@lenmasterman.  Len, thank you for an excellent post.  

I suspect many of us have been there, young, inexperienced managers finding our way.

In MC’s case, with many triumphs early in his managerial appointment but with tougher times still to come, the big question is how will the supporters and hierarchy react when things start to go in a downward trajectory.

Sadly, all too often this results in the good times being forgotten, the longer term aims rejected and the manager dispensed with.

I just hope that this time SG reflects upon what happened with Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at United and decides to stick rather than twist.  😎

This comment actually relates to the Luton game but there isn't yet an open thread.

Barring freak goal difference swings, Millwall now can't overtake us and if Blackburn fail to win at Preston and West Brom fail to beat Sunderland, we will be guaranteed at worst fourth spot before the Luton game kicks off.

Under these circumstances, what team should we put out against Luton and in subsequent games. Clearly we shouldn't risk anyone who is nursing an injury - McGree, Ramsey, Forss, Smith - but are there also players that we don't want to see hurt before the play-offs? For example, I can imagine MC deciding that Dael Fry should be kept in reserve even if fit and maybe giving Hackney a rest to see how Barlaser plays a game with Mowatt and Howson. I could also see Archer/Akpom being treated with kid gloves and Munoz getting some game time. 

For me, even if we still need a pint or two to lock in fourth, I would not put out anything like our number one team against Luton even if they do play against Rotherham and Coventry.

What would the brains trust do?

UTB

@ken.  Yes it does matter because it might be Luton that we meet in the final and if we go into that game having beaten them home and away, then I know who my money would be on to win the final and I am sure also that the Luton players would be aware of those results and consequently not looking forward to the encounter with any conviction.

I have visited Luton on a few occasions, the most memorable being in JC’s promotion winning season when I, together with thousands of Boro supporters, met Eric Morecambe outside the ground before the game.  

He arrived in a taxi and upon exiting the cab was mobbed by adoring and friendly Boro supporters who he was happy to chat to and joke with.

Boro supporters occupied, what was at that time, an uncovered terrace behind one of the goals as well as having infiltrated most other sections of the ground, apart from the acknowledged home end.

I can still clearly see David Mills, who I  played cricket against, rising high to score a header in front of the travelling masses to secure our position as Champions; as vivid for me now, as it was then.

Despite our securing a cup win in Cardiff, it still remains for me as our greatest achievement and will only be surpassed if this season we secure promotion in the final at Wembley. 😎

@selwynoz.  If you are not sidelined by injury then you play your best players.  

To not do so risks continuity issues and the risk of injury to players who have tended to be on the fringe. 😎

@stircrazy TBH, it was less of a punt upfield than a carefully considered pass which played Archer in.

@selwynoz - In my view momentum and confidence are very important in football. If your team is on a winning streak everyone would prefer to continue winning. It becomes a habit. It maintains confidence.  In the most likely scenario that Boro finds itself in the play-offs, it would be much better to enter on the crest of a wave rather than limping over the line. Going to Luton and playing with the strongest possible team, and hopefully getting the result we want there, would mean that if the teams meet in the play-off final, BOTH sets of players will know that Boro has shown itself to be the better team only a short while earlier.  Better to go into the play-offs with confidence than with trepidation.

"Bring it on" rather than "Ooo, er - they're pretty good".

But results don’t always follow previous encounters. In 2015 Boro won 1-0 at Carrow Road albeit with an own goal, but a few weeks later were outplayed at Wembley 2-0 by the Canaries. Of course it can work in Boro’s favour as it did at Christmas in 1953 when Boro lost 2-3 to Newcastle at Ayresome Park, but 24 hours later won by the same scoreline at St James’s Park. Yes momentum is a wonderful vision, but each match against the same opponents should be classed as a separate entity in my opinion.

Although not quite relevant to the theory of turnarounds in successive matches the biggest ‘two halves turnabout’ I can recall occurred in December 1957 when the Charlton Athletic v Huddersfield Town second division match at a muddy Valley was goalless after 17 minutes when the hosts team’s centre half Derek Ufton dislocated his shoulder and ended up in hospital. No substitutes were allowed in those days, so Charlton had to play the remaining 73 minutes with only ten men. At halftime Charlton were 0-2 behind, so manager Jimmy Trotter moved left winger Johnny Summers to the inside left position. However that didn’t prove successful as the scoreline became 1-5 just after the hour mark. 

Then in a desperate positional move with nearly half the home crowd having vacated the Valley, Trotter moved Johnny Summers to centre forward and Summers scored a hat trick to make the score 5-5, but Huddersfield regained the lead at 5-6 but two late goals ensured that the Londoners won 7-6. 

I instantly remembered this match as the epitome of the match of two halves even though it was over 65 years ago (and without any prompting) following Boro’s win against Hull City, yet I had to refer to my records to ascertain when Boro last scored 90 goals in a season. However sometimes unusual occurrences seem to be ingrained in my brain forever.

Biggest game of the season for Hartlepool today, and like Jarkko I hope that Boro fans will turn up at the Vic to support Pools but I doubt it as Sunderland supporters are more likely to attend and with no crowd segregation that might deter Boro fans from attending. However this is a ‘must win’ game for Pools; anything less and I fear relegation is imminent.

I recall many years ago when Yorkshire CCC were playing Glamorgan at Green Lane which included several Leeds United football fans also supporting the Tykes in attendance and some very unsavoury battles occurring. At the time I couldn’t believe that fighting should break out amongst fans supporting Yorkshire CCC. The aggressors were those Leeds United football supporters fuelled with alcohol.  I was appalled and slightly frightened that fans all supporting Yorkshire CCC couldn’t withhold their differences of supporting rival football clubs at a cricket match, although I repeat that it wasn’t Boro fans who initiated the fracas.