Well Boro certainly went up a gear last night and put The Lambs, as Tavistock are nicknamed, well and truly to the slaughter. It seems some partnerships are beginning to form and the players are getting up to speed with both fitness and their roles in the team. OK, as has already been mentioned we have to bear in mind the level of the opposition. Though both Tavistock and Saltash are both Premier opposition - albeit in the Western League, which is the ninth tier of English football.
Another good performance from Wing, which impressed Neil Warnock enough to praise him in the dressing room with a "well done" and spoke highly to the media about him when he said "I thought Wingy was fantastic tonight, his attitude epitomised everything around the club" - sounds like he may be playing himself in the Boro manager's plans.
Also a couple of goals and an assist for Coulson as he apparently showed some good skills in the game - plus Ikpeazu and Watmore started to link up too. The shift to a back three with McNair reverting back to defensive duties allows more options in midfield - plus our full-backs are probably more wing-backs in nature anyway.
So let's see if Boro can top that in the next friendly...
Here in Sydney it’s 8.15 in the evening and Australia and Argentina kick off in 15 minutes in their Olympics pool game. I was looking forward to watching Payero but he’s not in the starting eleven. Anyway, I’ll record the game and take a look if he plays and report back.
UTB
I see Neil Warnock is trending on twitter. He carries signed photos of himself in a bum bag.
HT Argentina 0 Australia 1, Argentina 62% possession 0 shots on target and to be fair Australia could have been 3 up before Ortega (Argentina) sent off (two yellows in 2 minutes) on 45 minutes.
1 sub second half for Argentina but not Payero.
Come on BORO.
77 mins commentator says Middlesbrough player Payero coming on.
Come on BORO.
With Wing working hard to impress, Morsy back fully fit, Crooks apparently on the brink of signing, Howson to return and McNair able to play centre-midfield too, as well as the younger lads like Hackney and Malley, we seem to have plenty of options in that position.
Can only hope Payero, if he signs, is a real upgrade on that. That said, if he is, do we need Crooks? Feels like an either/or situation to me. Maybe it is.
@andy-r, apparently Crooks deal to go through in the next 24 hours and when Payero came on as sub (77 mins) the Aussie commentator introduced him as Middlesbrough player Payero.
Come on BORO.
Tomorrow's match at Plymouth can be seen at their web TV.
Friday evening’s pre-season friendly against Neil Warnock’s Middlesbrough side at Home Park will be available to stream live and worldwide, free of charge, on Argyle TV.
All supporters need to do is register for an Argyle Account on pafc.co.uk, log-in, and visit the Match Centre before kick-off to connect to the stream.
I wonder if the match is also available via Riverside Live without a need to sign in on Argyly TV.
Up the Boro!
It was interesting to watch Payero for the fifteen minutes that he was on.
He is big - much bigger than I expected - and well able to look after himself in one on one encounters. He seems to be quite one-footed but his right foot is a real wand that can conjure up some impressive passes. He was forward looking in his play but that was always going to be the case as Argentina tried to recover a lost cause being 2-0 down and only ten men.
What did strike me was that he was completely prepared to take responsibility. After he came on he took all free kicks and corners and somehow it seemed that he was the leader on the pitch. This only came from a few minutes and he was fresh compared to the rest of the team but it all looked quite positive.
it will be interesting to watch him. On this brief showing he strikes me as more of a number ten than a defensive midfield player and so would be a direct competitor with Wing for an advanced midfield spot. Given future injuries, we could do with someone else fitting that role.
utb
@jarkko. Thank you Jarkko, managed to get registered on the Plymouth site this morning so already for this evening. Haven't told Mrs P yet that she won't be able to have her usual Friday night TV programmes! 😎
Middlesbrough in the market for another keeper with Stojanovic set to leave and Brad James injured
OFB
As Jarkko has previously posted, the match tonight is being streamed by Argyle TV for free.
I notice that this is only the second broadcast on Argyle TV so fingers crossed that they do not experience some of the teething problems we had during the early days of Riverside Live. CoB 😎🤞
Boro sent a mixed academy side to sunny Redcar on Wednesday night excluding of course those who are in Devon, but including Sol Bamba and although Boro needed two exceptional goals from Pharrell Willis and Malik Dijksteel to beat Athletic 2-0. But that doesn’t tell the whole story as Boro could well have scored 5 or 6 whilst Redcar only had few reasonable chances from estimated 25% possession.
Boro took the lead on 20 minutes when Willis sent a curling shot into top right corner of the net giving keeper Dan Simkin no chance. Boro stepped up the pressure and almost scored a second but were thwarted by a magnificent last ditch tackle from the Steelman’s Max McGuckin. Dijksteel then tried his luck from distance for Boro but shot narrowly over the bar.
Five minutes before the interval Redcar had their best chance of the half with a Tom Eglington header, but which was comfortably saved by Boro keeper Henry Popple. Redcar’s keeper then made a fine save in the final minute of the half parrying away a long range shot from Boro striker Frankie Whelan.
In the second half Boro increased the pressure with an effort from Harry Green, but soon after on the hour mark Malik Dijksteel doubled Boro’s lead with almost a replica of their first goal. Despite a few late chances from Redcar that ended the scoring.
I didn’t actually watch the match, only brief highlights on the Boro website and filling in the names with the help of Redcar Athletic’s website. My observations despite not knowing much about the Boro players were that it was a fairly comfortable victory for Boro. As for Redcar the score line might have flattered them, remembering that they lost 0-7 to a Boro academy side in a North Riding Cup match a couple of years ago.
Of course the Boro youngsters looked fitter than Redcar in the high temperature, but it does seem that after gaining promotion last season, Redcar may well struggle to retain their Northern League First Division status in the coming season.
One consolation though was the size of the crowd, a record 725 spectators when considering that four years ago when Redcar were in the Wearside League attendances rarely exceeded 100. Of course Boro fans helped to swell the gate on Wednesday night.
Crooks is now Officially a Boro Player!
I've given him a teal shirt and added him to the list under attacking midfield given Neil Warnock is hoping he'll contribute 10-15 goals a season. How many did our top scorer last season get again?
Should Matt Crooks reach Neil Warnock's hopeful target of achieving 15 league goals this season then he'll become only the second Boro player this century to do so! The only one who has so far managed that feat was of course Patrick Bamford in his loan spell from Chelsea back in 2014-15 when he netted 17 times.
Anyway, here's the list of all Boro's leading scorers in the league this century with their number of goals shown in brackets - it's contains a mixture of the illustrious and perhaps the somewhat lack lustre...
2020-21 Duncan Watmore (9) 2019-20 Ashley Fletcher (10) 2018-19 Britt Assombalonga (14) 2017-18 Britt Assombalonga (14) 2016-17 Alvaro Negredo* (9) 2015-16 David Nugent (8) 2014-15 Patrick Bamford (17) 2013-14 Albert Adomah (12) 2012-13 Scott McDonald (12) 2011-12 Marvin Emnes (14) 2010-11 Leyroy Lita (12) 2009-10 Adam Johnson (11) 2008-09 Tuncay Sanli* (7) 2007-08 Stuart Downing* (9) 2006-07 Mark Viduka* (14) 2005-06 Yakubu Ayegbeni* (13) 2004-05 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink* (13) 2003-04 Juninho/Szilard Nemeth* (8) 2002-03 Massimo Maccarone* (9) 2001-02 Alen Boksic* (8) 2000-01 Alen Boksic* (12) * Premier League
Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock is hoping to sign another goalkeeper this summer with Dejan Stojanovic looking to leave. (Teesside Live) (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)
Pity we do not have a striker like Britt Assombalonga anymore. I would take 14 goals a season from any Boro striker nowadays 🤣. And he did it twice!
Up the Boro!
Crooks opens his Boro account 18 mins.
Come on BORO.
Pity is possibly not the word I would have chosen...
Anyway, I would have gone for that other 14-goal striker from the list in Mark Viduka as someone I'd be missing in a Boro shirt.
Decentish first half. McNair is playing the Kyle Walker role; almost acting like an attacking right back and most of our best play has come from that. Not a lot of pace or creativity. Watmore and Patterson haven't had much impact on the game. Watmore and Tav are struggling to link up down the left.
We are playing with a certain amount of confidence and there's definitely signs of mixing up patience with long diagonals into the channels. Ikpeazu and Crooks look like a pair of monsters when charging together. Ikpeazu is a really unselfish player; you can see him trying to figure out how to play in his team mates when he has the ball. It's a work in progress but there's a good feel about the team.
Argyle do have a couple of pacey, tricky players so we have been tested from time to time.
56 mins 1-1 from a corner, poor defending.
Come on BORO.
Three changes Jones, Siri and Akpom for Paterson, Watmore and Ikpeazu.
Come on BORO.
Lewis Wing didn't make the squad for the Plymouth game having been spotted beforehand wearing a protective boot over his left foot.
That's a huge shame for the midfielder who'd been having a great pre-season, particularly down there in the south west.
Neil Warnock commented after the match: “Wing has an issue with his shin but with the boot on it looks worse than it is.
“He received a bad tackle the other night and his shin is very sore. He needs an ice pack on it, but I think the boot is just a precaution really.
“He should be alright by next week I think."
Hopefully the injury doesn't prove too lengthy for Wingy.
Up the Boro!
Watched last night’s game. A steady performance.
Akpom when in a decent position repeatedly fails to get his shot off. Puts his head down and loses possession.
I thought what was missing was a dominant midfielder- someone who can control the game with short accurate passing - someone who can control the tempo of the game and sees a lot of the ball in the middle of the pitch.
Still early days so hope improvements will follow.
Philip of Huddersfield