I do not want Kim Hellberg to change anything. We are currently top of the league.
Let's enjoy the ride. I hope we can come back from the Midlands with the three points. A hard second half to come. We can of course up the tempo and performance in the second half.
But happy with the score and play so far. Up the Boro!
Boro top of the table at half-time, two points clear of the Hammers! Please let it stay that way...
It was a first half of quite a few nearly moments but Boro not quite clicking going forward - with the highlight (up until the goal) being a drag-back from Brittain, who has been probably the best player. Of course, give Cozier-Duberry the ball and he'll make something happen and a twisting run (literally) set up Arfsten for a smart finish - the American is more or less playing as a left wing-back and has provided some good deliveries. Strange game but I think Birmingham are there for the taking if Boro get a second.
A satisfying end to the half with Cozier-Duberry doing well to retain possession when stumbling- great balance -laying off to Arfsten, who finished brilliantly, a fitting conclusion to an excellent half for the American. C-D had earlier fluffed a gilt-edged chance laid on by P-H, who has also played well. Add to that Lankshire hitting the post with a fantastic drive from a half-chance and things are looking much brighter after a start in which neither side really clicked into gear.
Defensively we are much better, not standing off their wingers as we tended to do all season.
Let's hope we can produce a decent second half and we don't give the home crowd any encouragement
Cozier-Duberry - nearly as difficult for me as Malanda is for some - missed a sitter in the first half. But the made the goal for Arfsten. Terrific display from him so far.
Looking forward to watching the second half. Up the Boro!
Great opener, Chris. Thanks.
Great first half last-gasp goal (per BBC Tees). Top of the league at HT as it stands.
Fingers crossed!
It's all going pear-shaped: now 2-1 - Brum equaliser in the 55th minute, then a McGree OG four minutes later. 🙁
Well typical Boro have come out for the second half, Malander, not for the first time this match or a few others make a mess of a pass and it’s one all. He is becoming a bit of a liability.
Then a mess of a corner, but how the referee allowed their second goal with all that wrestling from Birmingham and blocking Vitek.
However, Boro should have had a bigger cushion from the first half, hard to see us coming back into this with the home side now wound up.
Berhalter & Conway on for MPH & McGree in the 63rd minute.
Berhalter & Conway on for MPH & McGree in the 63rd minute.
Sarmiento on for ACD in the 74th minute.
Boro have lost their shape and poise and somehow have to regroup just to get anything out of a game they were in pole position to win. Birmingham came out looking to muscle their way back in and succeeded!
Well a what a gift from the Birmingham keeper and Malander gets to make up from his earlier mistake
Well a what a gift from the Birmingham keeper and Malander gets to make up from his earlier mistake
88th minute. Four minutes of injury time...
Well that has to be up there with the best of “typical Boro” from both perspectives.
Another game where the team failed to put in a performance over 90+ mins.
The second half saw us lose shape and structure to our play, failed to manage the game and created little in the way of scoring opportunities.
A far from convincing performance from a team with top two aspirations; we should really be beating the current iterations of Blackburn, Burnley and Birmingham. 😎
Gutted to have drawn the match, and also to have conceded two goals (again!) when ahead. These.are games that Champions win.
I'm not sure I can take the tension. Knotted stomach. Hopefully it will pass.
BORO GIFTED EQUALISER
Just when Boro were looking to lose, the Birmingham goalkeeper made a big mistake and Malanda scored. So Boro manage to draw when it looked Birmingham were about to win.
So a fortunate point for Boro.
What did we learn? Boro still haven’t learnt how to defend as silly mistakes are made. Surely this has to be the number one priority during the early season break.
Philip of Huddersfield 🤔🤔🤔
So we go into the three-week break left to rue another missed opportunity - with basically two avoidable goals conceded due to poor defending. The last thing Boro needed to do after the break was to give Birmingham a way back but sadly the came out with more energy than Boro. Still, at least we didn't lose but that was a gift from their keeper who fumbled a comfortable catch from an overhit free kick.
Work to do in the break on defending far-post corners and decision making on the edge of the box but Boro can certainly build on the start they've made - though can't say Boro have had points taken off them by any team who played better than they did on the day - 9 points dropped by errors really but there's enough in the squad to think Boro can have a top-four finish at least.
Another game where we’re left wondering what if BUT another point on the road and still only one league defeat all season.
We’ll be third or fourth going into the break.
Our start to the season could have been sensationally good. Instead it’s just good.
Rewatched West Side Story ‘61 and kept my wi-fi off so as not to be distracted by checking. Yes, there are tears in my eyes. Realising now that we cry not so much for Tony and Maria in ‘61 but for what they represent - a metaphor for lost innocence. My preference for the Tony Kushner & Steven Spielberg version remains, but so does the power of the film I’ve just watched again.
Anyway, my reaction to the score? A blend of relief and disappointment. Glad we visibly showed courage to earn a point, disappointed that our margin of error has been reduced further still.
Lots of thinking to do, and not just about this Bernstein, Sondheim, Robbins and Laurents musical…
Only managed to watch the second half as we had train issues between Hamburg and Köln - another broken window. We missed our connection to Brussels but managed to get on Eurostar towards Paris. Even that has been delayed due to people on track. We’re currently running about 90 minutes behind our original schedule.
I’ve seen too many errors from Malanda this season - hopefully his confidence will return soon. Meanwhile, KH has some time to work with his players - I don’t think we’re too far away.
More points thrown away by stupid defensive mistakes. Malander has become something of a liability and his opportunist goal cannot deflect from the fact.
We have spent a lot of money from Vitek to Philips to Arfsten to Berhalter to Pearl-Harris to Pukstas and the defensive side of the team is worse.
Is that down to the players, Hellberg or a combination. We are scoring goals, but still only four on target today, but goals against is poor with only Millwall having conceded more in the top half of the table.
Is Hellberg going to say “it was my fault today” again. It is certainly somebody’s fault. If it is not fixed then we will not maintain our lofty position.
We had the last three (!) touches before the ball was in our goal. McGree the last one to touch.Posted by: @stircrazy
It's all going pear-shaped: now 2-1 - Brum equaliser in the 55th minute, then a McGree OG four minutes later.
We only have 1,9 points per game and down to third. Two points behind Swansea and level on points with West Ham United. We need a change - sack the manager? 😚
I am happy with the point after being down by 2-1 in the second half.
Up the Boro!
PS. It is Malanda (not Malander). The centre back at Boro. UTB!
Spot on. “These are games that Champions win”. Currently we don’t. So hopefully KH will spend the break focusing on how to keep goals out and spend rather less time on how to score as we seem to be managing to do that.
Elsewhere, Lee Clark resigns as a manager at Hartlepool United today.
He gave a frank reply to the question how he feels after another defeat live on a BBC Radio Tees.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c6evwk1kee3po
Up the Boro, though!
If the season continues in this vein I can’t see us finishing top two. We are far too vulnerable to costly defensive errors. You could argue that most goals against are the result of defensive errors rather than superb opposition play- at least in leagues below the Premiership- but I reckon that probably 10 if not 11 of the twelve we have conceded so far should have been prevented. We’ve had a mix of poor defensive errors, giving the ball away cheaply, standing off the advancing runner, chaotic set-piece decision-making, poor marking and allowing a forward to shoot inside the near post, to name but 6 varieties: it’s a terrific back catalogue for opposition coaches to study and learn from!
I’m generally happy with the way we’re playing and the goals we’re scoring, and I think the games have been exciting. I love the character the team has to fight back from trailing. But it’s very clear going forward where our priority for improvement needs to be if we are to make the most of what this excellent squad offers and achieve our true potential.
Clown car defending again
Why don't we just clear the ball out of the box sometimes, instead of trying to pass, dribble out of the box.
This week we have had two chances to go top and we we couldn't grab it with both hands
Plenty of mixed views! I guess it is how we progress after the international break. If we can cut out the defensive lapses and be far more rugged and disciplined, with a better defensive mindset throughout the team, not just the defence, then we can continue to climb up the table. Sort out the problematic transitions when we lose the ball when attacking, giving the defensive unit more protection and we will be ok.
Personally I am prepared to give the Boro the benefit of the doubt at the moment. We may not be playing that well but we are in a good position in the league. Plus not the easiest run of fixtures so far, so for me, let’s see how we go after the next tranche of games before making any meaningful judgments. We have had a significant number of changes in the squad so we are not doing too badly. Yes we need to be better at defensive set pieces, we need better leadership and organisation and hopefully this will come along with improved team play and cohesiveness. So let’s regroup, reorganise and get fitness levels up for several players in this 3 week hiatus and go again. UTB
@eboroacum Wise words. Plenty more to come from this team. I’m pretty sure we’d have taken this position at the International break if offered it pre-season.