Championship 2018-19: Week 22
Wed 26 Dec – 15:00: Boro v Sheff Wed
Sat 29 Dec – 15:00: Boro v Ipswich
As is traditional at this time of year, people look to their leaders to speak directly to them with words of wisdom that reflect on what has passed and carry them into another year with hope. Thankfully, even the Queen has taken time out of her busy schedule looking after her great-grandchildren to pass on her thoughts on her personal social media Christmas broadcast. Though few Boro followers were anticipating she’d have much to say about the pressing problems occupying their minds – such as whether the experienced Tony Pulis was still the right man to take them forward.
Anyway, after the usual rousing intro of her ‘lead us victorious’ tune the gracious Queen began “Some cultures believe a long life brings wisdom”. It was probably at this point that many of those watching on Teesside stopped wondering what had happened to the last coffee cream and instead stared at the TV in expectation that the monarch was about to speak profoundly to her people. Her Majesty then teased her audience by adding “I’d like to think so” – obviously this slightly sarcastic tone meant she didn’t think a long life necessarily brought wisdom and it seemed to affirm to a few it was a less than subtle dig at Tony Pulis’s long career in football.
Nevertheless she continued: “Perhaps part of that wisdom is to recognise some of life’s baffling paradoxes…” – exactly but where do we start with that one! Surely the 92-year old sage wasn’t about to reveal to the nation some of Boro’s baffling team selections and the paradox of why some players have been dropped for scoring goals. OK, maybe royal intervention on the matter was perhaps long overdue but what followed next was perhaps a little more cryptic than some had hoped to hear as she surprised us with “…such as the way human beings have a huge propensity for good, and yet a capacity for evil.”
Well, say what you like about the Boro manager but is it too early to label him as an evil genius in pursuit of perceived footballing perfection? The signs were perhaps there but surely he’s still a force for good? A little misguided maybe and I’m not at all sure if the Queen has called this one correctly. Though in some ways, I can see why some would regard anti-football as heading towards the path of evil – it certainly ticks the soul destroying box and tends to take advantage of the faithful.
Anyway, what more could our head of state tell us: “Even the power of faith, which frequently inspires great generosity and self-sacrifice, can fall victim to tribalism.” Many at the Riverside are definitely with her on the self-sacrifice bit – they’ll definitely never get that time back for watching some of those recent performances. It appears when it comes to football, she certainly knows her stuff but could this be a cause of division among those who just want to be inspired by their team. If so, then what is the way forward?
What else could the woman on the stamps offer as a solution as we continue to listen to her carefully chosen words: “Even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding.” Well, I wasn’t expecting to hear Diasboro house rules in the Queen’s speech but at least she’s added to the debate on Tony Pulis. Still, let’s hope his propensity for good prevails over his capacity for evil – at least until the transfer window opens.
The Boro manager has actually delivered a Christmas message himself to Teesside after taking time out from training over the festive period. He said: “First and foremost I wish everyone health and happiness and say spend as much time as you can with your families. This is a Christian country so we are not just celebrating food, eating, presents; it’s Christ and everything we believe in and that’s important as well. Football-wise we are desperate to win a few games so everyone can go home happy. Merry Christmas.”
Though I’m not completely sure on some of the punctuation on that statement as he could have also meant ‘celebrating food eating’ or even ‘eating presents’ – though I would advise against eating any present before first unwrapping them. We should also encourage parents to carefully read any packaging before giving it to children – especially after hearing that a girl in Shropshire only discovered on day 12 that her ‘weird-tasting’ green chocolates in her Garfield advent calendar was in fact meant for cats and were flavoured with yoghurt and catnip. Though it does raise the question of who knew cats could read numbers and indeed actively celebrated Christmas.
It was interesting that Pulis had been openly religious with his message and even mentioned Christ – coincidentally, even the atheists among the faithful on Teesside have increasing found themselves mentioning Jesus Christ while watching Boro games over recent week – sometimes even out loud, indeed very loud! It’s not necessarily a sign of conversion as unlike the Boro manager many are struggling to see the light – let alone the Holy Trinity of three points. Although Tony Pulis could yet be inspired by the Pope’s Christmas message – especially the line “Without the fraternity that Jesus Christ has bestowed on us even our best plans and projects risk being soulless and empty.” However, I believe when all the Geordies went to Rome to hear the Pope he apparently asked who was that team they call the Boro – unless it was fake news.
A bumper crowd of over 30,000 is expected on Boxing Day at the Riverside as Boro host Sheffield Wednesday. The game marks the one year anniversary of Tony Pulis, which coincidentally was due to Garry Monk being sacked following victory over the Owls just before Christmas last year. Steve Gibson appears to have decided against making it a festive tradition to part with his manager but not so his Wednesday counterpart, Dejphon Chansiri, who once again kindly allowed his manager to spend Christmas with his family after the sad-looking Dutchman, Jos Luhukay, was dismissed last week. Steve Bruce is now favourite to be sacked by the Thai owner shortly before Christmas next year if the bookies are to be believed.
The Owls are the first team that Boro will play a return fixture against but it’s only ten games since that 2-1 victory at Hillsborough. Besic and Britt scored either side of the interval to take a comfortable lead before a late Adam Reach strike saw Tony Pulis’s side hanging on for the three points. Jos Luhukay only managed one victory since that game, losing six and drawing two before getting the hook – Wednesday actually won their last game 1-0 against Preston under caretaker Lee Bullen. Given the Riverside will be packed with supporters looking to continue their festive mood, it will be important that Boro put on a decent show. The question is whether Pulis will pick a team that will be a crowd pleaser – we only know that Downing was excused the trip to Reading in order to be fresh for the two home games. I suspect many of those turning up will also want to see Wing and Tavernier get a start but the Boro manager may decide too much cheer may be too much to digest.
On paper Wednesday on Wednesday should be three points for the taking but Boro are probably fancied by most to make hard work of matters – even on public holidays. However, Saturday sees another struggling team arrive at the Riverside for the last game of 2018 as bottom club Ipswich trundle into town. The Tractor Boys are ploughing a lonely furrow indeed and have harvested just one win in their last ten games. Things are looking bleak for recently appointed Paul Lambert’s side and their interest in acquiring Rudy Gestede to fire them to safety may not be the most cunning of plans. In the reverse fixture back at the beginning of October, Mo Besic also opened the scoring, which was followed by a rare goal from Stewart Downing to take all three points. It may be that Pulis hopes the Bosnian will be inspired this week to rediscover his form but has unfortunately flattered to deceive this season in his second spell.
Boro have a great chance to unwrap six points and put themselves back in contention for an automatic spot before the January transfer window opens. The problem for Tony Pulis as he celebrates his one year in charge at Boro is that failure to win or even perform against two struggling teams will have many supporters starting to make their mind up on his tenure. The Boro boss needs to convince on the pitch as at the end of the day (as they say in football parlance) tough talk off the pitch is just empty words if they not backed up by actions.
OK, we’re just about to set off on the two-hour journey to Hannover for the next round of festive visiting so hopefully by the time I’m back this evening Boro will have given us something to cheer.
I’m not overly confident of a comfortable victory or even an uncomfortable one and I just hope the players put a performance for the expected bumper crowd.
I’ll go 2-0 as I’m feeling generous with goals from Besic and Wing – though maybe they’ll both start on the bench.
Thank you, Werder for giving us some nice reading during the Christmas period. With a youngish family, I am sure it was not easy to find time for this hobby in your house hold.
We did not spend much on presents in our family this time, so I hope to see a nice performance and three points this afternoon as a late present. I spent a lot of time with my wife and two children, and now I wil have all the time for Boro today. A good stream and three points against Wednesday, who used to be second favourite team when Big Jack went there.
A rare 3-1 win for me. An Assombalonga brace and one from Flint. When was the last time we scored from a corner?
Happy Xmas and Up the Boro!
Heart says a ground out victory.
Head says a goalless draw.
Typical Boro says: Reach will score the winning goal against a Boro not featuring Wing or Tav.
This will give the crowd a belated gift of several sticks with which to beat TP, even though he arrived long after Reach left.
Well Chris your Typical Boro forecast is spot on so far…!!
Sadly. Didn’t take a genius to call it, though. I’m sure many others imagined the same scenario.
Chris the psychic
Tony Pulis says that it has always been traditional for teams in this country to have played games over the Christmas period and he is in favour of that. He is quite right and Boro have been fairly lucky in that regard with home matches in 6 of the last 7 Boxing Days, but what about those teams who have had an imbalance of away matches on Boxing Day, is that fair? Up until 1958/59 clubs played the same opponents home and away on Christmas Day and Boxing Day with as little travelling as possible to enable all clubs to have a home game. In fact overall Boro have had 27 home matches and 30 away matches since then on Boxing Day.
New Year’s Day was never a public holiday in England in those days, only in the Northeast, not even in Lancashire or the rest of Yorkshire, but Boro generally found a way of bringing a game forward so that they had a home game on New Year’s Day. During the same period all teams played 3 matches over the Easter period too usually against the same opponents on Good Friday and Easter Monday with a Saturday fixture in between, excepting the rest of Yorkshire where Good Friday was a working day but the Tuesday after Easter Monday was a public holiday and still is. The same format applied to Rugby League as well with 3 matches over the Christmas and Easter periods.
Nowadays of course clubs who have away matches on Boxing Day are at home on New Year’s Day but against different opponents to allow any bad feelings in the Boxing Day fixture not to fester over into New Year’s Day, although the National League (formerly the Conference) still play the same opponents on those two days. Scotland of course is slightly different. Boxing Day was not regarded as a public holiday in those days, and for several seasons in the interest of safety the Auld Firm Derby has now been removed from New Year’s Day.
In no way am I advocating the return of Christmas Day matches, although I did enjoy them in my youth. The last time I can recall a top tier club having to play matches in successive days was in the 1988/89 season when Boro having played a goalless draw at Norwich on 31st December had a decided advantage over Manchester United who had just beaten Liverpool 3-1 in a televised match on New Year’s Day and chose to play Boro the following day which was a public holiday. Boro won 1-0 with a rare Peter Davenport goal against his former club. I remember it well as my teenage cousin, a diehard United fan, was staying with me but wasn’t able to leave the ground until all the Boro fans had dispersed, and when we met later I’d received a parking ticket in an area where I’d usually parked because it was about an hour after the final whistle.
Of course Boro won only two more matches that season, and from a reasonable half way position slumped to relegation against today’s opponents on the last day of the season never having been in the bottom three until that fateful day. I expect Boro to exact revenge this afternoon.
A Christmas Cracker of an opener, Werder. Loved it.
Completely agree with Chris’ assessment of today’s game but will go with the ground-out win.
Boro 1-0 Sheff Wed
Late Night Openers 3
Half Day Wednesday. 0
Thanks Werder, another interesting article that made me laugh out loud. Thank you.
Predictions with the Boro are never easy, couple that with a large home crowd bursting with Christmas goodies and what could possibly go wrong?
Boro 1 – 0 Owls
and Boro to practice the fine art of defending deep for the last half hour to give the supporters a constipation cure.
UTB,
John
A brilliant piece of improvisation and creativity, Werder. One of your best.
Little did i think, in setting my Christmas Pulis-poser, that Her Madge would be inspired to weigh in with her own words of wisdom on our manager. Tony has certainly been true to his own Christmas message in encouraging as many people as possible to spend more time with their families rather than going out into the December cold to watch the grass grow at the Riverside.
The current run of games are on paper the easiest sequence we will have all season. As such they represent a distinct danger to Pulis. Failing to win at least one of the next two home matches against clubs in crisis could be a tipping point. Yet Pulis’s teams are invariably seen to least advantage against inferior teams. He is the classic underdog manager, setting up his teams to be difficult to play against and beat. So it’s no surprise that one of our best performances of the season came in our most difficult fixture so far, away at Leeds. Likewise on paper our easiest fixture so far, at home to Burton, provoked our most recent and serious crisis.
We appear to have neither the skill nor the ambition to play inferior teams off the park, but over the next four days the expectation will be that we should do so.
If we don’t, the manager’s post-match strategy of blaming the players will look terminally threadbare.
Three at the back and McNair at RWB and Downing restored. My concern is with Besic is starting, personally I would have dropped him. Just hope we dont need Wing and Tav to rescue us in the second half after a Besic gift or a sending off.
One up front at home against a team 17th in the table. No Wing or Tav in the first 11.
Clayton and Howson. Two holding midfield players? Against a team 17th in the table?
Once again dissapointed with TP team selection, certainly Wing and Tavernier should have been in from the start. Hell to pay if Boro lose !
I can’t believe TP’s thinking in playing one lone striker at home.
20 minutes.. Errrr…..
Early days but if TP loses this one….off he goes…
This is starting to become a bad habit.
That was awful. We need midfield players who will look forward with their passes and we need at least two players in the box at all times with support coming from the rest.
Chris, the team set up regardless of where the opponents sit in the table just defies logic. It’s our turf and we’re a top four team, so regardless of who you are or where you sit on the table, we’re looking at you for three points.
This has to be his last 90 minutes in charge regardless of the final outcome today, by his team selections alone he puts everyone (both inside and outside the ground) offside before a ball is kicked, I won’t even go there with his finger pointing at who was the culprit for our demise in each game. I was going to suggest that he looks in the mirror before he points fingers at anyone, but why would a vampire need a mirror?
I agree with every word of your first paragraph.
It is obvious that Pulis is going to play the usual suspects regardless and set up to defend with one lone striker. Against a team 17th in the table his team selection and tactics are nothing short of criminal. He absolutely has to go. And now.
So what happens now SG. This situation is now totally unacceptable. Something is seriously wrong somewhere within this club.
He has lost the players and the plot.
30000 people have witnessed this scab of a game.
The first half was as poor as I have seen and so annoying. We have the players.
Pulis is the handbrake of football and needs to be axed tonight
Birmingham City a club in disarray currently functioning with a transfer embargo in force sit 2 points behind us !
Can we have their manager, please. Or wait a minute. We sacked him only 12 months ago.i
I onestly do not know what we should do. I hope Pulis does. UTB!
Or dear. We never got going and our first strike was on the 83rd minute. Or dear.
We were awful, plain as that. As Bernie said the Karanka habits are creaping in. Wind-screen wiping passes all day.
Where was the midfield? Absolutely passive playing. Pulis have a lot of thinking to do. We have good or excellent players on paper but the parts are not working together. He has to think something now.
Up the Boro!
The players are not buying in to his methods as witnessed by their arguing, pointing, arms in the air and running from the pitch at half time.
Come on Steve, put an end to this before it’s too late
Well there was the first fluff. That was pathetic
So we have only won 5 games at home, the same as we have won away! 15th in the home table league. Compared to Leeds with 8wins.
It really isn’t good enough.
Until the midfield of Howson, Besic and Downing are replaced we are going nowhere
Did anyone seriously think that once Boro went a goal down that they’d fight back for a draw never mind a win? It’s not in the DNA of this team at the moment. I’m also not surprised that once Norwich scored against Forest that the’d fight back for a draw, but even I was surprised that Leeds could win from 1-2 down against Blackburn, but fair play to both of the top two, that’s what they do, whereas Boro rarely do this season at least. I was disappointed at 4.50 pm but had actually got over that by 5.00 pm because that’s what following the Boro all these years does to me. Automatic promotion now looks a pipedream, and so does a top six finish if Tony Pulis continues to play too cautiously at home.
Ken, I would argue that automatic promotion or a top six finish are out of the question “if Tony Pulis continues” full stop, never mind the “play too cautiously at home”. SG must get him out of our club now.
Ken, I must say that we started fighting against Blackburn even with ten men. So it happens sometimes.
I have been deebly disappointed with the last few displays. But saying that we cannot improve or that we have no chance is not correct. We have nearly half of the season to play. And the last think we need is a change of a manager now.
We need stability. We sacked Southgate too early, we sacked Mogga too early. And we sacked Karanka too early. Perhaps we should have kept Monk a bit longer, too with Birmingham just two points off us.
We are s**t to match, we don’t pick up points enough, but we chance managers too often. Perhaps we should stabilise things a bit and think long term. Up the Boro!
TP was to look at all aspects of the club.
Maybe he has been concentrating on the quality of the toilet paper, the offerings in the canteen or the type of washing powder in the laundry.
He obviously hasn’t been able to get the players to play expansive football.
The exciting games at Carrow and Elland Roads are worlds away from where we are.
He is ruining our club much as Strachan did but with the arrogance that he can sort all aspects of the club like some clever fixer.
He cannot even get the team on the front foot for God’s sake.
Well, my father’s old adage of “Boro, they look good on paper but they are s–t on grass'” would seem to apply at this precise moment.
That was absolute cack.
UTB,
John
Just watched TP’ s presser that seemed to end rather abruptly ????
Why are we surprised?
When you hire a donkey, you deserve what you get, and boy are we getting it.
For once, it is his fault, no one else’s.
Even the manager of a works team would have smiled at first seeing Wing, and Tavernier for that matter.
But our hero decide that they had entertained him enough, and from thenceforward they have been on the pitch only on odd occasions, (that would be when we were losing, with ten minutes to go).
It is fair to assume that he is a fool, or wishes to be back at sandbanks. Either way it matters not. Get him gone, he has never made any sense with his statements, they are neither logical nor reasonable.
It is unthinkable that we should have him buying players, or selling them, for that matter.
Hugill is so far ahead of Assambalonga that he is out of sight, fact.
We won on Saturday, downing did not play, there is a clue there.
We have not looked fluent or threatening without Wing or Tavernier. Fact.
Today our idea of attacking was to punt high balls into their box.
To fail to make your substitutions until twenty minutes from fulltime, then another ten minutes later, is not foolish, it is brainless, and it is endemic in this club under this man.
It is now on the chairman, he hired him, he is to blame, his duty is to free him to enjoy his retirement, it will be at our expense, but we are used to it by now.
Oh! One more thing, a European please, no more old English donkeys, they really are not funny any more.
Plato, excellent summary of the disastrous impact of the Pulis regime at the club. You are right that his selections, tactics and substitutions are brainless and the sooner he is gone the sooner the club can rebuild under someone who can take it forward rather than backwards. Whether SG is capable of appointing the right manager to take us forward is the big question. His track record is poor.
Today was horrendous there were 9 defensive players on the pitch to start and what looked like a total lack of ambition. The Owls were very poor to begin with but once they scored it was game over. Even when we “went for it” in the 2nd half the plan seemed to be lump the ball up to flint and hope we get a knock down pathetic. Their goalkeeper didn’t have to make a save. there is no comparison between us and Leeds, Norwich & WBA we are very third best. I don’t expect us to win every match or play dazzling football, but I would like to see a few attempts at goal and appear to want to score because I thought that was the aim of the game.
I expect the majority of fans want Pulis out but who is available to replace him ?
Can’t think of an obvious candidate. I would have Mowbray but he signed a 3 year deal only recently. I wonder what Pearson is doing. He seems a no nonsense manager who can motivate players – a bit like Warnock.
A good or even a decent manager is capable of creating a team that collectively plays better than the individual parts. This manager achieves the opposite. The players at his disposal should be capable of playing better – even allowing for the lack of pace on the wings and a lack of a creative player.
A lot is being made of the January transfer window but , I suspect , in reality players will only come at the end of January when they have considered all their options by which time I fully expect the team to be out of the top 6 and miles off the top two.
For Gibson it seems like – heads you win and tails I lose
Philip
Worse than anger is apathy, as Ian intimated before I am also getting to the point where I don’t care and feel a large percentage of the supporter base is in the same head space.
A lot of anger around me this afternoon and we all blame Pulis
OFB
And some of us are closer to the ground than you Geoff! Once the fans go, difficult to get back with insipid footballl even if we start not losing! I say that as I don’t think TP has the word win in his vocabulary!
Well it is a bit quiet on here. I thought there would lots of more comments on another poor performance. Have we all had enough and can’t be bothered.
We are suffering from Pullis fatigue, he is like one of those WW1 who refused to change tactics
The blog went dead on me which was why I was quiet I couldn’t read the posts
OFB
Correct! And it is Christmas, too busy drowning our sorrows!
Got some reason I was like the Boro this afternoon I lost the blog !
Hopefully will pick it up now
OFB
Pulis and Curtis serious disagreement on the touchline today and Woody didn’t get up off his seat
All is not good at the moment
He’s lost the players
OFB
OFB
Was Steve Gibson there yesterday?
If so what appeared to be his reaction to the booing?
MW
Didn’t see him on the box but of course he could have been watching the game on his office
The reaction to the booing was one of resignation by the players and staff as it broke out just after Sheff We’d scored amd was constant throughout the game from all sides of the ground
Pulis was a lone figure mostly at the coaching area and seems to have fallen out with Fleming
Pulis was not as animated as he usually is and doesn’t seem to be able to rally the troops
His selections over the past few games have been poor and starting Fry at left back was a tactical error which was exploited by Reach
OFB
TP’s charge sheet speaks for itself, no need to add anything.
My son ‘treated’ me as a Christmas present so we drove up and I took him to Redcar for fish and chips. He has apologised but the weather was nice, saw the sea, had fish and chips and a pint in the Navi.
Back to TP’s charge sheet.
It looked 3 at the back with wing backs, George and McNair did push on up the flanks but poor Britt was isolated. As my son said, he ran all match.
There was no one within 40 yards of Britt, Clayton looked after the shop but Howson, Besic and Downing didn’t get up to join Britt. It was 361.
We started quite brightly without really threatening but after their goal we got nowhere near their keeper.
I didn’t get to today’s game, owing to family commitments. Sounds like I missed nowt. Sounds like yet another performance devoid of creativity and goal-scoring opportunities. Given the defensive nature of the starting line up, is that any surprise? And when will Pulis learn that his best two attacking players currently are Wing and Tavernier, and why doesn’t he ever start them together?
I’m on record on here a few weeks ago as saying Pulis was doing a good job. But that was before the current dreadful slump. Right now, I can’t see where the next goal is coming from, and the football we are playing is diabolical. Our, one saving grace, the defence, now leaks like a sieve. It’s weeks since we’ve seen anything like excitement.
So, no, he’s not doing a good job. Far from it. He’s doing a terrible job. I suspect now that most fans have turned against him. So it’s only a matter of time before SG feels he has to take action. Once you’ve lost the crowd, the writing is on the wall. See Karanka. However, a vital question remains: if I am Steve Gibson, why should I give Pulis more money in January? How can I be sure he won’t waste it, like he already has on Savile, Besic, Flint, McNair and Hugill? And how can I guarantee that the players he brings in will transform the team into a vibrant attacking force that scores goals and wins matches? Looks like a very long shot. As does promotion.
If I was Steve Gibson, I’d be having very serious doubts right now.
Missed the game which sounds like a blessing!
Once apathy sets in, it is very difficult to get the crowds back and without the crowd the atmosphere is poor which doesn’t help the players. And the downward spiral continues.
Why can’t TP see what we can and work out that goals are required and we can’t score. Maybe that is the plan, not to score, don’t want the crowds to get excited.
I don’t mind losing too much if we play well and are creative. Not looking like scoring from the outset is pretty poor and doesn’t exactly entice me to travel for a round trip of 6 hours on a cold Tuesday night!
If I were SG, then I would not allow TP any funds for new players on the basis that he can’t improve the ones he has. If that means he decides to go back south, then so be it. No compensation payable for a resignation rather than a sacking!
Its got nothing to do with formations or tactics ,
The fact is if you employ players who are just not capable of playing up to the standard required,you are just wasting time on them.
I ranted after the Burton game about this lot, they don’t have the skill set but worse they don’t have the bottle ,but some idiot chairman will give them another contract!
Well I don’t know how Redcar Red will be able to produce a match report from the utter shambles at the Riverside it was awful
Many thanks for the amusing preview Werder the only amusing thing about the Boro to brighten my day !
OFB
It is a confidence thing I think. If you listen to TP, he said Howson and Downing dropped too deep, against the instructions. The team have lost its confidence and if the opposition scores, we are rabits in the head lights, like.
Now we need an experienced manager that has been through this before. We need a manager like … Pulis. I know, I am not happy with the football on offer now. But as it is more to do with the mental side than physical side, we need Leads and Pulis to get us through this.
We need bottle. And I do not mean drinking for sorrow but mental strenght. And an experienced manager.
Up the Boro!
It would appear that Pulis has lost the players and don’t want to play for him anymore
OFB
Did not see the match due to an early start this morning but was up during the night for a comfort break and checked the result which did nothing for getting back to sleep!
I was hoping that when I read the match report it would be a case of us playing well and being robbed by a bad decision by the ref/linesman but no it was same old same old.
I was one who supported TP’s appointment and I have now lost faith in him and his methodology which is clearly outdated and not working. If, as reported on here, he has lost the dressing room then clearly there is no way back.
I do not believe that he can sort the problems by just adding a few players during the window. He has repeatedly said he will only recruit those who will make the squad better but Mc Nair, Flint, Besic, Saville and Hugill have not done so so how can anyone including SG now place any reliance on his judgement.
The way forward is to wait for TP to either fall on his sword or wait for his contract to expire and not to provide any funds during the January window.
Once he has gone his replacement can then do a re-build, hopefully with a bit of money to spend.
In the meantime “typical Boro” as so often, will again be our cross to bear!
I’ve had a little lie in this morning so here is Redcar Red’s match report as I was also in bed early yesterday – which as it happens it was just two minutes before he sent over his match report. Anyway, it seems it was a good game… to miss.
https://diasboro.club/2018/12/27/boro-0-1-sheff-wed/
A touch of “Boro weltschmerz” I suspect!
Yes reality of the Boro world and what goes on in my mind when thinking what to write about it can be very tiring 🙂
FInally plucked up the courage to open the blog and found a small amount of energy to offer my two penneth work.
Not worth it,…. I am sorry for the 30k who braved the weather and left their nice warm homes to see the match. It was bad enough here although the net was poor so we didnt see much of it – thank goodness.
On to saturday now and I would think more of the same.
RR,
Thanks for that report, I was going to wait to read it until after walking the two Jack Russells but you changed tactics and I had no reply. Good job someone can change tactics. Accurate, depressing and very, very worrying.
On Sky yesterday Jeff Stelling said Boro are recalling Harry Chapman from Gateshead in January. If we are will Mr Pulis:
Pick him? Play him? Use hime as a game changing sub with five minutes left? Or simply piss him off so much that he’ll ask for a transfer?
The man is like Hitler in his bunker and he can’t really blame recruitment or the players anymore. For me a few of the senior players need to get naughty-stepped deliberately so he has to play the youngsters. If he’s still here in the New Year the focus has to be on avoiding relegation, or are we safe, and padlocking his office and locker. He’s become a football fossil.
It’s a good job Boro did all that pre-season training to get them to their physical and terrifying peak so that opponents will fear these superset heroes. Now another trip to a Germany needed, this time to get Baron Frankenstein to fit a footballing brai in somewhere in the club.
Time for a walk.
UTB,
John
Tony Pulis is not in favour of a winter break. It’s a pity he hasn’t told his players that.
Thanks for the report RR. I am sorry that you and 30+ thousand others had to endure it.
My trip to oz and the time difference has saved me from watching live and I may only watch the highlights when they are available.
Depressing to say the least that after two years and two managers we are going backwards!
Angry, frustrated and depressed down under! 😡
KP
If you are still in Oz on Tuesday the Derby game is live on BeIn kick off 2 a.m Eastern time.
KP
Wonder who the manager will be?
KP
If you are struggling to sleep it will be a great cure come Tuesday night in Oz.
KP
Forget the highlights package.
Redcar Red
Thanks for the report, it bears an uncanny resemblance to the actual match.
I have no problem with 352 but bar the fact the wing backs did get forward there was no two up top and the resulting four in midfield just sat deep with an occasional amble forward, those ambles tended to start from half way.
Brilliant report RR. Thank you. Sums up everything that is wrong with club at the moment.
Seems T P has lost the players , the crowd etc and that can only mean one thing, as Jim Reeves once sang ” He’ll have to go “.
It’s difficult you know. Having to say say thank you to some one who will make you live through that as you read their words. All the same, thank you RR. I can’t imagine how it is going to witness that first hand and having to reproduce it in writing as faithfully as you always do.
I hope TP will send you a hand written personal apology for forcing that I’m you week after week after week.
When I saw the team list I was resigned to the worst. My dad used to tell us when we were young, the higher up the ladder you aim for, the higher you will eventually end up.
Translating that life message to football, aiming to avoid losing a match means you are likely to lose more than if you set out to win every match.
I’m glad I live away just now, it relieves me if the choice of having to go to the match or not.
I have no wanted us to drop a manager before. I have always believed that something will click and we would always come through…. I’m off the fence now. I would support changing manager now, before squandering millions more on TPs picks.
Someone said give it to Woody. I would, until the end of the season. You know his heart is in the club and he certainly can do no worse than TP is.
KP, you need to get BeIn sport on Foxtel mate, they show the highlights, or lowlights as the case may be, on there. I’ve got them taped if you want to nip round, it’s only a five and a half hour flight over from Brissie to Perth. I’ll pop some extra beers in the fridge just in case.
PPP
I would love to mate but as usual Mrs P has other things planned and you know what it is like when she who must be obeyed speaks! Instead have a drink on me from the extra beers you bought 🤣😎
Done mate, I’m on the local Little Creatures IPA, yum. Enjoy the rest of your stay down under pal, you never know you might get to like what we have so much you just may want to return, only on a more permanent basis.
Powmill, Woody, NNNNNOOOOOOO! Clear the decks, get them all out, Fleming as well seeing as they’ve all been under the tutelage of Pulis and it’s easy to pick up bad habits. A new broom pal, and let’s not stop at the coaching/management team either, theirs loads of rubbish to be cleared out.
Thanks to RR for the report although how you managed to put it together I really don’t know. I would have thought that the easiest thing to do would have been to summarise it with just one word!
I also enjoyed Weder starter for 10, the blog should be shown to TP and the players as to the levels of dedication and ability that they should be showing rather than the somewhat poor fayre that is being served up, previously known as football.
It is a bit like Monty Pythons Dead Parrot sketch, especially the bit that “ this team wouldn’t go vroom if you put 50,000 volts through it!” Feel free to use whichever excuse works best!
I am now of the opinion that TP should be an ex manager before things get even worse and I guess the only saving grace is that somehow we are still in a play off place. Not for much longer if our current form continues. 7 points from a possible 24 of the last 8 home games is absolutely dire and should tell SG all he needs to know to to make a decision.
I am sure that if a senior manager in Bulkhaul was performing as badly, they would be on a PIP at the very least! I would be saying that TP has got us to this position, you get us out of it without having any more money to spend( waste on donkeys). If you don’t like it, then you know where the A19 is! At least his contract ends at the end of the season.
And, if, from the sounds of it, he has lost the players and the coaching staff, then there is not much hope.
I really wish that I could be more positive in the season of goodwill to all men but as long suffering fans we do deserve a present that can be exchanged for something that we actually want rather than some tat!
UTB
BBD
I am very fearful of your suggestion that he get us out of the mess, no, he must leave the premises.
Enough is enough, he has no idea, is operating in a league system that no longer exists, he may once have chiselled a living out of rubbish football using recycled players with plenty of miles on the clock ( help, we are back to the used car analogy ) but today, all the leading teams dream of being allowed to stand on the half way line and practice attacking, shooting, and generally conserving their energy before they really take you apart in the second half. Ring any bells?
The truly awesome fact is that he has never explained to us thicko’s exactly why it is essential that we avoid at all costs playing our young, fast, goal making, goal scoring, young players, even avoid having them on the bench. That last is into serious deep deep tactics, in fact I recon no German coach will know about it, which would be the reason why they spend all their time at the top of any league they work in, which means their fans are being deprived of all the emotions which us lucky people are enjoying at the moment.
I personally wish him well in his retirement, it will give him the luxury of time to fully explore his take on tactics in the modern game.
It will not be published for reading by the general fan, far too complicated, but it will be eagerly read by philosophers, and maybe German coaches, so a restricted but distinguished readership.
Just about to tackle the ironing, hate ironing especially the bedding but always listen to The Archers whilst doing it. But you know what, even ironing sounds more attractive than watching the Boro at the moment.
I think it will take a red hot iron to get the creases out of this Boro side – though I’ll not say where it should be applied…
Having missed seeing the game (thankfully), I’ve just read RR’s match report and must first thank him for taking one for the Diasboro team again – he must be dangerously close to a ban after another poor display at the Riverside. I just don’t understand the logic of Tony Pulis in setting up the team in such a negative way given he knows 30,000 supporters are turning up – they would get behind an adventurous line-up and cheer their team to victory but instead they get frustrated by a ponderous midfield and a lone striker.
It sounded like Boro improved with the late arrival of Wing, Tavernier and a second striker but it seems Tony Pulis will not be swayed that playing games on the front foot at the Riverside, in front of a nearly full house, would be a better option against a struggling team who only mustered four shots and one corner all game. I don’t know why Pulis can’t see that Assombalonga is not best deployed as a lone striker – what is he hoping will change from all the other times this tactic has failed?
As things stand, Mrs Werder and I have no plans to visit anyone on Saturday so it looks like I’ll be watching the Ipswich game – maybe I need to make a few phone calls! I only hope it is not more of the same if the manager is expecting people to continue to turn up.
As we’ve been essentially visiting or being visited since Sunday it makes keeping up with the blog a little tricky – so thanks again to everyone for their Christmas wishes – with a special thanks to Ken for his kind post on the previous blog – all much appreciated.
Also thanks for the generous comments on the article, though I had to wait until Mrs Werder had gone to bed on Christmas Day before getting the laptop out and thinking of an article to write. Though on hearing Tony Pulis had given his Christmas message, I wonder what other leaders had to say about Boro – I hadn’t expected ‘Her Madge’ (as Len would say) would have been so scathing of Tony Pulis too – though I expect her husband might have some choice words!
Finally, well done to Chris for his unerring pre-match prediction: “Typical Boro says: Reach will score the winning goal against a Boro not featuring Wing or Tav.” I look forward to his Ipswich one with all the dread of a man who knows what is coming next.
thanks, RR or should that be sorry for your report! I have had to miss the last 3 home games so some might say lucky me, the reports make a sorry state of affairs and the sooner TP does the honourable thing and falls on his sword the better. Anyway RR thanks again for your report which was a true report and sorry you had to endure it.
Bri
UTB
Just been reading Tony Pulis’s post-match comments and he has seemingly laid the blame with his players for failing to take their chances. He has been counting crosses again and claimed his team had made 30 into the box but his forwards have failed to get on the end of them. He also criticised Downing and Howson for playing too deep saying:
“The bigger frustration is seeing at times, first half, we conceded the goal and we saw Jonny (Howson) and Stewart (Downing) drop back. We will never score a goal if they drop that deep. You want them to be further forward to create stuff and not back. Those two are really good players, lots of ability, it affects people in different ways.”
Interestingly his comments on the booing appear to think it was only directed at the players and said:
“It’s a big club with big expectations, people want results, we all do. If the players are not delivering that then the people in the stands have the right to criticise. As a player, person you have to prove you are good enough to play for this club and accept criticism at times.”
I suspect he’s of the mind that it’s not his tactics that have failed to secure victories against less well resourced sides but the lack of quality of his expensive players. Although he seems to have claimed both that his team created 30 opportunities with crosses but at the same time said Downing and Howson were playing too deep for his team to create chances.
Yes, excellent plan to criticise the players, an approach that is guaranteed to make the situation worse. Why should anyone want to play for someone who told them at the start of the season that they weren’t good enough and then has blamed then for his failings on numerous occasions since.
TP hasn’t a clue and it is now only a matter of time before he goes. The more he blames others, the worse things will get and the sooner he will be given his P45.
Werder
Just read your quote from Pulis re.. the abilities of Downing and Howson at the attacking game.
A smile springs unbidden to the face, he is a fantasist.
Having used that word I had better explain why. First, if we are prepared to attack then we would not be using Downing or Howson, we would be playing Hugill in the holding roll (he is strong and effective and will score) we would be playing Wing in the supply role (he would of course be further up the field, after all he did score thirty seven goals in one season) we would play Tavenier ( fast, tricky, can lay on a pass and enter the box and score). When he is dispatched to the great league in the sky that all failed managers end up in. We will be able to manage our resources better than we are at the moment.
We would not mind having a look at our free scoring young striker, tick, or our very young centre back who has appeared in our cup run (sorry about that another Pulis blunder), my god, the pain, the distress, he has quite a charge sheet.
I personally think he has gone, but the executioners will be in the west indies so he is a dead man walking until they get back.
Well decided to brave the highlights on the MFC website – though they’ve only managed to find 4 minutes and 9 seconds of which 75 seconds (almost a third) was Adam Reach’s goal with numerous replays.
In terms of Boro chances, they showed a Downing daisy cutter from a short corner and the subsequent goalmouth melee from the save – the shout for a penalty when the falling ball hit the Wednesday defender on the arm – A Howson long-range effort that sailed over the bar – A Wing shot from the just outside the ‘D’ that went wide following a neat exchange with Besic – then came the final whistle with 30 seconds of booing and Boro players looking miserable.
If that appeared to be the Boxing Day ‘highlights’ through the eyes of the club then can’t imagine what the rest was like – btw what happened to those other 29 crosses Pulis mentioned as they only showed the one? They’ve almost made the game look like we didn’t batter them and didn’t lose to a goal against the run of play.
Werder
He was right with the number of crosses but with no one in the box it doesn’t matter.
That’s what I don’t understand – if he plays essentially a back five with three midfielders and then complains that Downing and Howson were playing too deep to create chances (not convert them) – then who is he expecting to get on the end of those crosses? just Assombalonga or possibly Besic as well?
Perhaps he needs to pick midfielders and forwards who are known for getting into the box like Tavernier or Wing instead of continuing to pick players who prefer to drop deep to look for the ball – I think he’s answered his own question but seems reluctant to think that is a valid answer.
My observation was that the wing backs were that and spent a large portion of the first half up the pitch. It truly was a back three but Downing was holding McNairs hand and Howson holding Friends hand.
Clayton was minding the shop and Besic was minding the person minding the shop.
In my mind the way a 352 should work is that you have a back three with wing backs pushing on. There shouldn’t be a striker supported by another playing off him (call him a number 10, someone playing in the hole or whatever)
The middle three should include a couple of like minded more attacking players and one holding the fort when the shop is shut and doesn’t need minding.
The best description of how we lined up I can come up with is an inverted umbrella with a disconnected handle – poor Britt.
to get progressive players on the pitch take a centre back off and bring on Hugill at half time. I get that.
To get Tav on, Clayton was taken off. At face value a good move but the problem was you take off Clayton who wins the ball and gives it to someone who plays. Besic drops in to the role and he hogs the ball, tries to beat three men, does stepovers, drag backs and pirouettes whilst Wednesday wander back to get in to shape.
If he stays on the pitch put him outside their box not ours.
My sons parting thought on the way to the station is dont make a change yet, do it after the Derby game.
My own view is nothing will change. Do not confuse view with wish.
Sorry that should read there should be a striker supporting another striker.
Werder
He had the gall to tear a strip off Wing (To the national press) after Wing was given MOM and won the cup tie with a worldie all about how he had a lot to learn before he was likely to get into his team, rambled on at length about how he had been out of position three times and the opposition might have scored. I tell you this man is very strange.
Why the obsession with crosses? Doesn’t he know that it is allowable to score a goal without the requirement for it to be from a cross? Or is it that he hasn’t a clue how to do that?
Maybe it’s time for me to repeat Peter Dale Wimbrow’s poem in the hope that Tony Pulis reads it and acts upon it :-
When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the World makes you King for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your wife, or your children, or friends
Whose judgement upon you must pass,
The fellow whose verdict should count more in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
And you may be the one that gets a good break
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re really a fake
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
But if you believe in what you are and what you are doing, looking back at yourself will not see what everyone else can see…
I don’t see it like that, and I don’t think Wimbrow did when he wrote it. It’s about humility.
That’s my point Ken. I don’t expect TP will see it like that.
RR
Many thanks for doing the report which must have been very hard to do
I was sat with friends after the game and we all agreed that we were paying good money to watch dross and something has to give
Haven’t been so disappointed with a Manager and team since Strachan
OFB
TP is now displaying all the classic signs of a manager who has lost the dressing room and with it the plot. When he arrived his honest forthrightness in calling things as he saw them was refreshingly frank and honest which held great hope for the future. Indeed what TP saw was in most instances exactly as the fans saw them.
Over time that forthrightness has migrated to blaming and indeed now evolved further to naming and shaming which is a very poor and weak management trait. The failure of the Recruitment team is well documented and if a survey were to be done to solicit opinion I’d confidently predict that the result would show a high nineties percentile of the fan base in full agreement with him. We can’t fix that nor can we turn back the clock and undo some signings before he arrived or indeed many of the ones whilst he was in post. Don’t harp on about GM wasting Steve Gibson’s money when he has millions of SG’s pound sterling sat gathering splinters on the bench.
Under his tutelage Braithwaite’s value has crashed, likewise Assombalonga’s and here’s the rub so has McNair’s, Flint’s and even Saville’s who we presumably have not even paid for yet. As much as he increased and soared Adama’s value (probably falsely but that’s Wolves problem now) there are others who he has decimated. The now supposed £30m surplus is questionable on many levels but accepting that it does now imply we have money to spend I’m not confident that it will be spent wisely either by our recruitment team or himself. Van La Parra is supposedly undergoing a medical today which addresses one major weakness in the squad but I’m now concerned that it may be crack covering over a wider problem.
A manager needs to utilise what resources he has available and it is becoming very clear to a fast growing number of fans that it is not the case with TP. Playing a lone Striker can work with say a 28 year old Didier Drogba with fast skillful overlapping wing backs or straight forward wingers with pace to burn and a Lampard or Gerrard type getting up quick behind them. I have no problem with those tactics but we don’t have anything remotely like a Drogba (Fletcher is probably the closest to having height and speed). We have one ageing full back who is our most consistent attacker and one shoe horned CB at RB when fit. In terms of a Lampard or a Gerrard we have McNair and Saville who did get goals for their former clubs. Besic is now an enigma, Howson no longer scores goals ditto the same for Downing. Basic shooting accuracy skills are at an appallingly low level right across the squad.
There are some very good Players at this club including those I have mentioned above but they are polar opposites of what is required for TP’s preferred (indeed only) system. Intransigent blinkered management belongs in a long forgotten era. Playing with a defensively loaded team against the likes of Burton Albion and again yesterday show that there is a serious disconnect between reality and illusion. Ironically TP’s win average with Boro is the highest in his career at 43% but that has to be tempered by the fact that most of his Stoke, Palace and Baggie games were at Premiership level.
That we are one solitary point better off than this time last year shows zero improvement. That Monk’s Birmingham and McClaren’s QPR are just two points behind Pulis with Karanka only three points behind and all of them at clubs with vastly fewer resources than poor Tony’s inheritance is where the bullshine has to stop. McClaren has a transfer embargo and has had to work with what he has, Monk rescued the Blues from seemingly nailed on relegation and now with the same scant resources is chasing a Play Off spot whilst Karanka gave poor Tony a football lesson on his own turf. Considering that our dullest most negative manager in decades tore Tony a new one illustrates how intransigent and bereft of ideas he really is.
Tavernier and Wing may be raw and they may or may not be good enough at this level but they are better than what we are currently witnessing and have been right from the Kick Off of this season away at Millwall. That the Manager cannot see what is blindingly obvious to the rest of us is frightening. That the same manager couldn’t or wouldn’t see how effective twin strikers were against Blackburn (and with only ten men) and that with the luxury of an additional extra player for the next game could have been a template to success is puzzling. I can accept dull, dour, negative tactics if it brings results but it isn’t working and to have blatantly sacrificed half a season to prove a point that he hasn’t got the players he wanted is either unforgivable or sheer madness.
Should he still be in charge for Ipswich he has to get not only a result but a believable performance. His after match comments yesterday evening would indicate that he thinks the fans were simply booing the players, if so he is seriously mistaken. If he believes that Howson and Downing were not playing to instruction then drop them (and I would include Besic as well in that). That very experienced and in the case of two of them seasoned Pro’s were presumably disregarding a game plan sets alarm bells ringing.
Seemingly Tony Pulis’s tactics and the skill set of the players (many of whom he has brought in) at his disposal are at odds and conflict with one another. Forcing square pegs into round holes is failing and failing badly. Eight goals in our last ten home games or if you prefer five goals in our last eight at home is appalling. Only Bolton have scored less goals at home all season with us joint equal second worse with Ipswich on 11 home goals in 12 games. As a manger TP should be blaming his own abject failure at the Riverside to put out a winning side on too many occasions. You can blame some of the people some of the time but you can’t blame all of the people all of the time and certainly not 29,000 of them yesterday.
What Redcar Red said.
RR
Your well thought out blog makes frightening reading, there are several points you make, such as the throwaway line that la parra is undergoing a medical, which is terrifying, how on earth can a player who is essentialy a time expired pro from a desperately struggling club ( for whom he cannot get a game)going to help us, we have ten? Like him. He will of course keep out Tav. And Wing. This man’s ruthless application of his personal will over all sense and reason, no matter the damage to our club, is very dangerous, and should be brought to an end right now, we do not want to see any team picked by this man take the field ever again.
I am of course calling on the chairman to do his bounden duty to the club and restore the status quo, he only has a few months of interference left, end it now and send his pay cheque along to sandbanks.
Brilliant post from Redcar Red.
Absolutely spot on RR.
Why the deafening silence from SG? He must see that there is now serious and growing unrest, disillusionment and apathy among the fans, the responsibility for which lies squarely at the manager’s door.
In their febrile atmosphere It would be advisable in my view for him to say something to the supporters or he is going to lose many of them for the rest of the season and maybe beyond. 30,000 people witnessed the debacle yesterday and saw the current shambles for themselves.
So come on SG, tell us, what’s the plan?
It is all part of the cunning plan to avoid going up and therefore save SG having to publicly admit that he hasn’t got, or doesn’t want to, put the vast sums of money in to survive in the top flight!
Working pretty well at the moment I would say!!!
I may try and write a Yes Minister type conversation as to the plan!! May take a while though and a few shandies!
Boroexile
I think SG has learnt that when he has made public his thoughts, feelings and emotions in the past they have been recorded and used as a stick to beat him with at some future point. I don’t think we should take his non public stance as anything other than discretion and not a lack of passion. TP won’t have come cheap and he won’t be cheap to replace. There are also uncorroborated “stories” that TP has been given a much wider and influencing brief in the bigger picture of MFC and if so that makes things a lot more complicated than simply dealing with a struggling Manager.
Yes very difficult and possibly irreplaceable at this time.
RR, I agree that his silence is due to him being discrete and does not reflect lack of passion. My point is that, as you so elegantly put in your match report and your email above, the situation at the club is desperate and if nothing changes the result will be supporters voting with their feet and staying away.
Not only will the 8,000 or so non-regulars who swelled the crowd yesterday not return but some of the die-hard fans will stay away too. Attendances will drift down to well below 20,000 with the corresponding effect on revenues and the match day atmosphere such as it is. When the apathy really sets in then the club is in severe decline.
Fans need to have hope that there are better times ahead for their club and that the management has the necessary ambition to deliver such times. I don’t believe than any fan today has any idea what the Chairman’s plan is for MFC. As you say in your post above there are rumours that Pulis has a much bigger and influential role in the club but, if so, what it is has never been formally and properly shared with the fans. Based on what we see on the football field at the moment I’m sure that many of us would be appalled to think that he is going to be allowed to apply his talents to sorting out other aspects of the club. He has done nothing to improve the club’s performance on the field (in fact the reverse) and so why let him wreck other key functions in the club, many of which seem to be close to dysfunctional already?
I accept that despite everything he sees the Chairman may well still believe that Pulis is the right man for the club and will let him carry on. If so, then I think he needs to tell the fans why that is the case and explain how the retention of Pulis will help him to achieve his ambitions for the club whatever they may be. If the fans can see there is a plan and some hope that things may get better then that may go some way to damping down the current discontent. If he says nothing to the fans and the dross continues on the field then I fear things will turn very ugly indeed on the terraces and his hand will be forced.
RR
Just a quick and silly point.
It makes no difference to the chairman, he does not have to fire him, just send his pay along to him for the remaining few months of his contract, and get on with hiring a continental.
Plato
I would stab a guess that TP’s contract may be a little more complex than some and possibly closer to a Brexit type entanglement on all aspects and areas of MFC if what TP claims is correct about his wider role. Wage bill, profit, league position, transfer fee cuts, who knows where his influence starts and ends and what bonuses may or may not be payable and mutually calculable and for how long (in other words even beyond next Summer).
RR – a damning indictment of where we are and unfortunately spot on.
It may be sacrilege to say it but I am almost hoping that we don’t somehow don’t manage to get promotion as I am not sure I could take a Premier League season with TP running the show!
I had been planning on coming up on Saturday although unfortunately or fortunately, that is the only day that BIL is available with his trailer to clear out MIL house with tip trips!
Given our form of late, trips to the tip and lugging furniture about to charity shops may be more enjoyable. However, typical Boro will see us score many goals and give us all hope again………..
Welll I dream can’t I?
UTB
About to watch the “highlights”.
Previously, I looked back in time at our last home win against Sheffield Wednesday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJvWkkFVo1M
A few observations.
– The ten-pass movement that put Calum Chambers in a good position on the right, with Negredo and De Roon queueing up in the box. If – stop me if you’ve heard this before – the final ball is a good one, then…
– Roughly, at 2.42 – Negredo wins it deep in his own half. Good interplay between him and Chambers almost gets us on the attack, but then Negredo overruns.
– At 4.39, a movement of roughly eight passes, featuring an exquisite ball from Chambers, is again just one right final ball away from finding De Roon.
– De Roon’s goal. Created after Stuani’s aerial prowess and more good interplay, this time, with Leads, sets the Uruguayan on his way before his parried shot finds its way to the Dutchman. 3-0, game over.
Intuition, physicality, adaptability.
All signs of an Italian approach to football – the best Italian teams in the 1990s had players who could play anywhere on the pitch if need be, possibly because to them football wasn’t about playing a game, but doing a job. Efficiently, effectively and at times exquisitely.
Lest I overpraise this approach, there’s two “E” words that are missing – “entertaining” and “enjoyable”. I now refer you all to what I wrote on a previous thread.
“It’s the drama we learn from, or remember, more than the stability.
“That’s why you can have quality without entertainment. You can have a team that keeps the ball, takes their chances and keeps clean sheets enough times to be better than most, if not all. Yet where’s the friction? Melodrama? Tears? Thunderbolts? Full-hearted bravery?
“…(It’s) easy to embrace and wax lyrical about from the armchair – ‘look at his movement’, ‘look how many passes they strung together before the goal’, ‘look at that exemplary defending’ – but the pleasures for the paying punter are much simpler. Goals, tackles and drama.”
Which led to Powmill’s response…
“Entertaining games come about when two teams both play with an attacking intent, regardless of the final result. Dull games come about when one or both teams set out to not give away the starting parity, again regardless of the result… Every one of us in here would be far happier watching Boro and supportive of the whole management approach if they played to win, rather than not to lose.”
And this, from Len, who was at Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle ’96. He described it as “the best game of football I have ever seen in terms of both excitement and quality”, before adding…
“I remember reading a piece by a journalist some years later.
“He had looked at a video of the match and declared it to be lacking in quality. In particular he picked upon the defensive frailties of the two teams.
“This missed the mark by a considerable distance. Analysing a match when you already know the final score is missing out on the whole purpose of going to a game. Which is to find out what is going to happen in it.
“And when the question of how this enthralling contest will end keeps you glued to your seat until the final kick, then you haven’t simply observed an event, you have been an active participant in it.
“You leave the ground as exhausted as the players, but also enlivened. The buzz amongst the crowd after the game was extraordinary, with everyone enthusing over the best game that we collectively had ever seen.
“It’s not an experience that can be recreated, or even fully comprehended, by watching it at leisure some years later.
“…As for defensive frailties, these are always picked out and magnified whenever a goal is scored. And they are bound to occur when two teams are hell bent on attacking.
“Sometimes, I think we have forgotten how to revel in the rare sight of brilliant attacking play and wonderful goals. Most managers are concerned to stop these things from happening rather than taking on the much more difficult task of creating them.
“And wouldn’t we give our right arms and left legs for even a hint of attacking flair and creativity at the Riverside at the moment?”
What Len said.
(Thanks for the name check Si. Generous as ever.)
Just watched highlights and also TP’s press conference.
He, yet again, made the comment about the money that has been spent at “this football club” and that he doesn’t want to waste any more! Maybe he has repeating what SG has told him.
His general demeanour was a bit negative a felt and clearly didn’t take too kindly to the last question which I couldn’t quite catch. And with he said something along the lines of “we’ll have to wait and see”.
Does he maybe know that the game is up? Has SG had a word in his ear?
BBD
Strange that he should be obsessed with money ( Players the cost of) yet will do anything but field the brilliant and young, and cheap players we possess. As I repeat he never has made sense when holding forth, and has a poor grasp on reality. A very dangerous man for our club.
And to think that initially I thought he was a good appointment and talked sense.
Always was a poor judge of character!! Me that is.
First thanks to Redcar Red for having to relive the dross of yesterday through his Match Report.
After the Burton and Sheff Wed matches I am further at a loss to even minutely understand the thinking of Mr Pulis. To not play for a win, taking the game to the opposition from the off with such defensive set ups is beyond belief, especially when a semi final cup tie was on offer in one and the other are as poor as ditch water.
As RR said and many others over the last months, Wing and Tav may not be the answer long term, but they are certainly better than we have playing at this moment in time. They at least have some pace, especially Tav and they can pass a ball forward with some accuracy, especially Wing. Mr Pulis is just being “pig headed in his team selections and refusal to start with both or one of the two. It now seems that it is a case of I will not be told, which is somewhat hard to believe.
His continued use of one isolated forward up front that has not worked beggars belief. You do not have to have a coaching badge to see it is not working, then to blame and name individual players for his tactics does not give hope for the future.
Yes we all know that he did not get Bolasie, but I doubt he would have made that much difference. He did however with the “Recruitment Department” and I assume Mr Gibson’s approval, bring in McMair, Besic and Saville to add to his all time favourite (until yesterday) Howson. None blessed with any real pace, all very similar players and all costing in Championship terms decent Fees. And all to date, relative failures.
As the January Windows looms ever nearer, Mr Pulis is now increasing the politics and pressure on our beloved Chairman. His statement that this squad were not good enough to win promotion, he never got the wide players he needed, publicly stating that the club have made a 30M profit in transfers under his tutelage whilst ignoring the obvious future write off of millions of pounds when we finally move on Britt, MB, Fletcher and any of the players bought under him. Never mind the high wages being paid.
He played the same game at WBA in the summer of 2017 to try and get what he wanted.
We all can see the basic problems, again without being a coach. His intransigence is obvious and worrying and I do really wonder what Mr Gibson makes of it all.
Would I sack him, probably not. We will not get promoted and we will not get relegated hopefully. I would not give him any real money to buy players, only for loanees. Van la Parra from Huddersfield,looks to be the first incomer on loan. He has played only a very few times, early in September and lastly against Burnley on October 6. So he will not be match fit, will not know TP’s requirements to defend first and attack second in his failing system. He does not come with a very good write up, but time will tell.
In my opinion our problems mainly fall at Mr Pulis’ feet. Yes we have some not so good players, but the writing was on the wall for all to see with them and nothing was done. We do not have a “proper” RB, no reserve LB, so nothing much can change when they have bad games.
Probably best leave it all the end of the season unfortunately and then Mr Gibson if his heart is still in it all, will have to start all over once more. Eight months of hoping something good will happen from all of this heartache.
Pedro
Sorry to say, I do not agree that we should leave it to the end of the season, the damage could be incalculable, we could lose Wing, Fry, young Tav,
When it comes to the running of a football club, times a wasting, always, what you could achieve in that dead period you are proposing is spectacular, such as a continental boss, a massive clear out, reignite the ambition of our great young kids, a couple of killer signings, the opportunities are endless,
Remember, teams like Watford and Brighton have had six managers in five seasons, ruthless is the word, if they are no good, they are no good.
I’ve just realised what is glaringly obvious!
TP wants to force SG’s hand into sacking him so that he can retreat to the south coast with 6 months compensation money!
First off a round of applause for Werder (who knew Her Maj had such a grasp of what’s going on at the Riverside) and RR for another piece which disproves the saying that you can’t polish a turd.
As far as the match goes nothing to add to what has already been posted. Watched on the club stream and co commentator Slav kept sighing and huffing as we once again crabby across the pitch at a snails pace. It was painful to watch.
SG has a big decision to make and for someone who has been a backer of TP I’m afraid I find it hard to see where he goes from here. I posted after the QPR defeat that it looked like the players had stopped playing for him and I see no reason to change my mind.
Some excellent posts after yesterday’s dirge of a game and unusually virtually all of the same opinion. I wonder if SG will see the situation in the same light.
Off to take out a Bolivian drug cartel on my PlayStation which hopefully cheers me up because the football certainly isn’t!
Joy of joys, Van La Parra to join on loan until seasons end and Karanka under pressure at Forest.
I smile at Van La Parra, but not at The Ex under pressure. He’s probably still wondering where all that injury time came from at Carrow Road. Though to be fair it looked like he was publicly pointing the finger at nobody in the aftermath.
Ref Van La Parra
This comment from a friend of mine who is a Huddersfield Town season ticket holder
” No end product, tricky but likes to beat the same man twice. “
We have one of those already…
I’ve just watched a vintage Match of the Day presented by the late Jimmy Hill from season 1980/81 now shown on BT Sport :- Middlesbrough 6 Norwich City 1. Boro captained by Tony McAndrew in a 433 formation Platt; Craggs, Angus, McAndrew, Bailey; Johnston, Proctor, Hodgson; Shearer, Jankovic, Armstrong. Sub Ashcroft. Scorers McAndrew, Jankovic 2, Armstrong, Woods og, Johnston.
Just three questions
1. I wonder how many of our current squad would have got into that team? Sad to say though a crowd of only 12,958.
2.Will Boro’s crowds sink as low as that again?
3. Whatever happened to Norwich City?
Ken the crowds were or were close to those numbers under Strachan.
There’s a player at Fulham,who is electric, and I would try and get , they got him from a French div 2 team , (we can’t do that).
Right now he is used from the bench, I don’t know if they would allow him to leave,but I would try he’s very fast with the ball.
Kamara is his name.
GT, it’s interesting how opinions differ. My son lives in London and is a Fulham season ticket holder and his comment on Kamara while we were watching Fulham playing Wolves was “he is the worst footballer I have ever seen”.
Exile
If you are a team that is told hold possession,and relay the ball around fifteen times, he is not your man,
If you have a kid like Wing who can pass a ball through defences ,Kamara would beat defences every time, he’s fast and needs the right service, he tortured his opponent on box day.
Van la para
Also thinks he’s better than he is and didn’t endear himself to the locals towards the end of last season when he announced that he would do his best to keep Huddersfield in the Premiership and then would be moving to a better Premiership team !!
Hardly played at all this season and will need time to become match fit.
Braveheart’ s comment sums him up correctly
Philip
Well if the reports are correct about Van la para I don’t see TP going anywhere soon. Nor do I see VLP being the answer to our prayers given his lack of game time and questionable ability to influence games. Sounds like a poor mans Adama Traore or an earlier version of AT. Perhaps TP sees him as another project!
TP does not seem to recognise that it is partly the system being employed, partly his choice of players and their ability (or lack of) coupled with a lack of intensity and speed with which the ball is recycled when we gain possession that is the route of our problem and failing to play to the strengths of those at his disposal. Is it not a prime responsibility of any manager to get the most out of those in his charge?
All of the above has been obvious to many of us for a number of seasons and has continually not been addressed by successive managers.
Sadly the Championship beckons for at least another season, if not longer. ☹️😎
Martin Braithwaite is in talks over a loan move to Leganes after being told he can leave by Tony Pulis. (Telegraph Football)
And Mr Pulis strikes again! From what I have read about van la Pena, it will be several weeks before he is deemed fit to be on the bench and then probably be utilised as a full back!
It is only football, as my Mum used to say, worse things happen at sea!
Woeful though the current situation is, nit picking on isolated strikers, square pegs and losing the dressing room only masks the greater reality that we have to face.
The club has lost not only its way, but its identity and what it stands for. I have little time for Tony Pulis but he is a symptom of the malaise and not the root cause. Sadly that lies with Steve Gibson, a chairman who for much of the past decade has patching up much more than preparing for the long term.
Gibbo is, by some distance, the most important person in the club’s history and none of us should doubt his desire (I do not) but boy, he needs to be called to account.
A lot of the supporter mistrust and ill will stems from a lack of communication from the Boro and this needs to stop now. It is as if, understandably, Gibbo feels because he has has sunk his fortune into the club there is no need to continually update and explain what is happening at the Riverside and Rockcliffe.
Should Gibbo – and it can equally be Bausor or Bevington – come out and explain the club’s direction and end goal and why we are going down this route of soulless, turgid football, why the younger players rarely get a prolonged opportunity and so on, it would help soothe immensely and is a practical step to rallying everyone at a time when the club again feels split and aimless. The fans are the biggest stakeholders in the club and deserve to be treated in an adult manner. Tell us like it is please Steve.
And then Tony. I don’t believe a word he says publicly, his assurances in late August that Braithwaite is a good lad and will knuckle down were cack handed and plain fibs that I doubt very much he believed either but he comes from an autocratic, controlling school of management and saying it as it is, just doesn’t fit. TP’s standing up press conferences also is passive aggressive and not conducive to frank discussion or debate. He says what he wants to and that’s it and in doing so says nothing.
It is sad also that we do not have a challenging local media to ask the big questions and put the pressure on the club at a time when it is flailing badly. The Gazette offers nothing anymore, no insight, no questioning, no in-depth player interviews and focuses purely on team shape and tactics that are surpassed on many, if not most, fan forums. As a saving grace, why not burn all bridges with the club and get on the offensive and on the side of the readers and ask the questions. The Gazette has no relationship of merit at all with MFC but is still putting that before before looking at what its readers want. Atrocious really and small minded.
Finally, look at Leicester, a club that only recently we were light years ahead of. The Times match report against Man City referred to Marc Albrighton as the best free transfer in years, proof that attitude and commitment count as highly as anything ultimately. Yes, we have a few players like Albrighton but need more, these are the people (the very top level aside) who will pull you through if the right leadership is there. We have, I feel, far far better individual players than Leeds for example but they have a framework and team bonding and spirit. We will never recover when 2-0 down as they did to Aston Villa.
Bolasie and Adomah were red herrings last summer, good talent but not the sort to buy into a collective ethos. Ditto Van la Parra, why oh why oh why? What next, Tav and Wing out on loan to make way? This is what drives the supporters mad and we have a right to be told the basics of why the club is looking at Van above our youth products.
Incidentally, the Leicester report also talked about the standing ovation given to local lad Hamza Choudrey, a youngster with a handful of appearances but thrown in against maybe the best team in Europe. This is what gets the fans onside more than anything, identity and the feel we are as one and can take on the bigger clubs and occasionally win.
I do feel we have the players to go up this season still (and arguably down also if change is not made) but it will not happen without a wholesale change of outlook and the freedom that comes with that. When the club is not to be believed anymore – and it has acquired a Stasi like mentality in recent times – then we are lost.
Come on Steve. Once again it’s down to you but we need a fundamental change in how we go about things, and now.
Richard
Based upon previous events I don’t think SG welcomes or is particularly comfortable with criticism or questioning. A few years back there was Century Radio and the Three Legends show which may have had an influence on the Boro commentary being switched to BBC Tees along with Ali but pointedly not Bernie.
Bernie is now back on board with MFC and coincidentally less controversial (or more tactful at least) than before. Only recently we had the stand off with the Gazette reporters and the setting up of MFC’s own Internet mouthpiece where the plan was to have all Boro news and information published (controlled?) directly including several thinly veiled side swipes at the local paper. Just over the weekend Maddo who has just been recruited back into MFC has come in for some stick for trying to spin positives on the after match BBC Tees phone in show.
There seems to be a strong case of biting the hand that feeds you with regards to how the club is handled or reported. Of course it could all be circumstantial and just pure coincidence.
Richard
I put football managers in the same category as politicians when it comes to telling the truth.
Well said Richard. Couldn’t agree more with all you say and particularly with your point that Steve Gibson needs to share his vision for the club with the fans. Hopefully he has one.
I don’t know much about Huddersfield winger Rajiv van La Parra. But at least some credit is due for the timing of TP’s first signing of the January transfer window after the Dutchman completing a medical at Middlesbrough yesterday.
At least he is not coming on the last day of the window. He is 27 year old, has a full PL season behind him in 2017/18 and has not been injured recently as far as I know.
And what is good he has been in the Championship before and is adjusted to the English league already.
I don’t expect a more talking from Gibbo or Pulis, I expect some signings and improvements on the pitch. So action rather than talk for me, please.
Up the Boro!
Jarkko
McNair arrived early in the last window after a bit of an initial standoff but has hardly been played or covered himself in glory.
I no longer have confidence in TP’s judgement or methodology.
Just watched the match highlights which lasted 4.10 mins, must be the shortest on record and says it all. Seems to have been edited to ensure the widespread booing which was reported does not feature!
Like I said I do not know about the player. Just wanted to say the timing is good as we need pace asap. UTB!
VLP is a player that I’ve always thought looked great the few times I have seen him play (only 3 or 4 times admittedly) but is a bit of a rolling stone. Wherever he goes he starts off well but then falls from grace for whatever reason.He never seems to settle anywhere and after two years or so is off somewhere new. In that respect he could be a bit of a Ramirez type character, all the skills but a dubious attitude perhaps which doesn’t endear himself to Managers or maybe another Adama?
Clearly there is a reason why no club has ever warmed to him or he to them for that matter, it can’t always be the clubs fault. I suspect that he needs a manager that interacts with him in a special way to encourage, enthuse, support and mentors to get the best out of him. The lad has Technical skills and ability in abundance but as we know that is only one part of a successful footballers make up and profile. Sociological and psychological aspects are just as important to be truly successful and at 27 years of age there does seem to be a flaw somewhere within.
He has played nearly 150 Championship/Premiership games in England so knows what is expected but there is that “but” with him. The positive is that he isn’t a slow “to me, to you” defensive central midfielder so we can expect to at least have some excitement when he plays provided his head is in the right place. Because of the non footballing aspects I’d be cautious before committing serious money on him especially as his contract with the Terriers expires this coming Summer. He has ran contracts down before with Heerenveen and even terminated whilst with Caen and never seems to have been subject to a major fee. Maybe a sensible deal has been mutually agreed between all three parties and we haven’t been stupid enough to pay Saville type money.
Why do we need La Parra when we have Tavernier? What will Tavernier make of it when he finds himself out of the team and, probably, the match day squad? Do we really want to risk losing our young talent by bringing in more journeymen that add nothing to the team? Madness.
Boroexile
I suspect La Parra is a different kettle of fish to TAV and will play a different role but I may be wrong.
His record doesn’t suggest he will score a bag full of goals, if we get a decent half season out of him but dont buy him it could be a good move.
We will have to wait and see.
OFB, loaning MB does not appear to be the best of deals. Yes it is obvious he does not want to be here, but just how much are we writing off on his selling value?
Richard, good post from the heart and true. However as much as we all love and appreciate what Mr Gibson has done for the club, he has now made far too many repeated mistakes costing millions and and possibly a final lost opportunity to consolidate the future.
As for telling the fans what is going on……no chance!!
We bought Braithwaite for £10m and the most any of the foreign clubs have offered was £5 mil so the loss is apparent
Mr G has allegedly just bought a new mansion that’s requiring an update and cost to date apparently £42m ….work the sums and budgets out……..
Note I have said allegedly to give more details I couldn’t possibly say !
OFB
I have heard this as well OFB and the location.
We are not complaining that SG is spending some of his own money on himself and his family, shame on him. 😉
Come on BORO.
No we’re not complaining that he’s spending money on himself just trying to clarify why the budget for Boro is being drawn a bit tighter than previously
In all the years I’ve watched the Boro at Ayresome Park and to a lesser extent at the Riverside, I’ve often found that the crowd have been reactive rather than proactive in their support. They often don’t roar the team on until Boro score, whereas the atmosphere at St James’s Park, Roker Park, Stadium of Light, Elland Road and even at Castleford is usually electric from the kickoff.
It has always felt to me that the fans need Boro to score early for the crowd to roar the team on. Players always respond to the mood of the crowd, but in Boro’s case it is often the reverse, the crowd responding to what they see on the pitch. To some extent I can sympathise with the crowd at the moment when they see the formation adopted by Tony Pulis and the personell chosen, but Teessiders seem to wait for something to happen before responding, whereas at most grounds the supporters seem to roar their team on right from the start.
Of course it’s completely different when Boro play away, the Boro fans usually roaring the team right from the start and often throughout the match. It’s not meant as a criticism of Boro fans as I myself have never been overdemonstrative. Maybe it’s in our DNA.
Ken
I fully agree with all that and I do think that it is in the DNA of the local population. History on Teesside is a relatively short but quick one. The mines, steel, river and chemicals attracted an influx of hard working people desperate for work and to feed families. The result was that we had a lot of people from Pulis’s homeland, Irish navvies and Durham miners in the main providing the labour and with it a fair bit of discrimination and protectionism in regards to looking after their own. All of them had the same mentality, work damned hard and earn your crust to survive. Nobody came here in the 1800’s expecting a cushy life.
That bloodline still only goes back to great grand parents in many cases (certainly for many on here). Through interbreeding we have thankfully now lost those original “separatism’s” on race and religion (albeit resurfacing again with fresh immigrant issues in some parts of Linthorpe Road) but.that social norming and cynical ethical conditioning still exists under a very thin surface hence for example “yer jokin arn’t yer” as a default expression.
Whether its a lazy so and so who didn’t put a shift in down a Mine, in the Steelworks or a Footballer they all get judged with the same mentality. If you have come here to sponge off the sweat and hard graft of others then “do one” in local parlance (cleaned up to avoid the swear filters). On the other hand if you are a Juninho who runs his socks off you will be taken to the hearts and minds (and indeed even forgiven for leaving) and will be enshrined in local folklore with affection for ever.
The opening gambit however in that Teesside mindset is always “well lets see what you can do then”. Prove your worth first and only then will we think about it.
Ken
On Boxing Day the fans were roaring the team on from the off and look what happened
OFB
OFB
But that’s my point. Go a goal down and the crowd reaction tends to be muted, not so at Leeds or Norwich at the moment where the crowd just think it a minor irritation and expect their teams to win in the end. If Boro go behind, not only the players, but the crowd seem to throw in the towel. I agree it’s more so under Pulis than some of our recent managers, but it does seem to have often been endemic in the past. As I say Boro supporters have generally been reactive rather than proactive
Ken
And that’s my point I was at the game and the crowd were trying to lift the team
Ken, my experience has been that when the crowd have something to cheer they make a hell of a lot of noise. When they don’t they don’t and at the moment they don’t.
Ken
The fans are not stupid, there has been a conversation going on between the manager and the fans, since the day we hit the top of the league five matches in. It may not have been articulated but it was real enough.
It went as follows. “what the devil do you mean by dropping the players who got us to the top of the league, just to field your suspect buys”
“I will include who I want for I am the manager”
” We want to watch Wing and Tav and Fry, we like being entertained”
“I will make sure that they are not even on the bench, then they cannot get on the pitch”
“how many matches are you going to fail to win before you play our best players?”
“Winning matches is not the be all and end all of football there are things that you simply do not understand about the game, because you are thick”
” will you be here for the third round of the cup?”
” there are more important things than keeping a job”
” I bet you field our good young players for the cup tie”
I agree with Jarkko that the time for words is over as they have become nothing more than platitudes and anything other than actions that improve the situation are pointless. Whether Steve Gibson is still completely behind his manager or not, he knows that it’s not a position he can maintain indefinitely if the current Riverside form continues.
As December is just about over, just 2 wins at home since August is not the basis of any known promotion challenge – with Boro failing to score in 5 of those 9 games as they’ve rewarded the faithful with just 6 goals in four months. It’s not as if it’s some kind of blip or indeed unexpected from a manager who is not known for his free-flowing football.
Losing at home to bottom club Ipswich would be unthinkable but it’s become almost something that wouldn’t surprise many. We are now at the stage where a squad reshuffle in January is all that both manager and chairman have left to convince the supporters they are on the right path.
I suspect few will get carried away by the hype of signing Rajiv Ramon van La Parra on loan from Huddersfield – especially as he’s a former Heerenveen player like that other sensational signing Afonso Alves!
Now Aden flint has been wheeled out to rally the troops with the somewhat delusional cry that despite having “a bit of a wobble” that Boro can “still chase the top two down”. I’m not exactly sure how he thinks Boro will claw back 12 points when that is all the team has managed in their last 9 games. I think before we contemplate chasing anyone perhaps Boro should look over their shoulder and realise it is in fact us who are being chased down by half-a-dozen or so average teams.
Werder
It will be the first time in football history that a club will indulge in a rebuild rather than fielding it’s best players, and this to indulge a manager who is the sole cause of all this strife. I do not believe that we would have this number of points, if we had joyfully fielded the team as it stood after five matches, whatever our adventures we would have had at least six points more than at present. After all, this is the fourth time we have had two very winnable home matches following an away win, we have crashed and burned each time, and there have been no extenuating circumstances on each occasion, each team has come to be beaten, but we were not having any of it, and were dire.
I would agree that the lack of ambition at home has allowed many opposition sides to take the initiative or sit back in the knowledge we can’t score.
How can Nottm Forest even think of sacking Karanka after a 3-3 draw at Norwich and 5-5 at Villa? At least they are scoring goals now and having a go at teams.
A again someone we sacked too early, perhaps? Up the Boro!
I think Forest are being ridiculous if they are thinking of sacking Karanka now but his time was well and truly up at Boro having split the dressing room and the fans. Hopefully he has learnt from his time at Boro and is more aware of the wider requirements of a Manager having been used to being in the protective shadow of Mourinho where they believed themselves untouchable, unquestionable and sacrosanct.
AK’s time had come to it’s end at Boro. It would be bad move for Forest to sack him, I cant see what they would gain.
Ian
Every club on their way to relegation, despair, it’s quite a naturel reaction, what you do at that point decides your fate, we had lots of matches to play, many against the dross, the lucky losers who took over did not even attempt to play against those teams, they capitulated shamelessly, encouraging them at the same time, we in effect, sank into fulfilling our fixtures, and we still went down by five points, that’s two wins, and we played against some awful sides.
The obverse of that coin was to eject the dissenters, and encourage the manager who had got us promotion to fight on and bring in one or two players, his record in the market we can only dream about at this moment.
I notice that the present disaster is going out shopping with our wallet in his pocket, I wonder what the outcome will be? Or rather, I don’t.
Apart from AK’s own mistakes. the loss of Gaston – (he and his agent have a lot to answer for) plus the poor window dealings of Gestede, Guedioura and a nearly broken Bamford completed the implosion.
Few are going to be happy when a 4-3 win nearly turns into a 5-4 defeat and when you chuck a 3-1 away lead, top team or not, in injury time. I can’t think of a team who’ve done that before….
Oh yes. Norwich 4-4 Boro, January 2005. I was mad at hearing the final score. Absolutely mad. Like Big Jack was when Newcastle went to QPR and led 4-1 at HT only to draw 5-5.
I think that, for the most part, hierarchy, and managers, do not like high scoring games one bit. They’re bad for blood pressure and organisation.
As a neutral I celebrated the Miracle Of Istanbul – but try picturing it from Milan’s point of view. Similarly AK will likely not consider Norwich 3-3 Forest a triumph of self-belief on the Canaries’ part, but a defensive shambles near the end.
Something else about AK, and Mourinho, that I have learned from reflecting on their management.
They like to challenge themselves, but only on their own terms. They thrive in the heat of battle, but only *their* battles. Once too much external, unwanted pressure is placed on their shoulders, they are liable to crack.
I once noted how AK probably rubbed a section of Boro fans the wrong way by developing a reputation for doing really (or potentially) thoughtless, insensitive things and almost immediately “making up for them” with giant sentimental or statistical gestures. Shoving officials and dismissing Higgy? Two wins and seven goals, the first our biggest win under his tenure (5-1 at Millwall), the second a 2-0 triumph over our promotion rivals on Sky, with our leader punching the air Southgate-style in the stands. The Albert Adomah incident? Three wins out of three, seven goals scored and momentum restored just in time for AA’s celebratory comeback at home to Brentford. Charlton? Six wins out of six, which might have been seven out of seven if not for Michael Keane. Picking Stuani and Nugent instead of fan favourites Downing and Rhodes for the big match against Brighton? Nugent assists Stuani for the crucial goal, and the latter could have had a hat-trick.
There’s a precedent here, carried down from Mourinho. Mourinho always wants to join a club in need of a lift, and show that he’s the man to do it. Chelsea hadn’t won the league for fifty years, Inter hadn’t won the Champions League for nearly the same amount of time, Real Madrid couldn’t knock Barca off their perch or get to the CL quarter-finals, and United couldn’t find themselves post-Fergie.
Jose’s skill, as such, is to gee everyone up and get results by implementing an “everyone is against me/you/us” siege mentality. The problem is, as we found at Boro, that only works in spurts, and in the end everyone, including those who supported them for most of their reign, tire of their histrionics.
Both Jose and AK hit the managerial BSOD (blue screen of death) in their last few months at Chelsea and Boro respectively – although there are many who will argue with me, in both cases, that it wasn’t only the last few months that were bad.
I think many a “successful” manager has that, though. For Big Jack and Ireland, it was from half-time in Liechtenstein onwards, starting with that heartbreaking team talk…
“There’s nothing I can do for you. You’re going to have to figure this out by yourselves.”
Hardly inspiring. And when Ireland drew 0-0, it dawned on everyone who worshipped Jack that he was fallible, and Dunphy might have had a point after all.
Jack’s last five competitive games in charge read: W1 D0 L4 F4 A12. It all ended, allegedly, with a once imposing but now helpless manager ranting about players who hadn’t stuck to his orders. (If you believe Dunphy’s account.)
Simon
To suggest that Dunphy had a point after six? Years of living your wildest dreams for the fans of Ireland, is not sensible, or is no different to saying the same about the Arsenal manager after an incredible run of, fun, success, profitable dealing in the transfer market for what twelve seasons?
The world is full of narks, Dunphy is one of them, always has been, always will be.
I don’t think that managers ranting at their players from the technical area is helpful either. Pulis and Dyche spring to mind, whereas Wenger rarely stood up except to applaud when his team scored or to remonstrate with the 4th official or opposing manager.
Just watch managers/coaches of Rugby Union or League clubs, they tend to stay high up away from the action and converse with their assistants on the touch line with walkie-talkies to relay strategies. Ear bashing in my opinion is hardly constructive.
Ken
With Arsen “I did not see it” Wenger it’s hardly surprising he never got animated at his players during a game😉
Brilliant coach actually.
Depends which way you see it. Some love the managers who rant at their players on the touchline – it’s the “inspirational” image of “blood, sweat, tears and passion.”
In other words, he looks like he cares, and that transmits itself to the stands in an emotional medium such as sport.
Boro have won only one of their past eight league games at the Riverside. And if I remember correctly, we started the season well at Riverside and did not even concede any goals in the first few matches this season. Sounds terrible, I know. UTB!
The premium requirement from a football supporter is to win, a football fan likes to see open exciting and entertaining football. If a Manager delivers on both counts then all is great up until (e.g. Man City) it wobbles or worse they lose a few games then its back to basics to keep clean sheets by not conceding and looking to nick a goal before confidence and normal levels of service are resumed.
For clubs like Boro its usually about scrapping and battling and its the result that counts because we can never afford those truly world class players that take your breath away. How a Manager achieves victories is up to them. The fans may have to sit through some pragmatic games as a means to an end but if on the final whistle three points have been won then the fans are jubilant and all is well. When the pragmatic approach isn’t working and doesn’t remotely even begin to look like working then there is no joy, no entertainment and no satisfaction to be derived from either attending or watching games.
AK was painful to endure but he achieved promotion and then the Club collectively including AK bombed badly in the Premiership with tactics and recruitment (social and attitude problems with many). Big Jack likewise was successful despite the “Boring Boro” tag. McClaren was successful because he was allowed to sign big stars in the twilight of their careers in many respects but had just enough left in the tank. Football is cyclical, Wenger used to be flavour of the month as was Mourinho once and Fergie despite his moaning, now its Pochettino, Guardiola and Klopp. Its all about winning being a must have whilst the entertainment is nice to have.
Bottom line is win ugly or nice and all is well, lose and fingers get pointed and quickly.
Agree RR. I would add that lose ugly and it gets worse. Which is why i lost patience with AK and why TP frustrates me so much!
🔴 If you like hat-tricks then that was comment number 33,333 on Diasboro (or 🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩 as Ken would say) – Werdermouth
That’s spooky, my favourite number!!
Some Boro fans on another site saying if Karanka got the push from Forest ( highly unlikely in my my opinion ) they would welcome him back. Well if he did there would be one player straight out the door. SD.
Having witnessed Pulis I think Karanka (even Monk and McClaren) would be more effective at this level but I wouldn’t look forward to seeing him back again.
Braveheart
Would that be a bad thing.
We finally won our last away game, who was missing, SD, that’s who, what happened when he was restored? Hmm! I think we lost, and how.
Plato, never been a fan of SD since he came back to the club. He was the culprit who reportedly threw a chair at Karanka and started Charltongate.
See below or above, I wonder who has been throwing chairs at TP? From what OFB said, May have been the coaching staff!
Even I wouldn’t want Karanka back. Or even Mogga.
A toxic “with me or against me” final year would be too much to bear.
You all know what I mean. And I’ll borrow Andrew Glover’s words on Mogga, paraphrasing them a little, to help.
It was bad enough, in both the majority of 2013 and 2016-17 (especially January-March 2017), that performances fell away. A poisonous backdrop of, to quote Glover, “infighting and apoplectic reactions to every setback” or every player you wanted to play but didn’t, made it much, much worse.
It’s passion and emotion, of course, that fuels the rampant, riotous “ranting on the Internet” as I call it. Doesn’t make it any less painful.
The type with one side behind the manager, the others behind players who weren’t involved or thought to be out of favour.
Do I regret getting involved? Absolutely. It led to most regrettable comments which I have tried to learn from and draw a veil over with the help of time and reflection.
Every person deserves the opportunity to rationalise and reflect following “heat of the moment” comments that aren’t as objective and truthful as they ought to be.
Case in point? One fan noted that when Negredo ran up to take a penalty for his new club, he covered more ground than he ever did for Boro. We know that’s harsh – and so does the fan, who was told off for it.
But he was hurting. So can you blame him?
Í would have Mogga back any day. And give him some money to spend. He signed some gems, he did. My man. UTB!
Returning to Ken’s post, I just cannot agree that generally and compared to the other NE clubs our fans are reactive and not proactive.
I would say that the vast majority of fans are reactive. They react to the Manager, his team selection, the players effort and the goings on within the club. And ultimately the results.
I am sure the Norwich fans were continuing to be proactive when losing against Forrest. Why? Because they and Leeds have come back from losing positions many times. The Boro?
Werder 9.54 post. Excellent.
From the EG
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/changing-middlesbrough-manager-fraught-danger-15606439?utm_source=gazette_live_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=EM_GazetteLive_Nletter_MiddlesbroughFC_News_mediumteaser_Text_St&utm_campaign=boro_fc_newsletter
As they used to say on Monty Python ‘now for something completely different’ or as the late Max Bygraves used to say ‘I wanna tell you a story’. Now this is unconnected to football in any way, except maybe the reason that I don’t particularly get upset about life’s little tragedies or indeed Boro’s performances any more. As it’s Christmas it also involves angles, or in this case a Guardian Angel.
The year my wife died I took my first step in taking a holiday alone, and as I’d been to Capetown during my National Service days and seen the Cape of Good Hope from the sea in a troopship, I always wanted to return to see it from the land. I must say I felt guilty about taking a holiday less than 6 months after her demise, but friends told me that Enid wouldn’t want me to feel guilty as life must go on, and of course they were right.
Well I’d hired a car and really enjoyed myself touring the Western Cape and part of the famous Garden Route. However on the day of my return to Britain, when I got to the Airport and about to check in I discovered that I couldn’t find my wallet and more importantly my passport. I looked outside in the forlorn hope that it had dropped out of my pocket, and rang the hotel to enquire whether I’d left it there. It was 11pm in the evening so I resigned myself that I’d have to sleep in the terminal building until the morning when I would have to contact the British Embassy somehow with no money or credit card to see how I was able to get home. However I had this calmness as if Enid was saying to me ‘it’ll be alright, don’t panic it’ll get sorted’. Now the fact is if we’d been together and we’d lost our passports we’d both have been in a panic.
The happy ending to the story was that the black taxi driver discovered my wallet and passport on the floor of his cab, and as I had been his only passenger he returned to the airport about 30 minutes later beaming all over waving my wallet and passport in the air. We just embraced and I apologised that I had no Rands to give him as a reward as I’d left the remainder of them with the hotel reception to be distributed amongst the staff. The taxi driver said ‘no worries, I’m just so happy for you’.
My abiding thoughts were that my late wife was watching over me and had become my Guardian Angel. I talk to her every day; when she was alive she often used to say’I told you that, you don’t listen’. Well dear I am listening now, but I can’t hear you. But whatever fate befalls me now, I know that she’ll be saying ‘don’t worry, everything will turn out alright’. It’s quite surreal, but that’s why the result of a football match doesn’t linger with me now for more than a few minute, nor does the little thing like prostate cancer get me down. I’m so positive nowadays knowing someone who I love dearly is watching over me. Life goes on, and as Mogga used to say’ it is what it is’.
Just been thinking why no press conference today?
OFB
OFB..I was thinking the same ….anybody know why ?
Perhaps he’s having an extended Christmas break at Sandbanks.
I meant to add to my story that the Cape of Good Hope was certainly aptly named for me.
A magnificent crowd of 319 tonight as Redcar Athletic extend their unbeaten run in their inaugural season in Division 2 of the Northern League to 6 matches with a 1-1 draw against Billingham Synthonia. This smashes Redcar’s previous attendance of 204 and outside of Synthonia’s neighbours Billingham Town, is the highest crowd attendance recorded so far this season in Division 2.
Surely it’s the acid test today, if they can’t best the bottom club at home in the mustest win of recent mustest win games then it could be Goodnight Vienna and a one way ticket to Sandbanks.
The players know this so their individual performances could be very revealing today. Will TP go for his preferred eleven ( does he even have one) or will he rely on his least selected players to pull him and the club out of the mire they are currently in?
Looking at the league table you could be forgiven for asking what all the fuss is about, but on current form this fixture if played in a months time could well have been called a proverbial six pointer.
It would appear that the malaise that has dogged the club in recent times is still prevalent and in danger of becoming institutionalised. My views on certain individuals have been expressed on this forum before and as long as they are at the club then I can’t see any change on the horizon.
A defeat today could well see the departure of the manager but it goes much deeper than that and needs to be surgically removed, with a blunt knife if necessary.
I will be watching more with a view of body language than body performance today.
Tractor Beams 4 Tractor Boys 0
Good post GHW.
I only wish you would stop these tongue in cheek predictions. I think they are the cause of our poor form.
It may well be the acid test today, especially if supporters tune in to Radio Tees and hear Boro lose, then turn on Tony Pulis as we drop out of the top six – it certainly feels like a bad trip we’re on at the moment and any sight of promotion appears to be little more than an hallucination…
GHW
All the points you make send a shiver down the spine. We are actually helpless in the control of someone who, in the words of the eternal critic “hasn’t a clue”.
I have just read a statement from Pulis which fills me with horror. I had better paraphrase it before I go on.
“I need to bring in some speed as we struggle to get the ball forward, we need someone who can deliver through balls to our striker, if we cannot find them we will have to make do with what we have. I brought on a couple of lads who might be able to do the job in Wing and Tav. In the last match.”
This is truly terrifying, what planet is he on, zog?
This is a man who is driving the car without brakes, headlights or steering, and I’m not too happy about the tyres either.
Meanwhile we are being offered every busted flush on the market, every type of failure from busted knees to bad character to lack of talent, and mostly a combination of all three.
I need hardly say we are eagerly holding talks with clubs who would rob their own grannies for fun.
If anyone is thinking Forestieri from Sheffield Wednesday may be one for the January window might want to think again.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-46704147
Bet his Mam says he’s a lovely lad.
Just time for a quick post before I head off to sort out clearing MIL house.
Some of me wishes that I were at the game to witness the bestest win of the season in the mustest mustest win game of our season thus far!
I think it is going to a beautiful game, the bestest and Ipswich are going to pay for it! If they don’t, then I will put the club on shut down!
I feel that the team selection will dictate how it goes and what TPs plan is and indeed whether he stays.
Prediction is for a 2 1 victory for Boro but it will be hard work!
On a separate issue, why do the politicians feel the need to give Honours out to Southgate, Kane, Cook and in some respects Twiggy, Palin et al? If they had done something worthy including charity work then I could understand it more.
The cave divers certainly deserve their recognition for sure!
Anyway, I nominate Weder, Redcar Red, Simon, Ken and Ex Mill for the ODB ( Order of Diasboro Blog) for services beyond the call of duty on this fantastic blog!
UTB
BBD, Thanks for the mention in depatches.
Come on BORO.
Just realised that I had forgotten OFB for his interviews which make such good reading! You too can have an ODB!
BBD
Many Thanks
OFB
Boro Beckys Dad
Thanks for the mention, though I’m a bit concerned about the colour of the ribbon, wouldn’t want it to clash with my red jacket. In any case I think Jarkko should be well ahead of me for his support and positiveness on all things Boro.
Regardless of where they are in the league, any team coming to the Riverside will know if they can grab a goal they have a great chance of a point or three.
I expect Ipswich to start with caution and if they don’t concede within 10 minutes – cue my hollow laughter – they’ll become more adventurous and take the game to us as our fans volubly vent their frustration, anger and considerable despair.
I suspect TP will shuffle his team, again. Possibly bringing in Saville for Besic, maybe swapping Hugill for Brit, and likely to further fanny about with the defence because after all that’s where our biggest problems lie.
No start for Wing or Tav.
My prediction?
1 all.
Once again the Oracle has spoken to our Diasboro operative – but we must still find ‘The One’ to free us all from the oppression of the Pulis machine…
If Pulis chooses to play just a lone striker and not risk Wing or Tav from the start against the bottom club in a game he must win then we should ask if not now then when?
Boro must start and keep on the front foot and for me that means playing Tav in one of the forward positions and Wing as a playmaker. I’d agree Hugill should start so that ‘runners’ (not strollers) can play off him. I’d play Ayala and Fry in the centre of a back four with I suppose Friend and McNair either side. I’d probably go with a mobile midfield three of Saville, Wing and Besic with Downing getting one of the other forward slots as he at least can drive forward.
Of course none of that will come to pass but I believe it is possible to find an attacking line-up that would trouble the bottom club.
Prediction: 1-0 Boro on the grounds that we can’t be worse than Ipswich – scorer: Ayala
Just read the gazette piece on the sacking of Pulis, that it would be ever so dangerous, people might be hurt, who knows what might happen, etc.
They are simply trying to grease their way back into the inner circle of the club. They know his number is up, as in, ” come in no 22 your time is up”
It is always the right time to axe an awful manager, never give him one more match, it never works. To quote a famous politician, ” you have wasted our time in this place for any good that you might have done, in the name of God, go.”
Plato, I agree 100%. Pathetic article.
Maybe, with Tuesday in mind, TP will play his cup team and rest his “big” players. Then if we lose he can say “I told you so”.
Come on BORO.
Tony Pulis is infinitely more experienced and qualified than me but if I could offer one piece of advice it would be that if you want to win matches – and promotion ambitions mean you must win matches – then you have to risk losing.
That means Tav and Wing – our two most creative players – in from the start, every week. Yes, they may be more prone to making a poor decision or taking up the wrong position but that is a risk, if indeed it is a risk given the performances of more experienced players, that has to be taken.
Like Werder, I would also give Saville a go purely on the basis that he’s scored a couple this season.
3-5-2
Randolph
Fry Ayala Batth
McNair Wing Clayton Saville Downing
Tavernier Hugill
The instruction must be for Saville to get into the opposition box at every opportunity with Wing pulling the strings and encouraged to shoot from distance whilst Clayton minds the back door. McNair and Downing must also get wide and forward with enthusiasm.
Of course, that won’t happen and I expect Besic, Howson and Friend to all start, as well as Flint – four players who’ve looked distinctly off colour for a while in my view.
Throw us a bone Tony. Play on the front foot with an attacking line up. Surely at home against Ipswich that’s not too much to ask?
A team would not mind seeing from the off. ……No chance of that though. No Captain Marvel?
I’d prefer to give Downing a go at wingback due to his superior delivery, even if Friend is defensively stronger. A back three plus Clayton playing high up the pitch shouldn’t need five or six defenders in the side.
I can’t get worked up about him anymore. If we can’t grasp an opportunity when offered it what chance do Boro have. It’ll be the same old, same old, words, selection and tactics. Boro are becoming a pushover, or predictable or both. Preserve the point you start with and try and nick it with a late goal but don’t be distracted by the stadium emptying and those remaining booing.
They ought to win, and win convincingly too, but I fear it won’t happen and if we do collect all three points it’s only a reprieve. Boro aren’t free scoring, in fact they aren’t scoring, so for them to hammer Ipswich it beggars belief how poor Ipswich would have to be and we’d still have to hit the target.
Boro 1 – 1 Ipswich but that’s only as long as Boro score first.
Wearily,
UTB,
John
Today is a massive game for SG and TP. Anything less than a convincing victory will have the knives out. Lambert has already said he doesn’t do defensive football and will start this game the same as he does every other game on the front foot. That tactic could give Pulis his lifeline if we can get up the pitch and get an early goal but the problem is for TP is that getting up the pitch means approaching the half way line to wave at your isolated striker.
I reckon that he has twenty or twenty five minutes before things turn toxic. Two goals up and everything will be abated at least temporarily with the lid still on. Struggling or worse still going behind and the vitriol will be unleashed at volumes that made the crowd turning on AK and Mogga (both had previous “goodwill” brownie points) look like a Sunday School outing. Stories about Connor Wickham for Britt Assombalonga resurfacing this morning will not be helping the mood at all on the terraces.
Put simply its a must win game as GHW has already eloquently pointed out. There has to be a seismic shift in attitude, selection and formation and I don’t think TP can or would do that. More tellingly I’m not convinced that the Players frame of mind are on board regardless. Clearly there is/was a longer term plan for SG involving TP but if he can’t get over this hurdle then the whole thing becomes untenable. I suspect that there may have been a discussion between the two with that in mind, we will see when the team is announced in forty minutes or so.
TP has got himself into this situation and only TP can get himself out of it now.
On the plus side, the dross we are currently putting up with – and throwing in the past few years for good measure – really is contributing to some first class debates here.
An excellent and thoughtful blog right now. Maybe adversity has its merits…
A sign of football these days that we’ve reached the playoffs twice and achieved promotion once playing the current style of play.
Dross, Defensive, Percentage football. Take your pick.
Sat watching the Old Firm Derby, Tavenier Snr. is having a brilliant game and looks every bit as smooth, controlled and as fast as Tavernier Jnr. Difference is, Steven Gerrard, a young and up and coming manager, realises the attributes that Tavernier Snr. has to offer, whereas we have a dinosaur that wouldn’t even appreciate that we have the same player in Tavernier Jnr. even if the meteor struck.
Well another bad team selection by TP. Just cannot understand the man. Grr.
So the starting XI includes Wing but not Tavernier and Clayton makes way for Saville – with Fry seemingly back on right-back duty. Hugill replaces Britt but not sure yet on the formation – could be 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 if Wing plays further forward with Downing.
Randolph
Fry
Ayala
Flint
Friend
Howson
Saville
Besic
Wing
Downing
Hugill
As for the bench – well Tavernier at least gets a seat but so does Gestede
Subs:
Lonergan
Batth
Clayton
McNair
Tavernier
Assombalonga
Gestede
No Taverner or Clayton… Oh dear.
I would swap out Howson, Saville and Besic for Clayton, Tavernier and Fletcher. Clayton holding midfield, shielding the defence and Fletcher alongsid Hughill to be available to take advantage of Hughill’s ability to hold the ball…
I’d also. Swap out Flint for Shotton, but moving Fry inside with Shotton on the right.
Line them up as 4-1-3-2, with the three (Tav, Wing and Downing) free to swap themselves around left, right and centre…
However, the starting line up is what it is. Let’s hope they don’t leak a goal in the first 25 minutes.
Not feeling optimistic, 1-0 to Ipswich, or perhaps if we are lucky, 1-1 with us saving it late on.
Just noticed, no Shotton on the bench… Is he injured?
Brave team sheet for a Manager under pressure. No Clayts protecting the defensive unit then switching Wednesdays scapegoat to RB when McNair was steady. Besic still selected despite his liabilities and no need for pace clearly with Tav benched so it will be interesting to see how many aimless crosses we get in to the isolated Hugill.
As for putting Gestede on the bench well thats just finalised my opinion regardless of the result today. You just can’t help some people. Hope we win but my view is that its better for all parties if we go into the Transfer window managerless.
Totally agree RR…when I saw Gestede was on the bench, I can’t repeat the words on here that I said.
Good to see Wing selected to start although I suspect Pulis put his name on the sheet through gritted teeth to placate the fans somewhat.
Otherwise it’s same old, same old. On recent form none of Howson, Saville and Besic are worth their places yet Pulis can’t seem (or doesn’t want) to see it and persists with them. Why Tavernier isn’t in the starting line-up is a mystery to me and, I expect, to him too.
We’ll be lucky to score.
RR, what do you mean when you say that “anything other than a convincing win will have the knives out?”, there’s more knives trying to slash TP than on the Ides of March in the Roman senate.
As for the team selection, I think that with TP’s age we need to send him for a dementia test, can’t he remember the last formation that didn’t work which was exactly the same, as the one before that was exactly the same that didn’t work, and the one …………. ad infinitum.
I give up.
Infamy Infamy
They’ve all got it for me, one of the best lines in comedy ever.
I remember an advert many, many moons ago by Penelope Keith for Parker pens, she was seen writing a cheque whilst saying (if my memory serves me correctly) “Oh look, the noughts simply roll off”. I shudder to think that this Berk is going to be given the same cheque book and pen. I mean, he can’t even write a team sheet correctly no matter which pen he uses.
30 minutes gone and Boro haven’t had a decent effort on goal yet but Ipswich have had two decent chances and one very good save from Randolph saved our blushes
I still cant get commentary but there appears to be as much action on the BBC website.
A goal, drawn the curtains and having a lie down.
Finally a goal from a gifted penalty but 2 minutes earlier Saville’s tame effort at their keeper was greeted by a sarcastic round of applause.
The goal was greeted with cheers of “we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal”.
How are we lining up? 261 again?
Sorry, 361 again?
Ian, be happy with 261 because there’s more than one man missing out there this afternoon!
Three at the back with Howson and Friend as wing backs. Besic, Wing and Downing defending centrally and trying to support the lone striker against the leagues bottom side with the poorest scoring record and probably worst defence.
Turgid best describes the first half with the penalty keeping knives in their sheaths. Two awful sides to watch in a dreary game of “Football”.
Well that was a very unconvincing first half display from Boro and they need to thank the Ipswich defender for placing his hands on Hugill in the six-yard box as a cross came over and gifting us a penalty. Other than that we haven’t posed a threat, whereas they’ve had three decent efforts that required two good saves from Randolph. We still look like a team of strangers and there is little sign that there is much in the way of understanding between the players.
Interestingly, Bernie said if he as decent forward was offered the chance to come to Boro in January he’d turn the move down as our style of play would be detrimental to his career. Whether that becomes the case we shall see!
We all know the answer Werder, but we also know that without Devine intervention it will never happen. Penalties don’t count as far as I’m concerned, ask George Camsell, we can’t score from open play to save our lives.
Tav will be off on loan at this rate.
Tav’s been on 10 minutes and scores. Think what might happen if he started.
He has to start every game in place of the well past it Downing.
At least Tavernier has earned his seat on the bench for the next game with yet another goal!
Gateshead will be the destination for Tav, maybe Wing will drive him there and keep him company.
If Chapman is coming back it’s a certainty!
UTB,
John
PS A goal from open play?
Well Boro win the must win game but made it hard work for much of the game and looked quite disjointed. The team relaxed a bit more after Tavernier’s goal and started to create some good chances in the last 10 minutes or so. Lewis Wing looked to be the kind of player who can help unlock defences and of course Tavernier is a very lively player who has proved on three occasions he can score – deserves to start.
Hugill worked hard but lacked that final touch but put away the penalty and was unlucky with a header at the death after a good save from their keeper. Howson also did OK in the right wing-back role but many of the players not looking as sharp as they needed to be. By no means a convincing performance but probably enough to let Pulis off the hook so he can go and enjoy his shopping in the January sales.
With Villa, Brum and QPR drawing and Forest losing it has at least consolidated Boro’s position in the play-offs – though if we want to follow it up with another win at Derby then it will need a better display – especially as the Rams have just scored two late goals at Norwich to go 4-3 up and leave us potentially just six points off second spot.
Ah, percentage football. That reads as a team deliberately set up to score the first goal, home or away. Which reads pretty much as follows…
Give a team a 2-0 head start, 1-0 for the best, and nearly every time, they look good enough to beat anybody.
Put a team 1-0 down early on and, more often than not (or all the time if 2-0), the confidence and command will drain from them and they will look like a pub side.
Managers who are exceptionally good at organising the team in the art of clean sheet-keeping will stand by this method.
Like, say, a young Mourinho – a mere 15 goals conceded and 25 shut-outs as his Chelsea team won the title at a canter.
If his team only came from behind to win twice… well, they rarely *had* to come from behind to win.
Even Sir Alf Ramsey’s England only came from behind to win once in 1966 and 1970 – and, before the last minute of the ’66 final, they’d only leaked once from open play.
This was Ipswich, by far and away the worst team in the league by a country mile, and trust me they can appreciate country miles. One of the worst first halve’s I’ve seen against a team from the level below, it ranked along Burton, but the ‘gift’ of a penalty and finally a goal from free play has saved Dr. Death from being just that, dead!
I posted earlier in regards to Tavernier Snr’s performance for Rangers, and how Tavernier Jnr’s. inclusion would be a complete benefit, somehow it totally went passed TP’s memory capture frame of dementia. My patience is definitely not infinite, hopefully SG’s isn’t either.
My missus has some paper, some glue, and I’ve got a crack, but like the Boro I bet she couldn’t paper it over!
Good to get a win but the bad news is that it may let Pulis off the hook for a while. He doesn’t deserve to be off the hook because the performance was very pedestrian at best. Ironic isn’t it that we probably wouldn’t have won if Wing and Tavernier hadn’t been on the field so expect to see them on the bench at Derby.
I dare say there are quite a few on Teesside who may have secretly hoped that a defeat at home to Ipswich could have pushed Steve Gibson into action. However, I suspect given how the chairman was apparently ‘like a dog with a bone’ when trying to persuade Pulis to come to Boro, he won’t be rushed into decision any time soon. We can only hope the football improves but I’m not anticipating a radical change in the lack of adventure on the pitch.
At the game for each match we usually get together to guess the time for the golden goal.
Today I guessed February and my buddy guessed March!
OFB
Let’s not kid ourselves the first half was as bad as burton/Sheffield Wed . It was all so slow pedestrian an predictable. Randolph kept us in the game with two good saves.
I would also drop Downing what does he give us these days play Tav.
Howson had a good game
Tav and Wing must start together at derby.
Can’t believe that there are only 4 teams above us after our poor run
Because it’s a poor league Old billy, imagine how any of the top teams in the Championship will fare in the Premier League. They are all capable of conceding 3 or 4 goals in the Championship sometimes and certainly won’t score many goals in the Premier League. Wolves seem to be the only promoted team capable of holding their own. Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Huddersfield have to rely on home wins mainly against each other to survive, and Boro wouldn’t even be capable of that.
A comfortable win and a valuable 3 points. Still a lot of work required to get us anywhere near what most of us would call “entertaining” football.
Don’t think it was the as bad a performance as some think as it wasn’t even the worst performance I’ve seen this week. It was an average performance but one in which I thought we rarely looked like not winning. Yes Ipswich were poor but how many times have Boro failed against other poor sides and you can only beat what’s in front of you.
Starting with Wing is a start and Tav made a difference when he came on so what price they start away at FLDC?
Whoever does or doesn’t come in next month and who is or who will be the manager are massive questions that the clubs owner and senior management have to get right otherwise it’s a bit of a bleak few months or years ahead.
Actually I enjoyed it today and let’s face it after the shambles of the past few games anything is more enjoyable than those games.
Fleming and TP seem to have made it up on the bench but woody never came off once which surprises me for someone with his defensive pedigree he doesn’t seem to get involved
Hugill probably had his best game for us today he won and took the penalty and was very close with a couple of headers
Besic beats three men and then goes back to beat them again which infuriated all of us in the west upper stand. There is a quality footballer in there it’s kist a case of trying to drag it out
Tav had a great game when he came on and it was interesting that TP was taking the time to coach him from the sidelines and tell him where to position himself which was very reminiscent of Traore.
Wing got caught out a couple of times out of position but his running and forward passing play was tremendous
George was very active today and put in a real solid display
Adrian Flint nearly Cost is a goal when misjudging a ball he thought was going out and it took a sharp clearance by Ayala to save the day.
Ayala went off injured but was back to his best today.
Hopefully it was better to watch for RR to do a report which isn’t a trudge for him
Happy New Year all you bloggers
OFB
Howson my motm closely followed by Wing. If only Howson could put that type of a performance in on a regular basis.
Did a bit of sniffing around and Rumour is 3 players to definitely sign
A left winger a right winger (we know about ) and a centre forward (we know about)
Re the Left Winger Couldn’t get a name but he’s been at Rockliffe this week….
So we’ll wait and see what happens
OFB
A win and quite an entertaining second half. Enjoyed the second half for a change.
And the top two lost. Happy weekend. Up the Boro!
If I was Boro I would be looking at Tavernier’s brother who plays right back for Glasgow Rangers. Had a brilliant game against Celtic today and he is also Captain.
I am a bit worried by the window.
I would like to see Tav and Wing given more time as a think they would blossom as the season progresses.
I fear they will be back on the bench to accommodate some mercenaries come the end of January
Old Billy I agree with you. It would be very bad news and the result might be that we lose these two to other clubs who appreciate their talents.
I would like to know how many minutes it takes Tav to score a goal
Anyone got the stats?
He must be up there for minutes per goal
According to the Beeb, 189 minutes per goal, compared with 231 for Britt, 261 for Hugill, 370 for Braithwaite & 586 for Besic, BUT 106 for Ashley Fletcher…
Imposter alert!!
The person calling themselves Steely who messaged BBC Tees saying he’d hoped that Boro would lose so that Pulis would be sacked was not me.
While I’m not TP’s greatest fan, I would never go to a match hoping we’d lose and I’ll leave SG and/or TP to decide when he has to go.
I heard that “original” Steely. Wanting the club to fail to get the manager sacked is a strange view for a supporter.
So Boro ended the year on a winning note with victory over perhaps the best opposition for the task. It was a must win game and with other results going pretty much in our favour it turned out to be a good day – especially for under-fire Tony Pulis who may be glad to see the year end. Anyway, here’s Redcar Red’s view on proceedings with his match report…
https://diasboro.club/2018/12/29/boro-2-0-ipswich/
Thanks again RR as once again had to miss the game with this sciatica and it’s too painful walk and stand, so your reports are most welcome. Radio Tees is good but only if we are winning otherwise its a bit depressingly to listen to.
Bri
UTB
Thanks for the report RR which has brought me up to date on proceedings. Too late here in oz to watch so will have to await the video.
At least it was a win, three points, two goals and a clean sheet. Given the first half performance there are still question marks about team selection, intensity and performance.
TP is clearly with us until the summer at which point I suspect he will depart having failed to secure promotion but pointing out that his job of overhauling the club is done. He will no doubt state that we are better placed than when he arrived!
Not sure if it is the holiday but I am feeling some what disinterested with the goings on at MFC presently. As always however I will continue supporting and look constantly at the best football blog.
Best wishes and a happy new year to all Diasboro wherever you are in the world and in particular to our editorial team of Werder, RR, OFB, Simon, Ken and Exmil who keep us all well informed and entertained. Here’s hoping for a good 2019 for all and MFC in particular!
Keep the faith !
RR
That’s another year over and……..
Another great match report put to bed so that we can enjoy at our leisure
Really appreciate the time and effort that goes into these reports and give an honest unvarnished view of what it says on the tin 🥫
Many thanks and look forward to your reports next year
OFB
Good report from Redcar Red as per usual. He sees it as it is, whereas the Gazette reporters, like dear old Cliff Mitchell in the past, are a little guarded in their reports. Wasn’t Bernie Slaven removed from Century Radio for giving honest opinions, and that was when Boro were a Premier League team?
As much I like Clayton and he seems to play well usually, I was hoping before the match to go with Saville in front of the back four or five.
What surprised me was that TP played Besic in the deeper midfielder role.
But anyway, I felt we were more positive when Clayton was missing from the midfield. I think the same happened the last time around when he was benched, too.
You know Bernie Slaven’s comment when something extraordinary happens – a short “wow!” . Yesterday it was when Clayton had a shot. It was when I realised how rare it was for Clayton to shoot.
I would be interested in hearing some comments on our team perdformance from others when we have someone else in for Clayton. But I think we are more quicker going forward. And do not sit as deep as a team, too. We are less Karanka type team when he is not around.
Up the Boro!
I think Clayts is a part of the problem but the problem isn’t Clayts per se. Before he joined Boro he was a 1 goal in 8 games midfielder he is now 1 in 174 games! Downing when he was with us before was a 1 goal in 10 midfielder in the Premiership and is now 1 in 15 in the Championship mainly. Howson with both Leeds and Norwich was a 1 in 8 scorer but with Boro he is now 1 in 22.
Those three players have been the mainstay of our midfield for a while now but tactical sterility over a series of managers have emasculated our midfield totally. TP is the latest to lament our lack of goals but seemingly incapable of looking in the mirror instead of counting crosses. Once is an accident, twice is unfortunate but all three of them is blatantly deliberate. We reap what we sow and what we are now seeing is negative conditioning which has semi paralysed our chances of promotion.
Going further up the field, Britt had a 1 in 2.8 ratio with Southend, a 1 in 1.8 with Peterborough and 1 in 2.1 with Forest and currently 1 in 3 with Boro. We sign players usually for large fees, don’t play to their strengths, shoehorn them into an alien system that doesn’t suit them thereby limiting their skills and abilities and then move them on to bring in the next victim so we can destroy their confidence and effectiveness then express outrage and collective underwhelming disappointment. Stuani, Rhodes, etc. etc., MFC have made an art form of it but its never the Managers fault be it Karanka, Monk or Pulis.
Just this season watching us defend at home against the likes of Rotherham, Burton, etc. etc. sucks the life out of the fans so its fair to conclude that the players are every bit as fed up, disappointed and resigned to their fate. With that very simple and obvious bit of management analysis its not hard to work out where the problem lies and its not the wage bill.
RR, Thanks for the report. It is much nicer to read after a win. I have seen Boro playing more often than ever before because of the Riverside Live service for us living outside the UK. So I don’t often need to read the report but it was as accurate as ever.
And thank you for the comment on Clayton, too. On paper we have some good midfielders like Howson, Downing, Wing, Tavanier, Besic, Saville. We should do better but the midfield does not click yet. Let’s hope one new player makes it function, like Maddo said after the match. Like Ramirez did for Karanka.
Up the Boro!
Redcar Red
As there was no commentary from my subscription thanks for the report.
I watched the highlights and were at the end of the championship games. I must admit it looked like a penalty on the box. The ref was well position, the defender had his arms around and tugging Hugill giving the ref a decision to make.
Player ratings from “The Sunday Times”:
Middlesbrough: Randolph 7, Fry 6, Ayala 7 (Batth 90+1min, 3), Flint 7, Friend 7, Howson 6, Saville 6, Besic 7 (Clayton 85min, 5), Wing 7, Hugill 7, Downing 7 (Tavernier 61min, 6)
Redcar Red,
thanks for the report and despite the win it still seems a bit flat. I haven’t watched the highlights yet, that pleasure is yet to come. What Tavernier has to do together a start I do not know. The strange selections must be part of the frustration of watching Boro.
Boro won, a clean sheet, a goal from open play what are we all worried about?
Answers on a postcard please.
A happy and healthy New Year to everyone.
UTB,
John
OFB reference your post of 29 Dec at 06:08 in which you refer to a striker about to sign (which we know about) we have been linked with so many I haven’t a clue to which one you mean, the strikers linked include Genk’s Mbwana Samatta, so could enlighten myself to which one you believe is here already please.
Come on BORO.
Connor Wickham
It wasn’t a choice I would have made and there were a couple of moans when we were told!
Don’t know who the other winger is hope it’s Adama!
OFB
I was frightened you were going to say that!
Well we will soon see what he has to offer as he has just come on for Palace v Chelsea.
Come on BORO.
Comment by Chris Sutton in the Beeb’s text cmmentary on the match:
“That was the chance for Crystal Palace. The doorman-like figure of Connor Wickham got the knockdown from James Tomkins, but just leaned back and hit the ball clean over the top.”
He should fit in well…. *shakes head*
That should have been “cOmmentary”.
From what I saw of his 20+ minutes, he is no better than we have already got and as far as a straight swap for Assombalonga, you have to be joking.
Come on BORO.
Got to agree with others wickham looks like another fence post striker just like the ones we already have.
Connor Whickham? Groan.
I would rather have Mr Whickham from Pride and Prejudice, less wooden.
I’m pleased to be wrong in my score prediction, and a home win and clean sheet are always to be welcomed. However having not seen the game and going by RR’s undoubtedly accurate report, I’m far from reassured for our prospects against Derby who seem to score or fun even when they lose.
TP’s comments about offloading big earners seems at odds with his desire to sign a Premier league player who presumably will demand a pay rise to drop a division and return north.
Except for his loan spell at Wednesday his scoring rate seems worse than that of the players we have, though he is 6’3″ and so is probably considered to capitalise on those 30 or so crosses TP is so keen to talk about.
Chris,
Maybe we’ll sign a chair for him to stand on?
UTB,
John
Yet another excellent report, RR. Many thanks.
Your comments at 10.48 am are also spot on. A management personality, “philosophy” and style which is sucking the life out of the fans, the players and the entire club is exactly what we are witnessing at the moment.
It’s a form of officially sanctioned pollution that I can no longer bear to watch.
This after more than 70 years of supporting the team, and cherishing the memories of the likes of Mannion, Hardwick, Clough, Souness, TLF, Ian Gibson, and many, many other fine players whose skills and attitude have brought great credit to both the club and the town.
Wickham will fit the Pulis template perfectly. A signing that will enhance his project of further reducing the squad’s skill and intelligence quotient, whilst increasing its potential for intimidation and thuggery.
I have no intention of ever contributing a single penny to the inflated wages of such a player.
Len, oh for a Camsell, Fenton, Clough or Peacock. Sighs!!!
They’d be sold or benched under Pulis!
My take on Wickham is that we have had Hugill and Gestede, both “traditional” old fashioned centre forwards who haven’t exactly set the heather alight playing in TP’s system. Signing another copycat injury prone striker to what we already have in Gestede seems absolutely pointless to me and one to be filed under McNair and Saville. Sorry but unless its an obvious upgrade or a gap filler like van La Parra I wouldn’t authorise any payments.
Are we getting the best out if what we already have in terms of existing strikers? Absolutely not! To me the deal is like swapping a 10 year old Corsa with 110,000 miles on the clock with an engine leak and dodgy electrics for a brand new 3 series. Is there something for someone who knows someone who knows someone in the deal that we are not party to?
Its a very strange and irrational one for me especially when the Manager’s contract ends in a little over five months. Is Wickham the missing piece of the jigsaw to get us up this season? I’d be amazed if he was even fit enough for long enough to play the amount of games required to make any difference whatsoever. Even if we were to keep Britt and Wickham was just to replace Gestede I’d still steer well clear, it all smacks of “Typical Boro”. What sort of moneyball or new “recruitment strategy” that we are being sold, sorry told about, does this fall under?
I just thought that I’d throw in some more boring statistics for folks to mull over before the start of a New Year.
1. This season is the 120th since the inaugural season of 1888/89 and yesterday Everton played their 4,500th game in the top division some 384 more than Liverpool and Arsenal who share joint 2nd position. Boro have so far played in 2,438 top tier fixtures.
2. However counting 3 points for a win, Liverpool have accumulated the most points 6,675, Arsenal are second with 6,589 and Everton third with 6,547. Boro are in 18th position with 3,068.
3. Everton have spent only 4 seasons outside the top flight, 1930/31, 1951/52, 1952/53 and 1953/54 a total of 116 season’s spent in the top tier. Boro have spent 61 seasons in the top flight. I have discounted the periods covering the 2 World Wars in these statistics.
4. Liverpool is the only City in England to have representation in the top tier. The seasons when Everton were in the Second Division, Liverpool were in the First Division. The first London team to appear in the top tier was Arsenal in 1904.
5. Finally so far 64 clubs have appeared in the top tier since its formation in 1888.
Happy New Year to all Boro fans.
If one studies the team he put on the field, you would be forced to the conclusion that he is in complete denial of the fact that his record of team selections is down there with the worst in the game. To start Wing without Tav. Shows that he is completely oblivious to the bleedin obvious, I.e. That both are very necessary to our success as a team in this league, and I do not ignore Hugill, he is very good at holding the ball up and laying it off to both the above, and his strength is formidable, very useful in todays game.
He is still commiting the sin of not playing Fry in the centre of a back three (that would be his ball playing skills lost to the side)
just a minor point, but I think he is costing us goals by wanting wing to play further back, this player got thirty seven goals in one season, and is good in front of goal, he does not blast it over the bar!
oh, sorry, I didn’t realise that was what was required.
I have an awful fear that he is being allowed to buy players to keep out both Wing and Tav, plus Hugill, not good, and not good to have him rearranging our playing squad, I fear it will not end well, a bit like me being allowed to choose the cast of the next show at the royal opera house, and the results will be about the same.
Ten years ago today Eddie Howe took charge of his first game as Bournemouth manager.
They lost against Darlington.
Dear dear me?
got
Yes I did mention that earlier this month that in fact Bournemouth were second from bottom with 7 points having been docked 17 points for going into administration. Incidentally Darlington were in a playoff position of 6th with 38 points at that time and only 2 points behind 3rd placed Bradford with a game in hand. At the season’s end Bournemouth finished with 46 points and finished 21st but 9 points from relegation, whilst Darlington would have retained 6th position except for a later 10 points reduction for also going into administration and therefore finishing 12th. That was the beginning of Darlington’s slide and Bournemouth’s resurgence.
As far back as 2000, even before that, journalists were detecting a malaise at the club. The buzz from fifteen (fifteen!) goals in three home matches was wiped out at the end of the same month by a 2-0 reverse at home to Arsenal and then a 4-0 tanking by winless Southampton.
The Southampton game was a true heartbreaker. I was in Edinburgh at the time and went to check the score on Final Score having left the match at 1-0. (You had no choice but radio, the nearest TV and Teletext in those days if you were on the go.)
The 4-0 scoreline sent 16-year-old me into a state of misunderstanding and despair. Mainly because Southampton were winless and all illusions of upward mobility, as things stood, had been shattered. I later found that the defence had gifted the Saints two of their goals, at least, one going in direct from a corner, while the once imperious Emerson had phoned in his work and Ravanelli missed a penalty.
The defensive charity of Boro had given, in my friend Mike Baker’s words, smug journalists the chance to wax lyrical about what they’d known all along – Robbo hadn’t paid due attention to the needs of the backline. Unlike West Ham or Coventry, the Saints recognised Juninho was the fount of most of our attacks and worked overtime to cut off his supply with tackles and marking. Once our attack was sewn up we were left with a vulnerable underbelly that many a team was all too eager to expose.
Building a house starting from the roof, an Italian newspaper called it.
Four years on, in a piece called “Robson out… of ideas”, Louise Taylor noted how Robbo’s obsession with expensive, big names was set to drive him out of the Boro hotseat. She added how Walter Smith had managed to get Gazza both slim and capable of lasting ninety minutes at Everton: “Puzzlingly, Boro’s players just don’t seem to improve.”
And yet the managers who helped give us our strongest foundations in the Premier League and Championship respectively aren’t remembered as fondly.
Football.
Come on Redcar Red, we’d loan them out to ‘man-up’ at Gateshead, Barrow or Hartlepool.
UTB,
John
If Wickham does come, here’s a clip where you’ll be able to talk about Boro past and present goalscorers…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODN9n41fzys
Here’s a take on Wickham from Dr. R. M. Keane, recently sacked Irish assistant manager and Ipswich manager during most of Wickham’s time with the Tractor Boys. Penned in 2014.
“I liked Connor Wickham. He didn’t score loads of goals, but he was only sixteen or seventeen… I had a go at him once or twice. Sometimes I didn’t like his attitude to training. But he was a nice kid, although he was six foot three – a big, strong boy.
“He shook your hand properly. I’d shake hands with all the players as they went out to the pitch – ‘Good luck, good luck’ – the usual. Sometimes I’d wonder what they were putting in my hand. But Connor would grab my hand, and I knew he’d have a go for me.
“He played in the toughest position, if you’re learning your trade in the Championship. He was a striker, and most of the centre-halves are big, experienced men and they’re going to leave their mark on you.
“But Connor would take it all day, and he’d be knocking lads over. He did well for me in some important games…”
Inconclusive. Nice guy, someone who’ll take all the physical bumps and bruises of the lower tier… two out of three. The catch, and it’s a big one, is that he’s not all that prolific. He’s never made double figures in a season.
Big Lad……tick
Non scoring Striker……tick
Write off loads of cash……..tick
New boo boy target……tick
Legacy for new manager to bemoan……tick
Constantly injured……..tick
Leaves on a free (or undisclosed)…….tick
Is it too early to be thoroughly underwhelmed by the plan to resurrect our promotion push being a big lad who can take and dish out physical challenges, who has scored just 9 goals in the last four seasons – plus a wide player who can’t even get into a Huddersfield side who Alan Shearer described yesterday as offering very little attacking threat whatsoever – I wonder who the unnamed left winger is? Maybe it’s Adam Johnston on loan from Moorland prison with a ball and chain round his ankle!
He’d still be faster…
UTB,
John
Beat me to it John! 🙂
You can’t say we can’t afford exciting players anymore, to take the pressure off Wing and Tav, because there *are* exciting bargains to be found. If only our team (recruitment and management) had the eye for them.
But for even Fabbrini and Kike Garcia now…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdqFQuUTKeU
The way teams play now at least the good ones,demand a lot from their fullbacks, its imperative they can control the ball,read the game ,speed helps,but they must not give the ball away cheaply ,and deliver a good cross in dangerous areas.
We don’t have one that comes close to that ability, Ours try,but are limited.
Having said that , Pulis has to make this a priority, he must upgrade those positions , I know we can’t sign elite players but there are better out there than we have.
We also need at least one midfielder who can dominate in the middle and create attacking options.OK a winger.
The thing is bringing in the type we need ,the right ones not squad players we might get where we want to be.
Get to it management..
gt
There is, of course, a one word answer to your first two paras.
Fabio.
So next on the radar is Knudsen, the Ipswich full-back, who can’t get a game for the bottom club and has limited footballing skills. But who has a long throw.
So we know what’s coming. And it’s not anything that the knowledgable supporters of the Boro would ever call football.
The manager’s claim to be anything other than a one-trick pony lies in tatters.
At least you have the long throw part correct Len.
As far as I can see he has played virtually every game this season for Ipswich and the majority of the recent Internationals for Denmark including last summer’s World Cup.
As for his “limited” football skills, the lads a defender, I want him to defend, something that George seems unable to do anymore.
But hey, it’s a stick to beat the manager with, whether it’s true or not.
It’s not always for football reasons that a player isn’t selected.
Yeah, I think he was rested for the Boro match. UTB!
Redcar Red, thank you for your depressing take on the thankful long awaited home win.
This was just another sticking plater to the many long and varied problems in the main perpertrated by our MrPulis.
He has ignored until recently the missing energy and pace of Tav and Wing and it looks as though they will be once more sidelined at best or loaned out at worst once he has cajoled Mr Gibson into parting with his dwindling Football assets.
Whilst the incomings or outgoings even, as Mr Pulis has stated the wages require trimming also, rumours start to take place with la Parra the first through the door, the possible mooted players bring tears to your eyes.
Conner and Knudsen must surely be early April Fools. No better than we have. As RR has said many times, if they are not better than we have, do not bother.
And please please Mr Gibson, do not give any real monies or sign any player permanently until after Mr Pulis departs in the summer.
If OFB’s information about Wickham is correct and not merely a smoke screen to deflect attention away from a genuine scorer then this appears to be more about wages than promotion. Having said that, without knowing the precise figures involved it is difficult to see how Wickham would be cheaper than Assombalong or Braithwaite.
If Braithwaite and Assombalonga are to be let go then it looks more like re-arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic.
TP has been telling the world recently that he was amazed at the salary levels when he arrived and now sees his mission to bring them down. If however the replacement of the above players is with the ones mentioned then this is not in line with his policy of improving the squad unless it is more about squad finance than promotion.
This leads to an earlier post of mine when I suggested he would leave in the summer at the end of his contract having failed to deliver promotion but expounding that his overhaul of the club was complete and that he is leaving us in a better more stable position than when he arrived.
He may be correct in that what he leaves behind can survive in the Championship for years to come and that may well have been his brief from the outset, particularly when reflecting upon last year’s semi final play off against Villa!
I think Tony is referring to the wages , because those players are not delivering of that standard.
The money wouldn’t be an issue if we were doing OK in the premiership..
I can also see a somewhat slow down on Transfers and fees , over a period of time, even recently clubs have slowed down no big fees in the championship, and clubs in the prem are only buying one or two, many are using from their academy’s now
So it could be a long term overall of things going foreward.
We do have an older squad, and if we don’t go up, re think?
GT
Your blog only made sense if the club were hurting towards a precipice, out of control and doomed.
They are none of the above, we are able, if we wished, to simply shed any players on very big money, it would happen gradually, as these things do, without the necessity of signing a string of nothing players, because these nothing players all want a contract for x number of years.
As usual the big clubs have seen the light before the lesser clubs, and are having nothing to do with blocking young players, indeed they are proud of them and ignoring the old mantra of resting them, are racking up long runs in the first team.
Which, of course leaves us with our dinosaur manager not only keeping our decent youngsters well away from the action, but signing everybodies cast offs, and retreads, to block their way into the first team.
Quite how he thinks he is cleaning up our finances by filling our club with unsaleable has been, beats me, his judgement of players is at best wobbly and at worst abysmal. He thought he was clever in selling Traore (started for wolves against Spurs away at Wembly, playing up front, pretty easy away win) sold Bamford to Leeds, now where are they in the league? Oh, I forgot, they are top, silly me.
You will notice that he has not unloaded any of the dross, now that would be managing.
Every one of his buys will be with us for a long time, because they are past their sell by date and were before he bought them, just like the beauty we are about to welcome this week.
It is not his job to worry about money, that is the job of the Chairman, he should worry about winning matches, and avoid everything to do with recruitment, it is not his area of expertise.
Recruitement should be guided by one principle, have they got their careers in front of them, and are they stepping up in the world (wing, Tav, Fry, Hugill) it ain’t rocket science, so why do we get sold pups all the time.
Traore did indeed start against Spurs but was dragged at half time whilst Wolves were 1-0 down so I dont see how much he contributed to their easy win. As for Bamford he has contributed 2 goals to Leeds being top of the League. If you want to bash the manager at least use better examples otherwise it just undermines your argument.
As for dross,that’s a word that I like, however if you then decline to articulate which players fall into this bracket then again it’s meaningless
I also meant to mention ,the recent TV deal! was laughable for the EFL, and that was the cruncher
If …
I just looked at the league table. If we had played normally and won against Wednesday, we would be just three (3) points behind Norwich in the table now.
And Norwich and Leeds both have had some five successive wins or similar before last weekend.
So if somebody is writing off our chances this season it is quite negative. We had a real wobble recently and were awfull to watch, but let’s get behind the teams and players. There is plenty to play for this season.
We have nearly half of the season to go. Forget the past and concentrate on the following few matches. Up the Boro!
I thought problem was that we did play as we “normally” do against Sheffield Wednesday…
I like Pulis. One of my frustrations with Karanka was that even if the game plan wasn’t working, he wouldn’t make a substitute until 60 mins in, and then he would only make a like-for-like sub, usually keeping one back until injury time “just incase”. Monk, on the other hand, changed things wholesale every week – nobody got a run in the squad or the opportunity to build momentum, and there was no consistency in formation or tactics.
Pulis is organised, and knows how he wants to play, but he is willing to make substitutions and adapt formations as a game progresses. Look at the two strikers up front when we went down to 10-men at Blackburn. He lets players have a run in the squad, even if they have an off game, but then will change if somebody else is challenging for a place. I was incredibly frustrated last season when Monk dropped Fry after his part in conceding against Norwich – players need the opportunity to make a mistake and know they can still knuckle down and make up for it. We now have two academy players regularly getting into the squad and occasionally starting, frequently being used (and delivering) as impact subs.
I am not saying it makes for the most exciting football all of the time, and we have had a dip in form recently which has been concerning, but we are still in a relatively strong position that I would have been glad to take on the first day of the season.
And if there is a pragmatism and a tightening of purse strings behind the scenes, then I would much prefer that to having some oil moneyed owner who doesn’t give a b*****s about the town or the football club coming in to splash the cash and then leave the club in the gutter when their vanity project doesn’t work out. Similarly, I’d have 11 George Friends in the side, who battles through the game and cares about the MFC Foundation work and is passionate about the badge, rather than somebody like Braithwaite who clearly doesn’t want to be here.
Battling for promotion is a lot of fun, but the Premier League season was interminably dull and depressing – it is just a guarantee that you are going to finish below seventh. And even if you have one good season, like Burnley did last year, you will still have a relegation fight the next year.
Reading this blog I would think that Boro are hovering above the trapdoor. You are all entitled to your opinions – and I have enjoyed reading them all since long before the migration to DiasBoro -, but it is a shame that it is an echo chamber of negativity at the moment (with the notable exception of the ever optimistic Jarkko!)
Vanteis
I do not think much of Pulis’s tactics on subs, he seems to me a traditionalist, never earlier than 20 minutes from the end(when the match is well lost) on Saturday he brought on Tav with about 12 minutes to go, he is clearly not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, as demonstrated when selling the speediest player in this or any other league, then saying that he is desperate for speed in his team, as when he sold the goal scorer with 8 in three matches under him, to one of our rivals.
You do not steady the ship by signing lots of retreads with no track record of achievement anywhere. These players are unsalable, which will be a nice problem for his successor.
Jarrko, Knudsen was an unused substitute on Saturday.
What I meant – rested for Tuesday game.
Werder, see you point. But our norm should be something better than last few weeks. Please refer to league table. As Ian said that does not lie 🙂
Up the Boro!
Elsewhere, as OFB posted a bit ago, AK’s tenure is looking shaky at Forest. latest article sys he will go after the match against Leeds tomorrow.
I read last week Karanka was under strict instructions from his chairman to be in the top six by January
In my opinion all the comments made by Tony Pulis are made to deflect criticism from himself.
1. He states that Boro haven’t got a squad good enough to challenge for promotion and in the next breath says the squad is too large. His solution was to get rid of some of our best players and replace them with inferior players.
2. He states that he is astonished at the wage bill and that must be addressed with outgoing transfers. That appears to be the reason why Assombalonga and Braithwaite are on his list of departures before any incoming transfers can be contemplated. So he’s already getting his excuses in should we not sign anyone in the transfer window.
3. He now finds it extraordinary that some of his recent acquisitions are unhappy with our wonderful club and area. Who can be unhappy with some of the finest scenery in England on our doorstep? He does though have a point that some of our latest acquisitions might be unhappy that they have been purchased under false pretences as he continues to play them out of their natural positions.
4. His obsession with assembling a squad of giants knows no bounds. How come that players like Billy Sharp (the modern day Kevin Phillips) are prodigious goal scorers? Because football is often more exciting when played on the grass instead of in the air.
5. How come that cash strapped clubs with supposedly inferior players to Boro like Birmingham City and Queen’s Park Rangers are not far behind us in th League table and may well overtake us before the season ends? Could it be because they play more attractively than Boro? Neither Leeds United nor Norwich City had a superior squad to Boro at the start of the season, and along with West Brom, Derby and Villa have fairly average defences but play at a much higher tempo than Boro.
6. The fact is that Tony Pulis concentrates too much on defence, frightened to concede, but also incapable of releasing the shackles in attack with snail paced midfielders and isolated strikers.
7. Boro are still in a good position in the League table albeit in a League low on quality or consistency compared to previous seasons. A lot has been made about the fact that Fulham were 17th at this stage last season but still got promoted. However Boro are unlikely to emulate Fulham’s unbeaten run unless Tony Pulis instills a better balance between defence and attack. It’s no use saying that we had 30 crosses into the penalty area if there’s nobody there to take advantage of them.
Ken
I don’t think he is referring to acquisitions he has made but those of his predecessor ie Christie and Braithwaite.
Ken,
Interesting post.
As someone – one of the few it seems – who is still willing to give Pulis time, my responses would be:
1. I think it’s perfectly possible for the squad to be both too large and of insufficient quality, as ours probably is. Pulis is partly to blame for this by sanctioning the signings of some unnecessary players, particularly in central midfield, but he is not solely culpable in my view.
With regards to getting rid of some of our best players, I agree but generally you can only sell players that other clubs are willing to make acceptable offers for. These tend to be your better players. I think this feeds into what was discussed on the blog last week about Pulis’ remit. From what I’m hearing now, it appears that his remit is at least as much about realigning the club’s finances as it is about promotion. Cynics may view that as convenient given our form but I suspect it is the case.
2. Is that getting excuses in? If he has to reduce the wage bill then it follows that higher earners, particularly those that are not contributing on a regular basis, would be allowed to leave. The apparent singing of van la Parra shows that some singings can be made without a sale, although they may only be loans. If managing the finances is key, then I think getting underachieving higher earners off the wage bill before committing to new signings is a sensible approach, particularly if the squad is already too large, as TP thinks it is.
3. I took that to mean players signed by Garry Monk, rather than his own additions.
4. No argument there
5. I think the squad is some way short of what Pulis would want and it doesn’t greatly fit with his style of play. In fairness, he’s had two transfer windows both of which, I think everyone agrees including Pulis, were unsuccessful.
This doesn’t absolve him of the fact that we’re still underperforming as he clearly hasn’t been getting the most from what he’s got and, in my view as well as most on here, doesn’t seem to recognise some of the talent he has got.
I would argue that Leeds’ squad was better than ours at the start of the season and certainly a better fit with their manager. Norwich I did not see coming but would have expected a lot more from Stoke anyway.
6. No argument there
7. No argument there
Have to agree Ken. The statements seem to be more random and disconnected as the weeks go on, often I suspect in line with current form. A few weeks back we had £30M profit, now we are skint and can’t afford wages. My suspicion is that its to try and cushion the blow as some deal will be in the pipeline that could cause revulsion.
Taking the Wickham/Assombalonga rumour, Wickham is a Premiership Player on Premiership wages so if he comes to Boro is he going to accept a 60 or 70% pay cut? If there is a desire to sign yet another ex-Makem surely the investment would be better spent on Josh Maja who would be on League 1 wages and has future potential and sell on value instead of a perma crock. Why gamble on a Player who has to prove his fitness and then his ability to possibly get back to previous levels. Is that an upgrade or an improvement or further weakening at great expense?
If the remit was to overhaul the club in all areas and save Steve Gibson serious money after his investments then why sign McNair and Saville neither of whom are apparently worth a place in the team yet have cost SG around £12M plus two wages? Why bring Besic in who again will be on serious wages? Stewy’s contract ends in the summer so that one alone will free up big wages.
Assombalonga seems an expensive luxury but only because he isn’t played to his strengths, arguably the same applies to Braithwaite who has gone from Teesside Twitter loving Parmo eater to persona non grata. Neither were signed by Pulis but are now seriously devalued assets. As for those Players that were actually signed under TP well that is of even greater concern that the person under whose watch they were sanctioned is seemingly being trusted with current deals yet his own future with MFC expires in six months.
Ken
As I said above, this man is a fool, he should not be interfering in the running of the club , or, for that matter, buying players, and certainly not in January.
His stewardship of the squad and individual players has been abysmal, and is in the process of costing us a lot of money.
If Southhampton possessed Fry he would not budge from the centre of their defence, and would in the fullness of time bring a very big fee from one of the giants, a problem with a fullback should not interfere with a the development of another player, that is a clear cut dereliction of his duty to this club.
His treatment of Wing and Trav is beyond parody, they both should by now have clocked up 20-30 games, and we will never know just how good they could have been, certainly the pleasure we have been robbed of by his irrational behaviour far outweighs the points we have undoubtedly lost.
All the above, is not to cover up the fact that this time expired person is the most dangerous man we have hired in the history of the club. Why? Because he is on a mission, where to? Nobody knows, but the ignoring of very good young players, and the frantic importing of observable retreads, on contracts, is a major disaster.
The more I think about it I believe Steve Gibson is quite happy with what Tony Pulis is doing behind the scenes. The fact that Pulis is saying that Boro are financially £30M better off than a year ago, that he doesn’t want to spend any money of SG’s money, that SG has probably been faced with a large divorce settlement but is reportedly needing to find £42M for the purchase of a new mansion, the financial uncertainty over Brexit, and the further asset stripping of the club’s players have all the hallmarks of either a search for foreign investment in the club or a complete sellout.
He realises that his wealth is probably not sufficient to compete financially in the Premier League nor establish the club to stay there. I’m not saying he doesn’t want promotion, but that would be a bonus in his being able to sell the club. I don’t think his retaining some financial interest in MFC would attract a foreign buyer, but a complete sell out might. Why not? MFC have a fine stadium, first class training facilities at Rockliffe, and an excellent Hotel and Golf Course that might attract a foreign buyer. Also a good academy system, and as long as some of them are given at least cameo appearances in the first team, they are unlikely to be sent out on loan.
I could be wrong of course, but it might explain his apparent reluctance to plough any more of his reported £165M wealth into the club, and no one could blame him for that.
Yes, those who voted for Brexit are to blame for Boro’s slump and cost cutting going on at Gibson-O’Neill Group. Their business is Bulkhaul, Rockcliffe hotel and MFC!
Seriously, I think we will see hopefully two full backs arriving, a pacy winger and possible another one who could play as nr. 10 and also on the wing.
We do not need any more strikers, we could even sell Gestede and possibly loan out Fletcher for 6 months. If we sell Braithwaite, we can even end up making some savings in salary costs.
Personally I think our slum is more or less a result of Braithwaite’s slump in form. We re just a pacy midfielder away from a decent side.
Up the Boro!
If we signed a pacy midfielder he would be on th bench at best!
Sorry – I accidentally just posted this as a reply to an above comment. Werder, can you please delete the other? Thanks.
I like Pulis. One of my frustrations with Karanka was that even if the game plan wasn’t working, he wouldn’t make a substitute until 60 mins in, and then he would only make a like-for-like sub, usually keeping one back until injury time “just incase”. Monk, on the other hand, changed things wholesale every week – nobody got a run in the squad or the opportunity to build momentum, and there was no consistency in formation or tactics.
Pulis is organised, and knows how he wants to play, but he is willing to make substitutions and adapt formations as a game progresses. Look at the two strikers up front when we went down to 10-men at Blackburn. He lets players have a run in the squad, even if they have an off game, but then will change if somebody else is challenging for a place. I was incredibly frustrated last season when Monk dropped Fry after his part in conceding against Norwich – players need the opportunity to make a mistake and know they can still knuckle down and make up for it. We now have two academy players regularly getting into the squad and occasionally starting, frequently being used (and delivering) as impact subs.
I am not saying it makes for the most exciting football all of the time, and we have had a dip in form recently which has been concerning, but we are still in a relatively strong position that I would have been glad to take on the first day of the season.
And if there is a pragmatism and a tightening of purse strings behind the scenes, then I would much prefer that to having some oil moneyed owner who doesn’t give a b*****s about the town or the football club coming in to splash the cash and then leave the club in the gutter when their vanity project doesn’t work out. Similarly, I’d have 11 George Friends in the side, who battles through the game and cares about the MFC Foundation work and is passionate about the badge, rather than somebody like Braithwaite who clearly doesn’t want to be here.
Battling for promotion is a lot of fun, but the Premier League season was interminably dull and depressing – it is just a guarantee that you are going to finish below seventh. And even if you have one good season, like Burnley did last year, you will still have a relegation fight the next year.
Reading this blog I would think that Boro are hovering above the trapdoor. You are all entitled to your opinions – and I have enjoyed reading them all since long before the migration to DiasBoro -, but it is a shame that it is an echo chamber of negativity at the moment (with the notable exception of the ever optimistic Jarkko!)
The negativity is a reflection of what is witnessed out on the pitch both in tactics and results. Games at the Riverside forms the bulk of supporters opinions as that is where the majority of fans see games. In our last ten home games only Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Ipswich and Bolton have worse records in the entire Championship. Three of those sides have changed manager already. The negativity unfortunately is only echoing the dire, dreary and boring dross witnessed out on the pitch.
I was fully in favour of Pulis being appointed but have to say that I have gone full 180 degrees since then. Based upon what I have seen and heard from him I now have zero trust, belief or confidence down to not only his tactics but more his signings (and outgoings), his team selections, his results but mainly down to the abject spineless meek surrender to Villa on not one, not two but three occasions.
The football is as bad as it was under Strachan but ten times more boring. The league placing is incredible bearing in mind all the above but where we are is largely down to early season form when he was forced to play what he had rather than what he brought in. The more he gets what he wants the worse we seem to be.
Its noticeable that when he didn’t play the reserves that had progressed that far against Burton it went wrong. Against Ipswich it was nervy against the worst side in the league with a fortunate penalty settling nerves but needing Tav who he plays though gritted teeth to save his bacon.
If we make the play offs we won’t go up because TP struggles to set a team up to win games which in a knock out competition is paramount. Our away form is fourth best in the Championship because the defensive tactics work on the road but our home form is unbelievably and unacceptably appalling and have dragged on for too long now. Its not negativity its full blown depression.
At the beginning of the season we played wing backs and it worked well. He switched to a less defensively minded formation with the traditional back four, and it hasn’t been working so he only recently just went back to setting up with three at the back. He stand on the sidelines and urges the team forward, going apoplectic when the ball is passed sideways and backwards. The team is down on confidence at the moment, and I have no doubt in my mind that the nerves at Ipswich were a natural consequence to being booed off in the previous two home games. They visibly picked up after the second goal after the crowd started getting behind them. And I don’t understand how you know he played Tav through gritted teeth – Pulis didn’t have to bring him on at all. Tav has come on leaps and bounds this season, but he hasn’t had his best performances when starting, however, he has been excellent as an impact sub when the opposition is starting to tire. He has been singled out for praise by the manager in post-match interviews, and continues to be an active part of the squad. How many academy players were given the opportunity to step-up under Karanka?
Do I think Pulis is doing everything right? Probably not. But do I think he is being given unfairly short shrift by many of the fans? Absolutely.
He is a good coach. He got the best out of Traore, something that several managers at both Villa and Boro failed to do, and he didn’t want to lose him. He has the team that he’s been afforded and he is getting on with it, looking to the academy to bring it in line with the team for the future. And I absolutely agree with him about the younger players getting out on loan – Fry and Gibson both did so, and they came back in a position to challenge for a first team place.
At the beginning of the season he played Wing and Tav because he didn’t have his “men” available. Once he got in the likes of Besic and Saville Wing and Tav were discarded and our results correspondingly went pear shaped.
One Striker at home against really poor teams is unforgivable especially as that tactic has consistently failed at home, Wednesday, Burton, Rotherham even his ridiculous tinkering away to Preston crashed and burned made worse by the abject negativity against Villa following up on the Saturday.
Then we had to witness a “striker” that can’t jump, can’t out muscle, can’t head, can’t hold up, can’t score with all the mobility of a cart horse from which our only respite was an injury to him. Throw in spending millions that apparently SG didn’t have on McNair and Saville and I’m sorry but you can fool some of the people some of the time but from being a staunch believer my mind is made up on the guy.
VANTEIS
Well said it’s good to get a contrasting view on blogs to hear another opinion hope to hear more of your views
OFB
In some ways I blame Steve Gibson for not only saying he wanted Boro to smash the league, and then letting Gary Monk loose in the transfer market like Dale Winton’s Trolley Sweep or a kiddie in a sweet shop. No wonder Gary Monk didn’t know what his best eleven were, he was put under enormous pressure from his chairman’s statement in wanting to ‘smash’ the league’.
Gary Monk might have become a very good young English manager if he hadn’t been indulged so much by his chairman. In fact he might still become one if he gets Birmingham City into the playoffs above his current chairman’s expectations with a perceived vastly inferior financial clout than Boro provided him with.
This blog never has and never will be as some might think be negative towards the Boro.
What we are is a group of fans who see in some cases questionable decisions being made regarding policy,whether its on the field or off.
Opinions differ, but because of social media etc more info is out there to ponder for every club.
We as a club for too have not had a long term plan,at least at first team level, we buy ,we sell, we change managers,the manager changes the system,
The manager has different opinions on his kind of player,so we end up with all kinds of players that know one way but not the other.
We seem to sign players who have good games against us,or have one decent season its bazaar ,only recently for example Johnson from Oxford $2.5 m are you kidding me? Others you can name.
Centre backs playing fullback,strikers playing wide?
This as got to stop, and I think Pulis is trying to explain, there are players currently just not up to it,for a number of reasons,facts are facts its not negativity.
Anyway
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year.
UTB
After the mustest win game against Ipswich the manager and players find themselves in the rare position of a free hit against Derby.
I would imagine hardly anyone expects them to get anything from the game, especially after Derby’s last performance. On the other hand this league epitomises the cliche, anyone can beat anyone.
Boxing Day saw a slight improvement in recent performances, possibly due to the fact that Clayton was omitted and the rest had to up their game and compensate for his missing stellar efforts.
Derby and their fans will be well up for this game, but I fancy our defence are well up to the task and wouldn’t be surprised to see a hard fought draw, or even a narrow win.
Woolly Backs 0 Ram Raiders 1
I have a similar hunch GHW. I wouldn’t change anything TP does away from home as the results by and large have been very good its the home form where he has failed. He is doing half a job as far as I’m concerned but its the away half that has worked reasonably well.
That said a good tonking wouldn’t shock me but I wouldn’t rule out 0-0 with a rearguard action and no doubt Clyats back in front of the back five. Who knows he may stick with three and Friend and Howson on the flanks again.
I agree that Tony Pulis’s tactics work in away matches, but only to a point, not always viz a viz at Norwich, Hull, Stoke, Preston and QPR where we only accumulated 3 points instead of an expected return of possibly 11. Leeds was the exception and Derby might prove to be also. I’ve always said I don’t believe previous results can have no bearing on current meetings, but it is a fact that Boro have a good record in recent encounters at Pride Park, 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats. That could prey on the minds of the Rams who see it as a must win game, but from Boro’s point of view maybe we don’t fear Derby as much as they fear us, so I wouldn’t be surprised at a 1-0 win for Boro.
GHW
I cannot see him starting without Wing ,Tav, and Hugill, the happy coincidence of their appearance, and a bit of football, and a few points, must surely have been noticed by now, after all, even we thick supporters have made the connection.
GHW
Just a thought, Downing was hooked shortly after halftime, Tav. introduced and a lightbulb was switched on. His goal was not a scramble, the keeper was bright enough to try to stop him popping it in the far corner, and left a gap at his near post, which Tav spotted and used the outside of his left foot to net. He is good, but times a wasting, now is the time we should be establishing our core squad. Wing, Tav, Hugill, Fry, should be ever presents, the great young striker should be getting his debut, Woods our very young centre back also. All these cost nothing, so get scouting the non leagues, and forget this buying other clubs troubles. As for borrowing players, remember there are two types of loan, the player who has not developed as he should (that is the one we get) and never gets a game. Then there is the loan who is meant to score twenty goals and get your club promoted(then go back to his giant club) this has happened three seasons in a row, and prevented a club being promoted who should have been. Hhhm!
Ken, with regard to Mr Gibson and his personal finances, I would say that whilst he cannot compete with the Foreign Billionaires he should be able to compete, if promoted and not relegated for a few years, with the likes of Watford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Palace, Cardiff, Southampton and Burnley.
As for his divorce, that was some time ago. His purchase of Ravenswick Hall for not a lot of money, less then 2mil I believe, and the building and landscaping of a 10 bedroomed mansion should not dent his finances too much. I would think 42mil is pie in the sky.
MFC, promotion aside, has usually lost money, as does Rockcliffe and the Golf Course, and he has kept the club going.
Now Mr Gibson may be being prudent, Brexit and numourous other reasons, but at this level he still has sufficient clout IMO.
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20181006/282248076507700
But is he prepared to use it without the parachute payments?
Ken
I agree with your statement that Monk may still turn out to be a good young Manager.
Although he was indulged by SG, I believe his biggest handicap was that he’d lost Clotet, who chose to have a crack at management and also failed. Reunited at Brum they have done well with limited resources.
Who knows what might have happened at Boro if they had still been in partnership?
There are many aspects to being successful in football management. Sometimes manager and club do not gel for no apparent reason, e.g. Man Utd.
As for TP, my assessment has followed the same pattern as RR.
I always expect the worst but hope for better. This window is crucial for Boro. Get it wrong and many longstanding Season Card holders will be thinking long and hard come renewal time.
Well before I head out for the New Year celebrations and traditional fireworks – will Boro start the new year with a bang with victory at Derby or will it be a damp squib of a game with very few Pulis pyrotechnics lighting up the game. So wishing you all a Happy New Year and here is this week’s discussion blog article…
https://diasboro.club/2018/12/31/2018-19-week-23-first-six-footer-over-the-threshold/
That’s the best that I’ve seen them play for a long time. They stood up after the shock of the early goal and from about twenty minutes in, they were definitely as good as Derby and often better.
I’m sure that there is a negative view to be found by some writers but I was impressed. Ayala was immense but the team as a whole did well.
UTB