There's been much written in the media this week about the possibility of a 'Red Mirage' this Tuesday - though you may be surprised to hear the story is not about the unexpected sight of Boro suddenly appearing out of thin air in the Championship promotion frame. Indeed, many on Teesside had long got used to rubbing their eyes in disbelief after what they had just seen but that was usually in the hope it would go away.
Nevertheless, there is now a belief from the Boro faithful that the arrival of Neil Warnock's team in the top six is not simply an illusion but something real that won't quickly disappear if we momentarily stop gazing at the table. Not that many on Teesside have got bored of looking at the table just yet and those that do are usually only doing so to have a good stare at the six-game form table, where Neil Warnock's team look down on everyone from the top.
Incidentally, the 'Red Mirage' that exists in the media is a metaphor for the possible trick of Donald Trump declaring victory for the Republican Red party if he appears to be leading the election before the 60 million postal votes have been counted. It's perhaps the footballing equivalent of getting on the open-top bus and celebrating promotion when leading the table at Christmas while knowing your chairman needs to sell half the team in the January window to avoid going bankrupt - though perhaps without the ultras turning up at promotion rivals grounds with machine guns to prevent them playing or appointing your own FA board members to rule on the matter.
Anyway, moving back to the relatively safe side of the Atlantic, it's the shootout at Ewood Park that will be occupying the Red supporters of Cleveland as they hope another day in the life of virtually following Boro will see their team find one or two extra holes in the Blackburn Lancashire defence. Indeed, Rovers manager Tony Mowbray will certainly be keen to plug those holes that have recently opened up and seen his team lose four of their last five games.
It's appears to be a familiar story of inconsistency for Mogga so far this season where he's seen his team win their three games by blowing away the opposition and scoring 13 goals in the process without reply. However, his Rovers have now lost five games in which they have also unluckily conceded 13 goals. All in all, games involving Blackburn have witnessed 31 goals so far, which easily the highest. In contrast, Boro's games have delivered the second lowest goals tally with just 14 - a tight record only bettered by Birmingham who are of course managed by a certain Mr A Karanka.
Although, there was some evidence that Boro were beginning to show signs of linking up well when attacking down the flanks in the second half against Forest - particularly with Coulson and Bola and to a lesser extent Dijksteel and Spence. Though Tavernier looked to add some extra creativity in midfield when Morsy was subbed after 30 minutes to prevent the risk of him leaving with a red. In addition, Jonny Howson is beginning to drive the team forward in midfield with George Saville adding another assist to his recent scoring exploits - plus Paddy McNair continues to excel in all that he does.
The real issue for Neil Warnock is in the striking department with captain Britt Assombalonga not looking at his best on Saturday. If Chuba Akpom has fully recovered from his heavy cold then maybe he'll be the better option to lead the attack - but perhaps Warnock is still trying to man-manage Britt back to confidence and will persevere a little longer.
Boro's attack may be trying to beat a familiar figure between the sticks on Tuesday as Aynsley Pears replaced the injured Thomas Kaminski in goal last week. Unfortunately, he had a game to forget and conceded his first just 8 seconds into his debut. The local press were quite scathing of Pears and complained after being accustomed to the screaming vocals of Kaminski as he ordered his backline into shape, there was a barely a whisper from Pears. They also reported that in the second-half the defence appeared unwilling to play the ball back to Pears and he gave off a stance which suggested he didn't want the ball near him. A 4-2 defeat against Reading was followed up by 2-0 loss at Swansea to leave the former Boro keeper under pressure.
Also back at Ewood Park is another familiar face in Stuart Downing, who has just signed a new contract for Blackburn today - though perhaps it has come too late to be facing his home-town club, which will at least avoid the unnecessary worry of the inevitable 'one-of-our-own' ending the unbeaten run. Though, you get the impression that this Boro team under Warnock are not about to allow such superstitious nonsense to interfere with their will to win.
Tuesday also sees the landmark ten-game mark reached, where the traditional early verdict on how clubs are performing is reached. Whatever the outcome at Blackburn it's perhaps safe to say Neil Warnock and his players have easily exceeded expectations of all but the insanely optimistic Boro supporters - you know who you are! Though for those with overflowing glasses after mixing two more than half-full ones, there's even a theoretical chance of ending the evening in second spot should the unpredictable Championship produce even more unlikely results - though that may well be approach 'Red Hallucination' territory that even President Trump would probably struggle to believe he could pull off! Or maybe not...
Looks like the above match is not available via Riverside Live abroad.
Season Card holders will be able to access Boro's Tuesday night trip to Blackburn Rovers via Matchday LIVE, but match passes are not on sale in the UK as the game is live on Sky Sports.
I think I am able to see the match on TV via Viaplay (Scandinavia). Please check your local EFL's overseas broadcast partners in here:
https://www.efl.com/iFollow/international-broadcasters/
More info: https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/free-season-card-streaming-for-blackburn-rovers-game
Up the Boro!
PS. Sorry Werder to start this thread before you.
Stewie Downing has signed again for Blackburn Rovers. And he could make his second Rovers debut against Boro as Mowbray is running out of men.
I think Stewie was one of our best passer of the ball during the Pulis era. Even he was not liked by many Boro fans. Several people who are not as fanatic as me, said the same about Downing to me when they saw Boro play. Let's hope he is a bit rusty tomorrow.
Interestingly Blackburn have money to sign players when we are careful with Duncan Watmore training at Rockcliffe now.
I trust what Sir Steve is doing, though. It might be that the other are overspending.
My prediction is 1-2 win for the Boro. Assombalonga and Downing for the Boro - the latter an own goal. Up the Boro!
Sorry Werder to start this thread before you.
Not to worry Jarkko but just noticed your thread after posting my match preview so moved your posts to this one to avoid confusion.
As you all probably know tomorrow’s match is on sky.This means it will almost certainly be on
Hesgoal.com
It’s free.
As I’ve said before you have to be a bit patient as it has a habit of freezing and so you then need to refresh the page from time to time.
Philip of Huddersfield
ps I’ll be happy with a draw
In light of recent results, I fancy Blackburn’s hole count may only rise to 4001. However, NW is well aware of Pears’ shortcomings when coming under pressure.
A pressing 4-3-3 with Tavernier and Roberts alongside Assombalonga may well reap dividends. I look forward to reading the morning newspapers, and although there may not be enough holes to fill the Albert Hall, Oh Boy, three points will do very nicely.
Thanks Werder.
My impression of Mowbray is that, for the many positives of his playing style and recruitment, he really struggles to turn around losing runs. We saw that many a time when he was at Boro but we can also point to his time at Celtic and West Brom (when in the Premier League). A manager who was capable of building winning sides but frequently incapable of turning them around when the wins run out.
On that basis, I fancy our new-found ruthless efficiency to continue and an away win.
Thanks Werder for another enjoyable and topical preview.
I have Sky TV so will be eagerly awaiting another solid performance and will be happy with a ⚽️ - ⚽️ but hoping we can pinch it.
I hope Andy is right and that TM can't turn around the losing streak but I am conscious that one of our old boys may bite back.
I believe DA has a groin strain and whilst SD has not played this season I would not be surprised to see him on the bench and I am not sure if HC is available. We certainly don't want AP having a blinder! CoB keep the unbeaten run going. 😎
There’s one peculiar statistic about this match. It is that Boro’s biggest away win at the time was 7-1 at Blackburn on the 29th November 1947, and on the 6th of November 1954 it was the fixture of Boro’s heaviest ever defeat 9-0. I think I can safely say that neither score will be repeated tomorrow.
Cheers Andy and there is probably something in that - though those last two defeats were against Reading and Swansea, which followed a 4-0 win over Coventry. Having said that, Mogga has never really built defensively solid sides given he was a central defender - perhaps his sides take more risks to try and score or lack the kind of shielding midfield players but they do tend to score goals.
Good morning from Oz.
Just a quick note to remind locals (and Middle East?) that the game is live on BeIn Sport.
I have to say that I’d take two points from the next two games to keep the momentum going but we certainly have a chance of nicking this one.
It will be interesting to see who plays out of Wood/Fry and Coulson/Johnson. A good problem to have. The nicest story from recent games may well be Bola who has turned into a proper full back under NW. He and Coulson looked like a real combination.
I was wondering whether any other club could point to three equivalent local centre halves as Gibson, Fry and Wood all developed by the academy (along with so many other good young players). They’ve all played for England at youth levels.
As NW points out, the two development teams are flying, both top of their leagues. With so many young players breaking through across the country, there should also be a few players at Boro who could be given a chance in the first team squad if injuries crop up.
utb
Thanks. Werder for another great post and for taking the time to do it appreciated by us all
let’s not underestimate Mogga he is a shrewd tactical coach and it was he that introduced the software analytics into the Boro coaching system so he will be very aware of who is performing at Boro and looking at ways to spike our run.
I’m going for my usual eyeballs 👀 in the sky
⚽️⚽️
OFB
Good morning from Oz.
Just a quick note to remind locals (and Middle East?) that the game is live on BeIn Sport.
Yes thanks for that - its on in the Middle East - although I do prefer the Boro commentary. Far more interesting than the TV commentators.
I too prefer the local commentators more than the neutral commentators on TV. Hope the next one is on Riverside Live again but if we keep on getting results like so far this season, we might get selected more for TV covetage 😆.
Up the Boro!
Werder,
Thanks for the preview, yet another fine piece of work. I may be casting the runes here but I think there are grounds for groundless optimism here and I'm going for 1 - 2. At some time we have to gain some points at Ewood Park rather than gazing into an empty, bleak and cold 'Mother Hubbard's' cupboard every time Boro go there.
In reality O-OFB's prediction is more likely, however they can't mark a lone goalscorer out of the game because the goals, or goal, can come from anywhere.
Stay safe everyone,
UTB,
John
Biblical downpours in the North West at the moment.
The game must be in some doubt.
If it goes ahead simply because it is Sky's main game it will be a lottery.
Just hope that the conditions don't defeat both teams and that we get a game worth watching.
Perhaps Warnock will go for Noah's two-by-two formation with 2-2-2-2-2 and it's lucky the game is being played under the floodlights...
Looks like 4-3-3 again. I used to really dislike us in that setup but not so this season under Warnock.
Yes it looks like the same team (plus the return of Fry of course) that started to show some good link up play in the second half against Forest so I'm hoping we'll see some goals against a Rovers defence that may get caught if they try to play their more open game.
Prediction: 2-0 to Boro with Tav and Coulson scoring.
Interesting to note that Morsy is not even on the bench. Injury or fall out? When he came off on Saturday I noticed he walked straight down the tunnel. 😎
Might just be Warnock giving him a complete rest as he mentioned in the post-match briefing that Morsy had tight muscles prior to the Forest game - though I did notice him disappear down the tunnel, which probably wouldn't have gone down well if he wasn't in need of treatment.
Pleased with the way we have played and dominated but disappointed that we have not scored. Concerned that we are setting ourselves up for a sucker punch! 😎
Never thought I would hear a commentary say how entertaining a Boro side have been !
I only want the points !!!
OFB
@werdermouth morsey did come back onto the bench after disappearing down the tunnel and was there in the pitch at the end congratulating the players OFB
⚽️⚽️
OFB eyes in the sky is right !