Boro v Luton Town
(A Mad Hatters Tea Party)
So Saturday brings on another game in the never ending but soon to finish championship as Boro welcome the “Hatters”
Luton Town who as I write this are only two places below us in 12th place but have only 3 points less and have a game in hand. A win will bring the Boro to the brim of the playoffs which sadly are not going to be within our reach this season.
Hopefully our own Bola hatter will raise a smile to his Fez with a hat trick and Bol Asie assist.That would cap a great performance after an enjoyable game on Wednesday and crown a good week putting the lid on it !
It is well known that if you wear a hat you are considered to be a gentleman, who is not complete without a Saville row suit. Our own Saville, Gentleman George could make a striking impression again, as he did the other night playing in a more forward position which was probably his best game all season.
Our young debutant Malley has to start this game after displaying such vision in playing killer balls into open space for team mates to run onto and creating goal scoring chances.
The thing that has impressed me lately is that the Boro are playing with a smile on their faces again. It shows that if there are any dissenting voices in the squad or team mates not pulling their weight it affects all the players.
It was nice to see a video clip in the dressing room after the game that all the Boro players applauded young Connor after such an impressive debut.
Turning to Luton their defender Kal Naismith highlighted his side’s defensive solidity as they kept a 14th clean sheet of the season in the league during their recent 0-0 draw against Reading.
Last year, Town’s inability to prevent the opposition from scoring regularly until the final stages of the campaign saw them breached 82 times in total with just seven shut-outs, keeper Simon Sluga managing six of them. However, a dramatic improvement this season has seen the Hatters concede just 46 goals, with Croatian international Sluga keeping 11 clean sheets and James Shea three.
Perhaps Neil Warnock should be looking at how goalkeepers should be impressing and supporting their team as I’m afraid that the two who have played for us in the first team this season have been extremely poor.
It’s now Luton's best tally in the second tier since they managed 16 in the 1992-93 season when Alec Chamberlain was responsible for 14, including a run of seven in a row, while Andy Petterson managed two.
Sluga's tally of 11 is also now the highest number of clean sheets in the second tier since Juergen Sommer also kept 11 during the 1994-95 campaign.
Up against a Reading side who put five past Luton last term, Town restricted their opponents to just one effort on target all night, as the clean sheet followed another against Watford on Saturday, the home defence keeping out a Hornets side who were the fourth highest scorers in the league.
Naismith, who signed for Luton in January, has helped them keep five clean sheets in his 13 Championship starts, was impressed by the manner of Town's efforts in both recent matches, saying: "They’re teams that like to dominate games and keep possession and be in control of matches, but I think both teams will know they had a tough game. We controlled large parts of the game against Watford and same again tonight, a really top performance.”
Luton will not be an easy opponent on Saturday but then every game in the Championship can prove to be a difficult hurdle.
So let’s have your opinions and forecasts please.
Me? I’m going for the Boro to win 2 -1.
OFB
Sorry, OFB, but I think we play the Owls on Saturday. Or I am missing something?
Up the Boro!
Yes you’re right I’ve put up the wrong post !
thats what happens when you post in the middle of the night
Apologies everyone the owls will be posted shortly ?
OFB
Shouldn't it be the other way round, since it's an away match, Luton vs Boro?
yes I’m afraid so but it was a 4 o clock in the morning job !
OK so maybe it was the wrong team on the wrong day at the wrong ground but apart from that what else went wrong? At least it was the right season! 🤣 🤣 🤣 😉
Bore v Luton. I presume from your header OFB that you are predicting the type of game which we will be playing next Saturday! 😂😂.
All joking aside, thank you for all your hard work in putting together so many pre match articles which are very much appreciated by us all.
No expectations from me on next Saturday's performance as you just never know these days who/what will turn up.
It would be good if we could finish the season with four wins in a row but, having won two, knowing us we could just as easily lose the last two! 😎
yes I’m afraid so but it was a 4 o clock in the morning job ! 😴 zzzzzz
OFB
Was that before you went to bed or after waking up?
Bob
Your posts are definitive proof that you have far more energy when you are half asleep than I have when fully awake and loaded with vitamins and stimulants.
I went to Bed at ten and discovered it was down to me to do the lead post so woke up at 1 and lay awake for a couple of hours and then thought buzzer it and started to do it and was horrified when Jarrko told me it was the wrong one as he’s two hours ahead of BST.
one good thing about it is that AndyR myself and RR will sort out who does which post in advance and if others want to join in that’s great.
Werder had a lot of stress doing it all single handed and I’ve emailed him to see how he’s getting on but still awaiting a reply.
I hope he does return and let’s us share the load as it’s a hobby not meant to be a chore and we enjoyed his humorous and incisive comments.
Take care Ken and hopefully we’ll all see promotion next season.....
OFB
Ernie:- ‘What news of Carlisle, my liege.’
Eric:- ‘They’re losing two nil at Luton.‘
Classic!
I reckon that if the Boro who turned up against Wednesday turn up again, then Luton will beat us. They’re in good form and difficult to beat. We would do well to hang onto the ball a lot better this time out, especially as that proved very challenging for most of our players on Saturday. However, if NW gets the lads motivated again, then we might draw, which wouldn’t be a bad outcome.
I watched part of the Bournemouth v Brentford game on Saturday and Charlie Goode the Brentford CB was outstanding.
You may remember that during the pre season transfer window Boro reportedly made an offer for him of c. £800k when he was at Northampton but it was declined as they wanted £1M+. He eventually went to Brentford for just over £1M.
Later Boro paid reportedly in excess of £2.5M for Chuka Akpom; I think I know who made the best investment! 😎
The strong rumours of Boro signing the Bristol City forward doesn’t fill me with much excitement.
50 goals in 4 seasons is hardly prolific and apparently he has been criticised by his manager for not trying in the last few games as his contract is drawing to a close.
Obviosly we need around half a dozen players particularly if the loaners go back to their Clubs.
Whilst experience of this Division is useful we need players who aspire to play in the Premiership - ie experienced players who are capable of improving and/ young “ hungry players”.
I just hope NW doesn’t fill the squad with only players he’s worked with on the grounds he knows what he’s getting.
Philip of Huddersfield
@philip-of-huddersfield. I agree. When this was first muted in January I said then that a swap deal for BA was very uninspiring and that we would not be getting an upgrade.
His own goal scoring record is not prolific so unless he has more attributes such as holding the ball up and bringing others into play it is difficult to see what will change.
He has not scored for the last nine games which sounds very familiar!
He did score against us at the Riverside but I don't remember him having a particularly outstanding game, more that we were poor on the night. 😎
We seem stuck in this rut, which see's us buying players who tick the following boxes. is the deal one which is eagerly sought after by the selling club? Has he got plenty of history? Has the deal been chewed over by every one and his mate? Is the deal poisoned by the wish to be rid of a useless player? We go through this charade as though on some crazy roundabout, a nightmare from which we cannot escape. We should be signing players who we, the fans have no knowledge, they should be Young, very Good players, scouted in depth by our own scout, underline the own, who should be payed a bonus when they sell for a lot of money, or get capped. You will get taken to the cleaners if you depend on anyone but your own eyes and know how. Forget the number of goals he has scored, the test of a great forward is, 'does he get the fans out of their seats'? Is he intimidating to our opponents? Is he fresh, with his career to come, or on the slide? The sign of trouble is when the sellers throw a party!
Agree on the Bristol City striker’s record not being particularly good.
A couple of points to put into the mix though....
Firstly, as we’ve seen for ourselves all too often, a good goalscoring record with other clubs is not a strong indicator of how that player will perform at Boro. It’s more important that the player fits with our style of play.
In this particular case, we’ve seen enough of Bristol City over recent years to know they generally play a swift, passing game. That perhaps doesn’t suit a target man-type as much as our play would and it may be that this lad would perform better at Boro where his natural game is utilised.
Secondly, whilst I have no stats to back this up, I suspect that strikers generally score fewer goals nowadays and that the goalscoring record is of less value in itself. A lot of clubs (most?) now operate with a single striker whose role isn’t solely about scoring goals. Wingers now frequently play on the “wrong” side, cutting infield to shoot rather than going outside to cross for the strikers. The “fox-in-the-box”, the “big-man/little-man” and the strike partnership generally are less common now. With it, I suspect, is that the goals are shared out more evenly across “forwards” rather than strikers.
If we are indeed interested, I think it’s most likely that Warnock and his coaches have identified the player. So do we trust him?
The answer may well be varied but I think he’s done a good job on the transfer front so far with the exception of goalkeepers.
Did he really say that ?!
NM is quoted as saying his first choice back four is the best in the country - better than teams in the Premiership.
I am all for talking up your players but he can’t really believe what he said - or , is it simply a misinterpretation of a sports writer with little interesting news ?
Philip of Huddersfield
ps It would be good to finish the season with a couple of more wins - certainly achievable.
Luton v Boro
an XI of players who have represented both clubs including Bruce Rioch and Colin Todd who didn’t play for the clubs
but actually managed them.
So here is the following XI
• Goalkeeper – Andy Dibble
. Defender – Martin Cranie
• Defender – Alex Baptiste
• Defender – Colin Todd
• Midfielder – Jacob Butterfield
• Midfielder – Tom Craddock
• Midfielder – Chris Kamara
• Midfielder – Bruce Rioch
• Striker – Phil Boersma
• Striker – John O’Rourke
• Striker – Dwight Marshall
• Substitute – George Stobbart
Can you think of anyone who can be added to the list ?
OFB
@original-fat-bob I didn't know that Chris Kamara had played for Boro but now I googled and he did play 5 times on loan from Luton.
I think the away (?) shirt of Luton was absolutely mint last season. The orange with very nice looking sleeves was top shirt in the Championship for a long time.
I feel something positive when we play Luton. Most probably because we won promotion back there with Big Jack.
I hope to generate more happy memories on Saturday. That we play well and do not hoof the ball up field. But I will go for Luton 0 Bore 0.
I have liked Archer more than Bettinelly. Perhaps the former has different instructions but Archer gives the ball quite often to the defenders. When Fry is fit and if McNair continue to play in the back, we will have very good ball playing defenders there. Also Bola is good on the ball.
Up the Boro!
Glad that Boro have released Assongabonga. Otherwise he would be just the type of striker we would be linked with, free agent who doesnt score many goals and would be injured frequently, no bottle and spend most of his time on the deck or on the bench.
What type of enterprise would employ a general manager, 72 year old, to move on up to half the present staff, recruiit replcements on 3-4 year contracts, who cannot commit himself for more than twelve months.....oh yes, a football club.
For those interested Hartlepools continue their quest for promotion to the Football League with a home match against Chesterfield on Saturday televised on BT Sport at 5pm.
@ken If Pools would finish top, they are promoted. That is easy.
But what will happen if they would finish second or third?
And what happens to the teams who would finish between 4th and 7th? Sorry I am not so familiar with the Vanarama National League promotion system.
But I have been following the Pools this season. And they have played very well lately..
Up the Boro!
As far as I’m aware the Champions almost certainly will be Sutton United with an easy run in. The playoffs will be one-off matches with 4th v 7th and 5th v 6th. The winners of those matches will play each other with the highest placed club having home advantage and then playing away to the 3rd placed club. The winner of that match will then play away to the 2nd club in a promotion playoff final. As the table stands at the moment Pools would have to win two playoff matches, a home match against either the 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th club and if they win, an away match against the 2nd placed club. It’s therefore an advantage to finish at least 2nd for a home match in the playoff final. Of course finishing 1st would mean automatic promotion but as they have yet to play Sutton United away I feel that is unlikely. Pools goal difference is vastly inferior to either Sutton United or 2nd placed Torquay United so I think that Pools need to at least finish 2nd as a playoff match at Torquay is at least 364 miles away although there is an airport at Exeter which I assume Neil Warnock frequently uses, but would Pools be able to afford the cost of the flight?
@ken Thanks, Ken. I was confused with the play-offs in the Vanarama National League. Now I see it.
I agree that direct promotion is difficult for the Pools as Sutton have played less matches. But I think it is good to play Sutton, though. Win that, and there is a chance. But it will be difficult away from home.
But still five games to play. Interesting.
Up the Boro!
OFB,
Thank you for your lead article although Bore v Luton is a bit perturbing, do you have an inside line and know that it's going to windscreen wiper ball and hoof ball tomorrow? I'll go for a 2-1 win for Boro and I hope he does give our keeper a game or will that be the last game? Using our new blood does give the game a bit more interest for Boro supporters and surely if they're good enough does their age matter? `how old was Rooney when he made his debut?
Good to hear from Werdermouth too and it'll be good to read one of his pithy leaders some time soon. I suppose the Fat Lady will be gargling and going through her scales next week ready to close the season for Boro.
I wonder what the song will be?
Have a good weekend everyone and stay safe.
UTB,
John