kid end up being shipped out like the guy we let go to Italy., who also was a “Gun”
    Off the subject of football, I believe Vera Lynn will be turning 100 very shortly, I hope she will be given the love and respect she deserves. My long departed ex-Green Howard Father always spoke of her as a special lady who made the trip out to Burma to entertain the “forgotten Army”
    Happy Birthday to a national treasure.🍾🍾🍾

  70. Of course it is easier for me to keep positive here away from Teesside where about everyone know where the team are and have seen the resent results.
    It is me missus and son who are Boro fans, most of my mates have an interest in football but not Boro fans like. They have soft spot for Boro though as I once took some 12 friends down to Riverside and Rockcliffe.
    So not so many are reminding me about the misery constantly.
    But I have a lot to loose. Now I can see every match on TV. So for methis season is still the best ever to follow Boro. And I am still enjoying the season a lot.
    If the worst happened, I would greatly miss the TV coverage, though. But I wouldn’t ever stop following me team, like.
    But there are plenty of matches to go. Let’s keep positive. We just need a couple of performances like against Everton. Not a miracle, but back to the level we used to be.
    Come on Boro, we can do it. Up the Boro!

    1. That’s exactly what we all need Jarkko, a rallying cry. A wake up to where we have come from. We could have been two division below under Mowbray.
      Instead we are in the Premier League seeing world class players and competing against them.
      I too would miss seeing the Boro away matches as I only go to home games now.
      There is still plenty of support at the ground for the Boro and we have to be positive and think if we go down we will bounce back up.
      Thank you for the positive vibes

  71. The new formula for Parachute Payments is that relegated clubs get a percentage of the equal share TV money paid to Premier League members (which doesn’t include place money or TV appearance money)
    This season, from the figures I’ve seen, that share represents £38m domestic rights plus £47m overseas rights – giving a base total of £85m.
    This share represents the following Parachute sums:
    Year 1: 55% (£85m) = £47m
    Year 2: 45% (£85m) = £38m
    Year 3: 20% (£85m) = £17m
    It should be noted that promoted clubs that only survive a single season will not get a Year 3 payment – which would affect Boro if they went down.
    The club finishing in last place this season should expect a payment of £97m in prize money – so in the words of Jim Bowen ‘That’s safe’. You should also take into account that Boro will have enjoyed increased ticket revenues this season as attendances have remained around the 30,000 mark – plus sponsorship deals and merchandising revenues will no doubt be higher for being in the PL.
    It probably means promotion has given Boro a guaranteed £183m and we can probably assume that is closer to £200m with increased revenues.
    Naturally costs in the PL will be higher in terms of wages and transfer fees – though I would think most of these cost will be easily manageable on relegation.
    Championship prize money is now calculated as 30% of a Year 3 Parachute payment – which works out as about £5m.
    So relegation for Boro in the short term will not be a major financial hardship and given that it is a new system they will be one of the clubs with the biggest budget next season if they go down.
    Though statistically, two-thirds of relegated clubs don’t come back up and Boro would essentially have only two seasons to make their financial clout count – then it would be back to belt-tightening and competing probably against at least half-dozen clubs with much bigger budgets.
    So in conclusion – being relegated probably won’t be a major financial problem for two years – but by being out of the PL you are probably losing out on around £30-60m per year depending on your operating costs. Therefore it’s highly unlikely Steve Gibson would see going down as a chance to cash in as he’s probably got an evens chance that he’ll be bankrolling the club out of his own pocket again within three years.

      1. Thanks OFB – Though if I was to make it a post I would probably need to add some context and perhaps look at wage bills and the figures more in detail – Maybe I’ll revisit the subject after the week of destiny should it go pear-shaped. Besides Simon is finalising a piece for later today – that was just my breakfast thought for today 🙂

    1. Nice post Werder. It also highlights the importance of surviving in the EPL.
      Without being too pessimistic, (sorry BoroPhil) the chances of avoiding Relegation are diminishing by each match played. It is realistically, probably even out of our own hands now, needing Hull and Palace to be worse than us.
      When you look at Villa, Norwich, Derby and others that have splashed the cash, Sheff Wed and even Wolves, there is no guarantee that being able to buy “better players” will get you promotion.
      If we go down, how confident will SG be with AK at the helm or AN OTHER if that is the route he chooses to take, being able to get us back to the promised land within two years.
      Of course you have to remember that there will be two other relegated teams with possibly the same cash to spend if they so wish.
      How would our current squad, less those we all expect to leave, look when compared to the teams mentioned above that do not get promoted.
      Sleepless nights or what for SG. Even he must think at times, just how long do I go on with this.

  72. Nigel
    NONSENSE !!
    At no point have I said SG is on the take.
    I said his priority is to protect his investment. This has been to the detriment of the clubs fortunes on the pitch.
    He has either failed miserably in his managerial appointments or failed to support them adequately.
    He has interfered with transfer selections and failed in the case of AK to deliver.
    To often upper management hide in the boardroom hiring & firing but failing to take responsibility.
    Now, the cat is out of the bag. AK has pointed a finger. Executive management is on self imposed lockdown – silence!
    The club IS a shambles

  73. An interesting piece on the Gazette website about the fall out between Karanka and Downing, which not surprisingly dates back to last season.
    A couple of things strike me, firstly the Gazette have clearly been briefed by the club on this (which is unusual), giving Karanka’s side of the story, will Downing be allowed to brief on his perspective? I doubt it.
    Downing apparently feels singled out and believes there are players showing minimal effort who are still in the squad (indeed the first XI I would suggest), this I guess is a direct reference to Ramirez.
    The difference between the way Karanka deals with Ramirez and Downing leaves him at risk of being labelled a hypocrite.
    Downing is one of the few talented attacking players we have in the squad, someone senior to Karanka needs to resolve this dispute satisfactorily to all parties so we can get Downing back in the team before its too late.

    1. Who sanctioned the purchase of Stewy D? AK? NO, SG!
      Power struggle, Nigel. AK is a stubborn man. He will NOT walk come hell or high water. And he wont be gagged.
      Oh dear!

  74. Spartak – in a power struggle there is only one winner, the man at the top. If that is what it is and you may be right then ultimately Karanka will go.
    More immediately though the issue needs a short term resolution at least.

    1. Meanwhile all our opponents in the bottom 6 will be delighted to see one of their fellow strugglers start imploding by tearing themselves apart with internal politics.

    2. Agreed!
      But the light is being shone into darker corners.
      Boro need to come out into the light and address failures or they simply continue.
      IMHO

  75. I thought Rameriz did try when he came on and maybe he is getting his head sorted, willing to show that he is, can be, a premiership player (even if it is for his own benefit (transfer)) but how long will that last if he is booed by Boro “supporters”.
    The article mentions about AK philosophy that those that give 100% in training get into the match day squad (possibly the team) and I believe it has been his way since day one. I do not go to the training ground and see who is putting the effort in and I have heard people’s argument that some footballers don’t train well, yet produce on match days but is there anyone on here who could confidently state that as a case for Downing.
    I, and I think I am not the only one, have not been impressed that Downing has been value for money (transfer fee and wages) since he came back, yes there has been a few good matches but over the seasons, not that many.
    If I was the manager, in the position we are in, would I (or anyone else on here) be willing to take the chance that the player who is not giving 100% in training will suddenly produce it on match day. Earlier in the season, then yes I would (and maybe AK did) but now we are down to the blood and guts I would want the players who I know will give everything, even if they are not as technically gifted.
    As far as Rameriz is concerned, maybe he is now giving a 100% in training (is there anyone on here who watches the training sessions ?) sometimes you have to leave it to the ones who know and careers rise or fall by their decisions.
    Come on BORO.

  76. exmil – I agree with you, none of us have any idea as to who puts in the effort on the training field and who doesn’t, but its stretching credibility to suggest Ramirez trains hard but doesn’t bother on a Saturday.
    He may have tried on Saturday, although I didn’t see him produce much, but he shouldn’t have been in the team in the first place after his (lack of) efforts the previous week.
    That is what will irk Downing, the world sees Ramirez playing like he doesn’t give a damn and the next week, guess what he’s in the team.
    It doesn’t compute.

    1. Also, I think AK has said he has the final saying who is signed or not. Where is the rumour coming that AK did not want Downing nor Rhodes? It just not always work for a player at a club.
      Up the Boro!

    2. The article said it was about not being in the squad for Saturday but about not playing in the Stoke match and did Rameriz start in that match or was that his first match back as a sub ?
      Come on BORO.

  77. Apologies for the gush, but this is one of my favourite things about Diasboro – BALANCE! It would be too easy to go down the classic route of ‘It’s all going to hell! Sack the manager! Sack him! Sacking’s not good enough! etc’ but instead a fair and reasoned assessment of everything that’s going wrong at the club. Hat tipped.
    And a worrying state of affairs highlighted. In making signings for the manager rather than going out and buying his shopping list, Boro aren’t really doing anything new. I think this is done as a matter of routine at many continental outfits – is it not Real Madrid where the Chairman announces his appointment with a multi-million Euro investment, regardless of how this Galactico fits into the squad? But of course Boro aren’t Real and it’s difficult to get your man when (i) you’re not that glamorous (ii) there’s a limit to the spend. And then it all goes wrong when the manager essentially disagrees with your purchases by exercising the only veto he has and refuses to field them… What a pickle.
    I admit I was never that convinced with the idea of getting Downing back, something borne out by largely underwhelming returns. As for Bamford, while you can make the argument that he’s never been given a proper chance the suggestion is that he isn’t up to the standard at this level, and it’s a gamble to find out if that’s the case, one probably too late to go with, I reckon. At least with him if we do go down then he’s a known quantity at Championship level, which in turn makes the conspiracy theorist in me wonder if that’s why he was signed.
    The point made above – that AK is most definitely not entirely to blame for what’s happened this season – is well made and could very well be what’s keeping SG’s firing finger from twitching too aggressively. That said, the negative tactics are his responsibility, and while the reasons for playing this way are clear enough they have also been exposed increasingly as not the only solution.

  78. Yes we don’t know what’s happened behind closed doors and as a result we can’t really comment on the side that ak puts out on the pitch. It is very much his prerogative.
    What I can comment on is no wins in ten. Two goals scored in the league since Christmas and relegation looking almost a certainty.
    So if ak is to be judged not on his selections but on results then I think he’s guilty on all counts.
    Send him down yer honour!!

  79. So Rhodes, Nugent ,Husband and various others were dud trainers but Ramirez is a lion on the training pitch ready to run through brick walls for the Boro, yerjokin surely …at the end of the season when we get relegated Ramirez and his other cronies couldn’t give a monkeys about Boro and will chuff off. Downing and his other bad amigo Woodgate will still be here. Give your heads a shake 4 yes 4 wins and you wonder why we are negative.
    Ok I will go for 2-0 to Boro the penny has finally dropped and we go out to win the game not damage limitation against a side who are not in our league, if thats our Managers mindset we do not belong in this league.

  80. Great idea sack Karanka and make Downing and Woodgate caretakers till the end of the season, couldn’t do any worse.
    Pathetic we are even being ridiculed in cartoons and we mock Newcastle and Sunderland.
    Get your white hankies out and give em a shake.

  81. Many knowledgable people on here have given plenty of time & effort to produce opinions & statistics to all eventualities for this season, thank you.
    I suggest a simple poll just between ourselves which may be beneficial to all. I’m asking the question, before the end of the season should :
    a) AK stay
    b) AK go
    Alternatvely, all those in favour of AK to go can press my ‘like’ option (sorry no ‘dislike’option available at present) & not to worry, I’ll keep the results to myself (only joking & woofing like 🐕)
    So without further ado or alienating fans of the Clash, you’ve just gotta let me know, should he stay or should he go ?

  82. Just commenting on the like (or dislike) button. My own take is if you like something that much you should post a reply. Same goes for, if you dilike something. You should post something but give your alternative reason.
    Using a tablet or phone, when scrolling, I have inadvertanly hit the “like button” by mistake.
    In reality on here it is not generally about like or dislike, it is about having different opinions conveyed in the correct manner.

    1. Pedro de Espana 2:41pm :
      Your valid comments thank you have been taken onboard.
      However please be aware not all have the time or opportunity to scrutinise this blog every hour Dog sends and / or reply to all relevant posts.
      I for one require at least 8 miles of exercise per day + my owners have full-on commitments.
      That’s just one reason why we’re all different 😊🐕

    2. Pedro ~ Further to my comment at 3:02pm :
      My opinion is that it IS all about agreeing, liking or disliking. To my knowledge & I’m not incinerating anything here, I trust that my opinions / comments have been conveyed in the correct manner.
      Bye for now, off for my 2nd walkies 🐕

  83. None of us know what takes place, we can only guess.
    It is a bit like the debate over who buys the players, we are led to believe the manager has the final say on a player. The difficulty is when you don’t get the players you want you have to take what you can get.
    Everything isn’t AK’s fault but the charge sheet is growing,
    The utterances about Downing and Bamford were silly, as Vic said Clayton was talking about a tight squad after the match and 25 yards away AK was damning players. Shouldn’t say things like that in public.

      1. Just back from my 2nd WOTD (walk of the day) Has anybody out there who’s maybe got insider information, know of anyone who’s shown an interest in replacing AK ?
        Maybe one could be an undertaker, if nothing else they have plenty experience of getting bodies into the box.

  84. I see Jese isn’t wanted by Las Palmas at the end of the season. Don’t know whether we got off lightly there or its just a game to get his value down. Either way lets hope it doesn’t lead to him ending up at the Riverside.

  85. That’s the trouble with a player going back to his old club and isn’t it his home town club as well ? Now where have I heard that type of thing before !
    Come on BORO.

    1. Exmil….as an aside I think it is his home town, but he never actually played for them.
      But then as I have said before and not in hindsight…..do not buy SD, not at any price. certainly not at 6/7 mil that was quoted.

      1. I have no problem we signed SD. We were promoted.
        An other story is if he is good enough for us in the PL now. But that is for AK to think about. I think AK said it is for SD to show he is worth the shirt.
        Up the Boro!

  86. Just had a smirk.
    Albrighton goes down under a challenge apparently needing in an amputation.
    The ref waves play on with the Leicester out of picture in need of surgery. Play goes on for a few seconds then Albrighton appears in the left of the picture having had a Lazarus recovery to join an attack. 30 seconds later he has recovered enough to score.
    No wonder fans get fed up with players collapsing.

  87. The idea of chasing players like Jese and De Pena and now Bamford and others who have never been given a chance demonstrates how flawed our recruitment is. Stop wasting money on projects and get some experience in.
    Mr. Parker my take is, we are desperate and we need to try something different so Karanka must go.

  88. Hi everyone,
    Its good to see such a clear and open debate. I remain on the optimistic side probably because I have been living out of the UK for over 30 yrs and so, rather like Jarkko the sheer excitement of seeing Boro in the premiership and available on TV outweighs a lot of the negativie results. Too, like Exmill and RR at times, I do see positives in a lot of what we try and do on the field even if I despair at our attacking impotence. Finally, I also query whether Traore has two brain cells given the amount of time that he spends running in circles or looking round as the match passes him by. Playing with him on one wing means that we are almost always short of strikers in the box when the attack comes down the other side. he just hangs back 25 metres away watching. De Roon and Stuani are usually the only people backing up the main striker. .
    Anyway, in answer to Mr P’s poll, I’m in favour of keeping Karanka until the summer although i wonder whether we would be best served by someone coming in as a short term mentor for that period maybe even just behind the scenes. Beyond that, I think it comes down to a broader question which has been prompted by differing opinions expressed in a few of the recent posts. That question is :-
    “given all the effort that has gone into the organisational setup at Boro and given the amount of money that we will have available, if the club is relegated this season, are we in a good position to be promoted and is that made more or less likely by AK continuing as manager.”
    My inclination at the moment is to answer ‘Yes’ and “Don’t Know’ and would appreciate the expert comments from all of you.
    UTB

  89. Same sentiments from here in the Middle east – admittedly we only see the TV screen view so dont see the whole bigger picture but nonetheless every match is a luxury and so we enjoy it while it lasts.
    On the “big question”yes we would be well placed and I think we would be better off keeping AK – target 120 goals!!
    UTB

  90. Downing is upset because he was lied to, Palace came in for him in January, but he was told he was needed at the Boro, and
    and have an important part to play .

  91. From Daily Mirrorhttp://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/middlesbrough-boss-aitor-karanka-faces-10028761#ICID=Android_TMNewsApp_AppShare

    1. Thanks for the link. If anyone’s interested the opinion poll to the question : ‘Will Middlesbrough sack Karanka this season?’ was 56% Yes 44% No.

  92. Ref. AK
    Talkon about leashes & the like 🙂
    I reckon AK is being given enough rope to hang himself & he’s doin a fine job of it.
    I reckon the only reason he’s still in the manager’s chair is coz SG cant find a passive enough manager to ride the storm of relegation on the troubled ship The Boro.
    Like

    1. Jarkko
      Mr Dog has a bone or two to pick with AK and will be Cock a leg if AK is hounded out then the fur will fly.
      A new manager would have to be vetted and collared robe trained in the Boro way.
      All I can say is Fur Kennel

    2. Just between the two of us….
      I really think AK could be the man, if only we can get someone in to assist him big time on the attacking side of things. It can’t be that difficult can it ?
      I’ve called for AK’s head plenty of times, but I really believe with a bit of tweeking here & there we’re very close to to being a top half team in the EPL.

    3. Just between the two of us….
      I really think AK could be the man, if only we can get someone in to assist him big time on the attacking side of things. It can’t be that difficult can it ?
      I’ve called for AK’s head plenty of times, but I really believe with a bit of tweeking here & there we’re very close to to being a top half team in the EPL.

  93. In addition, I’ve never seen the Gazette Live chaps being soooo negative of AK. Even old Eric Paylor has been roped into stoke the PR slaggins off & demands for no more excuses.
    Makes me shiver to think ‘they’ believe they can manipulate people’s opinions so easily when it suits them.

  94. The frustrating part is we have waited 7 years to see the games live and we are going down without a whimper, so we of the Boro foreign Legion hope to see a bit of fight from the team and not just rollover like a beaten dog….sorry Mr. P’s dog.🐕

    1. Appreciate your comment & believe me I will never be beaten. My owner knows far better than to do that, thank you. That’s why we are A TEAM. 👍🐕

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