Author: Ian Gill

As Boro travel to the East Midlands looking to build on back-to-back home victories, Ian Gill looks forward to Saturday’s encounter by the Trent…

This weekend Boro face a difficult trip to Nottingham Forest or the ‘Tricky Trees’ as many prefer to call them. The actual origin of this nickname has become veiled in history, though it most likely has it’s roots from an early 90’s fanzine of the same name – others say it stems from the days when they played at the Forest Recreation Ground, which was surrounded by said trees. Either way, it’s normally a tricky encounter for Boro as Forest has been a barren wasteland over the years for us with many a dismal result – the lowlights being the 5-1 thrashing given to Big Jack’s team and an occasion when they put four past the unfortunate Officer Dibble (who sadly wasn’t a top cat between the sticks) in the late 90’s under Robbo. Despite that, and for all Aitor’s faults, his team got a win last time we played there – in fact the only time I have seen us beat them in over 50 years! Unfortunately it has mostly been endeavour with little end result.

So can we pull another trick on the Trees and have them running like Forrest Gump with little purpose? Who can say with Boro, as Gump’s mum nearly said, “Boro are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” However, we head to Forest in high spirits fresh from our victory over Burton Albion after a second home win in a row with a striker notching two and another clean sheet. To rub salt into the wounds, we also leapfrogged them in the table on Tuesday too.

Looking at the team, Fry is doing his best to keep Ayala on the bench whilst he recovers from niggles (pick your own), Randolph is looking to be a decent keeper.  George and Christie are firing in patches, we were used to that with George over the last twelve months but in Christie’s case that would be no surprise to Rams fans. As we are lacking in wide, creative players it is up to the full-backs to provide the width so consistency is crucial, being regularly streaky is not the consistency we want. 

The engine room is in midfield, until they take a grip for the entire game we won’t truly dominate, getting the blend is crucial. We already know Clayton will sit so the other two partners in crime need to be pushing us on. I fear Forshaw will be more use away where his continuity play will be beneficial. That leaves Howson, Grant and Baker. Howson has not really delivered and Baker is settling in, Grant we know. More to come from there.

Traore got his cameo role as predicted, if we can get him firing he will be a useful addition, many managers have tried. Two out of our three strikers have scored, Bamford has been in a more withdrawn role and has shown deft touches. He is a better player than his last stay at the Riverside and looks like there’s also more to come.

What about our next opponents? The City Ground has been a graveyard over the years and they have started the season well despite Britt Assombalonga moving north. There was a blip on Tuesday as they lost at Barnsley in a game where two teams with a 100% record clashed, typical Championship as The Tykes were yet to pick up a point and Forest hadn’t dropped one before the match.

I garnered some thoughts from Forest fans. Defeat came after arguably their best performance of the season, in a lop-sided match in which Forest had 62% possession, 26 chances created with 7 on target!

They have a very good manager in Warburton who played good football at Brentford. Forest are very good going forward moving the ball with pace with a decent crop of hungry young players. However, their weakness is at the other end of the pitch where they are defensively poor and another two soft goals were conceded in the last game. They have tried both three at the back and a flat back four – neither is working. The manager wants to invest in a new goalkeeper and they have apparently been linked with four, though Saturday will probably be too soon for a new custodian. They are also short at the back and fans think a new centre-half is a must. 

Three league games in, Forest have two wins and one defeat, which is probably better than expectations. The fans think they will have a top half finish and will upset some of the bigger teams but they’re always liable to get beat away from home at lower division opposition. Their Saturday prediction: 2 – 2.

From our view point it will be interesting to see the reception Britt gets from Forest fans. Also here is something that some may have forgotten – Paddy Bamford is a Forest fan and went to their academy, he progressed through the ranks and made his first team debut at 17 but only made two appearances before he was hoovered up by the Chelsea Academy. His biggest sin was playing for Derby, a slight redeeming feature was him undermining the Rams playing for Boro.

In terms of selection, I wonder if Monk will pick Baker to start and instead of replacing one of the three midfielders he operates alongside Bamford with Assombalonga the focal point. Gestede, Fletcher and Traore can offer different attacking alternatives later on in the match from the bench. This would serve two purposes, it would give some tempo and guile further forward to unpick the Forest defence, it would also strengthen us centrally, it will be crucial to keep the ball to quieten the City Ground, keep their young bucks under control and free our full backs to spring forward.

A draw wouldn’t be a bad shout, a win a real statement of intent, not many will take three points from a visit to the Trent.

So will Boro employ their cutting edge to fell the Tricky Trees or will they be stumped by the task ahead and put in a wooden performance? As usual, give your predictions on score, scorers and team selection…

As Boro’s thirst for another three points hope to be quenched, Ian Gill has taken his seat in the Diasboro snug as he looks ahead to tomorrow night’s encounter at the Riverside…

Burton upon Trent is famous for it’s brewing industry hence Albion’s nickname of the Brewers. Marston’s Pedigree is my favourite brew but the aficionados swear by Bass which they like without the Mr Whippy much loved on Teesside.

Burton Albion are a bit of a fairy story, there were three teams in Burton but they all disappeared pre-1939, the current club came in to being in 1950 playing in the Birmingham League. They worked their way up the pyramid only getting in to the Conference in 2002. They moved to the purpose built Pirelli in 2005 and were promoted to the football league in 2009 and are in in the Championship.

They have had some famous managers, Neil Warnock in the early 80’s, Nigel Clough who oversaw their promotion to the league and is back there again, Gary Rowatt – now at Derby, Paul Pescisolido and of course our own Jimmy Floyd.

It is only a town of 72,000 people and historically the fans supported Derby and Burton, over recent years newer fans now treat Derby as rivals to the mild irritation of Rams fans. Within an hour’s drive are the two Sheffield clubs, Barnsley, Derby, Forest, Villa, Brum and Wolves. It is a great time to be a Burton fan.

But not on Saturday when they were thumped 4-1 at Hull though they were level at 1-1 with Irvine, their most influential player, equalising. Within five minutes he was sent off for a second bookable offence. Up until then the hosts had edged it but the Brewers had given a good account of themselves despite losing Warnock with an early injury (both Warnock and Irvine won’t be available for Tuesday) but after that they took a bit of a pasting.

They will be looking for a response at the Riverside but the best you can say is that they are workmanlike. Buxton is solid, Dyer has a bit about him but they are a typical Nigel Clough side. They regularly line up in 3-5-2 formation.

This will be their first trip to the Riverside with both our previous meetings being in cup competitions. The first match under Mogga in the third round of the FA Cup was probably one of the most one sided matches I have ever seen as we lost 2-1 to late, late goals. The other game saw us come from behind thanks to a Stuani braces with the winner coming in extra time.

Anyway, it takes two to tango so what about us? I suppose you could say we were workmanlike on Saturday, it certainly wasn’t a classic but even that level should see off Burton with the quality of players we have at the club. So let’s have a look at what we may expect to see from Boro tomorrow:

Same again defensively unless Ayala rises Lazarus like from the treatment table. It all depends whether his ankle/calf/knee/back/shoulder/hip/ribs/head (delete as appropriate) heal in time. Other injuries and illnesses are available.

Let’s look up front. Braithwaite looks to be out of contention for some while so you would assume same again. Bamford certainly looked happy as the link man of the three, Assombalonga looks to be able to bully most defenders in this division, Gestede is, well, Gestede. The one concern would be the fitness of Bamford, let’s hope it was just tiredness.

I don’t want us to go route one but repeating the throw in routine between Christie and Forshaw where we ended up retreating the length of the pitch to Randolph when you have three people in the box is tantamount to negligence. Play football by all mean but don’t ignore the assets we have.

We need to lift the tempo and play further up the pitch so it is the middle three that needs some thought. Clayton appears to be earmarked to sit deep and drop in between Gibson and Fry to make a three, giving free reign to Christie and Friend to bomb on. Who to play in front of him? We have Forshaw, Howson, Leadbitter and Baker. Forshaw and Leadbitter are known quantities, neither will regularly play the killer ball, their passing is more about continuity than creation.

Howson has disappointed so far but is only a couple of matches into his Boro career –  Baker we know little about though he didn’t come on a year’s loan to warm the bench. Against Burton you could play both Howson and Baker, it depends how risk averse Gary Monk will be. Also will Adama get a run out at some point? I suppose Monk will want to see him in a match situation, this may be the opportunity for a cameo late on.

As of this morning there are still away tickets available for the Burton fans!! I don’t think all police leave will need to be cancelled to control their fans.

So it should be a comfortable win, scoreline, if not the performance and the points should be there for the taking.

So will Boro claim all three pints or will it be a case of brewers droop after a flaccid performance on the pitch? As usual your predictions for score, scorers and attendance…

In the interminational break our thoughts tend to wander as bizarre topics appear on the blog.

As days get longer thoughts turn to impending gloom at MFC or the glorious pending cricket season now unhindered by admonishments by blogmeisters who believe the earth is flat and started in 1986.

The Blue Peter Time Capsule was inadvertently dug up during building work earlier this year so maybe we need a virtual Diasboro Time Capsule.

Nominate one item, and one item only, from your time supporting Boro to be locked in virtual space until we win the FA Cup.

Is it a player, a memorable match or season, a favourite manager or kit. Something that will give the essence of the Boro.

Feel free to discuss several before narrowing your choice for posterity supported by reasoned argument.

As with Jedi there is the dark side to consider and that isn’t just our very own Darth Vader, the Prince of Darkness. (Keith Lamb to younger readers)

What item would you consign to Room 101. What makes you wake up in a cold sweat, a match you have recurring nightmares about, awful kits, Staasi Stewards, awful signings, dreadful decisions, blind officials.

I have already put Strachan in there so that option is ruled out as being too easy. Again, be rational unless it is irrational, that is allowed for Room 101

Thinking caps on and a bonus Trabant will be dug up to be awarded to the best argued items.

Our pair of happy-go-lucky Boro-mad muppets (aka John Powls and Ian Gill) have made their way home, no doubt with the assistance of their carers, gathered their thoughts on what was hopefully was a trip to remember. After all the excitement of the day they’ve had a short nap before putting their heads together and giving us their verdict on the game…

Pre match much discussion centred on Poison Burger or Chicken Balti pie. The vote went for the pie and a pint of Tetley’s. The pie was a clear favourite but the drink was the lesser of evils – Cider or Carlsberg – probably the worst kept lager in the world.

It was cold at Vicarage Road, in the ground the local fans did a good display in recognition of Graham Taylor. The Parmo Army were brilliant and when the pre-match minutes applause ended they broke into an impromptu chant of ‘one Graham Taylor’. What happened next was amazing, the home fans stood up and applauded the away end.

On to the, er, football. Pre match, we went for a line-up of Valdes with a back four of Fabio, Chambers, Gibson and Friend. Midfield of three out of Grant, Clayts, de Roon and Forhaw.

Up front Stuani/Traore, Negredo, Fischer/Downing. Grey haired old men with poor eyesight shouldn’t go to football matches!

Looking comfortable – if not exciting – in a new 3-5-2 set up that mirrored The Hornets, Boro had the balance of the first half possession but after the first twenty minutes the pace of passing slowed to pedestrian ‘windscreen wiper on intermittent’ and what little threat there was petered out.

In that early period, Boro had a ‘goal’ chalked off for offside – it looked the right decision from the away end. They also got Stuani – looking better down the middle as a two up top with Negredo – free in the box with just the goalie to beat but his lob hit the roof of the net from the wrong side and that was it before the break. But that was still one more effort than Watford managed.

Boro contrived to let Deeney get one on one with Valdes from a misguided and deflected punt that came down from a height. Short on confidence, the Watford skipper was indecisive, though the Boro gloveman was anything but, and he smothered the ball away.

Watford had most of the second half and although it was mostly ‘huff & puff’ from them, they got close enough for discomfort on a few occasions with Valdes making a couple of smart saves, a couple of free headers whistling past the upright that was then struck with the home side’s closest effort by substitute Cleverley, who had just arrived on loan.

It was Gestede’s debut too – as a second half sub for Stuani.

We knew that the ex-Villa man hadn’t been on the winning side in his last 32 Prem appearances and today was never going to change that and neither did the lanky striker impress.

He is what he is – and that’s bench fodder back up for Negredo at best – but he’ll struggle even more if he gets as little service as the Spaniard routinely has had to work with and once again had today. He did manage an off-target shot though.

We looked relatively comfortable and the better footballing side but you have to offer a threat up front. Watford bullied us at times with their physicality, a reminder that top flights players are not just better footballers but fitter, stronger and faster as well.

Valdes and Fabio were the pick for Boro, but if Karanka’s going to persist with 3-5-2 they need to find some pace for the front two and a central attacking midfielder with both pace and guile – a challenge to Ramirez, if the Uruguayan stays – to replace one of the central three who are all triers but far too much an identikit of each other.

Before the match, we didn’t want a repeat of the reverse fixture or the game at Southampton – the quality wasn’t that much better than those games but Boro went one point better with a welcome, if slightly fortunate, clean sheet. Overall, a goalless draw was a fair result.

What was shared with those games was Boro’s total lack of threat to the opposition goal – Gomes had to wait until 51 minutes to warm his gloves by turning aside a Fabio shot. When the Brazilian keeper had to be replaced with injury, Mazzari needn’t have bothered bringing Pantilimon on, so underused was he.

Stadtler: “I didn’t see much again”
Waldorf: “Were you looking the wrong way again, you old fool?”
Stadtler: “Yes, I was facing the pitch!”

OK a point’s a point away from home and it was never going to be any better than that – even against a woeful Watford – for a Boro side who remain desperately short of pace, punch and guile in the attacking third.

Even Karanka was forced to admit it wasn’t a good game to watch.

For those of you who like a good moan at the football, it may not have gone unnoticed that perhaps Statler and Waldorf are the epitome of long suffering Boro fans – though maybe only a few people would have guessed that they normally attend games under their alter-egos of John Powls and Ian Gill. So here they are to preview the match this weekend…

We last went to Watford together in November 2006, Watford hadn’t won all season until guess who arrived. Shocking performance, Boro’s only move of note was a cushioned header in to the path of a Watford player to run on and score their second. Woodgate had put them ahead with neat backheeled own goal. Watford won five all season and were duly relegated

The main stand was a glorified shed and Kammie was stood on rubble doing his Unbelievable Jeff all on his Jack Jones.

Including that miserable performance, our recent record is:
W 1 – D 1 – L 4 – F 4 – A 10

Fixture	Result	Score	Notable memory
4 Nov 2006	Lost	2-0
27 Mar 2010	Drew	1-1	Lita leveler
25 Sep 2010	Lost	3-1
28 Apr 2012	Lost	2-1	A forlorn play-off quest
6 Oct 2012	Won	1-2	Emnes and Scottie get us a rare win
6 Apr 2015	Lost	2-0	Easter Monday no show on TV

The last of these was probably the most painful – a very poor, punchless performance that, along with the doing over at Bournemouth a fortnight before and the silly shenanigans at Craven Cottage a few weeks later drove the last coffin nails into Boro’s bid for a top two finish. It certainly felt like a wake in the away end at Vicarage Road and even the Magnificent Travelling Parmo Army – there in their noisy numbers as per normal– were stunned to sullen silence long before the inevitable denouement.

Watford is a working town, the centre isn’t brilliant, even the motorway services don’t want to live there. Watford Gap is 60 miles north. Following the building of the new stand it is now a proper ground and like the old Ayresome, approached via streets.

Despite managerial upheavals, a manager a season – summer, autumn, winter and spring, they have done well but not endeared themselves to the rest of football in recent years by their use of loan players acting almost as a reserve side for Italian clubs.

They have suffered the same horrendous levels of injuries as The Mackems have recently – oh dear, what a shame, never mind – and like the Wearsiders have matters absence compounded by the African Nations Cup.

Partly as a result, the Golden Boys have struggled in the last few weeks and some of those they’ve been able to rely on in previous campaigns – like Deeney and Ighalo – haven’t been doing the biz.

So, the Herts Harts are downwardly mobile in the Prem table with Mazzarri seeming even more on borrowed time than has become the norm for occupants of the Watford dugout.

But, can Boro take advantage or will they revert to the sort of display that over-rates the opposition and underplays their own strengths even when The Reds are easily on top of the game such as they produced in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and in the defeat at St. Mary’s.

Those aren’t the only examples of that phenomenon this season, of course, but they’re perhaps the most germane to Saturday’s game. The stale, slow ‘stay in the game’ approach can so easily translate to not just not winning and or drawing but evidently settling for a narrow defeat that preserves goal difference instead of valuing points.

It certainly did against Watford at The Riverside and at Southampton and if Boro go the same way again it’s madness expecting the result to be any different, however hobbled the Hornets may seem to be.

Another narrow and dispiriting defeat with the handbrake on and low gear selected will let Watford off the no win in five hook they’ve been hanging themselves on and have Boro even further snagged.

But it could be so, so different. This Boro have the capability to go and get the points at Vicarage Road. As they showed against Swansea and in the second half against the Owls even with ten men, if the full backs get forward, if the midfielders push on then they can inflict damage to on any team in the division.

The hope that always gets you still triumphs over experience and it would be terrific if even Statler and Waldorf couldn’t find anything to moan about! C’mon Boro!

The match will no doubt be played under the shadow of the sad news that Graham Taylor has passed away but it will be important for Boro to play the game and not the occasion.

🔴 Our very own muppets will be back after the game with their take on events – as usual feel free to add your predictions for the game – and if any of you feel inclined to come up with a suggestion for a caption to the header photo there will be bonus points – Werdermouth