Well in truth Boro didn't really create a decent chance in the whole game - far too many poor deliveries and more than enough air shots - which probably indicates the desperate hurried nature in front of goal. Whittaker has seen his form drop and Hackney appears to be trying too hard to do it on his own and nearly all his final deliveries were poor. In the end Boro just ran out ideas and it's a team that lacks a focal point with plenty of runs down blind alleys or even brick walls. Much to ponder for Hellberg...
Three games without a goal now and, from what I heard on Tees, few real chances created. The conundrum we now face is how to create more with the squad we have, when it seems sides have very quickly worked out how to stop us playing. Let’s hope KH is not fully wedded to his 4-2-2-2 system.
Meanwhile, I think we desperately need a capable striker and probably a winger who can get behind defences.
As others have said a very disappointing result and performance. No clear cut chances created and now over 300 minutes without a goal from open play. I was very disappointed with our free kicks and corners I was expecting that KH, being a technical coach, would have come up with some better outcomes from those situations.
At least KH is honest about what went on. From the BBC
"Sometimes the ball just doesn't want to go in, but you also have to look at the quality in the finishing, how we get players in the best positions to finish, and that's what I have to look at."
So can KH turn it around or is this another case, of many in the past, of Boro coming down with the Christmas decorations.
Pleased to have been able to watch the game but obviously disappointed with the performance and result. We just don’t look like scoring at the moment and no one seems to have a clue where their team mates are in the final third.
Towards the end we played lots of crosses into their box but there were no runners and frankly we never looked like scoring.
We don’t seem to have any natural goals scorers on the bench and it’s going to take a clever coach to move us forward.
I will read the comments posted about the game shortly. But from my point of view that was a deeply disappointing performance by Boro. There might be many pleasant ways of spending an evening between Christmas and the New Year, but watching that match was not one of them. It was cold and the football did not warm me up. The saving grace was that I arrived at the ground before the heavens opened and it was almost dry when I left the ground after the final whistle. Small mercies.
Another big crowd but another goal-scoring blank. We remain second in the table but clearly that will not remain the case unless there is a considerable improvement starting in the next game - against Derby (away). Nobody turning up for that game against Hull City as an irregular (perhaps someone who'd been bought a ticket as a Christmas present, or who bought a ticket to attend with a friend who was returning for the holiday period after working away from Teesside) will have seen anything that would make them more likely to seek out a ticket for the next game.
Hull City (away) was a high-point of the season so it is the more poignant that Hull City (at home and played so soon after the away match) was pretty much subterranean.
The list of better ways to spend the evening is long and varied. I might have lit the log burner and sat in front of it, talking to my wife, watching TV or reading one of the books bought me for Christmas. I could have opened a bottle of wine or tasted a Single Malt. I will try to put it behind me. I wonder if the players, coaching staff and Steve Gibson will be able to do that.
Grim. Perhaps I SHOULD have opened that bottle of wine after all. I plan to do so tonight. Maybe share a couple....
Ok, chaps! It seems that my view of the game (feeling very much deflated at the end) was shared by others. My mate who normally sits next to me at The Riverside had returned from two weeks abroad but had caught a bug in the last few days there. He decided a "safety-first approach" - staying at home to follow the game via BBC Tees - was the better option. He was clearly correct.
He did message me and wondered whether "something stronger" than the pot of tea I made on arrival at home would have been the more appropriate choice. But I stuck it out and remained abstemious. I'd given an "armful" of blood (life or death to some poor soul, Matron!) for testing in the late afternoon. Not a drop had passed my lips since Christmas Day itself. Tonight and New Year's Eve will see old habits restored, before more careful attention to diet returns in the New Year. You have to let the spirits soar every now and then. It's a pity our heroes weren't able to help in that regard last night.
If you can't score you don't win games and never really looked like scoring
This from CJ clarifies the Malanda Situation
Though Boro have a maximum 25 players registered with the EFL, the registered squad effectively becomes redundant during the January transfer window. Boro won’t need to name a finalised 25-man squad list again until the end of the window.
Just realised this morning I was up next for the preview so have just managed to write something this morning as we're off to the circus today and tomorrow is New Year's Eve and I'm still working on my project too!. Anyway, just posted the preview up - albeit a little early...
@exmil Plus International Clearance.
He has been our player for six months already. 🤣