| Sheffield United | Middlesbrough | ||
| Evans | 2′, 40′ | Ayala ▮ Leadbitter |
48′ 25′ |
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
66% 11 3 5 5 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
34% 7 2 1 20 |
Lee Evans wipes smile off Boro faces
A massive Play Off decider for both clubs a real “do or die encounter. Lose this and the Blades season was effectively as good as over whereas for Boro they still theoretically had Bristol, Derby and Millwall to garner points from. Chris Wilder had Stearman out injured and ex Boro one game wonder loanee Jamal Blackman missing from between the sticks due to suspension. Kieron Freeman and Paul Coutts like Rudy Gestede is a long term absentee for United. Pulis had Besic with a sore hip and Traore who seemed fatigued on Saturday and possibly Bamford who simply looked cream crackered to worry about. Reserve Keepers would normally be seen as a good omen but for Boro these ring rusty stand ins have a tradition of saving their best shot stopping antics for us.
On form Sheffield had gone five unbeaten at Bramall Lane but only won four, drew three and lost three in their last ten home games. Boro had only lost twice in their last ten games overall but incredibly had the exact same last ten away games stats as the Blades home results having won four, drew three and lost three. If omens were anything to go by Boro’s last trip to Bramall Lane ended in a 2-1 victory courtesy of marvellous Marvin and TP’s last trip was a 3-0 win with Stoke. I would have happily settled for either scoreline pre Kick Off.
Despite fitness questions Boro lined up in gloomy rain sodden Sheffield pretty much as expected with an unchanged starting eleven and an unchanged bench, TP clearly likes a settled side. Surprisingly after their defeat at Barnsley over the weekend Chris Wilder also stuck with an unchanged side. In the early exchanges Ayala gave away the first free kick which led to a side footed volley from Lee Evans which smashed Randolph’s net with barely two minutes on the clock after a sliced Leadbitter clearance.
Downing marked the first serious intent from Boro via a good run down the right flank but Sheffield cleared their lines and broke up field again. The early pace was frenetic to say the least. A Shotton throw in aimed at Ayala had Simon Moore in the Sheffield goal struggling showing an opportunistic air of uncertainty in his handling if only we could clear our heads. Boro were struggling to get an early grip on the game and despite being a goal down we were sitting deep just as we finished off on Saturday with Bamford once again running himself into the ground with little to no support. A good move involving Shotton, Traore, Besic and eventually Bamford saw Paddy unleash our first attempt on target on 15 minutes.
Early indications were that Boro’s set up wasn’t causing the sort of problems we had hoped for as Sheffield stroked the ball about looking the classier side and an opportunity for Clarke after a mess up involving Randolph luckily didn’t see us go two down. A Traore cross resulted in Sheffield clearing their lines quickly and Brooks being man handled and brought down for the obligatory “taking one for the team” from Grant. His second yellow of the night was for a late tackle which was inevitable considering the reckless nature of the first yellow. Unprofessional frustration from the Captain made a very difficult challenge now an almost insurmountable one and with not even thirty minutes ticked over. Just when the side needed organisation and leadership Grant lost his cool letting himself and his team mates down.
Moments later Brooks was unlucky again and Boro were rescued by Randolph’s leg sparing further blushes. The Blades were running Boro ragged and Ayala escaped the attentions of the Referee with the home fans baying for blood with Brooks laid prostrate. During the lull Gibson and Pulis reorganised the white shirted rabble that had started the night with so much hope as we once again had to play with ten men. It appeared that Downing was brought over to the left and Traore went up front with Paddy. Just a shame that TP went with two up front when it was obvious after ten minutes that one up top had handed the initiative to Chris Wilders side. Adama was brought down by Fleck taking a yellow for his troubles as Boro looked to get something back before half time. A corner for the home side was delayed by Leon Clarke who seemingly took a blow off the ball but it was worth it as the eventual short corner was played to the edge of the box to that man Lee Evans again who fired another peach of a volley past the despairing Randolph.
Boro were now well and truly rattled and Ayala was next to go into the Refs book as the Blades were cutting and carving Boro apart who in truth looked deflated and dejected. Chris Wilder went with three at the back who were more than capable of dealing with the isolated Bamford and the extra man meant that our midfield were chasing shadows which resulted in Grant’s dismissal. With only a few minutes to the half time whistle Ben went down injured which was a cause of some concern. A well timed Friend tackle upon the restart prevented United going three up. As we cleared our lines again Traore gave away a silly free kick thirty yards out which fortunately Ayala got a head to but the wave of red and white striped shirts just kept coming back at Boro. To add insult to continued injury Adama had collected a yellow for his misdemeanour. A Chris Basham cross then went behind Randolph’s goal as another attack was quashed as Boro looked longingly for the half time whistle. When a Centre Back is putting crosses in from the wing that just summed up the state of Boro’s first half.
As performances go this was as bad as they got, right up there with Burton away. Tactically from the off it wasn’t working and things just went from bad to worse from going behind so early to Grant’s lack of composure (or pace) and all of it culminating in the inevitable Evans second goal. Sitting deep in the second half against Forest may have protected a lead but the psychology had lingered far longer than Tony Pulis had intended.
Three radical changes at half time saw Clayts on for Besic, Assombalonga on for Bamford and Fabio for Adama who whilst not as poor as Saturday was poor by his own standards. Pulis now went with three at the back with Fabio and George operating as wing backs and Britt up front on his own. Fabio was showing energy, Clayts was getting stuck in. Britt won an early free kick four minutes in which Downing floated over knocked on by Ben and the goal machine that is Dani Ayala put it under Moore to pull one back. What a difference a half time team talk made as the three substitutes totally refreshed things and sparked life and energy into a desolate, tired and empty side. A few minutes later Jonny Howson weaved his way through the Blades defence unleashing a shot that had Moore scrambling across his goal.
As bad as the first half was the opening ten minutes of the second half were totally unrecognisable. A blocked corner led to Boro breaking out via Ben but Assombalonga couldn’t take advantage as Boro now looked to have a spring in their step and for the first time you had the feeling that Boro had finally turned up. Referee Darren Bond hadn’t won any hearts from the travelling army as George looked to be penalised unfairly and then a Fabio foul throw highlighted the pedantic nature of the man in the middle along with his propensity for card flashing.
Since his arrival Fabio was like a breath of fresh air adding zest and a buzz that had been seriously lacking. The positivity he exuded was infectious and had spread through the rest of his team mates. The game gradually settled a little bit with Boro now a little less effervescent and Sheffield clearing their heads. Darren Bond was still having a nightmare and now penalised Britt this time as he was seemingly fouled much to the chagrin of the Boro bench. Despite Bond’s best attempts to destabilise Boro there was renewed fight in them, Clayts lost possession but raced back and cleared up the danger he himself had created as a never say die spirit replaced a “meh” first half from Boro.
Clayts picked up another ball in midfield feeding Assombalonga who hit a thirty yarder well wide but while the accuracy may not have been great the positivity and intent was a welcome relief from the tedium of the first half. Clayton was really influencing things and instrumental in breaking up United attacks and setting up counter attacks. Assombalonga was lively, causing some edgy moments for the Sheffield defence. Lee Evans then ridiculously threw himself to the ground with Fabio nowhere to be seen but the comical Referee Bond incredibly booked the Brazilian presumably because he didn’t get close enough to Evans to anticipate his dive. Having one comedian on the pitch in Lee Evans was bad enough but Darren Bond had upstaged everyone with a performance that truly was mesmerising.
In the first half United pressed and chased everything never allowing Boro to settle but in the second half Boro had reversed the trend with only ten men. Fabio was like a man possessed, chasing everything and anything, a Jack Russell personified in a Boro shirt. With a quarter of an hour remaining the Blades were trying to take the sting out of the game such was Boro’s intensity. Meanwhile Darren Bond was seemingly just itching to hand out another yellow with Fabio and George looking the likely suspects.
Shotton won the ball, broke away and set up Assombalonga or so we thought but the ball was poor, seconds later Howson let fly with another howitzer as we pushed desperately for a deserved equaliser, “deserved” only for the second half performance I must add. With five minutes remaining Brooks was taken off and Donaldson came on for the lively twenty year old who had caused serious damage all night. As sure as night follows day George Friend collected the yellow that was inevitably coming his way. Meanwhile Clayton was still chasing, tackling and closing all over the pitch. A late chance fell to Evans again who should have had his hat trick but somehow fluffed his lines as the fourth official held up four minutes.
A free kick from Downing was over hit but Ayala was adjudged to have fouled in any case allowing Moore to dawdle over taking the resultant kick. A late scrambled clearance went out for a Boro throw in and from then a free for all ensued as Boro desperately threw everything at Moore’s goal but the Blades held firm.
An analysis of the night revealed serious flaws. The first half picked up where Saturday had left off and with it we started on the back foot looking leggy and lethargic. The three injury suspects Besic, Traore and Bamford all went off at half time which raises suspicions about their actual match fitness. Tactically in the first half we were set up wrong and it looked wrong all through the 45 minutes, our midfield was over run and Grant couldn’t keep his head not for the first time with all the intensity going on around him. MOM for me was certainly nobody for the first half but second half take your pick from Fabio or Clayts.
MOM isn’t important, what is was how and why we started a match yet again so badly and our Captain getting sent off when we needed a leader most. Not good enough from TP I’m afraid, not good enough from several players and certainly not good enough from Grant. The Play Offs are still a possibility but beating Bristol and Millwall are now an absolute necessity but I’m not convinced that TP will set us up to win a game. Four Cup Finals left and winning is all that matters now, sitting back and sitting deep won’t cut it. There have been too many unacceptable performances of late both on and off the pitch, Wolves against nine men, Burton all 90 minutes, Forest second 45 and tonight’s first 45. Is it the Manager, the Coaches or the Players at fault?
Boro aiming to make play-off cut
as they try to bury Blades hopes
Boro will need to be on guard this Tuesday evening as they head to Bramall Lane to take on The Blades, who are no doubt still hoping to make the cut in the battle for the play-offs. However, the prospect of back-to-back promotions for Chris Wilder’s team are looking tame with their chances of making the top six now on a knife-edge after just one win in their last six games. The cut and thrust of the Championship is more a season of endurance where teams hope to finally lunge over the winning line rather than attempt to finesse promotion with the cloak and dagger tactics akin to those found in the Premier League.
After looking less than sharp in their previous two outings, Boro finally found their cutting edge in the opening half against a rather blunt Forest side lead by former manager Aitor Karanka, who was making his return to the Riverside since being encouraged to fall on his sword by chairman Steve Gibson just over a year ago after previously backing him to the hilt. The three welcome points gained by chopping down the tricky trees at the weekend have helped Tony Pulis’s team maintain their razor-thin advantage over chasing pack but they’re not out of the woods yet and Boro will need to avoid losing their way in the coming weeks if they don’t want their ambitions foiled.
The good news is that Sheffield United are one of the two top-half teams that Boro have beaten this season, when Garry Monk’s team claimed their first victory of the season with a 1-0 win at the Riverside. Beating teams in the top half of the table is something Boro will need to make a habit of in the coming weeks if they don’t want to work on improving on the task next season. In the battle between Teesside and Sheffield steel, Billy Wilder’s team appear to have melted away in recent weeks, whereas Boro have forged ahead in the last nine games with just one defeat against the leaders following the 1-0 defeat at Cardiff.
| Sheffield United | Middlesbrough | ||
| Chris Wilder | Tony Pulis | ||
| P41 – W18 – D8 – L15 – F55 – A48 | P41 – W19 – D9 – L13 – F58 – A39 | ||
| Position Points Points per game Projected points |
9th 62 1.5 70 |
Position Points Points per game Projected points |
6th 66 1.6 74 |
| Last 6 Games Barnsley (A) Cardiff (H) Brentford (A) Nottm Forest (H) Burton (H) Ipswich (A) |
F-T (H-T) 2:3 (0:1) L 1:1 (1:0) D 1:1 (0:0) D 0:0 (0.0) D 2:0 (1:0) W 0:0 (0:0) D |
Last 6 Games Nottm Forest (H) Burton (A) Wolves (H) Brentford (A) Barnsley (H) Birmingham (A) |
F-T (H-T) 2:0 (2:0) W 1:1 (0:1) D 0:2 (1:2) L 1:1 (1:1) D 3:1 (2:0) W 1:0 (1:0) W |
Sheffield United are another proud Yorkshire club who have come under foreign ownership and are now 50 per cent owned by Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud after long-time owner Kevin McCabe sold half his share for just £1 on the grounds of wanting investment in the club. Prince Abdullah’s main claim to fame (other than being a prince) was that his half bother assassinated King Faisal of Saudia Arabia in 1975, which got him much earlier acquainted with the blades in the guise of the executioner’s sword when he was subsequently publicly beheaded – though the new Sheffield United chairman is also known for running a paper manufacturing business and whilst interesting anecdotes in this area are not widely referenced, it’s understood he may have perhaps suffered the odd public paper cut. While at first glance, Saudi names may appear a little long and confusing, you only need to know that ‘bin’ means ‘son of’ and ‘Al’ means ‘The’ and the house of Saud are basically the royal family. It’s a bit like Prince William calling himself ‘William son of Charles son of Philip the Greek’. Anyway, all of which probably explains why you can’t find a Sheffield United replica shirt large enough in the club shop to have all 36 letters of the new co-owner’s name ironed on to the back!
Whilst sometimes a club’s nickname is often a little tenuous, some are steeped in the history of the club or town. ‘The Blades’ is one that has origins as far back as the 14th century when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in The Reeves Tale, from his famous work of the Canterbury Tales “Ther was no man, for peril, dorste hym touche. A Sheffeld thwitel baar he in his hose.” – OK his spelling may have been a little old school but a ‘thwitel’ was a common name for a knife, as in from the word to ‘whittle’. In fact Sheffield already had a reputation back then as a place where knives came from and a census in 1379 listed a quarter of the population in the town as metal workers.
Apparently, everyone wanted a knife back then and it so happened Sheffield had the raw materials, foundries and skills to make them – Chaucer’s tale probably helped to market and identify the Sheffield knife as the brand to be seen with when it came to the concealed weapon of choice carried by men. Although no mention of forks or spoons (concealed or otherwise) by Chaucer as it wasn’t until around 1600 that Sheffield became renowned as a centre for cutlery – however, the earliest official mention of ‘Made in Sheffield’ in this context was first referenced in a tax return filed in 1297 by Robert the Cutler.
Talking of concealed weapons, Adama Traore probably had one of his least conspicuous games in a long while at the weekend and Tony Pulis claimed that maybe he was tired and in need of a rest. I’m presuming this is just a less than subtle psychological kick up the pants for Adama in the hope he gets the message that he can’t expect to stand and wait to be given the ball now that the opposition is double-marking him – though even a tired Adama creates space for others if he’s being attended to by two players. Surely now is not the time to contemplate resting such a key player as Boro embark on a run of season-defining fixtures, which will surely decide whether Traore will actually still be at the club after the summer. OK, he’s probably taken quite a few knocks in the last few months and may be starting to feel the season, but a 90 per cent fit Adama is surely quicker than ninety-nine per cent of all the players in the Championship – though it could also be the mental fatigue of having had to carry the team for the last few months and perhaps others need to show similar urgency on a week-by-week basis to share the load.
Will the super-human speed of our very own cyber-punk give the Blades the runaround and carve open their defence as he leaves many wondering if he is indeed actually human, or could he possibly be the latest Nexus android or ‘replicant’ as they were known in 1982 cult movie Blade Runner. We now already live in the imagined fictional future of the writers of a half century ago – the afore-mentioned film was based on a 1968 novel (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) and was set in a post-apocalyptic future where a nuclear war had left much of the world’s life close to extinction with colonies on Mars serviced by androids who were indistinguishable from humans. That distant year imagined in the future was actually 2019 – so not long to wait now – but perhaps Trump, Putin or Kim Jong-il are working hard on at least part of the story becoming a reality.
Incidentally, for those still struggling with the joys of pessimism the novel also talks of ‘Penfield mood organs’, which is a technology that can induce any desired mood in the people nearby, such as optimism – though reports of recent tests in the Teesside area have so far proved unfounded but it seems the mood settings may still be set to maximum gloom on the prototype installed at the Riverside. Anyway, whether this season still has many sheepish Boro followers dreaming of anything electric or just feeling a little bit meh will depend on what their team deliver in the near future – though if this season ends in disappointment then the memories of the campaign for supporters may be best described by the closing lines spoken in Blade Runner of the dying renegade genius android leader Roy Batty played by Rutger Hauer: “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain”
So will Boro prove to be a cut above a Sheffield United team and stay sharply focused as they look to get a slice of the play-off action? Or will the Blades leave Tony Pulis’s team licking their wounds after our promotion prospects are blunted? As usual your predictions on score, scorers and team selection – plus will Boro followers be having electric dreams after the game or will it be the start of a recurring nightmare?
A witty piece Werder, very good. The ‘Little Mesters’ in Sheffield who still make and made pocket knives always had a farmer’s special in their range that had a Lamb’s Foot blade and a Castrating blade so here’s hoping Patrick Bamford scores a hat-trick and keeps one ball.
Now after that outbreak of blade related trivial information I’m tempted to go for an ‘OFB special’, the game has 0 – 0 all over it but Boro do have goals in them so I’ll change that to Blades 1 – 2 Girders.
Now I can get back to fretting about the result.
UTB,
John
John, Blades 1 – 2 Girders will do for me. Me must not lose today.
I think 1-1 is more realistic, though. We go on scoring and also unbeaten till the start of next season.
The scorer today will be Traore as some said he is just standing there exhausted. Let’s hope he has his afterburners working today.
Up the Boro!
Thanks John, just be careful with that castrating knife when putting back in your pocket…
Quality stuff yet again, I’m going for Boro 1-0 win, early goal then back to the walls.
Many thanks, it’s a hard game to judge and I think it’s possibly a must win game for them and perhaps a mustn’t lose game for Boro – a draw wouldn’t be a bad result if we beat Bristol at the weekend.
Thanks Werder another beauty of a leader, plus Ridley Scott who directed the blade runner and the industrial landscape that was used in the film. All Middlesbrough/Teeside associated.
UTB
Many thanks Borobrie and interesting stuff on Ridley Scott utilising the Teesside industrial landscape for the movie – we could say that we’ve been living the dream on Teesside – albeit the distopian one!
Common sense tells me it is a draw but a win would be great so 3 nil to the Boro as we go through them like a hot knife through butter.
Common sense is what football supporters fall back on when the 3-0 victory fails to materialise – though I could see Boro taking a 2-0 lead like against Forest but then sitting back and conceding possession again and ending up trying to cling onto a 2-1 lead before the inevitable late equaliser arrives as we let two vital points slip through our buttery-fingered grasp (to borrow your analogy).
Knives 1 Spoons 0
Thanks Werder for another amusing read coupled with a history lesson.
Sorry to rain on everyone’s parade but I am less confident than others about this game given we were lucky to get a win at the Riverside and the fact that they have Billy Sharpe who tends to have a cutting edge against us.
I am also concerned that with all the attention AT has received in recent weeks he has become a closely marked man and despite all his speed he is now struggling to shake off the shackles of being closely and doubly/trebly marked.
He needs to show that he has the footballing brain to adapt to these situations and to create space and time for himself by his movement off the ball. It remains to be seen if he possesses that ability as speed alone will not be enough.
I also fear that this will be the start of our slip out of the play-offs with Millwall overtaking us. I can see a scenario where we lose tonight, Millwall win at Bolton and then follow it up with a win at Sheffield to leave us in the chasing pack.
Blades 1-0 Boro
(Billy Sharp)
CoB another challenge for you to prove me wrong please!!
Thanks KP – I wonder what it was that attracted Billy Sharp to the Blades? I think Boro tried to sign him from Southampton a while back but at 5′ 9″ he’s probably not a Tony Pulis type forward. I think with Adama, he will get extra attention but I’d agree he maybe needs to start leaning to move a little rather than wait for the ball to be delivered to him – though can’t see any radical change to his game in the next few weeks so others will need to take players away from him instead.
Cold Steel 1 Red Hot Iron 2
⚽️⚽️
I’ve got to be right one of these days
OFB
You could argue that if you squint it looks like 5 – 5.
Ian
Nah!
Your eyesight must be getting worse!
OFB
OFB, that was Karanka score. We seem to be scoring more goals. It it seven scoring matches in a row. Wake up, mate! UTB!
Blades blunted on Boro steel.
Great article again Werder, they are a must read and a bit like a good book, a read leads to new bits hidden away.
As for tonight, there is a big match on BT Sport but apparently they have gone for Pep v Klopp rather than Wilder v TP. Short sighted is all I can say.
I would be happy if the table in in the same order at 10pm.
Thanks Ian, maybe some bits should remain hidden – seems odd BT opting for the Champions League quarter final given what is at stake at Bramall Lane…
Werder
Sharp writing again and a cut above the rest.
Let’s hope we have a flash of steel tonight and stick it to them.
Don’t want it to puncture our promotion hopes or that they stitch us up
Well done
OFB
Cheers OFB, sounds like you’re expecting trench warfare tonight – bayonets at the ready! BTW enjoy the beam-back at the Riverside.
These matches are tough, two teams equally matched, the bounce of the ball so important.
We will play Traore even if he is out of gas, because they will still put two men on him.
We seem to be slowly getting more players having a big influence on the game.
We started with the keeper, then Ayala, then Traore, Shotton, Downing, George seems to be coming to the party, and of course Bamford.
Film director Ridley Scott is from the North East and based the opening shot of Blade Runner on the view of the old ICI plant at Wilton. He said: “There’s a walk from Redcar … I’d cross a bridge at night, and walk above the steel works. So that’s probably where the opening of Blade Runner comes from. It always seemed to be rather gloomy and raining, and I’d just think “God, this is beautiful.” You can find beauty in everything, and so I think I found the beauty in that darkness.”
http://www.tenpennydreams.com/2013/04/20/so-im-a-smoggie-11-things-you-might-not-know-about-middlesbrough/
Maybe Teesside could market itself as an alternative gothic tourist attraction by night – they would just need to give the punters headsets with a suitable soundtrack and have it narrated by Rutger Hauer.
I love the way your previews can send me off on tangents.
Currently reading about a Native American Indian from the Mohawk tribe buried in Linthorpe Cemetery.
I like tangents! Actually, that’s also often the case when I start writing or researching the previews themselves, retaining some kind of link to the whole can be tricky though – beneath every story is another story and beneath that is…
Great read again Werder. What are we going to do during the close season?
Difficult game tonight but then again with the Boro they all are. As posted previously if Forest first half Boro turn up then it’ll be 3 points on the promotion push scoreboard. If it’s Forest second half Boro we’ll be lucky to get nil.
BBC Tees reporting that Besic is a doubt with a hip problem. If he doesn’t make it he’ll be a big miss. I’ll be plugged into the Tees commentary tonight and hopefully won’t annoy the neighbours too much as I’m celebrating a consecutive Boro win.
Thanks FAA, though I know what I’m going to do in the close season – R&R… and it doesn’t involve setting up a cricket blog in case any were wondering 🙂
Werder, did I laugh at that piece, brilliant once more and as always, like the little bit of history thrown in.
I think I would accept a draw at this time, but if we are to keep our place in the top six, this has to be (on paper) one of the easier matches, we need to win, because Millwall will.
Adama, as others have said, needs to run off the ball. The Boro though need to give him balls in the channels, something we are useless at. In fact most of our passing of late has been poor. I would therefore introduce Harrison or Baker from the off to give hopefully something different going forward.
Of course that will not happen, TP will go with his tried and tested. So no improvement in passing, Adama marginalised and Boro hoping for a set piece knock in. Or may be Shotton may get lucky and throw one into the goal.
Thanks Pedro, I’m looking forward to tonight’s game as I think Sheff Utd will be trying to win it and that may mean a little more space for Adama to run into.
FAA. That will be a loss if Besic is out. The passing will be even worse.
I’m going for a 3-0 Boro win, assuming Besic is fit (I think he’s more important to the team now than Adama is). My optimism is based on an assumption that the sheff utd players will have decided this has been a good enough season given where they were last year and decide to head off early to the beach in Dubai
PS – great piece Werder.
Thanks Nigel and even the Reeves got a mention in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales!
Nigel, I fully agree that Besic is our most important player. He makes us tick as our norm midfielders are too shy to strike forward. Up the Boro!
Nigel
It looked as if some of our players were already in Dubai at the Burton game!
Let’s hope they turn up tonight and are not fighting the blades players for the sun beds.
Any Germans in the Utd side?
Just wondering……………….
According to my (optimistic) prediction on the Gazette website Boro will finish 6th on 76 points and Cardiff will finish third on ninety with Fulham sneaking into 2nd. That’s pretty much a perfect scenario, I’d much rather play a disappointed Cardiff in the play offs than a rampant Fulham.
Fantastic read Weder as always.
You have used all the puns so struggling to get any more in!
En route to the game so a quick response
2 0 to the steel team who play in red! Could be either but it has to be the bridge builders who transport us to the promised land!
Many thanks BBD, hope you enjoy your visit to Sheffield – I actually lived there for six years from 18-24 so used to know lots of Blades fans from my local pub – many who were interesting characters and worthy of an article in their own right.
PS. Never realised before that the Blades have a white rose in their crest! Why do Boro not have one? Stockton? UTB!
Last week OFB raised an interesting point that Tony Pulis was happy for Boro to play safe and shut up shop in the second half of matches when a one or two goal lead has been established. However, whilst being frustrating for supporters it can also be a dangerous game to play especially against the better teams in the Championship. There is a similar situation evolving with Castleford Tigers in Super League.
This season Cas have failed to score a second half try in three successive matches after dominating the first half. In fact to date in their eight matches they have scored 94 points for and 56 against (19 tries to 9) in the first half of matches, yet only 57 points for and 104 against (8 tries to 19) in the second half of matches. Although they have won 6 of their 8 matches, after blowing the opposition away in the first half of three matches, they ‘switched off’ in the second half and were lucky to win by a mere point in two of them. In these cases they were certainly not playing to the coaches’ instructions, and Cas supporters have become just as frustrated as Boro fans.
I therefore decided to check out if past Boro managers followed the same pattern as Tony Pulis is purported to adopt by analysing team formations and results when Boro used to play matches against the same opponents on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and more tellingly when playing 3 matches in 4 days over the Easter period. I therefore checked out these statistics for each season from 1946 until the introduction of substitutes in 1965 for injuries (I know, I should get out more, but spending hours on this research has made me more appreciative of the time spent by Simon, Redcar Red, OFB and especially Werdermouth in researching historical facts about Boro’s opponents).
David Jack (whose main claim to fame was scoring the first goal in a FA Cup Final played at Wembley) was Boro’s manager from 1946 until the end of the 1951/52 season. At Christmas 1946 Boro played 3 matches in 4 days with the same eleven players (a draw, a win and a defeat) and at Easter made only one change through injury when Boro again played 3 matches in 4 days (again the sequence being a draw, a win, then a defeat). Incidentally in these six matches Boro scored 5 first half goals, but 10 in the second half.
Walter Rowley was manager for only three seasons, the second of which saw Boro relegated. He also was reluctant to change the eleven despite Boro always fighting against relegation. I recall the Christmas Day 2-3 home defeat to Newcastle when Wilf Mannion got injured and for the return fixture at St James Park Rowley borrowed Seamus O’Connell (an amateur) from Bishop Auckland to replace Wilf and O’Connell scored a late goal in a 3-2 win. Incidentally O’Connell scored again in the next match, a 3-0 home win over Spurs, but Boro only won two more matches and were duly relegated along with Liverpool after two defeats against the Scoucers at Easter where Rowley made only two changes to the team in the three matches. That also was the season when Bishop Auckland lost 0-1 to Crook Town in the FA Amateur Cup Final at Ayresome Park following two 2-2 draws at Wembley and St James Park.
Bob Dennison was one of the longest serving managers for Boro from August 1954 until the end of the 1962/63 season. He too rarely made changes to the team over the Christmas and Easter periods. In fact in Easter 1957 Boro won all 3 of their matches in the space of 4 days with the same eleven players – Sheffield United 3-1 at home, Huddersfield 7-2 and 1-0. Here again there was no suggestion of taking things easy once Brian Clough had put Boro 2-1 ahead just after halftime as Boro scored another five goals in the last 19 minutes (Clough finishing with four).
I suppose the maxim was why change a winning team, or even a drawing team if the team was playing well despite having to complete 3 matches in such a short period. However Dennison did make changes if the team underperformed. For example on Good Friday 1961 Boro lost 1-3 away to League Leaders Ipswich Town 1-3 (maybe acceptable), but the next day they were thrashed 2-5 at bottom team Lincoln City. So for the Easter Monday return with Ipswich, Dennison dropped captain Kevin Thomson, Ronnie Waldock, Arthur Kaye and Willie Hamilton. Typically Boro beat Ipswich 3-1, the team that were to become Champions having lost two days previously to the team who would finish bottom.
Stan Anderson was manager from 1966 until the end of the 1872/73 season and maybe because of the advent of substitutes, often did make changes especially when fixtures occurred within a day or two of eachother. For example in 1968 Boro had had quite a successive run of wins from late January until early March (5 wins and 2 draws in 7 matches) which took them into 2nd place. A 0-3 defeat at Carlisle was a setback, but John Hickton’s four goals saw off Hull City 5-3 and a draw at Blackburn saw Boro back in 2nd place before Boro faced a week of destiny in Holy Week. Derby County were almost assured of promotion but Boro had to face the other rivals for promotion – Cardiff City at home with Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic on Good Friday and Saturday. Despite only drawing with Cardiff, Stan Anderson played the same eleven at Palace both matches finishing goalless. Boro had to win their remaining four matches to have any chance of promotion, so with the last throw of the dice Boro made four changes for the Charlton match but lost 0-2 and eventually finished 4th one point behind Charlton but seven behind Palace who were promoted. So maybe the manager should have made changes before those last seven matches because the players looked jaded and only scored 4 times and took only 4 points from 4 draws.
Subsequently both Jack Charlton and much later Bruce Rioch made very few changes match after match, the latter mainly due to the financial situation. In fact in the 1986/87 season nine players made 40 or more appearances and the following season eight did so. Even Lennnie Lawrence made few changes in his three years in charge, but Bryan Robson did so particularly in his first year. After the 1-1 draw away to Sheffield United on Boxing Day he made 4 changes for the home game with Notts County two days later, yet in the relegation season of 1996/97 when Boro had to play Villa at home followed by the away fixtures against Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United in eight days he selected the same 16 players excepting Ravanelli who missed the last two through injury. My Boro attendance records don’t cover the McLaren years, but we all know what happened with his substitutions in the season Boro reached the Europa League Final.
Now of course the question has been posed about the fitness of some Boro players, notably Adama Traore, and whether Tony Pulis might make one or two changes for tonight’s match either tactical or to rest maybe Traore. Fortunately the weather forecast for Sheffield looks to be dry this evening so it ought to be a good playing surface which is more than can be said for Castleford on Easter Monday when winning the toss meant a choice of defending the deep end or the shallow end in the water splash fixture.
I know football is generally played at a faster tempo than say 50 or more years ago (perhaps not always in Boro’s case), but if teams in days of yore could play 3 matches in 4 days on some pitches heavy with mud and with a football that became considerably heavier in wet conditions than today’s ball, surely there should be no excuse to play lethargically after two days rest tonight. I imagine that Sheffield United will play on the front foot from the first minute tonight, so no lapse in concentration as was evident at Burton. I had this match down as a defeat in the ExMill Challenge, but now expect at least a draw, because in my opinion Millwall are not going away. They have to play both Villa and Fulham at the New Den and neither team will fancy a trip there.
So a draw tonight, but hoping for a Boro win.
Great research Ken (Stan Anderson was with us longer than so thought, or you made a typo there 😉). My feeling has always been that changes to team causes unnecessary disruption when a team is on a roll, but necessary to break the cycle if on a run of bad form.
Werder, another great review article. I too really enjoy the mini history lesson as well as the clever punnery.
I’m hoping Boro bring their silver service out of the canteen for tonight, but I’m a bit worried we may see some old bone-handled place settings, much to the chagrin of everyone who will have forked out to watch us tonight.
The sinking feeling in my gut is overiding my heart for this tonight and I see us losing, maybe 2-0. Bolton however will do us an unexpected favour and dent Millwall’s confidence with a 1-0 victory.
2.1 to somebody, with all the goals coming within five minutes of the first or final whistle of each half.
Unchanged team for Boro tonight.
Come on BORO.
Werder, are you eligible for nomination for the Booker Prize? If so you would stroll it!
Alas I’m not sure the Boro are in good enough form to get any points from the Blades and so a 2-0 defeat for me. Still, I’m usually completely wrong……..
A belated “the usual” Werder.
Billy Sharp will score, so we”ll need at least 2 to win. As ever, I live in hope rather than expectation.
Dunno whether this is an omen, but according to the Beeb, TP’s last league meeting with Sheffield United was in December 2007, when his Stoke side won 3-0 at Bramall Lane in the Championship. *gets the prayer mat out again*
Well no shocks with that team selection….not what had hoped fro, but expected. Come 10.30 we will know was right and who was wrong
Oh there you go, two minutes in..
Didn’t I just warn Boro to be alert in the first few minutes. I now fear the worst.
Ken
There are times when the likes of ourselves just look at situations and memories flood back,
Some call it typical Boro.
Now down to ten men. Grant off
Good night Josephine!
Well, can this get any worse. That second yellow was ridiculous
The best I have seen in this situation was what SrAlex did with ManU.
He went 342 on the basis, I suppose, that he wanted to keep the opposition honest.
Some may think that a midfield of Giggs, Scholes, Keane and Beckham was quite good.
He also had two out of Sheringham, Yorke, Solksjaer and Cole up front.
Now how would our players fit in to that plan?
Aren’t Boro supposed to be a professional team and not a bunch of mindless amateurs?
Still, there will probably be no club sanction whatever for Leadbitter’s stupidity even if it costs the club a playoff position.
Pathetic.
2-0
Where is my mankini?
Bye bye Boro.
And Millwall winning.
Well I was going to repeat myself and say where is the mid-field tonight? Now there are even less of them, stupidity from Leadbitter, pity it had not been a straight red then he would have missed three matches. At least TP cannot appeal.
Then they never learn, Evans scores from outside the box, so Friend dives in, misses, a pass to Evans and bingo, 2-nil.
Abysmal and clueless to say the least. Some poor poor players out there in white. And when you actually think about what we paid for them and then compare them to the Sheff U bargains. Makes your blood boil. Recruitment team, that is one bad joke.
Luckily I cant want watch the game.
Their first goal was a pretty decent volley from outside the box and thought Randolph had it covered but seem to move in the air. Boro weren’t playing that badly in the first 15-20 minutes but Leadbitter’s first yellow was pointless as the he pulled back an opposition player who was still 65 yards from the Boro goal – probably highlights that he has no pace left. The second yellow was a mistimed tackle and shouldn’t really have been attempted.
After that it was not going to be easy and to be fair to Sheffield Utd they’ve played much better than Boro and have passed and moved quite well. With Adama picking up a yellow I wouldn’t be confident of him avoiding another either as he’s prone to a rash challenge too. Second goal has killed and was a bad goal to give away. Only hope is to get Adama running at them in the hope of evening up the numbers and then grabbing a goal for a grand finale!
Wow. Half time sbs. Bamford, Besic and Traore off. Assombalonga, Clayton and Fabio on. Anyone care to comment?
Yes, should have changed all 11.
Has he written off this game and saving people who need a break?
Unbelievable. Ayala scores again.
Anyway, Barca and Citeh go out of the Cup for all the big clubs!
Well as I predicted Boro lose and pull their own self destruct button. Millwall win and we drop out of the top six on our way to the middle of the table which is what our performances deserve. Gutted!!
Great effort in the second half, the players made up for the missing man with lots of running and closing down but ultimately lacked the quality to match the energy. Assombalonga looked like he was given somebody else’s boots and then put them on the wrong feet and appeared like he found running hard work and near on impossible with the ball – £15m is not a price-tag he’ll be having for his next move.
Interesting triple substitution though, I suspect Bamford wasn’t going to last 45 minutes playing on his own as he looked shattered on Saturday and Besic was also perhaps carrying an injury as he was a doubt so probably a risk – I suspect Adama was removed for a couple of reason, with him being on yellow and not offering much cover or movement off the ball.
That was the kind of energy we will need in the coming weeks as Boro not only have to turn up, they need to want it more than the opposition. Damage done in the first half but at least can take some positives away for Saturday.
Werder, I admire your optimism but I don’t see how you can take any positives from a defeat by a close rival when there is a playoff position at stake. These are the games we have to win and we didn’t.
Well after the first half I was worried that Boro would implode lose another man and possibly get beat by 4 or 5 and severely damage our goal difference. I thought Boro were the better side in the second half despite being a man short and had a few chances at nearly stealing the draw. If we can take that energy into Saturday and possibly make a few changes to the team then it’s not terminal. Still very tight Boro two points short of the play-offs and only three points ahead of 11th. Whilst Boro needed at least a point from that game, it probably means we need to beat Bristol and Millwall and avoid defeat at Derby to leave our destiny in our own hands on the last day against Ipswich – down but not out.
Interesting subs last night.
Talking to Dave Hodgson yesterday and I asked him who he liked the best of all the current Boro squad
His Answer
Adam Clayton
A massive opportunity to strengthen our position in the playoff places wasted through a stupid sending off and a poor performance.
I don’t think this team has the mental strength, desire, organisation and ability to compete at the top of the Championship and I’m not sure the manager is doing much to help fix the problems. We will not make the playoffs and there will need to be a big clear out in the summer to stand any chance of going up next season.
The parachute money will dry up in just over a year so if Pulis stays he has one season to get the team into the Premier League before the money disappears. Is he the right man to do it? Not for me.
What a dismal season this has been. Expectations high, delivery poor.
Boroexile
Can’t disagree as I said it myself last week.
I was wrong. They didn’t even need to call on Sharp for his customary goal against us.
At least we’re consistent, we can’t beat teams around us.
Season just about put to bed.
Well that didn’t go to plan at all.
However, fear not yet. Tonight merely strengthens heb importance of getting 3 points vs. Bristol, that’s the big game this month. As for Millwall, well they have to play Sheff Utd, so at least one of our play off rivals will drop points. We may even slide back into the top 6 a time the weekend.
There are also games for Millwall vs. Fulham and although Derby are 2 games in hand with 2 points advantage on us they are also playing Cardiff in one of those games, which will be tough.
We need 3 points against Bristol City and Millwall without doubt, which should allow us to overhaul Millwall, providing we don’t get beat at Derby.
Unfortunately though I’ve turned into one of the people I warned about a few weeks back, someone who sees that it’s all In our hands as we gradually slip out of the play offs and down the table.
With apologies for any typos, my phone keeps reverting to the German keyboard for spelling which will unlease horrendous torrents it Umlauf heavy Swiss German on you all. Gott im Himmel!
Agree we need to win against Bristol and Millwall but where are the signs we can do it? We needed to win or at least get a draw at Sheffield but didn’t.
I think by the time we play Millwall it will all be too late for us and any chances we have will be in other team’s hands.
Boroexile’s post above has summed it up exactly!
Well I’m off to bed now, looks like it will be the recurring nightmare after all rather than the electric sheep dreaming – not that I’m an android you understand, it’s just I need to recharge my batteries for tomorrow 😉
btw thanks to Boroexile, Steely and Powmill for the comments on the match preview – all very much appreciated as usual!
I agree with those saying that the second half was surprisingly positive. Clayton and Howson were everywhere and we looked like a much better team. Still, it’s a long shot now but if we win every game, we’re there 🙂
Now we need to beat Millwall at the Riverside. Simple as that.
The first two yellow cards in the game went to Grant. He took the first for the team (sorry, Ken). The second was even more stupid, as Werder said.
It is not the end of the world but now we have no leeway. We have to beat Brissol on Saturday and see how other matches go. I think Millwall and Sheffield play each other at Sheffield.
Sheffield Utd were good in the first half. We did not play that badly before the goal. The second was comic defending and Grant’s two yellows were ridiculous by him.
But we are not dead yet. Need to win both home matches now. Simple as that. Up the Boro!
PS. Fulham now above Cardiff in second place but the Welch club has a game in hand.
I’ve just posted up Redcar Red’s match report with his view on last night’s game at Bramall Lane…
https://diasboro.club/2018/04/10/championship-sheff-utd-vs-boro/#MatchReport
RR, Great work and better to read this morning than last night.
After all the anticipation that was hugely disappointing. Do Boro ever learn? I have a feeling that we will just drift away from the play-off positions now as the dust settles on another season of typical Boro.
UTB,
John
Redcar Red
There is little point crafting a well written accurate report, where are the three Boro goals, clean sheet and flowing football?
Must do better, sadly that isn’t in your hands.
I don’t know how manage to provide such great reports when the rest of us are in bed with the sheets pulled over our heads.
Thanks for the report RR which unfortunately remains the same as The game I watched at Bramall Lane last night.
To say I am disappointed with the game is putting it mildly and certainly the mummers from the supporters as we waited for S Yorkshire police to let us get home to our beds was similar.
The first half was dire, as RR said there did not appear to be any desire in the team and as for Grant, words fail me. He should have known better and perhaps time for him to go.
I have said it before and will no doubt say it agin but for professinals who are probably paid more in a season than I earn in a career, their inability to carry out basic tasks (no doubt practiced as well) is stunning! What is more concerning is that there was little drive. TP must shoulder some of the blame too although you could see that he was not best pleased.
Second half was better although I thought that the 3 changes at the start was a risk and in some respects didn’t add much. However, it almost paid off with Fabio having a good dame and very nearly gave us a draw with a shot that just missed the far post.
Not sure that Britt has been worth his fee and much as it pains me to say it, George has not had a good season and looks past his best at the moment.
How we are still in contention for a playoff place baffles me – well the other teams are just as bad perhaps- and I just wish that Boro would put us out of our misery. The hope that if we beat Bristol and Millwall then we can make it doesn’t cut it for me.
We are not good enough, for whatever reason, the players don’t deserve it and in any event, I am not sure we could win 2 or 3 games against the top teams. Mind you, Huddersfield were promoted without scoring a goal in open play so perhaps TP should be coaching the players on pennas!
Final point, on the evidence of what I have seen, if I were TP then come the end of the season, I would be saying to SG, thanks but not thanks, I can’t work with this shower and I will find a club nearer home!
Rant over, it’s only a game, there is always next season and the Cricket season has started!
UTB
Just seen some typos, Fabio had a good game, not a dame and there were murmurs from the crowd, not mummers!
BBD
We all do typos but sometimes but part of your post had me chuckling
‘their inability to carry out basic tasks (no doubt practiced as well) is stunning’
The thought of them training to not carry out basic tasks had me chortling.
I can just see TP on the training ground stopping the session and saying to his midfield ‘look lads, Lee Evans will be on the edge of our box for set pieces, don’t close him down, drop off and give him time and space to get his shot away.’
Well, it made me chuckle.
TJese. Ducking typos really joss me off and it’s suposef to be a smart phone !
BBD
I have just done it with but sometimes but!
Good post match report RR thank you for making a silk purse out of a pigs ear of a performance.
A pathetic response to what was a pathetic second half on Saturday. Yes their first was a worldy on 2 minutes but where was the effort and tempo to get back into the game in the remaining 43 minutes of the half.
I didn’t even bother with the second half it was obvious we were getting nowt from this game as we’ve seen it all so many times before. I turned the telly on to watch Roma do a Boro on Barcelona instead.
I rarely if ever watch foreign games and couldn’t believe what a bunch of cheating divers the alleged best team on the planet were. Led by biter in chief Suarez every challenge ended up with theatrics that were frankly a disgraceful embarrassment. Well done to the ref for not being conned into buying their blatant cheating.
BBD
Yes it is time for Grant to go. As great a servant he has been to the club I feel his time is up. Every game since the turn of the year in which he’s played he appears to be running in treacle. This means he fouls more than he used too, ends up pulling opposition players back that are running away from him and because of his lack of pace his tackles can often be mistimed and late, ending up with an inevitable yellow.
Our play off destiny is still in our hands but anything less than a win on Saturday it won’t be.
Its taken a few hours of fuming to pluck up the courage to post this morning.
We were crap and I might add in both halves. The second half Sheff just eased off the gas thats all.
Enough said.
I’ve made my views known regarding this division in the past so not to repeat but I am.
It’s a division were if you are close to the chance of going up you must take it, because every season is different.
It doesn’t mean you are the best, you just end up above those who were more inconsistent than you, look at Millwall now.
I can see us in a relegation fight next season , especially if most of this lot are the squad,
We have too many of an age were they are content, too many with legs that are waining,some just not good enough ,not good enough in the sense they can’t dominate their direct opponent, the goalkeeper let’s too many savable shots in, he even makes a straight forward tip over spectacular.
I think it’s a big problem, and TP with the teams coming down in the mix,has a major issue, a rebuild of six to eight new players rarely works, but that’s what’s needed, maybe if clubs come sniffing,Ayala, Gibson, Traore Bamfrd might want to move on. It’s a dillema how do you replace them?
You may have the money ,but the record of the recruitment department , doesn’t fill you with confidence.
This not a Boro typical fan moan,
It’s a very serious concern.
Like it’s been said many times, ” it’s the hope that kills you”
Talking about our goalkeeer
How long does he take when carrying out a normal goal kick ?
He infuriates me when we are fighting for recovery and every minute counts
In spite of the pain, it is interesting to see that the self destruct button is pressed in the same old way.
Show a complete disinterest in the fact that you are facing a club in crisis, low on confidence, having suffered a shattering defeat last time out.
Start very slowly, allow them to get a completely off the wall opener( first goal he has ever scored for them)
Fall apart, start kicking people( yes, that should do the trick)
Make no reorganisation as you are run ragged for the first half.
Make wholesale changes at half time( good)
Concede another early goal( ever heard of blocking all shots on your goal)
Proceed to run the second half, have no one on the pitch who could hit a barn door( assalomga)
That is two consecutive away matches against teams in crisis, both should not have troubled us ( we will not talk about Burton’s results since they played us)
I think it was all getting too serious for our more experienced players, and they decided to bring it to an end before they were exposed to ridicule in a more public arena.
EXMIL CHALLENGE Part 3
I know there is one match of Part 2 to be played and that is why Wolves and Derby have a permutation of three starting points in brackets but since predictions have to be posted by 1945 hrs on Friday 13th when Villa kick off against Leeds, I thought I would give everyone an extra day to contemplate their decisions.
Note that Derby and Cardiff have an extra fixture to be played unfortunately it is after Boro play Derby. I will be posting the league table this week, in which I do not expect to be sitting at the top anymore after a disastrous Part 2 for Boro.
Good luck everyone especially the Boro.
Wolves (89/90/91)
Birmingham (H)
Bolton (A)
Shef Wed (H)
Sunderland (A)
Fulham (81)
Brentford (H)
Millwall (A)
Sunderland (H)
Birmingham (A)
Cardiff (80)
Norwich (A)
Forest (H)
Derby (A)
Hull (A)
Reading (H)
Aston Villa (76)
Leeds (H)
Ipswich (A)
Derby (H)
Millwall (A)
Derby (68/69/70)
Burton (A)
Boro (H)
Cardiff (H)
Villa (A)
Barnsley (H)
Millwall (68)
Shef Utd (A)
Fulham (H)
Boro (A)
Villa (H)
Boro (66)
Bristol City (H)
Derby (A)
Millwall (H)
Ipswich (A)
Bristol City (65)
Boro (A)
Hull (H)
Forest (A)
Shef Utd (H)
Shef Utd (65)
Millwall (H)
Birmingham (A)
Preston (H)
Bristol City (A)
Brentford (64)
Fulham (A)
QPR (H)
Barnsley (A)
Hull (H)
Preston (63)
QPR (A)
Norwich (H)
Shef Utd (A)
Burton (H)
Also note there are now 11 teams in the running for the top six, please post your predictions in the order of the above fixtures. If anyone notices that I have made an error, please let me know.
DEADLINE Fri 13th 1945 hrs
Come on BORO.
I’ve just reset the date on your Exmil Page again so it should now accept posts and comments.
Thanks werdermouth
Come on BORO.
Thanks for the write up RR.
I’m glad to hear that Fabio had a good game, and it gives us the option of switching to a back 3 and using him as a wing back (either right or left wing) in future games if Adama continues to have fatigue. I think Bristol City have also experimented with a back 3, so it may allow us to match them up in that way too.
Ultimately though promotion is almost secondary to what will happen this summer. Regardless of promotion or not there will be so much turnover in the squad it will be like the last two windows all over again. We need two new full backs (George is on the wain and Fabio is off, and Shotton should be kept as a 3rd center back only), at least two central midfielders (Grant can return home to spearhead Sunderland’s league 1 promotion campaign, Clayton is not in favour with TP and Howson perhaps will be off – although where is a mystery). Britt and Fletcher seem destined for the exit, Downing is fading too, and Traore is almost certainly going to be picked up by a mid-table PL outfit if not someone higher up (if he improves his performances in the next 4 games). By the way, I think Traore is currently suffering due to the simple fact that he has never played this many games in a season before. His physicality (speed and strength) is so highly attuned to his physical condition that he must be struggling for fitness.
All in all that means a squad that will be gutted, largely from our current first team “regulars”. Where do you even begin to start working on the replacements? There is no core that you can build on. If we were promoted there is no spine of players who got us there and would be desperate to keep us up, as there was at Brighton and was at Burnley when they were promoted. Our spine needs a specialist chiropractor to re-align it.
I thought I should post this as my previous post in this thread was way too optimistic. In the interests of balance it is only fair I send an alternative view…
Smoggyinexile,
I think that there will be a car boot sale, I resisted calling it a football boot sale, in the Summer and no doubt some will be pleased with their bargains. Another season coming and yet another rebuild coming too.
Will Boro ever make anything of some of their young prospects that are out on loan? I’m afraid I’m rapidly beginning to slide into the dismayed ‘I don’t understand category’. Or should that be disillusioned? I have no doubt that the majority of the managers at the loan clubs will be singing the praises of the young Boro loanees and wanting to keep them at their new homes.
Roll on Saturday. Really.
UTB,
John
Smoggy
Enjoyed your survey of the team, plus the future for the club next season
Can’t say i disagree with a single point in it, (and that is a cruel thing to say)
Loosing away to a poor team not in the best of form, it was foolish in the extreme to wait until half time before making every change that you could.
What are the odds on a player who had never scored for them hammering in two beauties? They were both from distance i believe.
Do you believe in fairies( yeah, me neither)
Combined with the Burton effort( or lack of) and the never to be forgotten Charlton implosion, I think we can say ” O.K.guys we get the message” over and out.
Hands up those who think Fulham and Millwall are in for a shock when they roll up at the riverside?
It is never a good idea to sign a large group of player’s in the close season.
If you are organised you should be signing players as you spot them, it’s not difficult to organise a loan until the window.
I would think that some big club is at this moment trying to sign Traore and offload some not very good young players with a couple of million changing hands, and they will probably succeed, such is our complete lack of knowhow in the market.
A disappointing result which doesn’t bode well for the tough games to come.
The summer will see a clear out for sure, poor players moved on, good players leaving for greener pastures.
I hope TP is good at change management.
Another good report from Redcar Red (the alliterative Rolls Royce) of Boro reporters. The sharp end of the season seems to have got local reporters in a bit of a dither. First of all we hear Blades reporter James Shield giving his lowdown on the Blades defensive frailties in conceding late goals and bemoaning the fact that United should have been three goals up ‘at’ Cardiff recently when in fact United were at home to Cardiff. Then in his introduction to the Gazette Live blog last night Dominic Shaw writes “Results at the weekend mean Boro are SIX points ahead of the Blades before kickoff “. It must be the tension of the run-in or possibly in Dominic’s case getting confused by Philip Tallentire’s forecast of the match being ‘a six pointer’. Maybe it’s a toss-up between what is worse – journalists or Boro’s first half performance last night, whereas Boro’s second half performance was more akin to Redcar Red’s reports! Naw, I’m not having that, our own Rolls Royce’s reports are way ahead of any of Boro’s first or second half performances this season.
What I can’t understand though is why TP selected three players last night who were unfit. Doesn’t he trust the rest of his squad? OK he replaced them at half time, but the damage was done by then. Perhaps if had played Assombalonga, Clayton and Fabio from the start Boro might have won. I read this forum every day and am aware of the suggestions of preferred team formations and personnel suggested by fellow bloggers. Some of them I agree with, but in the back of my mind I think that TP is so stereotyped in his thoughts that he wouldn’t even consider any of them.
One thing about managers and coaches that puzzles me though, is why almost every football team’s coaching staff congregate at pitch level. In both codes of Rugby the head coach and his staff always sit upstairs where they must perceive that they can get a better picture of events on the field of play. Some have an assistant at pitch level and communicate with him by phone. I noticed that Steve McLaren occasionally sat in the stand but sometimes got criticised for it. Is it necessary for the manager to be barking out instructions to his players to motivate them all the time? Just asking, like!
I think Millwall has a tough fixtures for the final run in:
Away to Sheffield United
Home to Fulham
Away to Boro
Home to Aston Villa
If we win the two home matches we are back in the race or even favourites. Interesting indeed. Up the Boro!
Jarkko all ifs buts and maybe’s and given our performances this season do you think we will get the performances we need. There appears to be a distinct lack of passion, moral fibre, spark call it what you will.
As said, we need to beat Millwall at home. Hope they won’t win at Sheffield on Saturday. If they don’t and we beat Brissol, everything is open again. Ifs and buts, I know, but prefer to see a chance for us.
So we are in the position of Sheffield were yesterday. Let’s see a reaction from our players.
Interesting as always with Boro. UBT,
I agree that we haven’t got that spark
Jarkko
Millwall have had a remarkable successful run of results having won 10 matches in an unbeaten run of 13 since their last defeat on New Years Day, a sequence similar to Burnley’s when they were promoted as Champions in 2016. But I find two particular things about their progress quite staggering –
1. They finished 6th in Division 1 last season on 73 points, 27 behind Champions Sheffield United but won the playoffs from that position. Could they win the playoffs from sixth position again?
2. This season they found it difficult playing away from home and in fact failed to win any of their first 13 away matches and only scored 6 goals, yet since winning 4-3 away to Leeds United in January they have won 7 and drawn one of their last 8 away matches. One often thinks of the New Den as a very intimidating ground to visit despite gates hardly ever reaching much above 10,000, yet the turnaround in their away form is very impressive.
I agree that their next four matches are very tough, but I would expect them to beat both Sheffield United and Aston Villa and draw with Fulham. As you say, Boro’s match with Millwall will be crucial and may well decide which team will finish sixth.
.
Strange thing, football.
We find a couple of players who get us scoring.
A bit late but o.k. Not surprisingly, they get a bit tired.
Do we rest them, don’t think so.
Do we park the bus away to a doomed team, don’t think so.
Do we turn ourselves into the worst kind of defensive side for all away matches, don’t think so.
Do we copy the big teams and simply fill the box, block every ball, throw ourselves at anything that threatens to go towards our goal, take one for the team, and never stop doing this, until the ref. Blows his whistle( see Liverpool last night)
I think that this group of players is in seventh heaven, and do not want anything like stress to intrude on their pleasant life.
No I have no idea how you clear them out, even less how you build a new team for next season.
But I do know that we had better build a team of large players, because it always comes down to muscle in this division( see Wolves, they have been spotted for what they are, but they won’t care, they are up)
Posted part 3 on exmil challenge banner.
Come on BORO.
I take the point of why didn’t we start with Fabio, Clayton and Assombalonga but what would have been said if TP had done and we still lost the match. I suspect cries of why did he change a winning team, damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Come on BORO.
RR
Another great report reflecting what I observed via iFOLLOW. The result (s) were unfortunately as I predicted with Millwall leapfrogging us.
I can understand you and others suggesting we still have the wherewithal to make the play offs but given our performances to date against the teams above and around us I don’t think we can suddenly find a formulae or the quality to turn over Bristol, Derby and Millwall.
Stranger things have happened but I wouldn’t bet my house on it. There needs to be a big inquest at the end of this season as to how this has all come about but I am not holding my breath that it will happen or that we will get to the bottom of it all.
I notice that Mick Mcarthy is available, any takers!
Agree with you again KP.
Mick at the helm would be interesting.
No no no not McCarthy he’s not got the tactical brain or respect of his players in the modern world
Gibson has waited a long time to get Pulis and after 3 months and not signing any players but using another managers squad we want change ??,
Absolutely not !
We’ve had 4 managers in 12 months and look where we are ?
We need stability and time for Pulis to develop his team his way.
I watch every home game and see what impact Pulis makes on the team I talk to the players and they respect him.
Mick McCarthy? Definitely not !
Does anyone agree with me???
OFB
Does anyone else agree with me?
Lights blue touch paper and stands back (lol). 😂
Count me in, OFB.
I thought I heard a quote from Steve Gibson several seasons ago when Boro were looking for a new manager and Tony Pulis’s name was mentioned “Over my dead body” or something similar.
No
He’s wanted Pulis even before Karanka
OFB
I agree with you in one respect, we should never again hire a manager who comes under the heading,” battered old British manager on his tenth club”
We are in the era of non British managers, it is nearing 100 per cent now in the prem
And it is happening for a reason, so get with the programme.
We had a very good experience with our first foreign appointment, and are duly getting our comeuppance for firing him and hiring a candidate in the first flush of disaster.
Nothing happens by accident, we had it coming and by god has it come.
And we still pay the employees who got rid of him.
All of the above could have been said by the words ” hire a German boss”
You know it makes sense.
🔴 I’m not quite sure where you were going with that second para but it sounded more dodgy than it probably meant to be so I edited it out – Werdermouth
WE did come close to signing a German manager apparently
Just been catching up on everything. Thanks to Werder and RR once again for the excellent writing and reporting.
As RR mentioned in a previous post there is something seriously wrong at the club and I can’t wait until the end of the season when hopefully there will be a fire sale and another rebuild. TP said he needs more time to sort the club out and I believe that SG will support him.
Just wondered how many of you on this blog is in favour of TP still being here next season ?
ME
And me.
And me – needs to show what he can/cannot do with his own team.
As it stands he has a major job on his hands, probably his biggest.
Me too
Sign on the line, me too.
UTB,
John
PS No doubt some players may feel differently.
Me to
Not Mick McCarthy.
Wolves 2 Derby 0.
OFB – from what you hear from the players, they clearly respect TP which is a good start. However, whilst there has been improvements, there would still appear to be something missing.
Surely, if they respect him, then why do they put in performances which to most of us on here are not up to scratch? The Burton game and the first half yesterday are cases in point. Whatever he said to then before the game, they failed to deliver – now why is that?
I would want TP to stay and develop the team next season but it will need a clear out, again, of players who don’t fit the mold.
Pulis is not going to criticise players who he wants to perform for him
Also he wants fees for this who will be leaving
We all know who needs to go
There are two lists of targets
One for the championship and one for the Premiership
We all know where we wil be next season
I’m not so sure that a summer clearout/firesale/total rebuild is needed. It’s all ifs and buts at this stage but I think a solid left back (ideally a back-on-form Friend), a couple of central midfielders (at least one of which must be creative, though I think Downing may be able to plug that hole) and a pacey left winger (ideally Tav or perhaps Chapman) will create a team at least on par with most in the current top six. What we really need is consistency and belief, I’ve seen far less talented squads get promoted – there’s at least one above us now.
Had Traore and Bamford been in from the start of the season and in anything like their form from not too long ago I fancy we’d be fairly comfortably in the top six.
Traore may not be here next year but don’t rule it out. Will anyone pay the kind of fee you’d expect we’d Want, especially considering we won’t need to sell, for a player who is still so raw?
I also can’t see too many others that will be poached by Premier League clubs not can I see other Championship clubs matching the sort of wages we think they’re getting at Boro, so moving players on, even if we wanted to, may not be so easy.
I don’t want us to. Large scale changes rarely have immediate impacts. I would far rather see three or four players at most added and a few peripherals moved on.
After recent games it feels like we’re miles away but I’m convinced we’re not. I don’t think we’ll be promoted but I hope we take a sensible approach in the summer rather than ripping it up and starting again. Again.
Sorry Andy, but if you think George is going to turn back the years and SD can plug that hole, then we will struggle.
I don’t think George will to be honest but that’s the ideal situation. Pulis is giving him the platform to do so at least.
Downing I think can play centrally in a three, though, as the passer.
I don’t think our problem is talent. I don’t see more talent in the teams around us except Wolves (though they’re not really around us!). I don’t believe Cardiff have a better squad for instance, nor Millwall, nor Derby. Possibly not Villa or Fulham either.
We’ve had too much change. We lack a bit of belief and confidence. I think we need a bit of stability, continuity and perhaps togetherness in comparison to our rivals.
A good post. I agree totally. It has always be said that it takes half a season or whole one for a new team to gel. He have had two mad summers when we have bought about 10 players or more.
We do not need a new manager. Ideally there should be just three or maksimum four new players per a transfer window. Or otherwise the short term success will suffer (and we have seen that).
We need to have some continuity, not a total change next. Up the Boro!
Andy R don’t forget to enter Part 3 by 1945 hrs tonight please.
Come on BORO.
Sorry Exmil. Incredibly busy time at work and had very little spare time. Take me out of the scoring buddy and good luck to everyone else.
Sorry OFB, not McCarthy, but I am still not convinced about TP. Does he have my vote…..not at the minute.
We won’t get into the play offs never mind promotion, then come the summer probably massive changes again.
Can that really happen trying to move players on, on longish high wage contracts. Just where are giong to get the money from to finance all the changes that will be needed? To move players on that TP does not want, if he is still Manager will cost the club millions. Then how much to buy new players to be serious challengers.
Then like this season no guarantees of success. Am I confident of all this happening…….well are you???
Yes
Just catching up. I wouldn’t have Mick McCarthy in a lucky bag! TP has my vote for next season, though he has yet to master the art at Boro of sending out a fully motivated, determined side like he used to do at Stoke. On too many occasions recently, Boro have failed to turn up (or at least, not on time!)
Last night’s game was a case in point. As has been well documented, we were woeful in the first half, but played with great spirit and drive in the second. The second half performance was very encouraging. If TP can get us playing like that for the last few games, we have a chance. But, if we show the same level of inconsistency we have been doing, playing just a good half, then we won’t make the playoffs. As it stands, I don’t think we will any more. All those other sides battling for 5th and 6th appear to be up for it all game every game, like Sheffield United were last night.
One thing that nobody has commented on, as far as I can see, is their second goal. I think, and certainly the lads around me thought, that United really conned us. I’m sure that Leon Clarke’s tumble in the box just before the corner was quite deliberate and that this was a cynical, rehearsed move. He spent an age on the ground, but the trainer never came on, so Clarke was allowed to stay on. Immediately on getting up, he challenged Ayala, holding his fists up to him, as if threatening him for something Dani had done. This seriously distracted three defenders. Quick as a flash, United took the short corner, but only one Boro defender was alert enough to cover the two players, which gave them an easy task of by-passing him and centring the ball to Evans, unmarked ten yards from goal. Our central defenders hadn’t evidently recovered from their ‘spat’ with Clarke and were simply not alert to the danger. This looked like a professional ploy by United, I must say, but Boro’s defending was simply naive and very poor. Thereafter, for the rest of the half we were under the cosh, but somehow kept the score at 2-0. Lessons learned, I hope.
Incidentally, the view from our end was that the ref had an absolute stinker all game, and that Legbiter’s second yellow was definitely only an average foul that didn’t merit the card. Even my brother, who has been a referee and is usually very pro referees, thought it very harsh. I must say, though, I haven’t seen it yet on the highlights, so I might have to change my tune.
Good point Clive it did seem orchestrated but when you watch the replays of the goals check Stewy’s positioning on the second and for the first watch Adama running around like a 12 year old instead of a professional footballer causing as much chaos with his own team mates as the opposition.
The problem, was that it came so soon after his first booking
Have just watched the highlights and am not sure about the challenge from Grant. The Sheffield player appears to launch himself over his leg. As an ex referee it appears that modern refs have lost a feel for the game.They don’t give themselves thinking time about the consequence of their actions. They see a foul and and reach for a card and then realise they will then have to give a second card when the offence might not merit one. In saying that I refereed in England when we didn’t have cards and only started to use them when I was overseas. It did make life easier as I didn’t speak Arabic and most of the players didn’t speak English.
From my position in the away end and failing eyesight, that was my first thought too. However as a senior pro, Grant should have maybe been a bit more circumspect so soon after the first yellow.
However, he did have a fairly long conversation with the ref before he walked off, would have been interesting to hear what was said.
I also was a ref in Uk England and Scotland before moving to Holland and then Spain. The card system worked well overseas but Grant should have been more careful
OFB
We talk about changing players, correct of course, but this will not change the mind set endemic in the club.
An important game, concede in the first minute, then very quickly in the second half.
This is not new, it has been an Albatros round our necks for a long time.
The game against Burton was three points and thank you very much and move on.
Why were they in front after a couple of minutes?
Stupidity,? doziness?, no team ever has any trouble with Traore( at least not terminal) they are fully ready to take him out from the first second of the match.
These horror matches come around with grim regularity, Charlton, ( relax, I’m not going to list them, there are too many)
The one outstanding feature of them all is the utter uncomprehending bewilderment of the players and the club when each incident happens.
Matched only by the bewilderment of the no hope club as they continue there slide to oblivion. Burton I believe have gone something like, 0-4 0-7 0-4 ?
Did anyone ask the players, why? How?
I agree with you Plato. Hull put 4 past Burton so why couldn’t we? However, we have swapped conceding late goals to early ones!
Should TP decide to stay and my view is that he will make the decision based on whether he feels he can press on next season, then i strongly suspect we will see some more changes to the squad.
Whilst, like others have said, this is not necessarily a good thing for team cohesion etc. Although if early in the window, then pre season to get them to gell together.
Too early to think about who should stay and who should go although based on recent performances, then, with deep regret I would say Grant, George and Stu. They have all done the club proud and we are grateful for their efforts, however, you cannot live on past glories forever and they are, sad to say, past their best.
Changes are required whatever division we are in although unless we can up the ante significantly, then looking like it will be the Championship again.
UTB
Jarkko –
I don’t think the main problem this season was that all the new signings that needed gelling – the problem is where are they? Very few are in the Starting XI as they’ve failed to live up to their billing – Only Randoph and Shotton from those signed in the summer are now deemed starters, with the latter looking not the best right-back we could have acquired and is mainly in for his long throw – Howson is in and out and hasn’t really made himself expendable and Britt has become our bench option in attack on the grounds all the others have disappeared or are injured.
Perhaps the club should restrict themselves to just four signings in a bid not to waste any more money by signing ten players not fit for purpose!
The County Cricket Championship starts today with Yorkshire entertaining Champions Essex at Headingley (weather permitting). I can’t imagine anyone sitting there for seven hours at this time of year, however I love reading and sometimes reminiscing over past matches. For anyone interested like me, prior to the start of a match (usually on a Thursday) Paul Dyson does a ‘Werdermouth’ on the Yorkshire CCC website recalling three former Yorkshire matches against the current opponents.
Of course some of these matches occurred long before any of us were born, but two of those featured today in 1949 and 1996 happened in my lifetime. Reference today is made of Brian Close’s England debut when only 18 years old against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1949 and I do recall being on holiday at Scarborough with my parents as an eleven year old at the time and listening to part of the first day’s play on the wireless (there’s an old fashioned word you don’t hear much today). When you get to my age nostalgia and memories are often wonderful moments to enjoy, so if anyone is interested, I recommend them to visit this website.
When we talk about the possible turnover of players in the summer and gelling I remember back to last August when we discussed it then.
From what I can recall we were waiting for the squad to gel but the turnover in our squad was similar to many others, ours were high ticket items largely funded by outgoings.
Our gelling process was hampered by Monk playing preseason in one formation then changing it on the eve of the season then tinkering in the following months.
Well KP, that lit the blue touch paper alright didn’t it!
I think we all want stability, so that means seeing what TP can do with his chosen players after the summer.
I notice that TP’s after match comments seem to imply he wasn’t happy with his sides first half. Whilst good to hear it is now a recurring theme. So the question I would like asking is why do they start like they are playing Barca or Real Madrid terrified of conceding, sitting deep, clinging on like their lives depended on it. Same with the second half with Forest, away to Burton?
Why? Do the players train all week and then ignore their Managers instructions and game plan? If we want to at least scratch this league we need to win games which means scoring goals which means attacking ,not defending in desperation. Either TP can’t coach (unlikely) or the Players please themselves (unlikely) or just maybe that is what they have been told?
Four games to perform or get off the fence but the last few performances are unacceptably poor and grossly ineffective in far too many ways. 45 minute cameos will not get us promoted.
If it was clear to me we needed to be alert from the off to a Warnick team, why wasn’t it bleedingly obvious to the professionals?
I’ve never understood the thinking a referee should temper his decisions based on the match situation.
If it’s a red card then it’s a red card. If it’s a yellow card then it’s a yellow card. If it’s a second yellow card offence then so be it. Don’t not send a player off because it would unbalance the game.
Sadly the FA talk about supporting the officials and then introduce VAR which does the opposite.
No thank you to Mick McCarthy next year. A qualified if we must to TP.
Our spine next season would presumably be Randolph, Ayala/Gibson, Bamford. It’s the centre of the park we most sorely lacking.
I suggested at the end of our last promotion season a priority should be replacing Legbiter, as his legs were going.
Finding his replacement seems to have been the biggest of our recruitment depts many failings.
Bob, you stated earlier today that Steve Gibson had said he wanted Pulis as Boro manager even before he appointed Karanka, but your post at 10.28 am on December 24th stated that Gibson had previously “sneered at Pulis”. I presume then that Gibson must have had a change of heart in the dim and distant past.
Don’t believe everything in the press !
EXMIL CHALLENGE Part 3
As expected Wolves beat Derby last night, so starting points are Wolves (92) and Derby (68).
Come on BORO.
Good article on the Grauniad about how Boro are helping refugees find a footing in England via the medium of football (and a Boro kit obviously)…
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/12/middlesbrough-refugees-football-community
David Hodgson passed on a tip for the Grand National. He lives next door to a well known trainer and the tip is “THE DUTCHMAN” currently 25/1
So if you win then hopefully you won’t be sending me to the bar to get the next round in!
OFB
OFB
I thought you were still missing after offering to get the last round in. Some of us are dying of thirst!
No ofb, if I win it will still be really nice of you to get the beers in to celebrate with me. 😉
BTW, were you in Glasgow yesterday for a funeral? Saw a Jag at Maryhill Crematorium with an OFB registration plate and thought of you
Thanks my pockets are empty !
No not me in Glasgow. But a good no plate
Redcar Red
I’ve been really busy this week and haven’t had much time to post but I must say how much i
I appreciated your match Report the other night.
Well done for reporting on what was a dismal first half display and an encouraging second half
OFB
Recruitment again . . .
Harry Wilson, 21yr old left winger, joined relegation threatened Hull on loan from Liverpool in January, currently contributed 5 goals + 2 assists in 7 starts.
Jack Harrison, 21yr old winger, joined playoff chasing Boro on loan in January, currently contributed 0 goals + 0 assists in 0 starts.
That speaks volumes about MFC and its Recruitment Staff.
Just who are theses generally nameless people? After Gary Gill who else is to blame. Mr Bauser, Mr Gibson. Well they won´t sack the two latter. Well they probably won´t sack the former either. And so the poor player selection will just go on.
Exmil
You need a tie breaking question for the challenge.
What will Exmil be doing on the 28th April when Boro play Millwall?
1. Sat by a pool drinking a free G&T because the season was over.
2. Pacing the decks waiting for updates from the Riverside?
3. Pacing the deck waiting for updates from the Riverside, accompanied by Ian Gill.
Come on BORO.
I will buy the gin and tonic.
EXMIL CHALLENGE Part 3
Could I ask that you check after you have entered your predictions, that I have replied with “Recorded” as I have not recorded a couple of entries because of errors, those with errors could you please resubmit before the deadline of Friday 13th at 1945 hrs, thank you.
Come on BORO.
Did you get mine ok?
OFB
Great news for all Boro fans in the Middle Eastbetter get the G and Ts in and as BEIN confirmed today that the Boro match is on on Saturday.
A must win game on live TV – better get the G and Ts in !!!!
Does that mean we won’t be able to buy iFollow coverage of the match then?
Of course some free but lower quality streams might be available but I would have prefered oFollow, though.
Up the Boro!
Jarkko
No not available on iFollow as neither Boro or Bristol are party to IFollow.
Thanks for the info, KP. I was already getting used to seeing most matches live.
Then, next season back in the PL and live matches on TV again (I hope), Believe.
Up the Boro!
Having lit the blue touch paper and stepped back to watch the fireworks regarding my comment re Mick McCarthy, I think it only fair that I come clean and admit the comment was made tongue in cheek. I too am not convinced that another change of manager would be beneficial. I say that having been one of those who were convinced at the early part of the season that the problem was not with the squad but the manager’s selection/tactics.
After the team had reached the 12 games mark, I was then of the view that GM could not get us promoted and was in favour of the appointment of TP. Since Boxing Day, however, I have been underwhelmed by his achievements to date.
The positives are that the team now looks more organised and disciplined and the defence has been tightened and strengthened. This was, however, an easy fix and one which must of us had identified needed addressing from watching what had transpired previously. I still favour George over Fabio at left back and Shotton has been a defensive improvement on Christie at right back. We have benefitted from his long throws and this has no doubt encouraged GF to improve his throws. He is still, however, to my mind a centre back and not a natural R/B and offers less than Emilio Nsue.
The midfield has been and still remains a major bone of contention due to the lack of pace/creativity and limited contribution through goal scoring. The addition of Besic has been beneficial albeit I am still frustrated at seeing him picking up the ball near our own box rather than receiving it on the half way line or in the opposition half where he can do most damage.
AT has re-acted well initially under TP but there still remains strong doubt in my mind that he does not possess nor can he learn how he can contribute effectively to the team’s performance when not on the ball. Teams are already finding ways, both fair and foul, to neutralise him and unless he can learn to overcome the close/double marking then he is likely to have limited impact on matches. I suspect that this chink in his armoury has been identified elsewhere and that has been why he has been allowed to move on. I wonder how much longer TP is prepared to invest time and effort in one player if he does not see the expected progress. The question also needs to be asked what sort of club are we if we are looking to get promoted on the basis of a player who needs constant coaching and instruction from the side lines.
I was expecting more from TP in the form of tactics and formations both before and during matches to counter the opposition but so far it appears that he is more about setting a style/structure of play and expecting the team to adhere to it. This means that at present players are not always played to their strengths and when things have not been working he appears slow to change. PB’s strength is not playing up front on his own and nor is BA a great leader of the line. I expected that TP would have identified players’ strengths and adapted the team/tactics to suit.
He also does not to my mind seemed to have fired up the team so that they come out fighting from the off and we are still starting matches too slowly and not taking the game to the opposition. We have lost the strut and swagger that AK instilled into the team.
I accept that he has only had a few months to assess things and that this is not really his team, so to be fair to him he should be given longer but I am not convinced, given what has occurred to date that even with further changes of personnel during the summer (which presents its own challenges) we will have the capability/tactical organisation and drive to mount another challenge.
I hope I am wrong but fear, on the evidence of recent seasons, we are destined for a sustained period in the Championship.
Great post KP, and I would say that AK with lesser players when he first came, was better all round that TP has been, with generally better players that AK had at first.
Still not convinced as I have said and I am also not convinced that Mr Gibson will get it correct this time either in the summer.
I’m in complete agreement with the views of our correspondents in Spain. Boro might be better organised under TP but the football is anathema to what supporters of Middlesbrough FC have a right to expect. Long throws into the penalty area in the hope of a scoring opportunity is not my idea of football, nor is TP’s barking orders to ‘give the ball to Adama’ – too one dimensional in my opinion as if we have no other alternative. If Gestede had not been injured I doubt that Bamford would have played as much nor consequently scored the goals he has done. I agree that to change the manager again would be counterproductive but fear that spectators might expect to see a continuation of the non-football seen this year and perhaps another long period in the lower leagues.
And yet this footballing anthems is prosicing more goals for us than we have had in a long time.
Producing*
But not against the top ten teams.
We need a fit Besic now. And a more relaxed Traore.
If these two players are back to form, we could have a chance.
The midfield must improve. And now. UTB!
And we could have chance. Jarrko the only chance we have is “no chance”.
BTW, the match is on Viapay Finland??
Thanks, Pedro. I will see if I can see the match.
As said we have plenty to play for. As Ben Gibson said, it still in our own hands. But we have to step up our performance a bit. And Besic and Traore could help. Won’t be easy but we must trust in our team.
Up the Boro!
EXMIL CHALLENGE Part 3
With less than 24 hours to go I have only received 9 out of the 18 entries, below are the names of correct entries recorded:
Ken Smith
MW in Darwin
Ian Gill
exmil 2017
KP in Spain
Martin Bellamy
borobrie
Redcar Red
originalfatbob
Come on BORO.
The problem with comparing different squads under different managers is the numbers of variants involved.
What we tend to do is wrap the issue up in our own views and prejudices.
There are people who don’t like AK because he came from Santander not Saltburn, those who think Monk should have stayed in his cloister, Pulis should go back to Montana where many dinosaur remains are found.
The truth is our views don’t count in our one man, one vote, democracy. At least Gibbo doesn’t use nerve agent to inhabit our senses…….
Mmmm!
This theme regarding “the team is not this managers” doesn’t hold water with me I’m afraid, no team is the incumbent manager’s until they bring in a full fresh squad over time, that’s if they ever do. It wasn’t TP’s team at Stoke when he walked in to town there, neither was it his at West Brom, pick any team, anywhere, and in any given generation and it is always the same scenario. Admittedly, when the new man walks through the door he might be of the opinion that maybe half of what he’s inherited he wouldn’t have bought in a fire sale, but surely he knew that before accepting the job, or am I missing something here? For me it’s what you do with what you’ve got, Brian Clough and John McGovern are a classic case. McGovern was a young average player in a middling Hartlepool team, that Clough turned in to an average player lifting European Cups with Forest, Clough made him, along with a host of others in to world beaters.
Ian, Gibson doesn’t have to apply nerve agent to inhibit (or was that inhabit?) our senses, he has team in red doing that on a weekly basis.
Never more true PP
Even the MFC website make mistakes. It states that on Friday 20th April Millwall visit Craven Cottage when in fact Millwall are the home team.
This is TP’s team. TP is the manager, so it is his team. TP made the decision to move on Braithwaite, Fletcher, Christie, Forshaw and perhaps indirectly Fabio, so it is definitely his team.
Now, TP-ball conspiracy theorists out there can take a look at that list and draw their own conclusions, such as, Fletcher-aside, all of the players on that list might not be tall enough to ride all the rides at a big-kids theme park, but I leave those conclusions to one side.
As PP says above, it is ever thus. Now, TP has made some progress. Gibson and Ayala are a lot more solid again, and Ayala has re-discovered his ability to score goals which could be useful for us. George is back towards his AK promotion performance levels, although perhaps dulled by injuries and time. Shotton is more defensively sound than Christie, although as someone else said earlier I also long for the days of a Nsue patrolling that flank. TP has also added some previously undiscovered dimensions to Adama’s game which could net us a couple of million more when he comes to be moved on.
However. He hasn’t changed the general malaise that has stunk out the club since around December 2016 when our top flight dreams started to unravel. The malaise which means that the players can’t summon up the effort to fight for 90mins at a time, or that means that previously consistent performers (Clayton, Leadbitter, George) swing from Premier League to Sunday League from week to week, and sometimes even from half to half of one game.
There is one thing you need above all else to succeed in the Championship – spirit. Skill is not your biggest asset, otherwise there are plenty of teams who would have walked the league but actually ended up in mid-lower table. No, it’s spirit.
Boro were promoted because everyone had a meltdown at Charlton and decided we weren’t going to let it derail us. Burnley because they were a boring long-ball unfashionable club who weren’t going to let the southern fancy dans tell them they couldn’t sup a pint of Bass at the top table. Huddersfield because Wagner took them to Sweden and made them get naked and wrestle each other (or something similar). Newcastle because, well, they believe that they are too good for the Championship and they were confident that Rafa Knows. Brighton because they weren’t going to be denied again. Wolves because despite having no class whatsoever, I’m sure Nuno makes every one of those expensive players believe they are part of something. Cardiff are up there because of Warnock, Fulham because of the carefully assembled squad and the spirit of the manager who even uses WhatsApp to sign players!
Boro. Well, where is our spirit? Our spirit disappeared the second that the dissent of the Downings and Woodgate’s crept in. And yet, they are still here and so is the general malaise. If we don’t find some spirit from somewhere then we are going nowhere. What we need is an unfair decision, or some other external event to galvanise us and push the team together. Perhaps Grant’s sending off and the furious second half at Bramall Lane will be enough. Perhaps, but we will only see within the first 10mins of the next game.
OK tomorrows game at the Riverside is already starting to feel scarier than a Friday the Thirteenth movie as Boro are sailing close to the wind with their attempts to make the play-offs. With little room to manoeuvre as Tony Pulis attempts to navigate the good ship Boro back into the top six, here is my preview for Saturday’s crucial game…
https://diasboro.club/2018/04/13/championship-boro-vs-bristol-city/