@mw-in-darwin. Not sure what case they would have against us?
More likely their case would be against the EFL? 😎
Hull hit the bar, Strelec drags wide in the final minutes of the first half.
Crikey, it’s tense. When does HH come on? Who goes off?
Well this is panning out as I expected with Hull being happy to allow us to dominate possession but creating very little; our front three have been virtually none existent.
Hull have had few chances but looked more likely to score with McBurnie hitting the bar.
Given the heat and occasion, I fear we maybe in danger of running out of steam in the second half and Hull capitalising. 😎
A cagey first half with Boro not pressing too much in the heat - perhaps they are looking to conserve their energy to avoid running out of steam in the second half. Hull mainly content to sit back and keep their defensive shape - feels like a game that will only spring to life in the last 30 minutes.
CJ's first-half player ratings:
Sol Brynn - 7
One good claim from a cross, one fantastic sweep as Hull made a rare break in behind.
Luke Ayling - 7
Composing his side with his experience.
Dael Fry - 7
Winning every duel with McBurnie.
Adilson Malanda - 7
Stepping up well into midfield, keeping Boro moving.
Callum Brittain - 6
Largely keeping the lively Millar quiet, but struggling to get involved further up.
Aidan Morris - 7
Dominating the midfield battle.
Alan Browne - 6
Busy man as he’s right wing possession, centre mid out. Just can’t quite get on the ball enough.
Matt Targett - 6
Unable to get on the ball high enough up the pitch to make an impact. When he has, delivery let him down.
Morgan Whittaker - 6
Struggling to get into the game. Boro too narrow and playing into the congestion.
Riley McGree - 6
Grown into the game, finding pockets of space, but yet to make a big impact.
David Strelec - 6
Some decent early link-up touches, but largely struggling to get in the game. Wasted one good chance to break with a touch to heavy, but then came closest of any Boro player to scoring on the stroke of half-time.
I have got to agree with KP, our front three othering very little and Hull look the more likely to score. They also have the better bench when they need to change out. We have HH and Mmmm, not a lot.
I think Hellberg will bring on HH after probably 20 minutes if it is still nil all. After that I guess it would be Castledine, but Strelec is our only real striker. Whittaker once more anonymous.
I cannot see where a Boro goal will come from.
No change in personnel at the start of the second half, but CJ commented just before it started:
Players out on the pitch warming up at HT, kicking a ball about. Just watching Hackney and he looks alright. No obvious discomfort as he trades passes with Edmundson and Castledine.
CJ on Strelec in the 59th minute:
Really struggling here. No pace, no urgency, no instinct when the ball is played towards him anywhere near the box. It's been another struggle for the Slovakian so far.
🙁
Gelhardt on for Millar (Hull) in the 63rd minute...
HH on! Owen Younger (???) in the 70th minute:
Middlesbrough have made their first role [sic] of the dice, as Kim Hellberg elects to bring star man Hayden Hackney on for David Strelec, who himself looked positive.
Could the midfielder and local lad, from Redcar, be the difference-maker that Boro need?
Still 0-0. EIGHT minutes of injury time at the end of normal time...
Hansen replaced McGree in the 75th minute (possible hamstring injury). 🙁
Well 100% record maintained🤬
Bugger! Ollie McBurnie - who else - gives Hull the lead in the fifth minute of injury time. That's it...
Well done Hull City.
Shame for us
There we go again. I’m hugely deflated but not downhearted at another season in the Championship but we’ll need to find a goal scorer.
To be honest we didn’t really look like scoring - a shame that it was a bit of an error from SB for their goal and at such a crucial time.
Bugger! Ollie McBurnie - who else - gives Hull the lead in the fifth minute of injury time. That's it...
Ghastly man! All those hideous tattoos! 😡
Well it had to be another injury time avoidable goal that lost it for Boro but couldn’t manage a shot on target the whole game as once again lacked quality with the final delivery.
I suspect quality up front will be needed in the summer and some pace.
Still well done to Hull and a story where it wasn’t money that got them there but they’ll have a tough time staying up but good luck to them!
Perfect microcosm of the season. Masses of possession no end product. Hellberg will need to be ruthless. For me a new keeper, 2 proven strikers at Championship level and a pacey winger
@mw-in-darwin - Hull would have taken the EFL to court, not Boro. Boro doesn't make the rules or make the decisions.
A disappointing result but not entirely unexpected. If you have lots of possession but few real chances are made, you will struggle to win games. Did Hull's keeper have to make any saves? I genuinely can't remember. If you don't buy a ticket, you can't win the lottery.
Boro has, despite the total goals scored over the season, an obvious problem up front. If the club had a goalscorer the team would not have had to play this game as promotion would have been secured weeks ago.
On the issue of HH. He is clearly the best player in the division. Boro was in second place in March when he played his last game before injury. Boro's form collapsed after that injury. He could not be replaced. The team subsided to 5th in the weeks after the injury and in the 3 Play-Off games (ignoring he came on after 70 minutes against Hull) Boro scored only one goal. Boro with Hackney was a real proposition but without him was not.
Can I make a suggestion? If you have the best player in the league and he is fit to play, I'd suggest you start with him on the pitch. You might be worried he won't be able to cope with his first competitive game after injury. Ok, then start him. If you think he can do 30 minutes have him run himself into the ground (no point saving him for the next game as there are no other games). Maybe with his contribution the team will be a goal or even two goals up before he has to go off. The team would have something to hold onto.
If it turns out 30 minutes is all he can do, then take him off (as expected). But if, at the end of 30 minutes he seems fine and has more energy, leave him on. It may be you'd have to take him off after 60 minutes not 30. Better to have HH on the field for two thirds of the game rather than one third. But if you only put him on for 30 minutes you are stuck with that as a maximum. So, I ask again, why not start him and see how things go?
I guess several of the better players will go this summer (obviously HH). Some of the weaker ones will stay if we can't offload them. I mean, Sarmiento? And we have to buy him? Good at stepovers that fool nobody, including the defender in front of him, but not good at much else. The team will find it harder next season. Burnley, Wolves, Spurs or West Ham, Derby, Wrexham, Birmingham .... To be fair, Southampton will be weaker next season!
Alas not to be and the Wembley jinx struck again. To be fair we never really looked like scoring as has been the case in too many games this season. Had a proven goalscorer been in the team all season we would probably have finished in an automatic promotion place and the playoff route wouldn’t have been necessary. It would have been great to have a go at the EPL but it would have needed a huge investment in players to stand any chance of surviving and I’m not sure SG could provide the money.
So it’s another season in The Championship and there’s nothing wrong with that. Hellberg has a chance to assemble a team which will be his rather than inherited and hopefully he will both fix the current weaknesses and strengthen the squad to be in a position to compete in the EPL if we get there. As for the current weaknesses, I’m with Werder in his post above on what is needed with the addition of a midfielder to replace HH who will surely move to a big club. It will be fascinating to watch the developments over the summer and it should be a cracking season for the Boro. Per Ardua ad Astra!!!!!!!
I suggested when this sorry “spygate” saga kicked off that we might end up losing the sympathy of the wider football community. It would seem that this has come to pass already as the message boards are full of vitriol towards Gibson and Hellberg. We are now going to suffer derision from opposition fans next season, even though we weren’t the villain.
Given our toothless performance today, it probably would have been better if Hull had been awarded promotion.
And we would have maintained the moral high ground.
I wouldn’t worry about vitriol from other fans….that will always come to pass. The team that cheated will always be held in higher contempt.
Heading home and agree with commentsted made
Sums up the season really but not disappointrd.
Utb
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2026 - Playoff Final - Result
I have posted the result of the Playoff Final in the Social Club section, thank you everyone who took the time to enter this year, see you all next season.
Come on BORO.
Interestingly most of the vitriol on one of the Southampton fans forums is directed at Southampton FC for what they have done. Some is directed at Boro as you would expect but not that much.
I agree, Dormo. Hackney made a significant difference when he came on. Boro instantly began to move the ball forward with greater pace as he drove the team forward. He moved us up the pitch ten yards and was involved in everything. Before he came on we were laboured in the extreme - and while you could perhaps argue that some of this was about conserving energy on an extremely hot afternoon, it was nonetheless pretty uninspiring and never threatening. I agree that it would have been better to have started Hackney. I’m not sure, either, why KH didn’t use Castledine.
But the fact is we were just not good enough today. We had no punch up front and created hardly anything at all. Hull’s very negative game plan - stifle the game with a 10 man defence and hope to hit us on the break - worked to a T. We didn’t deserve to win but we did lose to the one defensive mistake we made in the whole game. I’m sorry to say we will need a better keeper next season, as well as a significant upgrade at the front end.
@eboroacum And strikers don’t come cheap. They Recruitment Team have tried cheap and it has been an absolute failure.
What is the saying, pay cheap, pay twice
VERY DISSAPPOINTED - BUT NO ONE DIED !!
The game was like many previous Boro games with loads of possession but few chances and scoring opportunities. It was a shame that Brynn made an error presenting a goal scorer with an easy opportunity. It feels as though this was Boro’s best chance in years to progress to the Premiership which makes it more disappointing .
Had Hackney been fully fit for the whole game it may have been different but we’ll never know.
So, it’s time to relax and move on and enjoy the summer and hopefully good weather.
Philip of Huddersfield 👍🤗
ps Well done to Hull who got the playoffs just right.
Am I disappointed, YES, Am I gutted, NO. I had a large G&T and felt OK.
The reality is for two thirds of the season, the sum was greater than the parts. Then came the important run in, and we hit relegation form, which did not disappear.
The reality is over the whole season we were not good enough, and only ended at Wembley by default, due to the stupidity of Southampton. The must be kicking themselves after watching that game this afternoon, they would surely have beaten either team.
As for next season, as Dormo said in his very good post
The team will find it harder next season. Burnley, Wolves, Spurs or West Ham, Derby, Wrexham, Birmingham .... To be fair, Southampton will be weaker next season!
How good is Hellberg, how good are the Recruitment Team, how will we get rid of the dross on contracts with three and four years to still run.
We won’t be able to replace Hackney, we could very possibly lose, Morris and/or Malander.
To compete at the top end will be very, very difficult, if almost impossible given the squad of players we have and will need.
Will Mr Gibson be really up for it. Even he must run out of steam eventually.