I love how Paddy McNair reads the game. And his centers are excellent. He could become a real master of that position. A bit Maddren in him, me thinks.

Much better match for the eye than the previous match vs. Reading.

We can get a draw if we play like that in the second half. Exciting. Up the Boro!

EIO 🥳

1point off the play-offs 😉

A good win. Who'd guessed a Saville goal would do it.

Love this teem. A real team performance bar none. Up the Boro!

They were really good. Brilliantly well organised. We've played the top two who were scoring goals for fun and they've hardly had a shot on target. Again, the back three and the midfield barely put a foot wrong all night. Savile was everywhere and was my MOM. It's also interesting to note how many balls he wins in the air. McNair may have found his natural position. I agree with Neil Maddison. He would be a waste in midfield.  Morsy was a very solid acquisition. He's the kind of player that you hate but admire when he plays for the other side. Roberts did very well and you can see how he will bring something different to the team.

Time for a smidgeon of optimism. We'll be nobody's pushover this season.

UTB

Well it was a hard-working team performance that Boro basically won through sheer will - OK, there a few glimpses of what the extra quality of Roberts could add to the team going forward and some signs that there is potential to see a bit more dynamic attacking play but clear chances were limited. In the end it was a mistake that settled the game but it was the alertness of Saville that capitalised on it to gain all three points, which was in fact the only shot on target from both sides. Boro proved that defensively they are going to be hard to break down and that was demonstrated by the 25 minutes of game management after the goal. Neil Warnock may be building a team of men from the boys he inherited - we just need a bit more quality in the last third to become a side to be taken seriously.

Re George Saville.. NW probably doing his best Graham Taylor impression at the moment....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Em7LVFumRk

@werdermouth

A fair assessment, Werder. Gritty, certainly not pretty but six months or so ago this side couldn’t see a game out to save its life. The squad is weaker now but Warnock is getting a lot out of very little.

I feel like we’re one creative player short of being quite well balanced - that or we need to get more attacking play and quality from the wingbacks - but there’s always the risk that it backfires and destabilises the defensive strength we’re showing.

For now though, that’s an excellent, hard-earned three points.

I never thought I’d say this !

saville MOM

OFB

@andy-r.  I agree with you that what we need is more quality and consistency from our wingbacks as both Spence and Johnson are hit and miss.  

I am now a convert and agree with Maddo that McNair stays at the back.  

I have also been impressed of late with Saville's contribution and the balance he brings to the side.  The midfield three of Howson Morsy and Saville are a force to be reckoned with.

For me, last night was the best performance since the win at the Hawthorns. 😎

@k-p-in-spain

A strange match to watch, I had the impression that the pitch was smaller than we are used to. Once the ball was on the half way line, an attack was on, which meant our Defence had to be really alert at all times. I watched Fry, and he was special, he belongs in the centre and nowhere else, and he has filled out, and several 'giants' are in trouble defensively? Roberts? Still dribbling, why does no one forbid him to dribble anyone? This would force him to play the ball into space, he just might be a great player. We still play very slow passes when in very good positions with plenty on, it must be annoying for the player who could go on and shoot. A Good win, and a credit to our Manager, there may be more to come.    

@plato.  I agree it looked as if there was only 20 yards between the edge of the centre circle and the edge of the D on the penalty boxes.  It may have helped us in keeping our shape and being compact.  The team did well on numerous occasions to get out of trouble by working together.  

Fry was immense and always has been when played in his true position.

Roberts is what he is and if you stop him dribbling then I believe you reduce his effectiveness.  Yes he can be frustrating when he over does it but every now and again he will pull off something special which makes all the difference; he offers us something which no one else in the squad can do.

I’ve watched all the games so far and we definitely seem to be more of a team than last year. My Latics supporting friends in Wigan rate Morsy very highly and I can certainly see why. 

I’ll be paying my £10 to watch on Saturday again but does anyone know how much of my money MFC actually get? 

@k-p-in-spain

My remarks about Roberts are by way of agreeing that he has some talent, when I said someone should stop him dribbling I should have said 'on the practice ground'. He is very good at getting into a dangerous area by sheer ability to beat a man on the dribble, the opposition seem to know that their only chance to clear up a messy situation is to give him another man to beat, and another etc. Until the dead ball line hoves into view. If we had people running off the ball (several) and a determined manager, then we might have a player on our hands.w  

As yet only Reading and Watford have won all 3 of their home matches, whilst Derby, Preston and Wycombe have lost all of theirs. Cardiff have yet to win at home having lost to both the top team and the bottom team, so is that a good omen for Boro on Saturday or a bad one? Strangely though both Stoke have yet to win at home (2 draws and 1 defeat), but both they and Preston have yet to lose away (2 wins and 1 draw each). So as it appears unlikely that spectators will be allowed at matches until late March at the earliest, maybe we should forget the old saying that points gained away are always good points and accept that any win is a good win. After all they are both worth the same value of 3 points. In this season particularly a win or a defeat to any team can’t be regarded as a surprise as it’s possible that maybe only 15 points might separate a top six team from a relegated one whilst last season it was 22.

@plato.  To be fair to Roberts he did play some through balls or attempt them and I did see Akpom make some good runs.  Perhaps it just needs a bit more time for it to come together and a few others to be making similar runs. 

We have however had a team which, for a number of seasons, has tended to get to the edge of the box and look to pass it square or back rather than through the defence, so it may well be work in progress.  As you say, if we get it right then we may have a player and team on hands.  😎 

@k-p-in-spain

Agree with that, but in general when we get in a Good position, and I mean a player carrying the ball, the opposition retreating and our full back overlapping at speed, our carrier invariably has a Good look, thinks about it, then rolls a very correct(and very slow) pass to the over lapper who is of course blocked easily. I counted four instances of that on Tuesday. I think we owe our present optimism to our Manager, who seems well aware of our poverty in attack.     

Some fans are never satisfied. I’m not getting at Boro fans, but Rugby League fans. Because of Covid Sky tv cameras are located at grounds where up to 5 matches are played over 2 days and sometimes because a player or member of a family have been in contact with someone who may have coronavirus systems, up to 6 players might have to self isolate for 10 days. A similar situation happened to Yorkshire CCC recently. But Super League is completely dependant on Sky money and as there is an odd number of clubs in the League a club with a ‘free’ fixture date might be called with only 24 hours notice to replace the virus affected club just to fulfill obligations to Sky. What’s more nearly all matches are played at either St Helens, Warrington or Headingley causing real problems for Castleford, Wakefield and the 2 Hull clubs.

Yesterday   Cas, Hull KR, Wakey and Huddersfield had to fulfill a fixture in Lancashire by driving over the notorious M62 and of course there was a traffic accident on the west bound motorway resulting in an hour’s delay in the Cas v Hull KR match being played. This was deemed a home match for Cas and it was a good match to watch with Cas leading 24-0 within the first 25 minutes, but because they conceded 3 tries before halftime some Cas fans had a good moan about the defence. Eventually an already depleted Cas lost two more players to injuries in the first half, one as early as the 2nd minute, but went on to win 38-24, that’s 6 tries to 4. Now I doubt that Boro fans would complain if Boro won 6-4 on a neutral ground even though they once led 4-0. It did remind me though of the 1958/59 season which started with Boro beating Brighton 9-0 and leading 4-0 in the return fixture before ONLY winning 6-4. Different ball game, but same result. Needs must I suppose, and I’m not being critical of Boro winning at Bristol only 1-0 as any win is most welcome, but would I prefer to see a 6-4 win? You bet I would!

I love to watch RL but some of the fans drive me mad. Their criticisms of referees alleging bias are comical and much worse than anything I’ve encountered in football.