At this level of play Boro could play all night and not score. Short passing up to the penalty area is fine but there’s no spark where a player goes past an opponent to create real danger. The penalty area is too crammed to keep passing in the hope of creating a chance. Again possession, 73%, counts for nothing without an end product .
Charlton could even be winning and their tactic is more of the same of defending deep and hoping for a breakaway.
It’s clear that Boro play better against teams who play a more open , not defensive, game.
Here’s hoping the second half is better and not a repeat of Oxford,
Philip of Huddersfield 👎🤔
Bugger! Charlton takes the lead in the 59th minute!
Castledine & Sarmiento on for Whittaker & Strelec in the 58th minute.
Castledine & Sarmiento on for Whittaker & Strelec in the 58th minute.
Sène on for McGree in the 74th minute.
Oh for a Josh Coburn to give us a different approach to breaking down a well organised defensive 11
This may sound over critical but the style of play from start to end was all wrong. Short passing, build up play too slow, keeping possession, 77%, not ruthless in front of goal etc, etc.
Didn’t create enough. Didn’t deserve to win.
philip
We had the chances but nobody who could take them.
No margin of error now.
Yet more points dropped at home and once again Boro frustratingly fail to find a way through a low block as they passed the ball for most of the game but couldn't create any clear cut chances. A lack of a true centre-forward as a target and nothing to show from the 34 shots and 11 corners means there little room left for any more slip-ups.
Well. Every team is going to come and set up like Oxford and now Charlton. KH and his team have to find a way to play and win against this.
Casteldine looks like he might be the best thing we have as a target man. Mostly I wish we would go behind the defence and play low fast balls back in from the line instead of preferring to recycle it back to the middle and then back into the same place wide and back in the middle.
KH talked about needing to go slow to choose the right time to speed up. Unlike me, he knows what he is talking about, but for me there is far too little urgency until it is too late.
I would have preferred Brown to start rather than Whittaker who is too lightweight to boss that kind of defensive set up.
We really could have played till midnight and not scored tonight.
So so so frustrating
We just passed and passed and passed in front of them with no penetration. A real lack of composure and we played into their hands with too many intricate passes through the middle rather than sharp passing to drag defenders out of position. In hindsight (a wonderful thing), should have gone 3 at the back with Browne providing some nous. Still in a good position but oh what a massive missed opportunity.
If we don’t make the top two this season it will be because the management haven’t addressed the Achilles heel of this team which is an inability to beat the low block. Not many teams will come to The Riverside and play an expansive game so the team management need to fix the problem and quickly. Before Bristol City turn up on Saturday would be good…..
We are so poor at set pieces. We had 11 corners, and still nobody got a head on the ball to nod it goalwards. Where are Matt Clarke and Daniel Ayala when you need them? Mind, it doesn’t help that the great majority of our corners were played short and back into the recycled passing game, with players waiting eagerly in the middle for a cross that never came.
Someone above mentioned the lack of a long throw - yet ironically it was from just such a situation that Charlton scored. We clearly need to develop this as a weapon.
Oxford and Charlton have clearly set the template now for how to stop us playing at The Riverside. My guess is that 4 of the remaining 5 visitors will employ the same tactics. Depending on their points accumulation from now on, Millwall may well need to come out and attack, but their defence is generally very strong, so they may still stop us scoring.
I think I’ll go to the local nail parlour tomorrow: at this rate, I’m going to need some falsies.
Sorry, Gents, for the prediction I made in a recent post. Far too optimistic compared with what I saw on the pitch at The Riverside.
I won't go on. I have just got home and it is already late and I might write something intemperate. Maybe tomorrow. Perhaps...
Very frustrating and once again so predictable. We have picked up 2 points from the past three home games and scored one goal. We do seem to play better away, where our speed of movement seems much better. Looking at the stats as well as 34 shots we also had 46 crosses and 86 touches in their box, they had 7 and won the game! I can see a repeat happening on Saturday, unless KH can come up with a way to counter the low block in 24 hours.
@clive-hurren It now appears that when we were looking forward a month ago at our run in, it looked to be in our favour. How wrong could one be.
Leicester, Oxford and now Charlton. It is a good bet that the remaining teams coming to the Riverside with play like that. Why not, because KH, his assistants and the players have just no idea how to defeat it.
Once more another inept performance. Strelec has been a poor buy, and despite his goals so has Whittaker for his overall contribution. Not to mention the other failures provided by Scott this last three windows.
As Eb posted, once again it was pass, pass, pass until we lost it or a speculative shot was blocked.
Powmill said we should have had more crosses in from the byline. I think we had plenty, however when your build up is snails pace, any crosses have to beat a packed defence to reach a red shirt.
if we miss this opportunity to finish second, then it maybe a long time before we get another chance like this. OK, some will say we still have the playoffs, but what of winning those?
GUTTED.
@mw-in-darwin I just do not think we have the players or a system to suit what we have.
We three at the back be worth a go once again.
Well…
How can one be so unhappy about a home defeat by a solitary goal, especially when the team seemed to do everything right but score?
Well, as it turns out, you can, if Typical Boro come along to burst your bubble after two delightful doses of the Untypical.
I will also say - note that my views on the game may be limited given I was at the Lyric tonight - that an apparent reversion to 4-2-2-2 did concern me. As has often been said, great against teams who need to come out and play, not so great when you don’t get that lucky break, the opposition grow in confidence, possibly nick a goal and then realise that, with a lead to protect and no need to push out, that keeping their shape, stifling our rhythm and denying us room has a great chance of winning the day.
It’s not a KH thing either. Many Boro sides have fallen short for similar reasons.
And on the bright side - it could just have been one of those days where the lucky break we needed didn’t come, and we are still brilliantly placed.
I do believe we will bounce back and convincingly so but I share the frustration of those who may well be wondering how many more proverbial kicks or warnings we’ll need to take to hit top form again.
We haven’t “blown” anything. We have so, so much going for us. But I get how it may seem otherwise right now.
Have only got time for a quick post as I was late home last night after getting back from seeing the game late and up early to head out for a day of invigilating at a school! Followed by a few tea time drinks with a friend who is a Liverpool season ticket holder.
The one word about last night was frustrating, no actually three frustrating typical Boro!
Happy with selection and their goal was so soft coming straight after the subs. My cousin, said just before the throw in that he hoped the new players knew who to mark!
They should have been down to 10 men, the tackle was right in front of us and it was two footed, studs up.
We just couldn’t fund a way through a packed box and I think we had over 30 shots although the 7 on target did not stretch their keeper enough. On another day it would have been 3 0!
Anyway, still 2nd, (just) and let’s see what happens when Saturday comes.
UTB
I was a believer but now I am not so sure. Our same old failings have come back to haunt us.
We have yet to show that we can overcome teams who are disciplined and defend in numbers allied to our ability to make school by errors when defending.
Our big signings, DS and MW, are not delivering when we need them to and I have not seen anyone come off the bench and make a difference, AB apart, and who for me should have been on from the start rather than unused.
Unless we can overcome our twin arch nemesis of Bristol City and Blackburn in the next two games, then we could find ourselves down in a play off spot.
I hope my fears are wrong but I wouldn’t bet on it nor us to win the play off.
Typical Boro rearing its head just at the wrong time as always. 😎
The performance at QPR was very good . Last night was the exact opposite. The longer the game went on the more monotonous it became.
We had it confirmed that all teams coming to the Riverside will play like Charlton because Boro have no idea how to beat 11 men behind the ball.
The real disappointment was the persistence of playing exactly the same for 90 minutes when it was obvious that it wasn’t working. That tells me that there is no plan B.
I’m no longer confident that Boro can hold onto second place. As many of us have said in the remaining games it’s all about momentum. Coventry , Millwall and Ipswich have it . Boro have shown it but recently , the last 3 home games, it’s been missing.
For the next game, the coach must do something different even if it includes starting with Castledine and changing the formation.
Philip of Huddersfield
👎👎☹️☹️
I trust KH to get the most out of this team. If their keeper hadn’t got his fingertips to Morris’s goal bound shot to tip it onto the bar, it would have been a completely different outcome. They’d have had to come forward more creating more space behind.
It seems that our optimism around having a majority of home games left may be misplaced. We have a better chance of scoring first away from home with less parking of the bus by teams at their own grounds.
It’s all still in our grasp but there’s no room for more slip ups.
One thing I did observe from yesterday's game is that Hackney was man-marked for the whole game and immediately closed down if he received the ball and was unable to make his usual forward passes and often had to pass backwards and sideways. Hackney has been the driving force of the team this season and the opposition know that so he was nullified.
Though as someone already mentioned, Boro don't really do much with corners and we had 11 last night but Arsenal routines we had not. You would think when facing a team intent on defending deep there would be some emphasis on making set pieces count - after all Charlton made one of their few set pieces count with the long throw. I noted that our own long-throw merchant in Edmunson remained on the bench.
Neither Conway, Whittaker or Strelec offered much last night - Sarmiento and Castledine offered more directness when they came on and perhaps they would've been better from the start knowing what was to come. Will we see the same from Bristol City on Saturday? Or worse still, the same from Boro...
Three observations for you all.
FRESH START
In the first of two instances of citing Roy M. Keane, I’m reminded of the time he noted that there’s trust in the new manager, for a while. So it was for Carrick in one of our most exciting seasons of the decade before the devastating regression, Edwards before the Wolves came hunting, and Hellberg before a possible combination of nerves and fear of away sides sussing his philosophy intervened. It’s a hint, for me, to why last night’s result hurt so much, because given our history there is the feeling that KH really has to take this opportunity, like Robbo did in his first season. While Robbo also brought us up in his fourth season, and Karanka did in his third, neither achievement seems fully valued, with the sense of the freshness having gone and the belief that given those resources, promotion was the bare minimum. My point being, when the fresh start fades, a sort of spark tends to fade with it and what follows can’t be the same regardless of statistics.
HOME TIME
Citing Mr Keane again, he once implied that struggling at home wasn’t acceptable even if you are doing okay in the away games, because the vast majority of fans see the team at home.
The opposition and how well they play doesn’t matter either, alas - if a fan was to base their viewpoint solely on the last three home games, which have drawn increasingly decreasing crowds (from nearly 29,000 to just over 26,000 and now just over 24,500), they would have just one goal in 270 minutes and two points from nine, against teams we were expected to beat. A cynic may say that equates to relegation form if they were judging us by those games alone.
Of course, this isn’t fair on KHBoro at all. Of course, Charlton was our first home defeat of 2026 and only our second league loss since New Year’s Day. Of course, whatever our concerns about being “light up top” we’ve netted ten goals in our last four away matches and seven in our last two, attaining three wins out of four. Of course the teams we dropped points to recently had their own battles to fight and fought them well.
But the bigger picture matters less when the big prize is so near and opportunities to cement it in front of our own fans keep slipping away. Much as I’m tempted to repeat “don’t panic, look at our league position, everybody drops points” I am fully aware that won’t go down well with everyone, especially in a season where we’ve both done so well and been so emotionally engaged.
That said…
GOOD OMENS?
Keeping this one short and simple - a defeat to Charlton almost ten years ago reignited our promotion campaign. We didn’t lose again for the rest of the season - there is a feeling, on reflection, that we came too far to let it slide.
Onwards and upwards. Hopefully…
....
Keeping this one short and simple - a defeat to Charlton almost ten years ago reignited our promotion campaign. We didn’t lose again for the rest of the season - there is a feeling, on reflection, that we came too far to let it slide.
Onwards and upwards. Hopefully…
Top man Si. That is exactly how I am going to put last night's frustrations to bed. Half full it is and unless the footballing gods elect otherwise, that is how I think the rest of our season will go. Unbeaten.
CoB
Whilst it's clear that we're much more likely to get a result when our attackers have space, I don't agree that Boro's style of play or setup was wrong last night.
To my mind Targett and Morris should have scored in the first half, as should Castledine at least once in the second half and possibly Hackney at the end as well.
When you add in that we might have been awarded a penalty and they might have received a red card in a separate incident, well, it just wasn't our night.
Having failed to beat Oxford and Leicester in recent home games as well - the Oxford one being quite similar - I can understand people creating an obvious pattern but in this case I think it was more about dodgy finishing and having no luck with the key decisions than anything fundamental.
That said, as I have done all season to be honest, I do think the squad is missing a physical presence up front. Not a lot KH can do about that, mind.
Despite the goals this season I'm still unconvinced on Whittaker and, though we're all willing it to happen, I'm struggling with Strelec's level of contribution as well.
I am inclined to agree with you re Whittaker. Always far too easily hustled off the ball and doesn't find the same incisive final ball that Riley McGree delivers so often.
I also agree to an extent re Strelec. A Tommy Conway, who works immenseley hard and effectively for the team front to back, let alone in simply stretching the defence wide and making opportunities for other to shine, he is not. On the other hand, I suspect given the opportunity he would be a far more clinical finisher than TC. That said, his overall contribution is not so good and I would be inclined to start him on the bench and introduce hime later in the game if and when needed.
I will forgive Castledine his headers last night. He is really still new to the team and that was effectively his return to first team action after injury and he is young. I think had he more games under his belt at this level and particularly with this team, he would probably have done better. What impressed me was that he was able to get himself into the right places, much more so than any of his team mates. I would have him start on Saturday in place of Strelec and I do think we have found a gem here, who may well get us some important goals over the next couple of months.
You are right about the game last night as well. On another occasion we might have put four or five chances away. One of those night yes, but still there is a pattern that we keep repeating the same things over and over in a game like that, expecting a different result. There is I think a mental block (never mind a low block) that KH has to clear out of this squad's head. I don't really think (until Castledine came on) the team believed they could score. I think once we have well and truly turned one of these teams over at the Riverside , we will then continue to do just that. Let us hope the Robins will be the unlucky ones to be the first in a while. I have a sneaky feeling they just might be.
Is Hellberg now being found out in terms of the predictability of our approach, particularly at home? Or are the coaching staff doing the best they can with the players they have at their disposal? In crude terms, if we are looking for the causes of our poor home form, should we be looking at the limitations of the coach or of the squad?
It's an open question, though uniquely last night Hellberg lashed out at the players, saying that whilst the approach play had been "brilliant", the finishing had been “terrible”, and lacking in quality. It was the “What can you do?" argument. The coaches have done their job, the chances have been created, but we cannot put the ball in the net for them. The fault lies with the players.
It's an argument that would be more convincing if we had created an enormous number of chances that had been squandered. But that is not how I saw the game. It was not a match of missed sitters(our best chance fell to Matt Targett, and who is going to criticise him?) but of a failure to create chances and penetrate a low-block defence. As Philip noted, the game became boring, one of those games where we looked less likely to score the longer it went on.
I find it hard to blame the players. They are the best we have, and they give their all in every game in terms of energy and commitment. And it is all credit to them that we just happen to be second in a highly competitive league.
Hellberg made two telling comments earlier this season.He admitted that the system he was playing was new to him, and that in Sweden he had played with a traditional striker and two wide players. He was adapting his formations and tactics to the players he had at his disposal.
The second point that Hellberg has repeatedly made is that he is not responsible for recruitment. He doesn't make those decisions. He might have opinions on players that he makes known to the recruitment staff, but he has been absolutely adamant that he does not make any decisions in that area. He has made clear to everyone what has been made clear to him. He will do his best with what he has.
This gives the head coach a pass on what the vast majority of Boro supporters know to have been our main problems since the beginning of the season and continued to be unaddressed by the recruitment team in January. It is that the squad is unbalanced, and in particular continues to lack effective strikers and pacy wide men.
The simplest explanation of why Coventry are ahead of us in the league table is that they have three strikers, all of whom have reached double figures for goals in the Championship so far this season, and any one of whom would walk into our first X1. They are served by a winger, Sakamoto, who is adept at getting behind defences, but they have enough presence in the air to take advantage of conventional crosses and set pieces. Last night they were able to rest their top scorer, 16 goal Haji Wright, in favour of Simms and Thomas- Asante and still beat Preston comfortably. We have no such luxuries. Our cupboard is bare in that department.
The insensitive unsettling of Josh Coburn last season, and the unseemly haste in which he was moved on before he could be assessed by Rod Edwards now looks not only like a major mistake, but one which might effectively sabotage our promotion hopes. Joss would have provided a major physical presence up front, a tireless work rate, an ability to protect the ball and bring others into play and an aerial ability and goal threat, all of which have been conspicuous by their absence in our current set up all season.
Boro’s decision has been to Millwall’s advantage. Kieron Scott must be praying that it is not a determining factor in which team hits the £170 million jackpot at the end of the season.