This article today on EFL Analysis probably sums up the game pretty well as well as Boro's failure to replace Latte Lath adequately.
Well is the optimism draining away, if it does it was a short lived thing, according to sky their offside goals should have stood, our number 9 well what can I say, we seemed to be passing around the back a lot more last night, nobody brought there shooting boots and to top it off Bristol City scored in 96th minute.
Mate had come across from France with his son to see match I did tell his son his 4 - 0 prediction was a tad optimistic
All a bit meh again
I agree, Martin. I thought we played some brilliant football in the last half an hour and put Leeds under serious pressure for sustained periods. Putting the ball in the net was the issue for us - we had some glorious chances to do so. I thought we proved that we can be a match for almost any side in this division. If we get to the playoffs nobody will fancy playing us, that’s for sure.
I must say I’ve never seen both linesmen make really poor offside decisions like last night’s in the same game!
@martin-bellamy I totally agree with you, I don’t think sacking Carrick is the answer, who was asking for him to be sacked when (previous to last night) we had lost 1 in the last 7, drawn 1 and won 5 🤔. In my opinion just a knee jerk reaction to a defeat, sure we are all disappointed losing to the “dirties” but we move on to the next game.
Come on BORO.
@clive-hurren Totally agree with you. We played much better than Leeds in the end. The last 30 min were really good. And we still have a good chance to fin(n)ish in the top six.
Life is good, when Boro play well. A good match bar the result. Let's move on and I am already looking forward to Saturday.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko. In reality, Leeds scored THREE goals against Boro's none.
Yes, I would agree, we did play well, but only in parts of the game. In other parts we were sloppy in our passing and finishing.
It is not as though it was a one off last night. We have been constantly inconsistent all season.
As for sacking Carrick, I think Mr Gibson will give him another go next season, especially as he has two years of his contract left.
He also has the default excuses of losing Doak and Latte Lath.
However, given the turnover of players this summer, losing probably Hackney and may be VDB, Scott (if he is still around) and his recruitment team will have their jobs cut out to provide a squad of top six players.
We are too lightweight in too many positions, and have an unbelievable lack of pace throughout the squad.
Given all of that, who is really confident that Mr Carrick could finally galvanise a team and importantly a flexible system, that could copy what Sunderland have achieved this season.
I am not. How many others are??
As I wait for King Charles III to address the Italian Parliament (maybe my stream from Sky is a tad delayed...):
A disappointing performance from Boro in the first half and a disappointing result against Leeds last night. Obviously in the last quarter of the match Boro came much more into the game and could, SHOULD, have made the Leeds keeper work a little. Shots not made, shots made after a delay that allowed Leeds defenders to block, shots so wide or over the bar to make Twickenham fear that it might have some opposition as a rugby stadium.
But that is also to ignore the fact that Leeds started with the sort of speed and directness we would have preferred to see from the boys in red. A goal for Leeds inside two minutes was exactly what Boro did NOT want to see. Who'd have thought Leeds might start like that? Well I might, and my mate sitting next to me, and maybe many others in the crowd, but perhaps not the Boro team. And the two apparently "onside" goals would have ended the game as a contest had they been allowed. It was good to see Boro trying to get level and it was good that Boro players found themselves still in the game at the end. But it was not to be.
Iheanacho was poor beyond belief. His best intervention in the game was when, in the second half, he tracked back maybe 60+ yards to help repel a Leeds breakaway attack. That moment was not worth the £30,000 per week that Boro is said to be contributing to his wages. It is no surprise he can't get a game for Sevilla and therefore has been sent out on loan. Imagine you were in the same team, flogging your guts out every week, and being paid 6 or £7,000 per week. You'd wonder what was going on.
Somebody needs to go to Specsavers if they think Iheanacho is contributing enough to Boro's performances. Where I was sitting in the WSU, it was clear there were "mutterings" about Iheanacho and his eventual substitution was reacted to gleefully. If he is to play any further role as this season comes to its end, he had better improve. It's no excuse to say (as some football pundits do) that Iheanacho is a centre-forward who is being played out of position. I don't think either Johnny Howson or Neto Borges have been playing in THEIR natural positions in the last few weeks (apart from Borges who was unable to meet Leeds yesterday due to injury) but both of them have filled in admirably as centre-halves when injuries have decimated the squad. Iheanacho would have to be particularly tactless and foolish if he were to mention he is "not in his correct position" to Howson and Borges.
All of this means that the game at Millwall is even more important than it was a week ago. Neither yesterday's match nor the Millwall game will determine Boro's season. Boro could go on (in our dreams) to win all the remaining games after this coming weekend, and that would leave us in the top six. But a win in London against Millwall would make things easier. And OFB's heart would be very thankful.
@pedro I do actually believe that MC could get us back to the EPL dream (which I’m sure everyone is aware, isn’t really my dream). I think overall he’s done a good job after the days of Monk, Wilder, et al - I’d prefer for him to continue to learn his trade at MFC - on their day his team are exciting, entertaining and well worth supporting. I don’t think there’s much needed to get to the next level. Who knows where we’d be now, had Doak not been injured?
I suspect that the supporters of at least 75% of other Championship teams wish they were in our position.
My thoughts on Carrick ,I believed for a long time he was the guy to give us a real chance of going up, I understand his overall philosophy, and with superior players will find succes.
However we have lost fifteen league games and two in cups, that's seventeen losses , the top four have lost less than eight, four and two Burnley , Leeds , now if anyone can look at anything positive in them figures, you can't be happy,
The fans have been loyal, based on what we know, who gets the blame, or at least the finger pointed to, but I for one don't have much confidence , going forward, things will change .
@werdermouth A good summary. But not the end of the world. Still in the playoffs.
But the match at Millwall on Saturday is massive. Luckily they will miss their best striker - who scored the only goal at Sheffield United today.
Luckily Coburn is unavailable against us 🙃.
Up the Boro!
Only just, Jarkko: we've slipped a place to sixth (Bristol City having taken our fifth spot) & Coventry's only a point behind with a game in hand...
According to the Beeb, Big Josh is Millwall's "specialist away goalscorer, Coburn netting his sixth goal of the season and his fifth on the road".
Coventry has now snatched 6th place from us after beating Pompey by 1-0 at home thanks to a sucker punch in injury time. 🙁
@gt What if the players just aren’t good enough? Is that entirely the managers fault? What if they don’t follow instructions? What if his key players get injured and throw his plans into disarray? Why would we focus on the games his team lose and not the ones they win?
We’ve tried changing managers and appointing someone with a completely different footballing philosophy - where did that get us? How about giving MC time to develop his squad and his ideas - I know I’m in a minority but if we manage to get into the playoffs this season I see that as a massive achievement. If we don’t, I’ll enjoy next season, winning enough games where we’re playing attractive, entertaining football.
Aaaaaarggghh! Both Bristol City and Coventry score last minute winners. How unfortunate is that? That leaves us in 7th, two points behind Coventry and 3 behind Bristol. Getting tight now. We can’t afford to lose many more points.
Gt, Martin
I think Steve Gibson will stick with MC rather than twist next season. I’ve rather got used to that idea in recent weeks as we’ve refreshed our playoff push. We often play very attractive and entertaining football, and as bits of our Leeds game showed, we are capable of competing with the best. Like you, Martin, I’m now of the opinion that we would be better to give MC more time next season, however we finish this one. That will allow him to build on the strong foundations he’s put in place and would give us much more stability in the longer run. In any case, I can’t see who would replace him: no stellar names spring to mind, unless we can persuade Jürgen Klopp to come out of retirement! Carrick’s already the longest serving manager in the Champo, so is already very experienced. Right now, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have leading Boro.
It isn't an easy question to answer. Stick with Michael Carrick or twist (with whom?). Maybe the players are OK but maybe not good enough for promotion. If the club hired a new manager but he had the same players, would he do better?
He might be more pro-active on the substitute front so if things are not going well the new chap might possibly do something about it, unless there is a major injury, before Carrick's statutory 65-70 minutes. I realise it is unfair to compare all but the stellar managers with Brian Clough but if it was clear to Clough after 15 minutes that things were going wrong, he wouldn't allow another 55 minutes to go by without doing something to correct the position. By that time, there might be no possibility to retrieve the situation.
The time to go up is always now. Who knows which of the current playing staff will still be here next season. Those who leave will have to be replaced. Will the replacements be better or need the "time to settle in"? It might be even more difficult to gain promotion in 2025-26.
Bristol C, new manager ? How they doing,
Derby new manager. Improved,
Teams have improved under new managers it can happen
Listening to George Boetang lately, seems to understand what's required to be a success, he brought through a number of academy players ino the Blackburn first team when he coached there , I'm sure during the interview stage you can assess the person.
Just some follow up thoughts
@forever-dormo re: Sheffield Wednesday away
On-Sale Dates
180 + points: 3pm, Wednesday 9 April March (2,400 Supporters)
170 + points: 10am, Thursday 10 April (4,000 Supporters)
160 + points: 12noon, Thursday 10 April (7,700 Supporters)
150 + points: 3pm, Thursday 10 April (12,500 Supporters)
I have been a couple of times to Hillsborough but not this centenary. They used to be some sort of favourites when Big Jack moved over there. So it would be nice to visit again.
Up the Boro!
What if the players just aren’t good enough? Is that entirely the managers fault?
I don't think the players are good enough or that Mr Carrick has been good enough this season.
We have been unlucky with some injuries, Doak probably the one that has affected us the most.
However after three seasons, how much has our Coach improved. I think that is a fair question. Is the sum of the parts bigger under MC?
We have underacheived this season IMO and not finishing in the top six will be a failure.
Looking at the fixture list, I think Boro will miss out unless they improve their overall performances.
Is that all of Carrick's fault. Of course not. The recruitment has not been top notch and good money spent on Whittaker is still to be proven.
Carrick will have it all to do again.
Opinions, opinions, opinions, I have just read above, two posts, one to get rid of Michael Carrick and the next immediate post to keep him for next season. Both posts are “liked” by the same people 😱, do we class them as “undecided” 😂. I also note that some of the “get rid” are because MC has not got us promoted (7th not good enough) yet I believe some of them same people don’t want us in the Premiership, getting beat week after week, a clear case of “damded if you do and damded if you don’t”.
Personally would like to see Carrick complete his contract (2 more years at least), I think Steve Gibson, Micheal Carrick and possibly Kieran Scott realised that it would take a number of seasons to build a squad capable of, not only promotion, but to stay in the premiership. I enjoy a lot of the football I have seen at the Riverside since MC took charge and I can see the building of a squad, yes there has been errors in recruitment, Iheanacho the latest example, we are not in a position to sign the Salah’s, Palmer’s or Saka’s of this world, take Morgan Rogers as an example, at Boro he was earning 5k a week (260k per annum) moved to Villa on 20k pw (1.4m pa) he is now on 75k pw (3.9m pa) and he is on less than half the wage of some of his teammates (Rashford 225k pw, Tielemans, Martinez, Kamara all on 150k pw. As examples). So I am quite happy the way things are progressing at Boro, would I take promotion through the playoffs this season and possibly lose quite a lot of matches to come straight back down next season, too right I would, apart from seeing the top teams at the Riverside and nearly a full house each home game, it’s the financial benefit that will help us build quicker.
Come on BORO.
Hitting "Like" should not necessarily be taken as an endorsement of any or all parts of a post.
For me I hit like sometimes because I agree with all the sentiment of a post; sometimes because I agree with some particularly significant part of the sentiment, or sometimes just a small part of it; sometimes because I appreciate the writing or eloquence; sometimes because I think someone says something I disagree with but the case has been presented so well I appreciate the logic and the sentiment even if I don't agree with it; sometimes I hit like as a knee jerk reaction, especially when I am catching up on a lot of unread posts, kind of like a marker to myself that I have read that; sometimes I hit like on a post when someone is saying kind words about my writing to acknowledge the compliment; sometimes I hit like when someone expresses concern about the wellbeing of someone else in the Diasboro; sometimes in support of people that might have come under some verbal attack; sometimes I hit like because I like to see the cameraderie between posters, especially when helping each other out (like arranging tickets for away games for visiting Finnish supporters for example).
On the other hand, sometimes I fail to hit like on a post even when I am in agreement with it; or when I like the prose or style of writing in it; sometimes I fail to hit like when I have read a post as part of a big batch of unread posts; sometimes I also fail to hit like on a post because I definitely disagree with it or (more likely) the manner in which it has been said; sometimes because I am catching up on so many posts I forget to hit like to remind me I have already read that one because sometimes I am little absent minded; sometimes I fail to hit like on a post when it is two or more people organising things between themselves (like tickets to away games for visiting Finnish supporters for example) that really isn't any of my direct business.
In short, certainly as far as I am concerned, it is difficult to assume carte blanche what the reason might be for me having liked or to have failed to have liked any post. I suspect it might be similar for others.
On the other hand, if I have posted something, it is always in good faith and any one is free to judge what they think my opinion is in relation to the topic of the post. I do also reserve the right to change my opinion, especially after reading any particularly telling rationale or eye-opening factual information in here !!
I know you were being tongue-in-cheek @Exmil ( well I hope I know you were being tongue-in-cheek 😉 ) but I couldn't resist having a bit of a diatribe about "like", if (in the Middlesbrough vernacular) ye'knaw what I mean like.
@exmil. Just to clarify with regard to liking posts from my perspective.
I “like” nearly ever post on here to signify that I have read it not to say that I agree/disagree with the content. I will post accordingly if I wish to address any of the points made.
On the subject of MC, it doesn’t really matter what we think it will ultimately be down to SG to decide if MC’s performance has been in line with expectations given the resources available to him and whether he feels that someone else would have/could have achieved more.
I suspect that he will be retained next season even if we are still in the Championship, which is my belief; I agree that at times we play some attractive football but am not sure if MC will deliver us promotion but there again neither have a succession of his predecessors.
Failure is not simply down to the individual but to the collective, ultimately however the manager is held responsible.😎
@k-p-in-spain I hit like on that because I have read it, because I agree with it and also because it was written in a nice, clear and friendly way 😉
That is quite brilliant! I’ve used all of those reasons to either like or not to hit like on particular posts. I hit like on GT‘s response to my positive post regarding Carrick‘s future, even though I disagree with him. I just think he has every right to express his opinion, and he makes a reasonable (ie, reasoned) case.
I agree wholeheartedly with Powmill’s very good post, well presented in a rambling way. 🤣
Also KP’s and Clive’s follow ups are “likeable”
However, I have often thought about the “like” button, especially in the past when werder had to do something with it, I forget what it was now.
However, in my opinion and believing we all know that the members on this blog are very decent people and post both with their hearts and heads, I do wonder at times why we need the “like” button.
I would say, that we probably all “like” the members posts as they are part of a reasonably small number of active members, who try to make this blog a site where can discuss Boro football and at times other non confrontational matters.
Nobody I think, goes out of their way to intentionally upset another member. So it is not to like or dislike a post, as Powmill said.
In reality, do we really need the “like” button. If a member posts something that requires a reply, eg. the Headliners or an exceptional thought provoking post, lots of us reply. It has always been thus.
@exmil I think you may have thought that your rationale for hitting “like” is shared by every other poster. An understandable mistake, but, as others have said, I hit “like” for a plethora of reasons, including, on occasions, to try and signify to a poster of an opinion with which that I don’t necessarily concur, that I respect their right to their view.
In real life, I have been known to bear a grudge* in the past - it’s not a pleasant trait and it’s something I’ve largely managed to avoid of late, but on here I’d never do that.
I’ve given myself a break from the Forum on occasion, when I’ve noticed my mood drop and my mental health deteriorate, but it’s always a short lived thing as I genuinely enjoy this Forum’s contributions to my day.
*no amount of time will prevent my grudge against Trump for his current folly, nor Thatcher for her’s I’m afraid.
@martin-bellamy. I have liked your post because it is clear and well written but most of all because I agree wholeheartedly with your last paragraph. 😎
What have I started here? Stop it now! Everyone!
@powmillnaemore - "All of the above" applies to me, too.
What powmill said