The first goal tonight is so crucial. We are unbeaten this season when scoring first in fact have won all games when we score first. Conversely have only won twice under KH when going a goal down.
I think back to many years ago when I drove down to watch Coventry v Boro.
We drew 3-3 In an entertaining game !
David Speedie scored a hat trick for Coventry but Bernie scored a hat trick for the Boro. Bernie made sure it was he who got the match ball from the referee as a souvenir ! !
Had a nice message from Gary Gill the other day asking how I was these days. His son and my youngest grandson played together for the same football team for over five years. Gary and i used to stand on the touchline comparing football memories and anecdotes!
Our telephone conversation turned to our recent medical issues. Me with the heart operation and Gary with partial knee replacement.
He owns a restaurant in Maltby near Middlesbrough which has again this year been awarded Michelin star status.
Gary said that his son is working in the kitchen trining to be a chef and his daughter is now the restaurant front of house manager. His wife is the General Manager so he said it’s now a “total family business!”
I asked him “ so what do you do at the restaurant Gary?”
He laughed “ I just sit there on my chair and drink the wine !”
A great guy and when I feel better I’ll do an In2View with him !
looking forward to watching the game tonight on ITV4
UP THE BORO
BORO3 here we come !
OFB
Still very busy with the added work of shifting yet more snow this morning (at 5:30am) after another couple of inches or so fell overnight so I could take Mrs Werder to the train station - she normally cycles but forgot to fit the skis 😉
Anyway, just watched that 'Hellball' video that Pedro posted - many thanks it was a very interesting analysis and certainly another level up on Edwards tactics.
Whether coaches can counter it easily is another matter - though the low block appears prevent Boro getting through teams as easily and maybe that's why Boro are doing better against teams who are also looking to attack. You would think Coventry will be looking to win at home so may play into Boro's hands!
@forever-dormo Definitely Private Eye. I think the column is still running.
Here’s the Guardian’s take on tonight’s match: https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2026/feb/16/coventry-boro-momentum-shifted-championship-title-race-frank-lampard-kim-hellberg?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Here's the BBC's take on the upcoming game....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cn8zlzz8v8do
We’re all hoping for a top performance tonight from Boro but we also need a top performance from the referee.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a Coventry tactic was to blot out Hackney and McGree who are the most creative players and have an enormous effect on the fluency of Boro’s play. They will want to stop Hackney’s possession of the ball and his forward runs. The same with McGree with his clever one touch football and finding space. Another player who will be closed down quickly is Morris who needs to be careful in holding onto the ball a long time - he seems to get clattered a lot and takes the hits for the benefit of the team.
I wonder if tonight will see Sermiento play more than 5 minutes or so but more importantly display some attacking threat. So far, he has run about a lot , hardly touched the ball and has yet to drive at the opposition.
I feel it could be argued that this is a game which could be a home win, an away win or a draw. I’d gladly settle for a draw.
philip of Huddersfield 👍🤔🤔
@martin-bellamy - Thanks for that, Martin. Private Eye always seemed like a student magazine that had somehow lasted beyond its student years. Much admiration, here, for Ian Hislop who must have forgotten more about the English law of Libel than I ever learned. Pseuds Corner is also something I seem to remember. Perhaps they did this, but I could imagine a very Pseudy Wine Column might have caused amusement: "I'm getting old leather, I'm getting tobacco, wood and smoke..." (How about a bit of grape, somewhere in there?).
And Brian Johnston is probably locked in the toilets as a prank played on him by TMS colleagues. It is impossible to think about Johnners without smiling and it seems impossible he died in his 82nd year THIRTY TWO YEARS AGO in 1994. Time is certainly accelerating. A night in the Pantheon would obviously last a month, so it's good that 1980s prices apply there.
Is the Coventry game tension rising in the Diasboro world out there?
Quiet, nervous expectation as I am here, working ( 🙄 ) in the Edinburgh office today.... Is the Coventry game tension rising in the Diasboro world out there?
@powmillnaemore We’ve been in Leith today. Had lunch in the Teuchters Landing pub - good to get out of the cold wind.
@powmillnaemore - Sad to hear that, Powmill, because retirement has allowed me, this afternoon, to watch an 82 minutes long (!!) YouTube video dissecting and analysing Boro's tactics and playing style.
The algorthim directed me to a channel I'd not heard of before: "The Game Changer". A channel with only 1.3K subscribers, it says in its description that it is a "community where coaches, players and analysts from all over the world share their passion for football and deep reflections on the game". This particular video seemed to be hosted by Roxy (no further details, I'm afraid but his accent suggested to me that he was either Italian or Spanish) with analysis by Jamie Hamilton (obviously a Scot). From what was said, they were doing this video on Boro because as a result of performances and results Boro is trending in the football world at present!
They showed clips (stop-start so you can see line-ups, positioning and where the passes were aimed) from the recent games against Preston, WBA, Fulham and Sheffield United, with apologies if I have missed any out of that list.
In brief, they were clearly impressed with Boro and the coach. By way of summary, although you will already be aware of much of this, they were saying that the stats show Boro as a team operating with lots of possession, passing the ball very quickly (I think they said 14.9 passes per minute by Boro on average) but low on crossing the ball into the penalty area. They highlighted Whittaker as one of the league's top scorers but mentioned a number of stats showing how prominently Hackney operates. I didn't have anything to write with at first so no doubt I missed some things but Hackney is apparently 3rd in the list of players taking the most Championship shots (with 75 so far), 4th in passes made (1946), and 5th in defensive duels (Luke Ayling is 3rd in the list of "progressive passes" with 352).
The key things I took away from the analysis are the obvious plan to support the team mate with the ball (running over to give him options to pass but also being close enough so that, if the ball is lost, they can fight to win it back), a preference for the right hand side of the pitch, and the fact that players are obviously EXPECTING the passes to come. Not many teams play with what they described as a "Link-up No 9" rather than a striker. There were many examples of play being changed "against the momentum" either in terms of right and left or backwards. And examples of breakdowns or tackles where the ball is quickly recovered and recycled to "go again".
It would seem that Boro's name is spreading far and wide, and is being given critical approval. The accent wasn't the easiest but it was certainly worth my watching. To show the company in which Boro is now mixing, I see that the channel had analysis of Napoli v Como 4 days ago, PSG v Olympic Marsellaise 5 days ago, Liverpool v ManC 6 days ago. They say they are giving analsys of the "Teams of the Moment". So presumably they see Boro as fitting that description!
PS. If anyone decides to look at the video I suggest watching it on TV or casting it to the TV as a mobile phone will not have sufficient screen size for the photos or the tables.
@original-fat-bob Nice update on Gary Gill there. He played in Sweden after Boro.
Apparently, I know Gary Gill, too. I was once at Rockcliffe during a(nother) visit to Teesside. Ali Brownlee was there and he introduced me to Gary.
I have met him a few times since, at Rockliffe when he was the head of recruitment. Once he was looking for a player in Finland and we met in Helsinki for a cuppa, too. I have even once checked a Caribian player when the player was playing in Finland. Boro did not sign him - I wasn't impresswed with the guy, either.
Say my regards to Gary. I must again pop in to the Maltby Inn when in the UK next time.
Up the Boro!
@stircrazy Harsh…
Only my opinion. I couldn't stand the man. Couldn't even escape him when I was on holiday, visiting friends, in Melbourne at the time of the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994: a familiar voice unexpectedly "appeared" on the commentary on Oz TV (can't remember which channel) - Vine's! I was told that the station bought in a coverage package from the Beeb, as it was cheaper than sending its own sports journos to Europe.
Sky or ITV? I’m sticking with Sky as usual. Like a pair of lucky underpants.
@martin-bellamy - We will have to see which channel is showing at the Busted Beaver. See you later as I'm setting off now....
posted a reply earlier that seems to have disappeared into the ether.@powmillnaemore We’ve been in Leith today. Had lunch in the Teuchters Landing pub - good to get out of the cold wind.
It said good choice and safe back to the two smart tvs in the cottage....
I aee now that you did make it...
Fingers crossed for us all, and the team of course
CoB
Bugger! Boro a goal down after 21 minutes, a couple of minutes after Conway left the pitch for treatment for an apparent groin injury. 🙁
It had to be Sakamoto down the left hand side.
Coventry are trying to out muscle Boro, being very physical. Let’s hope the Referee clamps down on them. They have some big players.
By and large Boro second best with Coventry good value for their lead; it looks as if FL and his coaches have come up with a plan to stifle us and it is working.
Only question marks is was their goal off side?
It looks as if the Coventry hoodoo is going to strike again unless we can take control of the midfield and get our passing game working! 😎
45 minutes to go. We look second best but it’s not over yet - let’s see what KH can do at halftime.
We’re struggling to hang on to the ball in midfield but can Coventry keep up the press for another half?
Not at our best can't get our passing going and finding it hard to deal with their aggression. I am surprised how aggressive they have been. It all started at the kick off when Conway was body checked as he ran through to challenge. Completely ignored by the officials. I think that there will be a few more yellow cards, and there should have been another already for Rodoni for his verbals after giving away a foul.
Surely coventry can't keep up that level of intensity in the second half.
I don't know how there was not at least 2 other sky blues booked. Far too robust and getting away with it.
All to play for. Let us see what KH does afyer the break.
A pretty intense first half and Coventry have upped their game and have planned to try and neutralise Boro's passing out from the back. The other tactic they have employed is long balls from the keeper to chase. Boro have not quite been able to engineer shooting opportunities but perhaps they may get more joy playing it wide. Might need a few changes and possible Morris on a yellow is walking a bit of a thin line with some of his challenges so could be subbed.
Coventry have been the more aggressive team in the first half and look more dangerous when attacking than Boro. They are not giving Boro any time on the ball. As a result Hackney and others are getting frustrated with the number of fouls committed by Coventry.
Did you spot the 3 consecutive fouls in about 30 seconds on Morris ? I may return to this later..
Boro need to find a way of holding onto the ball longer to get their passing game going.
Hope Conway can last the 90 minutes - I expected him to go off injured when fouled midway into the second half..
Its still to play for and Boro can get back into this game providing Coventry don’t score the next goal.
Philip of Huddersfield 🤔🤔🤔
Boro are being out pressed, and losing the second ball to Coventry, who are forcing us into loose passing. In all honesty we have created very little apart from a couple of nearly chances down the left hand side. Northing is coming from the right and Whittaker just cannot get into the game.
KH may have to gamble with Sarmiento and hopefully so pace against the full back. I hope Conway can continue because this is not a game for Strelec.
Damn.
After stating that Ayling was having a stellar season, I think he’s been at least partially at fault for both goals.
Shame. We’re not playing badly.
Strelec & Sarmiento on for Browne & Whittaker in the 58th minute.