As I said earlier, Carrick has to sort this mess out now with the resources available.
What I do not want to hear from him, is we were “pretty decent” in the first half, when we were not. Every week, apart from against Leicester he has been giving out similar quotes, when HIS system has caught us out time and again. The players are just not good enough. Even last season the defensive part of the team were poor, covered by a free scoring forward line.
If he cannot see what is happening in front of him and is being aided by Woodgate’s previous thoughts on playing which as KP / Exmil said, ended in near disaster, then he needs to decide if his principles may just get us relegated. Because his stubborn tunnel vision approach is certainly looking very precarious.
@pedro. I do not have an issue with MC, to a degree, defending his players in public. After all, one of the arts of good management is to praise in public and castigate in private; a philosophy which a certain Man Utd manager was adept at.
What we don’t know is if he is delivering the latter. On the basis of recent performances it looks like he either isn’t or if he is the message is not being received.
I think, like others, that the players are no longer buying into his preferred style of play, particularly when the alternative tactics adopted against the likes of Southampton, Leicester and Chelsea have paid dividends. 😎
I am on a roll so I thought I might as well keep going!
RvDB as Captain! I am all for nurturing youth and guiding them during their career, I did it enough times during my working life but there is a time and place for every thing.
RvDB has, without doubt, been one of the better summer recruits but is not yet Captain material; throwing your arms up when conceding does not make you so.
What kind of message does this send to the more senior players in the squad, Dieng, Clarke, Barlaser and Forss. A misstep for me. 😎
So once again another defeat to a team below us in the leag aue. We have only beaten 4 teams currently below us this season and only one, Birmingham, at home. We have 9 wins against teams above us, and 28 points. Having looked at Who scored.com they have Barlaser as our second best player this season after Isiah Jones. they had O/Brien as our best yesterday. Talking of Barlaser, when we signed him wasn't he one of the top assists players in the league in a poor Rotherham side, he only has 2 this season! Same with Azaz, he had 7 goals and 5 assists at Plymouth, 2 goals and 1 assist for us. What happens to players when they join us?
I think we played a bit better than Stoke did for the first 30 min or so. But after Stoke scored on the 40th minute, there was only one team going to win the match and it was not Boro!
Latte Lath was desent until they scored and our midfield lost the confidence and mojo.We need Howson back as soon as possible.
The second half was as bad as we played in the Plymouth match. Up the Boro!
Our bench was very light yesterday, too. Only McNair and Azaz were possible substitutions. Our squad looked depleted.
Substitutes
14 Gilbert
15 Dijksteel
17 McNair
18 Silvera
20 Azaz
23 Glover
27 Engel
49 McCabe
59 Woolston
How many injuries we still have apart from Howson and Hackney?
Up the Boro!
Boro just don't have an outlet without either Jones or Coburn - the only time Boro have won this season without Jones was that 1-0 at Leicester. There's no pace in the side and Boro have also struggled since losing Rogers too - incidentally, Rogers came on for Villa yesterday after 30 minutes to replace the injured Ramsey but was subbed out again with 15 minutes to go.
Anyway, Carrick needs to find a way to play with what he's got available and perhaps playing with a back three like at Leicester may be a good start to stop losing games. Boro just looked completely flat in their last two games and that is a worry if confidence is waning - maybe losing a key dressing room player like Crooks hasn't helped the mood either as the presence of some players is key to the dynamic of the team.
We can only hope for a reaction in the midweek game against Norwich - but if it's more of the same then maybe we're waiting for the spark created by the return of Jones before anything changes on the pitch.
Apparently RvdB is a talker on the pitch and I did notice him pointing and shouting at other players - unfortunately we don't appear to have any players who can lead by example at the moment so anyone who's vocal is probably the best bet.
I think you put your finger on a key point regarding the loss of Crooks. Since he was not a regular first teamer any more and his influence on the pitch appeared to be on the wane, transferring him away just a few months earlier than probably planned anyway was treated with an "Ah well, never mind".
@werdermouth. You are probably correct about RvDB .
It is, however, a sad reflection on the club/team that we have to rely on a 19 year old to try and galvanise more experienced and older team mates.😎
Just a further point on the game yesterday and the selection of McGree at wide right - presumably this was done to allow him to cut inside on his left foot but the best part of McGree's game is finding the pockets of space and bringing others into play. Playing wide right kind of limits his game and as a result he looked out of sorts and was well below his best - I know Carrick likes his attacking players to rotate positions but given many of them are returning from a period of absence, it may be better to predominantly play them in their best position for most of the game in order to get them more comfortable and confident on the pitch.
With Greenwood also looking way off his best and Forss in another new role now that Latte Lathe has returned then no wonder Boro's attack looked disjointed. Sometimes trying to fool the opposition can end up fooling your own team more as there was not much cohesion on display plus the midfield and defence also looked unsure of how to find a teammate in the opponents half too.
In the end it looked like Dieng had decided to take on the role of playmaker as he looked to find the players in space - I even recall RvdB raise his arms in frustration at the lack of options he had to make a forward pass - with perhaps the telling stat being it was the 94th minute before Boro managed a shot on target in the second half.
Clive
Hope you can cheer us all up with the Norwich preview looking forward to it !
OFB
No pressure, Clive
Poor Clive. Mind you, I've got one coming up in the not-too-distant future: the away game at Birmingham City. The one drafted earlier with the sub-title "BORO looking for a win to secure 5th place in the table" has been scrapped. The one, prepared afterwards, "BORO looking for a win at Brum to close the gap to the play-offs" has similarly been consigned to the ether. Working on another, now, "BORO hoping for a win at Brum to reduce relegation fears" is on its 2nd draft.
(I'm joking!).
On x trending
🚨 Riley Mcgree has informed #Boro that he wishes to leave at the end of the season.
I suppose we wil start to see a lot of this stuff coming out
OFB
I wouldn’t put any belief to anything reported on X (formerly twitter) as individuals will put anything on there to suit their own agenda, I believe years ago it was called “gossip mongering”On x trending
🚨 Riley Mcgree has informed #Boro that he wishes to leave at the end of the season.
I suppose we wil start to see a lot of this stuff coming out
OFB
Come on BORO.
I wouldn’t put any belief to anything reported on X (formerly twitter) as individuals will put anything on there to suit their own agenda, I believe years ago it was called “gossip mongering”On x trending
🚨 Riley Mcgree has informed #Boro that he wishes to leave at the end of the season.
I suppose we wil start to see a lot of this stuff coming out
OFB
Come on BORO.
I hope that you’re right. He would be a significant loss.
I’ve been keeping my head down this weekend. Because the 3.00pm games start at 2am in Sydney, I haven’t watched some of the recent games and have experienced the unpleasant feeling of again waking up and checking for what I thought would be a solid win only to find that we’ve bottled it again. I haven’t searched for the highlights as I assumed that there weren’t any and so I can’t add much about the actual game.
I really think that we need to start with a back three against Norwich and, if Howson isn’t fit, I would put Dijksteel as a midfield destroyer in front of them. Engel and Ayling as wingbacks to make a solid back six. With that locked down, we can then start to think about scoring but we really need to stop leaking goals.
utb
@original-fat-bob and others!
Oh dear. I fear I may disappoint you all if you are hoping I’ll lift the mood!! Like Dormo, though for real, I’d pre-written a lot of what I was going to say, but have since changed it significantly in light of our diminished circumstances! I can’t say that my new stuff - coming Monday to a blog near you - will make you roar with laughter. More likely, you’ll seek out a bottle of aspirins and put on your Leonard Cohen or Morrissey records to lift your mood after reading it!
What’s more, Powmill has nicked my ‘cutting the mustard’ joke. 😟😱 It was the only one I had. 🍯🌭
Oh wait, I’ve got it. Delia Smith! She’s always good for a laugh. Wish me luck.
Sorry @clive-hurren .
You could always stock your piece full of Coleman's Balls...
@clive-hurren We have just finished watching an old-ish iPlayer drama, called “Black Earth Rising”. Every episode starts with (apparently) Leonard Cohens last song written before he died. Called, Do you want it darker. Very apt for us Boro fans at the moment.
@clive-hurren. Come on Clive “Let’s be havin you”. 😎
@clive-hurren I’m sure if I had to do the starter for the Norwich, it would be sub-titled, “Norfolk and Good”.
I've been around long enough , to sniff something isn't right, I plead guilty at times to ignoring trends, making excuses, looking at the possibilities instead of the facts, and I now think either Carrick is niev, receiving poor advice, or just can't adapt, but since the start of the season ,he has at times baffled his team selections, his substitutions etc
But the kicker is, when you make a nineteen year old kid captain, never mind how talented he is, tells me theres problems in the dressing room,
Saturday,
Ailing ,who I believe is poor, finished, at least is supposed to be a leader, Clark, not good enough at this level, a senior pro, I can't go on,
It's not looking good right now, and the rumours are starting, is Carrick another Monk , I hope not.
I guess a couple of wins eases things but , were from looking at the fixtures.
The trouble is Boro don't seem to have any either!
Martin, round here it's Norfolk'n'good and the supporters I meet are going for a four goal win for Norwich. I'll have to put a bag on my head if they do, just so that nobody will recognise me.
Will a Requiem Mass be called for?
UTB,
John