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Boro 0 - 3 Swansea
 

Boro 0 - 3 Swansea

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Well it was not the restart to the season Boro needed if they were to start escaping from the relegation zone. Please add your thoughts but I suspect they will not be favourable!

The starting XI didn't look like a side with energy and with 5 of those outfield players out of contract in 10 days it looked quite subdued with many of the players looking very rusty and sluggish.

3-0 down after 30 minutes and the game was effectively over and the second half didn't produce a shot on target until Friend's 90th minute long-range effort.

Anyway, give your thoughts on a disappointing performance...

 

Click headline to read Redcar Red's match report...


Plucked Boro left spitting feathers

The eagerly awaited team selection didn’t exactly go down well on social media and seemed to be reliant on experience rather than creativity. Friend, Clayton, Howson, Shotton and Gestede all started with no sign of Moukoudi at all. Stojanovic won the honour over Pears to take his place between the sticks to make the most bizarre of home debuts. On a positive Roberts, Tav, Fletcher, Spence, Morrison and Assombalonga were all on the bench should some flair be required...

This topic was modified 4 years ago 6 times by werdermouth

   
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Did the Boro players stay on one knee for the whole of the first 45mins?


   
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Ken Smith
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I take no pleasure from forecasting a 0-3 defeat or a 3-0 win. Maybe it’s because I appear to be standing on my head.


   
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Normal service has been resumed it would seem. The BBC had Boro down for 17 shots one on target and 10 corners with 55% possession and to me a bizarre formation that hasn't worked all season and isn't that why JW stopped using that formation. Coupled with an equally bizarre team selection it seems it was over before Boro even got started.

My training ground theory with the 'strikers' didn't come to fruition either. Where were Pears and Moukoudi? Just impenetrable unlike Boro.

I worry about Boro for the remaining games. Already I am heading for the behind the couch with a large bottle of icy Estrella. That'll be the nearest Boro get to Barcelona.

Stay safe and UTB,

John


   
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Go back and get Ayala with a new contract !


   
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It really is a pity that Boro’s  restart was not as efficient as Werder restart of this forum!

A very poor performance indeed from start to finish and that is £10 I Might not spend again! Still cheaper than a match ticket and the fuel costs  so there was a positive after all!

I was getting frustrated with Maddo saying that the players would be be sluggish etc - strange that Swansea managed not to be. So what is it about our players or is it the motivation or lack of, that JW possesses.

 

We never looked like a team that wanted to win and as others have said, playing players who are out of contract doesn’t appear to make any sense, especially Gestede!

At least the sun is shining so that I can retreat to the garden with a bottle of something to drink! 

This post was modified 4 years ago by Boro Beckys Dad

   
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Posted by: @ken

I take no pleasure from forecasting a 0-3 defeat or a 3-0 win. Maybe it’s because I appear to be standing on my head.

I've got you back on your feet again Ken 🙂

 


   
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I said that I hoped that team would work before the game. Nothing more than hope and unconvincing at that.

How, with a fully fit squad to pick from, you can go with that XI in that shape beggars belief really.

How, after three months without a game, the players can look so disinterested (bar one or two) is equally baffling and concerning.

Sigh. I can only hope Woodgate was saving players’ legs for Stoke and Hull. There’s that unconvincing hope again.


   
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I have to say I haven’t missed football that much since the season was suspended and I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the restart.  Now I know why.  The omens For Boro are very dark indeed and unless there is a radical change in attitude, performance levels, tactics and results League One is a shoe in.  The only hope would be if (God forbid) there was a further Covid-19 spike that necessitated a further rigorous lockdown, the suspension of football and the abandonment of the season with Boro just above the drop zone.  But they really wouldn’t deserve such an escape because all the problems from the start of the season have been self-inflicted through incompetent management.


   
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Philip of Huddersfield
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Listening to the commentary Boro were woeful and Swansea won in a canter.

Relagation , after this performance, is looking more likely. 

Who is confident that Woodgate will avoid relegation?

Is it more important to keep Woodgate in a job this season and next season if relegated, or, is it more important to give yourself a chance of staying in this division?

If it is the latter than a new coach is needed now. I’d get Karanka now.I would put money on him getting the team organised and avoiding relegation.

The only downside is what would happen next season. Keep Karanka, if he wanted the job, or  start again in seeking someone new.


   
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While the long wait for Boro's return to football may not exactly have been worth waiting for, there is something that is - it's the return of Redcar Red with his Match Report and his take on today's game against Swansea...

https://diasboro.club/2020/06/20/boro-0-3-swansea/

This post was modified 4 years ago by werdermouth

   
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@boroexile, Like you I'd forgotten how rubbish we are and frankly I think we will be relegated. I'don't what the plan was today or if there was a plan but the management don't seem to have learned from their previous mistake(s). Will we be giving a new contract to Gestede? Depressing, quite depressing.

Stay safe,  UTB,

John


   
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Posted by: @john-richardson

@boroexile, Like you I'd forgotten how rubbish we are and frankly I think we will be relegated. I'don't what the plan was today or if there was a plan but the management don't seem to have learned from their previous mistake(s). Will we be giving a new contract to Gestede? Depressing, quite depressing.

Stay safe,  UTB,

John

Especially with Wigan 2-0 up at Huddersfield.  🙁  The Terriers are currently one place above Boro (20th vs 21st) with one more point.  The consolation is that Hull are losing 0-1 to Charlton, so continue to occupy the third relegation place.  If the Tigers somehow manage to bag an equaliser, the positions will be reversed...

 


   
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A team struggling at the bottom end of the league were beaten at home by a team chasing promotion. No great surprise there. Without the benefit of seeing the game I’m loathe to criticise too much. Were we simply outplayed by a better team?

 

Far more important would be what the attitude of the players was. With almost half the starting lineup on the verge of leaving the club, how much did that lead to the performance. I’m surprised that the manager included so many of them considering the recent stories concerning players both here and elsewhere not wishing to get injured with possible moves coming up.

 

The manager has enough players at his disposal to pick a side without them, but perhaps relegation might suit some of those individuals  MFC would be unable to hold on to them which could lead to players leaving in cut price deals just to get them off the books which would favour the player.

One thing for sure, the manager saw up close and personal his charges today and hopefully answered a lot of questions in his mind.

 

I doubt very much that quite a few of today’s starters will feature in the next game..

This post was modified 4 years ago 2 times by grovehillwallah

   
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Redcar Red,

Thank you for the report and the saving grace is at least you weren't there. Your most telling comment was about bring our most creative players on with twenty minutes to go at 0-3. What can you say?

Well I don't think Mr Woodgate is capable of saving this and the trapdoor beckons and is being oiled as I write.

Heavens above, three months off and what has he learnt? If we still had Traore he'd be in goal.

Warnock or Karanka please. That's just to cause an argument.

Stay safe

UTB,

John


   
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Well I got logged in without any problems and then wished I hadn't!  I then spent a lot of the second half getting off the couch to attend to the lap top which was buffering and losing picture at frequent intervals; it was like iFollow at the start and not as good a feed as pre covid at my end.

The match regrettably was very much like pre covid days, lacking in pace, passion, skill and quality from the Boro.  Failure to hit the target and to defend properly were still all too evident.  We again made an average Championship team look like Barcelona. 

I am not sure why many of us believed that it would be different this time round.  I think the memory of the win at Charlton had led us into a false belief that we would be able to climb away from the bottom of the table and had erased from our memories the dire performances (West Brom and Preston apart) the team have produced this season.

JW's post match interview, whilst honest about the performance, did nothing to convince me that he or the team have the ability or skills to get us out of a situation which is only going one way at present.  He revealed that two out of contract players are still to agree to play beyond the end of the month and that Mokoudi was absent through illness but should be available for Stoke.  😎😟


   
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Many thanks for your report RR which as always was spot on.  

I can't think of any positives whatsoever to take from that performance which has left us outside the drop zone on goal difference.  

I am not so sure that there are three worse teams than us after watching that! 😎


   
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Thanks for the report, RR. Like the rest of us, you probably need a lie down after that first half but I actually wish we were playing midweek so we didn’t have to dwell on this all week.


   
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I couldn't get logged in and even after paying 5 quid didn't work except got a free radio commentary.

Turned it off after the penalty

 

 


   
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As we have seen all season, Redcar Reds report is far superior to the football on show from Boro. Apart from the opening 15 minutes of both halves, I never felt that we were playing at anything above an acceptable level.

once we went 2 down, and Swansea should have scored twice before the first goal, the result was never in doubt, it was just how many we would lose by.

 

if that is the best that JW and the players can do, then we might as well not bother playing for the rest of the season and accept relegation. To play players who are nit committed to the club is never a good idea and the initial team selection smacked of playing for a draw from the off.

 

Stoke and Hull are both must win games although based on our performance today, I really can’t see it happening. Relegation is looming large and the fat lady is starting her walk from her changing room towards the wings, ready to open her vocal chords.

 

I wasn’t too fussed about football starting again although as 1230 approached, I had got vaguely Excited but by the time the game had ended, I am back to not caring one way or another.

 

As Mogga said, it is what it is and it will be what it will be.............

 

League one


   
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@andy r

I missed the game (don't ask) but I owe her big time.

First things first, cut to the chase, he is out of his depth, and out of his class.

This was same as, same as, no idea, no clue.

Both should be politely informed that it is over, they have not in any way shaped as though they might have a clue as to motivation, tactics, team selection, we will forget that they were as abysmal in two recent friendlies and scared the living daylights out of anyone with the slightest idea of the requirements of league football.

It was not a shock, or a surprise, it is astounding to think that this man had a large part to play in unseating a manager who had hit the bar then achieved promotion, made a profit on a steady stream of players, and left us with several who brought in healthy sums(forget the 100 mil player) that was a death foretold i.e. Never going to happen in this world.

Can we now dispense with this rubbish and rehire AK, we need him, now! Not six games down the road.

It is pure selection, nothing else, the number of players getting on the pitch who, frankly, would not get on the field in this division is remarkable, and continuing.

If you carry on doing what you did, you will assuredly carry on getting what you got.   


   
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Great to have you back RR with another great report and no holds barred. Woodgate still seems absolutely clueless. The team he picked to start the game were also clueless. Time for SG to act before it is too late.


   
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I was so hacked off I posted my report to Werder without proof reading it so apologies for the few typos. I went off and had a few cans to calm down and I have only plucked up the courage and started reading the after match analysis now. That was a poor showing right from the off with very few mitigating features. The Team selection was wrong and I doubt any fans would have picked anything like that team. OK the Manager is paid to do that job but he got it badly wrong. That it was predictable just makes it worse and not for the first time this season.

Interesting that even the Gazette struggled to sugar coat it:

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/relegation-unthinkable-middlesbrough-much-deeper-18459037


   
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@plato if Karanka was an option, I must admit I would take it.

As I’ve said, I wouldn’t rule out JW becoming a decent manager in time but forget that, we need results now.


   
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Ken Smith
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Thanks Werdermouth for turning my avatar 90degrees, I was getting a headache. 


   
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Many thanks to RR fr the match report and at least he was unlike the team up to speed and match fit. Although, I must admit after such a long break I'd completely forgotten about setting-up the new site for the match report and got a shock when wandering past my laptop and checking my mail for any support queries to find RR's mail with his report (btw I've since corrected those couple of typos as first time round was to busy working out how to get it published on the new system).

I suspect Woodgate also forgot quite a few things during the Covid break - especially that it was the energy of youth which had stopped the rot last time he started the season with a pedestrian looking side in that ill-fated 4-3-3 formation - though absolutely no evidence of the 'high press' that was supposed to be the foundation and the way forward.

It looked and felt like a pre-season warm-up game for Boro - someone may need to mention that we don't need anymore friendly performance!

This post was modified 4 years ago by werdermouth

   
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Traoré playing a blinder at the London Stadium, it seems:  had a hand in both the goals Wolves have scored so far against the Hammers...  Came on in the 64th minute, but was still named man of the match!

This post was modified 4 years ago by Stircrazy

   
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Clive Hurren
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Words fail me. What on earth has Woodgate being doing these last  few weeks? Boro certainly weren’t ready for this game in any sense. Re-watching the highlights of our games before lockdown had reminded me just how poor we can be at times, but today’s was undoubtedly one of the worst. The defence looked as if this was the first time they had met and left huge gaps everywhere. 

And today, as friends have pointed out, Woodgate got the selection completely wrong. As has so often been the case this season, Gestede’s presence meant that Boro just lumped the ball long up to him to head on; and ok, he won a few headers, but to no effect whatsoever. There was never anyone close enough to him to profit. And several times he headed wide from good positions in the box. For someone who is supposed to be a strong header of the ball, this is really frustrating. But it’s unfair of me just to pick out Gestede - the rest were equally poor. Wing and Coulson, for instance, were completely anonymous first half. 

Why wait until nearly the 70th minute to bring on our two best strikers? This just made no sense. Alarm bells ringing very loudly. 


   
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Clive Hurren
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Thanks for turning my avatar the right way up, Werder. I feel much less light-headed now! 


   
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I am sorry to comment about this but as I didn't see the match I have just been told that the players did the knee down. I am appalled at this.


   
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