Well what do I know! Two good goals, well worked and executed. CoB 😎😊
Am I dreaming 20 mins and 3-0. 😎😊😊
Just returned from a wet and muddy walk with the terriers and it's 3 - 0. I'm in an alternate reality, something must have happened to the time warp continuum on the walk.
UTB,
John
Best 0-0 I've seen so far this season 😉
OK, it may be a little premature but I've already removed my decorator's masking tape that I'd stuck to my eyelids to prevent my eyes closing and sleeping through the second half. Great strike from Tav and Watmore on a hat-trick!
I was totally wrong with my prediction. I said Britt with two and Djed scoring. Not possible anymore as we are already 3-0 up and both my men are on the bench.
I hope I will be wrong with the score, too. Hopefully more to come. Now 3-0 at half time.
Up the Boro!
I go for an untypical Boro (no pun intended) result. A clear 3-0 win for us. Britt scoring a brace, and taking a knee after each goal. Djed taking the third. Zero attendance + Gibbo and her daughter.
Up the Boro!
3-0 achieved by half-time, if not the scorers predicted. 😊 Would you like it to stay at that, Jarkko, or would you like the lads to add to it? 😉 We could hardly have hoped for a better response to the debacle on Wednesday. 👍
Progressive team selection.
Just as I was downcast when seeing the selection at Preston, I felt much more optimistic this time.
Watmore and Tav both outstanding, Akpom at least able to hold the ball up and knit some moves together in spite of being off-target with two reasonable chances.
Not missing Howson as Morsy and Sav are picking up most of the midfield pieces.
Watmore the first half star and buzzing, but may be taken off for Roberts on the hour.
Maybe an opportunity to give some of the kids a run out for the final quarter.
Is there any other team anywhere who can plunge you from optimism to despair and back again so quickly?
@stircrazy More the same please. But a clean sheet will do nicely, too . Up the Boro!
I don’t think there is any evidence that the booing fans at Millwall were motivated by racial hatred. In fact there is a Millwall supporters’ group that says they are fully on board with the ideal of racial equality; they just don’t like the divisive ideology of Black Lives Matter. Earlier this week at the Millwall vs QPR game, the taking of the knee was replaced by players lining up behind an anti-racist banner — and Millwall fans cheered that.
it is difficult to ensure that any protest supporting BLM is seen to be focused entirely on racial equality when a clearly stated objective of a part of that organisation is the overthrow of the western capitalist system. I agree with other contributors who argue that “Kick it Out” is a much better vehicle to stop racist abuse and should be promoted across the whole of football.
A surprisingly comfortable three points courtesy of three goals in seven minutes, could have been more and Boro created plenty of chances in their 4-4-2 formation before opting to play it safe in the second half and keep Millwall at arm's length. To be fair Millwall were perfect opposition for a Boro team looking to bounce back from a couple of defeats. Hopefully that will give us confidence for Luton in midweek and the return of Dijksteel certainly helped make us solid again with both Fry and McNair pretty faultless at the back. Watmore now joint top scorer with Johnson, which probably says more about our strikers who perhaps should have done better with their opportunities today. Still 3-0 was a perfect response to the last seven days.
Vic's brief assessment:
FT: 3-0. Superb stuff. A game of two halves. First 45 all about the assertive movement up front & well taken goals; 2nd 45 a solid, well organised, resilient display at the back. Lots of boxes ticked & great response after Preston.
He gives Watmore 3 stars in the first half, Tav 2 & Marvin 1; in the second half, Paddy's given a 3-star rating, Dael 2 & Bola 1.
Millwall Basket Cases Slam Dunc-ked by Boro.
NW was forced into a 4-4-2 by the absence of Howson and no ready made replacement. This caught Rowett on the hop, and before he could rearrange his tactics the stable door was hanging of its hinges and the Boro were galloping over the horizon.
His eventual substitution and change of formation stemmed the tide but the game was over by then. I realise that Millwall were winless in nine games, but six of those games ended in a draw, so they weren’t exactly without the chance of getting a result.
Another example of the vagaries of this division where most teams are capable of beating one another. Most importantly though, three points that keep us within sight of the play-offs and the chance the Chairman may splash out in the January sales.
Well done Jarkko for predicting this almost unpredictable score.
Watmore my M-o-M with Tav a close second. These two playing just behind the striker can give us the the creativity, energy and intelligence that we have been missing for far too long. Neither player stopped running, closing down, attacking and creating space while they were on the pitch and they weighed in with three goals as well. What's not to like?
The back four were imperious especially in the second half with McNair back to top form, and the midfield solid and industrious.
Ackpom continued to miss good chances and looked incapable of scoring, but was at least capable of holding the ball up.
My main takeaway was that if we can continue to play much more on the front foot with these two behind the strker then there remain some grounds for optimism.
Not as optimistic, however, as the charitable theory that Millwall fans are incapable of racism.
@lenmasterman Just experince, mate. We are untypical - sometimes for the better, too. Even the people do remember the worse suprices more. But it works both ways. Up the Boro!
Couldn't help noticing that two former Boro players scored three of the goals that gave the Black Cats a 4-0 away win over Lincoln City: Leads from the penalty spot in the 16th minute & a brace for Charlie Wyke.
A quick mention for the referee too, we didn’t have the usual stop-start championship game ruined by over officious refereeing. He kept the game flowing where possible resulting in a free flowing entertaining match.
NW confirmed that Watmore is to be offered an extended contract at the presse conference tonight after the game
OFB
@boroexile We’ll have to disagree there.
What I’m sure we can agree on, is the performance today. 🙂
On the booing thing, I read an interesting article this week whilst doing some research on Millwall for my match report (now posted). there seemed to be a lot more to it than the obvious "typical Millwall" (which was most definitely my initial impression) boorish, thuggish, racist predictability which like most I took for granted. The article went into detail about the lives of Black people and their historic relationship with the club, fans, players past and present.
Now my first thought was that this is just PR and spin to minimise the fall out but as I read more it mellowed my initial impressions (deep down I still find it hard to open my mind with regards to Millwall on anything approaching human decency). There is currently a disconnect between the club and the fan base which was a big part of the build up and contributed to the booing which the club had been warned about beforehand.
Note that for me personally the booing still doesn't sit comfortably for whatever reason. I am of the mindset however that the "Kick it out" campaign should have been reinforced but admittedly that is with the benefit of hindsight.
Regardless of the background and reasons, genuine or otherwise I am in no doubt that it did present an opportunity for those of a certain mindset to engage in booing for all the reasons which the club has unfortunately earned a reputation for. Of course now I am looking for the link to the article it I can't find it!
Yes great result, Great movement, snap shots, quick thinking, passing hugely improved, kept pressing after taking the lead. All great, and great to watch. With Millwall all at sea, we were like a puppy with it's First rat, a 6-0 there for the taking we seemed to remember all our bad habits. Four sitters missed in the ten minutes after half time. We bring on Britt, and he misses another. These matches come along and must be taken advantage of, we didn't, our goal difference should be o.k. Tonight but isn't. Look forward to midweek.
Len, if your comment about being charitable by arguing that Millwall fans are incapable of racism is directed at me, then I need to point out that I said nothing of the sort. What I said was that the Millwall supporters did not want their team to make a gesture explicitly supporting a Marxist movement that aims to overthrow the western capitalist system. They were happy to support a different method of showing opposition to racial hatred and discrimination.
Of course some Millwall fans are capable of racism but every football club has the same problem. Because of their history and reputation Millwall fans are an easy target but I would argue that it would be advisable to check the facts of what has happened at the Den before tarring all Millwall fans with the same brush.
It was reported in the press that one Millwall supporter wrote the following piece on the largest Millwall fans forum addressed to the players four hours before kick off last Saturday:-
“The whole BLM movement is insulting to many because it seeks to destroy our country’s values. I don’t mean nationalism or jingoism but the values that unite people across the political spectrum. A belief in the rule of law, free speech, respect for others and the social justice that many of our forbears had to fight for in the trade Union movement.
Your excuse for supporting this movement is an insult to our intelligence and an overtly political statement. It’s particularly damaging at this time when so many fans are suffering financial hardship that you couldn’t even begin to understand. By supporting BLM you are not healing divisions but creating them. I fear that your actions will cause not just a division between players and fans but a gulf of betrayal that will never be bridged.
if you want to campaign against discrimination then please do so but supporting BLM is the wrong way to do it.”
Tha is the reason why the fans booed and why they reportedly did the same at Colchester and West Ham. This should be food for thought on the part of clubs and the FA and a new impetus given to the Kick It Out campaign which is a much better vehicle to get rid of racism in football.
I don't think anybody seriously believes that multi-millionaire footballers are taking the knee to advocate the overthrowing of capitalism - it's clearly meant as an anti-racism gesture. That's my problem with football riding on the BLM movement as it's a loose association of groups in different countries where some fringe elements have stated wider political aims. It then allows some supporters to choose to be against the anti-racism gesture on the premise that they are subsequently also supporting anti-capitalism.
Millwall have as a club had their problems with racism in the past so we can't exonerate them completely - plus how do we know that it was the same 2,000 fans who booed at the Derby game who also applauded the anti-racism message at the game against QPR? OK, call me cynical but why is it only supporters of clubs in East London and Essex who feel so strongly about any potential anti-capitalist links that they choose to boo the gesture. Especially as these areas have also historically been susceptible to backing the BNP and Britain First.
Therefore, I'd be cautious of accepting that the motives of everyone who booed the gesture are purely ones based on the political element of BLM - after all, if racism wasn't a problem in society in general then there would be no need for any campaign, whether that be 'Kick it Out' or otherwise. I'm sure if Joe Biden is happy to take a knee then he's not doing it for any other reason than to show solidarity against racism.
Though I agree it's probably better if football stuck to their own campaign rather than ride with the BLM movement as I previously argued.
It used to be that political gestures were banned by the football authorities. We’ve had the extremes of the England team having to compromise to wear the poppy on the national team shirt, right down to Robbie Fowler being fined for wearing a t-shirt in support of Liverpool dockers.
@grovehillwallah
I’m not sure that the percentage of racist people is as low as you think. Over the past 4-5 years a certain type of person seems to have felt empowered to speak openly in a racist way.
Last year we visited my sister in law and her husband who live in a small town in Derbyshire. We stayed in a local hotel so needed a taxi to take us back at the end of the evening. The taxi driver asked us where we lived and we told him we lived in Lancashire, to which his reply was, “Oh, you’re under Sharia Law there aren’t you?” There was a time when I’d have let that go, but not any more. I told him there definitely wasn’t Sharia Law in Lancashire but he was adamant because he’d seen it on the internet and read about it in the newspaper.
A couple of months ago I was fishing at the lake near our Static Caravan in Shropshire when I fell into conversation with a chap from the Midlands who told me he hated his home town now and he was there representing white people. We both knew exactly what he was saying and he obviously felt it would be my view too - this was someone he’d never met before, but I’m sure within his echo chamber it was the view of all his acquaintances, so why would he expect me to be any different? He also told me his parents who owned a Lodge on the site we’re having to come home from Spain because of Brexit (which they’d voted for btw). He told me the Spanish economy would collapse without the income from ex-Pats and that they should be able to stay in Spain but EU citizens shouldn’t be able to come to the UK.
He’s outwardly a nice chap but somewhere along the line, he’s been misinformed about the causes of the UK’s problems.
On a lighter note, this should be worth a watch tonight.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qf09
GHW,
Being an angler as well as a Boro supporter I wouldn't miss it, I'll record it too because I miss bits through laughing. A Sunday night treat with a glass of wine. Their previous series are brilliant too.
Stay safe,
UTB,
John
Werder, I agree with much of what you say and I fully support what GHW had to say above on the subject. I was not excusing Millwall supporters at all but rather just trying to put a different perspective on the situation to counter what in my view was an overreaction because it was Millwall. I wonder whether the reaction would have been the same if it had happened at a “nice” club with less notorious fans?
The problem is that by adopting the BLM take the knee protest the FA has created the environment for those fans who vehemently object to the political aims of BLM and who resent their football team bringing politics into their ground to register their protest by booing. It does the eradication of racism in football a disservice. Better to re-energise Kick It Out as others have said.
As for Biden, is it maybe just possible that he takes the knee because he believes doing so will win him votes?
This result and display were achieved by a group of young players putting in the hard yards, running at the opposition and shooting on sight, it was more than enough to sink the opposition, and we missed plenty of chances. Notice that Tav emerged, without having to take second place to Britt, he was a man transfomed and I hope that he will now be allowed to flourish, with, I hope, the help of Wing. A Good oportunity with a second home fixture this week.