Just seen the the team news, with injuries biting once more. However, that back four gives me the shivers.
Well the shivers gave us a clean sheet, football funny old game
Maybe more tomorrow (I am in the Pickled Parrot having a couple of post-match beers) but for tonight all I will say is that the first half was gruel and the second half was ambrosia
Another way of looking at it, though still food-based, was the way I assessed the game at half time. My mate in the next seat to me expressed his dissatisfaction with the quality of the game. I suggested to him that the game might be looked at as comprising four quarters. Two had already passed. We had, at half time, been offered a very bland soup for starters, followed by a bony overcooked and dry fish (of indeterminate nature) as the second course. I hoped that the meat course and the pudding would be better.
I am happy to report that the haunch of venison (with cranberries) was cooked beautifully with its accompanying Brussels sprouts with bacon lardons & chestnuts, mashed potatoes, green beans and roast carrots. The Cranachan that rounded off the meal was exquisite, so it would have seemed churlish if I'd ingored the Port and Stilton offered during injury time.
So it was nearly a Boro3 !
I will settle for a Boro2 though !
OFB
I mentioned to the lads around me that Greemwood looked like and had the posture and playing style of Scott McDonald !
Once I had said it everyone couldn’t get it out of their heads !
What do you think Diasborians?
OFB
Bob, Was that comparison meant as a compliment or an insult?
🤣Bob, Was that comparison meant as a compliment or an insult?
I mentioned to the lads around me that Greemwood looked like and had the posture and playing style of Scott McDonald !
Once I had said it everyone couldn’t get it out of their heads !
What do you think Diasborians?
OFB
Good shout!
Well that was very enjoyable. The performance of Engel seemed like a metaphor for the story of the whole team, morphing gradually from a nervous, tentative frame of mind to a confident stranglehold on the game and in complete control.
I think we played well all game yesterday. It was tough for the first 30 min but we were as good as Cardiff. We often forget that there are two teams on the field and Cardiff packed the midfield and their defence. They kind of parked the bus but it started already in midfield. There were no spaces for us to explore.
After 30 min we stated to find a way and perhaps they started to wear out and get tired. The last 15 min of the first half and the entire second, we were the better team by far.
But do not say we played badly from the start. The Bluebirds were just as good as as us for the first half an hour. It was one of our most complete performances this season and the second half was superb by us.
So all credit to both teams for the first 30 min - but it was NOT as nice to watch as at Watford. But credit to Boro, well done and a deserved win. We have a good squad - it has more depth than last season. Let's hope we can find the best eleven to start every game.
Up the Boro!
Quite right. We do sometimes forget that it takes two to tango.
What is important to take from FD's first course of tepid soup is that we didn't spill any while we were sipping it. Had that been for the whole game and we hadn't conceded, and maybe even snatched it, we would have said how important it is to be able to win ugly.
As we worked through FD's menu we became better to watch as well as more threatening, certainly not winning ugly and certainly learning how to break through Cardiff's barriers. The only disappointment (if really a disappointment at all) is that we didn't get to enjoy an Armagnac with the coffee that would have been the third goal our dominance deserved.
I saw the first 25mins, then missed the rest of the first half due to some "Dadmin" before settling down to watch the second half.
I thought the first 25mins were disjointed from both teams. Both concentrating hard and keeping their defensive shape but looking uncomfortable on the ball. The early confidence we saw at Watford wasn't there with even the usually reliable McGree miscontrolling and misplacing passes, though a good portion of that was down to tight marking from Cardiff.
It seemed to me that the Boro players didn't have confidence in Greenwood and particularly Engel, and Cardiff were certainly happy to leave Engel as the spare man. Quite a poor game with both teams seemingly afraid to lose.
The second half was a completely different game. Boro found the spaces between the lines and started to use Engel more for width. It wasn't a complete switch from the whistle but we grew into it and Jones' goal, following excellent work from Engel, changed the dynamic. Our confidence went up and Cardiff's gameplan wilted, with them now chasing the game. The second goal, well taken by ELL in the end, killed the game and Cardiff almost seemed to give up at that point, allowing a few more chances for us.
Defensively it was by far our best performance of the season, not something you would have predicted with what appeared to be a makeshift back four and unlikely midfield two.
A word for Barlaser though. I thought it was one of his better performances and the partnership with Hackney showed signs that perhaps it could work after all.
All in all, not perfect but we're so much better than just a fortnight ago. There is genuine hope again.
I got home late after my meeting and tentatively fired up the Mac looking at the screen through splayed fingers. As if that would help, but I am a Boro supporter. Then to find 2-0 as a final score, well, joy and pleasure and the resolve not to have a drink melted away instantly and a glass of cider was poured and thoroughly enjoyed.
Well done Boro and thank you for all the reports. Are we playing anyone important this weekend?
Best wishes to everyone.
UTB,
John
@powmillnaemore But we were served a Latte with a goal! UTB!
Well, gentlemen! It is good to read happy reports and comments from the game. No detailed analysis here but a few points:
1. A CLEAN SHEET! Magnificent.
2. I was really pleased with the re-birth of Engel who did well after his team-mates eventually overcame their reluctance to pass to him. The volume of that sarcastic cheer well into the first half when, alone again (naturally) and hardly anyone withing hailing distance of him, the ball made its way to Engel on the left wing....!
3. McGree tries to make things happen and therefore sometimes loses the ball in the attempt or passes to the opposition, but he is Boro's most creative player and when he is playing well more of those creative touches come off, chances are opened up and the team plays well.
4. Barlaser played well. Understated, working hard and able to make a telling pass. He could be about to carve his own niche in the team. He plays well with Hackney.
5. I think this was a match where just about everyone had a decent game, including those who came on as substitutes (Lath obviously but also Crooks and Forss).
6. I agree that Cardiff has a well-organised team and, coming off the back of four successive wins, they were never going to make it easy for Boro but, once that first goal was scored, the writing was on the Bluebirds' wall.
7. Never forget the saves made by the keeper. I would have felt much more comfortable last season if we'd had him between the sticks rather than Steffen (and at a fraction of the wages).
8. Isn't it SO much better to win?
9. We now move forward to the Sunderland (A) game feeling rather better about our footballing lives than we did a few weeks ago. Of course it won't be easy. Didn't they put FIVE past Southampton a few weeks ago?
You can say that again, time! The winged chariot, if you even think about some trivial task in the house, bang! There goes another day.
@peter-surtees. A good post Peter, different and enjoyable.
Andy, I thought Barlaser had a very good game. He always tries to play the ball forward if possible.
And very much like McGree, sometimes they do not come off. As you said, passing wise, Riley was poor first half, but still worked hard. Second half the movement, availability and then the passes succeeded far more often.
You need a little bit of luck when trying to turn things round. Cardiff maybe should of scored earlier than we did and Dieng made one good save.
Second half was completely different and apart from clipping the bar did not trouble us much at all.
The result gives MC a selection problem, however he will certainly have to consider how to try and contain Sunderlands pace against our less pacy defence.
Well that was definitely a game of two halves and in the end a deserved win, three points and a clean sheet with a changed team; much to be positive about and little if anything to be critical about.
I was disappointed by Cardiff who it appears are only able to park the bus and try and snatch something from the few chances that come their way; they won at Sunderland by playing the same way, they were battered for 89 minutes and then snatched a late winner. If they have nothing else to offer then they will soon be mid to lower table.
It was pleasing to see we built on Saturday’s positive defensive display and are now looking like a more solid unit.
Engel I feel has been badly treated, yes he had a poor game against Wednesday but that was in part due to a lack of support from his team mates. He showed last night that he has good skills on the ball and an ability to pick a pass/cross. With more experience at Championship level he could prove a highly useful asset and will face competition from Bangura.
Barlaser had one of his best games since joining us and is now looking as if he can compete for a place in midfield; with players returning from injury it is beginning to look as if MC will have competition for places in most positions which can only be good.
Stiffer tests still to come but we appear to be moving in the right direction, which is more than could be said a few weeks ago.😎
Got it wrong right at the end there. Nobody has scored 5 against Sunderland at Sunderland (yet) this season, though they did lose 5-2 away at Hartlepool in a pre-season friendly.
Their league results so far have been as follows:
S'land 1-2 Ipswich
Preston 2-1 S'land
S'land 2-1 Rotherham
Coventry 0-0 S'land
S'land 5-0 Southampton (maybe that was the game that stuck in my mind?)
QPR 1-3 S'land
Blackburn 1-3 S'land
S'land 0-1 Cardiff
Sheff W 0-3 S'land
They play Watford at home this evening but that list might suggest our Northern neighbours are more dangerous away (P5, W3, D1, L1) than at home (P4, W2, D0, L2).
Some very good posts, friends, and your analysis of the game generally has been spot-on.
I particularly enjoyed Boro’s second half performance, Latte Lath’s brilliant goal and the well-deserved ovations for both Engel and Greenwood. I’m even starting to think we might get something from the Sunland game.
@forever-dormo. I hope that they either get their first draw on Saturday or preferably their third home defeat! CoB 😎
@forever-dormo. I hope that they either get their first draw on Saturday or preferably their third home defeat! CoB 😎
No such luck: 2-0 to Blunderland & Boro down to 17th. 🙁