@simonfallaha excellent and level headed assessment that helps moderate at least my frustrations from last night.
Job done and now, as people are observing, we have the chance to give a good few players a rest (not least Mallander) and, more imoortantly, some others some much needed pitch time, not least of those being Castledine.
I will be down from Scotland on Saturday, so I hope to see those fresher legs of players needing to and wanting to impress their case on KH.
What are the ingredients to creating chances and scoring goals?
I would say the basics are a midfield and forward line that includes some real pace and/or physicality and/or creativity. If you haven’t got those then perhaps you need to have a deadly striker that scores from nothing.
We had none of that in the team last night. In fact, all season we haven’t had any of it bar the creativity side if Hackney and McGree are fit.
I think it’s remarkable that we’re more or less guaranteed the playoffs with such limited and samey options in attacking areas.
After getting back late last night after the drive home, I am up early to go into school to invigilate exams again.
Another frustrating game and probably the worst I have seen live all season - I had hoped for more although Wednesday were better than their stats indicated. Their supporters were fantastic considering what they have been through and you could still hear them singing as we walked away from the ground - maybe men of the match!
The less said about Boro the better - others have already commented on it. The Malandra experiment didn’t work and he was off his game apart from one run down the middle when he was pulled back and was then booked for dissent!
Ironic that our goal came from their mistake because apart from that we never looked like scoring again until Sene somehow managed to find the goal keeper with whatever he thought he was doing rather than go round him - their must be some kind of spell on the goal which makes the players not want to score!
I really thought that we would concede in the second half and at the end there was palpable relief that we hadn’t although the crowd reaction was muted, as was mine!
Whilst the win was essential to secure our play off position, KH and the players must up their game for the next 5 games if we want to get to the promised land (although personally I don’t think it is- the gulf is too wide now) and hope that Hackney and McGree can come back along with someone, anyone, working out how to find the net!
Onwards ons upward and let’s see what Saturday brings and that the Hornets don’t bring their sting with them
Excellent post, Simon. Enjoyed everyone else's too, especially the sobering ones from exmil and Andy
Thanks everyone for your responses. 🙂
Andy’s post is a great one. It reminds me of a review of Rainbow Islands for the Commodore 64 that I read years ago. It went something like this. Please note this is from memory…
”Unfortunately, once you’ve seen one level, you’ve seen them all. New enemies appear and more hazards threaten you, but at the end of the day, it’s just too samey. Despite its repetitive nature it’s still very well polished and you can have a lot of fun… A beautifully programmed game but not much to it.”
Could that be another way to tell the story of KHBoro - that, a little too often, once we’ve seen one way of attacking, we’ve seen them all, regardless of the personnel at hand or the opponents we face? Even though our football has also, at the best of times, been very well polished and truly wonderful to watch?
It should also be said that Rainbow Islands was one of the highest rated games on the C64 in my time, in the same way KHBoro have been highly acclaimed for their style.
Just a thought.
Dreadful game, hanging on against a team with one win
I absolutely agree with all your comments above. Watching that last night was soul-destroying. I’m not sure how I stayed awake second half. Our incredibly frustrating backwards and sideways passing drove me nuts. On several occasions Boro received the ball in midfield in space, but rather than turning to press forward we recycled it backwards. We missed several opportunities to shot inside the box, too. Alan Browne, I’m looking at you in particular for these two. But Brittain, Targett and even Morris were all just as guilty in moving the ball backwards. No pace, no energy, no guile, no creativity. But no goals conceded, which at least was a huge relief before the long drive home.
Job done, though. Playoffs achieved, which many of us would have been very happy with at the start of the season. Onwards and sideways, lads.
Some excellent post match comments to which I can only add that at least we secured three points but as for the rest, I would rather not comment.
A well done to the Wednesday players for coming and giving it a go, they never gave up and don’t deserve to be in the situation they find themselves; if they continue with the same fighting spirit then they should soon be back in the Championship where they and their supporters, who were magnificent on the night, deserve to be. 😎
Dreadful game, hanging on against a team with one win
Trying to look on the bright side, at least we are not Leicester fans, kiern maguire said average wage at foxes is 67k! and they have no parachute payments because they sold them to generate funds and last season their tv money was 100M and next year it will be 2M
Dreadful game, hanging on against a team with one win
Trying to look on the bright side, at least we are not Leicester fans, kiern maguire said average wage at foxes is 67k! and they have no parachute payments because they sold them to generate funds and last season their tv money was 100M and next year it will be 2M
In the cold light of day it is worth remembering that even Coventry (Shef Wed last away match) couldn’t beat Shef Wed 0-0, so there is always a silver lining to every game.
Come on BORO.
BORO Home v Sheffield Wednesday
Riverside
7.45pm, Wednesday March 22 (4.45am, Thursday March 23, Sydney)
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My last few intros have all been for midweek matches that were close on the back of a weekend game. In those cases, I usually decided to write a pre-intro piece to give me a chance to get going earlier and then updated it after the earlier match. This time, with everybody writing their thoughts about where we stand, the blog was full of comments which more than covered the set-up for both the Ipswich game and for those coming after, starting of course with Wednesday’s match against Wednesday and rounding out with two more Ws, namely Watford and Wrexham.
Therefore, I decided to wait until the Ipswich game was over. So here we go.
Firstly, I can confirm that we have officially fallen victim to one of the top entries in this year’s Softest Penalty of the Year competition. That means that we can look at the table and draw the obvious conclusion; - if Ipswich don’t drop at least 4 points from their two away games this coming week, they will be out of sight, and we will be preparing for the playoffs.
Having said that, Ipswich is not our only problem. We could also find ourselves behind Millwall, who have three easy games, or Southampton, who seem able to win every game they play, no matter how well they perform. Southampton do have the small matter of a home game against Ipswich which will be fun to watch. I must admit that, after Ipswich stole our win, I will be rooting for Southampton.
It always makes me laugh when people use that verb. Here in Australia, it has a completely different meaning to the American idiom where it signifies strong support for a team. You can all look it up for yourselves but, suffice to say that you can guarantee a good smile down here by saying that you will be rooting for your team.
But I digress…. Let’s look at a few questions that are slightly more pertinent to where MFC stands as a team and where we stand as followers.
Q1. Do we have a chance of still making the automatic promotion slot?
Mathematically, the answer is yes but I would put it at around 5%, maybe 10%. With three games to play, we can get to a maximum of 82 points. Leaving aside goal difference for the moment, our close rivals need the following to get to 83.
Ipswich (76) need 7 points from four games. They have three away games against Charlton, WBA and Southampton. Then they have an easy ending to the season at home to QPR. Charlton and WBA are on the verge of the relegation battle and could do with a point or two to be safe. Ipswich could draw/lose any of the three away games but one must expect them to beat Charlton. The other two games are more speculative. We need them to lose six points which could come from WBA and Southampton. However, that could make Southampton’s task easier.
Millwall (76) need 7 points from three games against beach-dwellers Stoke and then Leicester and Oxford. Leicester is in free-fall and could be setting a record for the swiftest ever fall from Premier League winners to Tier 3 (10 years) or FA Cup winners to Tier 3 (about 5 years). Oxford are in trouble but could still be battling. There is a small chance of Millwall tripping up.
Southampton (75) need 8 points from three games. 8 is an impossible number from three games and so they have to get 9. They have easy games against Bristol City and Preston. That leaves their home game with Ipswich. If they win, that will probably get them the 9 points and knock us out of automatic.
So, if anyone wants to track how this is going, the first stop is Tuesday and Wednesday. Assuming that we beat Sheffield Wednesday, nothing changes even if the other three teams all win. If any of them drop points that would be an unexpected bonus.
Q2. Do we have a chance of missing out on the play-offs?
Mathematically, the answer is yes. However, I don’t want to even think about it. Why, you may ask. After our performance against Ipswich, we should have no problem in getting the 4 points or, with goal difference taken in, more likely 3 points, that we need, and my personal sanity doesn’t need me worrying about any other outcome.
Q3. How do I feel about the season.
It has been one of the most enjoyable seasons that I can remember. Boro have, by and large, played a style of football that is adventurous, entertaining and successful. Even better, we have done this without players in key positions who would be better adapted to fit in with the coach’s systems. Even better, we have a head coach and management team who have an exciting, positive way to play and who seem to be decent people. I can live with us not getting promoted this year if we can look forward to a season next year that is even better than this one.
Q4. Do I think that we could get promotion via the play-offs?
Let’s assume that we end up in 5th or 6th. Based on the way that we have played against good teams, I am reasonably positive that we could do well against Ipswich or Southampton. Hull or Wrexham will be sixth and so are unlikely to figure unless they pull of an even bigger shock. Based on the first half against Millwall, we would be OK but I still have nightmares about the way they bullied us in the second half. However, I am positive that we are in better shape than people think and I look forward to Hackney, McGree, Jones and Bangura being available to reinforce the squad.
To finish, looking round the other divisions, it certainly looks like a year of change. Spurs or West Ham could be relegated. Leicester almost certainly will be relegated to League 1. Lincoln have dominated League 1 and will be storming into the Championship. Will they lose their manager? Sadly, poor old Rotherham have continued their yo-yo existence but this time in the wrong direction and have fallen into League 2 and will be replaced by Bromley. There are a lot of other things still to be sorted out before we get to the thud and blunder of the play-offs.
The other interesting question is to watch what KH does to both rest players and get them up to speed for the playoffs. If we beat Sheffield Wednesday, there must be a temptation to give people a rest with maybe 45 minute run-outs in the last two games. The biggest question is Hackney who seems to be one of the very few midfielders in the Middlesbrough set-up or even the whole division who can carry the ball smoothly past opponents so that everything opens up in front of him. Aidan Morris has been doing an extraordinary job pretending to be two players at once, but he must be desperate for his partner in crime to come back. As a final question to the group; - is Morris the best acquisition of the last few years? There must be a case to argue that he is.
Anyway, as for me, I’m surprisingly happy about the state of things and looking forward to some fun.
Best to all
UTB
Terrific Opener I really enjoyed it well done
OFB
Always a lack of intensity.
We need goals, lots of them, but it doesn't look like the players think that....
The tempo has to be raised to lift the crowd and find some momentum to take into the next games
great POST THANKS
OFB
Now Boro have made the play offs there is a case for some of the team to be rested for the next two games so that they can physically and mentally prepare for the two play off games.
Both full backs and Brown look jaded and Milandra needs a rest alss. Play the kids and reserves !
OFB
If you compare Boro’s match stats to other teams you’ll see the problem ! Other teams with the same number of shots at goal have twice as many on target and twice as many goals scored than the Boro !
OFB
Brilliant Pedro. Thanks for taking up the mantle and in such convincing style.
We have to win and we have to win convincingly. That doesn't necessarily mean by lots of goals, 1-0 would do ao long as we looked positive, played with conviction and with pace and enthusiasm. (Although if we did that it surely would lead to lots of goals anyway)
Above all I am selfish. I am attending from Scotland and demand to be entertained.
So CoB send the Riverside home on a high.
Please.