I agree Delerad. We should be saving our money eyvro invest in players qe want as a permanent signing and otherwise make use of our own academy resources and develop those into our first team where possible.
Can't disagree with your general argument, but this lad oozes genuine quality of a kind that I haven't seen in any of our previous loanees. Of course if he does arrive- a big if I agree- he could get kicked off the park in the first couple of games. But, in spite of all of the ifs and buts, I'm allowing myself to get just a tiny bit excited.
Ever the optimist!
@lenmasterman there is always the exception. Seems to me though that he won't replace Howson. He's not left footed so won't replace McGree. That leaves replacing Hackney or Crooks on the right. Or possibly playing in Akpom's role. After three months toughening up he might overtake Crooks and Hackney, then go back. Just seems pointless.
OK - half the weeekend double has been successfully addressed. England beat Sir Lanka (though it was a bit close for comfort as we approached the runs needed) and therefore have qualified for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Ken will be delighted.
Now for Boro v Bristol City. As you know, no prediction from me this weekend, but the result may have a massive affect on my mood this weekend. Let's hope it will be a win. Just about to set off for the Riverside, but I have to say that the damp and grey weather outside is a bit depressing. I will keep the faith.... Let's hope I stay dry and warm and that Boro "makes my weekend".
Today's starting XI - still no siign of Bola:
Z
OK - half the weeekend double has been successfully addressed. England beat Sir Lanka (though it was a bit close for comfort as we approached the runs needed) and therefore have qualified for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Ken will be delighted.
Now for Boro v Bristol City. As you know, no prediction from me this weekend, but the result may have a massive affect on my mood this weekend. Let's hope it will be a win. Just about to set off for the Riverside, but I have to say that the damp and grey weather outside is a bit depressing. I will keep the faith.... Let's hope I stay dry and warm and that Boro "makes my weekend".
It’s quadruple for me.
- Cricket; England won against Oz,
- England WRL; won against Canada,
- I now need England RL to beat PNG
- and Boro to get 3 points. Am I being greedy?
Astonished that Giles continues as left wing back. Such an obvious weakness defensively. If Bola not available there must be some other way of plugging such a glaring gap.
And Forss will have to show something more than being an enthusiastic chaser and willing runner off the ball. Unless we have paid out a few millions for feats easily achieved by any self-respecting canine.
I'm hoping for a win, but we will have to improve markedly on our Tuesday performance to gain it.
Head says a score draw. I'll go for 1-1
An entertaining first half where Boro have played some very good neat approach play - indeed they could have been 3-0 up after ten minutes but as usual a defensive mistake from Smith gifted the ball to Bristol and they duly scored with their first attack. Boro seem subdued after that for the next ten minutes but ended the half strongly with more attacking football. Still, Boro guilty of missing chances and failing with the final ball but overall looking pretty decent with Hayden Hackney and McGree being the pick for me and Jones still not quite on his game. Boro need an early goal in the second half and then should press on - hopefully not a defeat as this has been a performance worth a lead.
@werdermouth? Hopefully that was quick enough 1-1 CoB 😎
47th minute, so I'd say it was! 😉
OFB, great opener and as always my appreciation knows no boundaries although very rarely shown, Andy R please take a share of the plaudits because without the pair of you the build up to match day's would be a damp squib. Look, it's the only pun regarding bommy night in my locker that hasn't already been used, but I'm not getting me coat just yet.
You know what, being brought up in Park End, getting hand me down kit from me posh rellies in Chesterfield, getting married and setting up home, bringing up three lads, moving across to the other side of the world to live, not once, but twice, facing down Black Dog and now groaning in to old age and retirement, have been an absolute breeze compared to being a Boro supporter. I can't think of a single thing that's more achingly painful, I can't even quote childbirth, because my involvement was supplying the gas and air at the critical moments, and that was to me, boy do I need more now.
As I write, Dr. Chuba has applied a little drop of iodine to a very open and festering wound, but those of us old enough to have received such medication, the sting is almost as bad as the wound. Why is supporting my team so arduous, which is only alleviated by like minded souls to share the grief. It's still my Boro, our Boro and always will be, I just wish that the path was tarmac instead of cobbles, bumpy rides are for masochists, but thereby lies a fine line between one of those and being a Boro supporter.
Enjoyable game despite Boro failing to convert more than one of their chances created - they will play a lot worse than that and probably win. Anyway, signs of Boro improving under Carrick and just need a bit more quality with the final ball (as ever) - though Boro now playing with method and shape and no longer looking like a side drifting into League One. Just need to win the next two games now 😉
Oh only if we could consistently score goals, Hackney my MOTM, s8gns of improvement
A fine energetic performance from the lads, particularly in the first half when we could have easily gone in leading 5-1, instead of being behind.
Forss had his best game in a Boro shirt- a low bar, but credit to him, he was more dangerous than Akpom today. He missed a great chance, opting, when clean through, to hit a ball on his left foot with his right, but was unlucky to see a goal-bound shot deflected on to the post just before half-time. His running was productive today and a constant thorn in the Bristol defence.
Hackney (my M-o-M) and Howson were the springboard for most of Boro's attacks, coming mainly down the left in the first half and the right in the second. As we have come to expect Giles was dangerous going forward, but not in sight, twenty five yards behind the play, when the cross came in from our left to set up their goal. When he was booked early on one feared the worst, but the positives greatly outweighed his defensive frailties today.
Jones got little change out of his full back in the first half but plugged away and offered our greatest threat in the second.
Good energetic performance from McGree after his below par display at Hull.
Akpom less in evidence than of late, and wasting some final balls from good positions, but weighing in with the vital equaliser.
This was several steps up from anything we have seen recently and gave the promise of greater things to come. But we are now back to 20th position in the league and hovering just above the automatic relegation places. Away wins for West Brom and Coventry and good points for most of our other rivals show that we are still in danger. We look as though we are progressing nicely under Carrick. But, by heavens ,we need to.
0
@werdermouth. Correct, we did play a lot worse than that on Tuesday and won!
A much improved performance with a high tempo game and some very good flowing movements and forward passes at times.
Sadly, our long-standing problems of converting chances and keeping a clean sheet cost us two points. In part this was due to their keeper pulling off some great saves.
It was good to see us controlling the game with Bristol largely on the back foot and looking to hit us on the break.
If we continue to play like that then hopefully we will start to win more regularly. I hope that starts on Tuesday at Blackpool. 😎
Player ratings from the Echo
Here's how Middlesbrough's players rated in the 1-1 draw with Bristol City:
6 Zack Steffen: Next to nothing to do. Bristol City only managed two shots on target.
6 Tommy Smith: Solid defensively, got forward to support Jones when he could.
8 Dael Fry: Won everything in the air. Dominant performance.
7 Darragh Lenihan: Assured throughout, building a good partnership with Fry
6 Ryan Giles: Didn’t have much to do defensively, linked up well with McGree
6 Isaiah Jones: Frustrating in the first half but stuck at his task and got better as the game went on.
7 Hayden Hackney: Another mature display, always looking forward.
8 Jonny Howson: Commanding in the middle of the park, bossed the game
8 Riley McGree: At the heart of all of Boro’s good work. One of his best displays for the club.
8 Chuba Akpom: A threat throughout, deserved his goal.
7 Marcus Forss: Positive and full of running, linked up well with McGree and Akpom One of his best displays in a Boro shirt.
Substitutes:
Crooks (for Forss, 72): N/A,
Subs not used: Roberts, Mowatt, Muniz, Hoppe, Dijksteel, McNair, Crooks.
@lenmasterman A very good summary. I quite agree but think Howson was my MoM. And Fry close second.
We were quite good today with 73 % of possesion. And many good chances. Let's hope the results follow. Up the Boro!
The Attendance was 23,899 at the Riverside.
What has been the home average this season?
I was expecting a bit more for Carrick's home debut and as there won't anothe home match before December. Up the Boro!
Well I saw a different game unfortunately and in my opinion Jarrko there was not circa 24K in the ground.
Yes we had the majority of the play, shots, corners and possession. But for all the neat tipy tapy inter passing, time and again we ended up where we started after around 20 of them. One particular attack (in the second half) started with Howson and came back to him at least three times before we lost it.
it looks good and we produced 23 shots however only 9 on target, the quality debatable. Those real chances given to a better striker would have produced goals. Ours failed.
Again, yes an improved performance against a poor-ish side. We attack downs the wings, lots of crosses, but the majority hit and hope or not beating the first man. I cannot recollect a ball through the middle into the box from the midfield.
I appreciate most will see this as a negative post, but we will not really improve until we improve the overall quality of the midfield and add some real creativity.
I have to disagree. I thought that the Hackney Howson axis was a huge step forward and the main weakness came from the inability to deliver good crosses from a mass of good possession.
I would also love to see us with a really top class hold up man up front. Gyokeres or the like would give Akpom the knockdowns to deliver a hatful of goals.whether Coburn is ready to do that will be one of the more most interesting decisions that the club has to make in January
utb
Green shoots starting to bud. We've had 8 games under Leo and Carrick so far, won 3, drawn 2, lost 3. 1 Poor performance but mostly you can see a group of players gradually putting themselves back together after the drama at the end of the ancien régime.
That was a decent attacking performance for Carrick's first home match. While we got lucky breaks for the second and third goals against Hull, we didn't get any against Bristol. Something I noticed is that McGree's chances were harder because he's left-footed. His first chance in particular, if he had been right-footed he would have been able to curl it around the keeper but, with his left foot, he had to shoot straight. It was well-placed but so was the keeper and he did pull off a really good save; in some ways his second reaction stop was even more impressive.
I wonder if in future matches we might see Carrick experiment with swapping Jones and McGree and using the full-backs for overlapping width.
Akpom really has been reborn as the complete forward. Scores with both feet and his head. His goal was a typical poacher's goal; a midfielder there would have likely failed to score that. All season, and especially under Carrick, he's been performing to the level that Bamford did under Pulis. If that had been Strand Larsen performing like that after spending £10m on him, we would be calling him a £20m striker. Likewise, if Payero had put in a performance like Hackney's, we would be calling him a bargain.
There wasn't really a weak point in that performance but it is early days. As with the start of the season, the performances aren't quite picking up the points you might expect. Under Wilder, that turned into a crisis. Here's hoping that under Carrick it's a transitional period going in the other direction.
You can also start to see who Carrick trusts at this point and who he doesn't. Turning to Crooks rather than Muniz or Hoppe is a real burn against those two. Looks like he wants Akpom to play with a speedy partner. McNair hasn't had a minute and Bola has disappeared (injured?). Although I feel like Giles is really unhappy at the moment, Carrick has identified as a key component; noticable that after the win at Hull, Carrick put his arm around Giles when going to salute the Boro fans. He's also clearly identified as a key attacking midfielder and McGree looks to be getting back to the level of performance he showed when he first joined.
I think, when the history books are written, Leo will also have been shown to have done a really good job of steadying the ship and proving that there are players in the U21s who can step up a level if given a run of games.
Akpom really has been reborn as the complete forward. Scores with both feet and his head. His goal was a typical poacher's goal; a midfielder there would have likely failed to score that. All season, and especially under Carrick, he's been performing to the level that Bamford did under Pulis. If that had been Strand Larsen performing like that after spending £10m on him, we would be calling him a £20m striker. Likewise, if Payero had put in a performance like Hackney's, we would be calling him a bargain.
A good post, deleriad.
A few days ago I was asking if Chuba was signed by Woodgate. No, he was signed in September 2020 by Warnock! https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/18733279.middlesbrough-sign-chuba-akpom-paok-salonika/
Warnock has said he has been chasing Chuba for a long time before he got him for Boro. Well done, Mr. Warnock!
Another thing I did not remember was that Akpom was an England Under 21 international while at Arsenal. He can also play for Nigeria and has said he will prefer Nigeria at the full International level. He was 27 last month.
Nice to see Chuba prove so many people wrong. Me and Mr. Wilder, too. I am really happy for his current success. Long may it continue. Up the Boro!
Green shoots starting to bud. We've had 8 games under Leo and Carrick so far, won 3, drawn 2, lost 3. 1 Poor performance but mostly you can see a group of players gradually putting themselves back together after the drama at the end of the ancien régime.
That is 11 points from 8 matches. An average of 1,4 points per game. Not excellent yet but I think the team is playing with more confidence now. Looking positive for me. Let's hope we finally have a (head) coach who can improve the current players. Like Karanka did.
Up the Boro!
Although boro are improving with Carrick, looking at the table we are still really desperate for points.
@malcolm Yes, results and points wise were are not there yet. But it is 1.4 points per match since Wilder left the building.
I think the performances and especially entertainment levels are hugely up from Pulis era, like. So I am happy with that.
Some data from the Bristol City match below:
I think we never managed 23 shots during the days of Pulis. Or nine shots on target, for that matter.
So let's enjoy the show. If performances stay high, we can occationally see a 4-1 (at Wigan) or 3-1 wins (Hull). Something to look forward to, again.
up the Boro!
I agree, Jarkko. I wasn’t at the game, so I’m not really qualified to comment, but I was just going to say what you’ve just said! 23 shots on goal with 9 on target goes way beyond anything we have seen for ages. That strikes me as a really positive development.
There were a lot of positives from yesterday’s game both in the way in which we played and from the statistics which showed we were in the ascendancy both in terms of possession and attempts.
The result was however disappointing and you have to hope it was just one of those days where the keeper and Lady Luck were there to thwart you.
I hope I am wrong but my fear is that our inability to take chances, which has been an Achilles heel for many a season, will be our undoing. Even under TP we often created many chances, which he often referred to in his post match interviews, but failed to convert.
Possession and pretty football will not save us from relegation, we need wins and certainly one next Tuesday. CoB 😎
@deleriad Actually I think we did get some luck yesterday, with our goal.
McGree’s pass to Akpom looked as though it was not going to him until it took the deflection. Akpom though still had to make it happen and he took the chance well.