People asking for Steve Gibson to address the public (fans) should think back to the last time he did that, he said “we are going to try and smash the league” which very quickly got changed to “ we are going to smash the league” which we didn’t and he received abuse for months (if not years) after, so I can understand why he no longer “addresses the nation”, nor do I personally think he needs to.
As for rumours, no one will ever know if they are ever substantiated, even OFB’s trust in his friend, has already got people speculating on different scenarios on this site, who is involved, players ? recruitment ? management ? tea lady ? depending on their own agenda, by the end of the week it will be on the message boards around Teesside as gospel. If Carrick/Woodgate/Scott leave the club at the end of the season, it will be easy to claim “I told you so” even if they leave for a completely different reason.
Come on BORO.
@exmil Precisely the point I was trying to make. SG is damned if he does make a statement and damned if he doesn’t. Why bother being hoist by your own petard, when you can stay silent and try to deal with things in the background?
I much prefer facts (as old fashioned as that may be these days) over speculation, however tempting it is to try and guess what’s going on in camera.
I have been in quite a few meetings with Steve Gibson on non football relate d matters over the years and I have found him to be quite unassuming and really quite shy. He is certainly not bullish and I couldn’t see him making statements to the press or fans and he is quite guarded and thoughtful before he says anything.
Thanks Len for the opener. Another hard game I fear and a draw at best for me. Another interesting referee at Luton, Farai Hallam who is the FA's Senior referee officer. This will be only his 39th match he has refereed at the professional level in England. Looking at the international squads that have been named the best news is that Aiden Morris has not been named in the USA team, and ,I think surprisingly, Iling Junior is in the England U21 team as a forward, alongside Hayden Hackney. Travers and Azaz are with Ireland, Conway and Dede with Scotland, and Glover with Australia. Although I thought that Dede was injured.
It would be the most undeniably ‘Typical Boro’ thing for our new left back to be injured running down the wing for England U21s.
Carrick suggested that Dede has broken his toe. We’ll have to see if he makes the Luton squad.
UTB
Unfortunately Norwich couldn’t do us any favours this evening getting beat by Bristol City
So the must win game, is even more of a must win given that result and some of the fixtures tomorrow afternoon. A loss, whilst mathematically not ending our season, in reality it be all over if the other results go against us, which is a fair bet.
I am working at a local trade show today. So because of the fair, I won't see the match live at BoroLive this afternoon.
Is there any chance to see the match in whole later? Or is it just the highlights that will be shown later on Sunday. But not the whole 90 min?
I will predict a lucky 0-1 win for the again Mighty Reds. But I fear a little bit as the turf in not good at Kenilwort Road. Up the Boro!
Championship Form (Away)
Boro have won only one of their last six away matches. The rest ended in defeat, so we are 18th in the form table (away).
https://thefishy.co.uk/formtable.php?table=2&tab=tab-away
Meanwhile, Luton are 23rd in the form table (home). They have won once at home during in theri last six matches , drawing twice and were beaten in three matches.
But it will be tough match. Up the Boro!
@jarkko. Yes the full 90 mins will be available via the club website but they may not added until late Monday/Tuesday to be able to view.
I will be on an airport run so can’t watch live. I am trying to decide if I can avoid finding out the result so I can watch the full match next week; I suspect that curiosity will get the better of me. 😎
@pedro. 14 losses to date and a lack of consistency has suggested to me that our season was over long ago.
I appreciate the maths but qualification is not in our own hands. Even if we win all the remaining games (highly unlikely) we are still dependent on others dropping points.
If we win today I would suggest we are just prolonging the agony as we are bound to slip up later, particularly when the pressure is really on, given our soft underbelly. 😎
Looking at the points per game of the current pack chasing a top six place - then if we take Bristol City who have 57 points from 38 games then that is exactly 1.5 (triple 19, double 19). That would mean 12 points from the remaining 8 games - which is 69 points.
So perhaps we can work on a target of 70 points for 6th place - so if Boro lose against Luton that would mean 17 points from 8 games, which you can see is over 2 points per game.
Yes so Boro really can't afford to lose this afternoon if they are to keep a realistic chance of making the top six.
Though West Brom have some tricky fixtures coming up with trips to Bristol City and Coventry and Sunderland to play. Also Coventry's next 3 games are against Sunderland, Sheff Utd and Burnley. Bristol City still have to play Burnley, West Brom, Sunderland and Leeds.
So still plenty of twists and turns left in the race for the top six!
I agree that given the comparative runs in for teams chasing Wonka's last golden ticket, Boro is still well and truly in the mix. That said, we do have to entertain Leeds (fortunately with me writing that header and not Werdermouth!!) immediately after having paid a visit to Ewood Park. So it is most definitely not a straight forward run for our favourites either. The question we will find the answer to in the next six weeks or sooner is, is this post-Swansea Boro capable of bucking its own pre-Swansea tendancy of avoiding taking advantage when others results go its way.
Another day. Another game. Another tricky game. Another must win fixture. Nothing changes !!
No idea what the result will be but hope Boro do enough to get over the line.
👍👍 Philip of Huddersfield
Mrs Dormo was much amused yesterday when, talking about this weekend, she detected "unrestrained joy" at my realisation that I didn't have to go to The Riverside to watch Boro play. There have been times in the past when I would have looked forward eagerly to going to watch a game rather than dreading it.
Looked at from a distance, this is a game at Luton between a home side whose season so far has been little short of catastrophic (meaning that a drop straight from the Premier League to League One looks a very real possibility), and a Boro team which has underperformed (where a hoped-for automatic promotion disappeared months ago and an expected Play-Off place now looks no more likely than a mid-table finish to the season). Add that to the information in @Jarkko's post at 6.52am today, and clearly the game is one between two teams in poor form (Luton at home and Boro's away form being scrutininsed here).
If the Premier League were to disappear into a black hole, and SkyTV had to search for a game to show on live TV, Luton v Boro would not seem a likely choice. Super-Duper Saturday, indeed!
Maybe Boro will return to dominant form and thrash Luton at Kenilworth Road. On the other hand it is equally likely that Luton will score first, Boro will huff and puff and maybe have the majority of possession but will concede a late goal to cop a 2-0 defeat. I have a suspicion it might be an unsatisfying 1-1 draw which neither team will greet with pleasure. People will still say: "You know, we're still not THAT far from the Play-Offs and, if we can lick our wounds over the International Break then come back refreshed and hungry, we can get the points needed to catch up in the remaining games because some of the other clubs have to play each other so, by definition, some of them must drop points. It's still POSSIBLE...."
1-1 is my prediction. But it is offered with little confidence.
Talking of the unpredictable championship, on 40 minutes QPR 2 Leeds 0. Leeds get one back on 41 minutes but it was definitely offside but not given.
Come on BORO.
Can Leeds Utd successfully bottle it AGAIN?
My son described Luton Town v Boro as the resistable force meeting the moveable object.
NOW for the rugby...
@k-p-in-spain Tanks. I just do not know how to avoid hearing the result until Monday ...
Up the Boro!
Even if you do avoid hearing the score, how do you get to the MFC web page without seeing match headlines or reports as normally the actual web address of the highlights incorporates the score 🤔
@werdermouth. That’s what nearest and dearest are for! 😉
Couldn’t resist, am at airport with IPad and logged onto Riverside Live. Flight not due in until 4:20 so should see most of the first half of the match before daughter is into the arrivals hall. 😎
CJ comments on the starting line-up, including an update on Dede's fitness:
It's an unchanged XI then. One defensive injury boost in the form of Josh Dede being back on the bench. The January U21 signing from Celtic was feared to have fractured his toe a week or so ago, but has recovered to make the bench, having received a callup to the Scotland U21 squad yesterday.
Other than that though, no senior defenders back and so Howson and Borges are going to have their hands full trying to deal with Morris and Adebayo - two very physical centre forwards.
At the other end of the pitch, Carrick will be hoping to see more of the same from Burgzorg, Conway and Azaz, while he could really do with seeing Iheanacho start to find some kind of form as well. His physicality could help with defensive set-pieces too. If you look at the options on the bench, Carrick's probably gone with his most physical XI.
Jones in the Luton starting line-up. What are the odds...?
This comment after 21 minutes doesn't bode well:
Another huge let-off
Aidan Morris with a blind backpass straight into Adebayo's path who can comfortably get away from Howson. Tame low effort that Travers manages to save. Luton could be about four or five in front here. Boro still haven't had a touch in the final third. If they don't drastically improve, they'll somehow have found a way to be even worse than Swansea last weekend.
Them, after 32 minutes:
Boro's first final third touch
In the 32nd minute of the game, Boro have finally had a touch in the final third. A decent ball from Hackney over the top for Burgzorg on the right. He looks to cut inside, but finds his shot blocked. All the pre-match talk of the makeshift defence, but exactly like Swansea, this is all about what's happening in front of Boro's defence. No composure in possession whatsoever so far. Luton In Boro's faces. They've looked like they have a man extra.
🙁
Getting battered 0 - 0
Boro haven't had a kick in that first half - couldn't cope with Luton's intensity or the tight bobbly pitch. Luton could easily have been 3-0 up but for Travers and a few last ditch blocks. Carrick needs to try something to keep hold of the ball as Boro just not in the game.
Getting battered 0 - 0
CJ agrees:
That was really poor from Boro. They've been battered here. They could quite easily be five or six down here. No shots on target, they had to wait for their first touch in the final third until the 32nd minute. They've only had five touches in the opposition box, about four of them where from Burgzorg in one play that resulted in a blocked shot. But for somehow being level, that was somehow worse than Swansea last weekend, with the problem exactly the same. No composure in possession.
Apparently Boro have had 55% possession but just one off-target shot and have made 30 clearances...
Luton are super-physical, putting the ball forward in the air at every opportunity. The pitch is really bumpy so its hard to be accurate. Everything designed to make it difficult for Boro and the way we play.
I still think that a draw would be an acceptable result.
It was tempting to ask if Ihaenacho and Burgzorg are playing. I don't think that either had a touch in the first half hour and they didn't seem to be doing much defending. Unfortunately, there's not much on the bench. Maybe Forss for Iheanacho or even Barlaser to try and block off the middle.
It's a minor miracle that we're still in this.
UTB
Perhaps an extra body in midfield needed - what about Law McCabe rather than Barlaser?
No changes at half-time, which is a bit of a surprise, as Borges seemed to suffer a worrying knee injury just before the whistle.
Iling-Junior booked in the 25th minute of the first half...
Azaz anonymous once again. Morris has been awful and sadly poor old Howson just cannot cope with their forwards.
An absolute nightmare watch this