Author: Redcar Red

Nottingham Forest		Middlesbrough
Lolley Milosevic	39′ (pen), 85′ 64′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	54% 20 9 7 9	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	46% 3 1 2 14

Boro bottlers smashed

Just a few days after a record equalling third win in a row since August for Boro Pulis’s depleted squad left the Tees and headed for the Tent to face the Karankaless Tricky Trees. The Spaniard was replaced by the Forest dream team of MON and Roy Keane but the way their season had since dipped it would appear to have been more of a nightmare team. Changing Managers and expecting an improvement only works if the Management can work with what they have regardless of what they ideally want. It appeared that the expensively assembled AK squad wasn’t a good fit with O’Neil and Keane’s philosophy or at least not just yet.

With play off hopes now a distant memory Forest dreams are already focussed on next season. Pulis had his ongoing selection concerns and was allegedly thinking of rotating his thinning squad which was already bereft of Ayala, Friend, Wing and Fry. His options for rotating were somewhat limited bearing in mind that he had two youth players in Spence and Wood on Saturday’s bench.

The possible switches could only be Downing on the left from the start for Saville which is what he should have done from the off on Saturday but TP seems to see things very differently from his perspective in the Technical area. Another likely one would have been to give Hugill a run out possibly as a one man attack or bringing in Tav for Fletcher. MON had a few selection problems of his own with both Colback and Benalouane definitely missing this afternoon due to suspension.

With the City Ground bathed in sunshine TP had made absolutely no changes whatsoever despite his talk and went with the same line up which worryingly meant that he still thought Saville could play as a left wing back. The Boro bench also remained unchanged with Spence and Wood keeping their seats. Martin O’Neil had made five changes in an effort to stop their rot, two of them through suspension as mentioned and one through concussion and the other two tactical.

Forest lined up with three Centre Backs as they kicked off. Almost immediately Besic dithered and put us straight into trouble inside his own half allowing the Trees early optimism. Forest were fired up for this from the off pushing forward and keeping the pressure on black shirted Boro, pegged back in our own half. Carvalho was looking busy and Joe Lolley had already had a few runs down our right which surprised me as I thought they would have identified Saville as the weak link. The first real scare came on eleven minutes when Howson had to come to the rescue after Cash had beaten Saville and then from the resulting throw in Flint had to clear his lines.

Boro had started disappointingly slowly and considering the weather conditions the choice of kit colour wasn’t exactly the cleverest. Two minutes later Cash again flew down the wing and got another cross in as Forest now started to confidently settle into the game with Boro looking like their tactics were all at sea. Approaching twenty minutes and TP needed to do something to push us up and ease the pressure, this game was headed in only one direction. Assombalonga and Fletcher had been spectators, literally isolated from the rest of their teammates. Besic then done his best to enter Referee Peter Banks book with a challenge that had the Home fans baying for a red and Roy Keane gesticulating that he wasn’t best pleased with the tackle and even a tad upset.

News before the game was that Villa had beaten Millwall in a lunchtime kick off but Wednesday had just gone a goal up against Bristol. That was the only cause for celebration so far with the travelling army as we were looking unbelievably poor. We were being exposed in the wide areas and Clayton, Besic and Mikel just weren’t controlling the midfield at all and had struggled to thread a few passes together. Any pre match hope of Boro getting the Home fans rattled was now a non-event which was also an accurate descriptive term for Boro’s showing. Carvalho, Lolley and Cash were twisting and turning, driving forward and nobody in a Black shirt apart from Howson had any answers.

Saville once again looked like a fish out of water, our Midfield was desperately slow and easily picked off and without Howson and Randolph we could and should have been two down. There was little Boro possession and as a consequence we presented zero threat to Forest who were now absolutely bossing and dominating Boro. Our defensive midfielders couldn’t organise themselves, penetrate or set anything up and we were in containment mode at best even at this stage in pure Pulis puerile purgatory.

A rare Boro offensive move saw a Shotton throw in flicked on by Flint and then Assombalonga chased the ball but got in the way of Clayton and the two of them somehow managed to put the ball harmlessly out of play. Half an hour gone and that was the only notable bit of Boro action in what was a flat, dispiriting display so far. Besic then played in Fletcher who passed to Howson but his cross was over Assombalonga and nowhere near the quality of that early ball against Stoke. This was the best period of Boro play but even so it looked very clunky rather than credibly smooth and sophisticated passing moves but at least we were offering a threat of sorts.

Fletcher then had a good ball played into him but he failed to control it. McNair was pushing forward and started to become the nearest semblance to an outlet we had all afternoon but ahead of him Fletcher was looking weak and short on confidence. A rare Boro corner was wasted by taking it short and almost immediately Forest broke quickly and Randolph had to be at his best to keep them out with a flying save. The contrast of that break couldn’t have been in more contrast to Boro’s slow almost geriatric style of play. That Forest corner was cleared out for another and as the second one came in a free kick for a foul on Clayton allowed us to momentarily ease the mounting pressure.

The relief didn’t last long as Shotton then caught the heels of Ansarifard for a lucky yellow card and a Penalty which Lolley despatched without hesitation to put Forest one up and it has to be said deservedly so as thus far we were as clueless as that Swansea performance a few weeks back. Not long after the opener Mikel sliced the ball awkwardly and then Besic had another of his idiosyncratic moments as Boro looked absolutely farcical. To put it mildly as a unit we were completely detached from one another and any semblance of a team seriously looking for a play off position was nothing short of ludicrous, our opening forty five minutes were a disgrace. To rub salt in the wounds Flint sent another set piece header over the bar in the final seconds of the first half.

Pulis needed to make some major changes at half time. Boro had looked like a side finishing in mid table with absolutely nothing whatsoever to play for. There was no pace, no intent and absolutely no desire to win this game. We were negative with a complete inability to string two passes together; it was looking like a defensive back eight with nothing or nobody at all to spark or create. Considering the importance of this match it just completely reaffirmed my rationale for not early birding. This first half was unacceptable and simply not good enough on effort alone. Pulis now had to work some magic to turn this game around in the remaining forty-five. The folly of continuing with Saville as a left wing back had a few of us bemused while Downing was on the bench. Fletcher was weak and had been poor on Saturday and continued in exactly the same vein today was irritating to put it politely when he had Tav and Hugill as options to have “freshened” it up and “rotated”.

The travelling army were watching with forlorn anticipation for who came out for the second half and sure enough Hugill and Tav were waiting on the touchline with Fletcher and Besic ominous by their absence. The Black shirts kicked off towards the travelling army in what was now a must draw as a minimum game and a fantastic opportunity to put distance between ourselves and Bristol who we had learned were now two nil down at Hillsborough. Hugill had a quick opportunity after the break down the left and he hit it first time but was deflected straight into the arms of Pantilimon in the Forest goal. Ryan Yates was meanwhile laid out receiving treatment after a tasty challenge from Tav who at least showed passion and desire. After treatment to Yates Tav broke up field but there was nobody at all near him in a Black shirt so again we lost possession and Forest went straight down our throats for the umpteenth time. Carvalho put a ball in to Ansarifard who tested Randolph once again and very unlucky not to put Forest two up.

I’m not sure how we were set up after the two subs as it looked like Britt was playing wide left in front of Saville which wouldn’t have been my preferred pairing down that flank and so far despite the two new arrivals we looked just as dysfunctional. A Boro corner saw an in-swinging Saville ball cleared and then Forest broke again and fortunately Saville had managed to get himself back and put it out for a corner at the other end which was then nervously cleared by Flint for a Forest throw. Downing and Gestede were warming up as Pulis considered his last throw of the dice to change the balance of this game. Downing could at least have injected some hope for a creative outlet of sorts if brought on, Gestede however would indicate the tactical and technical competence of our resident Dinosaur.

Every time we tried to build up an attack or get up the pitch, it looked like Forest could carve us open at will. At this stage we didn’t look like we had any plan or even an understanding of who was supposed to be doing what meanwhile Lolley had claimed a handball and a penalty as he launched another effort towards Randolph. Ansarifat then went off for goal machine Lewis Grabban as MON clearly felt there were more goals to be had for his Forest side and little wonder based on the embarrassing ineptness of the opposition. On cue Forest then doubled their lead as Milosevic smashed the ball unmarked just outside the corner of the six yard box into the Boro net. In response TP brought Saville off and Downing on, the incompetence of the Manager in repeating the same error with Saville was just staggering.

A ponderous Boro build up was predictably telegraphed then snapped up and Grabban set off towards Randolph’s goal with Flint challenging and the ball going out for a corner. Twenty minutes to go and so far Boro hadn’t even been second best to Forest. The ease and regularity at which they cut us open was quite frankly terrible. Mikel then played a suicide ball to Tav losing possession with Grabban and Pele then quickly combining to nearly put us three behind. A performance like this at this stage of the season was incredulous, it was yet another insipid nervy, defensive Pulis showing. Forest then had another attack with pace and grace, one on one Randolph had to spread himself to somehow keep the ball out from Osborn. Howson got a block on the shot from the corner which went back out again for another corner as Forest were sensing that this Boro side were anything but play off challengers. They were giving their home fans a footballing fiesta.

It looked like Howson was now left back and Shotton right back and we were either 442 or 433. Make your mind up because I’m not convinced that those in Black shirts knew any more than I did. A cut back from the touchline from Grabban to Carvalho who was allowed too much space on the edge of the box curled in a peach of a ball that hit the far upright when it looked destined for the net, three nil would have been a fair reflection indeed four or even five nil at this stage wouldn’t have flattered or been unreasonable.

Five minutes remaining and I made it one real effort on target for Boro in another spineless away day showing. Pele then made way for Yacob as MON had the luxury of teasing and toying with his sides dominance. Just as the last substitution had affected the game, within seconds Lolley was delivered a perfect ball by Carvalho to smash it left footed past Randolph. MON then brought Carvalho off to a hero’s reception for Adlene Guedioura to see off the last few minutes. Getting beat away at Forest isn’t a disaster in itself but the manner of the way this Boro side was set up and then consequently failed in such miserable fashion to even threaten Pantilimon’s goal was a disgrace.

Defensively we were down to the bare bones but our midfield was hopeless and a complete liability, our strikers had zero service as we sat far too deep from the off and Saville has never remotely looked capable out left. The Black shirts were very apt on the day as it perfectly matched the mood of the travelling army.

Randolph was the Boro MOM which considering that we conceded three goals illustrates just how dire we were this afternoon. There have been far too many of these types of games under Pulis now, how many more do the fans have to endure?

Middlesbrough		Stoke City
Assombalonga	2′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	37% 7 2 2 12	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	63% 14 1 10 8

Early Bird Britt collects the points

Ex Hatters Boss Nathan Jones had brought one of TP’s former sides to the Riverside for the first time since the opening day of our ill-fated Premiership dalliance a few seasons back. Judging how its supremely likely that Nathan Jones will now be facing his former club next season in the Championship he must have wondered at times what he has let himself in for. A club supposedly saddled with disaffected “Premiership Players” indignant at where they now find themselves of which the irony is likely lost being that it was themselves that has brought them to this juncture. Such dressing room prima donna drama is something that we are now well rid of, almost as quickly in fact as it was hastily assembled way back then before the last visit of the Potters. For Stoke their relegation hangover continues as Championship life now becomes a reality.

From pre-season favourites to a sad and sorry looking dejected bunch Boro were hoping that the Potters miserable season continued as we now looked to make it three defeats on the trot for them whilst building the same number of wins on the trot for ourselves. The likelihood of that seemed very diminished yesterday when it was announced that not only Friend and Wingy were out but Ayala was finished for the season as well. The bombshell however was that Dael Fry had torn a hamstring in training and would also miss the rest of the season. Defensively that left Flint and Shotton as the only two recognised defenders standing.

TP’s line-up conundrum was solved with a back three of McNair as right sided Centre Back with Shotton going over to the left and Flint Central. Howson and Saville were the wing backs with Clayts and Mikel doing the dirty work, Besic providing the thrills and spills and Fletcher and Britt up top. Nathan Jones gave seventeen-year-old youngster Nathan Collins a debut coming in for the injured Shawcross. Jack Butland was on paternity duty with Federici taking his place between the posts. Mikel was captaining Boro and Danny Batth was captaining Stoke resplendently adorned in “Perple” on his return, so befitting for a Good Friday.

The match started a bit messy with both sides struggling to calm themselves via a lot of misplaced passes. A poor clearance out from Federici was pounced upon by Besic as he had done against Hull, fed Mikel who splayed the ball out wide immediately to Howson who hit a first time cross across the six-yard box for Assombalonga to get a left boot to it deflecting it in from close range. The lack of judging and decision-making time had again seemingly working in Britt’s favour. Two minutes gone and 1-0 up was as good a start as Boro would have dared hoped for. The early mid-day kick off between Bristol and Reading ended in a draw so the goal had effectively put Boro back into the play-offs.

What ensued wasn’t the prettiest game of football but Boro put in a solid display for the remaining 87 minutes. We hadn’t beaten Stoke at the Riverside since 2008 so there was always a niggle that this wouldn’t end with Boro keeping a clean sheet despite Stoke’s woeful scoring record this season. After the restart they came straight back at Boro and applied pressure. Afobe was giving Shotton a busy afternoon but in fairness Ryan coped and mastered the ex Wolves striker pretty well for most of the half but Afobe did have a first half header on twenty minutes go wide with Shotton losing the flight of the ball in the warm spring sunshine beaming over the West Stand. Flint was solid if unspectacular but won everything in the air whilst McNair looked very composed and comfortable, reading the game exceptionally well and cutting out any sniff of a threat down the right from boo boy McClean. So far the makeshift defensive trio looked the business with no cause for alarm.

It was easy to see why Stoke are in the position they are in the league as despite taking the game to us and winning a few corners there was little to no real threat on Randolph’s goal. The three CB’s were doing their job and Howson was busy bringing the ball out and setting up attacks. JOM was back to his imperious best while Besic was beavering away chasing everything like a demented Terrier, running in circles as ever but also the main instigator of creativity from Boro. Up front Britt was battling but was being battered and struggled to hold up play or more accurately get the rub of the green from Ref Darren Bond. It seemed a very biased whistle from the man in black as any time Britt responded with equal force, he was penalised yet when he was being pushed over or manhandled the offence was ignored. Fletcher was having a poor game after a run of decent performances. He was weak in possession and struggled to impose himself with his highlight being a turn and swivelled shot that went well over. That attempt did at least lift the quiet, nervy atmosphere in the Riverside, kept alive only by the solemn beat of the South Stand drummer.

As predicted Saville was struggling again in the left back role and a bit of dithering from him allowed Edwards to get in a cross necessitating Flint to get his head to the end of it conceding a corner in the process. Boro were having some forays of their own with JOM getting a long-distance effort in and McNair dribbling the ball out of defence and kept going unleashing a long range shot of his own that went wide of Federici’s goal. The end effort wasn’t great but it was a mark of confidence and an indication that he was settling nicely into the new role and confidence levels growing. Its hard to realise sometimes that Paddy is only a few weeks off his 24th birthday.

North Stand hearts were in mouths as Mikel tapped the ball off the toe of Clucas in the Boro box as he theatrically fell over pleading for a penalty. It was one of the few decisions that went Boro’s way from Bond all afternoon but a massive one that would have taken the air out of the Boro balloon and could have ended play off hopes with it because as solid as we were defensively, we didn’t really look like adding to that early Assombalonga goal. It was a bizarre game because despite not looking like adding to our solitary cushion Randolph hadn’t been seriously tested and most of his involvement consisted of collecting long over-hit Stoke balls and routine back passes.

The final five minutes of the first half ended with a McClean shot going well wide and a Vokes effort that was delivered in by McClean but as was the standard for the afternoon, headed wide. Nothing to get too worried about but equally nothing to get too excited about either. There was a generous round of applause as the players left the pitch, the result being more emotionally important than the quality on display.

No changes at half time from either Manager as the teams ran out for the second half. Boro needed to step up a gear in this half as although Howson had looked lively and Besic buzzing in the first there was little end product apart from that early surprise goal to inspire the home fans. Easier said than done as what followed was literally cut and paste from the Hull game. Sit back, absorb pressure and hang on to a solitary goal in the hope of a break out or a set piece.

Speaking of set pieces Besic sent in a free kick that was met by Shotton in the opening few minutes but yet again it was well over. A minute later and that man Afobe repeated Shotton’s miss with a header of his own that was well wide of the intended target. The chances were nowhere near as clear cut as those missed by both sides in the Hull game but an independent observer may have remarked on how few goals both of these sides have scored all season. Their combined “Goals For” was Brit’s one goal opener more than Norwich had scored this season who weren’t playing until later this evening.

Stoke definitely had all the momentum but they never really looked like they could cause us any pain. A Clucas effort was then hit well over as if to emphasise just how poor the finishing was for both of these sides this season. Approaching twenty minutes into the half and Downing was being warmed up. Strangely it was Mo Besic who was taken off again in similar circumstances to the Hull game. Our liveliest and most creative player was now off with Downing going to left wing back and Saville restored to a more comfortable and familiar role in midfield.

That substitution almost immediately added better balance to Boro and also another outlet with Downing emulating that other George, Friend getting down the flank providing some width and a serious threat to Stoke that they now had to keep an eye on. Saville also looked far more comfortable left midfield and linked up well with Stewy now putting some real pressure on the visitor’s defence. Defensively however Stewy was getting back and doing the necessary to keep that clean sheet, fully prepared to do the mundane stuff and even winning a few balls and playing us out of trouble at the back.

Stoke did have Boro penned back for large parts of the half but tactically that looked to be more a game plan on Pulis’s part rather than the quality that was sorely lacking from the “Perple sherts”. There were a few positive Boro moments, Clayts played a ball in to Saville who glanced a header wide and Fletcher had probably the best chance of the half but hit a weak low shot from outside the box straight at Federici for a routine kneel down and scoop. That was the last bit of action for Fletch as Tav came on for him to add some much needed energy up top as Britt had battled vainly but opportunistic goal aside without much joy and Fletch had just had a bad day at the Office.

Ten minutes later Hugill then came on for Britt to provide another outlet which he did really well by beating the Stoke defenders to the ball by pushing Batth and co., shoving back at them, giving them a taste of their own medicine, something which suited his style perfectly. In fairness he stayed on his feet and was the perfect Sub under the circumstances. enabling to take the pressure off a little, chasing and harrying the Stoke backline giving them something else to worry about and in doing so it brought Tav more into the game.

Stoke with their season already effectively over were playing for pride and their vocal following. They had me and several others watching through our fingers as a Corner ended with the ball bouncing in and out and around the Boro box eventually ending with Randolph bravely diving down amidst a flurry of feet winning a free kick to relieve the pressure. A draw would mean nothing to Stoke but a win meant everything to Boro with Bristol dropping two points earlier in the day. With the game now in its dying embers a Clayton challenge on Clucas half way between the Boro box and the touchline ended with a series of pushes and shoves as Darren Bond seemed somewhat detached not for the first time to what was going on in front of him.

With handbags packed away and calm finally restored Boro managed to clear their lines from the resultant kick for Downing and Hugill to eat up some of the four added minutes near the Stoke corner flag in the North West corner. Just as the ball was about to be cleared up field by Federici the whistle went and all three points belonged to Boro. Despite a very uncomfortable second half we had held on and earned the win the hard way. It wasn’t pretty nor was it entertaining for the most part but its points on the board that count now if Boro are to retain any hope of making the play-offs.

MOM was McNair, it was his best game for Boro and he actually looked to be worth every penny paid for him last summer. Not his preferred role it has to be said but his composure and timing was impressive and we just hope that he still has something left in the tank for Monday after being out of the picture for so long. Mikel was back to his best, Howson had another good game as right wing back and Besic looked up for the challenged before being subbed. Shotton done well considering he was on the left but McNair just caught the eye and for all the right reasons. Maybe knowing he has a real opportunity of a run in the side gave him that extra edge of encouragement, who knows but he looked the most accomplished I’ve seen him play in a Boro shirt.

Middlesbrough		Hull City
Assombalonga	25′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	39% 15 4 4 7	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	61% 15 4 5 10

Stumbling Britt seals Boro victory

Nigel Adkins has turned Hull around since his arrival from looking down the table to looking up. Considering the state the club is in off the pitch with open discord between owners and fans his achievements are worthy of considerable respect. This week marks exactly five years from when the Allam’s put the Club up for sale following a rebranding disaster not helped two years later with a controversial “membership” scheme. Boro fans however were just hoping that despite Adkin’s hard work TP didn’t show too much respect to his opponents as has sometimes been his want this season.

A win for either side would keep faint Play Off hopes alive, defeat or even a draw would surely condemn either or both clubs to another year in the Championship. Mind you there was always the Villa vs Bristol game, which could suddenly throw an unexpected lifeline to a victor. Adkins side were looking to extend a winning streak to four consecutive games whereas Boro have just managed to end one of their worst runs in recent memory. Grosicki and Bowen would be the stand out danger men in the Tigers side while Boro still haven’t quite worked that one out yet from the start of their season but possibly Fletcher could be the one in form.

Hull’s last win at the Riverside was in the FA Cup back in 2014 when a rusty Dimi struggled to get down to Hull’s opener from which we never recovered. Hull’s last league victory on Teesside was at Ayresome Park so there was that niggle that today could be a “Typical Boro” day especially if the visitors took an early lead and Boro heads went down.

There were bright blue skies and sunshine at Kick Off but with a very wintry wind blowing in from the Tees towards the South Stand. Wing and Friend were out for the season for Boro as both Managers went with same again from their respective mid-week victories. The game started with Shotton and Saville as wing backs with Fry, Fint and Ayala as a back three. Hull immediately got at Boro, pushing and probing keeping Boro pegged well back and forcing a series of hurried scrappy defensive passes that put us in trouble. We were looking very unconvincing and after a couple of minutes Pugh fed Lichaj down our right and cut back a cross into the Boro box where a scuffed Frazier Campbell shot on the edge of the 6-yard box saved our blushes. That was a very telling moment, had it gone in the Riverside could have turned septic instantly.

The opening ten minutes looked ominous as we couldn’t get out of our half to mount any assaults. Heavy clouds started covering that welcome and warming sunlight previously covering the Riverside, darkening the mood almost as much as the feeling from the stands started to reflect misplaced Boro passes and a series of nervy rearward passing. Besic was lively and looking for the ball but he was both enthralling and frustrating in equal measure. Once in possession he would make things tick but as well as showing composure (sometimes to the point where he slowed all Boro momentum) he would circle himself three times causing problems and uncertainty both with those behind and ahead of him. Fortunately, as the game progressed, he did start to become the playmaker, making things tick positively for Boro in the centre of the park.

The atmosphere tellingly was fairly flat around the Stadium and that knife edge feeling looked like it was affecting Boro with every miscued pass or recycling movement to retain possession earning sighs and moans rather than distinct outright groans. The 200 or so die-hards that remain in the back of the decimated North Stand were trying their best to get behind the team but shortage of numbers and the poor fayre on offer didn’t enthuse many to join in.

Those onerous doom-laden clouds were broken when a hoofed ball (or well weighted 40-yard pass) up to Britt saw him give chase but only to find himself offside. Moments later he had an effort that ended up in said clouds as things were not clicking at all for Boro. The opening twenty minutes saw Saville turned inside out, struggling to compose himself as it was clear he isn’t a left back nor a wing back. To add further problems our attempts to break out were thwarted down the left because of the lack of pace from the Northern Ireland International. Score goals he may have done at Millwall but he was never renowned as quick or silky skilled and looked like a fish out of water facing Grosicki and Bowen. On the opposite flank Shotton was lively and making runs but nobody was seemingly alert enough to see him in acres of space.

We looked like total strangers who had no idea of who was supposed to be where and any synergy that you would normally expect at this stage of the season was totally absent. Britt was bustling but struggled to hold his shorts up let alone the ball, giving it away cheaply a few times while danger man Grosicki tested Randolph. Things were not looking very convincing and a Hull goal would have started the simmering witch-hunt.

Approaching the half hour mark and the former goal machine that is Aden Flint headed a great opportunity wide of the target as the groans were mounting. Then as the ball was poorly played out by McGregor, Besic pounced and reacted best twice in quick succession to nick the ball inside the Hull half to find Shotton (FINALLY!!!!!) who ran towards the edge of the Hull box and played in Fletcher who crossed across the gaping Hull goal where a stumbling and off balance Britt closing in hit or stubbed the ball and into the net. 1-0 and it has to be said that despite the fact we were now starting to get back into it Hull could genuinely feel aggrieved after their early onslaught. Ironic chants of “we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal, we’ve scored a goal” rang around the Riverside.

Just after the restart and with Hull still reeling Fletcher again sent a lovely tempting and inviting ball into the box for Howson to tee himself up on the far side only for the hapless Saville to collide and nick it off him for what would have been a certain goal. Having endured a torrid time as left wing back TP had meanwhile reshuffled his pack to play a 4-1-4-1, with Fletcher now wide left and Saville in a more familiar midfield role alongside Besic and Howson going to a back four with Shotton and Fry right and left backs meant that Saville would have otherwise been nowhere near the opposition 6-yard box. Mikel was meanwhile being kept very busy just in front of his defence and behind the mercurial Besic which at times was just as well.

Five minutes later Bowen looked to be pulling the sides level but for a sliding Ayala challenge to close off his route to goal. Boro were now enjoying their best period of the game when Fletcher fluffed his lines and then Britt spun around and hit the crossbar as Boro seemed determined to make very hard work of an afternoon and it remained 1-0 at half time.

Both sides remained unchanged after the interval except that Grosicki had swapped wings to try his luck on the same side he had in the first except now in the opposite direction facing the South Stand. Adkins tactical tuning seemed to have worked as the opening stages were all Hull as they started the second half in the same way they had the first. A draw was of no value to either side and for the loser their season would be effectively reduced to mundanely completing fixtures safe in the knowledge that they would finish in an upper table position.

That inevitability was enough to see Hull keep pressuring and Boro defending deep sometimes desperate and sometimes comical and sometimes comically desperate or should that have been desperately comical? The corner count was now building in Hull’s favour and we looked to be out of ideas in how to get the ball to stick up the pitch. There was no pace or energy on our flanks and Britt battled but with little finesse and both he and Fletcher seemed to have swapped Dubbin for Silicone on their boots.

I was surprised at why Downing was omitted from starting now that his contract is resolved especially with Friend crocked, we looked unbalanced and disjointed on the left. As Eric Morecambe might have remarked we had all the right players just not necessarily in the correct order. As the second half wore on things didn’t improve, in fact they got even worse, a lot worse. As Ayala challenged Campbell he was now laid out motionless, requiring lengthy treatment and having to leave the pitch on a stretcher with his leg encased in a splint. That necessitated another swap around as TP now went with Shotton, Flint and Fry as centre backs and Howson and Saville ominously again as wing backs. Clayts had come on for Ayala filling a vacated midfield slot.

Sitting back with Besic the only capable outlet we were still scrapping and battling as Hull continually upped the pressure and both Campbell and Bowen somehow missed sitters that were even more nailed on than those spurned by Boro in the first half. A Howson ball up to Fletcher saw McGregor block the rare Boro half chance and then Campbell who had headed wide a minute earlier now sliced a shot just as wide with Boro leading a charmed existence.

Britt then had another opportunity with a Boro break to seal the three points when he closed in on the advancing McGregor only needing him to slot it past the Hull Keeper but he incredibly squared it two yards ahead of the advancing but marked Fletcher who had no chance of ever reaching it. The North Stand language was choice to put it mildly but I would wager much cleaner than that from the Boro technical area.

Two minutes later as if to rub salt in the Britt inflicted wounds the away fans were hyped up momentarily as the ball seemed to be going in but somehow cleared by Mikel. Miraculously the score remained 1-0 as Adkins must have been convinced there was a Gypsy curse on Hull’s fate at the Riverside. As it happens it was Ali’s 60th Birthday so maybe we did have a little bit of help somewhere because to all intents and purposes Hull should have been level if indeed not a few goals to the good.

Recognising the lack of pace and that nothing was sticking upfield TP made a double substitution with Downing and Tav coming on for Besic and Fletcher. For me Downing should have started but taking Besic off seemed strange as he was our only creator and a constant threat to Hull and needed an outlet to work with of the sort that Downing and Tav could offer. Up until now Saville had had a poor game by his own standards and yet bizarrely after Downing went on the right side and Tav left in front of Saville he upped his game and put some real telling challenges in including one where he won the ball, burst out of defence up the left wing all by himself and managed to hold the ball up until he eventually was bundled over to win a decision. At this stage of the afternoon there was little in the way of organisation or tactics from Boro, it was now a case of dig in, hold on and scrap for every ball as though your life depended on it.

Seven minutes added time came up on the fourth officials board for all six substitutions and Ayala’s injury. It seemed light to me as it did Nigel Adkins but Boro were now clinging desperately to those three precious points and nobody in Red was complaining about the shortfall. Pushing forward Hull exposed themselves as Britt picked up on a mistake in the Hull box but incredibly yet again missed his target. As someone remarked near me “it’s a good job he was off balance when he scored that goal otherwise would have missed that as well”.

Battered and bruised the Boro defence were hanging on, desperate for the whistle made worse knowing Britt could and should have had three or four goals to his name to ease the anxiety. Then more hearts in mouth time as a Grosicki free kick (after a reckless Clayton challenge earned him a yellow card) was tipped onto the bar by Randolph and when it looked to be in, booted clear by Flint with the Hull players appealing it was over the line. The whistle went and Hull’s season was now all but over whilst Boro’s still stubbornly continues, finding themselves a point behind Bristol who lost at Villa but have a game in hand.

MOM for Boro could have been Randolph for two great saves, or Howson for being switched around but competently adapting all afternoon or Besic for his buzzing up until he went off but for me it was Dael Fry who stood defiantly whether at Left Back or Centre Back and stepped up a gear when Ayala went off.

Bolton  Wanderers		Middlesbrough
		Fletcher	16′, 28′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	57% 14 2 8 11	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	43% 18 5 8 6

Boro blues for troubled Bolton

There were many doubts if this game could actually go ahead and from the perspective of both sets of fans many more who probably wished it wouldn’t. Despite the hanging dreariness of the dark misty clouds enveloping Teesside and its surrounding “Valley” since the Bristol debacle swiftly followed up by the Swansea capitulation hordes did travel across to Lancashire in the first literal ray of sunshine in over a week in the hope of seeing a ray of hope. The heaviness of the atmosphere on Teesside was nothing however compared to the state that Bolton now find themselves in. News that a deal to sell the club is again imminent will hopefully save them but the fear is to whom and why.

TP had Lewis Wing definitely out and George Friend likely missing so that would necessitate a shuffle in defence with his only LB now on sick leave. Ironically TP’s best performances this season have usually come when he has been forced to make changes rather than intended them so with that exceedingly small crumb of comfort maybe Pulis might actually screw things up significantly enough to win against the Championship’s second worst side. Bolton had lost their last seven games against Boro with the Teessiders winning their last three at the former Reebok then Macron and now Bolton University Stadium.

That Bolton’s players have had to strike in support of employees’ wages, survived another High Court winding-up order and that the EFL had to rush an advance payment to them to keep the ground open didn’t bode well for Phil Parkinson’s preparations. Added to that Parkinson looked to be sweating on ex Boro midfield “maestro” Gary O’Neil (perhaps more of the Austin variety) due to illness along with Jack Hobbs and Luke Murphy both struggling. Jason Lowe and another ex Boro man Yanic Wildschut definitely remain sidelined with ankle injuries. It was likely however that there would at least some sort of Boro reunion with Captain David Wheater, Andrew Taylor and Sammy Ameobi all in line to at least make the squad.

A somewhat reduced travelling army of around 900, certainly from those that witnessed that Rhodes rescue three years ago saw TP go with a back three of Ayala, Flint and Fry or perhaps a back four with Shotton as RB. Saville and Howson were included so they may be operating out wide or Shotton and Saville as the wing backs but truth was that nobody really cared to debate it that much such was the apathy. Britt and Fletcher were starting with Clayts benched and Besic and Mikel in the middle. JOM wore the armband but strangely Gestede had made the bench after being ostracised since Newport, perhaps this was another TP wind up or just more tactical stupidity. Tav of course wasn’t selected despite the bizarre ramblings on the lad this week. For the Trotters O’Neil, Wheats and Ameobi all started with Taylor on the bench.

Gary O’Neil got proceedings underway for Bolton in a very desolate and sad looking Stadium. Ameobi got a quick effort of sorts fired at Shotton to absolutely no effect and a half-hearted penalty appeal from Assombalonga was ignored. Initially it looked like Bolton seemed to be sitting back clearly lacking confidence adopting a cautious approach. In terms of the Boro line up it looked like a flat back four with Dael operating as LB that morphed as the game went on into a back three . The Bolton defence looked in a very generous mood if early forays were anything to go by and a Fletcher effort over the bar in the tenth minute signalled that Boro were looking the better of the two sides. An early goal either way would like as not collapse the deck of cards for one side. Ameobi then had an attempt at the other end but as he got into the Boro box he blazed it into the travelling army.

Wheater blocked Fletcher and as Howson collected it it was the Redcar Rock again blocking to give Boro their first corner. Delivered by Saville, met by Flint and back out for another corner this time delivered by Howson which was punched out for a third Boro corner. Saville’s delivery this time was cleared for a Boro throw in. Fifteen minutes gone and in truth it was poor fayre but with Boro on top Bolton managed to shoot themselves in the foot with a poor mis-controlled back pass lighted upon by Britt whose shot then spun off a lunging defender’s shin pad to Fletcher who calmly slotted home from six yards out.

Ameobi again came at Boro and had Randolph scrambling if ever a warning was needed. O’Neil took a corner aimed at Wheater presumably but arrived at ex Pulis employee Wilson who screwed his shot and managed to take out the corner flag. A series of Boro throw ins saw us keep the big lads back until one near the corner flag saw Flint go up alone with the throw delivered in by Shotton but after a few scrambles and passes the chance was gone. Interestingly Ameobi was being kept up field on his own forcing Ayala and Fry to keep back tracking him.

A Howson break was blocked by Wheater and then an Assombalonga drive towards goal ended in Boro winning another corner. After Bolton cleared their lines it was Britt again closing down and angry again this time for not being awarded a free kick by Ref Stephen Martin. Seconds later as the half hour mark approached Saville intercepted and fed Besic who ran at the nervy Bolton defence sliding the ball through to Fletcher who despatched a curved ball past the despairing Matthews into the top right-hand corner. 2-0 and Bolton looked dead and buried but if Boro felt they could take their foot off the pedal Magennis quickly forced Flint to clear for a Trotters corner. O’Neil delivered it in, was cleared and Howson broke up the pitch courtesy of Britt tearing Bolton apart again, Fletcher met the delivery but fluffed his lies as the home fans started to vocally air their discontent at what was unfolding.

Saville delivered in a free kick which Remi Matthews flapped at in close attendance with Britt, Fletcher pounced but the flag went up for offside with thirty five minutes gone. Ayala needed a solid challenge after a slip up by Shotton but Bolton were unable to seriously threaten as Boro again went marauding up the pitch. Boro were for the first time in a very long time looking comfortable so long as they kept Ameobi and O’Neil at bay knowing that a third would completely kill the game off as a contest. That third nearly came down the left, well worked with Saville and Fletcher into Britt who played Fletcher through nearly replicating his second goal of the evening but was ruled off side. Fletcher was grabbing the limelight but Britt was ably supporting him along with Saville.

A claim for handball against Saville was declined by the Ref and Besic was then fouled, from the resulting free kick Boro again broke needing O’Neil to come to the Trotters rescue. A shot by the youngster Connell was well off Randolph’s goal ending the half to a chorus of boos from the Home fans.

There certainly was a degree of empathy towards the Bolton fans frustration but to who where they booing? The owner was desperate to rid himself of the Club, the Players haven’t been paid on time for months and had to strike to ensure the non-playing staff were paid this week and what poor Phil Parkinson was supposed to do under those circumstances was a tall ask. It was however a very sad and dispiriting display from a side with a great history in the game.

TP will have had the most stress free half time for many a week. All he could do was screw it up as there looked very little in reality that Bolton would be capable of in terms of getting themselves back into this game. As good as the score line suggested the feeling was it was as much if not more down to Bolton being very bad than Boro being great. Still you can only beat what’s in front of you and Boro desperately needed a game like this to save themselves from setting even more unwanted records.

Boro took the field without any changes to what looked like a three quarters empty Stadium for the second half with Jonny Howson kicking off. Five minutes in and Saville cleared his lines conceding a corner which was met by Beevers who was all over Ayala but the ball went back in the direction from whence it came and harmlessly going out. Fletcher had another attempt this time driving in from the left, hitting it with his right only to see it headed out for another corner by Wheats Again a corner was delivered in by Saville but this one was cleared by Beevers but the flag had gone up for offside.

Ameobi and Olkowski worked a Trotters corner at the opposite end as Saville defended, as a scramble ensued form the corner Wheats connected with a volley but it went out harmlessly for a Boro throw. A succession of Fletcher/Assombalonga chances nearly saw Fletcher getting his third but the danger was snuffed and just as Bolton were clearing their lines Howson intercepted, fed Assombalonga but his chip cleared not only Matthews but the crossbar again and just in case we didn’t see it the first time seconds later he replicated the miss but this time the offside flag spared his blushes.

So bad were the Bolton defence that Fletcher, Saville, Howson and Britt were tearing them apart with ease every time we went forward. The traveling army started cheering nervy Bolton passes in defence with a series of disparaging “ole’s”. In a training ground routine JOM blocked Matthews view of a Howson free kick but Jonny slipped during execution enabling Matthews an easy collection. A Fletcher shot hit across the six yard box forced Beevers to put it out for yet another Boro corner which Flint challenged for but it went out for a goal kick.

The game was slowly dying as Bolton had mentally surrendered but Boro surely needed to add more goals to help their GD and this was as good an opportunity as they will have had all season. For me TP needed to be thinking about adding some spark to energise things and keep the pressure on Bolton. Just as I was thinking that, Clayton was being readied by the Boro bench which wasn’t the change I was thinking of.

Howson had a long range effort and then was immediately called into action again this time to block Beevers as Bolton tried to launch a quick counter attack. Phil Parkinson made a Substitution, taking off Williams and putting on what looked like one of the ball boys in Oztumer. Alarmingly Bolton were now getting closer in what was their best spell of the game.

A Wheater effort was met by Magennis but he was offside fortunately with twenty minutes remaining. A Flint error nearly allowed Bolton a way back in but thankfully the inability that they had displayed all night was consistent. A Saville effort to try and pick out his strikers went out for a Howson corner which ended after a flurry of activity in the Bolton box and ending with Britt being given offside yet again.

A long Shotton throw in saw Wheater win the header over Flint but at the expense of an increasing Boro corner count which was half cleared by Matthews but as Besic dithered Bolton broke. The Trotters made a hash of the chance after they overplayed the break out pass by the diminutive Oztumer. So far, a very underwhelming second half from Boro but considering recent results perhaps not so unexpected. Meanwhile Clayts had been restored to the bench with no changes introduced as yet from Pulis but looking imminent. The 17 year old youngster Luca Connell then went off carrying an injury with Connolly replacing him for Bolton.

Ameobi hit a ball aimed for Craig Noone off Shotton for a corner which Randolph had to come out and deal with as Clayts was again being warmed up on the touchline. Meanwhile Oztumer hit a shot off Besic this time with five minutes remaining. Fortunately O’Neil’s Corner didn’t cause any serious problems. Besic then finally made way for Clayts with just under five minutes to go. A minute to go of the 90 and Ameobi had the best Bolton chance of the evening forcing Randolph into his first real serous save. Britt then made his way slowly off the pitch for Tavernier to get another rare outing with three entire minutes of added time remaining. In the dying embers a rebounded Ayala clearance saw Ameobi released down the left, bend his shot forcing Randolph to pull off a fingertip save onto the crossbar to preserve the clean sheet.

A good Boro first half against a very weak and disparate Bolton side wasn’t built upon in the second half which was disappointing. Three points and in fairness the victory was never really in doubt in the end but getting that losing streak off their back was important. Besic, Saville, Howson and Assombalonga all had good games but with two goals Fletcher earned the MOM award.

Swansea City		Middlesbrough
Grimes Routledge Roberts	34′ (pen) 38 71′	Saville	81′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	61% 16 7 3 11	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	39% 13 1 4 13

Dead Ducks Swansong

Boro were back on their travels today which was probably a positive just to get away from the ruins of the Riverside. Having said that they now faced a trip down to South Wales the scene of one of their most humiliating experiences in the Clubs history when they crashed out of the Cup earlier in the season. This afternoon might see TP deliver another humiliation of six straight defeats having Ken and others on here searching their history books for the last time we went on such a woeful return (November 2000?).

Graham Potter’s charges had previously seen a 3-0 triumph over Brentford which ended a run of four defeats in all competitions for them. Their drop from Premiership glory hasn’t seen them achieve the kind of season that their fans would have reasonably expected as they now face another season in the second tier and a victory today against Boro would likely seal our fate at the same level as well. The Swans played some very good football up at the Riverside earlier in the season in the goalless draw. They took the game to Boro that day and at the time looked like they had the necessary quality to drag themselves up to at least compete in the Play-offs. Time has proved somewhat different in what has been a very indifferent season for them but having lost just once to Boro in their last seven meetings didn’t bode well for the visitors.

This week saw the first signs of open vocal dissent against the prehistoric tactics that Pulis had chained Boro to this season with the weight of that negativity slowly dragging them backwards at the same rate of our diminishing goals return. VLP deciding he had a bad back and Lewis Wing’s hernia no longer carrying the hopes of securing a Play-off spot meant that TP had a reduced creative content to select from. The Swans would be missing Erwin Mulder, Leroy Fer and Martin Olsson through injury.

Team news saw that TP went with Clayton partnering Mikel and battering ram Hugill as a lone Striker up front with Saville and Captain for the day Downing presumably providing the ammo or more realistically defending deep. There were three at the back with Fry, Flint and Ayala restored with Howson and Friend looking like Wing Backs (hopefully). He could however also have Dael as a RB and a back four. Besides Dimi the struggling of late, Ryan Shotton was thankfully benched along with Besic, Britt, Fletcher and the ghosts of McNair and Tav. Only a win would do today but for the travelling army they were bracing themselves to see how TP would once again try and draw his way to victory and in a week where TP had the temerity to ask his Strikers to emulate Paddy Bamford.

Reds v Whites got under way in a sunny Swansea with a Boro back four in what looked like a 4-3-3 initially (optimistically on my part admittedly). The opening five minutes had little to report apart from Hugill going down crocked and then again going down under a challenge from Van Der Hoorn from which Swansea broke and issued the first serious threat of the afternoon. Boro were initially pushing up but seemed happier to drop off, keep things tight and of course deep. All this meant that the game was lacking the zip and energy which has dissected us so often of late so maybe a positive in the negative mindset?

A cross towards Hugill from Fry was dealt with Van Der Hoorn who then launched a counter attack, playing the ball out calmly from defence which eventually went out thankfully for a Boro goal kick. Ten minutes in and so far Boro had offered nothing of note as Swansea were now seriously getting into the game and launching attacks. Howson did put a ball into the box but it wasn’t read by Hugill. Meanwhile the Swans had Randolph called into action down the other end as the game now started to warm up. Another swift Swans attack down the right saw Celina in the six yard box blast his shot over with the goal at his mercy Assombalonga style.

Just over fifteen minutes gone and Jordan (Hugill that is) was down again looking dejected at Ref Andy Woolmer who like most of his colleagues this season wasn’t remotely interested in his claims for incapacity benefit. A minute later Hugill was deemed to have fouled Naughton as the Ref now decided to have a word with Jordan whilst he was at least momentarily upright.

Clayton stole a ball from Grimes in the middle of the park and a rash tackle resulted in a yellow card for the Swansea player but the Boro free kick was nonchalantly wasted like so many this season. As the game approached twenty five minutes Flint was called to clear another attack as the Swans were now totally dominating possession with Boro restricted to hoofs to Hugill who in turn would perform his theatrical version of Swan Lake. Great tactics Tony!

The youngster Dan James moving in from the left rifled in a twenty five yard Lewis Wing type strike that was unlucky to have not opened the scoring for the Home side. A Boro corner then saw the usual big Lads all up in the box; taken short between Clayts and Saville it saw the latter lift a hopeless high ball that was gratefully received by Nordfeldt wasting the only real opportunity we had so far.

A gift to Routledge saw him hit the bar and then the follow up from Celina was fired down Randolph’s throat. George Friend then went down with a suspected thigh strain as Swansea attacked down that flank but it ran out of steam with George prostrate. Friend forlornly limped off the field as we then figured Stewy or Saville would drop into LB with Tav coming on to offer some energy and threat but it was the struggling Shotton who came on with Dael Fry going as LB. As negative substitutions go that was pretty non-descript and up there with the Britt one from a few weeks back and tactically didn’t make a lot of sense.

That youngster James welcomed Shotton into the game by catching him cold, skinning him and winning a penalty from the despairing Shotton. Matt Grimes then send Randolph the wrong way putting Swansea deservedly and belatedly in front. Another unfulfilling, negative Pulis substitution had an immediate impact, as bad and as negative as Villa away was this was almost surpassing it in terms of negative dross. The looks on the Boro players faces told its own story. It did at least spark Boro to actually attack and a Saville effort went out for a Clayton taken corner that came in perfectly to Ayala evading Keeper Nordfeldt but the effort was missed which was at least consistent if looking for some positives.

The farce continued as ex Boro loanee Conor Roberts counter attacked and played a great ball in to Celina to Routledge leaving Flint completely lost and leaving Randolph no chance. 2-0 nil and once again the tactics of Pulis had been not only undone but once again shown to be slow, predictable and very, very outdated as those in Red now looked totally broken. James again destroyed Howson and Shotton and nearly made it three as the 21-year-old was turning on the style. Just a shame we don’t have a youngster who could score goals or create exciting chances.

Another Saville shot was blocked and then Fry’s effort went out for a throw in from which TP’s tactics has yielded great success this season, well in August anyway. A corner quickly followed in the next phase of play as Downing tried to find Ayala Roberts started a break for the Swans that was only curtailed by their own conservative desire to retain possession.

A Downing free kick was launched in but Boro had kept a few back in our own half so low was their belief and so fearful were they of another quick Swansea break. It was speed, pace and fluidity again that was now undoing Boro as it had previously on many occasions. Slow immobile Neanderthals  handcuffed by the predictability of tactical paralysis had allowed the Swans to attack and run us ragged with absolutely no threat whatsoever. Andy Woolmer blew for half time and ease Boro’s embarrassment and allow Pulis an opportunity to mastermind how he was going to come up with yet another excuse that wasn’t his fault.

Disgust, frustration, anger boiling over to seething hatred was being washed down by liquid refreshment as the travelling army at least had the opportunity of willing their side to attack their end of the pitch in the second half.

Incredibly Pulis made absolutely no changes at half time, well I say incredible but at this stage nothing from the Boro dug out would now surprise me, unless we attacked that is! Substitutions or their lack off aside we couldn’t even detect a shuffle of the pack on the field with Randolph again having to save Boro blushes preventing a third. The sheer farcical ridiculousness of everything Boro was now being played out as Pulis then seemingly decided to bring Britt and Fletcher on. He had all of the interval to reorganise and meanwhile we nearly went even further behind to finally prompt Pulis into action.

Five minutes gone and absolutely to see of any sort any improvement from Boro. A Downing effort went wide which was about as exciting as things had been all afternoon drawing ironic chants from the away fans. Meanwhile Fletcher had sat down again on the bench but Britt was still being readied but no decision from the Master Tactician and his Octogenarian assistant.

A Swansea corner won by James saw Britt stood down which was coolly cleared by Clayton before winning a Boro free kick. Ten minutes now into the half and the double substitution finally came off with Hugill going off but at least he stayed on his feet long enough to exit the pitch and Clayton who had been one of our better players went off to make way for Fletcher.

The game then entered a nothing phase with Swansea comfortably dominant. Ayala had stopped a shot with his backside but nothing much else of note apart from the White shirts continuing to look dangerous every time they attacked. Suffice to say Boro didn’t look like turning any corners since those substitutions with confidence levels looking lower than a snake’s belly. The fluid movement and energetic attacking from Swansea was in marked contrast to the slow methodology that was not only embarrassing but totally ineffective as it has been for a while now. Boro looked laboured and in all honesty like they were hoping the game would come to a swift conclusion. With all three of his subs used TP needed something really special on one of those infamous notes to turn things around. Considering the previous effectiveness of them the travelling army weren’t holding their breath.

The game was now approaching seventy minutes and Celina nearly played in Dyer to put the score beyond doubt from a Boro perspective. Potter then took Routledge off for Asoro along with James going off having shown Pulis what youngsters can do for the second time this week for Narsingh. What was abundantly evident today was that whatever is going on at Rockliffe and in the Boro dressing room the players are no longer buying into it and they don’t look like they want to. Certain minds have been made up and their focus looks very much elsewhere.

That inevitable “Typical Boro” moment came in the 71st minute as Conor Roberts added a third rubbing Boro’s noses in it. This team looked disorganised, disinterested and now totally disbelieving in anything the Manager had instructed them to do as Dyer nearly added a fourth to a backdrop of Swansea and Boro fans in unison singing “you’re getting sacked in the morning”. That’s two consecutive games now that has happened, I just wonder what it will take before the blindingly obvious registers.

Meanwhile Stewy put a cross in but Flint missed Nordfeldt’s goal with his header (I could have cut and pasted that from just about every match report since August). Annoyingly Asoro got behind our pedestrian lumbering defence but somehow Randolph managed to prevent a fourth. Van Den Hoorn who had had Hugill in his back pocket earlier went off for the 21-year old Joe Roden to replace him. A back-post delivery saw Flint play in Saville who smashed the ball into the net to pull one back for Boro much against the run of play.

Randolph then got his hands behind a fierce shot to put it out for a corner as Swansea still felt they had more business to finish. Britt tried to get something started but Roden dispossessed him and the Swans were pushing forward again. Five minutes left and Narsingh rounded Fry to put a dangerous cross in that was read by Shotton. Considering how we needed to win this game we had started it more like a side trying to avoid relegation. Considering how we then went behind we could have been forgiven for expecting an all guns blazing, do or die response from Boro in the second half but the response was numbing.

Saville looked to have had a good claim for a Penalty after Naughton handled the ball or “accidentally blocked” it in the view of the Officials as we now started to try and play, too little too late. Another late Boro attack ended with Fletcher fluffing his lines summing up how the afternoon had gone for Boro.

The game was toing and froing but it wasn’t worth commenting on as the match was now very much an irrelevance considering the wider state the club now finds itself in. Dael Fry slightly raised very late hopes with some positivity and Howson had collected a despondent frustrated yellow. The Boro MOM can only be Randolph without whom the score line would have looked an awful lot worse.

Bolton away next on Tuesday night and if Pulis is still at the club then Hull at Home on the 13th the day after the early bird closure could certainly be the Riverside’s most entertaining afternoon this season.

Middlesbrough		Bristol City
		Webster	31′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	54% 23 7 5 10	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	46% 15 5 6 9

Robins go bob bob bobbin’ along

This game either came along at the right time to right wrongs or it came too soon to allow any time for inquests and putting wrongs right. Whatever the conclusion there was always the A4 game plans that could be issued mid game if things went pear shaped for TP. The Robins had a sticky patch themselves which they put right at Sheffield on Saturday the hope on Teesside was that two long fights in quick succession may have tired them.

TP still had Lewis Wing doubtful as was Ryan Shotton but had the opportunity to start Stewy again after a contract resolution that was initially greeted suspiciously on April Fool’s day. The enigma that is VLP was also unavailable but nobody is quite sure when, where or even how his unavailability started and indeed had he not tweeted a picture of himself in Huddersfield its quite probable he would never have been reported as missing.

City like Boro have an impressive away record this season and had lost just one of their last six away league matches against Boro in any case with it coming at the Riverside last season. Perhaps of even more concern was that the Robins had been beaten just once in their last nine away Championship games, winning six of them and scoring in all of them!

Along with West Brom only Bristol and Boro have won more away points in the Championship this season than at home. A defeat for Boro would mean a fifth straight defeat which hasn’t happened since that fateful post Xmas meltdown of 2013 which led to a root and branch overhaul in the Summer that never actually happened. Callum O’Dowda was the only concern for Lee Johnson apart from a few long-term Keepers missing which didn’t seem to have much of an effect on their 3-2 win over Sheffield United which saw them go above Boro on virtue of goals scored. After tonight Bristol also had a game in hand over Boro so a victory was a requirement if TP had any credibility left in his talk of achieving a Play Off place, a fact that wasn’t lost on the fans either.

TP’s team selection saw the return of Downing once again restored to the starting line up at the expense of Ayala strangely as we went with a back three of the three “F’s”, Fry, Flint and Friend. Shotton and Downing were out wide providing the ammunition hopefully for the two Strikers Assombalonga and Fletcher. George Saville came into the middle for a start in place of Clayton who had been one of the better performers against Norwich.

An hour before kick off the heavens opened with a mixture of hail, rain and snow meaning that the pitch was absolutely sodden with the ball splashing around the immaculate Riverside Turf. The early period of the game was all Boro with Bristol looking to catch us on the break which they nearly did on a few occasions. Downing played in a great ball for Assombalonga to see his effort cleared off the line by Bailey Wright. The intent looked to be there and Downing’s ability to play perfect passes and long balls looked to be something added that we had been missing of late. Not long after Britt had the ball in the net but as per usual, he was ruled offside which seems to be a character trait or flaw in his reading of the game.

The old story about Britt needing five or six chances before he converts one seemed to be true to form tonight as he had yet another effort with less than a quarter hour gone but his shot was keeping with the levels of consistency that all our shots have been this season under Pulis which is over the roof of the stand or as near to it as possible. Next it was Saville’s turn to illustrate the point when Howson done well in setting Shotton up and as the cross came in to Saville he managed to blaze it well over also. The quarter of an hour now fully gone and truthfully, we should have been easily three up.

Howson was next to try and test the Bristol Keeper and fortunately this time he hit the target but it was competently dealt with by O’Leary in goal. It was from a tight angle but at least it was on target which was something to be grateful for. Seeing the example from Howson, Saville then tried his luck with a long and low attempt which was easily smothered but under the conditions could have caused a spill or slip so a worthy effort. Bristol were looking dangerous when they broke out, they broke with speed and crucially understanding in that they anticipated where their teammates would be as though they had actually practised this sort of stuff instead of pausing taking three steps and passing to a static colleague. No, they were passing into open areas and lo and behold there was a Purple short running onto it. The smallest man on the pitch Da Silva was pretty good at this breaking and dribbling malarkey giving Ryan Shotton a torrid time. It brought back fond memories of Fabio.

Despite the majority of Boro possession and chances the Robins looked dangerous and there was that “Typical Boro” feeling in the North Stand if we didn’t put one of them away very soon. Flint had a header go wide which again seems to be his trademark this season and then the moment the Riverside were convinced we had scored when another Downing delivery was headed back across to Jonny Howson who shot again at an angle but it cannoned off the far upright, pinging back into the box which Fletcher reacted to only for Ex Boro loanee Kalas clear it off the line, “Typical Boro” or what!

There was incredulous disbelief that somehow that had stayed out and still the score remained 0-0. Then the fatal moment arrived when a Da Silva delivered Corner was well worked, Wiemann (I think) dummied a run to the near side of the six yard box drawing the entire Boro backline with him in a Sheep like movement leaving Webster unmarked to head home with complete freedom. 0-1 and the disbelief was deafening in its silence. Tantrums and finger pointing abound over who was marking who when the problem was like as not sat on the bench being rested hence the big central defensive hole. Webster of course was the budget Bristol replacement after they sold Flint to Boro illustrating perfectly exactly why we bought Flint or so we thought.

The atmosphere then became somewhat subdued and eerily quiet as for the most part the home fans had kept their angst to themselves knowing that Boro do not recover from going a goal down. The Robins then nearly doubled their lead as still shell shocked and reeling Da Silva again fired in a shot come cross which Friend got something on and Paterson reacted quickly to firing the rebound back in only for Downing to throw himself in its path and have it ricocheted off the back of his head to go out for a corner. That should have been 2-0 but we rode the storm or at least we did until just a few minutes before half time when Diedhiou slipped Weimann through who played in Paterson whose shot was again blocked miraculously by Darren Randolph’s outstretched arm when it looked nailed on to go in. Not giving up Assombalonga had another weak effort and then Howson had another shot saved but those early misses looked as though they were going to be very costly as the half time whistle went to a chorus of boos directed at the Boro dug out. This was not helped by the away fans regaling in a continual chorus reminding Tony Pulis just how insufferable his football style was albeit in a vocabulary more suited to the Bristol Docks.

The half time Riverside atmosphere was similar to the lull before the Storm when it suddenly goes quiet just before the very worst happens. The home fans had been split all evening there were fans chanting “come on Boro” whilst others to the same tune were openly suggesting that Mr Pulis should consider an exit strategy although not quite as tactful as my terminology. Being honest I thought there was commendable restraint from the home support but that boil was going to be lanced at some point if we didn’t get back into this. The teams took the field for the second half with the hobbling Wiemann (Flinty lost a few of his studs in the back of his boot midway through the first half) off for Smith.

I don’t know what was said during the half time team talk but it must have been similar to Theresa May suggesting another vote on her plan to the Cabinet this afternoon. Boro came out all fired down. They just didn’t seem up for it, as though they accepted they were second best and that all thought of recovery was futile. A Free kick just outside the box saw something of a rarity indeed even something we thought off on the brink of extinction, a well worked and clever free kick. Mikel wondered over raising the question what the heck was he going to do and then Howson slipped the ball to Downing who chipped it to where Britt was running to on the edge of the six yard box but his effort was well saved by O’Leary. With just seven minutes into the half Shotton was taken off for Wing with Howson going to RB. That substitution presumably was for the knee injury that he was carrying, well at least that and the fact that his ball control looked like he had been coached by Rudy Gestede all evening.

It didn’t work and in fact it just muddied the waters down the right flank, Wing and Howson tried to create something but it was overplayed and overpassed in too many non-descript areas and often losing possession as a consequence. O’Leary was called into service again to deal with a Fletcher header and then on sixty minutes Howson started a Forrest Gump style run and just kept on going until he realised he was running out of options and rather than pass to Wing who was far too close to him decided to take a pot shot himself only to see it go past the far post missing by about a foot.

The high point of the evening came when Bristol were wanting to take a throw in and were looking for “the Towel” which had disappeared from that end at half time. The Ref went to the Technical area to deal with a little difference of opinion whilst Mo Besic ran out and threw a Towel at a Bristol Player. The overly generous nature of Mo’s gesture or perhaps the manner of it started an almighty handbag session the like of which I haven’t witnessed since a Black Friday sale on North Ormesby Market where even the regulars at the Jovial Monk were seen running for cover from the day tripping pensioners. There was lavender and primrose oil everywhere and Lily of the Valley just didn’t seem the same any more. Any way when it settled Marlon Pack received a yellow for his troubles but it did at least get the Riverside roaring momentarily and you had the feeling that it may just backfire on Lee Johnson as the hitherto library atmosphere was now a cauldron of passion from the terraces.

Four minutes later that noise soon abated when the diminutive Da Silva played in freshly booked Pack who done an even better impression of Britt Assombalonga than Britt himself when with the goal at his mercy he fired well wide. At the other end Flinty was cursing his luck as he went down in the Bristol box trying to reach a Saville cross with the North Stand protesting almost as desperately and believe me things were very desperate at this stage.

Once again the contrast in styles at the Riverside was marked, fast free flowing attacking football running at defenders with the ball at feet versus to you, to me, recycling rubbish needing three steps and a slow down to pick out the nearest red shirted statue. It was like being at Eston Sports Centre and an over 50’s walking football tournament only not quite as slick. So just when we really needed a bit of speed and energy and perhaps even our highest scoring midfielder TP brings on Hugill and Besic whilst taking off Downing and Saville. So now we had three Strikers up top as Tony entered diarrhoea tactics (as oppose to the type them lot from Brizzle were entertaining themselves with by singing all evening). Maybe it was just me being lost in the moment trying to figure out why you would bring on a circular running midfielder and take off the only remaining wide player who can at least put decent crosses into a box now habited by three, yes sits down in amazement, three Boro Strikers?

It did seem however that Fletcher was now sitting deeper (or wandering desperate to get a pass) so in part that meant that we did still have two strikers, well one who hadn’t yet missed his prerequisite number of sitters to record a goal and a WWE wrestler masquerading as Footballer. In between behaving like an errant ten pin bowling ball in the skittle like Bristol defence Hugill did manage to get a semi volleyed boot onto a last second chance that went wide to a unified backdrop of both sets of fans agreeing at full voice that Tony Pulis’s football is indeed very reminiscent of faecal matter. I did however hear one of the cleaners on the way out take umbrage to the impromptu singalong complaining that what they cleaned didn’t stink the place out that badly.

And so there it is, five defeats in a row and the worst run for a very long time, I did hear someone say on the way out that its something like twenty years but that may have been just how long it feels like TP has been here.

Middlesbrough		Norwich City
		Hernández	54′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	40% 17 6 4 17	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	60% 16 5 6 9

Boro flapping leaves Canaries singing

After a two week break from a horrendous sequential run of three defeats Boro now faced the League leaders live on Sky. Norwich themselves were in a rich vein of form winning their last six games on a row and hoping to make it a lucky seven on Teesside.

Home fans were hoping for a do or die performance as Boro entered a four day make or break of two home games against the high flying Canaries and the Robins. I say two home games but they will be under two different Stadium names, the Captain James Cook Stadium this evening and reverting back to the Riverside for Tuesday. I suppose the fact that Cook wasn’t actually a Captain was fitting for the equally named Tees Valley bodies to celebrate a Valley that isn’t and a Captain that wasn’t, even “Typical Boro” seemed unfair under the circumstances.

TP apparently had a midfield selection headache with Lewis Wing still struggling with his lingering groin problem. George Saville, Mo Besic and Paddy McNair all played for their Countries during the break so would be doubtful to make the team. Considering that Lewis has been struggling for around six weeks or so and that the other three haven’t been nailed on starters for most of the season it seemed to me like a case of getting the excuses in early. Perhaps I was being unfair but in the case of the forgotten McNair his game time for me was a bonus.

Daniel Farke’s budget priced side with free transfer Teemu Pukki sat atop the Championship scoring charts had arrived with no discernible injury worries. There again sides who are riding high tend to ooze positivity which perhaps explains the lack of reportable niggles. Farke’s approach was in stark contrast to Tony Pulis’s with Teemu Pukki, Jamal Lewis, Max Aarons, Ben Godfrey and Kenny McLean all declared fit and available after their respective international duties.

The lively Hernandez and Buendia were the two most likely to test and stretch TP’s backline feeding Pukki. When announced the Team news saw that TP went with another deep defensive psyche bringing in Clayts for Wing but with two up front restored in the shape of Britt and Fletcher. The other three midfield “queries” were all on the bench so an excuse if needed was readied even before KO at which point we saw Boro out of the top six for the first time since August in seventh place immersed amongst a chasing pack just four points ahead of Hull in twelfth.

As Cattle and Cane warmed up the crowd the hope was that we would actually be lining up with a back three and Shotton and Friend marauding as wing-backs, a back five would have the knives out before half time if went behind. Boro kicked off, recycled the ball backwards then sent Britt free down the right but he put a weak cross in eventually going out for a Norwich throw in.

A clever Fletcher back heel to Britt ended up with a Shotton throw in and as the ball came into the box George Friend was perfectly placed to lash the ball goal wards but instead it had more chance of hitting the mast of Cook’s Discovery. Five minutes in and so far Boro had been on the front foot keeping Norwich pegged back with Fletcher looking for the ball and linking up well. A determined piece of control holding off multiple defenders from Britt allowed Howson a daisy cutter from twenty yards that had Krul momentarily scrambling in the Canaries goal. On eight minutes Clayts battled for possession and fed Howson who played Friend in centrally and this time his shot required Krul to actually get behind it in what so far was a very unPulis like start from Boro.

Randolph was guilty of a rare lapse in concentration on two occasions which had gifted opportunities to Norwich totally against the run of play and then Britt fed Fletcher inside the box but his shot just wouldn’t bend into the goal side of the far post. Norwich then immediately went up the other end with Hernandez marginally onside crossing the ball into the heart of the Boro box needing Randolph to redeem himself reacting to a fierce shot from Pukki to give warning that all that early Boro pressure counted for nothing.

Norwich had weathered the early storm and seeing a lot more of the ball, looking more composed as the rain came down adding some more zip to the Captain James Cook surface. A scrappy bit of “ricochet football” in the middle of the pitch eventually broke to Britt who again played in Fletcher to win a corner that was horrendously wasted by Howson as he hit it too low to nobody allowing Norwich to clear their lines with ease.

Aarons came off worse when Friend flew into the back of him in what looked like a certain Norwich free kick but fortunately the Officials didn’t see it. Clayts then intercepted with a brilliant drag back trademark Clayts challenge to release Mikel who found Britt but he dallied too long eventually finding Fletcher who teed up Howson but his effort managed to find Botany Bay faster than Great Ayton’s finest. Immediately afterwards Fletcher had another good chance that was cleared by a brave header and as the ball came back into play he cut in and this time tested Krul. The half hour mark was approaching and Clayts challenged and tackled high up in the Norwich half winning possession in the process but unfortunately the surprise had left him isolated eventually losing out in a three versus one scenario.

A lunging Ayala tackle saw a heart in the mouth moment when the yellow card was produced for what looked like a handball rather than the actual lunge itself on Hernandez who would have been put free. Minutes later Ayala again caught the Referee’s eye with another careless challenge the result of which saw him get a head to a rocket shot fired in with gusto to put it up and over to safety. An awkward bounce saw Shotton mistime his clearance to allow Pukki clean through with Flint fortunately alert chasing him wide and Randolph getting an arm to the Finn’s shot to spare the part time Landlord’s blushes. Despite Boro’s initial positive start it was Randolph who had to be alert and to prevent Boro from going two down. A Boro break a minute later perhaps was the perfect contrast between the two attacks when Friend sent in a gentle lob aimed at Fletcher but it was at the perfect height, trajectory and angle for Krul to pluck from the dark Northern Sky.

Friend was in the thick of it again when Stiepermann went in two footed, studs showing as Friend this time was back clearing his lines and the Canary was lucky to be just shown a yellow as George looked in serious pain. A Howson effort (this time on target) in added time was weakly hit without much belief or thought but Norwich then went up the other end and a beautifully lofted ball in behind the Boro defence landed just right for Pukki who again tested Randolph. The whistle went for the end of the first half in what had been a lively encounter but despite all the obvious impressions it was Norwich who looked by far the more likely to score. The Canaries finishing had really tested Randolph whilst Boro’s finished barely tickled Krul.

So far the intent had definitely been there from Boro but they really needed to improve in the finishing stakes. The build-up was again slow, morose and predictable with nobody running off the ball looking to unlock a well organised side. This lack of guile left Britt and Fletcher closed down quickly and unable to unleash any effort of the quality of the three serious attempts that needed Randolph at his finest.

There were no changes from either Manager as Norwich kicked off the second half towards the South Stand. The visitors made a quick statement of intent and Fry was required to clean up a sloppy back pass. As the ball was cleared upfield a Boro throw in saw a long Shotton launch which Ayala unmarked headed wide. As Boro cleared their heads over the glaring miss Britt cannoned forward and avoiding one challenge was barged over by Zimmerman for a free kick. The build up to the kick saw Buendia kick the turf up and trying to knock the ball back right under the Ref’s nose yet when Mikel complained he bizarrely booked JOM. The free kick was uncharacteristically cleverly worked setting up Howson but again his effort was a daisy cutter straight down the middle for Krul to collect easily. Buendia then had a shot deflected from a Norwich corner that needed Randolph to be alert as the visitors were getting closer.

That warning wasn’t heeded as a series of farcical Boro defending incompetence’s involving Shotton, Fletcher and Howson gifted Hernandez the opportunity to show how to hit a daisy cutter, away from Randolph near the upright to put the visitors one up just four minutes into the half. Trybull smashed into Fletcher to delay a Boro threat then seconds later earned a yellow when he upended Britt to give Boro a free kick thirty yards out. The ball was delivered by Howson and came off a Norwich head for a corner that was again poorly delivered, cleared and the resultant Norwich break needed Shotton to “collide” with Pukki. Boro were now seriously struggling and their biggest problem was of their own making. When defending (which was pretty much all this half so far) they had too many men back (ten in the box) and when it was somehow cleared it just came straight back at them. Downing then was brought on for Ayala who at this stage looked like he was about to earn another yellow sometime very soon.

A note from Pulis to Friend saw us go to a back four but it made no difference as again we had ten men back defending and zero outlet. Pukki broke and it looked like a corner to me off Flint but the Ref awarded a goal kick. That lucky decision didn’t make much difference as Boro simply couldn’t break out of their own 18 yard box as Norwich seductively bossed things. The pressure was continuous as Boro just couldn’t find any respite made worse by their defensive overload. Downing was next to pick up a yellow as he scythed down Arrons preventing them getting down their right flank.

The slick fast interplay from Norwich was an embarrassment to the slow pedestrian pass and think plodding from Boro often repeatedly passing themselves into trouble. Twenty minutes left and the crowd were getting restless watching the game slip away and the belief of the Players clearly ebbing with it. Britt had had absolutely no service in this half and tiring Clayts then made way for Besic to come on as Pulis tried to inject some skill and much needed energy into a flat and dejected looking Boro.

This second half was all Norwich as Boro lacked any form of creativity. Out of ideas and as all hope looked gone George Friend found Downing whose low headed effort was hooked clear in the six yard box by Zimmerman . That injected a little spark as Boro now got stuck in and then Britt launched a shot on the edge of the box but as is the benchmark calibre of this sides finishing it was wayward, reckless and well over. Meanwhile Stiepermann had indulged in faux injury after a collision with Mikel left him feigning injury. A headless Besic dribble into the Norwich box was picked off and again Hernandez came forward putting us again on the back foot. Stiepermann then went off for Vrancic to come on with seven minutes remaining.

A Friend run down the left led to a corner which was delivered into the middle of the six yard box but the whistle blew for a Flint arm around Krul’s neck allowing the visitors another opportunity to run the clock down. As Norwich passed the ball around twenty yards outside the Boro box the wall of Red shirts couldn’t get anywhere near them and eventually a Buendia shot went off Howson for a corner. As a last desperate throw of the dice Pulis put Hugill on for Shotton with three minutes of the ninety remaining. Yellow shirts were buzzing and swarming everywhere while the Red shirts just continued with their methodical plodding build up. A clever bit of Besic inspired play did set up Hugill who missed his chance to equalise from two yards out. In the next phase of play a Downing delivered ball into Hugill was just too high for the Hammer loanee to reach as the fourth Official indicated six added minutes. Daniel Farke then decided to bring the lively and exciting Hernandez off for Klose to literally close the game out.

The lack of a creative, skilful player cost Boro dearly tonight. Pushing high up with agricultural football at a sedentary pace only got us so far. A late, almost awkward Mikel dribble into the box saw two attempts blocked and then there was a manic flurry of activity as the ball was pumped in again but it was far too little coming far too late as Boro now record four straight defeats in a row. The first half saw plenty of Boro intent but with no skill or creativity to unlock the Norwich defence. Without that magic and as a direct consequence any chances we had were rushed in their nature.

The second half had saw Daniel Farke’s half time team talk up the ante and Pulis’s Boro simply couldn’t live with it. Bristol are now coming up on Tuesday night who have leapfrogged Boro this evening on goals scored as we slide ignominiously down to eighth. Without energy and intelligent playmakers on the pitch Boro will like as not struggle again. No VLP or Tavernier required for Pulis’s Boro apparently yet Hernandez and Buendia destroyed us (as predicted) with similar skill sets.

The MOM has to be Randolph who made up for his early concentration lapses to save us from another three or four going in. The scribbled note seems to be just causing confusion when that sheet goes onto the pitch and gets passed around. Surely by now it’s clear even to Pulis that it’s the wrong communication method or there again maybe it’s the right communication method but its what’s written on the note that is the problem not unlike the team selection and tactics.

Aston Villa		Middlesbrough
El Ghazi McGinn Adomah	28′ 44′ 88′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	61% 18 5 6 9	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	39% 4 1 2 16

Pulis raises white flag at Villa

Coming into this one Dean Smith exclaimed that his Villains are playing with swagger again. That’s certainly a claim that Tony Pulis couldn’t make versus a side his Teesside Tenure had seen repeated capitulation. With confidence levels lower than a snakes belly after Preston and Ayala’s sending off on Wednesday night maybe this is just the sort of game that Boro needed to get the monkey off their backs and flush things out of their system.

TP had some good news yesterday with Ayala’s card being rescinded and therefore available for this afternoons encounter. Of greater concern however to Pulis was the seeming inability of his players to take their opportunities and actually put the ball in the net. His thinly veiled criticism led to the expectation that there may be a shuffling of his pack for this one.

Dean Smith had a few selection dilemmas of his own with no less than six players expected to be unavailable. Nyland, Tuanzebe, Chester, Elphick, Lansbury and Traore destroyer Alan Hutton were all ruled out.

Pulis as expected adopted a safety first option with his selection benching the new front pairing of Assombalonga and Fletcher for the solitary Hugill and a back five or three with Shotton, Ayala, Flint, Fry and Friend. The eccentric Besic was a liability that TP wasn’t comfortable with instead preferring Saville reinstated into midfield. It looked like strong and stable was the mind set behind this selection in an effort to avoid another humiliating performance against the Villains. The ominous omission of Tavernier on the bench told us all we needed to know about what Pulis had planned.

The opening seconds saw a quick Villa attack and an El Ghazi cross held up in the wind headed over Randolph’s goal by McGinn. The wind looked like it was going to have a major influence on the afternoon’s proceedings. Four minutes gone and El Ghazi won a corner which was taken short and fired in low only for Saville to be alert to it. Another corner this time off Fry saw Grealish take it short, again linking up with McGinn in a packed Boro box which went out for another corner that was cleared. The rapid corner count went up when Flint deflected a shot to prevent Abraham opening the scoring.

The opening ten minutes was all Villa with Boro sat desperate and deep, clearing everything that Villa were throwing at us. The signs were already there that we couldn’t keep this up for 90 minutes, and incredibly we had a manager who actually believed that this tactic was viable despite having failed him massively before. The early Villa impetus was thankfully slightly subsiding on the quarter hour mark but we still couldn’t get anywhere near the ball. And just as we thought we could breathe again another El Ghazi ball into Abraham was fortunately read and cut out by Randolph.

My initial thoughts pre kick off was if we were going to play with a back three or back five, both were wrong as it just looked like a back eleven . Ayala came to the rescue this time blocking a McGinn effort as we struggled to not so much impose ourselves on the game but to even get into it. Déjà vu came to mind with twenty minutes gone as Villa were all over Pulis’s Boro once again and we couldn’t lay a glove on them sat back too fearful to attempt to break out. A long diagonal ball to Shotton did require Jed Steer to come out and clear the first serious threat Boro had mustered so far. The resultant throw in bounced in the Villa box but typically there was nobody in a dark blue Boro shirt to attack.

Howson carelessly lost possession allowing Abraham to feed El Ghazi and it was Ayala once more who had to be alert to save further embarrassment to the ex-Leeds man for the second game running. A foul on Hugill allowed the big Boro lads to get up for a Wing delivered free kick which saw Hugill miss a half chance on twenty five minutes completely against the run of play.

Another lapse in concentration this time from George Friend surrendering possession gifted El Ghazi who didn’t need any more assistance to put it past Randolph. So far it had gone pretty much as most would have predicted with Tony Pulis’s spineless negativity in this game. Another insipid and cowardly set up with zero threat, spending the entire game clinging on somehow hoping to survive. A bizarre substitution then followed on thirty five minutes with Downing coming on for Ryan Shotton and Fry going to RB, Downing right and Wing left (the stupidity of having no Tav or VLP laid bare).

If possible this was an even more lacklustre and defeatist showing from Boro against Villa but then again it is how TP has always underwhelmed against a side that we used to have some good games against. A heavy Saville challenge whipped up a frenzy with the home fans baying for blood but the Ref saw the opposite and penalised the effervescent El Ghazi who was showing everything that this Boro selection didn’t have and couldn’t cope with. Seconds later it was El Ghazi again this time putting Grealish in and the effort went out for a corner which McGinn took but Randolph collected after a Friend slip in the box.

It was Friend again this time at the other end who nearly brought things level but hit it but straight at Steer who threw the ball out quickly and but for the quick thinking and reading of the danger from Saville we could have been two down. In the fortieth minute Boro won their first corner which Downing floated in safely for Mings to clear in another inept set piece. Downing was at least offering some sort of outlet but the fact that we had to go a goal down before attacking was even considered spoke volumes of the negative dross being presented to nearly 2,000 of the Travelling army.

Abraham then left Ayala and Saville for dead with a burst of pace, played a ball in to El Ghazi which was fortunately over hit to go out for a goal kick. El Ghazi again linked up with Grealish and Taylor to have Boro hearts in mouths and then a rare Boro foray up the pitch died with a poor ball from Hugill trying to feed Wing was poorly executed and that allowed Villa to counter. Breaking quickly McGinn burst to the edge of the box between two Boro defenders and skilfully rifled in the second. Villa realised that Boro had absolutely nothing, no pace, no tactics or organisation and zero threat. They could afford to gamble and push on with complete impunity as our energy levels were on a par with a Taiwanese “AA” battery from North Ormesby Market on Christmas day.

Tony Pulis seems to be in total awe of Aston Villa Football Club to the point where he almost deifies them. Instead of seeing Villa as just another Championship side he absolutely bottles it each and every time and that he does the same again after his previous disasters is testimony to his sheer incompetence. A complete change in tactics and playing style handed the initiative to Villa even before we Kicked Off. A massive overhaul, rethink and double substitution required at half time but unfortunately the only substitution that the fans wanted wasn’t going to happen until the summer at least.

Unsurprisingly Villa came out unchanged but crazily Boro were also unchanged in what must have been a cunning plan from Pulis or just a signal that he was totally clueless. The good news was that there were only 45 minutes left to endure the worst of Pulis plus a three and a half hour drive home in wet and windy miserable conditions which were nowhere near as miserable as those Boro tactics. The dark almost black Boro shirts were very apt under the circumstances in what looked like a funeral for Middlesbrough Football Club.

After Besic had been warmed up ready to come on Wing made way for Assombalonga and Besic sat down just as another lightning Grealish attack found El Ghazi all too easily who fortunately over hit the final ball for Abraham to spare our blushes. This was poor beyond belief; once again Tony Pulis had us playing with our pants around our ankles against Aston Villa.

A Villa free kick found Whelan who hit a ball that was just too much from Abraham to react to as we looked totally lost. El Ghazi left Ayala for dead with Flint backing off him and when the Dutchman fired his shot Flint was able to finally block for the ball to go out for a Villa throw. At this stage the only doubt and question was how many goals Villa would score as Boro were looking shapeless and as clueless as the capped one. JOM was booked as the embarrassing pantomime continued unabated.

The next few minutes was again all Villa pressure, it’s pointless even commenting or reporting on them as apart from a Britt strop and hissy fit there was nothing at all from Boro. Fletcher ironically was warmed up now as Pulis once again realised he screwed his tactics up and restored the pairing that he had just dismantled. Meanwhile Villa had two quick opportunities just before the lumbering Hugill went off and Albert Adomah was readied by Dean Smith. Albert came on for the youngster Andre Green who had troubled Friend all afternoon. The stage was now surely set for yet another Typical Boro moment.

A fantastic opportunity came totally against the run of play as Friend played a ball in to Assombalonga who as is his want needed another four or five of them before he finds the target and predictably missed by a mile. Being honest a Boro goal would have been a travesty as we weren’t remotely in this game all afternoon. Downing then fired in a back post cross that eluded Britt but Friend rescued it and forced a corner. The corner came in for Flint but was blocked by Mikel then the ball came back in to Ayala who as is his want blatantly fouled his opponent. That was the best and most creative Boro had been all day.

Abraham went off with a knock for Kodjia on 70 minutes to get a run out in what was now just a fitness gathering exercise for Villa against a very poor Boro collective. Thankfully El Ghazi went off after tearing us apart and destroying us with his pace and energy meaning that the arrival of Keenan Davis saw a complete front line change. A foul by Fletcher on the edge of the Boro 18 yard box saw Grealish hit a fierce ball aimed at Tyrone Mings with Ayala in attendance and it going out for a goal kick.

McGinn and Grealish were a class above anything Boro could produce in midfield, they simply bossed the game without any threat or serious challenge on them. The ease at which they could strut their stuff unopposed all afternoon was quite frankly embarrassing. We were now just counting the clock down and hoping the Ref would blow his whistle as without Wing any chance of a clever or creative pass to Britt or Fletcher was non-existent. Meanwhile McGinn came close again with Flint managing to stick with him long enough to put him off. A late charge and shot from Adomah led to claims of a handball from Aden Flint in what would have been the icing on the cake.

McGinn and Grealish were still buzzing and as they pummelled us again a shot fired in saw Randolph parry the shot and Albert showed what we had been missing and what Britt, Hugill, Fletcher, Gestede and co. are incapable of doing and poke the ball into the net. In fairness to Albert he didn’t celebrate his goal. Three nil and it didn’t do Villa justice as three minutes now went up from the fourth Official. Kodjia should have added a fourth in added time but Fry got in a block to keep it at three nil.

Again there was no Boro MOM, Downing was the best of a dire lot but to even contemplate saying that we had someone who put in the required effort to be remotely acknowledged as a performance of note was impossible. Three defeats in a row now and each of them with a bizarre story to tell but this one was as I predicted it would be a weak, negative meek surrender from Pulis even before the Kick Off. That I expected and confidently predicted such a shambolic and humiliating display here at Villa Park weeks before hand is testimony to just how poor things are.

What Steve Gibson does now is up to him but there is no future for MFC with Pulis in charge any longer. He is very clearly a spent force and at this level has neither the nous nor the ability to get a side promoted. Today was a foretaste of exactly what will happen if we somehow managed to hang onto a play-off place which based on what I am currently witnessing I would rather miss out on than be put through any more of this dire negativity.

Middlesbrough		Preston North End
Fletcher [Sent Off] Ayala	32′ 61′	Gallagher Stockley	63′ 81′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	40% 22 4 10 9	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	60% 17 6 7 8

Ref Justice at the Riverside

A great opportunity to put that dismal Saturday show “bee hind” us came with the visit of Preston North End this evening. The Lilywhites or Nobbers as their NW rivals endearingly call them (it derives from the “No” part of North apparently) sat just four points behind Derby before Kick Off and buoyed after their away day win at Mogga’s Rovers PNE would be looking for another positive result on Teesside which could see them leaving the Riverside just four points behind Boro. Seeing how Brentford had unsettled and dismantled Tony Pulis’s land of the Riverside Giants will have been a massive boost to Alex Neil in his preparations. Those preparations however may have been subject to a little distraction as he had been heavily connected with the vacant job at the Hawthorns after the departure of Darren Moore at the weekend.

Reports from the game at Ewood Park suggested that Preston were not shirking challenges as they finished with ten men. Their methodology was getting stuck in, leaving no quarter or mercy to their opponents so it’s likely that tonight’s game had the makings of a rather tasty affair with a few cards extremely likely. TP had no new injury concerns other than a severely bruised and dented ego with himself after the submissive Substitution which turned not only the crowd but the game itself. The negativity and effect of that hangover will hopefully be banished tonight, if not then things could turn and that’s something that I am sure Alex Neil will be only too aware of.

Darnell Fisher’s late red card on Saturday added to Alex Neil’s selection problems and would be unavailable however Ben Pearson was back after serving a two match ban for reaching ten yellow cards for the season (it became pretty clear why later). Brad Potts, Tom Clarke and Tom Barkhuizen were all doubts for the Nobbers after missing on Saturday. It’s likely that Neil would have had his preferred hopes resting on Clarke to be fit enough to replace Fisher. For the statisticians amongst us Boro were unbeaten against PNE since 1987, a stretch covering 13 games while Preston were currently on a 10 game unbeaten run in the Championship.

The Team news was that TP had “rested” Fry and Saville, bringing in Flint and Friend while retaining the services of Assombalonga and Fletcher up front. As expected Ben Pearson returned from his suspension for Preston while Josh Earl was given the nod for the suspended Darnell Fisher. Preston were adorned in a sickly green and yellow outfit as clearly white shirts and navy shorts would have clashed with Boro’s red and white strip. It was however the red shirts of Boro that got the upper hand in the early exchanges, pushing up and closing down, Wing and Howson soon had Preston retreating and an early corner indicated that Boro clearly felt they had unfinished business after Saturdays capitulation.

The opening five minutes was all Boro with the only time the ball was actually in the Boro half was through back passes intended to stretch the game and tease Preston forward to try and open and exploit gaps in behind. This was a far more positive Boro than of late and they were simply peppering the Preston defence with crosses and corners but frustratingly there were no real solid attempts on target to seriously trouble Rudd in the Lilywhites goal. On six minutes Howson went close with a rasping drive and the resulting corner saw Ayala go even closer from a Fletcher slice/shot but somehow missed his chance to put Boro into an early lead. Feeling the strain, a bit of psychological gamesmanship crept in from the visitors who had prided themselves on getting stuck in and battling on Saturday. Tonight they seemed to go down very easily and collect unfortunate knocks much to the growing frustration of the home crowd which was a lot sparser than of late. A 50/50 challenge between Wing and Pearson required lengthy treatment from their Physio as their bench pleaded with the fourth official and the Ref and anyone else who would listen.

Alex Neil had started the game with the intention of matching Boro and going with three at the back and two wing backs but the opening exchanges must have had him rethinking because they were put under extreme pressure with no outlet. Things got even more nervy for Preston as a trademark Shotton throw in was headed clear but fell to JOM who twisted, turned and unleashed a low shot that beat Rudd but the ball cannoned off the upright with nobody alert enough in the six yard box to turn it in. It remained 0-0 but this was the brightest start from a Boro side in a very long time.

It took around twenty minutes for Preston to get into the game and trouble the Boro defence when they won three successive corners which ended when their CB Storey eventually headed wide. Fletcher gave Storey something to think about all evening and indeed was being constantly fouled by having a forearm in the back of his neck every time he challenged for an aerial ball with the CB but the officials incredibly saw absolutely nothing. Meanwhile Pearson seemed determined to get back at Lewis Wing with a series of ongoing nibbles. Besic and Wing were now running the midfield and for Besic it was one of his best games but with the usual caveat that he had the North Stand sat cross legged at times when back defending, sublimely beating three players but in doing so playing passes across Randolph’s eighteen yard box in front of his keeper.

One of the Bosnian’s deliberations ended with him closing down two Preston attackers in front of the East stand touchline and eventually conceding a free kick for a clumsy challenge on Browne who rolled around in great discomfort but to little sympathy from those sat nearest to him. The Preston Physio was back on again and it appeared that perhaps Browne wasn’t faking it as he was soon replaced with Rafferty.

As the game neared the half hour mark Boro went close again with a Friend header and Howson hitting the side netting. A few minutes later and it was only fitting that Besic collected the ball and ran at the Preston defence from the middle of the pitch and playing in a clever ball to Fletcher whose shot deflected between the legs of Storey but with the ball spinning up and away from the covering Rudd into the far corner to deservedly put Boro one up. As great a relief as it was there was also the worry that all those other spurned chances would come back to haunt us later.

Boro continued their pressing game with Wing and Besic causing them all sorts of problems and Howson adding to their woes by running at them. There was more to Jonny’s game though as he was constantly getting back defending, supporting Shotton who looked a little nervy and indeed nearly repeated his own goal from Saturday with a sliced clearance going out for a corner. The half drew to a close but in truth Boro should have had their noses well in front with Rudd having to save with his legs from Howson and also had to be alert to close down Britt after Fletcher had played him in behind the green shirted defence.

The half ended with Boro a goal to the good and a well-deserved round of applause for their total domination as they left the pitch. The second half started as the first had ended with Boro continuing to miss chance after chance. An early Shotton throw saw Flint glance a header but missed the target when as a minimum it should have at least tested Rudd. Jonny Howson then somehow missed from 10 yards out when it looked easier to score from yet another Wing delivery. Alex Neil had made a change at half time bringing the ineffective Earl off for Brandon Barker on loan from Man City. That change was to have a devastating effect on the game later on as he ran at Howson and Shotton causing them a fresh set of problems one of which was to simply keep up at him and avoid contact in full flight.

Ten minutes into the half and a near post cross from Shotton saw Britt go close again as the ball went out for yet another corner. The resulting corner saw a scramble in the Preston box with Ayala holding his arms up demonstrating that he wasn’t holding or pushing as the ball seemed to be stuck in the air before finally dropping and him toe poking a shot just over the crossbar. That slender lead just couldn’t be improved upon as Boro passed and probed continuously on the edge of the Preston box with the ball going sideways but nobody driving through. A minute later Howson had another great chance but sliced his shot wide following another teasing feeder ball from Wing.

As Britt broke through into the Preston box Nmecha went down in the build-up mortally wounded and Pearson finally entered Keith Stroud’s book for protesting. Just five minutes after that and Keith Stroud was reaching for his cards again. That substitute Barker picked up a stray Howson pass and was running through towards the Boro eighteen yard box leaving red shirts in his wake when Ayala sensed the danger and flew into a strong but well timed tackle that drew applause as he cleared the danger. Keith Stroud didn’t see it that way (it’s very questionable in my mind if he seen it all) and as an official who has courted controversy before he issued a straight red towards Ayala when the challenge didn’t even look like a yellow let alone a sending off.

The incredulity wasn’t lost on the home bench or stands as the home fans were baying for the official’s blood. What made matters worse was that the linesman hadn’t flagged or even indicated any concerns. The tackle was undoubtedly firm but well timed and in no way an infringement of the rules let alone the resultant free kick. As the injustice of it all and confusion in the Boro defence was rife Gallagher played a short one yard free kick to Hughes who rolled it back to him and Gallagher then curved the ball around the far side of the Boro wall and into the same corner that Fletcher had hit in the first half. 1-1 and the anger in the crowd was bubbling over with chants directed at Mr Stroud questioning his competence and fitness for purpose at officiating as well as his parents marital status I believe.

If ever there was a “Typical Boro” moment this was it. A game which we had totally bossed and dominated had suddenly turned. Some credit has to be given to Alex Neil for his tactical switch by bringing Barker on but the manner of the goal left a very bitter and angry taste. Fletcher then got tactically taken off for Dael Fry to come on as TP went with one up top in Britt and restored his back line. Like on Saturday however we hadn’t cleared our heads although this time it was perhaps more understandable. We tried to rally and although a Lewis Wing strike or two went wide you could sense we were mortally wounded despite the crowd getting behind the side and on the Ref’s back.

Just before their goal Stockley had been warmed up to replace Gallagher. Having scored he departed the pitch with fifteen minutes left to the admiration of the few hundred Preston fans and Alex Neil in what was to be another substitution which was to have even greater effect than that of Barker’s. Hugill came on for Besic in a desperate attempt to get back in front but with that extra man advantage and their tails now in the air another seemingly suspicious piece of officiating sealed our fate. A shot came into the Boro box and with Stockley looking a yard offside he nodded home to make it 2-1. Presumably the ball must have come off a red shirt otherwise robbed doesn’t begin to describe it.

Hughes then picked up a yellow card for delaying a Boro free kick as some challenges seem to now go unheeded including faint hearted theatrics. Another yellow was brandished at Alex Neil as he back heeled a Boro throw in into his away dug out as tempers were getting frayed with the clock ticking down. Woody attempted to get into the Preston box to retrieve the ball as their dug out were engaged in a less than environmentally friendly recycling exercise to run down more minutes. As sportsmanship goes that behaviour reached a new low in things that I have witnessed at matches.

Tav had come on for Mikel with five minutes remaining as we threw caution to the wind but there wasn’t enough time or even energy left to rescue anything. Our futile persistent passing around the Preston box was rubbed in our noses by that deflected “offside” goal. Shooting creates chances and passing simply retains possession in non-dangerous areas. Despite destroying Preston in the first half we just didn’t possess that instinctive killer touch. Disappointing and unfair in equal measure but that’s been the story of a season of wasted opportunity. MOM would have been Howson who ran all night but it was he who put Ayala in trouble leading up to the sending off so I’m giving it to Besic despite the state of my undergarments.

 

Middlesbrough		Brentford
Fletcher	6′	Shotton Benrahma	70′ (O.G.) 73′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	37% 19 6 3 14	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	63% 14 3 3 10

Bees sting substandard Boro

In-form Brentford arrived at the Riverside hoping to improve on their dire away form if that made sense. Bizarrely despite only having won once on the road all season the Bees were sitting fourth over the last ten Championship games in the form table thanks to their Griffin Park form. Over ten away games Thomas Frank’s side sat 19th in the form stakes before Kick Off while Boro sat in 17th for Home form, hardly inspiring stats for either Manager.

TP had a healthy squad at his disposal with George Friend returning and Aden Flint only a little further behind. Brentford likewise had an almost full house with most of their injuries clearing up over the last few weeks. Mokotjo, Marcondes, MacLeod were all back in contention while defender Rico Henry was nearing his return.

Boro had been unbeaten in 12 matches against Brentford in all competitions since an FA Cup defeat back in January 1964. Brentford were winless in seven trips to Teesside with their last win up here coming in 1938. TP went with the same again in terms of selection. Brentford ended up a man short after an injury to Jeanvier during the warm up restricted them to only six subs. Watching the teams run out took me back to the days of Ernie Hunt and Coventry City as the Bees were adorned in a chocolate brown ensemble topped off with an amber yoke.

Boro started lively and on 30 seconds Jonny Howson nearly repeated his feat of QPR when he launched a cross which lofted in dangerously just clearing the far corner of Bentley’s goal. Five minutes in however and Boro were lucky not to be behind as a ball launched over Shotton saw him struggle and Maupay nipped in wrong siding him but sent his effort wide of Randolph’s upright in what should have been the afternoon’s opener. Just two minutes after Maupay’s miss Ashley Fletcher reacted quickest to a fumble by Bentley pushing out Besic’s shot straight to him to put us one up in what was a well worked move involving Besic and Howson. It was Fletcher’s best moment in the game as he then went on to struggle in 50/50 challenges on several occasions later in the match.

The next talking point was Britt in a tussle in the Brentford box when he was bundled over claiming a penalty but being fair it looked to me like Britt wasn’t strong or fast enough. Maupay again was in the thick of things on twenty minutes as he deftly headed a flick past Randolph but the flag was up for offside as Boro were carved open with ease. A warning if ever there was one for TP but one seemingly ignored. A few minutes after that and the slick inter passing play from Brentford carved us open again but for a drag back tackle timed to perfection from Mikel to keep that slender lead intact.

As pleasing on the eye as the Bees undeniably were they were sloppy and very poor at the back and with Howson, Wing, Saville, Britt and Fletcher chasing and harrying them they gave away possession cheaply on numerous occasions and in dangerous places yet we couldn’t trouble Bentley. Ayala came close (ish) with a header but missed the target and then a bizarre cross come shot from Lewis Wing (who had a poor day by his standards) saw whatever it was he was attempting end up in the upper echelons of the South West corner.

This was a game that was full of action at both ends but in truth Boro didn’t look comfortable hanging onto their lead as Brentford outpaced and outplayed them with fast, quick, pacy football and players running off the ball looking to receive and then releasing it again quickly. The foul count for Boro was rising along with their yellow cards as challenges were coming in after the intended Brentford player had released the ball. The Ref Jeremy Simpson was coming in for some stick from the home fans but the truth was we couldn’t keep up with the standard of Brentford’s attractive fast flowing football.

Britt was the first of a few in red to be booked for a late challenge on Mokotjo, then those of us in the North Stand were grateful for the Linesman’s flag ruling out a Canos “goal” when Saville was dithering with a clearance attempt but Maupay sent him sprawling. That’s twice the Bees had the ball in the Boro net and had the score been two all at this stage nobody could have complained or been surprised. More warning signs if any were needed (or better still heeded), the “goal” definitely shouldn’t have been given as Saville was literally just shoved to the floor but we have seen them given.

With that last alarm still ringing in our ears it was Canos again who struck a beautiful shot that cannoned off and over Randolph’s crossbar with the Irishman well and truly beaten. This game was far from over and Boro were looking far from comfortable despite Bentley and his back line determined to give the ball away repeatedly in dangerous areas. The first half was broken up by a continual theme of visitors rolling about on the floor like scenes from Saving Private Ryan which was irking the Home support as Ref Simpson got a chorus of “you’re not fit to Referee”.

Just before the half time whistle Boro’s second best chance of the half fell to George Saville who drove forward and when it looked like he was going to double the advantage he inexcusably launched it higher than a Kim Jong-un missile and with just about the same level of accuracy. The half time whistle went to a cacophony of boos for the Referee who had seemingly pandered to the theatrics of Brentford players repeatedly poleaxed and fighting on life support one minute and then sprinting like northern whippets with leeks up their jacksies the next.

Brentford had played some really impressive and I have to admit enjoyable football. Their greatest threat was that they were like a team of Mo Besic’s, short in stature but full of running, tricks, flicks and dribbles and intuitive understanding of the next phase of play expected from their colleague covered in Chocolate for want of a better euphemism. Their biggest problem however was that they were like a team of Mo Besic’s, short in stature but full of running, tricks, flicks and dribbles but also liable to lose possession in dangerous places and put themselves under unnecessary pressure repeatedly not seemingly learning from their mistakes. Still if you are going to watch middle of the table Championship football week in week out then I know whose football I would prefer to watch.

Both sides returned to the fray for the second forty five with the same starting eleven but it was Brentford who started by far the livelier and putting Boro on the back foot. Their incessant, patient, clever, direct probing was causing even more problems but it was a ball into the Brentford box that saw a cluster of bodies challenge for a loose ball during which a posse of Red shirts managed to put the ball into the arms of Bentley who by now was laid prostrate in his own six yard box. It was certainly harder than scoring and the Bees keeper probably couldn’t believe his luck if it wasn’t for the fact that the fall had winded him. More jeers and boos followed as a Pantomime now ensued with the Brentford Physio coming on and off the pitch to treat the severely injured Bentley who was restricted to the use of one arm.

OK, press pause, that’s right a one armed goal keeper who was severely restricted in not only his catching but each kick brought a pained expression. Surely now Boro would pepper him with shots and crosses to deal with? Well no, we were still struggling to keep the effervescent Brentford midfield and attack at bay with little to no outlet. Against the run of play we did manage to get the ball up field where Fletcher should have added to his earlier goal but with the net at his mercy and a one armed Keeper he glanced the ball across the goalmouth with Britt escorting it wide instead of sliding in to make certain. As bad a day as Britt was having the chasing and closing down by him and Fletcher were our best bets indeed our only weapons all afternoon.

Minutes previously Canos again had a brilliant effort that had Randolph producing his weekly wonder save to deny Brentford who by now could genuinely consider themselves hard done to at this stage. I’m not sure whether it was the Canos shot or the Fletcher miss but TP decided that he needed to change things. Clearly we were under the cosh and needed a spark, something to create and give us an outlet so TP warms George Friend up? Yep that correct, he warms a Left Back up! He then actually brought Friend on when we desperately needed Tav to give us additional pace and of course a threat to take the pressure off our crumbling midfield and defence. Now the logic was that Friend would go Left Wing Back and probably push Saville up and bring off either Wing or Besic who hadn’t been creating as much as they should but no TP brought off Britt Assombalonga to a chorus of more boos and jeers.

So hanging on with no outlet or respite and when we desperately needed the artillery TP decided to bring on the Peace Corps at the expense of 50% of what little outlet that we had possessed up until that point. Going to a back four and one up top was traditional Tony or Pulistoric depending on your viewpoint but judging by the volume of alternative suggestions it was apparently the latter. A cynical burst of Britt’s signature theme tune met poor George taking the field of play in what was probably the first time that the Riverside faithful had really vented serious misgivings at TP since his arrival. Still a goal up, keep a clean sheet and move on to Preston so what could possibly go wrong? Britt didn’t look at all happy leaving but the background singalong (which was the loudest the Riverside had been all afternoon up until that point) at least let him know that several thousand had appreciated his efforts a lot more than someone in the Technical area.

Boro did get a free kick near the goal line on the edge of the 18 yard box after Friend was up ended but the set piece was fairly unimaginative with a big high ball launched at Ayala who duly headed well wide. Brentford then returned to default and pummelled our still creaking defence and after a poor Saville attempt at a clearance a soft ball from Dalsgaard was delivered at grass height only for Shotton to slice it into his own net. 1-1 and the Riverside stunned with a few murmurs of “Typical Boro” permeated with a slightly irreverent view of the previous substitution which had put us even deeper in trouble. Having big lads is great but when the opponents play to feet and do it with speed and accuracy it negated all the height advantage and in fact turned it into a distinct disadvantage as those same big lads had the turning circle of an Oil Tanker.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse and we were clearing our heads the Bees went and scored a second with Said Benrahma. “Do do do, Britt Assombalonga, do do do, Britt Assombalonga, do do do, Britt Assombalonga,” now reverberated around the Riverside in what was now most definitely the loudest chant of the day. Realising that the stuff the same shade as the visitors shirts was now well and truly splattered in his technical area TP decided to undo what he had just done by putting Hugill on for Besic and two up top and wing backs again.

Two minutes later the underemployed Bentley in the Brentford goal couldn’t take any more and slowly left the pitch with the Brentford Physio in close attendance. An 18 year old understudy took his place to make his first team debut which probably explained why he had soldiered on for so long. Oh well if we couldn’t manage a shot against a Keeper now off to fill in his universal credit forms for industrial injuries surely we can take advantage of the raw rookie Gunnarsson in goal and maybe rescue something having reinstated 50% of the strike force that we had just minutes earlier totally abandoned. Upon arriving a Hugill header from far out was tipped over the bar by the youngster and a cross from Shotton was placed perfectly into his arms. That was it, seriously that was all we mustered apart from another two penalty claims, one for a yellow carded Howson dive and one for Ayala grappled to the floor in the last second.

Just before and with three whole minutes of the ninety remaining Tavernier was introduced to add that pace and urgency that we had been missing all afternoon. What on earth he was supposed to achieve with the game all but over who knows but the lad did try valiantly and he did have a few link ups with both Wing and Friend but his arrival from the bench was so late it was farcical. The fourth official had held up seven minutes which was a fair reflection of the amount of time wasted by Brentford and all the substitutions but it mattered not. Brentford had beaten Boro on Teesside for the first time since before the Second World War and deservedly so.

There wasn’t a MOM for Boro because that would imply that someone played well when in fact so many were well below par. It was a collective nightmare made worse by a ridiculous and negative tactical managerial decision in a crucial part of the game which handed the initiative to the visitors when they clearly already had it.