@plato. I have to disagree with your view on Coburn, he is far from the finished article at this level. Forss is a far better and more accomplished Championship player.
I am in accord with your view on Coulson, when he gets forward he doesn’t bust a gut to get back when the play breaks down. When defending he gives the opposition too much room and also either gets caught out of position or loses the man he should be marking; he was weak during the friendly games and nothing has changed in my view.
Sooner we get Engel in the better and I haven’t seen him!😎
Maybe last season is the outlier and we are just an average championship team and we can't compete financially for whatever reason. But that doesn't forgive how we seem incapable of defending and scoring and this is not a new situation we conceded too many goals last season and towards the end of the season stopped scoring cast well.
A real managerial conundrum for MC I just hope he can solve it.
Any thought of being a top half team is quite ambitious, I see no ability, or indeed force, they accept their fate meekly, put up no resistance, and go willingly to the block. Notice that our kid back from loan is one of the undead. He is only about 6-4" fearless and has a better showreel than anybody at the club. The reappearance of one of our great past dissasters at the side of our manager is causing unease, failure is catching, like the plague.
I’ve missed your bigging up of JC, @plato - I feel as though the season’s properly started now. 😉
Hmm.
The comparisons with last season’s start are fair but in fact we’ve been worse this season so far.
Last year we made a couple of howlers in the 3-2 defeat to QPR but looked a threat, whilst we would have beaten West Brom on the opening day four times out of five.
The wheels fell off not long after but we looked a decent team in those early games without getting the results.
Not so this year. We’ve played two decent sides but have been second best against both and have deserved the defeats.
The side is well short at present: no fullbacks, central midfield isn’t clicking and toothless up front - a side of nice footballers, like Swansea in red, but not as average.
The new left back and forward, plus the eventual return of the right backs will surely improve us but a few others will also have to seriously step it up whilst I think Carrick hasn’t got his team right yet.
The only good news is that there’s 44 games to go. We’ve got about 7 or 8 to get it working.
I’m only grateful that I’m still on holiday and have missed the first two Championship games as Boro appear to be well off the pace at the moment.
Still, there’s probably a few signings and loan deals to come yet but the loss of key players has left Carrick’s side lacking shape and a focal point.
Akpom was more than a goal scorer as he held the ball brilliantly and brought others into play - he’ll be a big miss now he’s set to depart. Also the pace with skill of Archer and Ramsey will not easily be replaced.
Carrick said after the game it’s a long season - he may well be right in ways he didn’t mean if higher quality recruits are not forthcoming - BBC key stat in their report was that’s now 7 (seven) Championship games without a win for Boro.
Time to kick the losing habit before it becomes too ingrained - it’s harder to win when under pressure and another loss will certainly increase that!
Having had a pleasant 3 course meal helped with a nice bottle of Shiraz I can now reflect on today’s performance in a more calm and relaxed manner.
Infortunately nothings changed.
Boro were poor. We’re really missing the 4 aforementioned players and their replacements don’t fill me with any positively. Clearly we need 3 or 4 players who can walk into the team.
So, it’s home to the locals here( Huddersfield) and hoping for a first win .
I will take 1-0 now!!👍👋
Philip of Huddersfield
Well, looking at the nascent league table, the only way is up!
Interesting stat shown on Sky:
Carrick’s first 27 games: Goals, shots on target & shot conversion - first in the division
Last 6: bottom for goals and conversion and 2nd bottom for shots on target.
Gulp.
@andy-r. That just proves my earlier point that the misfiring team has been over the last 10/12 games and is due to a combination of factors. Injuries, loss of players, lack of adequate replacements, poor performances and poor player selections/tactics.
More than just a few recruits needed to sort it and we will find out if MC has the skills and competencies to address the problems, assuming he has the support from above.
The next few weeks could be revealing in so far as KS and his recruitment team are concerned; the jury is out. 😎
Well that was our worst performance under Carrick and as bad as any under Woodgate, Warnock and Wilder.
That said, we improved after half-time and, despite the scoreline, were probably about level pegging with Coventry. The difference was that they took their chances and we didn't. It was about a 3/10 performance in the first half and 6/10 in the second.
I suppose one thing for context is that 6 of our last 7 league games have been against teams playing 3-5-2 in a very similar style. It's on Carrick and co that they haven't found an answer to this but possibly playing opponents with a different set up will give the team a bit of a break. It will certainly be a relief not to have to play Coventry again this year.
There were some positives. I think Dieng looks an improvement on Steffen. When Rogers moved deeper he became a real handful. He's got pace, power and trickery. Although RVDB is no more a full-back than McNair is, it looks like he will mature into an excellent ball-playing centre-back.
No lack of disappointing things. Not really worth dwelling on them but the thing that concerns me the most is that Hackney and Barlaser seem to have no understanding with each other. Some players are like that, they just can't get on the same wavelength but our whole shape is grounded in the central midfield.
Obviously we had somewhere around £40m worth of players missing from the end of last season so there is some hope that with the likely new additions of Engel and Latte Lath that we'll improve.
Doesn't seem like panic stations. I think we're doing the right thing by trying to develop young players rather than buying Championship warhorses for one last gallop around the paddock before the knacker's yard. Can't help thinking, though, that this season may end being one where we are focusing more on getting in position for the season after. It's going to take a lot of patience and a little bit of faith.
I have just read the posts sent following the Coventry game. Looks like we have a problem, Houston. The point about it not only being a problem this season is perceptive - the downturn included several matches towards the end of last season and, taking that into account, it isn't a blip (most teams can have a couple of poor games) but more of a longer-term trend. Gulp!
It was a worrying performance today. As many have said, the lacklustre displays began at the end of last season and have carried forward into this one and the habit needs to be broken and soon. The problem is that, while for the majority of last season the defensive frailties didn’t really have any impact on results because the team was scoring a hatful of goals, now the defensive weaknesses are still there and the goals have dried up. When a team is conceding goals at one end of the pitch and not scoring goals at the other the outlook is not good.
You can have bad games it happens,but yesterday it was men against boys, top that with the fact the players looked void of ideas,will someone explain to me what Jones brings to this team, he's fourth division, totally inept ,OK he can run,if we had a decent right winger with the time and space some of the passes he's given ,he'd have field day,and by the way Coulson wasn't the worse player today , none of them deserve their wages, except the goalie .
Two game doth not a season make !
I’m quite confident that we have a couple of premiership loan players lined up to join us shortly and toy never know we might even buy a decent centre forward who was on loan to us last season ?
Any idea who that could be Diasborians ?
Come on, you have to have hope and dreams, remember we’re Boro supporters aren’t we ???
OFB
Two game doth not a season make !
I’m quite confident that we have a couple of premiership loan players lined up to join us shortly and toy never know we might even buy a decent centre forward who was on loan to us last season ?
Any idea who that could be Diasborians ?
Come on, you have to have hope and dreams, remember we’re Boro supporters aren’t we ???
OFB
@original-fat-bob It is great to have memories OFB, however dreaming of Archer and a move that will not happen, is a wasted dream.
I remember when MFC were chasing MC, and I have to admit I was not keen, favouring Corberon, if the rumours were true.
But, after what seemedlike an eternity he signed on the dotted line and came, I assume full of promises of support in the transfer market.
He did outstandingly well, and then (sadly) even more hope with the loan signings in January.
However, the wheels came off and we ended the season an average side, not a side looking to be promoted. A really big opportunity missed, probably never to be repeated.
One has to assume once more that MC was promised a decent amount of support in the transfer market. Well at this moment in time that looks to have not been the case.
In his pressers he says all the right things. Calm and diplomatic. But underneath I cannot believe he is anything but disappointed.
We finished last season poorly, with obvious team issues. We are now into the new season and those issues have not been even looked at, compounded by the loss of influential players.
I am starting to wonder, whether MC, like Warnock and Pulis before has been sold short..
You can have bad games it happens,but yesterday it was men against boys, top that with the fact the players looked void of ideas,will someone explain to me what Jones brings to this team, he's fourth division, totally inept ,OK he can run,if we had a decent right winger with the time and space some of the passes he's given ,he'd have field day,and by the way Coulson wasn't the worse player today , none of them deserve their wages, except the goalie .
I have to admit that I am beginning to take the same view of Jones. He didn't beat his man once and most of his crosses were misdirected. If someone would offer us Pds3 million, I 'd bite their hand off.
Otherwise, my only question is to ask how people would have viewed the game if Silvera had converted that open goal and we had struggled through for a 1-1 draw. I don't think that we're as far away as peole think. The start of the second half we looked quite good but it's really not clear who is going to score the goals.
UTB
Two game doth not a season make !
I’m quite confident that we have a couple of premiership loan players lined up to join us shortly and toy never know we might even buy a decent centre forward who was on loan to us last season ?
Any idea who that could be Diasborians ?
Come on, you have to have hope and dreams, remember we’re Boro supporters aren’t we ???
OFB
Couldn't resist it, but...
Two posts doth not a single post make
Hah !
I did notice that afterwards but I’d had enough by then and went to 💤 sleep.
I thought if the Gazette (are they doing reports now ?) can make errors and the Northern Echo want you to subscribe for everything then Diasboro are providing a good service and sod it I’m going to bed!
I must admit your post did make me laugh though and the way this blog is going it’s settled into … a sort of letters from home where we can share a common bond and minds that think alike.
Long May this continue !
OFB
@selwynoz. I agree that at times we do look good but it is the lack of end product that is a concern for me.
Not just the goal scoring but the clear chance creativity is missing. We can pass teams to death to no avail and a number of teams, with more to come, are working out how to nullify us.
Addressing this needs more than just a few new players, we need a plan B if our go to is not working and this is something I have yet to see.
Last season I was in a minority who were critical of our defending and repeatedly made the point that really good teams who win things are built on rock solid foundations.
I was shocked to hear that MC and the coaching team had been working with the team over the summer on how they wanted us to play when out of possession!
They need to go back to the drawing board and training ground quickly and work harder to improve, because what we have seen so far is not working.
I said before yesterday that a draw would have been a good result but fully expected Coventry to win what I thought would be a tight game. Got one out of two correct!
As far as Jones’ performances are concerned they were an issue before personal matters came into play and he has not moved forward since his first season in my view. What we saw yesterday has been the norm from him for some time.
I think we would be lucky to get £1M for him at present. 😎
Reading all the posts, on here and other boards, reminded me of something Carrick said during the purple phase last season. In an interview, someone said about the players being happy, confident, playing with a smile on their faces, to which Carrick replied, yes it’s easy to do that when everything is going well, but the truth of the character and togetherness is the reaction when things are not going so well. I think that could be said of supporters too, I remember some comments about our recruitment, saying we are buying old warhorses, players past their sell by date or looking for one last payday, why don’t we invest what money we have into young, hungry players who have potential to sell on for profit, we have now but the cry is, why don’t we buy experienced players 😱.
People are bemoaning the loss of 3 loan players from last season, let me just remind them of the ages when they “starred” for us, Cameron Archer (20), Aaron Ramsey (19) and Ryan Giles (22), I know people are going to compare quality but first let’s give them a chance to settle into the side, in what is a very hard competitive league.
As for Carrick and his management team, my measuring stick will be where we are in the league, compared to last season on 1 November (1 Nov 2022, Boro 18th, 18 games 20 points, below us with games in hand, Coventry 16/20, Stoke 17/19, Wigan 17/19, Huddersfield 16/15).
I hurt too after two defeats, especially the first half woeful performance yesterday and we are bottom of the league but as Yazz once sang “The only way is up”.
Come on BORO.
I think the recruitment policy is a lot more right than wrong.
In the past two seasons we’ve had a half and half approach of players for now and others for the future. This year it seems more slanted to the future.
The problems are that the young recruits are not ready-made top Championship players like the loanees were last time around, so we have to be patient and adjust our expectations after a stellar November to March last season.
It also doesn’t help that the squad is so short with no quality, fit fullbacks or first choice striker.
The proposed new signings are unlikely to be top Championship players from day one - they are not players who are coming down from a higher level with a quality pedigree. They may very well be excellent value signings but, given their careers to date, it would be unfair to expect too much from them.
Indeed, the transfer policy has largely shifted to value over quality. That will suit the club financially very nicely I expect but may not give the manager the tools he needs to have a real go. At least not until that value matures but you do run the risk of losing players along the way, and having to start again with a replacement project player. It’s not easy.
There’s a long way to go and I’m still hopeful of a good run in the second half of the season once the squad has settled.
The reaction on social media to our two losses is everything I expected. I don’t think our fans are any different from other “top half” championship teams’, but every year the same old expectations and blame games roll out.
We are Middlesbrough FC, a relatively small town club, owned by a wealthy local businessman who happens to be a massive Boro fan. He’s spent millions of his own money on keeping our club afloat and yet that’s never going to be enough for lots of fans (and almost certainly not enough to finance us in the PL in the long term if we ever get promoted).
Diasboro members are more realistic in the main, but still some of us expect marquee signings that will echo the glory days of Boksic and Viduka - in our hearts we know that’s not going to happen, but hopefully we’ll see a few more players arrive, whether as signings or loanees. It’s still early days and we’ve all been eagerly waiting for the season to start - let’s not get too down hearted yet.
@andy-r I think your post is a fair summary and maybe the way MFC are really heading now.
However, as KP said in his post and I have gone on about somewhat (apologies) the strenghth of the team starts at the back,
We had a decent goalkeeper last season, and on initial showings, Dieng could be as good or even a little better. But overall the defensive side of the team was generally poor and I include the midfield and their part in that.
New season and in that area nothing has changed, with the same old. OK Smith is injured and so is Dijksteel. The latter it is true, although favoured by a number on here,was not a MC choice. Smith in my opinion, far too slow and prone to being caught by the ball over the top.
HH and Howson received glowing reports and I can go along with that. However as part of the “defensive” collective, you could say as Dormo alluded to in his excellent Headliner, could be seen as not good enough.
So where are we going as a Team. Yes, it is far too early to panic, but to be concerned, is only natural.
I believe that Mr Gibson will continue to keep MFC safely in his bosom. However, I think the days of “going for it” have possibly gone.
Lets see if MC can weave some magic to at least give a hopeful season.
The reaction on social media to our two losses is everything I expected. I don’t think our fans are any different from other “top half” championship teams’, but every year the same old expectations and blame games roll out.
We are Middlesbrough FC, a relatively small town club, owned by a wealthy local businessman who happens to be a massive Boro fan. He’s spent millions of his own money on keeping our club afloat and yet that’s never going to be enough for lots of fans (and almost certainly not enough to finance us in the PL in the long term if we ever get promoted).
Diasboro members are more realistic in the main, but still some of us expect marquee signings that will echo the glory days of Boksic and Viduka - in our hearts we know that’s not going to happen, but hopefully we’ll see a few more players arrive, whether as signings or loanees. It’s still early days and we’ve all been eagerly waiting for the season to start - let’s not get too down hearted yet.
Nail hit on the head, I for one wouldn't waste my fortune on the football club if I was lucky enough to have SG money. The PL is now dominated by state wealth funds and billionaires, long gone is the time when we could sign Ravanelli etc al. It does feel like our days in the sun are gone but I am a glass half full person where the club is concerned. Maybe Diasboro members are more realistic because of their age profile (old codgers) and we.can remember nearly going to the wall.
Sky has distorted football even more than it ever was, don't forget in their eyes there was no football before 1992 and a lot of fans only know th Pl years and it's hype there is little wonder there is a clamour for the instant fix.
I think a lot of that frailty is tactical. We play a risky game at times and commit bodies forward.
I think that, in a more defensive setup such as Karanka’s, Fry and Lenihan would be as good a pairing as any in this league. However, they are exposed with no natural holding player in front of them - even more so at the moment as Howson recovers. I don’t count Howson as a defensive midfielder but he is more rounded than Barlaser.
The fullback situation makes it even more difficult. Coulson is never short of effort but simply isn’t a good defender. Probably more of a wingback but also needs to improve his end product as unfortunately he isn’t offering much beyond hard running. Right back is decimated. Paddy McNair - as he always does - fills in to his credit but he’s far from a specialist.
Dieng I like a lot but am conscious that he was brought in as much for his ability to start attacks than to keep the ball out his net.
I don’t think we should change tactics particularly. Carrickball is effective and entertaining when the front end is firing. Unfortunately that’s not the case at the moment with a lack of ruthless, incisive forwards at the club.
Coburn, I believe, is the most natural finisher at the club followed by Forss but the former had no pre-season and the latter isn’t fancied up front it seems. I think Carrick can be more pragmatic there - Rogers looks a lovely link-up footballer but it’s all for nought (literally) if you don’t score.
@andy-r Whilst I can agree with the basis of your post, surely any decent Manager / Coach, should have the tactical ability to tweak his team selection and formation to suit, A) the opposition B) the players he has available at the time, whilst still leaking goals.
It appears that MC is continuing with his game plan, even though we do not have the players available at the moment and his trusted game plan is not working.
Carrickball stopped working last season when the opposition sussed us out somewhat allied to injuries to key players at the time.
Nothing has changed. We have some injuries, we have a shortage of experienced forwards and limited creativity. But he continues to play Carrickball with very limited choices of players who can carry out the game plan.
Maybe MC is not as tactically aware as some of the opposition Coaches we are coming up against and does not have a alternative short term plan until hopefully the cavalry arrive.
Possibly, Pedro. He may also feel that changing the tactics up for the short term might cause more damage in the long term. We have a lot of new players learning the system and changing it won’t help that.
I would just like to see a little bit more pragmatism in selection to get us through this period. Play Forss up front until a new forward is bedded in or Coburn is ready. They might not link the play as well as Carrick likes but they will get into goalscoring positions and have more shorting ability. They can get us through.