Crooks as centre-forward, too.
When I tried to watch the Huddersfield v Boro match my NOW TV saved password kept showing as invalid so I couldn't log on/subscribe to watch it. Today, without changing anything, I was able to log on and have so far watched Huddersfield 2 Blackburn 2 and Coventry 2 Watford 2. NOW TV is still running so I am hoping to see a Boro win and follow it with Burnley v Sheffield United. Perhaps my computer decided to save me from seeing us well beaten by Huddersfield but expects Boro to be better against Bristol City.
Good results so far with Millwall losing and draws for Norwich and Blackburn so it is up to Boro to take advantage of their slips.
Disappointing missed header by Akpom then Steffen made himself big to save us.
Bristol city 1 - 0. Boro defence playing head ball and all drawn towards our middle/left leaving Bell to come in unmarked on our right.
A finely balanced first half with a big chance or two at either end. Reminiscent of the games in the early part of Carrick’s reign, the game could swing either way and hopefully we will repeat those early days tricks of coming out on the right side of the fine margins.
Howson has struggled with the Bristol City press and needs to be careful when facing his own goal and we’ve struggled to get much going down our right hand side - again reminiscent of those Nov and Dec days.
Then, bang, we go behind following some less than convincing challenges around the edge of our area. Again, though, going a goal behind isn’t unusual for this group.
Most importantly, the lads need to reemerge fully switched on for the second half and believe we can turn it around. Bristol may tire the more we have of the ball and the confidence will return if we score the next goal.
We must not concede again.
Boro characterised by too many basic mistakes. Smith is the targeted weakness.
What a sloppy goal to give away.
All Boro’s attacking play coming from Giles who should have done better with a clear sight of goal. I expect Bristol will aim to blunt the attacks from the left.
So far disappointing. Scrappy game.
Must do better.
Philip of Huddersfield
Smith looks poor and Hackney and Howson look a bit leggy in midfield. Crooks looks like a bit of a donkey up front and should have scored
OFB
Another display of shambles defending, gifting City an easy goal.
The midfield is not in the game at all. HH in the first ten minutes gave the ball away in dangerous areas. Howson cannot make a pass of more than five yards and really looks knackered.
Not sure we’re MC goes from here as City will make it harder for us to break them down. Probably need a little luck to get back in the game.
B word.
So many chances to stop that goal.
2-0. Trouble.
0-2 after 49 minutes. A third consecutive defeat beckons. Looks as though the honeymoon is well & truly over. 🙁
Quote from the Beeb's live commentary:
Middlesbrough are pushing for promotion back to the Premier League and one man who knows just what it's like to take the club to the top tier is their former player Nigel Pearson.
He might be in the opposite dugout this evening, but during his playing days Pearson twice captained Boro to Premier League promotion in 1994-95 and 1996-97.
We imagine Pearson hasn't got much time for nostalgia tonight though and will be desperate for his side to hold their lead through the second-half and take all three points.
2 - 1. Ramsey
2 - 2 Crooks
Ramsey pulls one back for Boro in the 58th minute! Hope? Got the prayer mat out...
Ramsey pulls one back for Boro in the 58th minute! Hope? Got the prayer mat out...
And Crooks equalises in the 64th!
Ramsey pulls one back for Boro in the 58th minute! Hope? Got the prayer mat out...
And Crooks equalises in the 64th!
Ramsey's goal came courtesy of a cross by Smith - the Beeb:
GOAL: Bristol City 2-2 Middlesbrough
Matt Crooks
Five short minutes and Middlesbrough - out of nothing really - have wiped out Bristol City's lead.
It's a really nice bit of play from Middlesbrough who one-touch pass the ball around the Robins defence before picking out Matt Crooks in space.
Crooks beats the offside trap and slots the ball beyond Max O'Leary into the back of the net.
Doesn't say who provided the "killer" cross!
Archer on for Crooks in the 75th minute. We just need Chuba to bag the winner now...
2-2 at full time. 
The boys hang on to fourth place.
Ends 2 - 2. Relieved to have come back from 2 - 0 down but still not the free flowing Boro from before the international break.
Great comeback. Shame it was needed.
What a comeback, hopefully that will kickstart our season again UTB.
Come on BORO.
Defence shaky as usual, midfield - too many misplaced passes, attackers not given as many good chances as we had come to expect. I was just thinking Crooks as main striker hadn't worked when he scored! I would have Steffen as MOM for some vital saves along with Ramsey who put in a lot of good work and scored and passed for Crooks' goal. Archer's leg was offside at the end!
Back to biting my Easter egg!
Interesting from FLW:
https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/middlesbrough-keeping-tabs-on-24-year-old-the-verdict/
Gazette ratings
Zack Steffen - 7
With a poor defence in front of him, Steffen had to come to the rescue of his side on a couple of occasions, with one particularly eye-catching early save.
Tommy Smith - 5
Assist for Boro's first goal but otherwise had a torrid afternoon against Sam Bell.
Paddy McNair - 5
Not particularly at fault for either goal but part of a disorganised and unconvincing Boro defensive display.
Darragh Lenihan - 5
Slipped at the vital time for Bristol City's opener just before the break and part of that sloppy Boro back four in general.
Ryan Giles - 5
Got forward well without much reward but for creating an early Akpom chance. Defensively suspect again though, and partly culpable for the second goal.
Jonny Howson - 6
Helped Boro get a grip and keep their calm after going two behind, but was at times a little sloppier than usual in possession though which meant they didn't build much from midfield.
Hayden Hackney - 5
Sloppy at times in possession which meant Boro struggled for their usual control in possession. Fell to sleep at the back post for Bristol City's second goal as well, making it easy for Nahki Wells to tee up Cornick.
Marcus Forss - 5
Unable to influence much of note on his return to the side and didn't do Smith many favours from a defensive point of view.
Aaron Ramsey - 7
Boro's best player. Sloppy in the first half but came to life after the break with a goal and an assist to inspire a point for his side which could yet prove crucial in the race for the play offs.
Chuba Akpom - 6
Battled away in the hole as he does and played a great one-two with Ramsey leading to the equaliser. Missed a golden early opportunity which might have made for a completely different game.
Matt Crooks - 6
Was sloppy in possession and didn't offer enough movement on his return to the side. Looked to be coming off and would have been a sure 5 but for then firing home Boro's equaliser.
Substitutions
Cameron Archer (For Crooks, 75') - 6 - Thought he'd won Boro the game in stoppage time with a sublime finish from an acute angle, only to have been flagged offside.
Riley McGree (For Forss, 84') - N/A
A mistake by Giles gifts Bristol their second goal. 0-2
I suppose getting back to draw is an achievement but if this was the play offs would it happen.
Some average performances.
Smith and Giles when defending not good. Not convinced again by McNair.
Lenihan had a better game than recently.
When on top it was good to see Howson playing in a more advanced role .
Hackney had a quiet game.
Ramsey took his goal well and shows nice touches but not effective when defending.
Crooks scored an opportunist goal but at times looked a midfielder playing out of position.
Akpom missed a sitter and only in the game in brief moments. Played a bit too deep ?
Forss had a quiet game.
McGree only on the pitch for a few minutes but made a difference and unlucky not to score the winner.
So the team have slipped to fourth and getting back to winning is a must starting with the next game.
Finally, it appears Fry is injured but I can’t help thinking that there is something significantly amiss with Barsaler who came with good playing references but has never been given a chance of playing in the last dozen or so games.
Philip from Huddersfield - Neil Warnock has now achieved 11 points from the last 5 games . Incredible with the quality of players at his disposal.👍👋
What was that I said about needing all our battling qualities?
Well, we did well to withstand a lot of BC pressure and chances, and of course to fight back from 2-0 down. But defensively, we were a shambles at times. If only we’d shown those battling qualities to keep out both City goals; instead, both were a comedy of errors as player after player slipped or missed their tackle: in both cases we missed good opportunities to clear. For the first goal, Smith got dragged out of position, not for the first time. His defending is starting to look a little ragged, and I was really hoping to see Dijksteel come on. Boro scored instead and Anfernee lost his chance. For the second goal, ditto, except this time it was Giles who gave the ball away as he muffed his clearance when he had time aplenty to hoof it clear or pass back to Steffen.
Yet more poor defending very nearly gifted City a winner right at the death. MC and Woody are really going to need to work on the defence if we do make the playoffs. And we have options to change it - Fry, if fit, the aforementioned Dijksteel and Bola. Mowatt could tighten up the midfield, too, and make us a bit more solid.
But any away point is a good point, so I’m reasonably happy, especially as Ashton Gate is never an easy place to go. Boro scored two very fine goals and almost had a third. We didn’t suffer what would potentially have been a catastrophic third consecutive loss, and we’re starting to build momentum again. Some of our forward play in the last 20 minutes was terrific. Most results, except Luton’s, went our way today. Lots of reasons to be cheerful.
A great fight back, so credit to the team for that. However the defence is looking very very suspect now, even allowing for some leeway due to the way we play.
No body in the defensive five is capable in producing consistent above average performances. The midfield two are also struggling and Howson just get left behind if he makes a mistake.
We cannot continue like we are, surely MC must try one or two changes where he has options. Dijksteel must be one. As I have said previously and Philip tonight, there must be some issue with Barlaser, that MC sees, if he cannot get into the starting line up or even off the bench when the midfield two are performing as they are at the minute.
If we are to have any chance of making the play offs and getting promotion, then something has to change around the defence. Time for Woodgate to show his worth.
Great fight back. I didn't think we were at the races first half but could have won it at the end. It was an amazing strike from Archer, thought that it was side netting at first. Giles was disappointing today. He was able to get around their right back at times but his crosses were in the air whereas usually he drills them along the ground. Was this caused by the wind? So it's 9 points for the playoffs not taking into account Millwall play Preston on Saturday. Preston looking like dark horses to sneak in with their negative goal difference.
For twenty minutes we looked top class but it's a shame that it took 2 sloppy goals against to get us going. There's been some criticism of Smith but I think that the problem lies elsewhere. We play a close possession game with neat touches to open up attacking lanes but both goals were created by poor touches in the centre of the field which gave away possession on the edge of the penalty area. Because we flood the middle and the side which is being attacked there is always risk of an overload on the other side if we lose possession.
There has to be a bit more pragmatism when the cost of losing the ball is potentially that we give away an easy shot at goal. Smith realises this, hence him taking the booking rather than letting a player clean through. I would also point out a great interception of a cross that he made when there was a player completely free behind him because Forss hadn't tracked back. The overload is often not the full-back's fault.
I think that it was important that we were able to fight back the way that we did, namely by overwhelming a solid side with good football and then seeing the game out even if Bristol did miss an incredible chance at the end. That together with a good set of results from elsewhere will, one hopes, be enough to settle them down. Recently, I listened to some commentators saying that Boro may suffer from trying too hard for the automatic and having the disappointment of just missing out which could carry over into the play-offs. I think that it's fair to say that, leaving side an extraordinary collapse by Sheffield United, this is probably Luton's problem now. We have the task of keeping things together over the next five games and having a real go at the play-offs.
As to individual players, Steffen was close to my my MOM. He kept us alive and didn't put a foot wrong all game. Akpom has now missed two headers in two games which could have been worth an extra few points but he still looks class on the ball. Ramsey had a good game and I would like to see McGree come back for the next game, probably instead of Forss. Crooks did well but did tire after the hour and the question is whether he is a better starter or an impact sub. I'm inclined to go for the latter despite his goal.
McNair doesn't fill me with confidence but I couldn't pint out any actual mistakes for the goals or at other times. I think that he is a reasonable championship defender along with Lenihan and Smith. Giles has become a better defensive player and now needs to go back to being more consistent with his crosses. Other than a beauty from which Akpom should have scored, he missed his target quite a lot.
Hackney and Howson remain a bit of an enigma. They are really good together and when we play well they are usually a big part of that. I don't think that we can change their style and that does raise a question about Barlaser.
Anyway, it was better to get a good draw than to lose.
UTB