I have a smile on my face as I type this. 'a Britt brace', yea, that's the stuff to give them. With a scoring rate of less than 1 in 5 matches and that includes penalties and free kicks from the front of the penalty area, hhhhm! Does not seem likely. Still we have to win tonight, so someone had better oblige.
@redcarred Just as well you didn’t switch over and watch Man City. Frightening.
I saw what they did and you are right. It showed the huge chasm between the Premiership top sides and the Championship's best (or soon to be again Championship). Speed, incisive passing and energy totally destroyed the ponderous Baggies.
We seem to have a pattern: win, lose, win, lose ...
So today we will win. Simple. We are a top seven team. As Ian Gill used to say, the table does not lie. Up the Boro!
Although our new reporter comes from Middlesbrough he is a self confessed Sunderland Supporter which didn’t go down well with the Boro fans!
OFB
So no Fry or Dijksteel, Wood and Roberts start so it will be interesting to see how they both perform. BA retains his place upfront with Fletcher on the bench. CoB 😎
So no Fry or Dijksteel, Wood and Roberts start so it will be interesting to see how they both perform. BA retains his place upfront with Fletcher on the bench. CoB 😎
Well that was an excellent game of hoof ball, unfortunately its supposed to be football!
We have looked like the team from last season, no quality a lack of shape and the defence all at sea at times. Rotherham have spurned two clear cut chances and should be two up.
BA doing an excellent job of keeping his record going for conceding fouls and being caught offside. Has managed one shot which was three foot wide.
Just about to post this and then we concede! Thank you and good night! 😎
We’re missing important players but nevertheless it’s poor from us. We’re less certain at the back which I can understand given that Fry and Djiksteel are missing but - again - going forward we’re offering so little.
I’m afraid this is an XI that can run but cannot pass.
Everton are hoping to reach an agreement with Middlesbrough for the transfer of Yannick Bolasie.
The Riverside Stadium club have revived their interest in signing the winger after a move fell through on deadline day in October.
Bolasie has been told he has no future at Goodison and was not included in Carlo Ancelotti's 25-man Premier League squad
Correct, KP, this is absolute dross. Rotherham should be 3 up by now whereas we have not had a single shot on target.
Their centre-forward is holding the ball up and linking well. Britt has conceded 6 free-kicks and put one shot yards wide.
If Rotherham are relegation candidates then on this performance we are a League 2 side. I don't see us getting anything out of this game. Indeed we will be lucky to hold them to a single goal victory unless we improve beyond recognition.
Most disturbing has been our inability to put together or even attempt 3 or 4 consecutive passes. What on earth goes on during coaching sessions?
It will be interesting to hear NW's excuse for this performance which has been appalling. The loss of Fry and Dijksteel or the state of the pitch or referee are not acceptable excuses for me.
What does it say about us when we can't score against a team who have conceded 32 goals in 22 games; Rotherham have actually looked more like the team in seventh rather than us!
For most of this match we have played like headless chickens and looked like a JW team rather than a NW team of the early part of this season.
I wouldn't bother with Bolasie if the rumours are true, I would save the money as we are clearly not a top six side.
From disappointing to shocking to embarrassing.
Sorry, my bad. We were awful and hit long ball most of the time. Akpom is a mild version of Assombalonga. We did not earn anything tonight. There was no plan, so I blame NW, too.
Awful. But still, up the Boro!
Words fail me with what I have just witnessed. Diphtheria, Whooping cough and Cholera are about the only three things now that must be left in Neil's book of deflections.
Tactically from the off it was a car crash. Watmore and Roberts can play football but we just hoof balls up to them and Britt who never could play in that system all struggled to link up. Morsy and Saville were atrocious and Howson now seems to be suffering from early onset dementia. How on earth did Saville, Morsy and Howson remain on the pitch when we made 5 Substitutions? Bola again the MOM purely on the basis that he is at least trying to be consistent which is difficult when those around him are unrecognisably bad.
Spence continued where he left off with another poor display, Wood looked a little better but had a really tough game against a big battering opponent. McNair alongside him looked distinctly average but Bettinelli had another in a recurring theme of shockers. I joked about how bad Archer is when he signed but dearie me to think he is next in line is cause for even more despair. I wonder if we can recall Stojanovic and send Bettinelli back to Fulham, I'll even volunteer to drive.
Its perhaps just as well that the crowds aren't allowed in because these last few performances have stunk badly. There would have been some vitriolic abuse hurled at the bench and the players along with a few chants letting the players, management and Steve Gibson know what they think.
For me all this started against Sheffield Wednesday, I know many disagreed with me at the time but I could smell it that evening. It was palpably obvious to my well tuned cynical Boro senses, honed over many decades. The signs were there back then and despite a few crack papering wins in between something is very wrong behind the scenes. Tonight had all the hallmarks of Pulis's boredom, combined with Woodgate's level of managerial nous.
There are undoubtedly some mitigating factors with the injuries. Fry, Dijksteel and Tav have all been key players for us this season but even so there was enough skill and experience out there to expect far better than to comprehensively lose 0-3 at home to Rotherham?
Rumours are that Bolasie is imminent (again) and that Dijksteel is seriously crocked but with only a few days left of the window the reinforcements had better start arriving soon. I hope a Keeper is on that list of required bodies. The only positive I can take is that I didn't have to pay money to freeze my bits off to watch a sorrowful, pitiful display like I have so often at the Riverside on a Midweek night.
No excuses, no Referees to blame, no dodgy decisions, no what's, if's or but's, time for a stark reality check!
Is it just me that thinks the Boro need a new keeper. Preferably one who can keep his goal kicks inside the playing area. Oh and make a few saves now and again!
No, it’s not just you, OFB. Bettinelli was dreadful tonight, at fault for all 3 goals, and as you say, his kicking and distribution are rubbish. I do believe he managed to keep one of his goal kicks on the field. I would be tempted to give Archer a game soon, but not until after the forthcoming Norwich defeat.
‘Well, you win nowt in January,’ said my brother on the phone, trying as ever to be cheerful. ‘You win nowt either if you lose 3 consecutive home games against relatively easier opposition without scoring a single goal,’ was my less than enthusiastic reply. And so, in typical Boro fashion, the post Nottingham Forest euphoria was punctured like a balloon. We are rapidly blowing a very good chance of the play-offs, and even if we pick up some more wins again soon, we’ve lost all the earlier momentum.
Perhaps we have to face facts. We’re just not very good, are we, especially when we lose our best players to injury. We barely create chances for our front men, and if we do, we mostly miss them. Assombalonga flatters to deceive, but rarely gets decent service. He’s not alone. Did Akpom actually touch the ball tonight? And the midfield works hard, but lacks flair, creativity and pace. Thank goodness for the defence - oh, hang on -0-3 to a side in the bottom three. And something tells me Bolasie won’t make a great deal of difference. I fear he might be another luxury player like Roberts.
The Echo told that Anfernee Dijskteel played no part in last night’s defeat, and the influential full-back is facing around a fortnight on the sidelines after he underwent an operation to remove an abscess at the start of this week.
So not long term it seems. Good. Up the Boro!
Redcar Red, I agree with your assessment. 'Fortress Riverside', I think not it's just somewhere to store the 'down with the Christmas decorations' syndrome. I know Boro have injuries, but...
That reminded me of too many Boro games I've seen over the years, there are too many players to choose from for the coveted 'not man of the match' award.
I blame the Manager of the month and Player of the month awards. Depressed.
Stay safe everyone.
UTB,
John
@jarkko. Sounds like a pain in the bum, just like watching last night's match! 🤣😎
I suggest we forget any talk of play offs and concentrate on getting the points to stay up, that was as bad as PNE away, if somebody had said we were in bottom 3 and they were near top 6 you would have said ok. Shambolic is been kind it was like watching a woodgate team, if we concede first it appears to be game over a majority of the time, dread to think what could happen against Norwich. Trying not to get upset about it it's only football after all and there are worse things going on.....
@paulinboro the problem with conceding first is that we don't look like scoring and over the last few games we have morphed into a Pulis team. Horrific to watch without anything to give rise for optimism or hope. We don't look like scoring at all. I would forego a centre forward as they are an unnecessary and wasteful luxury in our current set up. Instead for Norwich I would go with Johnson, Roberts and Watmore as a front three.
Is it just me or is anyone else feeling underwhelmed by the intended signing of Bolasie?
This season is beginning to mirror TP's last season in charge when he signed a former PL player JOB who, apart from a couple of early games, had limited impact. The team went on a losing streak of 6 games in a row and failed to make the top six; a defeat at Norwich, which is on the cards, will see us having lost four out of the last five league games and 5 out of 6 including the FA cup defeat.
NW is starting to sound like TP when he continues to comment on the number of chances created but not converted and both stated the squad is not strong enough to win promotion outright.
It's all beginning to look pretty dire, so let's hope that NW can work some magic and get a tune out of Bolasie, get Fry, Tav and Dijksteel back and we can get back to keeping clean sheets but I am not holding my breath and fear we could get pecked to death by the Canaries! 😎
Bolasie signing just been confirmed on club website.
Mrs P relayed the news to me of the signing and asked if he was any good. I replied that he had not played for months to which she replied that neither have the team! 😂😎
On Bolasie I think he will offer more than the last mercenary Ravel Morrison did but there again it wouldn't take much. I doubt he will have a Ramirez type impact and instead just be another Mikel, does OK in spells but nothing to write home about. I personally think the Club should be looking to build, underpin and balance the squad, this smacks of "Typical Boro" and not in a good way. We have recently dropped 12 points from four games that 6 points would have been regarded as disastrous.
Not having played all season Bolasie can join the others who we seem to struggle to get 90 minutes out of due to one ailment or another. There again he may have a devastating impact in a positive way leaving us all talking about him for years to come for all the right reasons. Let's hope he is eager to prove a point and loves working with Neil.
If anyone fancies it please go ahead and do a pre match piece for Norwich.
My ramblings have just been to plug Werder's gap during his sabbatical (hopefully), trying to keep things ticking over. I would suggest however that you announce your intention first just so that we don't end up with ten Norwich Prologues 🙂
I was about to comment on the folly of signing Bolasie, and then read that we had signed him. We still have no idea of how to run a club. Everton are a club on the up, because they decided that they would compete in the top six or better. To do that, the one great fact of life is that you must be deadly in the market. That means buying and selling well, they are observably playing in the top six, buying very good players, and of course a good coach. But you must also sell well, and that means you must find a mug buyer when you clear out your dead wood. If there is the least glimmer of talent in a player of the right age then it's a loan. If he's any good then it's a deal with a friendly club who will return the compliment at some time. If he's worthless then you must find some mug with money , and the money is very important to all these clubs, when the money goes then so does the top six, and a lot more besides. They have tried every thing that they can to offload him on us, and we let them succeed. How can we sign any player who has not played for six month. Who on earth signed him?
The Everton fans seem to be delighted that Bolasie has found a club and feel he was not given a chance at Everon. One said he will start to follow Boro's results now. I hope he sets the Championship in light.
https://www.thefocus.news/football/yannick-bolasie/
Up the Boro!
Both the last games have consisted of teams who set out to hammer long balls into our half then pile forward towards our box. This was a tactic which both teams kept up and we could not handle it, never looked like handling it, fell behind in both and never looked like getting on terms, raced up field like lunatics in the last twenty and were lucky not to concede plenty more. One must question the continued use of Britt, we are effectively playing with ten men. Roberts is a liability, he is a dribbler, period! I hope he is not unloaded on us or I will fear the worst, as we are not the best at shifting bad buys, witness Britt. The keeper? The First goal, an easy push round the post, if he had been standing in the centre of his goal on the line, he was of course two yards off his line, hence reaction time completely shot and bingo. I noticed at the kick off we did the standard face your own goal and pass the ball to your central midfielder who places an excellent ball straight into the heart of the oponents defence and bingo, they are defending at once. We did the pass to our central midfielder, very very slowly, they stormed forward caught our player in possession, and bingo, they were on the attack at once. You could not invent this stuff, you would be laughed off the pitch.