Team News: So it's Watmore and Sporar starting in attack tonight but the big news is there's no Jones in the squad and Bola is on the bench as Peltier and Taylor start as wing-backs...
That’s blown my plan to have Jones tearing them apart down the right.
Apparently Jones out because of illness.
Jones our die to illness !
Buzzer !
OFB
That sounds more serious than I thought...
On another night we would have taken at least a point. Missed Jones, but still had the chances to have scored.
I don't expect we will play another team with that quality this season. So, on to Saturday and I'm sure we will be back on track.
A good game of football tonight between two well-matched sides.
Djiksteel probably Boro’s best but everyone contributed.
Boro arguably shaded it and a draw would certainly have been a fair result but ultimately Fulham took their big chance to score and we missed our couple.
It happens. No disaster and we move on, beaten on the night but knowing we can match anyone in this league.
Based on the second half Boro certainly deserved a draw with Fulham hanging on at the end. The players deserve a lot of credit for their efforts.
But the difference was down to the chances.
Mitrovich scored his headed chance whilst Sporar fluffed his chance and then Coburn will be very disappointed with his two misses.
I’m sure CW will keep the team going to the end, but will lack of goals , which has been commented on many times, be Boro’s Achilles Heal?
The next 2 games almost demand a minimum of 4 points.
Philip of Huddersfield
A bit disappointed that Boro didn't take any of their chances in front of goal as Fulham only really had two real chances and scored one after Mitrovic timed his run to perfection from the free kick. Having said that, Fulham were half a yard quicker with more quality on the ball - so Boro had to work really hard to make up for that deficit in ability.
Boro looked much better when Bola and Tav replaced Taylor and Peltier as wing-backs - ok I say wing-backs but they were really full-backs being told to try and get forward. Good to see Watmore can play 90 minutes but he may rue that missed chance at the end to gain a point - plus it appears Sporar is also allowed to play too.
So in the end Boro held their own against the best team in the league by far and while it's a setback it won't determine whether they make the play-offs but a win at the weekend is crucial ahead of those big Easter games against Bournemouth and Huddersfield.
Definitely deserved a point and unlucky not to get all three. Wilder deserves praise for his team selection. It's certainly finger biting time now till the end of the season.
Werder
Dumn thus predicament tuxt
OFB
Disappointing tonight that Boro didn’t at least get a draw.
We seemed to be in awe of them first half and didn’t get to grips with them and let them play.
The subs made a difference and whilst Taylor may be good defensively the introduction of Bola meant we had some great crosses from him into the box and at least one of them should have been put into the net.
A sloppy tackle by Crooks in a dangerous area and a half aware Fry cost us the goal. We again looked better when Crooks went off. Persomally I would play McGree instead of Crooks on Saturday as I think the big man is running on empty these days.
Sporar and Watmore and Coburn should have scored but it’s easy to say that when just watching the game.
I like Wilder’s use of substitutions they always seem to change the game for the better.
Never fear Diasborians we are still in the mix !
OFB
Its easy to be disappointed because we lost but hard to be disappointed because we played very well. Strategy seemed to be to lock things down in the first half and them go for it and it nearly paid off except for an exquisite delayed run from Mitrovic and some missed chances, particularly the three good chances late on to Coburn and Watmore. I like your comment about substitutes. It's quite true. Wilder introduces people at the right moment. I did think that Sporar played pretty well after being out for a while and nearly scored with a great shot that pulled an exceptional save from the keeper. It could have so easily been a better result but we now need a win against Hull and then it would be nice to take four points out of Bournemouth and Huddersfield.
UTB
My thoughts ecacytly
With two big 6 pointers coming up against first Bournemouth and then Huddersfield that's a whopping great 12 points up for grabs, never mind the play offs, that could put us in with an outside chance of the title ...🤔
I agree with the previous commentators that last night was a disappointment. I did not expect us to win, I hoped for a win but felt more realistically that it would be a draw, which I went for in the Exmil challenge. On the balance of play and our second half display a draw would have been a fair result.
Fulham are, however, a cut above anything else in the division and they were much quicker and controlled in the first half than us.
Unfortunately, all three of our forwards missed good chances whilst their main man took one of the few he was allowed. This, sadly, from an unnecessary free kick and then failure to pick up his run so that he end up with a free header!
Effectively this is one of the games in hand we had on teams above us gone without any return of points.
Saturday now is a must win game if we are not to see our hopes begin to wane; I think we will also need four points from our Easter weekend games if we wish to try and cement a top six spot.
One thing that last night confirmed for me is that during the next transfer window we need to acquire good backup to both Bola and Jones as Peltier and Taylor offer very little offensively. 😎
A good but frustrating match to watch as Boro gave Fulham far too much respect in the first half. I just knew that Mitrovic would score when he did. Sometimes it’s pre-ordained, because the Harry Wilson/Mitrovic combination has been doing that all season. We often complain about Joe Lumley’s mistakes, but Dael Fry makes just as many in my opinion. Am I the only one who thinks that he and Ben Gibson before him have gone backwards in their form this season, and perhaps Sol Bamba would have foreseen the free kick situation and prevented the goal? Boro arguably were the better team in the second half, but again missed so many easy chances to score as panic stepped in.
Boro are still in a reasonable position for the playoffs, but why do I think that if we don’t beat Hull City on Saturday which is no guarantee by the way, that Boro might only accumulate a couple of points from the next 3 matches when we need at least 7? Also a very disappointing attendance last night, but those that did attend did the Boro proud once again. Never mind, there’s always the US Masters Golf, one of the most iconic sports of the year, to at least lift my spirits in the next four days!
A good but frustrating match to watch as Boro gave Fulham far too much respect in the first half. I just knew that Mitrovic would score when he did. Sometimes it’s pre-ordained, because the Harry Wilson/Mitrovic combination has been doing that all season. We often complain about Joe Lumley’s mistakes, but Dael Fry makes just as many in my opinion. Am I the only one who thinks that he and Ben Gibson before him have gone backwards in their form this season, and perhaps Sol Bamba would have foreseen the free kick situation and prevented the goal? Boro arguably were the better team in the second half, but again missed so many easy chances to score as panic stepped in.
Boro are still in a reasonable position for the playoffs, but why do I think that if we don’t beat Hull City on Saturday which is no guarantee by the way, that Boro might only accumulate a couple of points from the next 3 matches when we need at least 7? Also a very disappointing attendance last night, but those that did attend did the Boro proud once again. Never mind, there’s always the US Masters Golf, one of the most iconic sports of the year, to at least lift my spirits in the next four days!
Hi Ken, like everbody else, some of our supporters will be feeling the pinch with all the bills coming up. I certainly could not afford to go to games, now that I am retired
Well we gave it a go in the 2nd half, just shows the difference a very good striker ( at this level ) makes, as has been said mitrovic would always take a chance, he has scored 38 goals after all and our strikers couldnt take their chances. Agree that saturday is a "must win" game if we want to be in play offs at end of season, somebody mentioned the crowd, it was main match on sky so will effect.
No disgrace in that result, although had we been playing a club nearer the bottom of the league we’d rightly be critical of our strikers, one of whom should definitely have scored.
If Crooks’ shot hadn’t hit their defender and we’d gone ahead at that stage I think we’d have held on for a win.
Coburn could have enhanced his reputation still further if he’d scored and I’d have expected Watmore to equalise at the end.
I’d still prefer him to come on in the second half when defenders are tiring rather than start the game.
I think McGree looks a real player - he could be very important for us over the remaining games. Let’s hope Jones isn’t out for too long.
I thought Boro played very well for much of the game. We were generally very sound defensively and restricted the runaway league leaders to very few chances. I particularly loved the intensity of our play as we put Fulham under real pressure in the last 20 minutes. Marco Silva said this was their toughest game of the season. I have no doubt that if we continue playing this well we will beat most of those teams we still have to play.
Statisticians amongst you will be able to tell us what the average points total has been for 6th place over the last few seasons. I reckon 4 wins and a draw from our remaining 7 games would certainly be enough to reach the play-offs. That would be 75 points. 3 wins and 2 draws might be enough = 73 points. This is a hugely competitive league, of course, and it will go down to the wire. Counting no chickens, but I’m encouraged because we have 4 games at home and several of our competitors have to play each other (as do we v Huddersfield and Bournemouth! )
Football is a funny old game. We played much better yesterday than at Peterborough on Saturday. But got no points or goals versus Fulham. We really put Fulham under pressure in the second half. But their goal was world class - like from the World Cup!
Fine margings but zero points. We need more points from the Hull match. Up the Boro!
PS. Jones should be available on Saturday according to Wilder.
Having accepted all the reasons for a very narrow defeat, I think it was a chance missed. We allowed them to idle through the first half (mainly in our half of the pitch) which was foolish of us as we paid for it with three points. They have been playing at top speed for most of the season, and as soon as we applied some force the cracks appeared. A foolish goal, in every way, we were spectators, instead of going for the header ourselves we gave them a Freeby and suffered the consequences. Enter the very tall young striker, good in the air, check, can score, fast, robust, on a run, up against a tiring team, I personally think that if he comes on before they score, they would have gone for the shut out. And we would have won.
Having accepted all the reasons for a very narrow defeat, I think it was a chance missed. We allowed them to idle through the first half (mainly in our half of the pitch) which was foolish of us as we paid for it with three points. They have been playing at top speed for most of the season, and as soon as we applied some force the cracks appeared. A foolish goal, in every way, we were spectators, instead of going for the header ourselves we gave them a Freeby and suffered the consequences. Enter the very tall young striker, good in the air, check, can score, fast, robust, on a run, up against a tiring team, I personally think that if he comes on before they score, they would have gone for the shut out. And we would have won.
If only he’d managed to score when he should have done, we’d at least have got a point. Having said that Sporar and Watmore should both have scored as well.
The BBC website shows that 9 clubs have accumulated more points in their last 5 matches than Boro:-
Forest 13.
Fulham, Bournemouth, Swansea and Cardiff 10 each.
Luton, West Brom, Birmingham and Reading 8 each
Boro meanwhile are one of 7 clubs who have accumulated only 7 points, the other 6 being Huddersfield, Sheffield United, Preston, Stoke, Blackpool and Derby.
Assuming that any club can beat another on any given day, and that home and away matches are irrelevant it’s still surprising that Boro are so low in a League table based on the last 5 matches. If Boro win tomorrow they will have accumulated 10 points from their last 5 matches whilst a draw will mean that Boro will have accumulated 8 points from their last 5 matches. Of course every other clubs’ position will also be affected, and that’s why I’m not going to look at the League table again until after Easter or even beyond as their are still 5 previously postponed matches to be played before the end of the month.
They say the table never lies, but that is nonsense until every club has played the same number of matches excepting of course for those already promoted, those that have already reached the playoffs, or those already relegated. And that’s why the accumulation of points gained is much more important than the drivel of losing points unexpectedly, or indeed gaining unexpected points.
The BBC website shows that 9 clubs have accumulated more points in their last 5 matches than Boro:-
Forest 13.
Fulham, Bournemouth, Swansea and Cardiff 10 each.
Luton, West Brom, Birmingham and Reading 8 eachBoro meanwhile are one of 7 clubs who have accumulated only 7 points, the other 6 being Huddersfield, Sheffield United, Preston, Stoke, Blackpool and Derby.
Assuming that any club can beat another on any given day, and that home and away matches are irrelevant it’s still surprising that Boro are so low in a League table based on the last 5 matches. If Boro win tomorrow they will have accumulated 10 points from their last 5 matches whilst a draw will mean that Boro will have accumulated 8 points from their last 5 matches. Of course every other clubs’ position will also be affected, and that’s why I’m not going to look at the League table again until after Easter or even beyond as their are still 5 previously postponed matches to be played before the end of the month.
They say the table never lies, but that is nonsense until every club has played the same number of matches excepting of course for those already promoted, those that have already reached the playoffs, or those already relegated. And that’s why the accumulation of points gained is much more important than the drivel of losing points unexpectedly, or indeed gaining unexpected points.
Ken, every statistic can used to make a point, using two of the above for example:
Forest 13 points but 4 of the matches were at home, Coventry, QPR, Reading and Huddersfield, the away match was at Blackpool.
Boro only 7 points but 4 away matches, Shef Utd, Millwall, Birmingham, Peterborough and the one home game was Fulham.
Switching the fixtures around, imho I believe Boro would have got 13-15 points, how many would Forest have got ?
The real proof is the table at the end of the season, where every team has played every other team home and away but even then you can’t take into account other factors such as teams decimated by suspensions, injuries, bad referee decisions, etc.
Come on BORO.
Whilst obviously football reaches its conclusion in the next few weeks with attention particularly centered on Boro, with the spring time weather starting to return early next week my thoughts are also turning to cricket as the County Championship starts next week with Yorkshire starting at Bristol against Gloucestershire. The White Rose County have recruited well with Kiwi batter Finn Allen joining the Tykes for most of the red ball side this season which is looking particularly strong as Dawid Malan may be available for the whole year’s and hopefully Joe Root for the first 3 or 4 matches of the season.
The Academy side will no longer be competing in the Yorkshire League allowing the emerging talents of batter Yash Vagadia and left arm spinner Clark Doughney to play regular Saturday cricket in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League for Hartlepool and Middlesbrough respectively.
Darren Gough has also recruited the exciting Pakistani duo of leg spinner Shadab Khan and all rounder Haris Rauf in an attempt to win at least one of the white ball trophies this year. For those interested, pen pictures of the 30 players can be found on the Yorkshire CCC website, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if Middlesbrough FC and Yorkshire CCC could give our region something to celebrate this year! And let’s not forget that the Rugby League World Cup takes place later this year with an exciting match at the Riverside Stadium between Tonga and the Cook Islands.
I only hope that despite my deteriorating health I will live long enough to see this exciting prospect of sport this year if only on television.