| Swansea City | Middlesbrough | ||
| Grimes Routledge Roberts |
34′ (pen) 38 71′ |
Saville | 81′ |
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
61% 16 7 3 11 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
39% 13 1 4 13 |
Dead Ducks Swansong
Boro were back on their travels today which was probably a positive just to get away from the ruins of the Riverside. Having said that they now faced a trip down to South Wales the scene of one of their most humiliating experiences in the Clubs history when they crashed out of the Cup earlier in the season. This afternoon might see TP deliver another humiliation of six straight defeats having Ken and others on here searching their history books for the last time we went on such a woeful return (November 2000?).
Graham Potter’s charges had previously seen a 3-0 triumph over Brentford which ended a run of four defeats in all competitions for them. Their drop from Premiership glory hasn’t seen them achieve the kind of season that their fans would have reasonably expected as they now face another season in the second tier and a victory today against Boro would likely seal our fate at the same level as well. The Swans played some very good football up at the Riverside earlier in the season in the goalless draw. They took the game to Boro that day and at the time looked like they had the necessary quality to drag themselves up to at least compete in the Play-offs. Time has proved somewhat different in what has been a very indifferent season for them but having lost just once to Boro in their last seven meetings didn’t bode well for the visitors.
This week saw the first signs of open vocal dissent against the prehistoric tactics that Pulis had chained Boro to this season with the weight of that negativity slowly dragging them backwards at the same rate of our diminishing goals return. VLP deciding he had a bad back and Lewis Wing’s hernia no longer carrying the hopes of securing a Play-off spot meant that TP had a reduced creative content to select from. The Swans would be missing Erwin Mulder, Leroy Fer and Martin Olsson through injury.
Team news saw that TP went with Clayton partnering Mikel and battering ram Hugill as a lone Striker up front with Saville and Captain for the day Downing presumably providing the ammo or more realistically defending deep. There were three at the back with Fry, Flint and Ayala restored with Howson and Friend looking like Wing Backs (hopefully). He could however also have Dael as a RB and a back four. Besides Dimi the struggling of late, Ryan Shotton was thankfully benched along with Besic, Britt, Fletcher and the ghosts of McNair and Tav. Only a win would do today but for the travelling army they were bracing themselves to see how TP would once again try and draw his way to victory and in a week where TP had the temerity to ask his Strikers to emulate Paddy Bamford.
Reds v Whites got under way in a sunny Swansea with a Boro back four in what looked like a 4-3-3 initially (optimistically on my part admittedly). The opening five minutes had little to report apart from Hugill going down crocked and then again going down under a challenge from Van Der Hoorn from which Swansea broke and issued the first serious threat of the afternoon. Boro were initially pushing up but seemed happier to drop off, keep things tight and of course deep. All this meant that the game was lacking the zip and energy which has dissected us so often of late so maybe a positive in the negative mindset?
A cross towards Hugill from Fry was dealt with Van Der Hoorn who then launched a counter attack, playing the ball out calmly from defence which eventually went out thankfully for a Boro goal kick. Ten minutes in and so far Boro had offered nothing of note as Swansea were now seriously getting into the game and launching attacks. Howson did put a ball into the box but it wasn’t read by Hugill. Meanwhile the Swans had Randolph called into action down the other end as the game now started to warm up. Another swift Swans attack down the right saw Celina in the six yard box blast his shot over with the goal at his mercy Assombalonga style.
Just over fifteen minutes gone and Jordan (Hugill that is) was down again looking dejected at Ref Andy Woolmer who like most of his colleagues this season wasn’t remotely interested in his claims for incapacity benefit. A minute later Hugill was deemed to have fouled Naughton as the Ref now decided to have a word with Jordan whilst he was at least momentarily upright.
Clayton stole a ball from Grimes in the middle of the park and a rash tackle resulted in a yellow card for the Swansea player but the Boro free kick was nonchalantly wasted like so many this season. As the game approached twenty five minutes Flint was called to clear another attack as the Swans were now totally dominating possession with Boro restricted to hoofs to Hugill who in turn would perform his theatrical version of Swan Lake. Great tactics Tony!
The youngster Dan James moving in from the left rifled in a twenty five yard Lewis Wing type strike that was unlucky to have not opened the scoring for the Home side. A Boro corner then saw the usual big Lads all up in the box; taken short between Clayts and Saville it saw the latter lift a hopeless high ball that was gratefully received by Nordfeldt wasting the only real opportunity we had so far.
A gift to Routledge saw him hit the bar and then the follow up from Celina was fired down Randolph’s throat. George Friend then went down with a suspected thigh strain as Swansea attacked down that flank but it ran out of steam with George prostrate. Friend forlornly limped off the field as we then figured Stewy or Saville would drop into LB with Tav coming on to offer some energy and threat but it was the struggling Shotton who came on with Dael Fry going as LB. As negative substitutions go that was pretty non-descript and up there with the Britt one from a few weeks back and tactically didn’t make a lot of sense.
That youngster James welcomed Shotton into the game by catching him cold, skinning him and winning a penalty from the despairing Shotton. Matt Grimes then send Randolph the wrong way putting Swansea deservedly and belatedly in front. Another unfulfilling, negative Pulis substitution had an immediate impact, as bad and as negative as Villa away was this was almost surpassing it in terms of negative dross. The looks on the Boro players faces told its own story. It did at least spark Boro to actually attack and a Saville effort went out for a Clayton taken corner that came in perfectly to Ayala evading Keeper Nordfeldt but the effort was missed which was at least consistent if looking for some positives.
The farce continued as ex Boro loanee Conor Roberts counter attacked and played a great ball in to Celina to Routledge leaving Flint completely lost and leaving Randolph no chance. 2-0 nil and once again the tactics of Pulis had been not only undone but once again shown to be slow, predictable and very, very outdated as those in Red now looked totally broken. James again destroyed Howson and Shotton and nearly made it three as the 21-year-old was turning on the style. Just a shame we don’t have a youngster who could score goals or create exciting chances.
Another Saville shot was blocked and then Fry’s effort went out for a throw in from which TP’s tactics has yielded great success this season, well in August anyway. A corner quickly followed in the next phase of play as Downing tried to find Ayala Roberts started a break for the Swans that was only curtailed by their own conservative desire to retain possession.
A Downing free kick was launched in but Boro had kept a few back in our own half so low was their belief and so fearful were they of another quick Swansea break. It was speed, pace and fluidity again that was now undoing Boro as it had previously on many occasions. Slow immobile Neanderthals handcuffed by the predictability of tactical paralysis had allowed the Swans to attack and run us ragged with absolutely no threat whatsoever. Andy Woolmer blew for half time and ease Boro’s embarrassment and allow Pulis an opportunity to mastermind how he was going to come up with yet another excuse that wasn’t his fault.
Disgust, frustration, anger boiling over to seething hatred was being washed down by liquid refreshment as the travelling army at least had the opportunity of willing their side to attack their end of the pitch in the second half.
Incredibly Pulis made absolutely no changes at half time, well I say incredible but at this stage nothing from the Boro dug out would now surprise me, unless we attacked that is! Substitutions or their lack off aside we couldn’t even detect a shuffle of the pack on the field with Randolph again having to save Boro blushes preventing a third. The sheer farcical ridiculousness of everything Boro was now being played out as Pulis then seemingly decided to bring Britt and Fletcher on. He had all of the interval to reorganise and meanwhile we nearly went even further behind to finally prompt Pulis into action.
Five minutes gone and absolutely to see of any sort any improvement from Boro. A Downing effort went wide which was about as exciting as things had been all afternoon drawing ironic chants from the away fans. Meanwhile Fletcher had sat down again on the bench but Britt was still being readied but no decision from the Master Tactician and his Octogenarian assistant.
A Swansea corner won by James saw Britt stood down which was coolly cleared by Clayton before winning a Boro free kick. Ten minutes now into the half and the double substitution finally came off with Hugill going off but at least he stayed on his feet long enough to exit the pitch and Clayton who had been one of our better players went off to make way for Fletcher.
The game then entered a nothing phase with Swansea comfortably dominant. Ayala had stopped a shot with his backside but nothing much else of note apart from the White shirts continuing to look dangerous every time they attacked. Suffice to say Boro didn’t look like turning any corners since those substitutions with confidence levels looking lower than a snake’s belly. The fluid movement and energetic attacking from Swansea was in marked contrast to the slow methodology that was not only embarrassing but totally ineffective as it has been for a while now. Boro looked laboured and in all honesty like they were hoping the game would come to a swift conclusion. With all three of his subs used TP needed something really special on one of those infamous notes to turn things around. Considering the previous effectiveness of them the travelling army weren’t holding their breath.
The game was now approaching seventy minutes and Celina nearly played in Dyer to put the score beyond doubt from a Boro perspective. Potter then took Routledge off for Asoro along with James going off having shown Pulis what youngsters can do for the second time this week for Narsingh. What was abundantly evident today was that whatever is going on at Rockliffe and in the Boro dressing room the players are no longer buying into it and they don’t look like they want to. Certain minds have been made up and their focus looks very much elsewhere.
That inevitable “Typical Boro” moment came in the 71st minute as Conor Roberts added a third rubbing Boro’s noses in it. This team looked disorganised, disinterested and now totally disbelieving in anything the Manager had instructed them to do as Dyer nearly added a fourth to a backdrop of Swansea and Boro fans in unison singing “you’re getting sacked in the morning”. That’s two consecutive games now that has happened, I just wonder what it will take before the blindingly obvious registers.
Meanwhile Stewy put a cross in but Flint missed Nordfeldt’s goal with his header (I could have cut and pasted that from just about every match report since August). Annoyingly Asoro got behind our pedestrian lumbering defence but somehow Randolph managed to prevent a fourth. Van Den Hoorn who had had Hugill in his back pocket earlier went off for the 21-year old Joe Roden to replace him. A back-post delivery saw Flint play in Saville who smashed the ball into the net to pull one back for Boro much against the run of play.
Randolph then got his hands behind a fierce shot to put it out for a corner as Swansea still felt they had more business to finish. Britt tried to get something started but Roden dispossessed him and the Swans were pushing forward again. Five minutes left and Narsingh rounded Fry to put a dangerous cross in that was read by Shotton. Considering how we needed to win this game we had started it more like a side trying to avoid relegation. Considering how we then went behind we could have been forgiven for expecting an all guns blazing, do or die response from Boro in the second half but the response was numbing.
Saville looked to have had a good claim for a Penalty after Naughton handled the ball or “accidentally blocked” it in the view of the Officials as we now started to try and play, too little too late. Another late Boro attack ended with Fletcher fluffing his lines summing up how the afternoon had gone for Boro.
The game was toing and froing but it wasn’t worth commenting on as the match was now very much an irrelevance considering the wider state the club now finds itself in. Dael Fry slightly raised very late hopes with some positivity and Howson had collected a despondent frustrated yellow. The Boro MOM can only be Randolph without whom the score line would have looked an awful lot worse.
Bolton away next on Tuesday night and if Pulis is still at the club then Hull at Home on the 13th the day after the early bird closure could certainly be the Riverside’s most entertaining afternoon this season.