That’s it . Game set and match👎☹️😉
Dijksteel, Barlaser & ELL on for Ayling, McGree & Jones in the 74th minute, but to no avail: Coventry adds a second two minutes later.
Not really sure a triple substitution is the best idea when you're down to ten men and trying to keep your defensive shape - so it proved as Boro got caught almost immediately as players looked unsure of their roles for the goal.
Dijksteel, Barlaser & ELL on for Ayling, McGree & Jones in the 74th minute, but to no avail: Coventry adds a second two minutes later.
And six minutes after that it's 0-3. 👎
Oh dear. Looks like 5 goals is a realistic possibility now
.... not at all what I had in mind
Well Coventry had the ball in the net six times this afternoon - but thankfully only three counted! Anyway, no disguising today's performance - it was lacking intensity from the start and Boro never looked like recovering from a man down and once they fell behind it was unlikely they'd get anything from the game - particularly without Doak as Jones looked short of match fitness and lacked touch and pace. Another missed opportunity but this game was not one that Boro ever looked like winning.
We got what we deserved, nothing. Second best from the outset and could have been two down before HH received a deserved second yellow.
Something needs to change and rapidly as based on our current points accumulation, if this continues for the remainder of the season, we will only achieve c.60+ points, well short of a top six spot. 😎
Just back from match, what a dispiriting afternoon. The ref was poor but if the ref had been great we would have still lost. Jone's chance to show he deserves a start and he fails miserably, Hackney deserved to be sent off second tackle not good, he also made a couple of very poor decisions and lost possession he does like a no look pass.
Listened to Carricks interview same old waffle, blah, blah. We have no plan b and we appear to try to bore the opposition with our passing. Our passing stats are great but unfortunately you don't get points for those and if it clicks it does look very nice, but that doesn't happen very often.
Doesn't bode well for up coming games but at the end of the day it is what it is, but the natives are starting to get restless.
Bring back Mogga !
OFB
Will the supporters now turn against Carrick. Been very patient so far.
All we hear this is the best squad. We played well etc etc.
The object of the game is to win it. We’re failing to do that consistently.
Not sure where we go from here.
Couldnt agree more - bring back Mogga - even Warnock , despite his age, would get a tune out of this lot.
Philip of Huddersfield 👎👎☹️☹️
We did change our shape but unfortunately we promptly conceded a minute later as the players are not used to playing in a different way - since August, it's W3 D3 L3 and Boro are still only 3 points off the play-offs but likewise only 3 points off 18th place.
This Championship season is there for the taking if a club can put some kind of consistency together but at the moment Boro have a good First XI that seems to only really perform at its best against the better teams and then fail to look up for games against 'lesser' teams.
It took the sending off to wake up most of the players - perhaps it was just adrenaline that gradually subsided but they just didn't have a means to create chances without Doak and even McGree looked below par today. Maybe too many players are not really fully fit and not capable of playing twice a week - Ayling also looks tired and where is the energy and drive going to come from if as we know the Championship is all about coping with fixtures coming thick and fast.
McGree will be off again halfway round the world in a week and no doubt rested when he comes back - Carrick would have been better introducing subs from 55 minutes onwards and cranking up the energy levels. Unfortunately, many who played today will have playing a man down for 60-80 minutes in their legs for the next game on Tuesday.
*Just to add - of course one sub was used up when Howson came on for Azaz after the sending off so Carrick was limited to just two more sub times - though 75 and 85 minutes were rather late for me.
I will keep this short because I cannot wait to open a bottle of wine (maybe a second, later) in order to dull the pain that assault on my sensibilities as a Boro supporter suffered this afternoon.
If that were a meal at a restaurant even the mildest mannered diner would have sent it back to the chef. NOBODY would pay for a meal that matched the quality of that Boro performance.
Clueless from the start. Not up to pace. Under the cosh even when Boro had 11 players on the field. Hayden Hackney MUST know that was a shocking start to the game by him. Both yellows (as mentioned by others above) were the result of his losing the ball/poor touch and then the seeing red mist in trying to rectify his error. He was rightly sent off and his arguing and the slothful way he left the field did him no credit.
I would be surprised if anyone in the stadium expected Boro to get anything from the game from the 22nd minute onwards - though, to be fair, Boro had a decent 10-12 minutes after going down to 10 men and had another "spell" in the second half. But when Coventry eventually scored just before HT we all knew the game was up.
As Len rightly pointed out, Coventry scored 3 and had 3 disallowed. Some teams, when they go to 10 men, at least try to limit the damage and play defensive, safety first football. Sometimes they even get something out of the game. Not Boro though.
The team looks like a decidedly mid-table inconsistent team, which tries to play the same way, whatever the circumstances. Common sense dictates you vary your style according to those Circumstances.
There really is no point blaming the referee. He was better in his performance than most of the Boro players. Losing teams criticise referees. The teams that lose most, complain the most.
So this week it will be "only 3 points behind a play off place". In two weeks "only 5 points behind". In four weeks "only 6 points, we can do that if we win the next two games..." (ignoring the fact the 6, 7, 8 or whatever teams above us would need to lose ALL their games for that to happen).
We are being unrealistic. Even I have been using rose coloured spectacles. Maybe we should assess the game to predict the score, then subtract 1 from our score and add two to the opposition, then do the calculation again?
I suspect we are destined to quite a few more afternoons and evenings of disappointment this season. Right, should it it be Shiraz, pinot noir or maybe a Beaujolais? Or should I start with a bottle of bubbly THEN go red ...? I was feeling blue at the end of the match but I don't have Andrew Neill's almost mythical bottle of Blue Nun in the fridge....
I feel better for that ....
I really would stop going if Warnock returned
I’m not suggesting for a moment that Warnock should be manager.
Just making the point that Warnock is tactically astute and had lots of promotions. He managed with passion.
You may not remember Huddersfield 4 Boro 1 a couple of seasons ago. Boro led 1-0 at halftime and he changed formation and played on Boro’s weaknesses plus what he did the following season avoiding Huddersfield being relegated was outstanding.
I don’t see any passion in Carrick, or imagination in changing format, leaves subs too late - by comparison I’m old enough to remember Venables changing personnel and tactics midway through the first half in a game. - would Carrick ever do that ?!!
Are the players too comfortable with Carrick knowing that he’ll never slag them off - can’t see him doing it privately when it’s been deserved- like today. Lack of “giving it a go” by the players and, as usual, lack of leadership - would captains like Ince, Mogga , Leadbetter etc have let the game drift away today.
Enough from me on another disappointing performance following recent disappointments v Watford, Bristol City, Norwich and now today.
But then it’s only a game and football supporters like all of us can enjoy other teams doing well eg Liverpool coming from behind to win, Bournemouth beating Man City etc etc
Philip from Huddersfield
locals here are also fed up losing an FA cup game to a team 57 places lower than them
👎👎👎☹️☹️☹️
@forever-dormo Early this morning, I flew out from Helsinki for 1 h and 40 min to the Artic Circle. For work, I needed to attend a fair up here.
I could have returned with an earlier flight already, but decided to take the last flight back - this was to see the whole Boro vs Coventry match. Not clever you might say.
Well I saw the match - too tired to comment it - and now my flight back that was sheduled for 21:45 is delayed 1,5 hours. Great - especially after a result like that.
Here - on the Artic Circle - is some 10 cm of snow and a few degree below zero. This norning we had the first batch of snow in my home area in the South, too. About 5 cm near Helsinki. But I expect that has melted away before I get home after midnight.
Luckily I got the winter tyres fitted to my car on Thursday. At least the snow is not on top of my troubles and bad feelings today. It was the team performance. No doubt.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko - Up inside the Arctic Circle! I hope it was worth the visit for you, even though waiting for the football match wasn't. I hope you get back safely and feeling in better spirits.
@forever-dormo Safely landed.
Yes, the air port of Rovaniemi was 2 to 3 km inside the Artic Circle. The town centre is some 10 km more south.
Still, terrible result and our worst performance of the srason. Uo the Boro!
@forever-dormo Good post Dormo. It just about sums up the Boro.
I left when the second goal went in. I was using my bus pass today, so decided to leave early just like Hackney.
Where we go from here, I just not know, and I really do not think Carrick has any answers. After two years, he has learned very little about tactics and using a plan B.
Losing Danks was probably a big blow, and to fill his space he brings in his inexperienced brother. What he needs is an Assistant that can/will tell him were he is going wrong, not the yes men he has at the moment.
Unfortunatley, the worry of a bigger team than Boro, poaching him has gone. Mr Gibson will have to stick with as he probably could not afford to pay him off.
And as for Hackney, he has been poor since he came back from injury. Today just proved that.
Well although I wanted to go to the game today, at least I wasn’t at close hand to feel the frustration and agonisation of watching such an inept and unprofessional performance.
Carrick has to have a close look at his own performances which quite frankly are sadly lacking in professionalism and realism.
He appears to be too close to the players and they aren’t frightened of him. Although I never ruled by fear as a manager no one would try and give me a substandard performance or I would have them!
Hackney should have been professional by not trying to attempt a tackle when his mistake had,caused the error,and two,just accepted,his,fate, kept his mouth shut and walked.
I like MC but perhaps he needs better assistance?
OFB
...
I like MC but perhaps he needs better assistance?
OFB
I think the same Bob. I think there is a quality football coach/manager in Carrick that has still to learn and develop. For that to happen he needs a modern day Terry Venables beside him. Who that could be I haven't thought about, but there are plenty of wise old heads out there.
@pedro - I stayed until the bitter end but I was willing the ref to blow the final whistle as early as possible to end the pain. There was booing at the end. I don't suppose there was a single person in the crowd thinking: "Sadly a defeat but it was a plucky and determined performance by Boro fighting against the odds once reduced to 10 men". It looked grim from the kick off.
@powmillnaemore - Venables would have this team at the top of the league. He was an exceptional coach. Like an expert watchmaker, you can imagine his tinkering here and there, tightening that screw by a miniscule amount, slightly moving the position of that cog so that it engages ever so slightly earlier. Suddenly a collection of parts in a pretty case, previously immobile and showing the correct time precisely twice each day, becomes a chronometer doing exactly what it should, working perfectly and reliably ticking off the seconds, minutes and hours for years to come. Yet it still has the same cogs, screws and springs it had inside, when it wasn't working at all.
Boro's team seems like a defective watch. We know that most (surely all?) of the parts are present and CAN work properly because there are days when the watch keeps perfect time. But on other days it is as if somebody has removed the backplate and thrown some grit inside the workings or applied some glue. Where is the watchmaker?
Brilliant analysis. Perfect analogy.
Just been watching the highlights (see link on home page) and watched back Hackney's red-card tackle frame by frame. Hackney did catch him probably with his heel on the top of Thomas-Asante's foot - though he was unlucky as it appears after initially winning the ball Hackney's foot slightly came up from rolling off the top of the ball and then his momentum took him forward with his studs up and Thomas-Asante's momentum placed his foot so that a glancing contact was made. Accidental more than intentional I think but was likely always going to be a yellow card once contact had been made as probably deemed out of control. That was reportedly his first red card of his career.
Incidentally, did anyone see Match of the Day with Forest v West Ham where the Hammers Álvarez, already on a yellow, then basically cleaned out Elanga just before HT after getting nowhere near the ball - now that was a stupid challenge that was never going to end well.
Perhaps we need a digital watch to keep the pace wth others? Up the Boro!Brilliant analysis. Perfect analogy.
It’s so frustrating as i think that we have some good players.
The problem is that we are trying to play like a premiership team in the championship without all the skill and knowledge on how to beat teams.
We need some leaders in the pitch like Mowbray, Pearson, Robson who can bawl out players and get them motivated.
Boro players playing to you, to mee, tippy tappy football with no urgency or passion.
OFB
Playing all the right notes, but not necessarily at the right time 🎵
Keep going you fool ! ❤️
OFB
It's been said that even a broken watch is right twice a day 😉
Anyway, after the next international break it's going to be 11 games in 42 days or one every 3.8 days so there will be no time on the training pitch to work out much in the way of Plan B's or anything new. Carrick will need to rotate his players and be better at making early substitutions to avoid picking up injuries - the squad needs to be fit and ready come the 23 November!
We seem to be making the same mistakes game after game. Carrick may have had a football education but has he learnt anything? I fear mid-table mediocrity looms and we'll do well to achieve that. As I think OFB said he needs a wise right hand man not a yes man.
Thoroughly depressing, I can't bear to watch it again so I'll go and walk the Terrier.
UTB,
John