Well that is a(nother) disappointment...
Absolutely ridiculous goal to concede in the second half that completely sucked the momentum out of Boro - especially as the team was playing really well from the start of second half and scored a great goal and seemed only a matter of time before they got another. But this is Boro where the season has been blighted by poor defensive mistakes that has really been the difference between being an automatic promotion contender and one that is struggling to keep in the top six.
Typical Boro. Repeat of the recent Portsmouth game - and others.
Boro are so predictable - don’t know what performance to expect.
Mowbray wasted no time in getting a tune out of WBA winning 5-1
Philip of Huddersfield
👎☹️👎☹️
Ayling and van den Berg had a clash of heads, then someone from Boro passes the ball to the head holding duo. They were standing deep in their own box. But neither was WATCHING the ball. Two excellent defenders standing in their box not watching the ball or play generally. So Ayling finally miskicks the ball and Riis kicks the lose ball in.
Chambolic playing from the duo. Of course we could argue, that the ref could have whistled as two players clashed their heads together. They had head injuries.
But still, the two players should have been looking what was happening around them. Not a deserved goal for the Preston team.
We played well in the second half, so dererved at least a point. But we have seen this happening before for Boro.
Up the Boro!
It’s very surprising that we are still in the top six having conceded 11 goals more than any other team in that group. 8 points from the last 6 games is mid-table fare and we were just not good enough again today. We might have won a point without yet another defensive mistake and as Werder says we could have been a much more likely promotion contender if the defence had been fit for purpose. The concern is that little or nothing appears to have been done to improve the teams defensive capabilities and so the season will probably carry on in the same vein with inconsistent performances and results. The league campaign started with a lot of optimism but it has gradually faded. Is it just me or have we really gone backwards compared with last season?
Shambolic defending, speechless, just launch the ball up the pitch. Arghhhhhhh I despair
Once again, I’ve failed to get us a win with my starter!
There are three huge games coming up which could easily define the season. It might just be make or break time.
@martin-bellamy. And would you put your money on them to do what is needed? 😉😎
@jarkko Sorry Jarrko, we got what we deserved, nothing.
Two goals from PNE, which were poor from a Boro point of view, the first avoidable if Fry had stood his ground and not get turned. The second, well you just could not make it up.
Up front, there was little without LL, with only Burgzorg looking anything like (with his excellent taken goal). and Forss looking out his depth.
Another game where Azaz was anonymous. Surely he cannot start against Sunderland, another “must win” game to keep us in the top six. He should have been subbed in reality at HT, that’s how poor he was and has been for too many matches now.
It is up to Carrick to improve also. Mr Gibson has done his bit.
Commentator said boro have too many luxury players and not enough grafters, sometimes it's hard to disagree, but that defending
Two ridiculous pieces of defending by two of our brightest young prospects cost us a game that we dominated for long periods but had only one goal to show for it.
Following a break down our right Van den Berg failed to come across to cut out the danger but stayed in the centre allowing the Preston man unimpeded progress to cut in and score. I was shouting to him to cut down the space, a good ten seconds before the ball was in the net but he may not have heard me.
In the second half we got the ball away to Morris just outside our penalty area, but instead of moving the ball out of the danger zone he unaccountably passed it back to Ayling in our six yard box. Ayling will receive most of the brickbats for attempting a drag back which failed in front of his own goal, but in truth he should never have been given the ball.
Carrick will be tearing his hair out as, yet again, individual errors undid some excellent team play. Our errors by the way had less to do with our playing out the ball from the back than being examples of naivety by two young players.
I feel that we well have won the game had Latte Lath remained on the pitch. With apologies to Jarkko, Forss has never shown that he has the qualities to be a striker. He isn't happy playing with his back to goal. He did not lay a ball off to a team-mate, or win a single header all game, and he lacks the pace to latch on to long balls over the top. He also failed to capitalise on a couple of decent chances.
We desperately need another striker if Latte Lath leaves or we will have to reconsider gifting Coburn to Millwall.
Burgzorg had his best ever game for us, scored a brilliant goal and was comfortably our M-o-M. He looked close to tears at the final whistle, all of his efforts undone by criminal defending.
Doak also played well. Azaz flattered to deceive again with some promising touches marred by too many misplaced passes. Morris seemed somewhat leggy after his energy-sapping performance last Tuesday. Hackney was the key to our period of dominance in the second half, though he too did not reach his heights of the West Brom game.
I was disappointed that Giles did not play on the front foot when he came on as sub at a time when we needed to push on down our left flank. Invariably looking to play the ball back, he was virtually indistinguishable from Borges in terms of his effectiveness.
I feel for Carrick. We continue to play the kind of progressive attacking football that has made us the division's second top scorers, pass the ball really well in midfield, create plenty of chances, but continue to be let down by individual errors, all too frequently as today, by players who are actually playing pretty well and represent the best future for the club.
Terribly disappointing result nevertheless. The players themselves appeared to be just as upset, bewildered and disappointed as their magnificent supporters
I don't know whether it's worth commenting or not, there are obvious issues going on, is it the style of play ,the lack of grit, the insistence on defending the same way, these things can be irradicated , easily by a different approach to recruitment , and Philosophy, I don't think Whittiker the latest will be defending like George Boeatang going forward. I can understand how Carrick wants his team to play, but there certain games where you must understand, a change is necessary in tactics, I think the Chelsea away game should have woke everyone up.
Talent gets you so far, but in this division you need certain type of player to dig in ,and win the important battles , less Hollywood types, remember a guy name Morse , sold him because he fouled too much, how did that go.
Lathe doing a Yak
Just finish off, RVB should be rested , he's not reading the game very well , need a top rated RB, a solid defender who knows when and not to, either getting forward or staying back
Eight days of rehab I guess ,
Very disappointed ,
@martin-bellamy. And would you put your money on them to do what is needed? 😉😎
I wouldn’t even put your money on it, KP!
🤣@martin-bellamy. And would you put your money on them to do what is needed? 😉😎
I wouldn’t even put your money on it, KP!
@powmillnaemore. My money is all safely locked away in a biscuit tin under the bed! 😉😎
Just out of interest, which bed?
@k-p-in-spain pleased to hear that
🤣Just out of interest, which bed?
I’d like to echo Len’s sentiments made in his excellent report on the game, which I largely concur with. This was a hugely disappointing result on so many levels.
1) This was a game we could have won and in which we should have earned at least a draw. Boro had a blistering spell of fabulous attacking football just after we’d equalised. It was such a shame that we failed to capitalise on it and then, just as suddenly, it petered out and we gave all the momentum back to Preston.
2) Two eminently preventable goals conceded to lose the game, the first with Ayling way out of position and then allowing the striker to cut back inside, while no central defender blocked off the shot. The second one was a comedy of errors, with Boro missing three opportunities to clear our penalty area. OMG. The language around me and by me when that went in was not printable. We were all livid and aghast. Yet more defensive errors blight our season.
3) PNE’s defence, in contrast, was very solid and organised almost throughout. I commented to my friend Mike later that I would gladly swop ours for theirs. Somehow, we just knew when PNE made it 2-1 that we wouldn’t find a way back.
4) Len mentioned how devastated the players were at the final whistle. Much of that, no doubt, was down to the catastrophic defeat. But I heard a large amount of booing from our end, with even Carrick getting some stick when he came to applaud the fans. Burgzorg looked shell-shocked, as well he might, given that his brilliant efforts in the game had come to naught. But my brother and I also felt that he was very upset by the reaction of some of our crowd towards the team. My feeling from all of this was that a section of the crowd are not far from turning against the manager and the players; people were very critical of Azaz, for example, whenever he misplaced a pass, which was actually far too often.
5) One of the most devastating aspects of this defeat was that once again we had missed an opportunity to consolidate our position in the playoffs, had again failed to register two wins on the trot, and any progress we had made against West Brom was immediately negated and forgotten. Call it how you will: one step forwards, two backwards; back to square one; same old Boro.
6) Teams in this league not only know how to defend against us, they also know we are very vulnerable in defence and will surely exploit this weakness to the maximum. Can you imagine going into the playoffs with a defence of this quality? Can you even imagine getting there?
@lenmasterman One thing that nobody can argue about, is in the last two seasons, our defending has been continually poor. Yes we all accept that mistakes do happen, and especially more so if you play a higher risk system as we do under Carrick.
However, somebody within MFC has to take responsibility with two seasons of defensive mistakes with NO improvement what so ever.
We have very little pace within the defence or midfield, and consequently get caught out when we lose the ball in the opposition half. Then to cap it all we continue to play “harakiri” with our passing in and around our box.
The recruitment under Scott and Carrick has not been good enough to solve this quite serious issue. As much as Edmundson has done OK, he is, IMO not at the level required. Neither is Clarke or probably Fry. VDB may come good in the longer term, but does not have an abundance of pace even for a CB. The same applies to Hackney if he is playing further forward and loses the ball, which he did on more that one occasion this afternoon.
So our Coach continues with his Plan A, we continue to leak goals like a colander, and we continue to throw points away like confetti.
Mr Gibson has made money available to recruit players that should have improved the team at BOTH ends of the pitch. Unfortunately somebody has made the decision to ignore what is blatantly obvious to everybody but them.
A decision we will come to regret once more this season.
Opposition coaches/managers must all now know the tactics, defend well and keep the pressure on and Boro will present us with a couple of opportunities from their mistakes. And so we did. I feel we don't have the players with talent in defence and midfield to be thorough enough to play out from the back, at times all that is needed is a little more pragmatic form of defending. There is a theme here and I just don't see Boro shaking it off, when I saw we had equalised I thought how long will we hold it at 1-1, I'm sure that thought occurred to a few others among us.
I spoke to a Norwich supporter this morning when I walked my jack Russell and he said, even after a 5-1 win that they make him shake with worry at the 'passing it out from the back craze'. That after a handsome win so it isn't just Boro doing it.
Now to read about us in the Gazette, no doubt telling us we're still heading for the play-offs.
UTB,
John
Couldn’t agree more with the recent analysis of what’s wrong with Boro and what needs doing. If it’s obvious to us and presumably to our opponents it must be obvious to Carrick and Co. The trouble is he doesn’t seem capable of of putting things right which makes me also think that, in some positions he’s got the wrong type of players.We lack players who can take games by the scruff of the neck when needed and defensively with an attitude of “ they will not get past me”- a bit like Leadbetter and his defensive midfield partner.
Philip of Huddersfield
I'm thinking the only reason for the Whittiker signing is Carrick is thinking 433 , although I find it hard to believe, maybe 352 which is my preference based on the makeup of the squad, then again maybe more than one leaving , a surprise ?
@jarkko - Ten years old children at my village Primary School MIGHT concede a goal like that second one. They would probably still be laughed at. The problem at source is that the ball was cleared to a Boro player just outside of the penalty area. That player then controlled the ball by chesting it down, BACK into the penalty area then passed the ball WITHOUT LOOKING to one of the two players about 9 yards out, one of whom tried to bring the ball under control, and to attempt a dribble away from the attacker. Instead he stumbled over the ball after failing properly to control it, allowing the attacker to steal the ball and pass back to a team mate who made space for himself then shoot into the far side of the goal.
Basically if the first player had simply put boot to ball after chesting it down, it should have been in Row Z from which position nobody can score. Ignoring two Boro players making head contact with each other and therefore probably neither of them being in prime condition to deal with a back-pass, why are so many BAD decisions being made. A defender's prime responsibility must be to defend the goal. Trying to play expressive/creative football in one's own penalty area is not only above their pay-grade but above their ability-grade. Play the percentages, please! If the ball goes to Row Z, from which there is a 0% chance of conceding a goal, then the defender's job is done.
That goal would be like a solicitor going into court to defend a parking ticket and coming out after his client received 6 months in prison. Or a surgeon receiving a patient in theatre for an ingrowing toenail but ending up amputating the (other) foot. It was comical with the funny music on YouTube.
@forever-dormo Luckily it was not a home match so you did not see it live at the Riverside. 🤣🤣
Let's hope the result is better versus Sunderland than it was yesterday. Need to star collecting points now. Up the Boro!
Btw, Martin, I got my comments on the pub very wrong yesterday. The establishment is usually full of PNE supporters, but yesterday nearly half of Teesside turned up! The queue for the bar stretched out of the door! Perhaps they’d all read my previous post…….
The only reason any of this is in any way relevant, in light of our devastating defeat, was that the away end was completely sold out and Boro’s support was magnificent almost throughout. That changed at the end of the game, when quite a number of fans made their anger felt. The defeat was such a terrible way to let down our amazing supporters.
I’m sure you’ll all be interested in Dave’s post match thoughts which he’s very kindly emailed over to me. He’s keen to help again next season so, if it’s ok, I’ll do both Preston starters next season - unless, of course, we’re in the EPL by then!
“Hi Martin,
Just a quick follow up after yesterdays game……no gloating honest!
Firstly, thanks for all the nice comments on the Diasboro opener, much appreciated!
Very happy to come out of that one with all three points, Boro seemed to have some vey good spells for the first 15 minutes of each half when they looked very dangerous going forward, particularly liked the look of the the on loan Liverpool lad Doak who was a handful all game!
Common consensus of the fans in my area was that Boro were one of the better sides to come to Deepdale this season, however, that was tempered with the opinion that defensively you could be “got at” and so it proved! The video of that goal should be accompanied by the Benny Hill theme tune it was that comical! Having watched it back I think it was a clash of heads between two Boro players that did the real damage , something most of us missed at the time, the fact it was Ayling involved made me smile though as he’s one of those players I’ve has an intense dislike for wherever he’s played!
Emily Riis does seem to like playing Boro, walking off the game alongside some Boro fans one of which said something along the lines of (but in a little more flowery language!) “ I hate that **** *, he always scores against us, |’d have him here mind you! Given he’s out of contract bat the end of the season I think he may be gone if not in this window but at the end of the season, so he may get his wish!
Finally, a great turnout from the Boro fans, it always makes for a better atmosphere when the way end is full!
Good luck for the rest of the season. And hopefully I’ll be invited to have some input into next seasons games…………provided you’ve not gone up and we’ve not gone down!
Cheers Dave”
@martin-bellamy. Thanks Martin for sharing Dave’s after match summary which was a fair reflection of our performance. Please pass on thanks to Dave and say well done on their win.
Unfortunately, what we saw yesterday was all too familiar, not only were we inept defensively and masters of our own downfall we also displayed our continuing inability to break teams down and finish them off when dominating the play.
This team continues to infuriate as individually they display so much ability, yet can’t put it all together to produce the results that they should doing; rarely, if ever, this season have we been played off the park or been beaten by a better side but have displayed an ability to regularly shoot ourselves in the foot.
I am getting very tired of listening to MC’s after match comments where he continually repeats himself about the need for learning from mistakes and improving as a team when it clearly is not happening. Individual mistakes are always going to happen so it’s about minimising them, playing to and improving on ones strengths.
I said a few games ago that the season and a top six was in danger of slipping away from us and I now believe that we are not strong enough to come out on top were we to make the play offs; when the going gets tough the tough get going and so far we don’t. 😎
@k-p-in-spain In February we play Sunderland H, Sheffield Utd A, Watford H, Bristol A, and Stoke away, although I think Jarkko said this last game is to be rearranged?
We are fifteen in the six match form table. 8 points from 18. 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats, and the worst of it, 6 goals for and 5 against.
The previous games in December were again short of goals for, apart from the two 3 all draws, so although six goals, only two points gained
We have stopped scoring sufficient goals to cover for the continued leaking of them at the other end.
Does anybody really have the confidence to see Boro scoring more than we let in against the above teams. No LL, no Conway until? Carrick not sure.
Maybe though, Whittaker will hit the ground running, Burgzorg and Doak will continue playing well. Maybe Azaz will wake up and find the magic he has lost. But, I doubt the defence will improve too much.
Like KP, I too am fed up of hearing Carrick repeat himself.