@jarkko " Malanda "- you are right, I got this wrong. Thank you for pointing this out, he deserves better - especially after today's goal 😁
Eventually we were lucky to get a draw from a game we should have won hands down. The Blues offered only effort. They are a team of little quality that we should be beating if we have top- two aspirations. Instead we would have been sent home with our tails between our legs had their keeper not contrived to drop the simplest of balls.
I thought our defence had improved in the first half. In the second, Malanda, yet again, let the ball slip under his feet to gift them an equaliser, and give the crowd something to get behind. And in short order two men left unmarked in the six yard box at the far post from a corner lead to the McGree own goal.
I have to say that our giant keeper becomes an invisible man when it comes to set pieces. He went down under very little pressure for their second goal,. He was beaten at the near post for the first, and soon after remained rooted to his line as a Birmingham forward headed the ball over only two feet out after another corner. Later he opted to punch away a long-range shot he could easily have caught. He also put our defence under pressure with a suicidal pass in the first half. If he continues to remain on his line from set-pieces then he is actually a downgrade on Sol Brynn.
Hard to pick out too many positives today, but Arfsten played very well in the first half, Phillips was solid, Britten showed some excellent footwork, C-B continued to show quality and Ayling remains a talismanic figure in spite of occasional nervy moments.
But the complete lack of cohesion we showed for twenty minutes in the second half and our caving in to the minimum of pressure were deeply concerning.
Both sets of fans will go home tonight disgruntled that their teams had thrown away a game they should have won through their own incompetence.
@clive-hurren Ultimately the buck stops with the Coach and his team. At the moment there appears to be little evidence that they know how to either solve the problem or Hellberg thinks that the stats are saying we are doing is OK.
The big stat is twelve goals against and there seems a reluctance to change the way we play to prevent them.
I also believe that a lack of physicality in the team does not help. We had two CB’s today that are 6’4”+ plus a keeper 6’6”. You would not have known.
@jarkko " Malanda "- you are right, I got this wrong. Thank you for pointing this out, he deserves better - especially after today's goal 😁
Chris, if it's any consolation, your spelling of Malanda's name is probably the commonest wrong version of it on here. Others include "Malandra" & "Milander". I'm so glad Jarkko mentioned it, as it's been driving me mad (it's my professional linguist's background! I was mortified when I accidentally stuck an "r" between the "C" & the "o" of Cozier-Duberry's surname a couple of weeks ago, but didn't notice until it was too late for me to edit it). Likewise the omission of the second "l" in Ashley Phillips' surname...
An interesting comparison of "Lanky Will" & Morgan Whittaker, with the former deemed an upgrade on the latter for Boro:
KH apparently thinks hid team "need[s] to understand game management"...
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/football/middlesbrough-fc-kim-hellberg-birmingham-city-9106201
Having watched the highlights a case of the same old same old. Just think where we would be if we could defend. One clean sheet in 8 games tells it own story. The second goal was a carbon copy of Millwall's second on Tuesday night. Hopefully the next three weeks will be spent practicing far post corners. Hopefully I will see an improvement in person as I have booked my ticket for the Wolves game after the break.
@mw-in-darwin. Safe travelling and hopefully you have an enjoyable match to see live and they put on a more convincing display than they have of late. 😎
WHAT DO WE THINK OF BORO’S START ?
8 games gone , 15 points, only 1 defeat and 3rd in the League.
if they continue like this they will end up with around 87 points and be in the play offs but probably not in the top 2 of the League.
So have they done good, ok, or, not good ?
It can be argued they’ve done good - most of us, possibly all of us, would have taken the above start.
To those who are disappointed due to the failure to play well for 90 minutes compared to only half a game to around 60 minutes, conceded too many poor goals, defence not good etc, then I’d say we’ve got to accept that we’re considering a second Division team. These are the kind of mistakes players make at this level. In the Premiership they make fewer mistakes whilst in Division 3 and below they make more mistakes.
They are not individually or collectively a Premiership team and so we should accept their mistakes etc as that’s what you get in Division 2. Also , we don’t have a Premiership coach - Kim is probably the first to admit that he is still learning.
So the challenge for the rest of the season is simply can they be coached to reduce the errors both individually and collectively as a team. This is the job of Kim and his staff.
Only time will tell and hopefully improvements will be made.
However I believe that even with improvements we should accept we will continue to have similar mistakes to those we have witnessed so far as it’s all part of the level expected in Division 2.
Just my thoughts
Philip of Huddersfield 🤔🤔🤔
@lenmasterman “and Ayling remains a talismanic figure in spite of occasional nervy moments”
I think we are a better with him than without him. Given his lack of pace, then looking at what we have seen so far this season, then I would continue to accommodate him by playing in a back three, where he should in reality get more protection.
From yesterday’s game here are the passing stats of the defenders. I appreciate they do not tell us everything.
Ayling passes 62-76% accurate. Phillips 35-83, Malanda 41-78, Arfsten 38-76, Vitek 21-57.
In midfield Morris 54-91%, McGree only made 19 passes 95%, P-H 18-83, Berhalter, when he came for PH, for only 27 minutes he made 19 but only 68% accurate. The forwards had the lowest passes.
@philip-of-huddersfield I’m definitely in agreement with your thoughts. We’re never going to achieve perfection but there are lots of Championships fans eyeing our team with envy.
The "Sinner-in-chief" has asked for forgiveness - FA hearing due to be held this week:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cmp30p934g4lo
@philip-of-huddersfield I totally agree with you.
I also want to add that we started the season much better than I ever expected with twelve new arrivals during the last window. I would have been happy with a mid-table position after eighth matches. So well done.
I doubt that KM has hardly seen Pukstas nor Barron to train. How can these players get integrated if they have hardly trained with a mid-week match in each of the last four weeks?
So half of the players in our squad are strangers to each other. OK, they might know each other off the field already, but they have not played a single training match together. And hardly trained together.
So we should see a much improved team play after the three-week international break. I trust Kim (or his mother) to improve. And especially so in defending as a team.
Happy days - and more to come. Up the Boro!
I think Southampton have suffered enough as a club. Having said that, I think their manager must be given a punishment, too. He was the main culprint, anyway.The "Sinner-in-chief" has asked for forgiveness - FA hearing due to be held this week:
So a half a season suspension or till the end of the season could do nicely, me thinks.
But WHY has this taken so long by the EFL to sort it out? They should have acted by the end of June, and hand Mr. Eckert a six month ban. Now they could only sanction a ban until the end of the current season.
Up the Boro!
I think Southampton have suffered enough as a club. Having said that, I think their manager must be given a punishment, too. He was the main culprint, anyway.The "Sinner-in-chief" has asked for forgiveness - FA hearing due to be held this week:
So a half a season suspension or till the end of the season could do nicely, me thinks.
But WHY has this taken so long by the EFL to sort it out? They should have acted by the end of June, and hand Mr. Eckert a six month ban. Now they could only sanction a ban until the end of the current season.
Probably because British bureaucrats never do yesterday that which they can put off until mañana! 😉
I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a suspended sentence. Can’t see them kicking him out as a coach for a period of time requiring Southampton to get a new coach now. They may think being kicked out of the final was a big enough punishment and so give him a suspended sentence.
philip of Huddersfield 🤔🤔
As I see it, there are two separate entities here. Southampton FC have been punished already, quite rightly, as they must have known what was going on. I still believe the full number of clubs affected by spying hasn’t been revealed.
Their manager must be next in the firing line as he’s already put his hand up to the offence, citing ignorance of the rules in this country as a defence. There have to be serious sanctions on him as an individual, regardless of how that impacts on his employers. I do agree with the consensus that far too long has been taken to finalise things.