| Cardiff City | Middlesbrough | ||
| Morrison | 33′ | ||
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
50% 16 3 5 13 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
50% 6 1 3 10 |
Toothless Boro lack bite
This game was to be a real test of Tony Pulis’ Boro. A late undisciplined lunge from sub Adama Traore under GM handed victory to the Bluebirds up at the Riverside earlier in the season in a game where Boro rightfully felt hard done to for their efforts that day. Going into the match it was feeling like a pivotal moment, win and suddenly the hopes of the Play Offs may not be so ridiculous and surely it was time that this Boro squad delivered a blow to someone in the top half.
TP’s main injury concerns this week were restricted to two former Bluebirds, thigh strained Fabio and big Rudy. The Benin striker has seemingly developed a bad back after a stroll on Redcar Beach earlier in the week although there was no truth in the rumour that he twisted said back in an effort to control a lemon top. Speaking of lemons, the main talking point was who would start up front if Gestede was still incapacitated? Bamford hasn’t had an opportunity to lead the line, Britt has looked disinterested at times and his pedantic penalty had many wondering if he may even miss the bus to South Wales.
Wily Warnock had never lost a home game against Boro with any of his clubs. Boro had won three out of their last four away games in the Championship with the loss as a consequence of ten men against Norwich. Cardiff had beaten Sunderland and Bolton in their last two home games but tellingly they had lost the two home games before that to Preston and Fulham so were beatable. Surely today had to be the day when something had to break for Boro especially as the weekend fixture list had thrown together a top half pairing extravaganza meaning points had to be dropped elsewhere.
The Boro Striker conundrum was solved at 2.00pm when the Boro team list revealed that Gestede had recovered from his back strain with Britt benched alongside Paddy. Boro lined up with Besic alongside Grant and Traore on the left supporting Gestede with Howson central and Downing on the right. For a side that can’t create chances removing Bamford to include another defensive midfielder was both head scratching and ominous.
The game started with a quick throw-in to Cardiff and then Traore getting upended much to Grants annoyance which he conveyed to the Ref. A few minutes later Boro won a corner which Grant screwed up completely with a low hit ball that nobody in a Red shirt seemed to be on the same page including Grant!
The opening ten minutes saw things fairly level with neither side dominating proceedings, the Cardiff Striker Zohore was looking a bit of a handful but neither Keeper had been troubled with the nearest attempt being from the result of a Cardiff Shotton style throw in eventually blocked by George. Cardiff did have a few long range punts which were never going to worry Randolph. Meanwhile Adama and Stewy had switched flanks presumably in an effort to disrupt the Cardiff Anti Adama Batteries. On twenty minutes Adama broke and ran towards the Cardiff goalmouth, rounding Ralls but his shot wasn’t up to his usual standard of late with Etheredge in the Cardiff goal gathering.
The “other” Traore in Blue was brought down by Shotton which resulted in a dangerous free kick just outside the Boro box. As the ball was about to be played in Ayala and Morrison were indulging in a bit of pushing and shoving but the cross eventually ended up with the ball on the far side of the Boro box out of danger but the signs were growing that Cardiff were starting to pressurise Boro. The best opportunity for Boro came with 15 minutes left of the first half with Adama (who else) creating a chance for Howson but the score remained 0-0.
Cardiff then had claims for a Penalty as Shotton foolishly brought down Zahore but Ref Darren Bond adjudged it to have happened just outside the box. Hoilett fizzed the resultant free kick across to Morrison who glanced it into Randolph’s goal to make it 1-0. The ball was flying straight into Randolph’s hands and to allow Morrison to simply nick it like he did was very poor from the ROI keeper.
Boro had to clear their heads as Cardiff looked to be growing in confidence and a Boro free kick five minutes later ended up going backwards as if to illustrate the point that Boro had zero creativity. Needing a goal to level things before half time there didn’t appear to be too much on show to give cause for optimism apart from the hope of a bit of Adama magic. Interestingly Cardiff always looked a threat from their set pieces whereas Boro looked just embarrassing and devoid of ideas.
The first booking of the game came just before half time when the Bluebirds Traore was taken out by Mo Besic as the Everton loanee lived up to his stereotyped reputation with the home fans baying for a Red. It was clear that nothing had changed with regards to our attacking effectiveness as Gestede again looked isolated and very unlikely to double his goal tally for the season. Disappointingly, the first half was just a repeat of the same old same old up front for Boro, which is now becoming a growing cause for concern. The second forty-five minutes would require TP to open his mind because as things stood serious sanity questions were being asked and the groundswell of opinion was that offensively it hasn’t and wasn’t working under Pulis. The sacrifice of pace and width for solidity at the back has solved one problem but created another bigger problem intermittently papered over by Adama.
There were unconfirmed reports of an earthquake in South Wales just before half-time and the hope with the travelling army was that it was actually a huge penny dropping with TP. Both sides took to the pitch for the second half with no changes in personnel, surprisingly as Pulis presumably was determined to prove his methodology of no support and no creativity for a non-scoring striker was the correct one. As it was Sol Bamba collided with Gestede in the opening seconds of the half with Rudy looking much the worse for wear after the collision.
A sloppy throw-in from Boro gifted Cardiff another attacking opportunity which put Boro right back where they had finished the first half on the back foot. Stewy broke and put a cross in for Gestede but he mistimed his jump, fortunately the play broke back in Boro’s favour when we then won a corner after a Shotton throw in came off Bamba. The corner predictably came to nothing and Boro were back defending and under pressure once more. Whatever the half-time team talk was and whatever the tactical reasoning behind it was, it was eminently clear that it sucked to use modern day parlance. Gestede was winning nothing, outnumbered two v. one yet again; somehow TP thought once again that this would yield results with a lone striker who can’t score. Boro’s best chance came when Downing should have done better with a poor attempt, which didn’t trouble Etheridge, something which again was pointed out this week on Diasboro.
At this stage Boro looked toothless and out of ideas. Adama was well shackled and there was nothing being offered than even remotely looked like a goal was going to arrive any time soon. Frustratingly this was the same scenario at the end of the first half yet absolutely nothing was done and arguably that same scenario had been present for a series of games now under TP. As bad as Monk was for being clueless about his tactics in general, today Boro’s attack under TP was equally as clueless.
Finally the earthquake must have rattled something as Britt came on for the unremarkable Besic as TP went with three at the back, Stewy wide right, George wide left and Shotton, Ayala and Gibson the three CB’s. The question in my mind was why the radical switch around then when it had been abundantly clear now for weeks that this lone striker tactic never looked like working.
Hoilett then had a great chance with a volley at close range but Randolph managed to get down to it making amends for his earlier flap which gifted Morrison his goal. Warnock was making a sub to rejig his line up to now match Boro’s three at the back with their Traore getting the hook for Peltier. Cardiff were still in control with Adama Traore now seemingly in a more central role, Gestede still pointlessly jumping for headers and Britt just looking lost. For a management “tweak” this one ranked pretty low and as Boro fans we have seen plenty of those in the past to be able to judge. The impact was shall we say somewhat less than earth shattering in contrast to the seismic activity elsewhere in the region.
All Boro hopes now seemed to be resting on throw ins and set pieces yet the Cardiff defence had dealt with high balls all afternoon with cigars and deckchairs out. The pantomime Shotton long throw-ins continued yet their effectiveness was as blunt as they had been all afternoon. A Zahore attack was fortunately thwarted by Grant as he then launched a quick Boro counter attack which ended with Britt on his Assombalonga presumably from shock. Harrison was readied to make his debut in a desperate double substitution with Bamford , which saw Howson and Gestede off in their place. Less than ten minutes left and the tactics were switched around once again.
Another Shotton long throw in ended up yet again with Zahore breaking and Randolph dribbling the ball wide and in doing so had several Boro fans in need of CPR. Scenes were now looking disorganised, chaotic and resembled kick and rush football (or throw and rush in Boro’s case). Cardiff looked comfortable and the more likely to get a second with Hoilet pulling the strings. Warnock wound the clock down by bringing on Halford for Paterson. In stoppage time Boro won a free kick which saw Downing send in the ball which resulted in a bit of a melee with Bennett heading a Bamford effort clear. Harrison then sent the ball back in which was cleared for a corner, which saw a chance from Shotton cleared. The last Boro chance of the game characteristically ended with a cross from Shotton which was on a par with Britt’s penalty last week.
Today saw a weak and unconvincing performance from Boro with zero ability to create or attack. TP has Adama as a solitary attacking threat and without a moment of magic from the erratic Spaniard it is worrying that offensively Tony Pulis seemingly has no more of a clue than his predecessor Garry Monk did. Playing to a set style and fixed game plan is fine if you have the players and skill sets to do so. To try and force it with Players who have not and do not possess the physical traits in some cases and ability in others is just plain stupidity. Running down the season until the summer transfer window is all well and good but fans pay hard earned money to support their team and hope to see some semblance of a fight, not cowering, covering their heads under an avalanche of blows to the head with not so much as a single retaliatory reply.
Not good enough, not even remotely close and if it continues things could get unpleasant well before the summer if this sterile dross continues. Having a long term plan only works if you are here for the long term as GM found out. I was and still am a firm believer that long term TP can bring us back up and keep us up but right now my frustration is bordering on disgust at the state of our attacking organisation and abject lack of ability to carry out a threat. There were too many negative players and non-contributory players selected today. Besic adds nothing that we didn’t already have at the club he is fine as cover for Grant or Clayts, Gestede struggles as he has since he arrived and Assombalonga looks to have all the enthusiasm of a root canal filling at the moment.
Mitigating factors of “not my squad” or “not my players” will only go so far for so long. Season ticket reminders for early birds renewals are being touted, only playing in 60% of the pitch is not a great renewal incentive. Right now questions are being asked of TP and his fruitless tactics, maybe not quite as many as GM had amassed come December but they are growing and fast. Targeting a summer rebuild now is a very dangerous approach. It is too far away and surrendering everything for the sake of playing in a particular preferred style without the attributes to make it work is a dangerous game. Disillusioned supporters don’t renew tickets and those that still go will not sit quietly watching repeated failings with patience and understanding. Football is a results game first and foremost.
Is the measure of Boro’s task
ahead roughly the size of Wales
Boro manager Tony Pulis heads to the familiar land of his fathers on Saturday hoping his team will be in full male voice as they hit the right notes against Cardiff. The size of the task facing Boro as they attempt to make it at least to the play-offs is difficult to quantify – though it’s perhaps the standard measure in these parts that our prospects must be viewed as roughly that of the size of Wales in comparison to the size of the promised land we seek. However, if the relative chances of a play-off spot are indeed equal to an area the size of Wales, then the dream of automatic promotion is quickly becoming greater in magnitude than the lost super-continent of Gondwanaland.
Perhaps our play-off hopes would be better represented by the Slavic mythical island of Buyan, which is believed to have the ability to appear and disappear at will depending on which direction the wind blows – though in Boro’s case our chances seem to disappear with each wave of gloom that floods the Riverside after every defeat. Nevertheless, there is a real fear in Wales that their birthright of being the metaphorical land measurement of choice will soon be gone as the post-Brexit world will instead start adopting the almost equally-sized country of Slovenia as their relative area comparison – where were the buses emblazoned with that pivotal fact in the referendum campaign? It was I believe conspicuous by its absence!
However, when it comes to promotion, many supporters believe their team have already missed the bus, if not fallen under it. Though for all its fits and starts (mainly hissy and false), Boro’s promotion aspirations are still within touching distance as the marathon of a Championship season enters the decisive last third, with many now regretting not taking on enough fluids earlier – albeit of the alcoholic kind. A win against Cardiff would give everyone a second wind and leave them feeling full of beans after optimistically eyeing the run of upcoming fixtures against Hull, Sunderland, Leeds, Birmingham, Barnsley and Brentford. Indeed, Boro must look at these pre-Easter games as probably their last chance to exercise their promotion credentials and put pressure on the teams ahead of them if they want to avoid a hard border between them and the top six emerging.
The main concern is that Boro’s forwards still look short on confidence and Assombalonga’s levels probably reached new depths, which were inversely proportional to the heights achieved by the ball that sailed over the bar from his impromptu spot kick. Bamford is also struggling to believe that he’s going to keep his place in the team that he earlier lost under Monk, albeit a place that takes him away from the position from where he was bestowed Championship player of the season in his first spell at the club. Big Rudy Gestede has yet to prove his role as a target man is nothing more than that of creating an aimless goal for those behind him rather than a means to actually getting one.
When Boro last played Cardiff there was little to indicate that there was any particular gulf in class between the sides – indeed both teams showed little to suggest they were favourites for promotion and it was only Adama coming on as quite literally as a late impact sub that gifted the Bluebirds a late penalty and all three points. The fact that Neil Warnock’s team have opened up a ten point gap over Boro merely suggests that the Teessiders have failed to take their opportunities. Whereas Cardiff have stuck to their task to leave them only one point short of an automatic promotion spot with just under the required 2 points per game. One opposition player Boro supporters may be interested to catch a glimpse of is Yanic Wildschutt and one wonders how he would have fared under the guidance of Tony Pulis given how Adama has flourished since his arrival.
| Cardiff City | Middlesbrough | ||
| Neil Warnock | Tony Pulis | ||
| P31 – W17 – D7 – L7 – F47 – A27 | P31 – W14 – D6 – L11 – F40 – A29 | ||
| Position Points Points per game Projected points |
4th 58 1.9 86 |
Position Points Points per game Projected points |
9th 48 1.6 71 |
| Last 6 Games Bolton (H) Millwall (A) Leeds (A) Sheff Wed (A) Sunderland (H) QPR (A) |
F-T (H-T) 2:0 (2:0) W 1:1 (1:1) D 4:1 (3:0) W 0:0 (0:0) D 4:0 (0:0) W 1:2 (0:0) L |
Last 6 Games Reading (H) Norwich (A) Sheff Wed (H) QPR (A) Fulham (H) Preston (A) |
F-T (H-T) 2:1 (1:0) W 0:1 (0:1) L 0:0 (0:0) D 3:0 (2:0) W 0:1 (0:0) L 3:2 (1:2) W |
Boro have more or less become the Adama Traore show under Tony Pulis and with every MOM performance will come the realistion that with increased attention from the outside comes the ever-growing prospect that he won’t be a Championship player after the summer. One individual cannot a team make, but if Boro can harness a promotion bid in the wake of the high performance showboat waves he’s beginning to make in the football world, then it’s likely to be our only hope of seeing him in Boro shirt next season. Perhaps the worse case scenario is that Adama tears up the division for the rest of the season and Boro fall short as a team – though at least he’ll command a fee several multiples in excess of just getting our money back that many would have settled for a few months ago.
The unknowns in the Boro squad are the new arrivals in January, which if we believe some of the hype surrounding their ability, then they should be offering competition for places in the very near future. It may well be Jack Harrison, who was voted the second best player under 24 in Major League Soccer, is a possible starter on the left given nobody has of yet managed to nail that position. Mo Besic on the other hand will need to compete with Leadbitter, Howson and Clayton for one of the two places available – most likely he’ll be introduced from the bench but that is never usually a game-changing substitution and it may be a while before he gets enough time on the pitch to make an impression.
Overall the defence has picked itself and there no longer appears to be much competition at full-back since Tony Pulis arrived, with George Friend now restored on the left and Ryan Shotton taking over from Christie on the right. Though it seems this week the two Boro full-backs have tried to keep their competitive edge by getting involve in a fierce dual against each other off the pitch – for those who missed this particular battle, George and Ryan went head-to-head in the meanest of contests at Rockliffe Hall as they were tasked with baking and decorating a Victoria sponge cake – this tasty encounter was won by Shotton thanks to his innovative lemon curd variation that knocked Friend’s old school ‘UTB’ decorated effort out of the ballpark.
Older supporters may be trying to recall a similar contest between John Craggs and Terry Cooper, where they both attempted to make an industrial strength cup of tea that allowed the spoon to stand vertically without touching the sides. Indeed, others may even remember the ‘raw meat’ challenge between Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris and Norman ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter, who took it in turns to attempt to remove the opposition forward’s limbs and put them through a mincer before serving them on a plate for the physio. The real man image has certainly changed for the modern player with possibly home-made quiche replacing the pre-match fag and a pint that some fans expected their heroes should adopt to more closely match their own regimes – especially as back in the day, working men frowned upon anything with suspicion that sounded remotely healthy. I just hope the Cardiff players are not expecting a cakewalk as they get up close and personal and pour scorn on the pâtissier passing skills of our full-back bakers. One Boro player still disappointed at being overlooked for the cake challenge and a chance to finally make a name for himself at the club is Lewis Baker – not only is he no longer considered as one of the best 16 players at the club but he’s now not even known as one of best bakers!
Talking of Victorian fruit cakes – Jacob Rees-Mogg may be steeped in the oldest of old school values but he would certainly have little time for those Boro remoaners who would prefer to stay in the Championship this season rather than risk an unmerited exit into the big bad world of the Premier League without being fully prepared. Having failed so miserably last time when we went up, there is a view that the best way to stay up is to arrive as a fully functioning team and make as few changes as possible to your playing style and squad. In some ways we have already seen this season how it has been a difficult process to integrate players and new tactical methods once, let alone twice. Boro still appear to be working out how to play without the luxury of pre-season games to iron out problems and finding the right balance is proving a slow process. Indeed, it’s hard to see many of our current squad being deemed top-flight players should Boro sneak up this season and we’d no doubt be looking at wholesale changes again – forwards who can’t make an impact in the Championship are unlikely to do better at a higher level and midfielders who can’t find a way past journeymen opponents will not face an easier task against fitter, stronger and more skillful players.
The danger for the doubters is that Tony Pulis may be too set in his ways and his conservative approach to tactics may be short on ideas to counter the more modern pragmatic coaches that Boro will face in the top tier. Whether he has run out of new innovations or can still adapt may depend on your viewpoint of whether the game has moved on or not – sometimes old ideas suddenly appear fresh to those who have grown tired of the latest trends that fail to provide improvement. It’s perhaps why those who embody ‘old school’ virtues suddenly appear a refreshing option in the eyes of the public, who hear nothing in the same old noises to offer them hope or catch their attention. Whatever the message, people are seemingly drawn to characters who appear to talk with enthusiasm and confidence – the question is whether what they represent is built on imagination or just the lack of it.
Take our friend Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is all of a sudden being talked of in the media as the next man to lead the country, it emerged last year to much amusement that he named his sixth child ‘Sixtus’ (latin for ‘the sixth’) and it’s hard to say whether that was out of imagination or just out of desperation from running out of ideas? Though given the child’s full name, Sixtus Dominic Boniface Christopher, I suspect he has some magical random name generating machine in his attic that he consults in Latin on such matters – especially if you look at the names conjured up for his other five children – Peter Theodore Alphege, Mary Anne Charlotte Emma, Thomas Wentworth Somerset Dunstan, Anselm Charles Fitzwilliam and Alfred Wulfric Leyson Pius. Though it looks like his wife may have been charged with naming their daughter Mary. However, his sons may consider themselves lucky that they didn’t attend Linthorpe junior school in the early seventies instead of Eton or Hogwarts (or wherever the elite send their kids these days) – as I suspect as they adjusted their pinstriped waistcoats while waiting for their name to be called in the morning register they may as well have just stuck a big piece of paper on their backs with ‘kick me’ written on it with the Latin translation in a fluorescent red felt-tip pen.
The question that now remains to be answered is whether Tony Pulis represents both the past and the future in terms of his footballing philosophy. Has the game moved on to the point where old school managers only know enough to limit the risk of defeat or do they in fact know how to make less complicated more effective teams from the pool of limited talented players at their disposal. Boro’s problem is perhaps convincing some of the key players that they can be effective in a system that they may suspect is not where their long term futures lies and are not buying into the new man. Alternatively, have they flattered to deceive and are they indeed only good players when a manager plays to their limited strengths. It may well be that showing the right character will be increasingly important in the coming months, as I expect with three games in a week, the season is coming closer to being defined one way or the other.
So as Boro survey the promotion landscape will they map their journey into the play-offs with a South Wales sized victory? Or will the play-off aspirations of a small town in Europe be pushed by the Bluebirds further over the proverbial white cliffs? As usual your predictions on score, scorers and team selection – plus will the old school ties of Pulis and Warnock see them help each other to a point in a game of defensive solidarity.
Not sure about that mythical Slavic island Werder but unless we can put together a run of Villa and Fulham proportions, our promotion chances will disappear into the mists like Brigadoon!
⚽️⚽️
They’re back.
UTB,
John
Superlative as per your usual and very high standard. It just makes us all keep on our toes to try and submit creative and meaningful posts to try and match the creativity.
I’m just hoping for a Boroexit from the constraints of the championship.
I think we may have missed the bus and if so our corporation will be blue.
Hopefully our new driver will conduct our Red United passengers to the promised land.
OFB
2 close 2 call so a 2-2 draw.
I used to get the no21 United bus from hartburn to boro. Once went all the way to redcar on it.
I will always remember my first visit to the UK in 1980. It was a green bus from Boro to Great Ayton. Don’t remember the number anymore.
The road went slightly differently back then than now. I think it was around Nunthorpe Hall, close to A172. Anyway the bus driver must have been new to his route as he asked me for instruction where to go next. I was sitting in one of the first seats to have a good view as I was abroad for the first time.
His accent was thick as ever and I was not familiar with the local accent back then. So I was ashamed I did not understand the questions first and then finally answering sorry, I am here for the first time!
I will go for a tight and lucky 1-2 win for Boro. Bamford and Britt scoring – the latter on the 88th minute.
Up the Boro!
So B&B for B on the BBth minute. UTB!
Jarkko
It will be some sort of, ‘ act of god’ if Britt gets on the bus to Wales this weekend.
Some things are unforgivable, and what he did was one of them.
Even had he surrendered the ball to the official penalty taker, he would have increased the pressure on him by his, frankly, awful behaviour.
In addition, he prevented the team from telling Traore to complete his hat trick,
Not a bad idea, because he was on fire, it would have finished the match, and he might have gone on to score again.
I see we are still using disrespectful words to describe him and his form,(while at the same time stating that he will be gone for a very big price to one of the giants.
Can we say he is now the highest value player in the Champ.
The fastest player in Britain.
The deadliest dribbler in Britain.
His reaction time is deadly.
When hurting into the box with the ball at his feet, a goal is always on.
I think that his time has come, the light bulb has switched on, he will take some stopping from entering the box, and the rest we know.
Werder,
AS always a great intro, and on this result I await RR’s ‘outro’ with dread. One for the Bonzo Dog fans there.
I don’t think that a play-off place has gone yet, it is the Championship after all, but Boro are running along behind the blue Corporation ‘T” bus with the vertical hand pole just out of their grasp. A weekend of strange results and whatever happens in Cardiff the position will be the same for the next game.
Final score? Cardiff 2 – 0 Boro. Apart from the defence and Traore but will splutter and fizz like a damp squib.
However we all live in hope as Typical Boro fans.
UTB,
John
Thanks John, I don’t think Cardiff are that much better than Boro – despite the ten point gap, I’m sure we could reel off half-a-dozen games where Boro have been beaten by teams who were very ordinary – including the Bluebirds at the Riverside. Let’s face it Boro have blown this season with some poor decisions by both the managers and players. This season has been a missed opportunity as the teams at the top are nothing special and Boro could easily be sitting in second spot if they’d turned up at the Riverside for 4 of those games tamely lost.
Werder
Your brilliance is now taken as read but never taken for granted. Thanks again for all your hard work.
Many thanks Steely and your comments on the articles are always greatly appreciated – plus thanks to OFB for his earlier comment too!
As I see it, Boro and Cardiff both have managers with old fashioned ideas trying to get to the promised land, but if either or indeed both manage to achieve that, it will be for one season only. Championship football is of a poor standard with clubs like Reading and Sheffield Wednesday (playoff teams last season) not safe from relegation this season. It also comprises two relegated Premier League clubs fighting a second relegation and a third unable to ‘smash’ the league despite having untold riches in the form of parachute payments.
The converse shows clubs like Wolves, Villa, Derby, Cardiff and Bristol City who last season respectively finished 15th, 13th, 9th, 12th and 17th, all except Derby finishing between 30 and 40 points less than the two automatically promoted teams. In all seriousness can anyone see any of the above surviving in the Premier League and I include Wolves in that question?
Only Swansea of the playoff winners have survived for any length of time, and although Palace and West Ham are still there, they both were relegated soon after their first playoff successes in 2004 and 2005. It does pose the question in my opinion whether the current playoff system should be abolished. Jubilation followed by almost immediate despair a year or two later! Wouldn’t a playoff between the 3rd placed Championship team and the 18th Premier League Team be a truer test? Remember 1988? Although that did also involve the 4th and 5th placed teams
As for tomorrow’s match I expect a match bereft of much class, probably a goalless draw.
I’m beginning to suspect the only positive aspect of promotion to the PL is the £100m windfall and the parachute payments, which helps to finance the next promotion bid. I suspect it will get harder and harder to stay in the top-tier for those coming up and like I said in my pre-match Boro will be looking at probably signing another ten players and moving on ten. The consequence of relegation often means the same thing for newly promoted clubs. Maybe they should just plan to be relegated and avoid throwing away money on players who won’t hang around if they are not in the Premier League.
Perhaps the top five should get promoted and the bottom five in the PL relegated as for two-thirds of teams the PL it is only about survival and perhaps if top-flight status was a more fluid situation they’d perhaps play with less fear of losing it.
No I love the playoffs !
I loved Wembley (for the first five minutes) the prematch at Trafalgar Sq was marvellous
Best of all I was at Chelsea when we went up !
Very true about the harking for the old fashioned. TP is the popular no nonsense working class true man to that pesky Europhile Monk and his new modern ways of expansive football.
True GM looked clueless at times (as I’ve said before missing an experienced assistant) but much as with Brexit we’ll find ourselves in pretty much the same position as before.
TP needs to play Britt from now as Bernie said in the Gazette however unless that happens it’s 0-0 all the way for me.
Good Post
Britt might play as Gestede hasn’t trained for past two days with a slight back injury,
Or it could be TP just playing mind games?
OFB
He must have caught a draught on Redcar beach!
I’ve had a few draughts down at Redcar Beach and they were always bitter.
Usually quaffed at the Swan Hotel where I used to play in a group upstairs every month (where I met Mrs OFB) and of course the famous Redcar Jazz Club
I agree and do think TP could be getting BA revved up and ready for his A Team assault on the play offs. I love it when a plan…
I think what we see as with all managers is that some things work and some things don’t. It must be difficult to start with essentially a new team and get it up and functioning in a matter of weeks. I think even Pep Guardiola said that a manager needs three transfer windows to shape a team – though it probably helps if you are owned by a billionaire and can pay top dollar. The difference is that chairmen in the current landscape are not prepared to risk three transfer windows if they think their club is either going to be relegated or fail to be promoted.
Ken
I’m in favour of getting shot of the play offs and go back to 3 up 3 down. Only problem I see is that those who run the game won’t allow it. By that I obviously mean Sky!
The playoffs were designed to avoid the last few months of the season being a series of dead rubbers for many clubs – plus since many of these games are also being televised of little interest to viewers too. The nature of the bottom of the table usually means there isn’t that much of a gap in points between the teams down there, so you’ve generally got more to play for until the last few games if your club is struggling.
Werder you say exactly what I was referring too in the second half of your first sentence.
Another class warm up piece as well.
Thanks FAA, I think the overall object is to have as many meaningful games for as many clubs as possible – it may actually be that the concept of a league has become outdated where most of the teams are just making up the numbers to give the elite clubs someone to play.
Nice to see a mention for my (albeit brief) Alma Mater, Linthorpe Junior School.
Brilliant work as ever.
Thanks Martin, I was a Linthorpe lad until I was 8 and then my parents had the not so well-timed idea to sell up and emigrate to Zimbabwe a few weeks before the Rhodesian war of independence started, which was led by a certain Robert Mugabe – though not sure what ever happened to him…
Think he’s in the Boro area now and changed his name to
ROBERT WHOARYER ?
I went until I was 6, then we moved to Nunthorpe. Not quite as exotic as Zimbabwe.
Werdermouth
To quote a Yorkshire exclamation “Ebagum, he must have gone backwards”.
May I suggest that all bloggers who are on twitter copy the text as below and paste and post on Twitter to get new followers lurkers and bloggers who deserve to see the quality of the writing on Diasboro
Diasboro Prematch Report on Cardiff v Boro available now. Look it up on Google it’s free to read and join the blog for all Boro fans worldwide. PLEASE R/T
A great read Werder.
Playing Cardiff brings back memories of the John Toshack torture years.
There was the great televised match under Mogga where as the game kicked off the commentator sagely told us Boro would sit back for the first 20 minutes or so only for us to be three up in the blink of an eye.
Despite that thoughts return to the FA Cup debacle……
I would take a pint, sorry a point, make that a double.
Ian,
When Toshack played for Cardiff he always scored against Boro, the Toshack curse. Boro were a guarantee that he would increase his goals tally for the season.
UTB,
John
Thanks Ian, Let’s hope we don’t see Tosh on the pitch on Saturday…
Elsewhere, I note from one of the tweets the chairman of the PFA was paid £2.29m last year which is more than four times what was paid out in benevolent payments to players with illnesses and difficulties.
No wonder the aforementioned chairman is still working at 73,
Ian
It was only by insisting on the players organisation getting a share of the cash windfall from television rights,(fought by this chairman and others) that the players have a generous welfare fund to fall back on, should they need it.
I need hardly tell you that the owners fought it like tigers( it went to a players strike)
Condemned by all(natch)
They are at the moment, telling the players that they would like them to reduce their take from the coming gold rush from pay per view, that should be interesting.
Incidentally, the players are treated very well indeed by their fund, retraining, health, operations, education, and those in need,( not many as you would expect in such a young and fit body of men)
Plato
I agree with that but instinct says I would rather the benevolent fund paid out £2.29m and the chairman received £0.5m.
I suppose if you were paid over £2m a year you wouldn’t mind if the government raised the retirement age to 80. He, Gordon Taylor is actually Chief Executive and basically awarded himself a £1.3m pay rise last year – which if you think the total budget of the PFA is £17m, it’s hard to see what he exactly does to justify getting paid that amount. It’s the usual story for those on the Gravy Train, they believe that they need to be paid more in a well paid industry to be taken seriously by their peers. Time this was called out for what it is – pure unaccountable greed.
Werder,
Pure unaccountable greed = assumed status = what? Competence? The ability to change things? Or self assumed messiah like status based on nothing. Sepp Blatter rides again?
Yeah, gravy train sums it up. Just where does that money come from? Player’s pockets? If so why don’t they complain? Maybe everyone wants his job when they retire.
UTB,
John
PS What does he do apart from the odd sound bite?
The players are probably wondering how he manages to get by on £45k a week!
Werder
It’s the usual story, without this man the players( quite naturally) would have been left right out of the gravy train by (who else) the owners.
The fund has a reserve of seventy million?
Pay per play is coming in, the owners want the players to accept a cut in their share of the bonanza, (and why am i not surprised)
Expect more sniping at the leader of the players union(you know it makes sense)
All this money rightfully belongs to the players, because I’ve never yet seen any director of a football club slot one into the top corner in the last minute.(unless it’s a double brandy)
Ian,
Working for whom? Apart from himself.
UTB,
John
Great piece Werder thank you.
Randolph
Shotton Ayala Gibson Friend
Leadbitter Howson
Traore Downing Bamford
Assombalonga
We may see at some point the introduction of Harrison & Besic.
I would prefer to see Bamford in the No 10 role with Harrison on the left but I can’t see TP starting with that line up in such an important game.
I can’t see us getting anything against our old nemesis albeit I agree with Werder’s assessment that Cardiff, like so many of the teams in this league, are not a better side than us it’s just so far this season we have managed to find every possible way to shoot ourselves in the foot.
Cardiff 2-0 Boro
CoB prove me wrong please 😎
Thanks KP, though I’d be surprised to see Britt get a start but I think along with Bamford he desperately needs a goal – if Gestede is struggling with fitness then we may see them both but a lot will depend if Harrison is deemed ready or even Adama gets a more central role given his shooting has improved.
Another inspired piece, Werder. Many thanks.
I’m expecting a binary result, most probably Cardiff 1 Boro 0
I’ll be pleased if Traore manages to get through the game without incurring a serious injury in the battle of the managerial cynics/ pragmatists. He’ll certainly be what we might politely call a “target”.
Thanks Len, I also have a worry Warnock will instruct somebody to whack Traore – though the chances of coming out on top against Adama in full flow may leave the unlucky player selected for the task feeling like they’ve been run over by a bus.
I’m expecting nothing but defeat. Prove me wrong please Boro.
Great pre-match piece again, Werder. Thanks.
If Gestede is trifling with a strain and Assombalonga is one the naughty step, maybe we’ll see that rarest of sights: Patrick Bamford up front. That would mean a reshuffle elsewhere unless Harrison is ready to start on the left.
It doesn’t feel like a promotion season but I’m expecting this game to provide a bit more clarity. Win and it’s game on for a promotion push via the playoffs. Lose and surely that will be that.
I’ll go for 0-0.
Wily Warnock, he who stifled Gaston after we’d had four clear cut chances, at least, to put his Millers to the sword and didn’t take them, before his team sucker punched us after one little slip and a season-defining hissy fit was triggered.
Couple of random quotes for you to enjoy.
“I always liked to dwell on an opponent’s weaknesses rather than (their) strengths. While it was good to look at videos of some of the lethal players we would find ourselves up against, ultimately no battles are won by mounting a sterling defence. The way to win battles, wars and games is by attacking and overrunning the opposing side. So I would always dwell on our opponents’ weaknesses – partly to exploit them and partly to impart in my players a sense of what was possible. If you over-emphasise opponents’ strengths, you just plant seeds of doubt in your players.”
— Sir Alex Ferguson
“We were taking on the big boys. But I don’t like that term ‘big boys’. It’s almost like you’re beaten before you start. We were in the same league as them. I think I was quite good at looking at my players’ strengths, not deficiencies.
“…I think, today, I’d be a bit more cautious… (But) it’s hard to be cautious. You tend to get carried by the emotions of the crowd. We played with our hearts more than our heads. ‘Here we go – take on the world.’ When, really, I should have been saying, ‘Here, listen – one step at a time. Let’s be hard to beat.’
“But when you’ve been promoted you’ve got into the habit of winning matches – that’s why you were promoted. And you try to carry that into the Premiership.”
— Roy Keane
Lessons learned?
Never be intimidated against or be ashamed of having a go, but don’t forget to lay the foundations.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that as long as the foundations are always in the right place, the opposition will eventually crack and the chances will present themselves to be taken. We’ve been there.
Some interesting quotes Simon – I’d probably agree with the first one from Alex Ferguson as that has to be the mindset that has more chance of leading to winning games. If you focus too much on stopping the opposition then it must have an adverse effect on your ability to trouble your opponents and let them dictate the match and play their normal game – which is a strategy where a single mistake could cost you that game.
We’re capable of winning tomorrow and equally capable of sneaking into the play offs. After that it’s a lottery.
Two one to us tomorrow.
For what it’s worth my forecasts for next season.
Relegated from the Premier League – Aston Villa, Fulham and Watford.
Promoted from the Championship – Stoke City, West Bromwich and Middlesbrough.
I can’t see us scoring, never mind winning tomorrow.
I’d like to see this team start, but it won’t.
————————Randolph
Shotton – Ayala – Gibson – Friend
———-Howson – Leadbitter
Traore ——- Downing – —-Harrison
——————-Bamford
Ken
I hope you are correct with your forecast (assuming that we fail to make it this season) and that by then TP will have assembled a team capable of keeping us there.
Interesting article from AV in the Gazette about past Boro signings and what that would equate to at today’s inflationary prices. The staggering bargain would be George Camsell, especially when one thinks about what Boro have spent since on non-scoring strikers. However, maybe some of the best signings were those that merely cost the obligatory £10 signing-on fee and also the standardised weekly wage before the maximum wage was abolished. I’m thinking of Mickey Fenton, Wilf Mannion and George Hardwick, plus those other £10 bargains signed after the maximum wage abolishment such as Brian Clough, Alan Peacock, Gordon Jones and Mick McNeill – the mind boggles!
Andy – It seems Assombalonga is not on the naughty step as Pulis is claiming he hadn’t yet got round to designating a penalty taker under his regime and it was left to the players on the pitch to sort it out. He also said he has told Britt to take Adama as an example of how someone can quickly gain confidence and change their game around. Let’s see how that translates when we see the starting XI today – btw thanks for the comment on the preview.
Werder…….The brilliant Headliners just continue. I do wonder how you keep thinking up these so enjoyable pieces.
Unfortuanatly I cannot see us winning today and realistically would be happy with a point. The trouble is the gap above is getting wider and will soon be chasm.
Got my pass hoping for the best
Many thanks Pedro – At some point Boro have to take the opportunities to close the gap that keep presenting themselves – I see Fulham play Villa today and Bristol City are away at Leeds tomorrow, with the other teams just above us Preston play Wolves and Sheff Utd don’t have a game due to the FA Cup. So I think a win at Cardiff with struggling Hull and Sunderland to come this week would see Boro break into the top six if they put in some performances – ok that’s a big ‘if’ I know…
interesting thought of someone thwacking Traore. He is like Aguero and has what is often called a low centre of gravity, very strong and difficult to push about,
I wonder his lack of awareness at times can protect him because he stands there and goes at the player from a standing position, is it harder to lay a foot on him from a rooted position because you cant generate the physical leverage a moving player can.
Werder
I’d be really surprised that Pulis hasn’t sorted out who the first choice penalty taker would be.
If he hasn’t sorted that out after what, 7/8 weeks, then he’s not the organized type of manager that I was hoping he was.
Seems to me he is he trying to protect Brits already fragile confidence by not calling him out in public. Hopefully the latter because if it really is the former we’re going nowhere fast.
I’d probably agree with that as it would serve no purpose to kick a player when he’s down – especially your most expensive asset and leading scorer. I read with amusement an article that said Britt was still a top player despite also stating he’s only netting once in the last 12 games and only one of his 12 goals coming against a top half team – on that evidence submitted you would need to wonder whether he is indeed mainly a confidence player, who doesn’t have the overall game to proceed to the next level. Hopefully Pulis will do with him what he’s done for Adama and work on the mental side of his game.
Many thanks Werder.
From the Northern Echo today: Pulis at home with Teesside docks, steelworks and Whitby fish and chips trip
🔴 Thanks Braveheart and I fixed your link for you – Werder
RE: the PFA, there’s an interesting defence of Gordon Taylor by an ex player turned journalist in today’s Times.
It draws heavily on an interview with our George Friend and his role as Boro’s PFA rep.
Unfortunately the Times pay-wall only let’s you read the intro to the article – what was the defence exactly?
I’d only say that the high wages earned by players derive from the market created by having a limited number of top quality players and many clubs having £100m+ income streams. It’s almost as if the PFA have concluded that Gordon Taylor is the only person who can do the job and therefore name his price – though not sure what his job description is that mean they can’t find other suitable candidates willing to carry out the role for a competitive salary.
Weirder
That is not the case.
When the money came into the game, the owners lawyered up and told them to clear off, as they could get players from anywhere in the country, and they would be better than them.
The players said ” hold on, we do not want a strike, we are only footballers, and all we want to do is kick a ball”
One famous international keeper went on record as saying that he thought it was wrong in principle for the players to be interfering in matters that did not concern them.
Uncle tom lives on or what?
The keeper received a very good press for weeks.
So it was not a slam dunk, and do not forget that this plenty is available to all football league players, plus a very good pension fund.
Just realised today’s game is the last one that is available to watch online until the Leeds game on 3 March as neither of our fellow relegated clubs who we play next, Hull and Sunderland, are part of iFollow or have their own streaming system – so hopefully today will keep us going!
After months of “lurkerdom” with this blog & the occasional post on AV’s Untypical Boro as London-based Boro Fan (not sure I qualify as a fan, as I don’t go to matches & rely heavily on TV highlights/rare newspaper reports now that Boros’s back in the Championship ( 🙁 ) after them to find out what happened, so call me an interested bystander), I’ve finally decided to put virtual pen to virtual paper to put Werder out of his misery in connection with the Times article.
The article is by Gregor Robertson, a Scottish lower league footballer, who played for Forest, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Crewe Alexandra, Northamption Town & Grimsby. I disagree with Chris’ statement that it draws heavily on an interview with “Gorgeous”: it contains three quotes from him & a photo:
“I think a lot of players, in general, don’t really understand it, especially with the influx of foreign players,” George Friend, the Middlesbrough full back and a PFA management committee member, says. “They know it’s there, but they don’t really know what it does until they need it for something. Which I guess is the same as a lot of services and unions.”
…..
There have been great strides made in making members more aware of the services and assistance available to them. Regular emails and a much clearer website has improved communication and soon a smartphone app will be launched. “I think that’s crucial in the modern day,” Friend says, “that the PFA is accessible in changing rooms and people will know what’s on offer at the click of a button, and it will improve the participation within the union.”
Friend is one of 19 elected management committee members — all current professionals from across the four divisions — who, along with Taylor, meet quarterly to discuss the issues facing members. “You’ve got the likes of Tom Heaton, Matt Jarvis, Jonathan Walters, on there,” Friend says, “and Ben Purkiss, the chairman, who really puts a lot of time and effort in and is quite passionate about the PFA.”
I’d say the most passionate defence of Taylor is Robertson’s closing paragraph:
On a personal note, I would almost certainly not be writing in this paper were it not for the PFA. It encouraged me, at every turn, to think about the future and subsidised my university fees. And when I wrote, in these pages, in 2016, about the reality of retiring for many footballers, I received a letter from Taylor to wish me good luck for the future.
He adds: “The PFA could of course do more. But it has done, and continues to do, much for its members.”
Thanks for posting that and welcome to Diasboro – note a first post always needs approving but now you’re able to post live in real time. No doubt the PFA do some great work and I wouldn’t question that – the questions is how much should a chief exec be renumerated for an organisation where its only income is from grants and subscriptions? btw all fans are ultimately just fans!
Weirder
They are not grants, they are their share of the gold mine(and as they are the talent they should get the lions share) but of course, they do not
A thought on Gordon Taylor who I am sure does a good job at the PFA. he gets over 10% of the PFA turnover. That would mean the chief exec of Rolls Royce would get around £1.2b.
I think is the fact the PFA is there for the benefit of its members who pay their membership dues.
He is not the owner of £15m company that he created from an idea, put in his own money, developed, expanded and grew in to a profitable business
He is basically head of a union who gets four times the benefits of the people he represents added together.
Hand up from another ex Linthorpe boy. I left one year early in 1963 which seems a very long time ago.
This is going to be a tough game and it may not be pretty. I can easily see a 0-0. I’m hoping for a 1-0 win with Ayala scoring from a set piece.
UTB
I was there until 1961. We must have been there at the same time I guess.
Well that is a positive line up. Traore now becomes the player with the pressure on to score as we know the others just do not have it in their boots.
So Besic gets a start alongside Leadbitter and Howson – that was my theory that he’s struggle to break into the two-man central midfield gone. Looks like Boro will go with a three-man midfield at the expense of Bamford as Gestede is fit. It’s perhaps already got that 0-0 feel about it – hopefully Boro will get an early goal.
I’ll go 1-0 to Boro with a rare goal from Downing
P.S. I should have said earlier that I am in awe of Werder & RR for the quality of their lead-in & sign-off pieces before & after matches. This time round, however, as a trained linguist/ex-professional technical translator, I feel I must take issue with Werder over his rendering of the meaning of the name “Sixtus”, as bestowed by JRM on his latest offspring. It actually means “scraped” or “polished”. The Latin word for “sixth” is “sextus”. 😉
Thanks, yes I did read that Sextus was the true Latin translation but also read that the name Sixtus was likely derived from Sextus and was the name given to the 6th Pope to serve after St Peter. Perhaps it was JRM’s intention to cause confusion but who am I to call out anyone for playing on words 🙂
Werder
Always have been a bit too literal for my own good – something to do with my original calling, I think! 😉
As far as playing on words is concerned, as soon as I’d clicked on the submit button, I realised I could have added a comment in expectation of dental puns in response to the scraped or polished meaning of “sextus”!
I was also tempted to add a P.P.S. after I saw the typos in my first post to say that I wish there were an “edit” function (I’m looked on as the resident proof-reader at work…) on the blog.
Or even braced yourself for the dental puns…
Besides anyone calling their son Sextus would have to anticipate it would be most likely shortened to ‘Sexy’ at school or in the unlikely event of Rees-Mogg junior becoming a professional footballer!
btw fixed your typo – it’s a dangerous game pointing out literals or errors when there’s a one-way submit button around 🙂
Stircrazy
That must apply to the young lad’s silver spoon.
Just seen Adama lining up on the left on the live feed…
1-0 down and as Phil Thompson said, Besic got his customary yellow card,.
Well I am sorry to say that that was garbage from the Boro and not surprising given the line up. Mr Pulis is looking to be worse than AK with his picks.
For a game we need to get something from I just cannot understand the team. Absolutely and I mean absolutely no creativity. Adama on the left getting nothing to run with, Gestede I do not think has won a ball yet and has been anomonous, with SD being accommodated on the right so that TP could put Adama on the left??
It has just been hoof ball from the back with nothing getting to the front three plus Hoawson further forward. Well to the half way line that is.
It needs some changes in personnel at haft time to stand a chance of getting anything froam this. Cardiffvery ordinary, soa what does that say about the Boro?
Sorry about the typos
Out of interest, if Adama was on the left was that the same side as the dugouts?
Yes
The first half was pretty flat and Boro posed no real threat to the Cardiff goal – Gestede hasn’t really done anything except give the ball away on the few occasions he’s touched it. Adama on the left was well Adama on the left, Leadbitter having one of his off-games, including a terrible corner that rolled along the ground to the first defender. Besic looked tidy and comfortable on the ball but Boro don’t seem to have many ideas of what to do with the ball and it tends to be sideways ad backwards and then long to nobody. I would take off Leadbitter and Gestede and bring on Bamford and Harrison.
Ian
Yes.
Pedro
Your typos are more interesting than the match!😎
Sorry about the rant…using my i-pap
i-pap, very good1
🙂
Is Adama on the right second half or is it too soon to tell?
Pedro’s comments above are a hundred times more informative than anything appearing so far on the Gazette’s live blog. This consists of PT, every five minutes or so, giving a one sentence quote from someone else followed by “10 mins 0-0”. A really pathetic effort which gives absolutely no sense of how the match is going. When you compare this flimsy offering with the detail and quality of Werder and RR’s work on here then you ponder on just who the true professionals are.
We’re well into the second half now and we seem assured of a point as PT is repeatedly reporting the score as 0-0.
You couldn’t make it up
Re: The PFA (2)
Sorry I couldn’t cut and paste the Times report, I have the old school paper version and haven’t the time to retype it.
This isn’t a dig at Stircrazy, just an explanation why I didn’t respond to Werder, earlier.
Also, welcome to the world of posting, I hope to read more of you.
Anyway, while I’m broadly in agreement the CEO’s salary is exorbitant, and I’m sure equally talented individuals could perform the same role much more competitively, two points are made.
1. Taylor secured the PFA a cut of various TV deals as part of the Prem’s negotiations. If nothing else, this safeguarded the finances of the PFA. Whether they spend it altogether wisely is a moot point. I’m sure Taylor would argue 10% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
2. Taylor doesn’t and can’t sit on the remuneration committee.
Why why why play Traore on the left? *facepalm *headslamdesk
Chris
I have a subscription to “The Sunday Times”. I don’t always need to buy the daily version during the week, so I don’t bother with a full one. That nevertheless gives me full access to the site, which is why I was able to copy & paste the relevant bits. Wouldn’t have known about the article if you hadn’t referred to it! 😉
Off topic, despair of today’s result!
This ‘paper’ thing you talk of Chris – how long do the batteries last? To paraphrase a line from a famous movie “I love the smell of inked palms in the morning…” – though I still remember when they brought out ink that didn’t leave your hands black when you read the newspaper – I thought it would be the future!
Chris
He still receives over 10% of the income, he still receives over four times the benevolent payments to players.
It is a trade union, surely it is there to serve the members? Officials should be fairly remunerated for their jobs, and in line with other levels of responsibility, what definition of fairly is this?
I don’t disagree with you Ian.
I think I will concentrate on the winter Olympics, off to the garage to look for the sledge, it is in there somewhere.
Poor stuff from Boro today very disjointed display and never looked like causing Cardiff problems – who weren’t that much better but passed slightly better and got to the ball a bit quicker. Apparently we had one shot on target, though I’ve forgotten what it was – it may have been Adama in the first half. Not a display that indicates Boro will be promoted this season – though we shall see what happens in the coming games against even more limited opposition.
I will wait until I have calmed a little before I say much more.
What RR will have made of that indefensible display, I feel sorry for him having to make a report out of that.
One thing I will say though is, if the fans think that TP will get the Boro to the promised land, then better think again. Certainly if they saw that today from him.
I really enjoyed Yarold and Deas winning Gold and Bronze respectively.
Monk first 8 games
W4
D2
L2
Pulis first 8 games
W3
D1
L4
Pulis was never who I wanted. He might be good at keeping teams in the top flight, but they didn’t do much other than survive.
I’d be quite happy to sack him at the end of the season and to get Slavisa Jokanovic in, or Marco Silva [by promising him a very hefty transfer budget – seeing as we nearly broke even this season and we’ll probably back £20m from the sale of Traore].
Well at least I got the score right, but I’ll give Pulis all the credit for that.
He managed 17 consecutive games at Stoke in which the score was either 1-0, 0-0 or 0-1.
Predicting the all too predictable requires no great skill.
Nor does imagining what lies ahead during the remainder- or should it be ‘the remains’- of the season for the Boro.
I have three questions.
1/ How did we get beat against a very poor team.
2/ how are Cardiff in the top two
3/ why did we leave the double sub to the last five minutes.
Once again we have been beaten by a very ordinary team.
MOM – none of them.
Well the Everton lad is no better than Clayts.
In fact pretty similar, lots of side and back passing , always willing to take a yellow on the part of the pitch that caused no danger and a minute before half time.
How much are they paid????
We have serious problems.
I hoped that getting back to the PL was a new dawn, I never expected the dark clouds would come down this quickly. We seem to be back where we were when Karanka first walked into the Riverside. Anyone who seriously believes we are going to get back in the play offs must be deluded or unable to believe the evidence before their eyes, upper mid-table is fair assessment of where we are.
Players aren’t good enough. Gestede is a 6 or 7 goals a season man and our best attacking option seems to be Traore; hardly a paragon of consistency. No wonder we are struggling to score goals. I would be surprised if either Assombalonga or Bamford are here next season and it would seem unlikely we will get our money back. Realistically we need huge squad changes, is there either the money or the capability in the club currently to build another promotion team? The evidence of the last few years recruitment suggests not in terms of the latter.
Demanding yet another managerial change (as on other fan sites) or ranting about the Chairman is not the way forward. However, I have to admit I have doubts whether Pulis will lead us back to the PL. He must take one look at the team, remember the lengthy drive back to Dorset and wonder why on earth he decided to come.
old Bill
A lot less than Gordon Taylor but we seem to be paying a lot of benevolent payments to struggling players, in our case, even though they are still playing.
I am away for the last two games of the season, I fly out after the Derby away match so I might miss the most exciting last minute dash to the play offs. I wont even have commentary or texts so you will have to do it without me.
Think you are safe Ian! Depending on what the dirties do tomorrow then we could be 8 points off the play offs and much as I am a half full glass type of guy, not sure we are capable of winning 3 more games than our rivals.
Now I will go and make my glass full with some red!
Ian
I very much doubt that there’ll be any excitement to miss.
I will, of course, be doubly excited in the unlikely event that I’m wrong.
Oh for those great days under AK, he said, throwing in the hand grenade.
Steely
Gutted, | was clinging to the hopes of ending Derby’s automatic hopes then jetting off on holiday on the Sunday. Of course TV may make it a Sunday match so I will miss that.
I have had a better idea, I will just look forward to going on holiday and missing the end of the season but I suspect the players will have left before me. The malicious amongst you may say they have done so already.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=i+couldnt+possibly+comment&&view=detail&mid=47C440B82C367BB84E0D47C440B82C367BB84E0D&rvsmid=D0A19406D2BF5C432B80D0A19406D2BF5C432B80&FORM=VDQVAP
Ian
Yes, they appear to have done so.
So Boro nil – again, a defeat by a poor side – again, and a dismal and ineffective display – again. Pulis has certainly transformed the team but unfortunately for the worse. Why on earth did he play Adama on the left when it has been obvious time and time again that he is vastly more effective on the right. If Pulis can’t see that then we are in serious trouble.
On current form there is no chance that we will make the playoffs and, based on the impact (or lack of it) that Pulis has had so far I can’t see next season being any better. Bring back Monk, all is forgiven!
As we all keep saying, it’s the hope that kills you!
Maybe a daft quid on promotion – no idea what the odds would be……..
Well Redcar Red has filed his match report on what was another disappointing display that lacked a cutting edge…
https://diasboro.club/2018/02/16/championship-cardiff-vs-boro/#MatchReport
Well, for the second away game in succession, I’m now back on the train back to Lancashire. Yet another 4 hour trip after yet another dismal defeat. As Jonno has written in the EG, we were out-muscled by an average Cardiff side. Out-Warnocked again.
Boro were woeful first half. Only Adama provided any spark. For about 25 minutes of the second half, if anything we were worse, increasingly pushed back by the blue shirts. Following the substitutions – too litle, too late – we gave it a go, which at least was an improvement on Norwich. But all that meant was that we launched a few more concerted attacks, without ever really looking threatening. Adama again had a few good runs and looked lively, but they all came to nought. One Boro shot on goal in the whole game tells its own sorry story.
But what do you expect when the tactic is to play Gestede up front on his own and then launch long balls up to him all game? Virtually every ball we played today was a long hoof upfield, where of course, Cardiff’s powerful, muscular defenders just headed them away. I can only recall one or possibly two good footballing moves from Boro all game, usually through an Adama solo run. Very disappointing, deeply frustrating. If this is a sign of the football Pulis intends to play next season to get us out of the Championship, then heaven help us. A) it won’t work and B) we’ll be bored to hell. Even Karanka in his worst days played better football than this!
Just to round off this depressing moan, lads and lasses, I’d like to ask a question:- Just what is the point of Gestede? If he’s a footballer, I’m the man in the moon. Today, despite all the long balls played up to him, he only won about 3 or 4 headers, most of which were misdirected. Half of the time, he just mistimed his jumps, more akin to a ballet dancer than a 6 foot 4 centre-forward. He can’t run either, and rarely has a shot or even gets into position to shoot. So, if your team changes its tactics to fit around a target man, and that target man is completely useless, then what exactly is the point of Gestede?
It is the dedicated supporters like You and others that I do feel for. The cost and time involved for the long trips is not insignificant and surely they deserve better.
As RR says in his report, how long will season ticket holders put up with it although as the club very well know, it is in our blood and no matter how hard we try, the habit cannot be stopped.
Maybe there should be a football supporters anonymous for us to attend!!
Clive, I believe you are being kind by saying you could be the man on the moon.
More chance of that becoming true than Gestede becoming a footballer.
It beggers belief that some dumbo within the MFC organisation actually recommended him and untimately Mr Gibson sanctioned the purchase. More worrying is that dumbo is still employed and sourcing future players,
Just read your excellent report, RR. I agree with every word and every sentiment. Our lack of creativity is deeply concerning. I’m resigned now to another season in the Championship.
How do you do it? How do you get these superb efforts on the blog so soon after the game? Have you written this on the coach back to Redcar? Whatever, I am in awe! Thanks ever so much for all your efforts (and to you, too, Werder, for all yours.)
Another brilliant report from RR and the intro from Weder was up to the usual great standards so thanks to both.
Shame the football doesn’t match the quality of the writing.
Clive’s report also appreciated.
Can we expect the playoffs, unlikely.
Can we expect improvement from the players, again on the evidence seen , unlikely.
BBD, And can we expect improvement whilst TP is in charge?.
Report
Mrs Red
I repeat previous criticisms of your son’s reports, they do not describe enough Boro goals. Just because they are a great read and accurate is no commendation. He would do well to study the Evening Gazette,
C+ must do better.
RR, great report as ever.
One sentence in it stands out for me – “fans want to see some semblance of a fight, not cowering”. So never mind the stultifying Pulis tactics and game plans, he has clearly been unable to fix the motivation problem that dogged Monk and it would appear that the team has no more desire to play for Pulis than it did for Monk.
Week by week this season becomes a bigger mess with no light at the end of the tunnel and what a massive disappointment for all the fans who hoped for something much, much better.
Dear goodness. 9 league games now under Pulis. Won 4, Lost 4, Drew 1. Not scored in 5 of those 9 games. Bizarrely, we’ve scored 10 goals in the other 4, and conceded just 7 in the 9. But it feels so so much worse than that.
I was reminiscing of when I worked and my last job was the boss of a large organisation as it’s Finance Director. The previous Director left me a confidential note of the strength and weaknesses of the senior staff, This was invaluable but what I quickly realised was the structure of the senior management was unconventional and not what I would have set up but, rather than change it, I decided to give it a try.
I also realised that the duties of the senior staff were molded to their individual talents after trying them in different roles, and again , on paper, looked peculiar.
What I realised was it worked and I had inherited the 3 essential ingredients to be successful – good managers, good staff and good IT.
So what’s this got to do with MFC?!!
In my view , quite simply , had I gone in and fundamentally changed the structure of the organisation and the duties of the senior staff then I may have damaged what was in place and I could not be sure that my “blueprint “ would be successful.
So. perhaps what TP should be doing is to come up with a structure and style of play which best suits his players in the short term (this season) and the medium term ( next season ) and not ditch everything he inherited.
He would then have something to build on for next year .
What I foresee happening is at the end of this season there will be a massive clear out of players and new ones brought in to adapt to his “structure “ but unlike recently promoted teams ( eg. Burnley, Brighton, Newcastle and indeed MFC – under AT ) who had not only laid the foundations but retained many players for their assault on trying to win promotion .
By comparison I believe TP will be at a disadvantage to those teams which have had some limited success this year and next year will be building on this year .
Regarding today’s game I could not get radio Tees but tuned inte radio Wales which commentated on the game.
The commentators concluded that Cardiff were nothing special but MFC were “unremarkably very disappointing “ which seems to be bourne out by comments on this and other sites
Thanks once again to Redcar Red for producing another great accurate report of what turned out to be another non-event on the pitch from a Boro perspective. My favourite line in the report was “There were unconfirmed reports of an earthquake in South Wales just before half-time and the hope with the travelling army was that it was actually a huge penny dropping with TP.” – brilliant stuff.
When I was putting the match stats together I noticed the numbers were pretty similar to the Norwich game but instead of the 26% possession we had nearly double with 50%. Despite the extra man, who turned out to be another defensive midfielder, Boro failed to produce any extra threat to the opposition goal with all that extra possession.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Tony Pulis is attempting to play a game-plan without the kind of players he needs to make it function – which begs the question of what was the point in removing Monk before Christmas if this season was just about going through the motions until the new manager gets an opportunity to bring his type of players in. I’m sure Steve Gibson thought Pulis would galvanise the players and improve results but he must be wondering now if he was too hasty.
Boro will not be in the play-offs on the evidence of recent performances – the tactics of gaining yardage along the touchline with throw-ins until we can launch it into the box and ultimately out of play have proved fruitless. As is the approach of trying to find Gestede with long balls that get either missed, flicked to nobody around him or just returned to the opposition.
Pulis clearly believes in his methods but in his post-match comments bemoaned that Cardiff had a team full of 6′ 3″ giants and Boro were out-muscled. Is this the shape of thing to come in the summer, where the manager recruits on height rather than finess? If you go back to last summer the chairman seemed to indicate that the way forward for Boro was to buy more attacking talent at the higher end of the market – the fact that they failed to spend wisely now means that plan has been ditched.
If Cardiff are the model to which Pulis ‘aspires’ then I can only assume the chairman will be looking to spend less than last summer as Warnock’s budget was not comparable to Monk’s. Though anyone watching Cardiff yesterday would not think that they were the team to aspire to as they looked very ordinary indeed and offered not much more than Boro.
Thanks to RR and Clive for their excellent first hand reports.
Well it seems we are back at square one. I said I’d give TP 10 games to see what direction he would be taking the club and that was game number 9 by my reckoning. League games only that is.
Under Monks disfunctional and disjointed approach we amassed 15 points in his first 10 games and using my back of a fag packet maths Pulis can only make that13 “when” we beat Hull on Tuesday night. So like for like results wise we are going backwards.
The disappointing thing and the one that makes me really fed up to put it mildly, is that at times we have shown that my (our?) pre season optimism wasn’t just a pipe dream. I still say the squad is good enough, with the odd exception, it’s that the 2 managers we’ve had this season don’t seem to be playing to their strengths and were/are unable, or more than likely unwilling, to change their methods as they are professionals and they know best. Which seems to be working out nicely.
One thing on yesterday’s team selection. Howson playing in the middle of a front 3(?) behind Gestede. Really! Come on Pulis give your head a shake man, that smacked of we’ll give this a go and see what happens. A ridiculous selection in my mind when you’ve got 2, albeit misfiring, strikers on the bench who are much better suited to that role.
A couple of weeks ago I was still confident that a late surge would have us in a play off spot by seasons end. Unless several of those teams in the play off spots go into meltdown and we have a miraculous up turn in results I’m afraid I just don’t see it happening.
And it rained here for the first time this winter. Depressing.
Just looked at our next 7 fixtures to the end of March and 5 of those look winnable with a draw thrown in.
It really is the hope that kills you😕
Cardiff started strongly, but were were getting hold of the game when a stupid free kick was awarded. And the following goal gave Cardiff some believe.
There were no replays on iFollow but live it looked like Randolph could have done more.
But other than that, Randoph was good and made a world class save in the second half.
But both teams were woeful yesterday. But the Bluebirds scored and had the three points.
Well, the results are worse under Pulis than under Monk. We have had four managers inside a year and have used about 50 different players in that time.
Gary Gill and his team are looking for players the manager wants, make reports but are not deciding who comes and goes. Only recommendations.
New players look not like the solution, nor a new manager. The doors are revolving more often at Rockcliffe than at Elland Road. What is wrong at our beloved Boro?
I don’t have a clue but matches are not nice to watch. But still must try to be positive as I will be there with wife to see three matches in a fortnight’s time.
So hoping for an improvement in performances before we are in the UK. Up the Boro!
If you are quick there are replays on I follow – press the reploay button twice and you get the last 20 secondas again. Press it again and re watch. After that press forward 3 times and you are back up to live coverage. The goal was pathetic and only watched it twice before having another beer.
Best of luck with your visit Jarrko. If anybody desrved it, it is you.
FAA, the problem is that you need to score a goal to have any chance of winning a game.
Thanks, Pedro. I think Derby is showing replays and also commentary in English on iFollow. And some other clubs.
It is nice to see replays as well as hear comments by the opposition. Better than nothing.
BTW, we might have a iFollow by Boro if we won’t get promoted. So some progress by the club possibly.
Up the Boro!
Thank you for the report RR, but it made depressing reading, thoroughly depressing reading. I kept getting snatches of the comments on Sky’s programme with Jeff Telling and after half-time the first comment ran along the lines of ‘Boro offer no threat, they aren’t troubling the Cardiff defence and they are not working the keeper’.
If Boro were still on the pitch now they still wouldn’t score even with the Cardiff team having a lie-in.
The persistence of playing a lone striker(!) means we must, in effect, be playing with ten men. I cannot believe that some of those players who are out on loan could have been worse and in fact they would probably have offered more threat.
I’m baffled by the tactics but I assume he has a plan it’s just that I can’t work out what it might be; for a season that appeared to promise so much I cannot believe how deflating this situation is.
Play-offs? Second place? Yer havin’ a laugh. The top three will be straight back down too.
UTB,
John
FAA
It is 13 points from 9 league games so far under TP. We have been bobbling around 1.5 points per game all season and continue to do so.
The problem under Monk is that we just couldn’t get any points against top half teams. We didn’t look like we were going anywhere, we had some alarming collapses.
Under TP we have played nine league games. In the five against top half teams it is win one, lose four. Against bottom have teams it is played four, won three and drawn one.
We haven’t had any collapses.
Are we making progress? With no collapses I suppose it is of sorts but it doesn’t feel like something to cheer about. It is the tiniest crumb of little comfort.
There is little evidence that we will seriously threaten the top six. It is the same for any signs of real progress.
Then you do what FAA does and look at the fixtures and you think it might happen
Ian, sorry to be pedantic but I make it 8 matches starting with Villa. The only under GM collapse was against derby, although there were plenty of poor games.
We may not had had any collapse under TP, but the football has been awful and we have never looked like gaining on the top six places.
Also I have looked at the fixtures, every week and the chances of making the play offs are less than nil.
Thank you to Redcar Red and his devotion to the cause….he deserve a medal for his efforts just to date. Another well scripted article and in complete agreement to what I watched in a more narrow view.
The only bit that I did not agree with him on, is RR´s belief that that TP is the right man for the job.
Also good reports and posts from Clive and ArchieStephens.
Whilst I am repeating myself, TP would not of been my choice albeit in a limited market. For Mr Gibson to harry him into accepting the challenge of getting us into the play offs has now failed. In fact we may well have stuck with Garry. We would probably be no worse off in terms of points and league position and possibly could still have a top six position within our grasp.
The football under TP has been turgid, IMO worse than under GM. Yes the defence was more porous but a least we did score a few goals. Again I think that Mr Gibson has made another poor appointment and one that will cost us a lot of money.
The players we have are not suited to the Managers system and requirements. he is already showing a dogma for not changing or should I say not adapting. We have some decent players but he refuses to work around their strength’s and as Philip of Huddersfield pointed out you need to assess a persons worth to the overall team requirement. Watching the Boro play over the last few matches is a has been said worse than the dark days of AK and that is sad to say.
When the summer comes and Mr Gibson sticks and does not twist ( I am hoping that the travelling may be too much for TP and that could be a get out clause) the upheaval in players could well be immense if we are to change to what TP requires.
A different Manager/Coach would possibly be able to produce a competitive squad with less upheaval. With TP, we could see Britt, Patrick and Fletcher out of the door if we could find clubs willing to take them and limit our losses which would still be eye watering. Then there will be others we have just signed like Johnson and then there is Clayton, were we will not get our money back.
I also believe that under any Manager we would need an injection of pace and creativity, the creativity bit however does not appear to be as important to TP.
Grant will have to be replaced, Howson only a squad player so another replacement, another left back, even the supporters of SD, can they really believe he can offer enough for another season?
Gestede is just not good enough all the fans can see that apart from the Manager. Will he buy a replacement or stick with him. Ian has said that TP uses wingers for his pace….well we have Adama but absolutely no one else. I have to admit that Shotton has been generally good since getting in the team, but goodness me has the pace of a carthorse so offers little offensively.
in fact if Adama continues to impress for the remainder of a dead season, we may have to flog him to offset our losses on the players TP will want to move on. All appointments carry risk, but why does Mr Gibson, AK apart, seem to get them so wrong?
There’s a big unit in the North East thats immovable, well over 6ft tall and built of Iron, absolutely perfect for a TP side and certainly more mobile than Gestede. Rumours are circulating that Gary Gill has already put in three offers all of which have been knocked back by Gateshead Council.
RR
We should keep upping the offer until they cave in. Would at least ad some steel (or Iron) to the team.
And to think his first team was Hartlepool. We missed a chance there.
UTB,
John
Had my “early bird” e-mail and thought “you must be joking” but, as BBD says, it’s in our blood so I’ll be there again.
We are definitely certifiable.
That Bamford can’t make the starting line up in a team that can’t score is nearly as unfathomable as playing Traore on the left.
I greatly admire RR’s measured language in the face of intense provocation by TP.
RR’s closing statements are a masterclass of control and use of language, heightening our understanding of the degree of his outrage.
Glad I wasn’t there. Am expecting to find myself at Brentford on the 10th.
Pedro
If pedantry was the food of love….
What about at Bristol City and Millwall where we fell apart conceding a couple goals in minutes at both games.
They are collapses but not as complete as against Derby, Shipping two goals so quickly shows a lack of fortitude.
Even if we ignore the Brum result we end up with the fact we got 3 points out of 5 games against top half teams. Same problem as under Monk.
As I posted I can see scant sign of any progress. Pulisaurus wouldn’t have been my choice – JP reminded of the name, but we have what we have.
I’m having difficulty getting on the internet, so before I’m cut off again here are my thoughts, but forgive me if I’m repeating what has already been written
Not having watched or listened to the commentary I’m relying on Redcar Red’s description and also his comments. It seems that TP is as stubborn as Karanka, and if he doesn’t change his tactics I fear a defeat against Hull and a probable goalless draw at Sunderland. I feel TP needs to jettison the idea that Gestede will win headers that will prove profitable, as he appears to be so uncoordinated. I can see this season now petering out without a whimper, but the main concern for me is that TP will strip most of the team in the Summer and buy players to fit his system rather than players with pace and flair. Pulis is a manager who builds teams that are hard to beat, not a team to frighten the opposition. His main experiences have been building teams to avoid relegation, not to win promotion.
My concern is that if he spends the Summer building a team in his own image and fails next season, we’ll be left with players who are not fit for purpose. He’ll move back to the South coast, SG will have to appoint a new manager, and we’ll have another clear and without the benefits of parachute payments to improve the team. Boro supporters will not support a team playing the Pulis way unless it brings success, and in my opinion, not for long even then if we battle every season fighting relegation from the Premier League.
Boro supporters have been brought up with teams playing good football, and I can’t see that happening under this manager.
Have to agree Ken.
My thoughts entirely Ken.
I fully agree with other contributors that the TP style of play is clearly not working.
As long as Gestede plays as a lone striker it will never work as everyone can see that he is simply not good enough ,plus , if we did have someone good enough it still would not work because the other players do not support the lone striker. He is too isolated.
The result is that we rarely look like scoring and the football is unattractive with increasing comments that supporters are thinking of not renewing their season tickets.
So increasingly everything is more doom and gloom.
It would be much better if TP played with 2 strikers – Britt and a.n.o with the objective of getting the ball in the penalty area as much as possible and telling Britt his job is to be in the box for all crosses and therefore not to play too deep. He would score goals.
The more I write makes me realise that football is really a simple game. How many times have you heard that ?!!
Philip
It used to be a simple game!
Thanks RR for another accurate report in what was in my view a dire match to watch and ended up posing more questions than answers.
Unfortunately, Boro did what I expected them to do which was to lose but I did not expect them to do so in the manner in which they did which was more of a GM team than a TP team.
The match confirmed what I have been saying for some time now that despite AT’s improved performances under TP we cannot rely upon AT to consistently provide match winning performances. It also confirmed that SD has little impact when played on the left and only marginally more when he is on the right but with the consequence that AT’s impact is negated by being moved to the left.
I was in favour of TP’s appointment but am not sure where he is going to take us. The defence has been tightened but that was hardly an earth shattering change as many of us had identified the weakness with our full backs being caught out so it was an easy fix.
The problem still is, and has been for many seasons, the lack of creativity within the side with GL, JH, AC, AT & SD just not offering enough going forward.
MB on his debut looked very much like what we already have in midfield and not necessarily an upgrade. JH may be the answer on the left but we need to ditch RG and get BA’s confidence back up and partnered with PB.
If TP is retained at the end of the season then I see the need for another major shake up which does not bode well when you are trying to build a promotion winning side.
I said at the end of last season that if we did not gain promotion this season then I feared a prolonged period back in the Championship and at the moment am finding it hard to see past that scenario.
Having said all that, my Cardiff golfing buddy who is a season ticket holder emailed me to say that it was a good match and that we were one of the better teams he had seen at Cardiff! He thought both sides would make the play offs but hoped Cardiff wouldn’t need them.
Clearly one man’s meat is another man’s poison! ☹️
How can the vast majority on here see the problems and probable answers yet the man at the helm with countless years experience cannot see that a change from his dogmatic system is needed.
Mr Gibson has put himself in the position of not being able to say much, by, TP’s words, “like a dog with a bone” he chased after him.
I cannot see that SG is enjoying this very much and must be wondering just what he has done. Thoughts of making the play offs down the pan with 14 games to go.
“It used to be a simple game”?
Absolutely.
I pass you over to Mr Jonathan Wilson, quoting a piece penned in November 2016.
“What is a centre-forward?
“It is a question that is far harder to answer now than it used to be.
“The suggestion that Pep Guardiola may not be entirely happy with Sergio Agüero seemed at first bizarre. How, realistically, could a player of his ability, his goalscoring capacity – 109 league goals in five seasons at City, despite injuries – be doubted? For a modern striker, though, goals are only part of it.
“…He wanted more all-round contribution. Guardiola may be a unique manager but this is not a unique quirk.
“Jürgen Klopp has made it fairly clear that goals are not enough to keep Daniel Sturridge in his Liverpool team. Antonio Conte insists Diego Costa should start the process of winning the ball back. This is the nature of the modern vogue for pressing: scoring goals is no longer enough.
“…Even when Michael Owen was rattling in 40 goals for England, he seemed like an anachronism, a player left behind by football’s evolution. The days of the poacher are over. That has been recognised in football for a couple of decades but the new breed of hard-pressing coach has taken it a stage further.”
Full piece here…
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/nov/03/the-question-what-is-centre-forward
When we sang “give us a goal John O’Rourke”, he usually obliged. Not sure our strike force understand the concept.
Then again, with the expectations of modern day coaches, alluded to above, Cloughie, O’Rourke et al would not cut the mustard. Funny old game innit Saint?
Maybe we should try “Donnez-nous un objectif Rudy Gestede” on Tuesday night?
Having said that we would probably need the Red Faction to draw a huge map with a big arrow on it and even then I’m not sure it would work. Just for clarity the map isn’t a dig purely at Gestede you can add Downing, Howson, Bamford, Assombalonga and a few others to that. Most of all though Tony Pulis, Dave Kemp, Curtis Fleming and Woody seemingly need a diagram to go with said map.
RR
Another match report which is more outstanding than the football that it refers to.
Well done
OFB
Thanks to both RR and Clive for their excellent and speedy reports.
Thanks all round, too, to everyone else for many excellent analyses, around which there is a remarkable degree of consensus. I also appreciate the general tone on here, which, as ever, is one of sorrow rather than intemperance or anger. The admirable qualities of the blog offer at least a smidgin of compensation for the disappointing on-field performances.
What baffles me is that we don’t like TP’s way of playing but the team don’t seem to be playing in a TP way. I got used to him playing a big man with someone playing off him, one or two speedy players feeding in crosses. Peter Crouch and Jon Walters for example, supplied by Etherington/Pennant.
I didn’t foresee 433 or 4231.
The summer signings have turned out to be a disaster,none had been a real success anywhere previous, on top of a depleted relagation outfit, it was set up for a disappointment ,you don’t play the game on paper?
Character comes to mind with this lot,and a lack of it,how many are comfortable ,and as long as they win a fair share of games,just to make it look like they’re after it, is enough
Looking back were some signings made too early in the window,without waiting to see who may become available,I don’t think Monk could have possibly known the type of players he had inherited, same with TP now,at least he is taking a look first.
In my opinion apart from Shotton,Ayala, Gibson, and Traoria,the rest should be made available for exit.
It took AK two and a half seasons to put together a competitive team.its going to take the same again.
TP as already hinted,an issue and that is speed, and what is scary,is we have players on long contracts who are not getting any younger and are slow now.
It all goes back to last summer, and the failure to put a good plan together,
GT
Or any sort of plan for that matter.
The Riverside Retirement Plan (RRP) seems to be functioning well bringing back aged ex players to see their days out coaching and scouting bless em.
Jobs for the boys. (Shudder.)
In reply to RRs comment about the RRP, also the other comments about the summer signings along with the speedy replacement of GM, leads me, with deep regret, to postulate that perhaps Mr Gibson is responsible for our current position and needs to decide if he really has the stomach (and money) to take Boro further forward.
Whilst I don’t pretend to like the concept of big money foreign owners buying success, the reality is that what is required in the “funny old game” we call football these days.
Would I still support Boro, yes as its in our blood. Would I go to as many matches, probably not as all the glory hunters would take the tickets and forget the time when we were just a small team in Europe or even a third tier team with poor attendances at Ayresome Park.
To be honest, the game has changed so much in the 50 years I have watched Boro and at times not always for the better.
I’ve never really understood the issue with “glory hunters”. Surely the whole point of being successful is to have a full stadium and create a great matchday atmosphere. If not, then when do we ring fence the seats? 1986? 1993? 2004?
It all seems a bit Emperors New Clothes regarding playing with the one big lad up front. We can all see it isn’t really working so why can’t the man who’s spent 40 years in the game as a player and manager see the problems.
All very similar to last season under AK when we had Negrado on his own without a Boro player within 20 yards of him. Usually more to be fair but Aitor kept doing the same thing week in week out and we all know what a disaster that was.
We just have to keep going it’s a good job we’ve got a game at home on Tuesday against Hull to look forward too!
Let’s just be positive !!!
As he puts down his rose coloured spectacles and glass of red and goes to bed……
OFB
Been doing some reading, again, after a day of family time and photo editing.
It may yet bloom into another Talking Point.
It’s about Don Revie and dirty Leeds. More than a decade ago, James Corbett said…
“Some commentators, in the aftermath of his death, accused Revie of initiating English football’s decline, by introducing ‘professionalism’ – the bone-crushing, win-at-all-costs football that brought his Leeds teams such success in the Sixties and Seventies and that had been taken up by other clubs.”
But Johnny Giles countered this.
“…People talk about Leeds being dirty (but) they forget that was the culture back then. You had to look after yourself. There were so many players around who would now be suspended all season long. We just made sure nobody ever managed to bully us.”
And Corbett also argued that…
“Revie changed the face of English football. He was a confidant to the players, psychologist, social secretary, kit designer, commercial manager, PR flak, dietitian and all-encompassing ‘boss’ of his team. In an era when pre-match preparation consisted of a 10-minute chat before a game, Revie was a revolutionary. Not until Arsene Wenger was appointed Arsenal boss in 1996, more than two decades after Revie had left Elland Road, would a manager exert such a profound influence on his club – and the English game as a whole.”
Although…
“Don Revie’s so-called family had more in keeping with the mafia than Mothercare.”
So spoke Brian Howard Clough.
Perhaps every club who allows a coach to create a dynasty is destined to be a Damned United when said coach eventually departs.
Arsenal fans have wanted Wenger out for a long, long time, yet I am convinced they’ll be screwed when he goes.
Plato – the biggest factor in the shift of power from the owners to the players came in 1995 and it had little to to with the PFA – it was the European Court of Justice ‘Bosman Ruling’ that allowed players to negotiate their services to the highest bidder when their contract ran down. Previous to that the owners could decide whether the player could leave or not. The other main factors were the arrival of The Champions League and Premier League in 1992 and the subsequent arrival of TV money – this combined with the Bosman Ruling created the market in players, exploited by agents, that has led to steady increase in transfer fees and wages – plus not to mention the ever-growing debts the clubs accumulated. It’s the fear of missing out that has driven players increased share of the pot, probably to the point where they represents too high a percentage.
Werder
Forget the players wages, the best players name their price, end of.
He was the man who said, ” we the players will want our share of the bonanza” cue outrage.
During the following outburst of, shock, horror, disgust, you can pen your own diatribe because the press and business world went to town, turning the spotlight on him big time.
Strangely, some famous players (as well as some obscure one’s) stood up for the owners.
The general theme being, ” we are just humble players, what right have we got to any share of Television money?”
Fortunately, some of the great players stepped into the breach and informed the young lads that they would keep out of the row and keep their mouths shut.
The end result we know.
It was entirely possible that the players would get nothing out of the torrent of money that the game was swimming in. It could have happened.
Now the fight starts for a share of the pay per view goldmine, with a bit of luck we will see a replay of the comedy.
It will be interesting to hear the reasons why the talent should not share in the wealth.
For those of you who like me enjoy a bit of nostalgia as far as the Boro are concerned, today’s Yorkshire Post carry an article of the night when the Boro defeated Liverpool 2-0 to reach the Coca Cola Final on what Bryan Robson described as their best display of his tenure. Maybe a short report, but how we all need bucking up after Boro’s recent displays. Happy days😃
Thanks for sharing that, Ken. 20 years ago ….
Up the Boro,
We need something to cheer us up Ken. I wonder how miffed Mr Gibson is. Big decisions from him in the coming months.
One of my favourite games as a Boro supporter, that.
I had the whole of my Liverpool-supporting schoolmates sniggering at me, thinking we didn’t stand a chance. Then Robbo threw that curveball of starting Branca within hours (minutes) of his arrival, and… you know the rest.
Sometimes, these selections just pay off, and it’s a joy when they do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twFOax4vnls
Branca’s first touch, strike, goal. Would that it were always so simple!
Thanks for the video, Simon.
Watching the pace and movement for the first goal and then the sublime forward (note not sideways or crossfield) pass for the second brings tears to my eyes literally, how things have changed sadly.
I was unenthused by the appointment of TP but have kept my powder dry for now and probably will until the end of the season, although you could argue that it seems that we are there already.
But…
To echo Philip from Huddersfield, I keep coming back to the words of Bob Moncur on the late lamented Century phone-in maybe twenty years ago. In his opinion, the job or “art” of an incoming manager was to identify the best half dozen players at the club and get them on the pitch in a system designed to get the best out of them. Its a simple truism and they are often the best.
TP has gone in precisely the opposite direction in that he knows the system that he is most comfortable with and has picked the players who best fit into it regardless of the effectiveness or any long term damage done. Such a monogamous approach might be laudable in many areas of life, but not football management.
The feeling persists as has been referred to by other posters that TP has more or less conceded the 2017-18 season and is waiting for the summer to bring in His kind of players for His kind of football. I await the cheque in the post from him to refund me for the dead rubbers between now and then, but cannot say that prospect of next year watching Matt Smith or similar lumbering about up front while an aging Charlie Adam fires the artillery towards him excites me greatly but as with Steely, I am way past the point of making a rational choice about renewal so I am stuck with it. I don’t have to like it though.
Just a question to Werder, I seem to be permanently in the premoderation ghetto. Is it because I post on various devices?
What I particularly remember is Steve McMannaman gesticulating to Steve Baker to take his shirt as he had been so frustrated at the young fullback’s marking. Probably Baker’s finest match, and was it Hartlepool’s manager Craig Harrison playing at left fullback with a back five including Festa, Pearson and Vickers? If so, that 5-3-2 system worked a treat. Whatever happened though to Steve Baker?
Football has some myths that live from year to year.
1. It is getting more and more difficult to get promoted from the Champioship as the relagated clubs have huge parashute payments. Except this season: both Sunderland and Hull are fighting against the drop even they have better parashute terms than Boro. And Boro has yet to be in the top six.
2. Changing the manager has an influence on the fortunes of the team. Boro has tested this more than ever recently. But did we see an improvement in results since Karanka was sacked? Or when we hired Monk, or when he was fired? Nowt.
3. Formation is all important. Well we saw that by changing the formation did not bring an improvement under Monk. As Ian used to say, attitude and tactics are more important.
Perhaps there should be a winning mentality and wins give confidence and success helps to win again. That is what Sir Ferguson did at United.
But how to make the playing staff confident in the beginning? If I knew the answer, I would earn a fortune in football. Or at least become pals with Sir Gibbo.
Up the Boro!
Sometimes listening to the commentary can be more revealing than seeing it.
Notes from my listening.
,Traore playing on the left(despair)
Gestede ( despair)
Traore getting to the dead ball line and giving the pass to someone, who took a touch!( despair)
Friend getting a breakaway and giving the ball to Gestede ( despair)
Downing getting a breakaway and having a thirty yard shot ( despair)
Please be ruthless
We went foreign, change and happiness, and progress.
We went british, result, pain, despair, no effort, no tactics, no wins, no shape, worse, not trying,
We tried this three times, please, haven’t we suffered enough?
Tomorrow could be interesting. Cold, damp and wet Tuesday’s tends to see the hardcore fans with less of the prawn sandwich and flask mentality. Saving grace may be that its Hull so a victory should entail regardless or in spite off. If there is more of an isolated Gestede and throw ins to nowhere then I’m not so sure that will engender much goodwill or belief. Should Hull score early and shut up shop then things could get very tense.
TP needs to show that as well as defending and improving the likes of Shotton, Ayala, Traroe etc. he can work with the other half of the team. Its beginning to look like the Job is half finished for this season, problem is that there are still 14 games and a quarter of this season still remaining. More of the same isn’t going to go unchallenged until May, hopefully someone on his coaching staff will remind him of our Steelworking and Mining heritage.
The first few weeks saw an upturn in individual performances which was accepted by the many as progress (which it undoubtedly was). The consequent downturn in creativity and goals is seeing metaphorical light-bulbs of hope and belief turning off at an alarming rate. A massive injection of optimism is quickly required, life on Teesside can be tough at the best of times and despair for many is often just around the corner. Being forced to witness and endure it on a football pitch will only bring out the worst and the most cynical of naysayers very quickly.
It may surprise a few on here to see me write this but things are very unfair on Gestede at the minute. Leaving my opinion of his abilities to one side he is being put into a thankless and hopeless situation and is getting more flack than he deserves. Ability to head, trap or dribble let alone score is one thing but being literally scapegoated, sacrificed and thrown to the wolves in an effort to persevere with something so ineffective and not of his making isn’t doing anyone any favours, player, squad, TP and fans alike.
Gestede was a 1 in 2 striker (33 in 66) with Blackburn in a two upfront (with Jordan Rhodes), so to play a limited striker on his own is just compounding his limitations rather than enhancing them. Ironic that he worked so well with Rhodes who is seen as “just a goal scorer”, if only we had one of them . . well, we have, Assombalonga.
I miss MoggaBoro and AKBoro. Since the success rate of both managers’ spells died out – in painful, even toxic, finales – we’ve suffered the ignominy of having no real sense of direction and not knowing quite how to change things.
To borrow Vic’s words, it’s like we’ve beiged into the Championship wallpaper. Again.
One step forward, one step back.
This season has become a real grind.
The Gazette boys are saying that Boro taking two points from a possible 27 off the top six sides throws in to doubt their promotion credentials.
Well, it doesn’t. Boro don’t have any promotion credentials.
How so much money can be spent on building a ‘promotion’ team to come up so short is a mystery to me.
Losing to Cardiff away in itself is not a shocker, you could be called Wolves and do that, but the constant treading water in 7th – 10th place is wearing.
Thank god for the winter Olympics.
Wiggy’s mate
As I posted earlier what baffles me is the fact I thought TP’s system of choice was 442 but we have had 4231 or 433 in the last couple of matches.
I thought he would go 442’ish with two out of Gestede, Britt and Bamford in the middle. Traore right and Downing left.
When he played Gestede, Banford, Downing and Traore he deployed Paddy on the left of the three.
It shouldn’t really matter which way we line up if we play with pace, tempo and attitude plus the right players on the pitch.
Yes, Ian you reminded us about the truth again: pace, tempo and attitude.
So the problem is between the ears of the players. Not one in particular but as a team. Don’t blame one individual – not even Gestede.
Somebody in Twitter was even saying that I am better than Gestede – and the chap works for Yorkshire Post! How insulting to Gestede. Even I have once scored a goal behind Jim Platt in an unofficial match and I am just taller than Rudi, I am already 56. Hardly flattening to the player.
Up the Boro!
Thanks for the video Simon…..how I wish we had a Merson, could you really see any of our lot making a pass like the one to Branca.
Whilst I am not a fan of SD or Gestede, as RR said players are being asked to carry out roles that limit their talents and strengths. With AT now seemly being the only saviour going forward. TP´s stubbornness continuing to play to his system is like being stuck in the dark ages.
Like Mogga unfortunately this will all end in tears
Doesn’t it always end in tears!
Looking back, who was our most successful manager I wonder? That may depend on your own definition of success I guess.
Is it good football but losing and mediocrity
Is it silver wear and punching above our weight
Is it a sustained stay in the top flight
Is it a promotion season when we smash the league
For me I guess that Steve McClaren could be argued as our most successful in that we won a cup, a European final (something I never would have ever expected) and were in the Prem for a while.
Your Answers on a post card please! Or the modern way, on this blog
BBD
ah well put !
Is it McClaren
Trophy and European Final
Rioch
Who built a club out of liquidation
Robson
Who built the foundations of a Rockliffe and brought internationals to play for us
Mogga
Who picked up the pieces after Stricken
Maddren
Who built a team of free transfer and juniors for Rioch to develop
Although McClaren was the most tangible succesful manager I never liked him !
Pointing at the journalists like Long lost friends at pressers
Itching to go to Leeds or Newcastle
Magnificent 0 0 performances at home against Liverpool. I remember it all and unfortunately will never forget.
Charlton
It has to be Big Jack for me whose team and performances have never left me and continue to nurture the spirit of supporting the Boro deep within me.
So to Big Jack I say simply
Thank You
you were simply the best
OFB
Have to agree with you Bob.
OFB, that’s why I was musing, it’s a tough call and dies depend on so many factors. And that’s before Ken comes up with the stats as to had the best winning ratio!
Whilst I could say SM was the most successful, like you, I never really liked him or his style so for my generation, hard to argue against Big Jack.
And to think he was a rookie manager although had clearly learnt from the Middlesbrough triumphate of Revie and Clough!
I was never a fan of SM, I just couldn’t warm to him, but (and it’s a big but) he gave me and my eldest daughter one of our happiest days in sport.
That day in Cardiff in 2004 was simply magnificent.
Well just managed to squeeze in a Hull match preview with 24 hours to go – tomorrows game is surely a must win match if our optimistic promotion hopes are not to sink without trace in a sea of pessimism…
https://diasboro.club/2018/02/19/championship-boro-vs-hull/
Just in from work and glad to see the romance of the FA Cup is alive and kicking. Well done Wigan you really made my day/night.