Boro vs Cardiff
Before turning to the preview of the home game against Cardiff on Saturday, a brief mention must be made of the shambles that was the display by the Boro team against Bristol City last night. At Reading, Boro were superb and all the players excelled, but against Bristol City, they were extremely poor and no player, except perhaps Fry, can escape criticism on the night.
Even Neil Warnock admitted to the press after the Bristol City game, that he had told his players at half-time that they'd embarrassed him in the opening period. As long-sufferingfans, we have come to expect that sort of performance and embarrassment after raising our hopes with such a brilliant win at Reading.
With victory, Boro would have moved level on points with sixth-placed Bournemouth and put pressure on both them and Cardiff ahead of their Wednesday night meeting. Instead, we will now slip a spot to ninth tonight making our playoff hopes extremely doubtful.
At least Neil Warnock tells it straight, saying exactly what the fans think about the nonperforming and out of sorts Boro strikers.
“I thought they were a waste of time in the first half tonight, so it’s back to the drawing board I’m afraid.”
Moving rapidly on, we can now preview the must win home game on Saturday against Cardiff. For some reason we seem to play better against teams above us in the league and Cardiff now fall into that category.
To have any chance of some points we have to do without Ashley Fletcher who pulled up short with an injury mid-way through the first half. Neil Warnock clarified the situation on what the problem is.
"I don't think it's the hamstring again, I'm not a doctor but I think it's the glutes. It's disappointing because we'll need a presence up top against Cardiff on Saturday. If we don't their defenders will just gobble us up.
We will probably see some changes in the forward line on Saturday as Darnell Fisher who was struggling before the game with an ankle problem was taken off to save further Injury and we brought Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on who got 45 minutes into his legs.
Warnock said:
"I thought we might as well get him on at half-time, but he struggled to make an impact because of how deep they played the second half, but he got the 45 minutes and I'm sure that will be valuable for him going forward."
That suggests that he will probably start the game against his former club on Saturday and no doubt he will have a point to prove on what skills they have lost.
Other players are looking jaded in the team and probably Johnny Howson needs a rest with perhaps McNair being pushed forward into midfield. Our goalkeeper seems to commit blunder after blunder and perhaps its time for a change between the sticks.
Looking at Cardiff City’s miraculous upturn since Mick McCarthy took charge last month, he has followed Neil Warnock’s philosophy in that he has simplified things, his first day in the job being a prime example.
“There was no big, long speech,” said the Cardiff midfielder Will Vaulks.
“It was just: ‘Listen. I’m here to try and improve you. I know how good you are. I want to get the best out of you.’ It was 30 seconds of introduction and ‘let’s get on the pitch and improve’.”
McCarthy has worked wonders and galvanised Cardiff, taking 17 points from a possible 21. To show how remarkable his achievement has been it should be noted that on the day he was appointed Cardiff trailed Bournemouth by 13 points and were 15th in the table following seven defeats in eight matches. Last weekend Cardiff put four goals past Preston and tonight ( Wednesday ) they travel to Bournemouth knowing that with victory they could jump into sixth spot at their hosts’ expense. McCarthy has given Cardiff an unlikely route to the play-offs by resurrecting a faltering side. When McCarthy arrived, Cardiff were nine points above the relegation zone and the club’s hierarchy worried about dropping into League One, which would have been a financial catastrophe. McCarthy’s remit upon taking over was simply to keep Cardiff up.
This seems to be a trend of Clubs appointing senior experienced managers as our own Neil Warnock, in his 70s, saved Middlesbrough last season. Chris Hughton another senior manager has had a slow-burning impact at Nottingham Forest and to complete the trend, this week Bristol City appointed Nigel Pearson until May.
“Maybe people are having a look at it, seeing our results here, and think: ‘Well, maybe those experienced guys do know something about what they’re doing and do have a role to play,’” says McCarthy.
“All I hear whenever a job comes up it is that it’s got to be some young guy with bright new ideas. And you know what? There’s not that many new ideas that come around in football, it’s still kind of the same, keep it off the opposition and put it in their net and get it back.”
Will Vaulks the Cardiff Midfielder has gone on record to say.
"Why can’t we just embrace what Cardiff City are? Let’s face it, we’re horrible to play against, we’re physical, we run further than teams, we win battles and we’ve got quality. Why do Cardiff need to change to be successful? Not every football team should play out from the back.
"The gaffer is by no means just long ball, it’s whatever it takes to win a football game. I think we’ve got Cardiff back to what they’re good at and why can’t we be the best in the league at that?"
What the Boro need now is for the players to step up to the mark and give a rallying cry as now is the right moment to turn things around. It's time for the team to get back on board because otherwise we will have blown it in a league which quite frankly, has been there for the taking this season.
Me? My Forecast?
I’m going for the eyeballs in the Sky……………….
Original Fat Bob
Warnock went on to say how pleased he has been with Johnson and although he may feel aggrieved to have been a substitute in recent weeks, he still has a part to play in the squad going forwards.
“I have been happy with Marvin this season.
“He’s been a bit disappointed of late to be left out and he’s taken his bat and ball home a couple of times in training, you know, sulky face and all that.
“But that doesn’t bother me. As long as he comes on and plays like he did on Saturday I’m quite happy with that.”
Cheers OFB for taking the lead once again.
I’m still too sore from last night to even think about Cardiff at the mo to be honest. The phrase rhymes with “For Bucks Sake”.
On another note, my pre-season tip for Barnsley to finish in the playoffs looked a bit daft at one point - not now!
“He’s been a bit disappointed of late to be left out and he’s taken his bat and ball home a couple of times in training, you know, sulky face and all that.
At least Johnson takes it badly and feels some hurt and pain when he isn't getting selected and wants to prove a point unlike some others I could mention. When he has come on he has made a difference whereas those "others" may as well have remained nice and warm on the bench.
Let’s face it, Boro have now won only one more game this season than they have lost which to me suggests a mid-table side and in all honesty that is what the majority of fans me included would have been satisfied with before the season started. Even throughout this season Neil Warnock has always maintained that Boro were outsiders for a playoff place, so what has changed? We still haven’t been able to buy a striker capable of scoring 15/18 goals in a season. Giving Assombalonga the captaincy was a mistake. Perhaps he did it to motivate Britt, but it’s difficult enough to be the main striker of a team without the burden of captaincy. In my history of Boro’s best strikers not one of them captained the side until we come to Brian Clough,and even that caused problems at the time. The problem of course is that Boro don’t possess a leader on the field of play at the moment. Maybe that’s what we need to look at in the summer.
The problem of course is that Boro don’t possess a leader on the field of play at the moment. Maybe that’s what we need to look at in the summer.
I think we need to look for several leaders in the summer as it's difficult to find one stand out candidate currently. CB's are a traditional source of Captaincy but I don't see Fry or McNair as Captain material. Grant Hall may be but we don't really know enough about him and besides he has to be a regular starter.
Morsy was considered Captain material at Wigan but I'm not so sure, perhaps the longer he stays the more he will grow into it. It would be difficult to come into a club and not knowing anyone or the protocols and procedures and just become Captain. Howson is the obvious one but I'm not so sure, it's more a case of best of a bad lot than rather than blindingly obvious.
We need more Mowbray's, Southgate's and Leadbitters in the side and preferably not just one but two or three as a minimum. We lack that drive and leadership on the pitch and it's our Achilles heel at the moment.
Thanks OFB for kicking off this thread.
I am now convinced that we are not good enough for a top six spot and like so many Boro sides before, when the going gets tough or the pressure is on we fail to step up, particularly when opportunity beckons.
Given our recent home results then I cannot see anything other than a Cardiff win 0-2.
If we are to get anything from the game then we need to go back to basics and to set up and play as we did at the early part of the season when we went 11 games unbeaten; to that end we need the back four of Dijksteel, Fry, Hall and Bola.
We can then play either 433, 442, 451, 4141. PM will need to move back into midfield and I agree that JH needs a rest. Johnson needs to be starting on the left hand side and not the right. BA and CA need to be left on the bench as does NML as he has not done enough for me to justify a start.
Watmore and Kebano should then be utilised to fit into which ever system NW considers best but he has already identified that we don't have a target man without Fletcher so will need to keep the ball on the floor and hope we can run at and turn their defenders.
Cardiff are not only the form team but are also on a roll and despite me telling my City season ticket holder friend that they were too far behind to make the play off's I think they are now a certainty. I would not be surprised to see Reading slip out leaving the likes of Bournemouth and Barnsley to battle it out for the other spot as we ease our way to mid table.
What with Boro's poor showing mid week and England's dire performance in India, then we just need a thrashing from the Welsh on Saturday and to lose to Cardiff to round off a week to be forgotten! CoB prove us wrong. 😎
The problem with form is that it, by it's very nature, has a shape to it. The anger of the fans is to be expected when our heroes quietly travel to the leaders and spend a happy afternoon trashing them, then, come home to their own ground to play some team in the most dreadful crisis, and (of course) stand about as the opposition race into a three nil lead, win easily, and leave us looking foolish. This is the fourth time they have pulled off this most difficult of tricks, so someone Is not doing their job. Football may be a sport, but that does not give it license to be completely random with regard to home and away matches. I believe that a club with a culture and organisation and ambition, would not and could not accept this, because, let's be clear, if they had spent the time waiting for their victims to get on the pitch, with one idea in their mind, that they would not, by hook or crook, under any circumstances, concede a goal. Then i think that they would have collected about nine of the available points, these were the dregs of the Champ. To collect zero points is not an accident, bewildering, yes, but not an accident. Normal human beings, sting and hurt when it happens to them, twice, they would be seeing a trick cycalist. So why have our heroes suffered it four times, not forgetting that against Huddersfield, we ended the game helpless and legless, praying for the whistle.
Many thanks for another excellent intro, OFB.
I rather think the Cardiff game might be the death knell for our diminishing play-off hopes. As Will Vaulks said, they are a sod to play against, so unless Boro match them in that man-for-man and show similar levels of tenacity, then I fear we we will lose. Of course, on several occasions this season Boro have done just that, out-working and out-fighting the opposition in what we were coming to see as typical of Warnock’s philosophy. Can we now do it again on Saturday after such a chastening and confidence-sapping defeat? Time will tell. And even if we do manage to match Cardiff’s physical qualities, we don’t have the forwards to bully their monster defenders, Morrison and Flint (remember him?). Instead, we’ll need to use guile and nous, to get Watmore and Kebano on the ball and weaving their way through, as Flint in particular has no pace.
Your eyeballs in the sky look a reasonable bet, provided we tighten up at the back.
Thanks OFB for starting us all off on this Cardiff thread.
Still sick after Tuesdays no show. Best result on Wednesday was Cardiff beating Bournemouth given our own defeat on Tuesday. All the same, even if we do play the typicalboro card and beat Cardiff, I agree with most posters in here that we don't seem to have much realistic hope of a top six finish.
It would be interesting to know what plans NW has for the close season. Who will be retained and who will be brought in. We need more than a little rebuilding if we are to compete more consistently.
As for Saturday...well I would like to think we will spring a surprise, but realistically I expe t we will be beaten fairly comfortably, 2-0.
I just wonder after Tuesdays result if Neil Warnock will think he’s had enough after the end of this season and decide he’s had enough.
If he does stay it will be on his terms and he’s already said there needs to be changes behind the scenes.
Recruitment needs a shake up and also the way we develop players from the academy to the first team to get football league experience.
NW has also stated that we are operating with a very small squad and whilst we may have a reasonable first time we all know from games played we do not have strength in depth or the ability to change our style of play because the players aren’t available.
It all depends on one man really where we go from here and that is our Chairman Steve Gibson does he still retain the interest for the club and the enthusiasm to get back to the premiership???
OFB
Neil Warnock maintains we have a small squad, yet Tony Pulis said our squad was too large and that he preferred to work with a squad of no more than 25 players. And there you have it, the latter decimated the club and now we’re suffering for it.
Neil Warnock maintains we have a small squad, yet Tony Pulis said our squad was too large and that he preferred to work with a squad of no more than 25 players. And there you have it, the latter decimated the club and now we’re suffering for it.
I'm surprised that anyone thinks that Pulis decimated our squad, this is the genius that sold Bamford and spent the money on Saville!
@redcarred. Not still aggrieved about the sale of Bamford are you by any chance! 😂😎
Just listened to NW's pre match press conference and all he seemed to do was talk about how good Cardiff are. Sounds like he is preparing for a defeat already. 😎
@redcarred. Not still aggrieved about the sale of Bamford are you by any chance! 😂😎
Did I ever tell you how angry, mad and upset Paddy's sale made me?
Remind me to tell you sometime 🙂
Just listened to NW's pre match press conference and all he seemed to do was talk about how good Cardiff are. Sounds like he is preparing for a defeat already. 😎
All mind games getting inside their heads, Boro to win 2-1 with Bettinelli gifting them the opener as he punches a cross into his own net then a deflected Johnson shot to go in off Britt's backside and a late NML screamer in the 85th minute.
@redcarred. We can but dream! It's still 0-2 for me. 😎
@redcarred. We can but dream! It's still 0-2 for me. 😎
I don't mind the dreams KP it's the nightmares that get me 😱
Sorry but I can't even get worked up about them any more. Forty days and forty nights in the wilderness, read years, with fans being tempted by success. No, it doesn't work for me either.
I'll go for another defeat at Fortress Sandcastle and Cardiff improving their goal difference. Meanwhile Britt has a target painted on the arse of his shorts, in red, for Bola to aim at.
Full of optimism me like.
UTB,
John
PS Even 'eyes in the sky' would necessitate a street party.
40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. Sounds like you’ve given up Boro for Lent.
I had just been on the phone to my sister and said I was wondering when BORO would announce the prices for season cards for 2021/22. As I had just told her how bad we were against Bristol City and I had given up on us even getting into the playoffs this season she was surprised I was prepared to "waste" money again. Then I looked at the Gazette and saw that my 20/21 card will be rolled over to 21/22 so I don't even have to pay anything (apart from rail fares and hotel costs). I have been vaccinated against against Covid. Perhaps I am suffering from a previously unknown side effect of the vaccine.
I expect we will be easily beaten by Cardiff especially having seen their goals against Bournemouth. Our defence looks wide open to them and unless Watmore suddenly has become a striker who can knock defenders around I can't see us scoring.
In the vain hope of inspiring a reverse typical Boro moment, I can only see a Cardiff win and am with KP at 0-2.
Actually the bookies surprisingly have Boro just slight favours tomorrow at 8/5 (32/20) with Cardiff 7/4 (35/20) whist David Prutton tips Cardiff to win 2-1 and he’s rarely right with his Boro forecasts. Also in this century it’s 4 wins each with no draws and total goals Boro 9 Cardiff 10. Biggest win 4-1 in 1958 (Alan Peacock hat trick, Bill Harris penalty), biggest defeat 1-3 last season (Assombalonga).
David, in which hotel you stay usually at Boro?
I usually prefer the bad and breakfast places but then we need a rental car anyway. My wife likes the Holiday Inn at Cleveland Centre as it is handily situated for shopping, MIMA, eating out and even a good walk to the Riverside. But I love a rental car as for me the North York(shire) Moors are the thing apart from football.
Up the Boro!
Oops, I forgot the up-coming match. As an optimist I will go a bit differently than most. A 2-0 win for Boro. A Assombalonga penalty in the first half and Bolasie goal on the 88th minute after coming on for Watmore on the 78th minute. A red card for a Cardiff centre back on 70 min.
And a big smile from Warnock. Spextators two - Gibbo and Bausor. I hope something to be correct 😇. Up the Boro!
Oops, I forgot the up-coming match. As an optimist I will go a bit differently than most. A 2-0 win for Boro. A Assombalonga penalty in the first half and Bolasie goal on the 88th minute after coming on for Watmore on the 78th minute. A red card for a Cardiff centre back on 70 min.
And a big smile from Warnock. Spextators two - Gibbo and Bausor. I hope something to be correct 😇. Up the Boro!
Assombalonga and Penalty in the same sentence gave me reflux then!
I think we need to play Assombalonga today. Better than Akpom, me thinks. And the captain will take the possible penalty. But this is pure speculation, though 🤣. Up the Boro!