Well our winning run was going to end some time. I'm not calling for Carrick to be sacked (yet)!
Very lucky to get a point tonight!
Phew.
We take the point and run after that second half where Boro were distinctly second best.
Nothing really worked for us as the game wore on. So many misplaced passes from central areas both from the centre backs and centre mids. I haven't seen such a below par appearance from Hackney all season but he wasn't the only one. A couple of decent stops from Steffen saved the point for us and we looked leggy by the end.
Credit to Stoke. As we thought, they were much better than their position in the table suggested.
Anyway, we got something from the game without being anywhere near our best. Plenty of games still to go and hopefully Agent Mowbray can do us a favour tomorrow night.
So it finishes 1-1. 🙁 Sigh. I suppose it had to happen sooner or later, but I found myself desperately wishing for a sucker punch in the five minutes of injury time. Apparently, McNair just missed one in the 86th minute. At least the Potters didn't do to us what they did to the Black Cats not so long ago!
Tonight was a game when Boro really never got going and so had very little sustained play. At times it was a bit kick and rush and lacked players to calm things down and control the play. It has to be said that Stoke played well and at times looked like the home team. They would be disappointed not to win as Steffen made a couple of good saves. Should he have saved their goal ? Definitely.
So the team missed a real opportunity to put pressure on Sheffield before their game at Sunderland which leaves Boro hoping that their close neighbours can do them a favour tomorrow.
Tonights game is , no doubt, the first of a number of twists and turns.
Philip of Huddersfield
That was a hard won point and Stoke can go home feeling they have been very unlucky.
Just one of those nights. We were not playing our fast passing game with the usual crispness. To be fair to Stoke, they were well prepared to press our players receiving the ball - or not as it was tonight.
However. Despite that we were off the pace tonight, we still did not get beaten. OFB posted the substitutions should have happened at half time. To be honest, I think it was a mistake not to rest Howson and Barlaser should have started. Also a shame Fry wasn't considered instead of McNair. I think we missed him in defence today. If he was fit enough for the bench, he could have played.
All the same, given Stoke's performance and form, that was a good point not to have lost.
On to the weekend then and I would hope we will be ruthless against PNE.
The only real positive was that we didn't lose, which looked increasingly likely as the second half wore on. As others have said Hackney and Howson looked off from the start. Surprised that there weren't changes earlier. As also stated passing was not as good as usual only 74% as opposed to our average of over 81%. Was this down to the pitch as it did look quite wet. Was it raining or was it watered pre-game? So onto Preston on Saturday which is live on BeIn here in Australia so check your local services.
As I mentioned earlier Boro were extremely lucky to gain a point last night but credit must be given to Alex Neil for his tactics and I’m not surprised how easily his team disposed of Sunderland recently. Only Brighton have played better at the Riverside this season.
I can’t see Sunderland winning tonight, in fact I think the Blades will win mollified by last night’s result at the Riverside. I think that they’re in pole position to finish second now.
Nevertheless a good if lucky point gained last night for Boro who will have to play much better especially when they face Burnley later in the season and whoever they might meet in the playoffs. I still think that Boro will finish either 3rd or 4th at the season’s end, though the playoff matches are a bit of a lottery.
Disappointingly low crowd last night on what I had expected to have been one of the matches of the season.
I thought Stoke managed us very well last night. Their high press caused us all sorts of problems and may be the model for opposition teams going forward. Whether other teams can do it as well is another question.
As always it was a game of fine margins. Akpom should have scored very early on and Stoke probably should have had a penalty. As a positive, we didn’t lose and we’ll play lots of teams who aren’t as good* as Stoke before the season ends.
*and some who are better
Did it help or otherwise that we had a fervent Sheffield United supporting referee last night ?
OFB
Re the low crowd, a lot of Boro supporters still work away during the week Monday to Friday and are unable to get to the game.
Coupled with the fact it was an extremely cold night and the game was live on sky tv ensured there were large gaps in the crowd.
OFB
Did it help or otherwise that we had a fervent Sheffield United supporting referee last night ?
OFB
I’m sure, as an ex-ref, that you wouldn’t suggest any bias at all. 😉 Tbh I thought we got away with quite a lot last night.
Did it help or otherwise that we had a fervent Sheffield United supporting referee last night ?
OFB
I'm sure I don't know what you could be implying 🙄
Did it help or otherwise that we had a fervent Sheffield United supporting referee last night ?
OFB
I’m sure, as an ex-ref, that you wouldn’t suggest any bias at all. 😉 Tbh I thought we got away with quite a lot last night.
I agree Martin. I didn't think there was any hint of bias in the way he handled the game. Lets face it, he didn't give them a penalty when 99 times out of hundred it would have been given.
That old football adage: If you can’t win, don’t get beat. We didn’t. Many a Boro side from the past would have caved in and conceded a late sickener. That point could be invaluable come the end of the season.
We’ll obviously need to play better against a resilient PNE on Saturday. They play very defensively and concede few goals. On the other hand, their win last night gives them a slim chance at the play-offs. To grasp it, they’ll need to win again. That might give us the opening we need. It’ll be vital for us not to concede.
Many contributors correctly suggested this might be a difficult game and that Stoke was a better team than its league position implied. There was also a feeling of unease and a tension about the game, that had not surfaced for some time. That applied both to posts on this Blog and to people with whom I chatted in the concourse at the Riverside. Clearly we were right to have had those reservations. Despite Akpom hitting the bar early in the first half (and I think he also had a header that either skimmed a post or went near before that), and despite Akpom then scoring his breakaway goal to give Boro the lead, the team was in fact holding on for most of the time after Stoke equalised just before half-time.
In the 2nd half Stoke seemed to have most of the possession and seemed to be building attacks carefully whilst Boro for the most part threatened only with breakaways. I was still hoping for a winning goal deep into injury time but, when the final whistle was blown, I felt relieved to see Boro end the game with a point. Stoke deserved that point.
It seemed as though many of the players were slightly "off it" yesterday. Usually we have a number of players who are outstanding but none were yesterday. Darragh Lenihan stuck to his job, mostly effectively, and it is difficult to criticise a striker who - well - strikes yet again and who earlier hit the woodwork. The keeper should have stopped their goal which went between his legs and whose punching and clearances didn't always inspire confidence, yet in the second half he made saves which enabled the team to scrap its way to a draw. It was a game where it went to plan - Stoke's plan rather than Boro's.
Let's hope that game represented Boro's much anticipated "Blip" and that normal service will be resumed at the weekend against Preston North End. (I'd be less confident if we were playing the WHOLE of Preston). A draw may be a disappointment but it is not a disaster. IF Boro manages to get above Sheffield United during the league programme, it will not be easy and may very well go to the wire. IF. It is not a given, and will not become a given irrespective of what happens at Sunderland tonight. Almost a quarter of the season (9 games) lie ahead of us with 27 points available for Boro to win, so it remains POSSIBLE.
I’ve been sorely tempted to buy a ticket for the Preston game, especially since quite a few of my ex-neighbours in Leyland are PNE supporters, but I think I’m too nervous to go in case I jinx things.
It’s a 90 minute drive to Teesside from here and a very long hour and a half back if we lose. I’ll give it some thought.
@martin-bellamy Trust me Martin. We won't lose on Saturday.
@martin-bellamy Trust me Martin. We won't lose on Saturday.
Now that’s the sort of optimism I like to see.
Well not the result we had all been hoping for and had it not been for two excellent reflex saves from Steffen late on and the luck of not conceding a penalty in the first half, for the second match in a row, it could have been much worse. Based on the second half performances there was only likely to be one winner and Stoke could probably feel hard done by.
Alex Neil and his team had clearly done their homework and were determined to stop us from playing our normal possession and passing game whilst also looking to exploit our weakness in the wide channels with Ryan Giles having a particularly torrid time and partly at fault for their goal, as was Steffen, who allowed the ball to pass through his legs.
It appeared that the heavy pitch at Swansea and the wet surface at the Riverside quickly took its toll as there were clearly a number of tired legs and minds on display; players often dwelt too long on the ball and passes were either misdirected or mishit and this allied to Stoke’s high pressing game, made it a difficult night.
It has been suggested by some that the substitutions should have been made earlier but those that were introduced did not have a major impact on the game and were as guilty as their predecessors with regard to finding a team mate or in their decision making.
The positives were that despite not playing well we did not lose and both Howson and Smith avoided yellow cards and two match bans. They often say that good teams manage not to lose when they are not playing well, so that is some comfort.
It has to be hoped that by the weekend the tired legs and minds will have been refreshed and hopefully Preston will not be able to execute similar tactics to thwart us again and we can get back on the winning trail. 😎
Sunderland just scored !!!!
1-1
k-p-in-spain. Good post KP.
I now believe that a team with a little pace and a midfield that can press ours will cause us problems.
Whilst we have not yet hit that "blip" that others have been through and Sheff are may be coming out of, we could enter one if we don't get a win on Saturday.
All the results at HT are against us apart from Sunderland. With the teams below us down to at least WBA, are capable of a play off place. Any blips now and after the break could see any team overtaken, including Boro.
We have had more than our share of luck of late. Will it continue, can we start scoring more than two goals again. Something we need given our poor defence.
We need Fry in the side despite his poor passing. Howson is struggling and Barlaser did not help himself with a so so cameo.
Not sure if anyone else may agree, but HH appears to be generally playing deeper to let Howson play further forward were he is less vulnerable. However the former is not having the impact on the game as he did say 3/4 matches ago.
Our bench last night looked limited!!!
As I predicted Sheffield United too good for Sunderland. To get automatic promotion I reckon Boro need to win every match from now as apart from Norwich and Burnley away, the Mackems remaining fixtures don’t look too daunting on paper.
Well, it's a shame that Sheffield United won but that's the way things go.
On a more useful note, both Norwich and West Brom dropped points whch means that we still have an eight point buffer or more plus goal difference (worth a point) to seventh. After the way that this season started, we would all have taken a play-off spot and frankly bitten the hand off anyone offering it. It would be a shame if the amazing run that we have been on and the positivity that Carrick generates has the effect of raising expectations to the point where qualifying for the play-offs is seen as a disappointment.
I would suggest that we all mentally set our traget for the excitement of the play-offs and watch with enjoyment to see whether we can maintain the pressure on Sheffield United in the battle for second place. This doesn't mean that we want anything less than maximum effort and the best results possible from the team, it's more a question of how we react to setbacks such as has happened this week and maintain our sanity:)
By the way, regarding Tuesday's game, I thought that Steffen and McGree were instrumental in us hanging on for a point. My main regret is that we could have - undeservedly - sneaked it when Finch and Akpom got in each other's way at the back post. It would have been highway robbery but.......so what.
UTB
Assuming that Sheffield United lose both of their next two away matches, not that we can assume anything in this crazy season, is it beyond the realm of possibility that Boro can win their remaining 9 matches? Of course not, as Boro’s goal difference will likely be greater than that of the Blades should that occur!
Nevertheless when Boro played out that goalless draw at home to Blackpool under Jack Charlton’s tenure none of us thought it would affect Boro’s promotion prospects, and it certainly did not as Boro were generally on top form and playing from a position of strength. However I was still surprised that Boro couldn’t win more than 7 or 8 consecutive home wins during Jack Charlton’s promotion winning season. Equally so during the 1926/27 season when George Camsell scored 59 goals of Boro’s record breaking 122 goals in that particular season. But of course none of us were alive to witness that event.
Of course I had been aware that Boro’s best season ever was in 1913/14 when they finished 3rd in the First Division, but as they had lost 3 home league matches during that season, I was still flabbergasted that Boro should win 11 successive league matches at Ayresome Park. That fact had completely passed me by. However although the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest had long unbeaten home records during their histories, Boro traditionally didn’t do that sort of thing. How good was that Boro side? We probably shall never know!
However it just goes to confirm how difficult it is to have long winning or unbeaten runs either home or away. But hang on! If Boro were to win their 5 remaining home games this season that would mean an unbeaten home sequence of 13 league matches at the Riverside under Michael Carrick, unlikely I know, but although improbable not impossible. I reckon we’d all settle for that considering how this season started.
It’s interesting to consider the expectations of the Boro crowd when we have come from the depths to the heights this season.
Talking to my grandsons last night they said that they had arguments with a section of the crowd on Tuesday evening who had been berating and not supporting the Boro team. They were incredulous that after being in such a poor position under Wilder that although the Boro were not as slick as they had been, that the crowd were not appreciative of their team.
Hopefully this is not endemic of a typical Boro supporter as we need all the crowd urging our team on to promotion!
OFB
I think that is one of the things that is being so enjoyable about this season. All the twists and turns involving both individual as well as sequences of unlikely results. In as much as it is improbable for Boro to go on and win all of their games between now and May, it is equally improbable that Sheffield United will win all of their fixtures except the Burnley and Norwich away games. All the same, both of those propositions are genuine possibilities. Then again, and as (I think it was) OFB suggested, perhaps Luton Town are the dark horses to be wary of in respect of finishing in 2nd place - and we still have to play them at Kenilworth Road. Who knows?
So I am sticking to the sage advice of one and all to enjoy each match as it comes and on its own merits: at the same time I remain excited at the [still] realistic possibility the final positions will not be finally decided until May 8th and I will watch and hopefully cheer all the twists and turns still to happen.
@pedro. I hadn’t picked up on the Howson/Hackney situation you mention. I was under the impression that when one of them pushed forward then the other stayed back to provide cover.
I certainly agree that HH has not been as influential in the most recent games and not sure if that is just a slight down turn in performance or if the opposition are targeting him and giving him less time and space to operate.
West Brom clearly showed a way in which to nullify us as an attacking unit and I was extremely surprised that Paul Ince didn’t adopt a similar approach. Instead he played right into our hands.
Similarly at Swansea, they largely tried to keep to their possession game but we outplayed them.
It will be interesting to see how Preston go about things on Saturday and how we develop our game to try and have a plan B when our usual style is not working against teams who high press and try to spoil as did Stoke.
With the table below us tightening, we need a win on Saturday to takes us into the International break on a high. 😎