PNE v Boro
It’s my turn again to set the scene for Boro’s next game - this time, a journey over the Pennines to Proud Preston. Once again, I’ve enlisted the help of my former neighbour and Deepdale regular, Dave, to begin proceedings.
Here’s what he had to say (including a codicil which he added after PNE’s win at Watford on Tuesday):
Part One:
“Hi Martin,
Not really sure where to start with this one!
A sure sign you’re getting older when, despite it being 4 months since we last met at the Riverside, it only seems like it was last week.
Since the draw at your place, our season really hasn’t pushed on as I’d have hoped back then, with our new manager coming in after just one game of the season! I was hoping for a more attacking team under Paul Heckingbottom but that’s not really materialised and to some degree, particularly away from home, we have become a team that’s main emphasis has been not to concede, rather than open teams up and go for it. This was really evident in last Saturday’s draw away at lowly Luton, a game where we were facing a team in the bottom three of the table and, having lost five games on the spin, we basically parked the proverbial bus. Two shots (neither on target) mustered during the 96 minutes played tells you all you need to know.
The managers post match comments as to that game being “a benchmark for future performances” didn’t go down to well with many of the North end faithful either! However, there has been the odd glimpse of the more attacking side of the game through his tenure thus far, but sadly not enough! To some degree his hands have been somewhat tied due to the squad he inherited and also by what is perceived to be poor backing in the transfer window from the owners, and a certain Peter Ridsdale, the man who runs the club day to day!
Too many draws (13 thus far) and a lack of goals means that we are still very much in avoid relegation territory, rather than challenging for the play offs, kind of season. Avoid the drop, give the manager another transfer window and a full pre season to hopefully rebuild the squad to suit his needs, seems to be the ambition of many North enders right now. Having said that we’ve extended the contracts of 3 of our defenders this window who’ve all been part of the team for at least the last 5 seasons, during which we’ve finished with a negative goal difference each year, so the rebuild may not be quite as big as is required!
On to Saturdays game.
For those Boro fans aiming to travel to Deepdale I highly recommend giving @PNEPolice a follow on X (if that’s your thing) as he provides a very useful and informative service for the visiting supporters in terms of pubs, clubs, parking etc. as well as a bit of banter! The policing here at Deepdale has gained a good reputation among away supporters over the years and for me, I wish other forces (especially in South Yorkshire or Greater Manchester) would adopt their model, rather than treat us all like cattle!
Unless there is a radical change, we will more than likely set up with a back 5 , the trouble with that is we’ve had no real left wingback in the side for the last two seasons - we have been playing a right sided player in that slot for most of this season in the shape of on loan Villa youngster Kane Kesler- Hayden. He’s done quite well and looks a prospect but most would rather see him on his natural side. This may well happen on Saturday as we’ve just brought in another young loanee who plays LWB, Jayden Meghoma from Brentford. We try to play from the back (don’t we all these days!) the issue we have is our central 3 aren’t really what you’d describe as comfortable ball playing centre halves! They are also not the quickest so if you’re quick up top you may have some success turning our central defenders round! (MB - does this sound familiar, Boro fans?)
Midfield wise we sit a midfielder in front of the back 5 and its usually a lone striker up top! Heckingbottom has been swapping these players about quite a lot recently, so no idea who will start against you on Saturday, but it will either be previous Boro target, Emil Riis, or Milutin Osmajic playing the lone striker and perm any 4 from McCann, Ledson, Frokjaer, Thordason, Greenwood, Brady, Keane and Holmes for the midfield slots.
I don’t expect plenty of goals on Saturday, we will try to keep it tight and nick a goal, a tactic that’s seen us secure way too many draws and frankly made for a drab spectacle for the faithful! If you score first we do tend to struggle to get back in it when conceding the first, we also have a habit of conceding late in the game. A draw it is for me, although Deepdale hasn’t been the happiest of hunting grounds for Boro over the past couple of seasons, so you’re probably due a result!
If you’re coming to Deepdale try a Butter Pie (it’s a Preston thing!), although our current Pie supplier isn’t the best we’ve had…..HMP Pies!!
Enjoy the game………just hope you don’t enjoy it too much!
Dave
Part Two:
Not sure if it’s too late but if possible I’d like to add the following after last nights game!
Well, having written all that prior to last night’s game at Watford, it just goes to show how very little I know about football!
Last night we were a completely different team to the one I largely described, the bus was left where it should be, in the car park and we were on the front foot from the kick off! Chalk and cheese from Saturdays performance at Luton! Totally at odds with the set up and performance most North End supporters were expecting.
15 shots away to a top 6 chasing team compared to 2 shots away to a bottom 3 side……….as they say it’s a funny old game!
Which North End will turn up on Saturday? Who knows but if its last nights North End I’m feeling slightly more optimistic!
Ta, Dave”
Many thanks, once again, to Dave for the inside track on his team and his help with my starter.
Onwards then, and despite the recent doom and gloom creeping in on this Forum and in the Riverside stands recently, maybe we should take a step back and think about how we’d feel if PNE were our team. Stuck in lower mid table, but looking backwards with an eye on the relegation slots, isn’t what anyone wants at this stage of the season - perhaps we should be grateful that we’re still in with a shot of a play off place.
Thinking like this, has made me reflect on fans’ expectations. There are many on here and in the general Boro fan base, who see us as a “big” club, who’s natural home is in the Premier League, but, for me, I don’t see us that way.
No team has a right to be at the top table, although it’s hard to see some clubs being anywhere else, so maybe we have to accept that the two Manchester clubs, one Liverpool team and two or three London clubs will always be in the top flight, especially now that money talks and huge international owners are involved. Outside of those usual suspects, there’s a second tier in the EPL of clubs we all expect to be there, and a lower tier who flirt with moderate success, but generally go up and down like the Saltburn funicular.
If you were to ask football fans throughout England what they thought of Middlesbrough FC, I doubt many would describe us as “big” club. Sure, they’d be surprised if we dropped down a division, but I think there’d be few who thought the EPL would be enhanced by our promotion.
With one notable (and memorable) exception, we don’t have a history of winning trophies and, apart from the brief halcyon days of TLF, et al, we haven’t set the leagues alight with sparkling football. If asked, I don’t think too many fans from out of our area would pick us as the “big” club in the North East, let alone in England.
So what point am I making? To be honest I’m not sure, and maybe I’m managing my own expectations, as the season looked like it could peter out before Tuesday’s win.
Without coming over all woo woo, I think there’s a lot to be said for living in the moment, although it’s a maxim I’ve always struggled with, instead preferring to look to the future, (which was always going to be an improvement on now), or the past (where I could have done things better).
If we accept that MFC are about where we’d expect them to be as a team, that we’ll regularly be entertained by a good performance and knowing that a Typical Boro moment will arrive to dash our hopes again, maybe we can treat those two impostors just the same (an exceedingly good line there from Mr Kipling).
As someone once said, “It is what it is, and for that we should be grateful”
On to the game at hand then and who knows what to expect? After Tuesday’s win, optimism is flooding back. I thought we looked much better with Morris’ return, particularly in the first half. Doak’s goal was a thing of beauty and it looks like he’s staying for the rest of the season.
We continue to be consistent in our inconsistency, so any result is possible, but, without a home crowd to make the players nervous, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that we can grab a win on Saturday, so it’s 0-1 for me, although PNE’s result against Watford shows they’re far from push overs. Fingers crossed for three points.
PS I’ve been reading through a few old posts today and spotted quite a few names who seem to have stopped contributing - does anyone know how many active members we have at the moment? I really enjoy everyone’s posts on here, but I’m sure we’d all appreciate even more points of view. Is there any way of spreading the word without attracting the bots and trolls?
An excellent intro Martin which sets us up brilliantly for Saturday's game.
Do pass on our thanks to Dave for his detailed and knowledgable account of our opponents and especially his addendum after the Watford win.
I, for one, am glad that we have a coach who wants his team to play controlled attacking football rather than one who hopes to cut out all mistakes, puts the emphasis on defence, and hopes to sneak a goal on the break.
I enjoyed your "exceedingly good line from Mr Kipling", and I agree that we need new members on here, whilst continuing to maintain the blog's increasingly rare civilised tone.
Many thanks for all of your hard work, Martin, and thanks again to Dave
Thanks Martin and also to Dave for his PNE perspective. It occurred to me that some of his comments could also be attributed to MFC in years gone by and also on occasion of late, struggling to score, struggling to get back into games when conceding and conceding late come to mind.
Difficult to know what will transpire on Saturday and I agree it could be a low scoring game. I expect Heckingbotham will set up to defend and frustrate us and look to nick one.
Whilst Tuesday was a good win, it was secured by a couple of stunning strikes which we can’t rely upon on a weekly basis and of concern was the fact that we didn’t create a lot of other clear cut chances on the night.
Given our struggles against teams who defend in depth then it may well end up as a goalless draw but we really need to be winning and building momentum in this part of the season.
Sadly the rumours seem to be building that LL has agreed personal terms with Atalanta and will soon be departing, partly confirmed by the rumours of players MFC are targeting. 😎
Thanks Martin for setting the tone for Saturday's fixture. A special shout out to Dave as well. It is just the way it should be, that supporters of one club will share thoughts, opinion and banter with supporters of other clubs. All very grown up and Dave always writes very well about his team and the realities of their and our expectations.
My hopes were getting up when Dave was saying how weak they were on the left at the back. Great opportunity for Doak to exploit. But then Dave tells us PNE has just got proper left footed talent (Jayden Meghoma) in to address that weakness. So, let us hope he is still settling in and there may still be some vulnerability there.
Otherwise I share the widespread concern that we continually fail to get the break through against a team sitting deep. In our purple patch, with Morris and Hackney and Azaz all on form, we did break through directly... the combination of Azaz to Latte Lathe being especially potent. Let us hope we still have ELL on Saturday and that we will begin to recreate some of that great attacking form.
I think I am going to be optimistic... If we do have ELL to play, then victory by two or even three clear goals. Without him, still a good chance of victory, but maybe only by the odd goal
Great Headliner Martin, and with appreciated assistance from PNE fan, Dave. Thank you.
Is is really interesting to hear from other fans and generally as a whole, we all appear to have our doubts and moans as to our own team. Unless you support Liverpool at the moment.
It is always difficult to know what to say about any upcoming Boro game. Typical Boro or Real Boro. Whilst we defended reasonably well on Tuesday night, WBA still had their moments and if they had scored who knows what would have happened.
Luckily WBA only had one shot on target, however Boro only had 4 out of 14.
Dave has told us that PNE defend in depth and this will make it difficult for the Boro to break down, unless Doak can have more success against his FB, than he has of late.
As KP said, possibly a low scoring game, when one goal may decide the outcome. Also the weather forecast for Saturday could be rather poor, with the latest storm, storming in.
So, possibly a difficult journey for the Boro fans and also making the playing conditions unpredictable. As of this moment, I think I would take a draw. But we really do need to create a gap between us and the group of teams snapping at our rear.
Martin and Dave many thanks for an excellent preview which is greatly appreciated.
Hopefully Morris will keep motoring on in midfield. Hackney and Azaz will perform in midfield and we keep a clean sheet.
Onwards and Upwards
OFB
An excellent starter, Martin! And again, many thanks to Dave.
I always meet Mike, my PNE-supporting mate, in the pub before the game and Saturday is no exception. I’m sure he’ll share many of the views Dave has expressed. He was very dischuffed with the previous manager’s defensive style and was hoping for a change in outlook once Heckingbottom came in. It sounds as if he might be disappointed, in general. Looking at their Watford win, however, might suggest PH is now satisfied with his team’s defending so now might be the time to play a bit more expansively. I really hope they do, as that should allow us more space.
Mike will no doubt tell me, as he does most years, that PNE have once again disappointed. They’ve been in the Champo several years now but have rarely threatened to achieve promotion. They seem destined for mid-table mediocrity yet again this season. Picking up on your point about clubs’ ‘natural place’ in the scheme of things, Martin, always makes me think you have to be a special kind of fan to keep turning up season after season with little prospect of promotion. PNE fans very much fall into that category.
Having said that, they always give us a tough game at their place, which has been a very unhappy hunting ground for us in recent years. We’ve lost our last 4 games at Deepdale, last winning there in 2020. It’s time to change that! I’d probably settle for a point, but as Pedro says, we really need to be building up a head of steam now. Hopefully confidence will be high after The Baggies.
@clive-hurren Which pub do you meet in, Clive?
Just for info, Boro's Championship match at Stoke City on Friday 7th February has been postponed. The reason is the Stoke City versus Cardiff City match, FA Cup - 4th Round, on Saturday 8th February.
I have no info when the match will be played or who was supposed to write the preview for the match. Just saying, like. For info.
Anyway, it looks like there is not so many matches after next Saturday. Just the Sunderland match on Monday, 3rd February and a match at Sheffield United on Wednesday 12th February. Probably Howson and Conway will be back for the latter game at the latest.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko thanks for that info Jarkko. I think it is me that is on the roster to do the header for the Stoke game. I was already thinking about some things what to write about, but I'll have more time now and hopefully the Boro’s form will give me better things to cover.
Ryan Giles has rejoined Boro on loan until the end of the season.
Come on BORO.
Micah Hamilton joins Stockport County on loan for the rest of the season.
Come on BORO.
Martin thank you and thanks also to your friend Dave for your introduction.
You mull over whether Boro are a "big" club and I agree with your thoughts on this.
My Uncle John (now long departed) described Boro as a "yo-yo club" many years ago. Up and down but happiest at the top of Division 2.
In my opinion (not always shared by many -especially my family) Boro are a club of regional importance but not a club of wider national interest. There is name recognition but little more in other parts of the country. That's not a bad thing and a status shared by most of the other 72 non PL clubs in the EFL.
We should be happy with our current position and pleased to win more than we lose, play entertaining goal-scoring football and also have a chance of the play-offs. Not bad for a relatively small town and many thanks to SG as far as I am concerned.
Thanks once again, Chris
I’m hardly ecstatic that Boro have signed Giles on loan as he’s done nothing of note since leaving, either at Luton or Hull. Whilst he should improve the balance of the team when attacking we all know he is poor at defending.
However I view the move as a strengthening of the squad if you regard him as a swop for Micah (?) and on that basis it’s ok.
Hopefully, a deal can be struck for Whittaker the Plymouth forward who allegedly didn’t turn up for the midweek game. If this is an attempt to force a move then it’s something I don’t like - compare this action to Latte Lath who gives his all when his sale may just be a matter of time. I assume Boro are active behind the scenes in getting a replacement for Latte Lath but it can’t be Whittaker as he’s not a centre forward.
Enough of this transfer twaddle as the priority is Saturday’s game at Preston and hopefully Boro can nick 3 points ideally with Latte Lath playing and scoring, if indeed he’s on his way.
Philip of Huddersfield
👍👍😂
Interesting to read Sunderland are trying to bring in Akpom from Ajax.
Philip, apparently Whittiker whatched the game from the stands. The manger, not choosing him, because he wants to leave.
@pedro No, he came in too late to be included in the team. Originally he was supposed to play. UTB!
Many thanks for the preview and thoughts on Boro Martin and to Dave for his insights on Preston - Middlesbrough's may be just a small town in Europe but as I've previously mentioned you can't be a big club anymore unless you're a global brand - or at least a regular presence in Europe. Still not sure there are many Boro fans without a Teesside family connection - of course not including our own Jarkko!
OK, maybe in the days of Juhinho, Ravenelli etc we became something of a club of interest but unless you win something or make the headlines then you're just another club seeking the big time.
Another three points would be very useful this weekend as the top 8 are starting to form a gap and if Boro could put six points between a couple of those eight then it gives us a cushion.
Not expecting Giles to solve our defensive left-back problems but at least he may offer a better outlet on the left - also no surprise to see Hamilton going out on loan either as he never looked the part.
I expect this could be Latte Lath's last game in a Boro shirt if he's leaving this January as we will need a replacement and for that we need the deal done to pay for him.
Reported on sky that Boro have agreed a fee of £8 million for Whittaker
philip of Huddersfield 👍😁👍😁
It’s the White Hart, Martin. Watling Street Road, close to the army barracks. We’ll be there from about 1.30, traffic permitting. My brother and I are usually the only Boro supporters in there - just the occasional other interloper!
Boro have had bids accepted for Morgan Whittaker (£6m plus add ons) and George Edmonton (£600,000 including add ons). There is also unsubstantiated rumours that Dieng has done his cruciate, Engel going back to Denmark and Travers incoming.
Come on BORO.
@exmil The Ech says Engel is expected to leave Middlesbrough to link up with FC Cincinnati.
According to Danish sources, Engel will join the MLS side on an initial loan move with an option for the deal to be made permanent.
Up the Boro!
Looks as though Mr Gibson, is once again pushing the boat out to try and consolidate, fifth or sixth place.
Losing Jones and Engel would cover for Giles and Whittaker (assuming he is not highjacked by Burnley), but looking as though we need a new goalkeeper, I guess that we would then have to deregister Smith or Lenihan. Assuming MFC are righting Bangura off this season.
Whittaker should be a better addition than Jones, but 6mil + add-ons, appears a little steep to me.
In terms of potential future profit on Whittaker then a total package of £8m plus significant sell-on clause for Plymouth would mean he'd need to be worth more than £12m to make money.
@werdermouth. That does not look like a deal that has become the benchmark for MFC recruitment?
With regards to Whittaker, my thoughts are:
1. If we didn’t offer £6m+ and Burnley brought him for £6m+ then I am sure there would have been whingers shouting that we didn’t try hard enough to get him.
2. I would imagine for the add ONS to become effective, he will have played well and scored goals.
3. If he he is successful and we sell him for £20m+ then the deal was successful.
Only time will tell, if Lath goes for £18m plus £2m add ons that will leave us with £12m to strengthen the squad further.
Come on BORO.
Goalscorers don't tend to come cheap and especially so in January - Whittaker has just turned 24 so he hasn't reached his peak and could develop into a more valuable player - though he's not had a great season so far in comparison to the last when he scored 20. A bit of a gamble but probably at a price that is based more on last season's goals - Plymouth only paid £1m for him from Swansea in 2023 so they've made a decent profit plus potential sell-on bonus if he does indeed kick on and get offers in the future.
Martin - Thanks for another good read and thanks, too, to Deepdale Dave for the Preston intel.
Let's hope we have all, or WILL have, escaped unscathed from storm Eowyn, currently battering its way through Scotland having already caused some damage in Northern Ireland. Apparently there was a 74mph gust at Loftus, which seems to be Teesside's local weather station, and there were gusts in excess of 100mph (160kph for those of a Finnish or even an Oz persuasion) in Ireland. Not a day for hot-air balloon rides!
We will have to regroup in a few days to see which players we have retained/signed/sold and to speculate how or whether Boro's prospects have been harmed or improved by any moves.
I'd have thought a draw at PNE quite likely. But then I thought it would be 1-1 at home to WBA rather than a clean sheet and two sparkling Boro goals. NEVER be a betting man, FD!
@clive-hurren Ah, yes. In Fulwood?
One of those games tomorrow, Preston usually give us hard time and their CF Riies always scores against us, the Giles loan is a financial one, he's probably on premiership money, Luton time, so we are at 50/50 , plus Banguro will be back,
Whittiker on his day brilliant, but I've heard he does spit his dummy out at times , wonder if Lathe plays tomorrow,
I like the young lad at Spurs Linkleiter or something,in fact I'm surprised they haven't come in for Lathe they are desperate for a striker.
Come on boys 3 pts