Portsmouth v Middlesbrough
15:00 Saturday 18/1/25
Fratton Park
Turning from the Boro exploits, or some might say, fan exploitation, in the cup, we return to the bread and butter of the league, or is the bread becoming stale, rationed with a sip of water? There is no doubt that there is a murmuring of discontent from the fans and a groundswell of muttering and outspoken comments on the fanzine sites about Boro’s coaching staff. Whilst I am of the opinion that there should not be any hasty decisions regarding removal of our coaching management, I do feel that they need someone with tactical awareness that could offer input and ideas into game changing plans. Could that someone be Mogga? Mmmm, an interesting thought, to hire someone who is well thought of by the club and is loved by the fans. It probably would not go down too well with Carrick, who is his own man, but as many have observed his apparent calm and patience on the sidelines sometimes needs a bit of fire and brimstone to energise the players.
One of the main problems with the Boro team as it stands, is that there are no real leaders on the pitch. No one to take the game by the scruff of the neck and lead by example. Where are the Leadbitter, Pearson, Robson, Mowbray captains to dominate and make sure that the coaching tactics are carried out. Whilst Hackney has the Captains armband at the moment, he doesn’t look like a captain,act like a captain or appear to know what a captain should do to energise his team. Am I being too harsh on the lad? Aye,there’s the rub, he is nobbut a lad isn’t he and still learning his role as a player.A captain shouldn’t look like he’s just got out of bed, half asleep and asking his Mam what’s for breakfast! He doesn’t command respect and doesn’t get it either. So Boro have a rudderless ship on the pitch, which when a storm brews doesn’t have someone to steer them into calmer waters.
There is no doubt that the main cause of the misfiring midfield has been the loss of Morris and the advancing years of our real captain Howson. To lose one is happenstance, to lose two is coincidence, to put up with Barlaser is three, enemy action! The midfield needs sorting and has done for a while. It’s really poor and there is no driving force. McGree doesn’t look like the player he was last season does he? He is either injured! homesick! Or fallen out of love with Carrick and the club. Unfortunately he is another player that will have to be moved on to try and generate room in the squad for new blood. I know that we have intricate passing and tippy, tappy football, but lots of opponents have worked the Boro out and know how to keep us at arms length and their goal safe whilst hitting Boro with a quick counter and winning the game.
Boro certainly need to look at their team of players and whilst currently occupying a top 6 playoff position there are some obvious positions that need strengthening. Glover does not impress as a goalkeeper and whilst it’s unfortunate that we appear to have two crocked goalkeepers, we need someone with experience who can command the box and not flap at crosses.
The loss of Jones was inevitable, the potential loss of Doak incredible and the additional loss of Lath inconceivable! It sends the wrong message out to the players that Middlesbrough are quite happy to remain in the second tier and as long as they can get 20k plus crowds, they can muddle along without resorting to the problems of being in the Premiership. Have the ambitions of Mr Gibson peaked? I sincerely hope not as he has personally invested a lot of cash into the club whilst enhancing his assets at Rockliffe and the Riverside. Our other forward players are not in the same category or standard as Lath. Burgzorg although reputed to have played as a no 9 kept drifting back to the left hand side of the pitch on Saturday and was ineffective.Micah Hamilton was lauded as the replacement for Jones but didn’t contribute to the game at all and looked lost. Hopefully Conway can get fit and back on the pitch soon to assist the forward line in conjunction with Forss who made a quiet return in a cameo display on Saturday.
On the plus points Alex Gilbert is making steady progress in midfield and has an eye for goal, plus the emerging talent of teenager Law McCabe looks promising for the future Boro team.
In summing up where Boro are at the moment, I would say that again we are a team in transition and are no further forward than we have been for the past three seasons. Always flattering to deceive and being just an “also ran” or “nearly team!”
Our next opponents are Portsmouth who are just hovering over the relegation zone in 21st position with 23 points but have played two games less than their surrounding teams. With a fixture against Blackburn away on Wednesday, Boro will be hoping that the game will take something out of our Saturday opponents.They also suffered a defeat in the cup as West Ham star Gideon Kodua turned heads with his role in an FA Cup underdog victory for League One side Wycombe Wanderers on Friday evening. The Chairboys beat their Championship opposition Portsmouth 2-0.The 20-year-old is on loan at Adams Park this season, having returned to the side following a successful stint over the back end of the 2023/24 campaign. Wycombe sit second in the League 1 table, eyeing promotion, and look to be putting together a little cup run too. So whilst we lick our wounds about being beaten by Championship opposition, Portsmouth were beaten by League 1 opponents! Portsmouth manager John Mousinho admitted that he ‘didn’t think there was much point’ speaking to his players as they lost 2-0 away at Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup.
Pompey, who are now in the Championship after a 12-year absence, only had three notable chances in the contest at Adams Park.The first two fell to Paddy Lane and Christian Saydee in the opening five minutes with the score at 0-0, before Tom McIntyre forced Nathan Bishop into a save in the dying embers of the match.At that point, the Chairboys were 2-0 up and didn’t look in danger of conceding. Mousinho, who spent two years with Wycombe as a player between 2008 and 2010, admitted that the league was ‘more important’, but wanted his players to be ‘a lot more competitive’ than what they were.Wanderers’ goalscorers were Brandon Hanlan and Sonny Bradley.The latter had one season with the South Coast team during the 2013/14 year, where he played 38 times and scored two.Mousinho said: “We have had a very busy Christmas period and have Blackburn during the week, which will be our fifth away game in six.This has meant we’ve had to be reliant on our core and I thought it was the right thing to do (make changes).
“We didn’t want to risk any injuries to key players and now it’s just about resting legs for the game on Wednesday.
“Even though we all know that the Championship is the most important thing for us, I still think we should have been a lot more competitive than we were tonight. I haven’t said anything to players as I didn’t think there was much point – we’ll review the game tonight and there’s not much you can say about the performance.
“We were way below the standard.”
The cup tie was the first-ever fixture in the competition between the two clubs to be played at Adams Park.
It was also the second time the two teams met in the FA Cup, with the previous encounter being in the 2016/17 season, which Wycombe won 2-1 at Fratton Park.
Chairboys legend Adebayo Akinfenwa scored the winner with six minutes to go.
The magpies midfield player Isaac Hayden a 29-year-old, who has 171 Magpies appearances to his name, had temporary stints with Standard Liège and Queens Park Rangers during the last campaign.
Hayden, a Jamaica international, has now made the switch to Fratton Park and will link up with former United team-mate Matt Ritchie on the South Coast for the remainder of the season.
Isaac Hayden trained with his new team-mates on Saturday after completing the move.
So forecasts please ……
NO BORO3 !
Fully agree with your assessment of Boro and the players. I can’t remember when Boro were so short of Captain material. I would love to have Tony M. in the background offering advice to Carrick and company. It would guarantee an improvement. Equally I’d agree a straight swop. Unfortunately neither will happen.
Boro have some young players coming through the academy system plus other players they’ve acquired but none ready to command a starting position.
Why is this? I’m thinking that they don’t play enough really competitive games. The Championship demands players are at least available for 46 games. How many games are Boro’s young players playing? Virtually all under 21 level. This is no good - get them out on loan asap. Unless you’re a Rooney type player who was ready for Premiership football in his late teens, they need more competitive games. Some of the very top players , eg Harry Kane, needed 2or 3 loan deals before showing the talent we now see. I’d like to see Boro develope a relationship with up to half a dozen lower division teams who the club trust to look after their players and have them playing regularly.
In the meantime I’m expecting a number of ups and downs to the end of the season with hopefully scrambling a top 6 position. It would be good if the next game was an “up” performance.
Philip of Huddersfield
ps consulted my Huddersfield fans who say Boro will be wasting their time trying to convert Burgzong to a centre forward.
Very good opener, Bob and I wouldn't disagree with any of your comments on the current Boro malaise, which is only likely to get worse come the end of the transfer window. My main hope is that Carrick and Woodgate can use their contacts with Liverpool and Man U to entice some promising youngsters to throw in their lot with us until the end of the season. A fair number of good young prospects got on the pitch for both clubs in the Cup this week-end and the Doak precedent should stand us in good stead if any of them were to become available on loan
As to the lack of leaders on the pitch, that's the result of the policy of concentrating on recruiting developmental projects. I think it's broadly the right policy, but it may have been applied too inflexibly. Successive managers, who understandably have much shorter time horizons, have had their attempts to recruit more experienced players with a proven Championship pedigree knocked back. And, of course, Morsy, Watmore and now Jones were all moved on to make way for less experienced projects.
The four players in the current squad who would fit the bill are Howson, Clarke, Ayling and Edmundson. The first two preceded the advent of the policy- they were already on the books. The latter two were signed against the grain of the policy at the insistence of Carrick. And, of course, none of the four is an automatic choice at the moment. So it remains an ongoing problem.
Your comments on McGree are spot on. He isn't the player he was and something is amiss. That foot injury of his may not have entirely cleared up, and he was reported as having a chest infection last month. I'm hoping that this may be the key to his poor form. I, too, have had a chest infection for over four weeks and it still hasn't cleared up. If he has had what I have, then he's not ( like me) going to be a fully functioning athlete for some time yet. I'm hoping to pass a fitness test ready for the opening of the bowls season. And that's in April.
I agree with you that the prospects for the next few weeks look miserable. We have one striker, who will probably be on his way soon, and absolutely no penetration down either wing. I don't blame Carrick. The players he has to choose from simply don't look up to it to me.
Thanks again, Bob for all of your work on such an excellent preview
Thanks for the Headliner OFB. Well put together with the added interesting bits on Portsmouth and their recent games.
Unfortunately, your piece and the two following posts from Philip and Len, really do sum up the Boro at this time. Some good players, but with no Leader. Some players that do not look fit or do not fit into the system.
Some posters have defended Boro, by using the injured players as an excuse. Yes there have been one or two that has been missed, but generally, to be fair to Carrick he has been able to put out a team, but that just should be doing better than it is.
The Coaching staff have to take their share of the blame for the continuing, inconsistent performances. As somebody mentioned, KP maybe, apart from our three games were we scored a hatful of goals during a short purple patch, we have not and appear not to be able to stop the "leaking of goals" Poor defences for the most, do not win anything.
We are now nearly half way through the window and the situation is looking a little bleak. Losing Jones at this time is a disappointment and should have waited until the summer, besides asking for a bigger upfront fee.
It must be almost inevitable that we will lose LL before the end of the window. I doubt Conway will be back for a number of weeks if Morris is anything to go by. If we are to lose LL, as difficult as it is from the finances, should we not be seriously looking to be bringing in an extra forward now. Maybe they are??
The left side of the team has looked weak all season and now the right side is looking decidedly vulnerable. I have never been a betting man, but for those that are, would you back Boro for a top six place.
Great work OFB and definitely a reminder of Boro reality at the moment.
It’s tempting to look for people to blame, but none of us is privy to what goes on in the higher echelons of MFC management, nor what KPIs have been set for MC. Is his sole goal to get us promoted, or is it in part to control costs and balance the books?
Are decisions on sales and signings within his purview, or is he simply a bystander, whilst Len’s nemesis controls the purse strings, deciding who should stay or who should go? It always tease, tease, tease?
We’re rapidly heading to all matches being must-win games if we’re going to achieve a top 6 finish. I’d say the chances of that happening are about 50/50 - a decent run of wins would probably secure a play off place, but many more dropped points and we could see the season fizzle out prematurely.
Talking of must win games - this is definitely one of them - I’m going for a 1-2 win.
Thank you OFB for an excellent summary of both our current situation and that of Portsmouth’s recent woes.
I haven’t seen anything in recent weeks that would suggest we can start putting together consistent and winning performances and I think our current position flatters us as a result of one purple patch. That apart, the season has seen mediocre results in a league which has been at its weakest for some time.
To have any chance of getting out of this league and surviving more than one season in the PL (which has to be the ambition) then you need to be either in the top two or very close to them, instead we are well adrift at the half way point and fear we will be more so come season end.
A team aiming for promotion should be going to Portsmouth, dominating the game and coming away with all three points; I hope we can but given recent performances who knows, any result is entirely possible.
Sorry about the negativity but I just have this dread that another season of hope is likely to start slipping away.😎
I think the main issue is the club don't have a pot to urinate in, just look at the latest accounts, SG is putting in cira 1M a month and converting 130M loan to share/s so acceptable bids will taken, if we were in the top two it might be a different situation. Don't know what club does, we have some of most expensive tickets in div at some point people will stop going again as prices rise, I uhm and are about renewing my 2 season tickets every season. Additionally I can't imagine any billionaire wanting to invest we are no leeds. I still struggle to understand why SG didn't want the cleveland cable brothers involved. Maybe too many ego's I suspect we will never know, unless OFB knows and even if he did I suspect he has been sworn to secrecy on pain of death.
I agree that on paper we should be making a better fist of it but then the game is not played on paper and this is why I don't like it when people say but look at our xG and possession stats. Lies dawmned lies and stats.
I am very much glass half full where the team is concerned but after 40 years watching the team and 36 years as a season ticket holder and the disappointment of various cup finals what do you expect.
I have enjoyed MC as manager but he does appear to lack tactical flexibility but or maybe he is just very stubborn.
At the end of the day as the great man was want to say "it is what it is"
Thanks for the opener OFB. This will not be an easy game. Pompey are unbeaten at home in their last 5 games W4 D1 Goals for 14 Goals against 2. Only WBA, Sunderland and Sheff W have won there. Sheff U drew 0-0. Their home goal difference is better than ours. Another draw is looking a possibility.
Thanks OFB for the preview. Always appreciated as are all other previous contributions. It is not looking good at the moment. However this is Boro we are talking about and our away form is not bad and let’s just hope the FA Cup was a aberration and a welcome chance to rest some players. Pompey have a decent recent home record so clearly a nailed on Boro 1 0 victory. Since when has football and following the Boro in particular, ever been about being logical?
@martin-bellamy Fair comments Martin, and “but none of us is privy to what goes on in the higher echelons of MFC management”
The only thing I would say is: Carrick I believe is an ambitious Coach, who will want to be a success. He has started at a high-ish level in choosing the Boro (I am discounting his 3/4 games in charge of United) and has made a decent start to his coaching career. Touted last season for possibly a Premier League team job.
I do not believe he would have signed a three year deal if he had not been promised a reasonable shot of promotion and some say in the choice of players, in or out.
However, is he still on track for that climb up the ladder to the EPL I think he may have slipped a rung or two down, this season.
I actually think Pompey are going to give it a go ,their fans will demand it, so the likes of the two wide men and especially Azzaz ,Hackney , and nowhere man, will have to learn to track back and help, when they lose the ball.
There comes a time when you see what you see and you can't wait for players to fight for the right, we have the talent but do we have the will.
@original-fat-bob Many thanks for an excellent starter. Must be one of your best so far, mate.
Up the Boro!
Ref your quote “However, is he still on track for that climb up the ladder to the EPL I think he may have slipped a rung or two down, this season.”
Perhaps he’s just treading carefully !
OFB
Thanks for the preview OFB and expertly highlighting the deficiencies and potential problems in making this Boro side promotion candidates.
I think the loss of Morris has been a major problem as he's the type of unfussy player who wins and distributes the ball efficiently - though he's never going to score many (any?) from midfield. I think defensively Boro are well stocked centrally with Fry, Rav, Edmundson and Clarke - with Ayling and Howson able to play there too and of course youngster McCormick and possible Lenihan if he ever recovers.
Goalkeeping situation has been unfortunate with Dieng losing form and then getting injured - plus the loss of Sol Brynn who was looking the real deal. Glover looks average and his kicking is suspect and maybe not the sweeper-keeper Carrick would want. Hard to see the club risking the season on Glover and an academy cover option.
I think most are resigned to losing both Latte Lath and Ben Doak in January as the club need to fill the hole in the finances every year since they lost parachute payments and Liverpool appear open to cashing in on their player too.
If the keeper situation is dodgy then just injury-prone Conway as the sole striker and not yet fit is going to prove just as costly - I'm sure there must be plan to get at least another in to replace ELL but whether they are good to go and have pace is going to be the question.
I think Carrick's position is not at risk as he's essentially 5th behind two PL relegated clubs and one of last season's best in Leeds - Sunderland have perhaps over-performed expectations and Boro have dropped silly points. Nevertheless, if you'd been offered 5th spot in January before the season started them most will have taken that - including the chairman!
Can't see how Mogga as a man looking to get back into management again would fit in as another coaching voice without stepping on toes - it would make Carrick's position untenable to have a minder on tactics and has been mention before Mogga's sides were also prone to conceding unnecessary goals too.
Much depends on how the squad looks at the end of this window but Boro probably do lack that driving force on the pitch - though bringing a new leader into the dressing room is difficult unless they're already a respected figure in the game and that is likely to be someone ageing and past their best.
In the end results on the pitch will improve the overall level of the team and there's a chance to start that on Saturday - Boro after all are unbeaten in six Championship games so they should still fancy their chances!
"...but none of us is privy to what goes on in the higher echelons of MFC management"
That's true Martin, and the reason for that is that the Gazette and Echo are not in any position to tell us or even guess at. What we do know is that two Gazette reporters lost their jobs when they produced material that did not meet with the club's approval. Since the club banned them they were effectively neutered, unable to do their jobs since they were cut off from their primary source of material and information.
So what we do know is that what now gets reported are essentially the facts, narratives and angles that the club itself issues. They are the primary source of most of the stories and local reporters dutifully reproduce them.
So how can we, as supporters, get any sense of what is going on?
My own method is to try to read between the lines of stories, recognising them as being primarily PR material, but being alert to internal contradictions and those points at which the truth might be leaking through. Key to this is to go to original source material such as Carrick's press conferences, Scott's unattributed briefings and formal interviews, and interviews with players.
News management at the club now seems to be incredibly tight and even applies to what Carrick is and is not allowed to say. How do I know this? I don't. But I can guess.
Did anyone else see and sit up in some astonishment at Carrick's press conference preceding the game at Burnley? It's there on the internet and, at 7-9 minutes in, Carrick is asked about the problems facing players who are out through injury.
Carrick says that the club shows them that we care about them as individuals, not just the coaching staff, but the people who see them every day," the doctors, the physios, the masseurs...even him sometimes." At that point he turned to someone out of shot of the camera, before continuing..."Sorry mate, I gave you a mention...you didn't want a mention."
So who was this mysterious person who was monitoring the coach's pressers, but who did not wish this fact to be known. I don't know, but I can have a guess.
And I can allow myself to be astonished and reflect upon how neither Warnock nor Wilder would ever have allowed this to happen.
Warnock used his pressers to relieve himself of all kinds of frustrations through gossip, not least about "them upstairs", whilst Wilder was equally robust about what were his legitimate spheres of interest to speak freely about as a manager.
It's one of the reasons why the post of manager was abolished.
If you want a recent example of how a dominant narrative has been established by the club across all of the media, then look no further than the reasons given this week for Jones leaving the club.
It's the same story across the Gazette, the Echo, and the local commentary team covering the Blackburn game. The unanimity of the story is what gives the game away. Alongside the fact that it is such an odd explanation and not one that is in any way conventional or normal.
We are asked to believe that Jones left the club because it was the right time for him to do so. Just part of the natural course of events. Just as daffodils bud in Spring or trees lose their leaves in Autumn, so it's part of some kind of natural rhythm or evolutionary phase for Jones to be leaving at this time. Good for him and good for the club. He’s returning home.
What disappears in this account is any kind of human agency. When history and power relationships can be discounted then Nature floods in.
In fact we know that there has been a concerted campaign to undermine and move Jones on for many months now.
Scott dropped in the name of Jones as someone who might have to be moved on to make way for more recent signings around the time that he was doing it most obviously with Josh Coburn. We have seen the same technique used more recently with Alex Gilbert, a move that Carrick pushed back on, and was finally resolved only when Carrick took a gamble with him at Hull, where Gilbert put an end to the argument with a fine last minute winner.
The media complied with the undermining of Jones’ position. The loan signing of Doak, for example, was heralded with the Gazette headline,"Doak serves notice to Isaiah Jones", an unnecessarily confrontational take on the situation without parallel in any of our other signings. Edmundson's loan signing was not seen as a threat, or 'serving notice' on Fry, Lenihan, Van den Berg or Clarke for example. Or Borges’ signing seen as serving notice on Engel.
And the stories have continued about Jones descending down the pecking order, not getting regular games, perhaps being better off elsewhere, despite the fact that he still seemed well motivated, was doing a vital job when he did play and being seen by the coaching staff as still having an important role to play.
In fact the dominant narrative of Jones needing to move on because of his playing second fiddle to Doak (no mention, by the way of Forss or Hamilton having to be moved on as third and fourth fiddles) has had to be completely abandoned.
The real possibility that Doak may well be leaving us in the next few weeks has forced a complete uncoupling of that link. Now we are being asked to believe that Jones’ leaving is a completely separate issue from that of Doak moving on. The two issues, we are told, are not connected
The truth of the matter is that a perverse decision, the selling of a player for whom there was now an obvious space and need, is being presented as a natural one. It is anything but. It has been a carefully engineered decision
A final word about Jones moving back home
In his brilliant long interview last year which received attention because of Jones’ brave statements about his own mental health, there were many other interesting revelations. One of them was Jones’ account of how his move to the north-east had completely transformed his life. There was an implication that the move had taken him away from London's street and gang culture in which he was in danger of becoming embroiled. It had given him a transformative social education, in which he was shown that you greeted people each day by saying “Good morning” to them. It was as basic as that. And he told about how he was taken under their wing and looked after by senior pros like George Friend and Britt Assambolonga. It was a most moving account and there was certainly enough there to make me raise an eyebrow about this week-end's "natural" assumption that that Jones would want to be returning home.
@lenmasterman As I alluded to in my post, I guess we’ll never know the full truth. Like you, I’m dubious about the announcements regarding IJ, but I’ve said on here before that there seemed to be something lacking in his attitude of late. Whether his confidence had been undermined by Scott’s comments, or he’d simply lost his desire to win his place back is anyone’s guess.
I’d heard rumours of issues off the pitch, but was unaware of what they’d been and, in any event, I wasn’t keen to pry into his private life. From what you’ve written, it does seem that he found his time in the NE useful and maybe opened his eyes to another way of life. I wish him well in his career and hope he finds peace off the pitch too.
Len
From what I have read in blogs and unexpurgated or sanitised stories about Jones was he had admitted personal mental problems and issues. He was quoted as saying that he had lost 7 yes 7 family members of the past year and it had made him feel a long way from home and vulnerable.
i cannot vouch for the veracity of this story or if it was another rumour promulgated by others
OFB
@lenmasterman Was your favourite TV programme “X Files” by any chance 😂😂😂.
Come on BORO.
Ipswich turn down Bid of 350K for Edmundson.
Interesting observations Len - It seems in today's world it's all about the narrative more than just actually saying as Mogga used to "It is what it is." - Everyone needs a narrative to justify their decisions, whether it be the club, a football director, a manager or a player. It used to be that people just made decisions - now it's about deals, NDAs and press releases that puts everything in the best light. Everyone has to appear happy and on board but in the end what's done is done - though if they turn out to be bad decisions then nobody is responsible - all backs are covered and we move on. God forbid if any reporter is off message if they want to be in the loop in future!
I suppose in theory Ipswich could sell Edmundson to another club if they wanted just like Doak...
He played a game for Ipswich at the start of the season so can't play for anyone except Boro or Ipswich.
😓 Nice one
btw OFB congratulations on your 3000th post 🥳
I just noticed that improbably both Jarkko and KP both currently have exactly 2559 posts each 🙂
Thanks, Werder. You are in our sight at 2657 ...I just noticed that improbably both Jarkko and KP both currently have exactly 2559 posts each 🙂
Up the Boro!