@pedro. “I would expect possibly Hackney and Jones to be bought. The former against a fee we cannot refuse and the latter because we may also get a bid we cannot turn down.”
Given Jones’s inconsistency would you really expect another club to want him?
I am not sure I would want him if MFC were looking to recruit him now based on how he has performed last season and to date; I am failing to see any progress with the same flaws coming to the fore each week.
Much as I think Forss should be used as a striker, he is better out wide both defensively and offensively than Jones in my view.
Jones has the ability but to date fails to produce it consistently enough and until he can, he won’t make the PL. 😎
I think Dijksteel should be given time to get match fit before passing judgement - that was something like his second start in over a year and I thought he's shown some very good footballing skills that nobody else has come close to matching at right back. I'm sure he can improve to the player he was a couple of seasons ago given time - plus let's not forget how most of us wrote Engel off after a few games earlier in the season and he's starting to grow into the left-back slot.
Too early to also write this season off as a transitional one - besides every season is transitional these days as no decent player plays below his level for long and loans go back and projects fail - plus let's not mention how often Boro have changed managers recently! Three wins on the bounce and the table looks different - just add 9 points to Boro's total after 3 losses and note the difference (we'd be 5th instead of 13th).
Plenty of games left and I've mentioned before the key is staying in touch of the top six and then kicking on in the new year when players return and possibly a couple of new signings too.
What a class act. Tony Mobray’s response following his sacking:
😎
@werdermouth. I have never been convinced by Dijksteel’s defensive abilities and always felt he was likely to cost us goals.
He was partially at fault last night and also against Leeds when he was out jumped at the back post by a much smaller Leeds player.
I recall when playing at QPR he lost the ball near their box and proceeded to track a QPR player all the way to our box without challenging the player and allowed him to score; to be fair to Dijksteel another Boro player didn’t challenge the QPR player either.
At present we have to play him because of our other defensive problems and because RVDB is not entirely comfortable or effective as a full back; extra game time for Dijksteel may help but I have reservations. 😎
Well, fellow Diasborians, maybe it is ME who was responsible for that defeat by Hull City, in light of my optimistic "maybe 1-0 but more likely to be 2-1 in light of our porous defence" prediction.
Certainly it couldn't be the players who were responsible if we took Michael Carrick's post-match BBC Tees interview to heart, so maybe it would be best if I took responsibility. I haven't checked it word-for-word against a replay of the interview but @MWinDarwin's post (above) seems to be just about a transcript of most of his comments as I heard them on the radio whilst driving away from the stadium. Dana Malt, the football supporter and Vlogger/podcaster who takes part in the BBC Tees after-match summaries with Maddo whilst (usually) supporters phone in or send messages, said that the interview MC gave was about the first time she has disagreed with our manager. I agree with Dana on this. Maybe Carrick was upset at the performance and the result and it was shortly after the final whistle. Dana Malt compared the performance with the one against Sheffield Wednesday earlier this season.
Far too many passes went astray (from both sides, to be fair) and therefore possession surrendered tamely and obviously Boro's marking and finishing were what you might expect from a lower-mid table Championship team. Of course Boro, and particularly the supporters, aspire to more than lower-mid table in this league. If the Manager is confident that the performance contained "fantastic defence...we gave them next to nothing...control...we will be fine...", then I would suggest that if he could get the players to replicate that performance in every game from here to the end of the season, we would discover the accuracy of his analysis before May 2024. I would predict the team would NOT be fine, the supporters would NOT be happy with it, and the team would probably finish somewhere between 14th and 18th position. The team is better than that, even the team which played yesterday, whilst equally being below promotion quality on the basis of the last batch of games (not only this match).
I was disappointed with how things turned out. To be 1-0 up at home against a decent Hull team (not a world or division-beating side) and then apparently taking the foot off the accelerator, and then going on to lose the game, was like a kick in the teeth. Many supporters had left the stadium before the final whistle. There were boos. The natives were not happy. The walk back to the car was very cold although (small mercy) it wasn't raining.
I cling to the hope that, in the changing room, the manager is NOT saying the sort of things he said to the Press. Surely he CAN'T be (can he?) because he has played football at the highest level for years and must know how the game is supposed to be played if you want success? If he IS saying those things then either the players will think everything is OK so carry on as before, or some of the more ambitious/cynical ones will keep their own counsel but will realise that he is no Messiah and they or their agents will look elsewhere if they wish to progress their careers. Do you think if he took the players aside and asked, let's say Barlaser or Crooks or even Rodgers for the brief period he was on the pitch, whether they thought their passing yesterday was good, do you think he'd expect them to say YES? Or if he asked Jones about the quality of the crosses he attempted? If he asked the players in the changing room to put up their hands if they felt they had played as well as they were able, if they'd had a good game, how many do you think would have the lack of self-awareness to put up their hand? Because if that WAS as well as the players can play, or if they all had a GOOD game, what would that tell us about Boro's long term prospects?
This is not a rant. No knives are going into backs. No insults are being cast. No bunnies were harmed in the production of this post. But if Boro repeats that performance there will be a massive reduction in season-ticket sales next season. I suspect Michael Carrick and Steve Gibson know that.
@jarkko boro fans and positivity tend to be diametrically opposed, you been the notable exception and I soff my hat ro you
It does Not look Good when a Young striker scores two goals, both poachers specials. When said striker is tall, good in the air, and fast on the ground, and coming along nicely, the odds against him missing the next three games as his club stumbles and wobbles through three games against dead average teams who made enough mistakes to lose all those games, I need hardly say we hardly won a header.
Dormo, excellent analysis of the bizarre disconnect between what we saw on the pitch last night and what the manager said after the game. I really hope that you are right in that Michael Carrick and Steve Gibson know that the performance last night was just unacceptable.
My main concern is why, when the Boro have the upper hand with their boots on the neck of the opposition, they seem incapable of keeping them there for 90+ minutes? It’s not a new phenomenon and I suspect indicates a lack of mental strength and killer instinct. That’s what Carrick needs to address.
With reference to the media on MC'S strange comments after the game. This could be weird and it probably is but I was thinking a lot about this today. Could it be possible that Keiran Scott has asked MC not to critcise his signings. Ok, I'll take a tablet. 🤣
@plato I’m sorry, but I just don’t see what you see. What I do like is your support for him, when most Boro fans have traditionally criticised players who aren’t ripping up trees, your continued belief in JC is a breath of fresh air. I really hope he rewards you by becoming the superstar you see in him.
For me the jury is still out on his future as a top level player but I’d be delighted to be proven wrong.
@martin-bellamy - I hope that Coburn turns out to be a really good player. I'm not SURE that he will but one thing is certain: if you don't get a game you will never improve and you will never be able to prove your worth. Obviously injuries prevent a player getting games so I hope he will not turn out to have injury after injury. If a player is good, HOW good does he have to be to get a game? In the striking department, for example, you'd not have thought that somone like Callum Kavanagh (didn't he score FOUR in his last U21 game for Boro?) would have to fight too hard to at least get a chance. I think he has scored about a goal a game. Is it suggested that unless he averages TWO a game, it doesn't count? If so, it's a good job young Michael Owen didn't start out at Boro.
Agree with all the post match angst and analysis. A very strange game in that our initial impetus and goal did not lead to a victory. The Jones miss when through on goal, when one nil up, felt pivotal. First half Hull were probably the poorest away team I have seen this season but the eventual outcome seemed inevitable during the second half. As my teenage son said at 60 mins, Boro were there for taking and so it proved. If he could see this, not sure why the manager and coaching staff were not proactive and changed either personnel or the playing system rather than being passive in nature. Was it complacency or an ability to depart from plan A? Not sure where we go from here as no silver bullet at hand due to ongoing injuries and lack of confidence, conviction and leadership in the side. Fingers crossed we can turn the tide at Swansea!
Our Plan B is to continue with Plan A, whatever is happening. We are very slow to use substitutes and slow to change the system if it looks under stress. I realise The Management currently feels under-resourced as a result of injuries but you get the feeling the other side (Hull yesterday) seems much more likely to change things, to throw the dice. There is no rule that, apart from injury, the starting players must get a good 65+ minutes before you even consider a substitution.
The decision to play Barlaser as a deep lying midfielder or even sweeper at times in the second half also baffled. Surely he is better employed higher up the field with Howson as the defensive shield? Barlaser would have been a more creative option linking midfield to attack?
I think our problem is not a plan B or the lack of it. The problem is to get the plan A working. We have been changing the personel much more than needed this season because a lot of new players arrived in the summer. So the start was slow.
Secondly we have had a lot of injuries lately and we have not hardly been able to field the same starting eleven. We need consistency above all.
I know you won't like the following but a certain Michael Carrick nailed it in the following centances:
"For me, the bigger issue for us is the chopping and changing that it forces and I think that has affected us in terms of being able to find our rhythm and our connections. But individually, we’re good and collectively as a team, we’re good. Options throughout the squad and variety are of course limited a little bit right now, but we’ll certainly make the best of what we’ve got."
We need a settled starting eleven, preferably that including Hackney and McGree. It is OK to chance a player or two per a game if the head coach wants to, but most recently the changes were forced by injuries and suspension. Our playing and coaching style needs a constant starting eleven as we have seen last season and midway through this season's matches.
We need to get the plan A working. And also more men than kids on the bench to change the personel during a match. Up the Boro!
@jarkko Whilst I can agree with most of your post Jarkko, there a couple of points.
At this period of MFC, I am speaking years, not months, nothing has or will change on the player turnover front. Too many Managers/Coaches. A new recruitment route, which will probably produce more duds than gems.
And come the summer, as a selling club, we could loose possibly three first team pick players and have to replace them, besides the other turnover. Nothing is going to change much in the department.
As for men and not kids, Sunderland are doing OK.
@eboroacum I have thought that myself. The other advantage would be the risk of playing defence cutting passes, failing at times, is of less risk higher up the pitch.
@pedro Last season we relied too much on loan players. Hence the changes this summer.
But of course we will always lose a player or two if they are good enough to play in the Premier League. But it was only Marcus Tavanier me lost in summer 2022. This summer we missed Chuba, the rest were loanees returning.
Because us being a selling club, we should limit the number of loanees. So now we have only Greenwood on loan - and there we also have a buying option in place for him.
I know it is frustrating at the moment, but I try to keep positive. There will still be 25 matches to play for. If we get McGree, Hackney and O'Brien back for January, and if we can get a new player or two during the up-coming window, I think we will be OK for a top six finish. I trust Carrick a lot to improve the players we already have.
Up the Boro!
I wanted to scream , but then had to go back to facts, Carrick and staff are top notch, in what they want to give to fans, a team of progressive forward thinking entertaining football,
The facts are , players, absolutely at times pathetic, too soft at the back, wide open in midfield, because the likes of Greenwood disappear after losing the ball, can you imagine lf we had a right winger with the space Jones gets what he could do, too many after 65 mins are blowing in the wind, I've seen players over the last sixty years who were my heros an loved , but it came a point they weren't performing to to a high level and had to be replaced with better, I will not accept seventh or eighth , as a good season anymore.
@forever-dormo You make a valid point about the youngsters not getting first team games but I’m prepared to give the management team the benefit of the doubt, largely because they’ve actually experienced being young professional footballers and they also see these players on the training pitch.
I accept that there may be an element of fear from managers too - it’s often easier to stick with more established players than risk throwing on an untested youngster. Maybe if we were blowing teams away with a guaranteed winning position at 60 minutes, MC could afford to gamble a bit more.
I see goals in a Young player, I said he was Good in the air, yet he scored two slick goals at either post, just cruising in late and one touch. All our pain is being caused by players failing to actually put the ball in the net from silly distances like a couple of feet. I think that we are not in a position where we can sell a young player for washers and see him make it at the top level, that would wound the club seriously.