@exmil I’d agree with your comments- we’ve come up short again, but not by too much. On a different day, we’d be celebrating being in the play offs now.
I’d prefer to stick with MC and see what next season brings. This article from today’s Guardian makes interesting reading about the challenge to leave the Championship and to stay in the EPL, once your promoted. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/may/03/how-relegated-clubs-bouncing-back-to-the-premier-league-makes-the-rich-richer?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
I think we played better today than in any of the matches I saw recently (Plymouth, Wednesday and Norwich). But we were not good enough. We did not deserved to get to the playoffs.Didn’t think we played too badly, especially the 2nd half. Just curious about our mindset in the first half. Very negative when we needed to be on the front foot from the outset. We all know that losing away to Coventry is not the reason for our failure this season. Time for the inquest to begin and hopefully some accountability for our short comings.
Azaz should have had a hatrick, and we hit the posts two times today. But we were not to score - which has been our story ever since the end of November.
Life goes on. Had some nice time working in the garden arter the match. Sunny. Up the Borol
I've been expecting for some weeks now to "tune in" to the Boro page of News Now to find a plethora of articles reporting that Carrick had gone. Why does he have to be so pig-headed & inflexible?!!
Interesting that Troy Deeney acting as pundit on Sky after the game said Boro had just one way to play………pass pass pass insinuating Boro had no end product whereas Coventry mixed it up more and had a number of ways to win the game. Really just reinforcing our view really. We passed it well 2nd half but seriously lightweight upfront.
On the balance of results over the season -18 losses- I would say that a mid-table finish is about right, but to drop to tenth is nonetheless more than a little disappointing. We certainly didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs. Good luck to Coventry, who were much better than we were today. I hope they now consign both Sunland and Sheffield United to more Championship pain.
Today, presumably after a few choice words at half-time, Boro’s attitude changed dramatically for the second half. We came out fighting and put Coventry under a lot of pressure, forcing their keeper into several smart saves. As ever, better finishing was required, but Boro at least looked as if they meant it. And Carrick went for broke at the end, throwing on extra forwards and going to a 3-man defence. It was all too little, too late. Quite a lot of fans around me and on the train back were of the opinion that the manager’s time is up.
Now the inquests start. Do we trust Carrick to bring together a new squad and mould them into a promotion-winning team? Can he instil a fight-till-the-last-ball attitude throughout his squad? Is he prepared to try different tactics and formations? Can he make us less predictable? Can he and his staff coach the team to defend as they should? Can the recruitment team bring in pace and leaders? My jury is out.
Honest assessment of the match by Scott Wilson in the Echo:
& his player ratings:
Unsurprisingly, Rudoni his MotM.
The season just ended with a whimper really - one win from the last six games where just one more win would have seen Boro make the play-offs - missed opportunity after missed opportunity.
Indeed, just 23 points from the last 20 games - so barely a point a game, which is more or less relegation form. Odd then that we still had a chance of still making the play-offs so this has been a poor Championship by any stretch - barring the top 3 and well done to Leeds and Burnley for both making 100 points!
There has to be a serious analysis on why this team struggled for the last 20 games and what it would take if the current management team continued to perform essentially twice as good - or is this beyond them - what have they learnt? Or do they think the problems lies elsewhere?
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2025
The final table and the playoffs have been posted on the Challenge page.
Come on BORO.
Is it a coincidence that the collapse in results came right after the disastrous January transfer window?
If Boro were inconsistent all season, at least Werder was consistent ...
But the starter was excellent by him! Up the Boro!
Just wanted to thank everyone for their contributions, particularly our brilliant lead writers for their informative and stimulating starters.
I am too disheartened to go into the why and wherefore of an underwhelming season as it has really all been said before.
I shall wait to see what unfolds in the coming weeks and months and look forward to an enjoyable summer with out the ups and downs of watching the Boro.
Wishing everyone a healthy and enjoyable few months. 😎
5 points against top 6 teams. One win and two draws, not good enough
Yes, the January Window was the beginning of Boro's decline but it started at Preston on 25 January - Latte Lath went off injured after 11 minutes and Doak looked to be carrying an injury - both would never play for the club again and Carrick's side lost their next 5 games.
The next league game was against Sunderland and suddenly Carrick had Whittaker, Iling-Junior and Iheanacho to configure into a new attack with an out-of-form Ryan Giles as our new left-back and a struggling Luke Ayling as right-back.
The dropping of Iheanacho, Iling-Junior, Giles and Ayling saw Boro finally return to winning ways against Stoke after Boro had dropped from 5th to 11th. It turned out to be a brief 7 game rally (16 points from 21) that took Boro back up to 5th but then just one win and 4 points from the last six games that saw us blow the play-offs again.
If Boro were inconsistent all season, at least Werder was consistent ...
But the starter was excellent by him! Up the Boro!
Unfortunately my wait for a win goes on - surely next season 🤔
@werdermouth I’m tempted to advocate for a starter ban next season, but the quality of your openers are so good that I think I’d rather sacrifice the three points.
Thanks Martin - all I would say is that Boro have lost more games when I didn’t write the starter than when I did 🤔
Thanks Martin - all I would say is that Boro have lost more games when I didn’t write the starter than when I did 🤔
Classic straw clutching or backside covering ermmm which is it? 😉
@werdermouth Please don’t put yourself down for the last match of the season ever again 😂😂😂.
Come on BORO.
Well. One good thing about this season is that it really did keep interest going until practically the last kick of the ball.
I don't suspect any of us is really that surprised we didn't have what it takes to win at Coventry, just the hope.
Well done to Leeds and Burnley on both achieving 100 points. The distance from that to our 67 points tells us everything about how far off the pace we have been, really all season.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed in here. There has been some brilliant headliners and equally brilliant posts/responses. It is a pleasure to be a part of such a group of diverse, tolerant, intelligent and gifted people. So especial thanks to Werder for continuing to host us, even if he can't write a headliner without consigning Boro to certain defeat 😉.
I haven't looked at the Exmil Challenge results yet. That's next for me to do. Although the season has now finished, I'll delay putting up the COTS challenge final places up until the Exmil Challenge Playoffs are over. So, keep watching this space.
Otherwise I hope everyone has a peaceful summer and those of us nursing health issues will all recover well to be fit enough to deal with another Typical Boro season to come. The summer is sure to be interesting for us to see what is sure to be a bit of a revolving door, so there is that to look forward to and reading everyone's take on whatever the proceedings will be.
Some interesting stats from Opta where Boro players topped the table for 2024-25
Hayden Hackney received 1045 Opta points putting him easily top as the most in-form player (opta points are awarded for each action a player performs in a match with points deducted for fouls) - which I suspect may make him a target for PL clubs in the summer. Incidentally, Finn Azaz came 6th with 874 points.
Finn Azaz also topped the list for the most shots on goal with 117 - though that only equated to 12 goals - so more or less 10 shots for each goal.
@werdermouth With Azaz, and he is not the only one, quantity over quality.
That sums the Boro up. Looks good until you remove the wrapping and see what’s inside. A little like an aero bar. Solid on the outside, but underneath, full of holes.
One cannot ignore the stats. In the end, no better than a mid table side, with form that would be flirting with relegation.
Then we have Clive’s post and his questions, that do need to be answered before we can go forward to next season.
Now the inquest starts.
Do we trust Carrick to bring together a new squad and mould them into a promotion-winning team?
Can he instil a fight-till-the-last-ball attitude throughout his squad? Is he prepared to try different tactics and formations?
Can he make us less predictable? Can he and his staff coach the team to defend as they should?
Can the recruitment team bring in pace and leaders?
My jury is out said Clive.
Carrick (and of course that also has to include Mr Gibson, Mr Bauser, and Mr Scott and his Recruitment Team) has been questioned quite severely in the Media for his tactics or lack of them.
Troy Deeny on Sky was not impressed and commented, Boro are trying to score the perfect goal. Everything we tend to do is through the middle and although we had 21 shots, only 6 were on target. Against packed defences, it is like trying to get the ball through a hole in a wall that is only a couple of inches larger in diameter.
Other local media writers, normally very forgiving, have asked the serious question, “is Carrick up to it”
There is, as we all know, going to be a big churn of players. He has said in his own words, this has been his best squad. Come the summer, I can build on it.
But can he. Most on here are for giving him another go. However, will Mr Gibson, in coming to a decision, take into account his remaining two years contact and the possible even greater churn of a new management team. Of course saying that, Lampard came in and has done well at Coventry. As did Carrick in his first season. So it is doable to change.
Next season will be harder I believe than this season to achieve a top six place. Birmingham and Wrexham coming up with big plans. The three coming down should be far better than the rest of the Championship Teams. Boro at the moment a mid table team, with a couple of decent players they will certainly lose.
I like Carrick, he appears a very genuine man, giving his all for MFC.
However, is he the person to take into the 2025/2025 season when it kicks off off.
It would be interesting to hear more opinions from the members of this blog.
Quote from Troy Deeney who was at the game yesterday!
quote
”
Deeney told Sky Sports: “I thought today tactically, emotionally, it was spot on [from Coventry]. When you’re talking about the subs, the small subtle changes that they made. Obviously Middlesbrough are chasing the game, let’s not go away from that. But you never felt Middlesbrough changed the style in which they wanted to play. It was always the same thing: pass, pass, pass.
“When Coventry made changes, it was ‘right we’re going to spin them, we’re going to turn them’. Brandon [Thomas-Asante] when he came on was excellent. In my opinion, he only played half an hour, but he’s man of the match for me. He was that good, that impressive when he came on.”
Such problems have been highlighted throughout the season. Carrick’s lack of plan b and his in-game management/reacting to opposition changes are two of the most common frustrations many supporters have voiced. As Carrick himself said after the game, the defeat at Coventry very much encapsulated the pitfalls of the entire campaign.”
Unquote
Just about sums up most of noir games this season doesn’t it ?
Lack of tactical changes
Substitutes too late
OFB
In my post of 1st May at 6.15pm, above, I said: "As to the football, it's quite simple - Boro MUST win and, after full time we look to see what the other teams have done. It would be a real sickener if other resuits went Boro's way but Boro spurned the opportunity by failing to win at Coventry."
That is exactly how it turned out. The other results DID go Boro's way but Boro's players fluffed their own lines. Boro ended up with 64 points and a goal difference of 8 goals, in 10th place. Had Boro won, say 1-0, Boro's points would have gone up to 67 with a GD of 11, whilst Coventry as a result of losing would have been reduced to 66 points and a GD of 3 (and out of the Play-Offs). Boro would have had Coventry's place but would have been in 6th, with Bristol City in 5th place on 68 points.
I can therefore confirm that it was, indeed, a sickener, even though it was expected.
Let's look at Boro's final placement in each of the last three seasons:
2022/23 Placed 4th 75 points
2023/24 Placed 8th 69 points
2024/25 Placed 10th 64 points
Looking at the finishing positions not as a one-off but as a trend we can therefore see a decline in position and the points gained in each successive season. From that, things appear to be looking downwards rather than upwards.
Looked at another way, in 2022/24 the Boro team found itself 16 points behind the last automatic promotion place (Sheffield United), last season saw the team 27 points from the last automatic promotion place (Ipswich Town) and this season 36 points from the last automatic place (Burnley).
I assume that if Boro doesn't want the trend to continue, something (or things) will have to be changed. To make things less easy for Boro next season, The Championship will see newcomers from Division One - champions Birmingham City with an enormous 111 points (from a possible 138) and Wrexham with 3 consecutive promotions from non-league. City is said to be EXTREMELY well-funded whilst Wrexham is said to be England & Wales' favourite team in the USA, selling plenty of merchandise there as a result of its ownership by 2 Hollywood actors and in receipt of money and regular publicity from the Netflix series that has been following the club since its non-league days (despite which Messrs McElhenny and Reynolds are apparently looking for more wealthy backers to join their venture). Presumably the interest in Wrexham will not be remotely harmed by yet another promotion. Birmingham is said to be aiming not only to consolidate its Championship position next season but to go up to the Premier League and then qualify for the Champions League. In other words, be a classic sleeping giant now awakened from its slumbers. Big Dreams!
Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton will come back down to The Championship with their pockets fulll of parachute money (not that it helped Luton Town much this season). Clearly there is more than a chance that those three clubs will be prominent amongst the promotion contenders next season.
There will be others, too, who miss out this season but who will expect to improve next season. I acknowledge that the dreams of Birmingham and Wrexham supporters may not turn into instant reality but Boro is now almost a permanent fixture in The Championship and Michael Carrick (if we exclude Wrexham until the new season begins) is the division's longest-appointed manager/coach.
What will change next season? More money? Better players? Better tactics? Introducing an element of flexibility into the plan adopted for each game (or even within games as the position changes)? Or do we carry on and hope for the best? It's easy for me - I don't have to put my hand in my pocket to fund/bale out MFC. I kind-of like Wrexham and prefer Swansea to Cardiff but it's extremely unilkely I'd get a season ticket for any club other than Boro. I have gone to games at Hartlepool (not for a few years) and Darlington (even more years ago) and occasionally Newcastle but, in a perverse sort of way, I think it's more the Boro element that I like (despite the regular angst it causes) rather than football itself. I go to the Battered Badger with friends and talk over a few pints or glass of wine and sometimes see hardly any of the football on TV if Boro is not involved.
What Steve Gibson makes of it, I cannot guess. He must have invested a few fortunes in the club already and yet (1) there is no promotion to show for it in recent years and (2) you wouldn't bet on that changing anytime soon. He might be looking, for all we know, at Ripley (the Village, Estate and Castle all up for sale as a whole or in lots - near Ripon), and he might decide he'd like to dip his toe in THOSE waters instead. I imagine the Castle might make another Rockliffe except it would be a lot nearer to teams visiting or staying for games in the Leeds, Harrogate and York areas (or even Hull, Bradford, Barnsley and Sheffield) and therefore be in a more advantageous position than Rockliffe. It is a lovely area. Who knows....?
Another article from Scott Wilson. What is interesting, if true, is the part about the January Window and Carrick wanting (as I read it) Inheancho and Giles.
Unbelievable, as Jeff would say.
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/25136914.go-wrong-middlesbrough---blame/
@forever-dormo Believe it or not, Ripley was developed in the style of a French village - it’s been in the same family ownership for generations - I’ve had quite a few meals over the past couple of years in the village pub, as it’s a handy halfway point between family in Lancashire and our new home in Sherburn. I’d thoroughly recommend it as a venue, although would it bring Mr Gibson as much pleasure as the Boro? No need to answer that.
@forever-dormo Perhaps planning to retire? Othervise he has TWO businesses to run on Teesside.
I have been to the city of Ripon, but the only Ripley I know is a tricky winger. Up the Boro!
Another article from Scott Wilson. What is interesting, if true, is the part about the January Window and Carrick wanting (as I read it) Inheancho and Giles.
Unbelievable, as Jeff would say.
That is the implication in the article, which also goes on to say...
"Boro’s recruitment team will attempt to repair the damage when the transfer window reopens this summer. Hopefully, some of the clarity that characterised their pre-January business will return."
Call me cynical but I can almost smell the briefing of Kieran Scott in this article as the finger of blame is pointed at Carrick. I noticed the absence of a comment that acknowledged that it was Carrick who first recommended Ben Doak to the Boro recruitment team.
What is clear to me with recruitment this season is that Carrick needs better players for his system to work effectively - especially in attack. However, is Carrick capable of produce a team that is solid in defence even if he gets the type of players he needs with power and pace. Hard to see many of those who have arrived in the last 12 months being fit for purpose and capable of being important players next season.
It's no coincidence that Boro's best finish under Carrick contained quite a few PL-level players in Akpom, Archer and Ramsey with McGree and Howson fully fit too. Just see how Boro's form dipped after losing Latte Lath and Doak this season. Ultimately it's the quality of the players that win games and what we saw since January was mostly an incoherent disjointed mess where Boro only beat some poor teams and even failed against other poor teams.
I hope the club's post-mortem has a realistic assessment of what is possible next season and what is needed to turn Boro into a 80-point team under Carrick - if that's not possible then what is the way forward?
@werdermouth We need also FIT defenders. And some new players naturally, but not a total rebuilt. Do you remember the summer when promoted with 14 arrivals?
Also we have had two summers now in succession when we signed well over four or five players. The last two starts to the season hasve been terrible. Carrick needs time to adjust and let the new players bed in. I am thinking about Morgan Whittaker and Neto Borges as an examples.
I hope Carrick is right that he has had a better squad than before and that we add one central defender and a few QUALITY attacking players including an goal getter.
Please quality over quantity. We have enough players, now a fine tuning needed. Not a new start. Up the Boro!
Indeed, having fit players has been a major problem in the last few seasons and Boro do already have 4 centre-backs in Fry, van den Berg, Lenihan and Edmundson - with left-backs of Borges and Bangura - though right-backs of a declining Luke Ayling and out-of-contract Dijksteel.
The defence mostly lacks pace and a few are probably not comfortable playing out from the back either - whether Lenihan will be the same player we don't know but he's 31 now and has had an ankle injury that has kept him out for over a year.
Midfield may need several recruits if Hackney departs - though I'd like to see more of Law McCabe next season.
Obviously we need at least a couple of goal scorers in the team and some power and pace - not sure if the quality we need is affordable or whether it will be loans of rising PL youngsters.
Also much depends on whether McGree has been sorted or not and if Azaz can rediscover his pre-Christmas form.
Whittaker hasn't looked like a starter and Burgzorg also appears unreliable without an end product. Will Josh Coburn return and stay at Boro? he's certainly a different type of player than what we have but Carrick doesn't seem to fancy him. Then there's Alex Gilbert (played only 300 minutes on loan at Charlton) and Micah Hamilton (played a total of 63 minutes on loan at Stockport) returning too.
That's probably already 16 outfield players that are contracted before we talk of incoming - I'd expect minimum of 5-6 new players arriving in the summer but is that going to be strong enough given Boro are likely 6-7 wins short of where they need to be - I don't see 90-point plus automatic promotion team been within reach given where we currently are (23 points from our last 20 games)