| Burton Albion | Middlesbrough | ||
| Sordell | 6′ | Assombalonga | 90′ |
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
44% 13 1 5 9 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
56% 13 3 5 12 |
Boro suffer Brewers droop
Wet miserable Easter weather provided the backdrop to this afternoon’s game which complimented the mood on Teesside for many after a not so good Friday. Boro fans had struggled for grip heading through morning sleet and snow to reach the Pirelli Stadium. The Brewers had lost 70% of their home games this season, failing to score in almost half of those and only winning 2 games so nothing could possibly go wrong surely? In the most compact Stadium in the Championship Boro were expected to collect all three points in a no nonsense performance heaping more misery on the son of one of our most famous sons. The only injury concern for Tony Pulis was presumably some bruised egos and the hangover that “frustrated Friday” had left us with and that come 5.00pm we would not be left with egg on our face.
The line-up saw Shotton dropped to the bench along with Adam Clayton with Cranie given a first start and Howson restored in midfield. I was surprised to see Shotton dropped unless he had a slight niggle but if he was fit enough to be on the bench then it begs the question. As poor as Howson was when he came on against Wolves TP perhaps felt he is fitter than what he currently has available another struggler Downing used one of his nine lives yet somehow retained a start. With Derby beating Preston at lunchtime a win by more than two clear goals would see Boro leapfrog Derby into fifth.
Boro were adorned in their white away kit for some reason against the yellow of Burton as Traore started off on fire with a bursting run past three players but the final delivery wasn’t the best. On six minutes a low bobbling cross from Dyer saw Sordell smash the ball in the bottom corner of the net as Adama aside Boro started slow and almost lethargic. Clearly the lessons learnt from Friday night were zero and any fire and intensity after the criticism of many over the weekend had failed to provoke a reaction. What TP’s team talk was heaven knows but it seemed almost as uninspiring as his half time team talk on Friday night. A corner to the Brewers followed up quickly from their goal to keep the pressure still on our defence, a Downing clearance up to Paddy took a last gasp tackle to concede a corner for Boro. A low Traore corner was easily cleared for a throw in by George which when launched in went wide from Ayala.
Fifteen minutes gone and Boro were making hard work of it. Our passing was poor and once again Dyer was causing trouble down the right side of our defence as the inclusion of Cranie wasn’t looking a good call by TP. Boro were looking distinctly average and indeed had the appearance of a mid-table nothing side with little to play for, totally underwhelming. Tactically it wasn’t working, Boro just didn’t seem hungry for it. Considering what was at stake, the failure of TP in taking the axe to those on cruise control now looked to be biting him on the backside as “laboured” would have been a compliment. Something psychologically was wrong; the team looked flat, devoid of leadership and drive. If we thought that our efforts against the nine men of Wolves for twenty five minutes was poor this sunk to a new level. What was being witnessed was a massive question mark against TP’s competence in how he handled the aftermath of Friday, how he set up and selected his side today.
Bamford was isolated again as we sat deep playing a lone striker against the worst side in the division. Another run from Traore in which he was scythed down again led to a corner which was a very rare spark from Boro in an otherwise flat afternoon. Burton understandably were sitting deep protecting their single goal lead picking off Boro’s poor decision making confident in knowing Dyer had the beating of Cranie.
White was a perfect choice of shirt colour as it reflected the spiritless, surrendered performance on show as Boro had fans asking has there been a worse performance all season? Ten minutes to go to half time and the entire thirty five minutes to date were an abject embarrassment. At this point Pulis admitted his first selection faux pas as Howson was hooked for Assombalonga and we went 442. The head scratcher was that Howson was probably the best of a bad lot. Why we started so poor and why we were set up the way we did against the worst side in the division was nothing short of a disgrace. Despite Howson being poor on Friday night as mentioned he was probably the best of a bad lot this afternoon and there were 6 or 7 others whom I would have hooked well before him. Once Britt arrived we picked the tempo up a little (just a little I add) winning a corner shortly after which ended with Ayala putting it out for a Burton Goal Kick.
Dyer had another cross put out by Cranie and shortly afterwards a shot across Randolph’s goal ended up in another corner to the Brewerymen which fortunately Bent fluffed his lines otherwise it would have been 2-0. The half time whistle sounded in what has to go down as one of the most uninspiring, gutless, disgraceful performances in recent Boro history. TP was playing with Adama as the only attacking threat and outlet and tactically that was it, nothing, absolutely nothing at all whatsoever from anyone in a white shirt especially from the “untouchables”. No passion from anyone, no captaincy or leadership in evidence either on the pitch or from the touchlines. An absolutely galling display and I refuse to use the word performance; totally disinterested best described the lot of them!
My hopes were for a rousing half time team talk and a change from TP but on several occasions now he hasn’t shown anything in terms of a half time tactical switcharound or a good rollicking. My personal feeling is that the signs were there on Friday from several who hadn’t brought their “A” game, well today the same old same old didn’t bring their “E-“ game, absolutely disgusted.
We came out for the second half as I suspected with no changes and no inspiration. More insipid, directionless monotony continued. Britt nearly took a kick to the head, The Burton keeper handled outside the box, we had a tame shot which was easily collected and that summed up the opening twenty minutes of the second forty five. There is very little point in detailing anything else because it was poor, very poor fayre indeed. Someone behind me remarked on Friday night “you’d think they don’t want promotion” well after this afternoon it was looking like there was some semblance of truth in that exclamation. Something stinks, and today it was festering.
This was a Burton side that were appalling all season in every statistical aspect you can take to measure them with yet we made them look like Barca and Cranie made Dyer look like Messi. Harrison was readied and came on for Downing but with 15 minutes left another question has to be raised as to why then. I and others had suggested Harrison and Baker (and even Fabio) getting a chance from the start as those who had been highlighted as deficient previously had simply repeated the same level of ineffectiveness. In a memorable moment of “managerial beggared beliefness” TP brought the below par Grant off for the exciting, skilful flair of Clayts to boost our attacking options!
Traore broke free and flew past a flurry of wipe-out tackles to feed Britt who dithered and eventually dispatched a shot that landed in Grimsby. Britt as we know can be a lethal finisher but it’s just unfortunate he needs six chances for every goal he scores. Traore again went on another run in a solo effort (indeed the only player in a white shirt where the word “effort” wasn’t a misrepresentation under the Trades Descriptions Act) to try and remedy the embarrassment. Another late chance came via a cushioned header from Britt with no real power which didn’t really threaten which summed up Boro for the whole afternoon.
Finally after another Traore run into the centre of the pitch he dinks the ball forward from the edge of the “D” to Harrison who controls brilliantly in a similar area to Paddy on Friday, hit the crossbar but Britt was following up to nod it home to draw level on 90 minutes. Four minutes of injury time beckoned but Bent collected the ball to almost bring the Brewerymen back into the game but fortunately was adjudged to be offside. In the dying seconds a Clayts taken free kick was floated into the box in a nothing set piece but from it Dyer broke and Bents eventual effort was tame.
We robbed a point but everything about the day was ill prepared, ill-conceived and not even executed let alone poorly executed. TP selected the wrong underperforming and underwhelming players who repaid his trust and confidence in a footballing equivalent of a two fingered couldn’t care less salute and TP fully deserved it. The inclusion of Cranie over Shotton was baffling. Shotton didn’t have the best of games on Friday night but was by a country mile not the worst player so how he lost his starting place is beyond me. The thirty five year old Dyer tore Cranie apart and caused Boro no end of problems as a consequence. It was never addressed all through the match and that responsibility lay fully with Tony Pulis. At half time the general apathy was never addressed either and the game continued with only a modicum of improvement, simply not good enough, not even remotely acceptable. It was so bad the entire squad and management should donate their wages this week to a charity because to accept payment from Steve Gibson for that is tantamount to daylight robbery.
The flaws from Friday were ignored and just as they were ignored at half time on Friday they again appeared to be brushed aside and weakened by the team selection today and once again at half time there was an inability to ring required changes. That is extremely poor management and not something I would have remotely countenanced from an individual with TP’s experience. If we are treated to that same level of indifference on Saturday don’t expect the fans to stay silent and regardless of how much or how little players get paid or might have cost they will be subject to intense scrutiny. From top to bottom that performance was unacceptable and nothing short of a disgrace. The fact that we are still in the Play Offs after that is incredible but relying on others to be even worse than us isn’t what Tony Pulis was brought in for.
Calls of a dinosaur levelled at TP before his appointment is one thing but to actually play dinosaurs is another story altogether. The only difference I suppose is that dinosaurs moved quicker, had bigger brains than the majority on that pitch today and were leaner and hungrier. There wasn’t a single meat eater in a white shirt today, not one and that includes those in tracksuits with or without caps. That side needed a Nigel Pearson in the changing room on Friday night and again today, if TP isn’t man enough for it and Kemp, Fleming, Gould and Woodgate aren’t then bring some cajones into his coaching staff quick because most of those players today needed more than a collective rocket fired up them. No hunger, no pain, no passion and no desire, contrast that with the celebrations from the Wolves players and coaching staff on Friday. Not very pleasant admittedly but that’s what winners look and smell like. MOM yer jokin arn’t yer, it was a case of Strachan revisited!
Boro hope to get over Friday’s hangover
with a visit to the ailing Brewers
Boro will be looking to silence the doubters after losing to the leaders at the Riverside on Good Friday where they ended up being metaphorically crucified by some poor defending and then failed miserably to make their two-man advantage count after two nailed-on red cards. The Boro faithful will no doubt be looking on the bright side as they hope to see their promotion challenge resurrected on Easter Monday when taking on bottom club Burton, which is managed by the son of that other Brian who was occasionally mistaken for being a messiah.
Whether Clough junior will be inspired by his late father into performing miracles is perhaps expecting too much – though he’s unlikely to attempt a similar feat to the one claimed by his father at Forest on the same local river that also passes through Burton: “The River Trent is lovely, I know because I have walked on it for 18 years”. Being compared to the genius that his father was is inevitable, but it’s perhaps more likely that should Nigel attempt such fancy footwork he will just be regarded instead as “a very naughty boy” – though there is still a risk he’ll soon be drowning, albeit his sorrows once the inevitable relegation of the Brewers is confirmed.
Whilst it wasn’t unusual for some old-school managers back in those days to compare themselves to divine objects of worship, it was occasionally met with disbelief by their players – when former West Brom striker Cyrille Regis came out publicly as having found faith, his ex-manager Ron Atkinson said to him “What’s all this about you finding God? You worked for him at West Brom for four years”, before Regis replied “Actually Ron, there is only one God, and you are not him.” Still, Brian Clough wasn’t planning on playing second fiddle to anyone as he declared: “When I go, God’s going to have to give up his favourite chair” – though that particularly seat in the upper tier may not have offered him an opportunity to witness a decent game if another famous quote of his was also true: “If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put grass up there.”
Tony Pulis may have sometimes unfairly been claimed to be planning to play football in the clouds with his long-ball tactics but the Boro supporters will certainly be looking to the heavens if his team have a bad Monday and fail to see off a club that sit 23 places below Good Friday’s opponents. The contrast between Wolves and Burton is perhaps best described by the slightly tongue-twisting fact that there is a 79 goal difference in their respective goal differences (+37 versus -42). Even if Boro are forced to endure a full 90 minutes against an 11-man Burton, surely they will have enough to see off an opposition that concede two-and-a-half times as many goals as they score. On paper at least, this will be deemed as a great opportunity to bank three precious points and hold onto Boro’s precarious grip on a play-off spot.
| Burton Albion | Middlesbrough | ||
| Nigel Clough | Tony Pulis | ||
| P37 – W7 – D9 – L23 – F28 – A70 | P39 – W18 – D8 – L13 – F55 – A38 | ||
| Position Points Points per game Projected points |
24th 30 0.8 35 |
Position Points Points per game Projected points |
6th 62 1.6 73 |
| Last 6 Games Cardiff (A) Wolves (A) Sheff Utd (A) Bristol City (H) Brentford (H) Millwall (H) |
F-T (H-T) 1:3 (1:2) L 1:3 (1:2) L 0:2 (0:1) L 0:0 (0:0) D 0:2 (0:0) L 0:1 (0:0) L |
Last 6 Games Wolves (H) Brentford (A) Barnsley (H) Birmingham (A) Leeds (H) Sunderland (A) |
F-T (H-T) 0:2 (1:2) L 1:1 (1:1) D 3:1 (2:0) W 1:0 (1:0) W 3:0 (2:0) W 3:3 (0:1) D |
Indeed, that fight for the last two play-off places has become tighter than the proverbial gnat’s unmentionable place where the sun shines even less than on a bank holiday Monday – though no doubt that the Boro chairman Steve Gibson would be chuffed to bits if his club finish in one of those coveted spots. However, with just two points between the six clubs from fifth to tenth, there is little room for either complacency, error or manoeuvre – a win would certainly help put Boro back in the driving seat of what is shaping up to be another white-knuckle ride on the roller coaster to oblivion that even Alton Towers would deem to scary for the punters to contemplate. Although defeat could even see Boro suddenly down in tenth place should the other results match the betting slips of the more pessimistic Teessiders, who are in a desperate rush to be put out of their professional misery and collect enough winnings to pay for their early-bird season ticket for next year’s fix of gloom.
Rather worryingly, making the play-offs will require Boro to do something that has so far looked beyond them – beating a team that is higher than them in the table. It’s somehow slightly perverse to start contemplating wanting to see Boro test themselves in the Premier League against the best teams in the land, when they’ve only managed 2 wins from the 16 games played against the teams currently in the top half of the Championship (Sheff Utd and Preston). It’s only thanks to the other 16 victories against teams in the bottom half of the league that we are still able to even have the conversation about making the play-offs.
It probably tells us something about the overall quality of the squad and their mentality that this is not a team ready to make the step up to the next level – nearly all of them must surely know that promotion is the end of their dream not the beginning. It would be foolish to believe that without a massive massive investment and some outstanding buys, which has not normally been achieved by the club in recent years, there will be little to suggest 17th place or above is the most likely outcome that will follow the most sheepish singing of “Up the Boro, the Boro’s going up to stay” since Baa Baa Black Sheep had season ticket in the Holgate.
Having said that, it will perhaps be even harder to contemplate promotion next season if our campaign fails once we’ve waved goodbye to our only weapon that hurts the opposition – i.e. Adama Traore, who will not be short of offers from clubs who have seen the addition of an end product to his unbelievable pace. OK, he may raise plenty of cash to offset the other losses that we’ll no doubt incur in offloading the failed buys of last summer – though having money to spend next season means nothing unless it is both spent wisely and the club can attract the best players willing to ply their trade in the second tier. I suspect despite him finally scoring, the prospect of Ashley Fletcher returning to lead the line from relegated Sunderland is not going to get the queues forming at the ticket office in the summer.
So will Boro cure their Friday night hangover with a half-empty glass of under-strength hair of the Wolf clearing their heads as they start downing the points again? Or will the Brewers catch the Teessiders on the hops and have us over a barrel as our promotion campaign hits the dregs? As usual your predictions on score, scorers and team selection – plus will the Burton players start trying to get themselves sent-off if they score first in a cunning attempt to psychologically affect the Boro players?
Many Thanks Werder.
As, many of you will remember I posted many times about Downing. For me, he should never have been brought back to the club. A total waste of money. I hope TP has the guts to drop him once and for all.
Moving on to the end of the season when we have failed to smash the league, there will be a massive clear out. What will SG do, can he afford again to splash money. I very much doubt it. Will TP still be here etc, a lot of questions to be answered at the end of the season. One thing about MFC life is never dull, there is always something to speculate and talk about every week !
On to Burton and another must win game.
Great article Werder thank you. Safe journey back to Germany.
Well we started with a “typical Boro” weekend so what are the odds of finishing the same way with a failure to beat the bottom club!
Given our successes have been against the lower league teams then the law of averages says we will fail sooner or later against one of them. If we perform as we have done in the last two away games then a defeat is a distinct possibility particularly as Burton are fighting to survive and we all know what happened at Derby on Friday.
I see a “typical Boro” scenario where we fail to make the play offs whilst Sunderland, who have looked doomed for most of the season, survive!
I predicted a draw in the Exmil challenge so am going for 0-0 as our play off hopes gradually peter out.
Is it just me, or does any one else feel that this season has been a bigger disappointment than last and want an end to it asap?
I also see little in the way of positives to take into next season. ☹️
Pedro
Yes and here is the link:
https://www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk/matches/fixtures/first-team/201718/april/burton-albion-vs-middlesbrough-on-02-apr-18/
KP, I have to agree that although last season was disappointing, this one has beaten it hands down.
We all knew we would be in for a battle to survive in the EPL and after the poor Summer signings it came to pass. However this season arrived full of renewed hope, a new Manager and 40mil of new players. It has been an unmitigated disaster from the off.
Then a change of Manager whilst there were still plenty of points to play for and the January Window to fill some of the glaring holes.
What did we get………nothing, only false hopes by staying in touch of the play offs and then sneaking into the top six. However every time we have to play a “better team” we actually see what we have. A bunch of losers with perhaps a few exceptions, but not enough to carry us on.
The trouble is KP, when this season ends and next season begins, will any of us be hopeful of a better things to come??. And I have renewed my ST. Mind you I won´t get to see many at the Riverside so that may be a blessing in disguise.
Posted in wrong headliner.
Werder, not had time to read your preview.
Just wanted to say thank you and have a safe journey back home.
KP…….have you bought your subscription yet??
Pedro
Sorry, posted in wrong place but please see above.
Great article as usual Werder and on the hoof as it were makes it all the more impressive!
I think all of us were a little underwhelmed after the inability to capitalise against 9 men for nigh on 25 minutes on Friday night but it shouldn’t have a carry over onto the Brewers game. If anything there should be a lot of frustration and anger in that dressing room that needs venting and tomorrow is the ideal time to do it. That said I still think there should be a few changes in personnel. Non productive players showing early signs of amnesia or dementia induced dithering, verging on a liability should be “rested”. Give someone else a chance to take an opportunity, maybe Baker in for Howson with Harrison for Downing and Besic alongside one of the defensive somnambulists.
AS KP alludes to above this Summer could prove disastrous should we not go up. As identified we need four or five upgrades on what is currently in decline and then the concern is what of the likes of offers coming in for Traore, Bamford, Gibson etc. which could leave us literally stripped bare (but with cash to overspend all over again on misfits). This morning we are now linked with Alan Hutton (again) who is a youthful 33 years old. If all of these links have any merit (which I sincerely hope not) we run the risk of having the oldest squad in the history of professional football. Overpaid injury prone footballing geriatrics……..no thanks!
Maybe in December you’ll come back home to enter the Boxing Day dip. Anyway Werder safe journey back to Bremen.
Looking back over Burton Albion’s home league record since beating Fulham (yes, Fulham) on 16th September they’ve lost 13 and drawn 3 of their last 16 matches, scoring 13 against 36. Are we expecting a banana skin slip tomorrow to put us all out of our misery? Typical Boro?
I’ve always been a fan of 352 if played right, I think it is more flexible ,were you can drop to a five if needed,.
I don’t expect TP to change,I don’t think he as ever tried it.
But anyway I’d go with if he would.
Randolph
Shotton Ayala, Gibson
Fabio, Baker Clayton Traore Friend
Bamford Assombolonga
Has some merit gt, but more chance of seeing pigs fly.
On another note, I can’t understand why Baker hasn’t been given an opportunity, especially this time of the season when some are tiring or booking holidays.
He’s the only midfielders in the squad ,who I think could get ten goals a season, maybe he could get important ones now?
Thank you for another pre match piece Werder. Your commitment to the cause is one which unfortunately isn’t matched by the vast majority of modern day footballers. If it felt chilly at Saltburn then I dread to think what it’s like at Redcar. A walk through Woolies from the high street and onto the front and I swear there was a 10 degree drop in temperature!
After Friday’s disappointment I’m going for an away win to get us back on track. I suspect several posters may be right and several changes will be made although who drops out is anyone’s guess. A win is paramount and I’d like to see a proper attacking 433 and get at them from the off. 2 of the midfield 3 should be given license to bomb forward and add numbers to our attacks with the other holding in front of the back 4.
Same back 5 as Friday, midfield 3 of Besic, Clayton and Baker with a front 3 of Traore, Bamford and Downing (dons tin hat). I say this because of the options available imo Jonson isn’t good enough at this leveland I don’t know anything about this Harrison lad.
And finally Werder, have a safe and totally uneventful journey home.
FAA….I would rather see Britt in there. He worked hard in his cameo time allowance dropping deep passing and then sprinting into the box.
See where your coming from Pedro I just don’t see him as playing anywhere other than as a centre forward. However his pace and strength would be an asset in a front 3.
Well done Werder. As always.
Brewers 1 Brewers Droop 0
Now…
Following on from Bob’s great post about his conversation with Higgy.
Sorry to say that nothing about his revelations surprise me in the least. This is a world where we’ve sadly been taught to believe that intimidation of officials is to be expected, and worse, accepted by big clubs and big name managers as a sign of their desire to reach the very top.
It is almost as if Aitor knew what he was doing at the end of the Blackburn game, and what he was asking Higgy to do, was reprehensible, but he also thought, “if you want to be, or wish to aspire to be, a ‘big club’, then ‘it is what it is'”.
While admitting in his first book that he was wrong for bullying Andy D’Urso – “It was *our* fault the score was 0-0. That was why I raged, against our own crippling complacency, which was now compouded by the ref’s mistake. Mr. D’Urso was just a whipping boy and that is completely out of order” – Roy Keane also added that games simply aren’t contested in a reasonable frame of mind, implying that if you want to compete at the highest level, you must be savage, cruel and relentlessly punishing.
Perhaps Higgy’s dismissal and Albert’s departure are simply further evidence that bridging the gap between big club methods and small towns in Europe appears impossible.
It’s sad that it’s come to this.
Ah but it’s not cricket is it chaps !
At times like this, I’m reminded of Boro Exile’s words on Boxing Day…
“The problem in the game today is money which seems to be the overriding consideration of club owners and managers to the exclusion of everything else. This obsession with money dictates the way people behave and the result is that ethics and standards take a back seat.
“Today everyone in the game is completely focused on money to the extent that now the ends totally justify the means. It really doesn’t matter any more how you get there, provided that you get there, and many fans are not bothered about it. In my view they should be because the obscene amounts of money in the game, unless addressed, will be its downfall.”
Unfortunately that is the reality and not just in football as seen in cricket, cycling to name but two sports.
Money, or maybe Sky, has changed the face of sport, in my opinion, for the worse.
Winning at all costs to gain more prize money is the aim, nit just playing the game.
It won’t change and us fans can’t change it (unless we all boycott Sky Sports) so the choice is accept it or vote with our feet.
Thank you KP. Purchased and ready. Will I enjoy the wait and the match.
As Ken is pointing out above, all things come to an end and the law of average comes into play. Burton must be due a home win sometime????
https://youtu.be/R98Zxsm09Ds
Why would you own a football team?
Robert Kraft.
A great article as always Weder and I loved both the brewery and the Easter/Life of Brian puns!
Your dedication is Superb and have a good trip back.
More to follow but in short what have the Boro ever done for us?!!
For some reason I’ve lost my avatar and can’t get posts !
Anyone else got problems ?
Sorted now but don’t know why it went wrong. !!
Onto tomorrow, typical Boro will see us lose after a red card. However, I am hoping for an Easter miracle and that we will rise from the dead to win 2 0 with other teams around us losing. We always have to look on the bright side of life!
My favourite God/football joke is this. I wish I could credit who wrote it but sadly I don’t know.
Late in his career, Hoddle found god. Which even for Glenn, was a hell of a pass.
A tetchy and tight one nil win for us.
Has God a sense of humour, or is he like Nuno a wind-up merchant? Welll here is an old sporting story that I thought might be inappropriate yesterday on Easter Day, but hope it’s more acceptable today.
God, Jesus and St Peter decided to play a round of golf and the first hole was a long par 5. St Peter teed off first and hit a beautiful drive straight down the fairway and just short of the green.
Jesus, after a few practice swings, then sent his tee shot onto the green and only inches from the cup.
God didn’t bother with a practice swing, but scuffed his drive only a few yards down the fairway, whereupon a rabbit ran out of the rough, grabbed the ball in its mouth and proceeded to career down the fairway. However half way down the fairway his little legs became so tired that an eagle, on spotting the rabbit’s exhaustion, swooped down and devoured the rabbit before sailing over the green and spitting out the ball which fell straight into the hole much to Jesus’s indignation.
Jesus turned to God and said “Oh dad, it’s only a bloody game!”
Chris
And to think he only got 53 caps. He was the type of gifted player other countries would build their teams around but not England. It must’ve been because of all the success we’ve had over the years. Oh hang on….
Werder, a top one again. Sorry you did not enjoy winning results as I did on my holiday on Teesaide.
Itis snowing while I write this. It was as bad in Germany yesterday so I hope you were safe, Werder. Where is the spring time?
I will go for a 1-3 win as an optimistic. We need to win now to keep space with Millwall and the rest.
I must say I feel for Derby. They are in deep trouble after loosing to Sunderland. The two last spots in the playoffs are there to fight for.
Up the Boro!
Werder top piece, I don’t know how you do it never mind get the time!
Excellent piece Werder, as always.
I’m going for a win for Boro but with the usual bum clenching torture and agony. What many would see as an ‘easy’ match Boro will turn into a visit from the Spanish Inquisition for the travelling fans.
Burton 0 – 1 Boro
UTB,
John
Nobody expects the spainish inquisition!
I don’t think the Spam Filter likes my prediction
Werder: the usual. Trust you are safely back in Deutschland and looking forward to a scintillating afternoon’s football.
FAA
Hoddle is a year younger than Bryan Robson. The latter would always be first choice in central midfield, due in no small part to his leadership qualities. But also because of his physical presence and undoubted bravery, something Hoddle was suspected of lacking.
One noted commentator, sorry I forget who, pointed out it took greater courage to play as Hoddle did.
Hoddle and Robson did play together, but with England’s creativity being provided by either Waddle or Barnes on the wing, Hoddle was often overlooked in favour of Ray Wilkins, or worse, Peter Reid.
I’m sure it says a great deal about English football that one creative source at a time was deemed sufficient, and physical prowess was preferred over consummate skill.
Ah yes Wilkins the Crab, hope he pulls round from his current health problems, and who can forget Peter Reid treading water in 86 as druggie Maradono left him for dead. Two examples of why I lost interest in England years ago.
I think we will have too much for Burton, though if not I suppose our promotion hopes will be said to have gone for a Burton.
I’m confident we will be able to raise glass to an away win this evening. 3-1 to Boro.
Powmill
Let’s hope that after today our play off hopes have not
GONE FOR A BURTON !
OFB
https://i2.wp.com/wordhistories.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Gone-for-a-Burton-in-the-drink%E2%80%9D-The-Sketch-30-July-1941.jpg?fit=508%2C628&ssl=1
Well I hope Werder is safely back in Bremen and the weather on his trip was kind. Meanwhile Burton have had a pitch inspection this morning after the persistent nature of the precipitation over the last 72 hours.
As we saw with Derby and Sunderland games don’t always go as expected but I would expect that TP will not be taking prisoners and gets his starters fired up and ready to do the business and also look at GD into the bargain. Today could be a banana skin or a massive opportunity. Other fixtures play into our hands, Preston are at home to Derby at lunchtime, Bristol at home to Brentford who will still be clinging to play off hopes in a must win away game for them and Sheffield Utd host Cardiff.
RR, my cousin in Chesterfield has just mailed me to say that their game against Newport County has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch, as you well know it’s just up the road from Burton.
Will be out of Internet range at work so I’ll have to keep my excitement bottled up until I’m back on compound about 3 am local. Come on Boro don’t disappoint!
Werder, like others have posted hope your are now safely ensconced at home, iFollow booted and looking forward to the match (tongue in cheek)
Thanks for another good read, I cannot say more as others have beaten me to it. TOP MAN.
Derby winning as I write. No more false dawns and no slip ups on the slippy pitch.
Well finally arrived back home and have just purchased a Matchday Pass – once again many thanks for the comments on the article and also thanks too for those who kindly wished a safe journey, thankfully it was and the rain finally stopped too!
Now just time for a little unpacking and check there’s a beer in the fridge 🙂
Local commentators focussing on the four matches after Boro. They doont really expect any points but hope for a good result.
I hope we set off on the front foot and take the game to Burton. Lets hope for some Brewers droop by 5pm.
Howson in for Leadbitter though with it being an away match TP may well want to be solid.
Weather has been very wet in the east midlands. Forest off as well..
Cranie in for Shotton
According to the Gazette, Leadbitter is playing Ian. Clayton dropped.
Not the changes I was looking for ….Cranie, what will he bring to the table??
I’ve paid up and am logged onto the Burton site but cant see any video yet. Am i missing something?
It looks very like match abandoned to me, what with all the matches around them being off.
After all the excitement of the actual match( and it was exciting ) it is possible to assess it in peace and quiet.
The outstanding conclusion is that we are still treating Traore as though he was a mischievous little dribbler.
If that seems simplistic consider the following.
We give him the ball early, what follows is total mayhem in and around the opposition box, ending with three players having to be delegated to mark him, and failing .
He obviously has no instructions to get in the box and score! because he is trying all the time to put other, non scoring players in on goal.
We then decide that the poor little lad must be given a break, because we ignore him for the rest of the half.
We then decide that he will cause more problems on the other wing( great relief on the part of the defenders)
We decide that we will attack on the wings and put crosses in( they are a team of giants)
We decide that we will not bother to shoot, after all they have eight men, out on their feet, standing in their box, unable to run.
Finaly, in sheer irritation, Traore (who else) moves into the middle and puts (who else) Bamford in on goal it’s a knock in, but he loses his footing.
Shortly after, front and centre Traore plays the most exquisite ball to Bamford who produces the most beautiful finish.
The time for coaching him is long gone.
Play him up front and centre, do not die wondering
All good. Video just started.
Selwyn,
I bet you never bothered, 1-0 after six minutes, if it wasn’t so serious I could laugh!
Typical Boro!
I’m still not sure if the match has been abandoned and they’re screening a non-league game instead as the football has been so poor – especially the team in white!
Nearly half an hour, away at relegation threatened Burton. 36% possession, no shots.
Millwall now in sixth and Boro now down to eighth, can we just call this season off now please!
Nah, typical Boro will keep us all hanging on until the last game of the season when we end up needing to win by 2 goals but only score 1!!
Is the one goal going to be an own goal, because we couldn’t score one!
That was as clueless a display in the first half as I’ve seen from a Boro team in a long while – shocking and against a very poor Burton side who are playing like a team already relegated. The next 45 minutes better be a 180 degree turnaround otherwise it may be the beginning of the end for this season.
PPinP
The irony wasn’t lost on me 🙂
They really are poor and yet I don’t know how we haven’t scored despite the rubbish. We dont get replays on iFollow so what exactly happened when play continued after Traore was fouled. it looked as if the ball just had to be rolled across for someone to score.
I’m assuming that Shotton is injured because Cranie doesn’t look great.
This has to get better….doesn’t it.
UTB
Selwyn, Cranie is baffling virtually everyone on here as to what attributes were recognised by the recruitment team as to what we required, are you telling me that we don’t have a junior that could do better?
If it wasn’t for the fact that I have a row of coldies lined up and watching Aussie wickets going down quicker than Monica Lewinski, I’d go to bed!
Werder, the beginning of the end of the season started last Friday when we couldn’t dismantle nine men in over half an hour, this is just the end of the beginning.
Glad to hear you’re home safe and thanks for the intro, again.
I can only echo what Werder has said. I just cannot believe what I have have been watching. If TP cannot get his team to play better than that then it is time for him to go along with the majority of that lot.
Sideways passing then backwards and when they do try and pass it forward they kick it out play for a goal kick. Yes that is how bad they have been.
Unbelievably it doesn’t appear to be getting any better – terrible game!
Pedro, that’s exactly what I was going to say. On what I’ve seen today they would struggle in League Two. Just awful.
And so it continues……if I say any more it will just turn into a rant. There are alot of uninterested players out there. They know their level and it is not in this division.
I cannot believe that Mr Pulis has not brought on Baker or Harrison or both. They could not if they only played on one leg be any worse than that lot out there.
Is it as poor to watch as it sounds listening to it.
Ian at least you cannot see how bad it was….
Ian, I thought you were on the ground to support the mighty Boro as it was so close to your home. And they needed some support – have you ever played in midfield before?
Up the Boro!
Can’t believe Clayton has just been brought on in a game we are supposed to be chasing…
Clayton and what is he going to do????????
This sounds absolutely grim. shapeless, clueless and toothless. Pity the travelling fans.
UTB,
John
Harrison just got on the scoreboard – well I mean he hit it when taking a shot…
Werder,
Today, that would seem to be progress. Of a sort.
UTB,
John
Sg needs to have an inquest on this shambles.
Thank goodness this season is over.
1-1 but still need an inquest !
An abject display that even a late scrambled equaliser from 1 foot out couldn’t provide a fig leaf to cover that embarrassing performance – worst of the season by a mile and probably highlights why Boro are not a team that deserves promotion.
That was appalling and we didn’t deserve a point. Worst game of football (if you can call it football) I have seen in a long time.
I just do not know where we go from here it is that bad in my view! Can’t say anymore as it will just turn into a rant.
Beggars belief that we are still in 6th place! Until Sheffield United win tonight.
Should call us the Black Cats cos we seem to have nine lives.
I thought Friday was embarrassing but this tops that.
We were terrible and Burton weren’t any better. it was like watching the A-league down here. No-hopers with a few reasonable players being brought down to the same level.
i’d say that Burton were unucky but they did very little to try and win it against an abysmal Boro team.
I also wasn’t sure why Clayton came on. Burton were hanging on with little attacking interest. Why not give Baker a go. If not then, why is he even on the bench. It would have made more sense to bring on Shotton so that we would at least have someone who could take a proper long throw. It was that desperate.
Karanka and Forest next and surely they cant be that bad again.
I’m going to bed.
Well, we are lucky Boro. Got a goal in the end and most of the other results went for us. Still in top six, unbelievable!
I feel sorry for RR who has to write a report from the match. Keep it short, mate.
The good point (no pun intended) is that we still have a chance of play-offs. Hope that Besic is back to his best soon – at the moment our midfield is horrible.
Up the Boro!
It’s strange but sometimes what seems a wrongheaded view of one match will be verified by the following match.
Now to explain.
After the match against Wolves, I had the obviously wrong impression that a team alive to the bleeding obvious would have beaten them.
Well, today, obviously shaken by the fact that not trying too hard had not got rid of these irritating play off hopes, our heroes decided not to try at all. Better than that, they realised it was imperative that they assist Burton to an early goal.
They were a team that do not score, you see.
Having achieved that target, it was important that we did not spoil the party by giving the ball to Traore( he could wreck any plan)
I would imagine that there are some angry players on that bus home.
Who gave the ball to Traore in front of goal, a blunder if the first magnitude, and in the last minutes of the game too.
He was always going to find one of our players, and really, you know, it’s not on.
They had fought so hard to shed those play off blues, and then he goes and does that, but you know, he is a serial offender, he did it against Wolves, and we were lucky to get away with it, several near misses, my heart was in my mouth when Bamford was in on goal but fortunately he slipped.
Thank god everyone stuck to our tried and trusted policy of not shooting at all times, but, my god, it was a near thing.
Well Redcar Red has just filed his match report on the car crash at the Pirelli Stadium that applied the brakes on our forward momentum and saw our play-off prospects come screeching to halt, which left a smell that was somewhat more pungent than burning rubber…
https://diasboro.club/2018/04/01/championship-burton-vs-boro/#MatchReport
Perfect summary by RR of an unbelievably dismal shambles today. If that’s all TP can muster with the players available then he is no better than Monk and maybe even worse. RR is right that something stinks because displays like today just can’t be explained by the “off day” excuse especially as they are becoming the norm. The manager is responsible and he is delivering rubbish.
I hope SG is going to read the riot act. God knows they need it.
RR
Many thanks for a wonderful performance off the pitch which is so much more than the one you watched on the pitch.
OFB
Thanks RR, for an honest, no holds barred report about todays miserable and embarassing performance. It is hard to defend Pulis on this game, so many things wrong.
Redcar Red
Sadly, your report reflected the commentary. No, that is grossly unfair, your report had more guts and quality.
Jarkko, away tickets sold out in minutes so as we had both kids at home family took over.
I am have contacts at the Blades and Rams so should get to those. The Rams game has one issue, we set off early the next morning to Brum Airport for a fortnight away.
RR
A brilliant report highlighting a diabolical display from players and coaching staff alike. The only professionalism on display is your reporting.
It is not often I am embarrassed to say I support the Boro but after that display it’s going to be difficult to face up to my golfing buddies who support Cardiff and Wolves!
It looked to me as if the majority of players have already got their holidays planned for the day after the last game at Ipswich!
BoroExile, welcome back!
You may note I quoted you earlier in the comments section. Your words prior to TP’s arrival endured. Seems we paid for a load of Pu, and today we got it.
Simon, thanks for your welcome back. I have been AWOL because we moved house in January and, despite my lifelong devotion to all things Boro, I had many more things to do that I decided were more important than commenting on the uninspiring fare being served up by TP and the other overpaid primal donnas on the field.
I did notice and was flattered to see that you quoted me in the comments section. I would have much preferred that I had been quoted as someone who,had been proved wrong in his views about TP but alas it seems not to be so.
What I saw today beggared belief for a professional team supposedly in contention to make the playoffs for a place in the Premier League. It was incompetent in the extreme. If they were a hospital or similar they would by now have been placed under “special measures”.
Pulis is the person responsible for what the team does and he is therefore entirely culpable for today’s debacle. He needs to shape up quickly or SG needs to ship him out. The problem is that, if SG gets rid of him, how many people on this blog have any confidence that SG will appoint the right man next time based on his recent track record?
It’s a continuing big mess.
Underwhelming and underachieving. Crap.
UTB,
John
PS
R, A fair report on today’s ‘performance’. I believe the chant from the terraces is ‘what a load of rubbish’. A discussion on motivation is needed. The team is in breach of contract, how can so many have an ‘off-day’ at the same time? A plot?
Time for bed.
Thanks RR – your dedication to the cause is far better than our players could manage. Never mind brewers droop, sounded like they had been on the pop before the game and were suffering from a hangover.
Unless Cardiff can come back then we drop out of the top 6 and with Sheff United to play a week tomorrow that could be last orders for any remaining hope of a play off place.
Mind you, we would not deserve it given that our assembled team who must be paid a kings ransom in wages couldn’t beat 9 men and then the team at the bottom of the table, what does it say?
Anyway, I am off to continue to drown my sorrows although it is a school night so better be a bit circumspect unlike Boro who couldn’t organise a pxxx up in a brewery!
Good grief, Cardiff get a 91’st minute equaliser at Sheffield United. Totally undeserved.
God must be a Boro fan. How on earth we can be so dismal and still be in a play off place is beyond me.
Unlike some, whilst I care how we play, lets get in there and worry about it then.
The table doesn’t lie.
You took the words out of my mouth Ian! Well the expletives were missing to be fair!
Thing is about the play offs, I don’t really fancy the disappointment of a trip to Wembley and if (a big gig if) we got promoted, this shower of players would not be able to cut it with the big boys.
Don’t worry if we did go up we have Barragan to come back in the Summer and there’s also de Sart plus I’m sure we could buy a load of thirty something has beens who have just been relegated because they are not to put too fine a point on it Garbage! There must be a Birmingham club with a few washed up “Premier League Experienced” footballers looking for a mug club to give them a final pay day.
What could possibly go wrong in that? Maybe we could even tempt the vertically challenged “he’s got more decorations than Santa” goalkeeping liability to help with team spirit.
I saw the report that Howson has taken his shirt off when substituted and threw it at the bench. He’ll be on his way then
OFB
An incredible last gasp equaliser for Cardiff has kept us in the play offs!
By fortune we are still there but on the evidence of today we wont stay for long unless TP sorts out an alternative plan to Traore and what to do with his under performing many. Most worrying is what he thought that Cranie has that Shotton hasn’t. Then there is his own substitutions like putting Cranie on against Wolves and Clayts today when we were chasing both games. Are some of the players perhaps feeling and thinking the same? Something doesn’t smell right to me.
Maybe TP has decided that he doesn’t fancy another season………..
Will TP stay for next season, Any thoughts ? As RR says ( something doesn’t smell right )
Well I’m going to stick my head over the parapet and I’ve got my tin hat on!
TP will be the manager next season and he will get us promotion
Don’t forget I’ve been Jarkkood having met our hero foam handed super supporter a few weeks ago his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me
OFB
OFB, if it is true about Howson then, yes, he will be off and he will no,doubt turn up somewhere else turning in brilliant match winning performances. Why is it that when highly regarded players come to they turn to dross? Poor management and coaching maybe?
Mr Pulis is no better than what we had, I would bet that even GM would have had us hanging on as we are now.
Waiting for the inevitable, because it will happen.
Here’s my two pennorth for what it’s worth.
I’ve said for a long time that there’s something rotten at the heart of the club. In all my years of watching and listening to football commentary, I’ve never heard one so scathing as the one Neil Maddison delivered today. The fact it came from a professional footballer made it sound even worse.
There was no holding back in his condemnation of the lack of effort from the players. He kept up this for the entire 90 minute commentary. Usually ex players are reluctant to voice criticism but he showed no mercy today.
I think TP was brought in to try and salvage the season, if a playoff spot is not achieved I think he will leave. Even if he does make the playoffs I think he will leave.. it seems he and DK are here to guide Woodgate and Fleming through a transitional phase., and once the season is over he will be off.
He must have been gutted to see Mark Hughes get the Southampton job, it would have been ideal geographically for him and would have been a shoo-in appointment if he’d been available. I don’t see how he can do the job at the Boro long term living so far away.
I still have my suspicions about the behind scenes influence of certain players and coaching staff and think it should be a top down clearout at the end of the season.
I’m currently working closely with Neil Maddison for a forthcoming In2View.
Neil is still employed by the club as a match day host and representative and is to be seen at every home game which he does in conjunction with his Radio Tees role.
I don’t think Pulis will leave and whilst he may be training up Woody and Curtis they wouldn’t be ready for a few years yet
OFB
He clearly said it as he saw. My point being if he said it was pathetic then it must have been truly pathetic.
One thing I’ve learned after speaking with him is that he tells it as it is.
The plain unvarnished truth !
OFB
God help us Mr Bob if Woody and Fleming are our future.
I’d say your opinion is definitely worth more than 2d GHW. I agree with you. You really do begin to question the motivation of the players. Maybe GT was right and many are playing for their place by not trying to win us promotion.
Got in from work with a positive feeling only to see the score and feel totally deflated. Again. A scrambled goal against, let’s be honest here, a very poor side in the 90th minute just isn’t good enough I’m afraid. Of course we have no devine right to expect to beat Burton but come on were talking Burton not Barcelona.
Thanks to RR for going above and beyond to get his match report on the blog so quickly. My god it made depressing reading though. At least the other teams below us didn’t better our result with only Derby getting 3 points.
What is so wrong that as a team we seem to start most games without getting out of second gear? Whatever it is it needs sorting out now as it’ll be Saturday before we know it and a certain Mr Karanka brings his Tricky Trees to the Riverside.
Cup of tea then off to bed a little bit more fed up than I was on Friday. It really is the hope that kills you.
Hopefully the players dislike AK more than they dislike whoever in management is bugging them at the moment and they will turn in a proper performance.
In these days of social media, agents , etc, rumours of this that and the other, I’m sure players are aware of things going on behind the scene .
So were does that leave the ones who maybe ,either have been told or the ones with an inclination , they will be made available for exit, even ones who are picked every game must wonder?
I’m sure Cardiff players are motivated to get promotion, because there’s a good chance they will get an opportunity to still play, Boro if they get promotion you know your looking at six or seven new faces, some on big money,
So my point is how many in our squad are questioning if they would benefit from a promotion push?
Maybe I’m being synical ,but hey I am a Boro fan.
Watched at work on a good connection. shouldnt have bothered.
A bad heavy pitch and we were dire in the mire.
So down to 73 points – surely we wont make the playoffs on that? As you say the hope kills you.
Excuse me while I scream, – I feel sorry for the travelling fans they were badly let down.
Haven’t seen any of the game. Looks like I didn’t miss much.
For what its worth, looking at our remaining games I can’t see us winning another game this season.
Thanks, OFB. I am not the most positive minded person but somehow I am positive with Boro. Perhaps the experience of survival in 1986 teached me something. Also I have lost my local team here that were bought by a Chinese business man and the club went bust and never was born again.
So I try to just enjoy where we are as a club. But it was hard to enjoy the match yesterday. Very hard. The positive was that I was able to watch it through the 90 min and Boro got a point.
So I have forgot the match already. We have gone three matches without a win now and still are one point above the chasing pack. Really amasing.
And next we will have Aitor coming to the Riverside with his Forest team. They have won one and lost one in their last six games. So drawing four times.
It will be a tough game as AK will try to get at least a point from us. So we have to play much better than at Burton.
What kind of reception AK will get from the crowd at Riverside on Saturday? I hope he gets a welcome applause and then his team gets beaten as we really need the points now to keep the chasing pack behind us.
So let’s try to get over the Burton match and concentrate on the visit of AK Forest. Up the Boro,
It gives me no pleasure to say that yesterday’s result didn’t surprise me. Well, it actually did really because as I was watching live Rugby League instead of listening to Radio Tees, I switched my iPad to ‘flash scores’ and it gave the final score as a 1-0 defeat only to amend it later as a draw. Either way I guessed it must have probably been a poor Boro display as now confirmed by Redcar Red’s excellent pungent report. Apart from Wolves, who some TV observers seem to think have been the best ever Championship team, the standard in this league has been in my opinion the lowest for a number of seasons which doesn’t say much for the Boro.
The truth of the matter is I’ve lost my mojo for them now, as I want to be excited when reading or watching Sport in the little time I may have left, and I don’t expect to see Boro in the Premier League again in my lifetime. I’m now hoping for an exciting US Masters with a British, or at least a European winner.
Whilst we contemplate our navels we are still in sixth place albeit on goal difference.
No one seems capable of nailing that final play off spot. It could be that a team needs under 75 points and that is a comment on the quality of the league but not the competitive nature of the league.
My guess is that our season will effectively come to an end at Sheffield United but as Jarkko says it is AK and Forest first.
Ian, I think you have missed out Millwall in your thoughts on the final top six.
They are THE team on a roll at the moment and the wheels to not look like coming off any time soon. They have not been beaten in the league since New Years Day, drawing four and winning ten.
They are the team that will take one of the positions 3 to 6. Count in Villa and Fulham and that leaves one slot available for Derby.
Millwall at home will be my next and final match at the Riverside this season. No play offs for Boro.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, I am in agreement with GHW.
There is something odd about a club like Boro, with aspirations of being a PL club, of this “old boys” network hanging around the coaching and scouting side. This is fine if the old boys are actually world-class at their jobs, but Woody for example wasn’t exactly fielding offers left right or center when he was moved out before. Scouting for Liverpool is hardly first team coach is it?
Parochialism over professionalism. That is my accusation that I level at the club. There are too many players in the current starting 11, and indeed in the squad, who seem to have lost their fight and perhaps gotten too comfortable. I’m wondering whether some of them had good deals which meant that their salary was not cut back to it’s pre-promotion levels, giving them less incentive to get back to the milk and honey of the PL.
Also, clearly some of them will be mentally scarred by the experience. What’s the point getting promoted so that Big Al and the crew can sit there on MOTD and tear your performances apart piece by piece? We’re also watching the accelerated decline of some of our previous promotion heroes – Leadbitter in particular, but Clayton and George also. As for Downing, I still maintain that we should have cancelled his contract before we were promoted last time.
There are too many passengers, and unfortunately they also seem to be TP’s idea of a player. George is big and tall for a left back, we all know how highly he rates Downing, and Leadbitter is the only one, despite his crumbling legs, who offers bite and steel in the middle. As for the creative player(s), well we only have one!
This being Boro I am certain that we have started our slippery slide down the table now, which will be punctuated with exclamations of – we’re still in the top 6 on goal difference…. we’re only a point outside the playoffs… we’re only three points off the play offs and we’ve still got them to play, a real 6 pointer… it’s a shame we lost that 6-pointer but this other team are in free-fall, we can still overhaul them…. we could have done with 3 points there, but a point is useful as we’re only 4 off the play offs with 3 to go… etc etc…
If we somehow fluke our way into the play offs I can see us getting to Wembley, because that’s the kind of thing Boro would do, before Fulham tear us a new one in the final. It’s hard to be optimistic when there isn’t much fight in the team.
Good post smoggy, well said and unfortunately there lay the problems within the club.
Thanks to Redcar Red for his spot on blunt assessment of what passed for a football game yesterday – it’s hard to imagine why with just seven games to go and a really tight play-off pack, Tony Pulis’s team put in such a low-energy low-quality display against a team they should have beaten 19 times out of 20. It perhaps highlights that there is the wrong mentality in the squad and if they couldn’t raise their game when it matters then there will be little point in making the play-offs at all.
Perhaps it’s the story of the season, players who arrived to a smash the league party before a ball was kicked and were exposed to be just over-inflated pricetags sitting on over-inflated egos. When Britt scored his header from one foot out he then made a goal celebration, which if wasn’t ironic would be laughable, which consisted of him putting his back to the Boro fans and pointing to his name on the back of his shirt with his thumbs as if to show he’s the star striker. The prolonged self congratulation was interrupted by Adama, who had grabbed the ball out of the back of the net and was urging his team-mates to get back to the halfway line and try and score the winner we needed.
Boro clearly lack the winning mentality and somehow need motivating over the line as it appears many look disinterested in promotion. Though I suspect it will only be Traore who is looking forward to playing in the PL as nearly all the others would be out of their league – indeed some already are looking so in the Championship!
I had already purchased iFollow match passes some weeks ago for the Burton, Forest and Sheffield games and well before yesterday’s debacle!
Please find below the iFollow links to purchase match passes for Forest and Sheffield.
If I have to suffer watching these games then I believe, in the interests of camaraderie, so should a few other Boro die hards. No doubt the likes of Werder, Pedro and Jarkko will feel obliged to suffer with me!
http://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/matches/fixtures/first-team/201718/april/middlesbrough-vs-nottingham-forest-on-07-apr-18/
http://www.sufc.co.uk/matches/fixtures/first-team/2017182/april/sheffield-united-vs-middlesbrough-on-10-apr-18/
Dont worry you will not be alone – the Bahrain contingent will be watching from around the pool with our G and Ts. After forest we have 4 six pointers to get through so I dont see us getting more than 2 points out of that lot.
The sooner we are away from the playoffs the better as I am dreading the obligatory Wembley jaunt again.
We may have to contemplate sending a Diasboro special ops unit to Finland to kidnap agent Jarkko and bring him back to England as we had three straight wins when he was here and since he left it’s been downhill with just two points from nine and poor performances.
We urgently need the super-powers of his optimistic vision shield to protect the players from Teesside’s deadliest villain Metallo Steel and his Kryptonite misery rays that are sapping the strength from the players and turning them all into Lex Luthor Blissets and leaving the supporters at the mercy of Bizarro’s team selections…
No need to kidnap me. Just send me an open check and I will fly over every Saturday morning to Manchester and back on Sunday. But I have to skip the midweek matches for work commitments.
I am planning my first ever Wembley trip with my son, too. If I just can get tickets to the two matches Boro will be playing there this season. Here I can pay the flights as I have never seen Boro winning at Wembley (no-one has I think). There is always hope as we are lucky Boro.
Up the Boro!
I think that is totally unfair KP, pressurising us all like that. Don`t you think I could spend my pension better elsewhere?
Anyway thanks for the links KP. I will be really interested seeing what reception AK gets and how fired up his players are against TP´s
KP
Sadly, it is not available in the UK. I will be there in spirit, or pickled!
Ian stop making these excuses, suffer the same as us expats and watch through a VPN.
Ian
Ahem, coughs loudly, go to the Opera and find the VPN
Part of me definitely wants us to get to the play off final so that I can make the trip from Oz. I missed the Norwich game (except on TV) because I couldn’t leave Oz at the time.
I suppose that, like most of us, I’ll take what happens and if we get there, hope for a pleasant surprise. The good side is that I won’t be disappointed if we don’t make it this year because we really aren’t good enough.
UTB
Can’t see SG doing this……..
“Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis has fined his players €400,000 and ordered some of them to go on holiday until the end of the season after a draw left the defending Greek Superleague champions third in the table.
Marinakis, who also owns Nottingham Forest, said he will call up players from the club’s under-20 squad for the final four games following the 1-1 draw against Levadiakos on Saturday.“
http://www.espn.com/soccer/olympiakos/story/3440797/olympiakos-players-fined-sent-on-holiday-following-poor-results
Spot on GHW, time for a dose of that down by the riverside!
In response to the above, GHW is spot on in that there’s a rabbit away somewhere within the club, so as I previously posted, where do we start on the hierarchy? Is SG up to the job anymore, and I’ve never in my life trusted anyone with the cheesiest of cheesy grins that Bauser pocesses, don’t even get me going with the recruitment crew. I remember a piece by AV in the local rag a while back, that highlighted just how far they had progressed under the tutelage of a certain Mr. Gill, Ian, sit down, it’s not you, and how we were now ahead of the curve in regards to how we conduct our business in the future. The future is here and I see nothing in the vapour trail of their trading other than a defunct Chinese satellite making tracks, the other promising stars they’ve placed our way appear to be nothing more than a black hole. Martin Cranie anyone?
As for the captain losing his legs and not being the influence he once was, rubbish (if that’s going to incur a Spartak, I change my statement to ‘I contest’). I was a constant captain of any football team that I was involved in, why, because regardless of where you were in the stadium or training ground, you could hear me. You fully understood exactly what I demanded of you before you stepped foot on the grass, which was endorsed constantly during the game. My legs up until my forties were very good and I wasn’t ever the slowest, but you learn to develop the ‘cut them off at the pass’ ideology. Still, every member of my team knew that if they slacked, they would get a spray, if they made a mistake they would get a gee-up and a pat on the back, just don’t dream of doing it twice. If they were victimised (as in Adama) then the opponents and the referee knew exactly what my opinions were, they had my fullest of support, the kids ere nurtured but knew I was always approachable if they had any problems at all.
I think that everyone here knows that I sincerely wear my heart on my sleeve and like a typical Park Ender, I speak my mind. The way the club’s going forward at the moment with the staff on board I think that I prefer to get out of my mind instead of speaking it, I’m so bloody angry, where’s the fridge!!!!!
Oh, I forgot, if you think for a nano second that I was going to get the lads in to a huddle on the pitch before kick off, have a word with yourself. If that wasn’t done in the changies then what the hell were you talking about, your brand new Mercedes AMG? I went one on one with the lads that I thought needed a pep up whilst on the park, this American crap of a group hug is garbage.
Last gripe for now, Smoggieinexile, can you please reset your spell check to be able to spell “centre’, it’s the first thing I ever do when I set up my PC on my next assignment abroad. Nothing personal by the way, I’m just a bit of a pedant when it comes to the language that we have given the world.
Redcar Red, thank you for the alternative and fully truthful match report. How you can write that up with steam coming out of your ears beggars belief.
There have been some very good posts above and although there has been anger and dismay at what we have witnessed this season and especially these last two games, they have been reasoned and to the point.
As a few have said where does the main problem lay. Within MFC itself? I believe yes and have to question what is going on inside the inner circles.
Mr Gibson has said nothing, although he did sack GM and appoint TP from a limited list. Did he really believe that we still had a chance of the play offs? If he did why did he not argue. no tell the Manager, that unless we brought in a few decent players to give some impetus in the second half of the season, yes still lots of matches to play and points to gain, then we would be going nowhere. If we all could see it then surely he could.
But what did we get…..Besic, Harrison and Craine. No real improvement at all just bums for the bench. Could the recruitment staff not find anybody better than what we had. it could not be that difficult. Or was this all down to Mr Pulis and if so why was he hired?
Then we have the bringing in of Woodgate and Fleming. Just what were they going to add? As RR and others have said, it all stinks.
We have no passion and desire out on the pitch apart from Adama. You see that in his play and even chasing after the ball when it has gone out of play.
We have no Captain or Leaders to speak of as PPinP wrote in his post above. Grant unfortunately is finished, sadly but true. Friend and Downing just have not been good enough and must know they would not be part of a promoted team to the EPL, as with the majority of the others. Even Ben has not reached the heights that had TP offering 20mil for him. Has this been a major part of the in the poor season.
And so it goes on. Mr Gibson needs to speak out and not hide behind Bauser. Yes I know he will not say anything at the moment, but come the season end is he going to tell us truthfully his vision. All the Fans deserve that.
How about “we are going to smash the play offs”
That was tongue in cheek by the way.
Seriously, we need two wins and a draw minimum from the next three matches. Can we do it? No by performing like we did at Burton but if we play like versus Leeds, everything is possible.
So which Boro will be there on Saturday. Up the Boro!
Agreed Jarkko, but how many Leeds performances have we had this season – . So there is your answer, it will not happen.
We are now in the “typical Boro” season for the next month!
Sorry should say “had this season – 1”.
I know only one full 90 min dominant display all season. But we can dream. At least Sir Gibson has appointed an experienced manager this time around as some hoped. Usually he goes for new rising manager.
Up the Boro!
How can you sack a manager who ( for the first time for many seasons) started the practice of buying players of some value, selling them on quickly for a good profit( now there’s a thing) and recycling the money on good players,( Traore anybody?) to sack him was a major blunder ( highly appropriate word, I think)
Though that was silly, worse was what followed.
To even think of buying players of thirty, and over, was beyond ridicule, barmy is a more apposite word.
It should not happen at any club. The clear cut duty of the owner is to tell the manager that he will only buy young players with a future in the game.
To buy oldies is to pour your money down a hole in the ground.
Worse, you are strengthening your chief rivals.
Example, if we sign any of West Brom’s superannuated veterans then we are committing financial suicide,( we will not mention yet another ten year loan of the young winger Southgate gave away) that would be ten years spent in the Prem.
Then offloaded back on to us, for a fee of course.
And we still have the players who got rid of the manager, and the next manager, and the next manager, and now they will get rid of this one.
When are we going to take the obvious course of action?
I’m with those who think that the “one of our own” element need to be despatched if we are to move on as a Club.
As SG is, allegedly, the one who brought some of them in or installed them in key positions (GG), what chance is there that he’ll accept he was wrong and get rid?
It calls into question the assertion that was made when TP arrived that he was going to look at the entire structure and “sort” it.
Does he still want 11 Stewart Downings?
At the moment, we appear to be going backover, despite hanging on to a play off spot.
Whichever league we are in next season, who do we trust to build and manage a team which will be able to compete in said league?
Over to you again SG.
Despite the above rant, I have, of course, renewed my Season Card. As I’ve said before, we early birds must be certifiable.
Plato, you’ve got me here mate in exactly what your point(s) are.
Firstly, ask any manager from Southampton about selling players, that were of zero value bought or from the academy for mega bucks, and then getting the sack. The way things are going you’ll be able to ask the manager first hand at the Riverside next season, providing they’ve got one at the time that is.
Secondly, if I was offered a position as a manager of any club but, the proviso of the appointment was that I had to listen to, and adhere to what the chairman demanded on who I fill my playing staff with, then I, along with 99% on anyone worth their salt would tell him where to shove his proposal. There again, there’s quite a few yes men out there desperate for a salary and an upgrade on their CV and LinkedIn profile.
I will buy oldies if they get me what I want, think of Townsend, Pearson, Merson, Boksic, I’m tired, I can’t be bothered going on but, you get my drift, I hope, but you will keep your nose out of who I hire providing I’m giving you what you want, which is a seat at the top table.
I’m sorry, but I think that your evaluation of what is required and what control that’s required to achieve it are way off, but there again it’s just my simple opinion.
PPP
I was being sarcastic’ there can surely be no discussion about the sudden and disastrous swerve from actually making some progress.
I.E. Unloading players past their sell by date, and actually hiring players with some mileage in their legs.
Taking part in significant matches against major teams and enjoying them.
Selling players who actually performed well for their purchasers, and we made a profit on them( quite important )
Note how well we are using Traore, still treating him as a wild dribbler, no idea what his most influential position is on the park.
We got him scoring ( important for the price we get for him) then we start moving him all over the field( except in the middle)
No control over the players, if they choose not to turn up in an important match, then they don’t .
It’s worth saying that the players have made it quite clear that come what may they will not be fighting for any play offs
And they did this without saying a word.
It is an enormous collapse from entering the Prem with hope in the heart.
And no, i have no idea where we are bound for.
How can we sack the manager, Plato?
Simple. There will come a stage where the fans have had enough and turn on him. The vultures gather, the players notice and their confidence drops.
The sad thing is that we all know it isn’t all his fault but when something must change, you can’t sack the players. Or the hierarchy.
I think TP will suss if he’s been sold down the river with old boy appointments. Clique’s are unhealthy in any working environment but in Football its poison.. Key to this is he can walk in the Summer knowing that come October there will be a queue of desperate Premiership Chairmen.
I’m wondering if there has been a private Coaches disscussion about who stays and who goes this summer that has “leaked” to certain players? If so it may explain the lacklustre (not the word I would prefer to use) performance of so many and why Stewy needs prescription glasses and Grant needs to find his voice in the same cupboard he left his Thunderbastard boots in. Or are we to be told in June the “untouchables” were all delaying hernia ops since January for the cause?
Not sure how that kind of information could leak out – if for example, one of the players was the brother-in-law of one of the coaches or another was the nephew of someone in the know – then perhaps this kind of stuff may accidentally get dropped in a conversation over Sunday lunch in a “don’t tell anyone but…” Though I’m not aware of any such relationships at Boro…
Please remind me who is Woody’s brother-in-law again? Just saying, like. UTB,
RR
We could all be barking up the wrong tree but all the signs point to a fragmented, dysfunctional set up. Deja vu all over again.
As I said this time last year, SG must think he’s crossed paths with several black cats whilst walking under a ladder. What to do next?
I suspect we are simply witnessing the beginning of the end for a few or perhaps the many regardless of if we go up or stand still.
Is it tonight that OFB is having his tete a tete with SG? Should be interesting
I can’t subscribe to TP beng sold down the river by old boy appointments as to the best of my knowledge he was instrumental in the appointments of JW with regard to first team involvement and also CF but I could be wrong.
That being said, I am of the view that the old boy network is flawed and eventually comes back to bite you. What is needed, is new blood with the right credentials.
There again what do I know, I predicted we would win at Burton and I am now doubting that we are good enough to get a draw against Forest.
I could be propping up the Exmil challenge by the middle of next week!
What I do know is that there is something fundamentally wrong at MFC and with this team which needs to change very quickly if prolonged Championship or EFL football is not to become the norm on Teesside and that saddens me.
SG
Was a no show last week as was TP and a lot of people amd sponsors were disappointed !
The way it is at the moment it looks as though it is no show right through the club.
Mr Gibson may have been asked too many awkward questions if he had indeed showed up. Best to hide away, keep your head down and avoid any flak. He is quite good at that. Years of practice.
I see that Gary is doing OK at Birmingham with Pep. Wonder if it would have been different if he had been here??
More than that, Jota is inspiring them. Didn’t Monk try – and fail – to bring him to Boro?
Yes you correct Simon. Was that when we bought Johnson instead? Again another what if.
Never appointed a number two during Monk’s era. That was a surprise. Maybe that was a big mistake by Monk. And of course Pep was not available back then. UTB!
Some people might think we will always play as badly as at Burton and the performance against Leeds was an exception. But perhaps the truth is somewhere in between. As Ian always reminds us the table does not lie. We are sixth in the table.
So I trust TP will do his job this week and we should be playing better on Saturday. We might even win. I think we should score first and then we have the confidence to win the match. So let’s hope for a bit of luck and perhaps Britt will score against his old club.
When I checked the table and results this morning I realised that I don’t want Boro to play Fulham in the play-offs. I rather have Cardiff or Villa in there. But of course we need to beat two teams to get promoted via the play-offs.
So there is plenty to play for yet. Let’s enjoy the ride. We are not Black Cats luckily. Their season is looking bad as Birmingham is winning games.
Up the Boro!
Chatting to my Rams colleague and asked did I know why we were poor at Burton. I thought for a moment then said Championship. Spot on was his reply.
I mentioned that fans were fed up and he reminded me of conversations he and his mates were having a week ago.
Listened to SkySports last night who said Villa desperately needed a win after two poor performances and defeats and dreadful display in a draw with Hull.
Our Forest fan was in yesterday and said they were on their sun beds already.
At the moment were are a set of moaning minnies who wouldn’t be out of place calling Wrighty on 606 moaning because they were only fifth in the top flight and will have to settle for Europa League place next season.
All this is the lot of being a football fan, if you win someone else loses, that is the nature of sport.
We will just have to get on with it, it is only football. One thought is whether the doors at Rockcliffe have some Russian nerve agent on them?
Ian
Are we the Arsenal fans of the Championship? 😩
Interesting article about Agents fees in the Birmingham Mail. Have a read through but then look at the list of fees paid by each club, Sunderland is staggering considering what they got for their money and where they now find themselves.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-ag
A small crumb of comfort from Monday’s game was at least Britt got on the scoresheet. Maybe it will give his confidence a boost so when he does get chances in front of goal he may tuck a couple away.
On the alleged Howson shirt throwing incident my take is this. If he’d been putting in MoTM performances on a fairly regular basis, creating opportunities for team mates, scoring the odd goal here and there and generally having a half decent season then I could understand him throwing his toys out of the pram.
However as far as I’m concerned he’s done none of those on anywhere near a regular basis and imo he’s underperformed and been a big disappointment. On occasions he’s shown us the type of player we hoped he could be, but these have been few and far between.
A show of public descent usually ends up with the player being moved on and after his poor efforts so far I for one won’t be bothered if he is.
I totally agree Howson had a big reputation but has been poor.
Pulis explained the substitution because he wanted to put two up front
Howson as a semior player should accept that and not throw a strop.
Howson had a strapping on a hand and took that off and apparently threw that directly at Pulis. Now TP is not the kind of manager that lets dissent go unpunished. Howson will go !
Would we get our money back for him ?
Possibly ?
OFB
OFB……no chance in my opinion. Another year older, coming on 30 and biggish wages I would guess for the Championship. How many years contact? We would have to give him away for free virtually to move him on…….to where?
I think Howson threw the strapping in to the middle of the field. I remember it well as it was quite a strapping and it emded up on the grass and we wife said that will affect the play.
The TV did not show what he did for his shirt. Up the Boro!
For all the talk of parochialism and something being rotten at the core of the club, I think the main problem of the last two games has been far more there in plain sight: a misfiring midfield trio.
Before we get too caught up in conspiracy, we should probably remember that at 5.30pm on Friday, we were unbeaten in six games, winning four of them. Two games without a win in the space of three days is not what we wanted but I’m not sure it points to anything sinister – certainly not in this division – though I fully accept that the season has been a major disappointment. Even more so than last year.
For me, whilst Traore and Bamford have been the headliners in our run of decent form, we started to look the part when Besic came in and added a bit of forward thinking to the midfield. With him, Leadbitter and Howson we seemed to have cracked one of the problem areas for the season to date. Unfortunately, it seems as if all three have lost form at the same time.
May be I’m being naive or not looking deep enough but that’s the way I see it. If that midfield three are on form, even just two of them, along with the rampant Traore and reborn Bamford, we look a decent side at this level and capable of the top six finish we’ve reset our sights to.
Great Post I agree with everything you say
OFB
Ditto, me too. Great post. And this is the Championship. UTB!
Andy, surely you must mean a misfiring midfield five when we have Howson, Clayton, Leadbitter, Downing and Besic all running out of steam, sorry mate, one or two maybe, but not all five and all at the same time. Can I throw Cranie in there as well, or can I throw him even further south like Watford? Just a thought, but do you think that our prestigious recruitment team were told to go and sign Cairney and came back with Cranie instead? It would be an understandable mistake if they did, maybe it’s down to the spell check system on their PC’s.
The games we won and the draws we got were, apart from the Leeds result, very scrappy affairs with some being in most eyes, a smash and grab. So yes, we were on an unbeaten run of six games but, without the rub of the green the statistics could have looked somewhat different. So, in that respect the conspiracy theory will, like the Boro’s performances to date, hang around like a bad smell.
I have yet to be convinced by a Boro performance this season to endorse our current position, once again take the Leeds game out of the mix, and I agree with most that our older and more favourite players are a spent unit. Hindsight’s a commodity that anyone would love to possess, if we’d had it I’d have snapped TP’s hand off when he offered 20M for Ben after his season thus far, after all we had Fry ready to go from the off to replace him for free.
Talking of commodities, if/when Adama gets put in to the shop window, if we accept anything less than 30M for him, then our recruitment and transfer staff will have excelled themselves once more.
Who was it that said 7 or 8 months ago that we had the best squad in the Championship? Of the current first team squad I would get rid of Assombalonga, Clayton, Cranie, Downing, Friend, Gestede, Howson, Johnson, Leadbitter and Shotton, not seen enough of Baker, Besic, Fletcher or Harrison yet, and of course we’ll lose Traore anyway, so quite a recruitment drive required for the Championship next season.
PPP
Good post
It was significant (and sad) to see Traore repeatedly dashing about retrieving the ball for the opposition, to speed the game up.
His team mates are not worth it(and not interested)
And they still regard him as a crazy dribbler..
The stats on him are not good news for the fans, have we scored a goal which has not been down to his efforts? Don’t think so.
Do the club know how good he is? Doubt it.
Will they collect a mountain of money for him? Probably not, they are not bright in the market.
Will they use the money it good effect? It would be a turn up if they did.
My next two Talking Points are being drafted as we speak. Werder knows what they are. I look forward to sharing them with you in the coming weeks.
PPinP, I think that your post is very valid and on many occasions I have bemoaned the performances of the “mid-field”.
As you do, I include Grant, Clayton, Howson, Downing, Braithwaite and added in January Mo Besic.
The mid-field is the engine room, the motor and if it is not running sweetly and continues to mis-fire and at times stalls then the team as a whole is goosed.
Grants legs were going last season and Howson possibly brought in to replace him as the forward runner and occasional goal scorer has failed miserably. As I replied to OFB, not good enough and would probably have to be written off or kept as a bench warmer at best.
Just where will the Manager, who ever he may be, start with possibly the most important area in the team/squad. It will need a complete overhaul, in fact a complete new engine may be cheaper, although it would need to be run in for a few games. First we will need some creativity through the middle, something we have not had all season. Then a tough mid-field general able to berate those not doing their job. Add another player who can pass a little and get forward when needed. All these would also need to contribute a few goals over the season.
This is the area that has cost us big time this season and the main reason for our failure to achieve Mr Gibson’s goal in getting automatic promotion.
Pedro
And, above all, big, big, big players.
Note the size of the wolves players.
In the meantime…
My thoughts are with the family of the late Ray Wilkins.
Many will no doubt recall his playing career most fondly. But.
My earliest experience of watching Wilkins was in the dugout, not on the pitch. An 8th place finish in his first season as a manager suggested that he might have a durable career in that field.
Instead, that was as good as it got for him as a manager. Once QPR and Les Ferdinand parted ways, Wilkins’ work at QPR was on a downward trajectory. That said, he nearly took Fulham up three years before they actually went up, and had a good career as an assistant.
I think one of the best tributes to him could come from Carlo Ancelotti. ““Ray is one of those select few, always present, noble in spirit… without him we wouldn’t have won a thing.”
#RIP
Simon
A sad day for the Wilkins family, a reminder that football is only a game.
A fine footballer and a gentleman. A great loss to his family and the football world in general. RIP Ray.
I echo those sentiments. My thoughts are with his wife and family. RIP Ray.
MFC website advising that the last home game of the season has been chosen for live coverage on Sky TV. Kick off moved to 5.30pm.
If by some flook we are still in with a shout of the play offs, then this will surely be another “typical Boro” opportunity as we will know in advance of kick off the results of the other teams. Say no more!
Bit of a Brucie Bonous for me then KP being able to watch it on the tv. Hopefully we’ll still be playing for something!
Sad news about Ray Wilkins. Before I came out to Saudi I liked listening to him when driving to work when he was on the Alan Brazil show on talksport. Always talked sense and put his views across very well. None of this “you’ve never played the game so what do you know” attitude. Only 61 as well. A real shame.
As so many times this season our midfield did not function on Monday. For some reason Besic and Howson did not play to their level. None of team did, actually.
Also Downing has had a couple of quiet matches. But still we cannot say Downing or Howson are useless. Downing has played well for the past two season even if his first season back was not as succesful.
And writing off Assombalonga is just negative thinking. Like waiting for the wheels to come off our beloved Boro.
As Andy R wrote we just had our midfielders misfunctioning at Burton. We must be worried about the performance but not panic.
We are still in a good position and have some good players. We just need to improve a bit and we can keep our place in the top six. The table does not lie. Sometimes I feel that some people like Boro to fail.
Let’s enjoy the season a bit. There is lot to play for. Up the Boro!
Jarkko
I don’t disagree that some people like Boro to fail but I do not feel that the contributors on this blog are in that category.
They are all, in my view, ardent supporters who vent their feelings when they see poor performances/decisions being made.
Many of us have been supporting for 60+ years and have seen lots of ups and downs, mainly downs, and we have become frustrated over the years with the frequent promise of success only to experience failure. Hence “typical Boro”.
I disagree with your comment that Downing has played well over the last two seasons. He has had some good games during that period but by and large has failed to make a positive contribution on too many occasions. He has been part of a misfiring/pedestrian midfield which goes back to before AK’s time and this has been the major cause of our failure to score/win games.
It is difficult to enjoy the season when so much was promised and expected when in fact what we have seen is a massive underperformance by the team and management.
KP
I can only echo you in your remarks re. Downing.
He will always keep his place in the team because he is easy on the eye, gliding around the pitch, laying off a few good balls, and floating shots over the bar.
I would bet anyone seeing him for the first time would say that he was the best player on the park.
We, of course know better, he has no second gear, what you see is what you get, and he is never going to pick up an injury, and don’t even mention being booked or sent off.
Well said KP
At last someone has spoken up about the overuse of Video Referees in Rugby League. Lee Radford, the Hull FC coach, has stated that referees are frightened to make some decisions on the field in front of the TV cameras in case they make a mistake. The first half of the Good Friday match between the two Hull clubs took an hour to complete (50% in excess of the normal 40 minutes) because nearly every decision was referred upstairs after stopping the clock. Of course non-televised matches have no access to a video referee, so are completed much quicker.
I have often given my opinion that the ‘video reference’ system is spoiling Rugby League. I accept that without the system some wrong decisions might be made, but isn’t that preferable to prolonging matches in the hope of obtaining perfection? In football goal line technology is quick and accurate. but the recently VAR system may well extend the playing time of matches past the two hour mark. Will that test the patience of spectators if matches exceed 135 minutes including the half time interval, or would they prefer that the ‘on the field’ referee makes the odd wrong decision? After all VAR might give the TV summarisers less to discuss, but for spectators attending matches it will in my opinion inevitably lead to frustration.
I don’t mind the refs going to the screen for dubious tries, Ken. It’s the ones that look obvious that I don’t understand.
Most of all I dislike that new spinning thing in the graphics.
I agree with all KP’s comments. After 50/60 years, the build up to being let down is the hardest thing to stomach but we keep on turning up, year after year, still hoping that “this year will be different”.
As Ian reminds us, though, we are not unique in this regard, it’s the lot of most football supporters.
To return to a subject from earlier in the blog.
If a club is not run by the chairman, in every respect, both financial and personal, then I fail to see how it can function in the football world.
Consider the following.
Your team has just played in the prem. It is full of money, it’s team are by definition at least among the top six in the Champ.
Summer is on it’s way you are about to appoint a new manager.
Do you say.
We are begging you to save us, we are in despair. Our team is utterly incapable of playing in the Champ. We don’t know where to turn.
We would like you to take this hundred million and do what you wish with it.
Buy whoever you want, pay what you want for them, sell whoever you want.
We realise that it might be a three season job to get back to the Prem.
The above is an utter abrogation of the chairman’s duty.
I believe that is what, in essence, happened when we went down.
All buying could and should be personally supervised by the head man. All buying should have a shape and feel to it.
All buying can and should be capable of conforming to about six written rules, which should be engraved in stone in the chairman’s office.
How many thirty year olds have we on our books?
How many of our buy’s have brought joy to the selling club?
Answers on a postcard.
I can agree with Plato to a certain extent, however I would argue that the summer recruitment did have some structure, with some exceptions:
Randolph was clearly a required signing, and has been a successful one, replacing an outgoing first choice keeper – fine there.
Christie was signed to replace Barragan, and I would argue was definitely an upgrade on Barragan for the rigours of the Championship. The fact he was subsequently sold and his gung-ho attacking didn’t quite fit our tactics is not really his fault.
Shotton, in my view, was a back-up center back. It’s entirely sensible to have 4 center backs on the books – Gibson, Ayala, Fry and then Shotton. That makes sense to me. I don’t disagree with his signing because although he is old, he is experienced, and for the job I think he was signed to do (back up) I think we got a decent deal. You can argue that we should have pushed harder to get Flint from Bristol City, to partner Gibbo, but we don’t know whether that was ever going to be possible or not.
Howson seemed to be an entirely sensible signing, albeit for a very inflated price tag. You can argue market economics, and overall I would say that’s fair, but his position was one that we had struggled with (getting some forward dynamism out of midfielders) and on paper he looked a perfect fit to deliver that. I was happy when he signed, and even though he’s been a disappointment since I would say it was the right decision to sign him. We also needed to replace De Roon, and overall made a profit there.
Now we start to get to the signings that are a little more left field.
Assombalonga was one that I actually thought was a great signing, looking at his scoring record and his style he seemed exactly what we were missing. He was expensive, again, but his goal return so far is still probably going to make him our top scorer this season. Without his goals you could argue about how much worse off we’ve been. I don’t know how “valuable” his goals have been, i.e. was he always scoring consolation goals vs. winners, but regardless, he’s done what he was asked to do. We can argue that his all-round contribution has not been good, but then again we were supposed to be “smashing the Championship”, surely we could afford the luxury of someone who puts the ball in the net whilst his teammates show their class to overwhelm the limited opposition?
Fletcher. Ah, Fletcher. Here we have probably the most random and pointless bit of business we’ve ever done (honourable mention Lee Dong Gook). Yes he’s young, yes he has a sort-of OK scoring record at Barnsley (although not better than Paddy who was already on our books and barely better than Gestede), but he was a completely pointless buy as we already had Gestede, Paddy and Britt. That was a complete waste of money and I really think that someone should be paying with their job for that one. It smacks of us being “offered” the player and saying yes rather than some real in-depth scouting and analysis of how he would fit in our system.
Johnson. Well, he was completely the wrong buy, but I think the objective (replace Downing at left wing) was sound. The fact that we spent more on Howson and didn’t spend the same (or more) on a proper tricky left winger to finally give Downing the heave-ho was one of our biggest mistakes in our view. We completely lack creativity and balance on the left and Johnson was never in a million years the right person, but the objective (left winger) I think was right.
What is glaringly missing is the number 10. All of our successful seasons under AK were based upon a strong number 10 (Tomlin, Vossen, Ramirez). I think the fact that we didn’t sign a number 10, and didn’t sign a left winger of quality is the biggest mistake we made. We started the season with a raw academy product on the left (come back Marcus – all is forgiven!!!) and ended up re-oiling Downing to come and puff his chest out and prove that he’s really the number 10/left winger we’ve all been waiting for.
Stewy – we’re still waiting lad. Probably best get yourself down to Sunderland in the summer where your “talents” might be finally appreciated.
So, all in all I think the recruitment was made with the correct intentions. Howson should have been a great signing but has clearly gone over the top of his curve, and Assombalonga has done three-quarters of what was expected of him. Fletcher and Johnson were absolute stinkers I’ll grant you, but Randolph has been a great signing.
Great post
Great Post and one I can totally agree with.
I love this blog me like!
OFB
Spot on.
Smoggy
Your analysis of the signings is very good, and made sense of what was probably thoughtless signings.
The truth is, it cannot be right to make six or seven signings at once, it smacks of confusion, that is not how successful clubs work.
Yes we got a decent keeper, which is in itself a change for us.
But the basic situation was that our defence was not causing us sleepless nights.
If we had done proper scouting, (yes I know, but what can you do) we might have paid money for one, young, big, mobile, athletic, defender.
We paid very big money for a striker who does not convince, being short, immobile, unable to play lone striker, poor in the air, and poor reaction time (not a fox in the box)
We cannot discuss the rest of the signings because they have to play before that can happen.
Smoggy
Agree with all of that other than you have forgotten about Braithwaite who was an expensive signing to presumably fill the No 10 role.
He looked the business to begin with but then seemed to fade and seemed to lose interest once it became clear that we were not smashing the league and it would be a slog.
KP – absolutely correct! Brain fade there, and another one, like Christie, who almost faded from the memory.
Given his limited impact (although I would argue that Braithwaite offered more in his few games that Downing has all season) then you would have to mark him down as a failure.
I still think he’d be a better left wing option though, especially now we have Adama firing, he would have far more time and space on the ball and would probably link up well with Paddy.
KP
Correct again.
“He looked the business to begin with but then seemed to fade and seemed to lose interest once it became clear that we were not smashing the league and it would be a slog.”
I like that KP. A lot.
Sums up 2012-13 under Mogga, actually!
I go back to the words of NikeBoro from the very end of that season…
“Generally, once we go behind, you fear the worst.
“It seems to me that we have too many players whose confidence and form are brittle and dependent. They can only give their best surrounded by sound players in a team that is on top and playing well.
“Rhys Williams is a case in point. All too often, he looks fragile and erratic and is too easily dominated. However he can be impressive and look like an imperious Rolls-Royce – but only when in a successful team and surrounded by the right players.
“Marvin Emnes is an even better example. His searing pace can be invaluable but, in the dross that has been the second half of this season, he has been an invisible passenger.
“Understandably, most of the younger players also fall into this category, which might explain Mogga’s reluctance to play them.
“We have very few players who can rise above the mire and give the team a lift. How often… have we seen somebody take a game by the scruff of the neck, lift it out of bogged-down ineptitude, and transform a match?
“Every team needs resilient players of inherent character and experience who don’t get dragged down by prevailing mediocrity and can have a positive effect on those around them. Boro lack leaders on the pitch…”
Then Andy R added, “…What makes it worse is that the few leaders we do have seem to use their influence to disrupt.”
The more things change…
smoggyinexile, a great post indeed. Thanks for that.
Is it too soon to look forward to the match on Saturday? Or should we all feel down with the performance (the result was good bearing in mind the performance) at Burton?
The Forest match has a special feeling to it. They have Karanka and Tomlin. So we have given them a couple of good managers (remember Cloughie, anyone) and a creative midfielder in Tomlin.
But we have a couple of aces with a Forest back ground, too. We paid them a record fee for Britt Assombalonga in the summer. He will get stick from the away end if he will be playing. I hope he will as we played with two up-front on Monday.
We also have Patrick Bamford who was bought from Forest by Chelsea . So all our strikers and the two top-scorers have a Nottingham connection. Let’s hope one of them will score on Saturday.
It will be a tight match. Let’s hope AK get a good reception – and his team will get a hiding. But it should be a low scoring tussle with AK likely to park a bus or two.
But a facinating tussle, a big match in more than one way. Up the Boro!
Right now…
I’m reviewing the situation and apart from Artful Dodger Traore there’s little oom-pa-pah in Boro’s Nancy boys.
It Sikes! I’d do anything for improvement.
Please sir can I have some more ?
But I suppose come summer it will all be about “Who will buy…?”
Just six huge games to go!
Home to AK’s Forest then Away to the Blades, Home to Bristol, Away to Derby, Home to Millwall then Away to the Tractor boys and Big Mick’s finale!
If Burton Boro turn up in any of those games then the season is as good as over. How TP manages to get them to up their game from that under par debacle is anyones guess but up their games he must. Considering we have been abject failures all season in competing with opponents who are half decent and in the top half of the league its difficult to see where the required points are going to come from. The Burton game was the last nailed on 3 pointer.
He had faith and stuck with the “untouchables” against Burton and they let everyone down. Should he persevere and risk another no show from the many or rip the side apart now and bring in the peripherals who may at least have hunger in wanting to prove themselves? Difficult conundrum but the answer as ever probably lies somewhere in between. Problem is who to marginalise and will it incentivise the remaining mediocrity.
The two “easiest” games on that list are the two banana skins in AK returning and McCarthy’s final game. If they want this they need to best the rest as those other four games are all six pointers. After Monday and the last 25 minutes of Friday night I’m not sure they have the desire or motivation for it especially as for many it will likely mean the end of their time at Boro. Regardless of that the likelihood is that even as a Championship side next season their services will not be required and perhaps as the finishing line approaches that collective realisation was the real reason for the apathy against Burton?
It was interesting the other night talking to all the Boro staff behind the scenes. AK kept himself and his Spanish Coaches to himself and wouldn’t interact with anyone else. He had an aloof superior attitude. They all said on Tuesday night that Pulis is keen to get to know everyone and is interested in what they do. The Boro academy had some disadvantaged children who visited Rockliffe a couple of weeks ago. Pulis made sure that after doing individual training routines that all players came over to the kids had photos taken and signed Autographs. Everyone said Pulis has taken the club to heart and that is why I’m sure he will be here next season.
There are some HUGE games in there, make no mistake. Sheff Utd, Bristol, Derby and Millwall are all classic cliché 6 pointers, and to add spice to the mix there is a classic bogey ground thrown in on the last day for Big Mick’s last damp squib (you can but dream…).
I would hope that the players see it is all in their hands and play accordingly
I wonder if moving the Millwall game to 5.30 and being televised live may discourage some Millwall fans from travelling to the frozen North? It could play a major factor in the game if the travelling support is lighter than would otherwise be. Travel costs plus match tickets are going to be well over £100 as an absolute minimum and if travelling by train a lot more. Sitting at home and watching it or in the boozer may be infinitely more desirable for many. It may have done Boro a small favour.
RR, given the Millwall fans reputation and the meagre return from ticket sales and burgers and beverages bought, against the police presence and seats ripped out, can we play them late in the evening on any given day every time please? Hopefully we won’t have to bother next season, but sadly I can’t see them getting relegated somehow.
I’m sure it has been selected by Sky because they think Millwall will be in with a chance, not because we might still be.
smoggy
Top post.
The sad thing is we needed to recruit a no 10, a creative midfielder and a left sided flanker every window.since we were promoted under AK.
Looked at the remaining fixtures.
“Good Morning, Thomas Cook. How may I help you?”
“Have you got anything last minute, leaving tomorrow?”
GHW, don’t come here because it’s wall to wall Commonwealth Games, but if you’re a CG tragic, fancy a house swap?
I am away for season’s end (22 April to 6th May) but I suspect I wont need to rely on texts to tell us our fate.
Ian, you wouldn’t be going on a Caribbean cruise would you ?
Come on BORO.
If we win the next 4 games would we need to beat Millwall?….:)
OFB
You mentioned Karanka time, with staff?
What have they said about Monk?
I ask because his time seemed a story within itself , was he in control or was there things going on behind the scenes,
Anyone know when Gestede is back or is he done, he was missed against Wo!lves and Burton, when we had most of the ball and needed crosses into the box.
The staff said that GM was a nice fella ! He was always ready to chat but he didn’t sit down with everyone to eat a meal times and Howard the chef said he had to go looking for him to make sure he eat something.
I met Monk a coupe of times and he was always ready to stop and talk and by the way he also rated Rudy ! How do I know this? I was talking to GM when Rudy walked by and GM stopped him and gave him a hog and said a goal today please big fella. Rudy actually obliged !
So nice guys don’t always make good managers !
OFB
Plato, I’m assuming from the “earlier in the blog” statement that it’s aimed at myself, I’d prefer that you to reply to my post as opposed to leaving assumptions waving in the wind.
I totally agree with your comment in regards to the chairman running the club in all aspects regardless of who’s the manager (remembering the fact that you appointment that person in the first place) but, you appointed him/her (bloody PC!) because they can run the club from a football perspective and you can’t, otherwise why do you sit in your chair and why do they sit in theirs?
If I want to bring in a thirty yearly plus footballer that I’m of the opinion can ‘do a job’ for us, then just sign off on the paperwork and let me get on with my part of my contract and you do yours. Obviously, as stated earlier, if I can’t do my job then my chair is emptied of my presence but, the players I brought in will stay until their tenure is no longer ‘tenable’.
Big Jack went before the board and stated, that he wanted to bring in an over the hill mid-fielder who’s knees were knackered, was as fit as asthmatic dog and liked more than a pot or two down the local, but I reckon that he can bring experience to the club. Like the Romans, what the hell Bobby Murdoch ever did for the Boro, is beyond me, his recruitment was a total joke and Big Jack should have been pilloried for even thinking of offering him a contract, the rest is history.
What I’m saying is that your post was misinformed, note I’m avoiding a Spartak here, in saying that the chairman should identify and state what players his appointed manager should sign, ‘compost’ (PC?). The footballer manager manages the football in all it’s aspects, and the chairman controls every aspect of the club with the exception of the football and it’s playing and coaching staff, otherwise why would he appoint a footballing manager/coach in the first place if the chairman knows best?
PPP
All that makes perfect sense, but a football club runs on money(that would be the chairman’s money) and if it runs out of money, it is the end. 1986 anyone.
I ignore the giant clubs, who have a grip on the money like you would not believe, they can and do sign a fading big player, just to win one more league title before he calls it a day(that would be Theiry Henry? And Man Utd) and I think they won two.
If we keep on signing players on their third or fourth club, then we are never going to get a pleasant surprise, ie. A bargain.
If three other clubs have studied him close up and personal, then why should you know more than them.
Now to the problem of giving the poor old manager his head, and your wallet, what if he is usless? Bad enough if you are skint, what if you are loaded? He may set your club back as far as the Indian mutiny.
When I did my early bird renewal as we were hurtling towards relegation last year, I jokingly remarked that, at least, we’d have 4 extra games for the same outlay. I didn’t expect to be wishing it was all over as those extra games kicked in but that’s the way I feel.
When I knew I wouldn’t be at the Leeds game, I also jokingly forecast it would be our best home performance of the season and “voila”, so maybe I’m responsible for the mainly abysmal home form this season. Unfortunately, I’ll be here for the remaining games and have signed up for next year, so you’re going to have to, somehow, get Jarkko there if you want a happy ending!
Like others above, I think some of our players have “already left the building”, so TP has got quite a job on his hands.
Our referee Keith Stroud on saturday a couple of points
On 5 April 2017, Stroud refereed a EFL Championship match between Newcastle and Burton Albion. At 29 minutes, Dwight Gayle went down in the penalty area, and a penalty kick was awarded and put into the net by Matt Richie. Gayle had encroached the penalty area before the ball was hit, so this goal was disallowed. Under Law 14, if the goal was scored, the penalty should be retaken. Instead, in this instance, Stroud gave a direct free kick to Burton Albion. Newcastle later went on to win the game 1-0.[15] Although, had they lost, they could have petitioned to have the game replayed—set by precedents in other games such as a U19 women’s match between England and Norway.[16]
On 9 February 2018, Stroud was involved in another controversy. He refereed an EFL Championship match between Millwall and Cardiff City, disallowing Sol Bamba’s goal. Instead, he should have given ‘advantage’ and awarded the ‘goal’.
OFB
Sounds like we will be in for an eventful afternoon then Bob!
With such an “interesting” profile you would hope that TP has his players well briefed on the Refs shortcomings and how
Exmil
Yes and no. Mrs G is planning on retiring next year and wants to do a bucket list holiday, something she longs to do – a long cruise in the far east.
Because of her work we have been grabbing a week here and a week there on holidays for many years. Our money has gone on the kids and time on Judith gaining her doctorate. I came up with an idea, purely for her benefit of course, I will sacrifice my time to help.
It is daft sinking money in to a once in a lifetime holiday and end up not enjoying it so I came up with a cunning plan. Many cruise ships spend the winter in places like the Caribbean then have to get back to Europe for the summer season.
They are called repositioning cruises. We are flying to the Caribbean from Brum, cruise round four islands then come back across the Atlantic to a few European ports before ending up in Malaga before flying home.
It is a similar price to a nice fortnight in Europe. Six days at sea may be a disaster!
I wouldn’t normally go in to such details but I am an honest person and tell it as it is.
If you are cruising onboard the Marella, with TUI, then I may meet you onboard but I am flying from Manchester.
Come on BORO.
Yes, flying from Brum. I will buy you a pint, I am a generous sort of bloke, cough!!
🙂
Well I’m pleased you two are sorting out the round because I’m sick of going to the bar for you lot !
Mines a gin and tonic (large) thankinyou !
OFB
So I take it you are all inclusive as well lol
Come on BORO.
Never mind my holiday plans, a big well done to Aimie Wilmott winning Gold at the Commonwealth Games.
When I have watched – and I have seen most matches this season via iFollow and three live – Boro with my family, the concensus has been that Downing is one of the best players on the field. Right, he is not tackling there but then again that is not his game.
Of course Traore has been the best after Pulis took over, but looking at whole season, Downing has been one of our best in midfield. I am much more worried about Clayton, Leadbitter and Howson. We need createvity – that’s been our problem. Not tackling is such.
During the three matches I saw in the UK i was highly impressed with Besic. But still thought Downing was very reliable and he has class.
But as always in football, all these are opinions. I can see some say he is not running or trying enough, but he is now an older and more experienced that during our European seasons.and at least Pulis would like to have a few more players like him.
Just saying, like. Up the Boro!
Sorry Jarrko, but IMO SD has not been one of our best mid-fielders. They all have generally been poor and that is why we have struggled.
Downing flatters to deceive, he can look good with his passes from one side of the pitch to the other, but the actually achieve little, just a longer sideways pass.
He is supposed to be an attacking Mid and have asked previously…….how many forward passes does he make, how many assists and how many goals. His contribution is over stated by many. Sorry Jarrko but as you say we all have different opinions.
Pedro
You say that and SD scores a cracking goal today !
Had to be didn’t it ?
OFB
I’ve tried to be realistic with my forecasts on .the Gazette’s predictor and have Boro finishing 10th with 70 points and 6 points behind 6th placed Derby and that includes drawing our match with them. I’m quite surprised that my predictions have us in such a lowly position. However don’t despair, because I’m in the last position in Exmill’s challenge so I’m probably not very good at this forecasting lark.
Ken I done the same predictor yesterday and had us in 10th place as well. Its not just you albeit we were only four points off sixth!
Well I came in fifth playing villa and then Fulham in the final and of course winning on penalties !
You need hands (foam) lots and lots and lots of hands …
OFB
My youngest grandson stayed for a day during the school holidays and we did the predictor.
Boro finished 5th
So I had a go a day later
Boro finished 5th
In both cases wolves and Fulham were promoted automatically and we played Aston Villa then of course if we got through we would play Cardiff in the final.
If that scenario was to happen I would feel very confident of playing Cardiff at Wembley .
Now that’s got you all thinking…….
OFB
Pedro
I totally agree about SD. I posted a few weeks back, before Traore started to perform under TP, that both he and SD were an investment failure given the fees that we paid for them and the return they had produced in the way of assists and goals.
Since then AT has improved significantly albeit still a long way short of the finished article, whereas SD has had a few good games but overall has provided little by way of assists and goals.
His lack of pace and dribbling skills means that when he is played wide left or right he is generally marginalised and easy to defend against and ends up either playing short balls square or backwards. His free kicks and corners are not of the quality of yesteryear and have deteriorated as the season has gone on along with his decision making/shooting.
When played in the No 10 role he is seen on the ball more but still fails in the majority of games to produce a defence splitting pass or assist. As you say, he can float a ball from one side of the pitch to the other but what does it achieve? In most cases by the time the ball has reached a player on the opposite side the defence has repositioned themselves to deal with the threat.
It is easy for some players to look good on the eye but surely it is not about just looking good on the eye it is about delivering a performance. We have all been employed and I am sure some, like myself, have had my contribution and performance measured and reviewed regularly by my bosses. If the same criteria had been applied to SD then by now he would have been moved on.
Again, in my view, he should not have been recruited in the first place but SG had made him a promise when he left the first time and being a man of his word took him back when by all accounts he was not on AK’s wish list.
On recent performances he does not warrant a place in the side and I think TP would be better employing Jack Harrison in his position for the remainder of this season as he is more likely to be the future than SD.
Can’t disagree KP.
Another of many recruitment errors.
So Boro face an even trickier trees side than normal with the the return of the eerie presence of Aitor Karanka in the opposition dugout as he returns to his old haunt at the Riverside. Will Boro have the spirit to overcome their former manager as they hope the three points materialise or does Karanka still cast a shadow over his former team – Here is my match preview for the visit of Forest…
https://diasboro.club/2018/04/06/championship-boro-vs-forest/
A quick thought about money in the game, there is my favourite line.
Q How do you make a small fortune running a football club?
A Start with a large fortune!