Boro travel to fifth from bottom Coventry City or for the pedantic amongst us Birmingham to be exact where the homeless Sky Blues are currently lodging. Despite the gap in league placings the Sky Blues have taken five points from their last six games to Boro’s seven points. A draw in reality doesn’t suit either side but it would probably be of more value to Coventry than Boro. Every game for Boro now is a must win one if they are to keep up any pretence of catching that last play off place.
Woodgate’s Bournemouth currently have a five point cushion over us but in-form Barnsley and Cardiff (who are three points ahead of us) are also chasing that spot. Barnsley are four points ahead of us and with a game in hand so another slip up would almost certainly condemn us to another season in the Championship.
Mark Robin’s side narrowly lost 1-0 to Swansea and drew 1-1 at Blackburn in their last two outings and have proved over the season to be capable of giving a good account of themselves since making the step up from League One.
Like ourselves Coventry fans have one or two players who it is fair to say challenge their patience and defender Dom Hyam seems to be susceptible to making a series of errors when under pressure. Hopefully our Striker will have been briefed to not give him time on the ball. That however is a bit of a conundrum in itself as Boro fans have just about exhausted all patience with Britt Assombalonga and the fact that Jonny Howson has now been made Captain gives some hope that Britt will not be making an appearance any time soon.
Surprisingly, Mark Robins dropped the lively pair Gus Hamer and Callum O’Hare on Saturday much to the chagrin of the City faithful so they may be in line for a recall against Boro. What intrigues me is whether Mark Robins deliberately rested them figuring that they have more chance of three points at home to Boro in their survival fight than in an away game at Blackburn. Boro, a soft touch, surely not?
One player missing for Coventry will be Centre Back Leo Ostigard who was sent off for two yellow card offences against Blackburn which surely has to be seen as an opportunity for whoever Warnock goes with up top to impress. The Norwegian CB is also useful at getting on the end of set pieces so his absence will be a relief to Fry, Hall and MacNair after their less than impressive failure to jump on Saturday. Michael Rose will likely take his place and no doubt keen to regain the shirt he lost to Ostigard earlier in the season.
Personally, I would be tempted to go with playing Watmore in a central role with Johnson and Kebano out wide and Tav roving behind him. Failing that Chuba Akpom may be rewarded for putting in a credible showing with his header assisting Paddy’s equaliser against Cardiff. Anyone but Britt please.
If the Boro from the last ten minutes against Coventry turn up and get at a shaky Coventry defence, we could win comfortably by two clear goals. This however is Boro we are talking about and we haven’t turned up in 2021 against the Championship’s strugglers so I am predicting another forgettable and underwhelming 1-1 draw.
Thanks RR for the preview.
we’re still in there and plenty of games to play and lots of points up for grabs
hopefully we will win and start dreaming of the play off final at Wembley !
anyone know if the play off dates will mean we will be out of lockdown then?
sorry got my dreamers hat on again!
and that’s without a nice glass of red!
OFB
We'll never make it to the play offs if we have too many of your eyeballs in the sky results Bob !
Thanks for the preview RR. The Boro is really making it difficult for me to maintain enthusiasm for football this season. Lock down has a lot to do with that as well.
We have to win at Coventry, that is for sure. Will we? I honestly have no idea. So, no prediction from me, but I can't fully suppress that hope that lurks deep in my heart....
I agree about the lack of enthusiasm. Whether it’s lockdown I’m not sure, but if it wasn’t for Sky Arts and a succession of recorded Andre Rieu concerts, reminiscing about former Boro strikers and the wonderful weather this last week I think I’d stay in bed all day. Sometimes too much football is more than I can take.
Thanks, RR for the lead. Appreciated.
I think we need to get the defence sorted out before can get results. Against Bristol, the defending was diabotical. As was the goal conceded versus Cardiff. We had three players marking the scorer but none of them jumped.
Defending is essential as long as we do not score many. I think our average is about 1,1 goal per game. Even though there was a period before Xmas when we were (seriously) the highest scoring team for a month.
I hope now when we have most people fit - I know Fletcher and Browne are missing - we should improve a little. I hope that is enough.
Fletcher is a big miss thought. I hope we will hear more about him soon.
So I hope we will get a win. A scrappy 1-2 win with Watmore (when did last score) and Hall scoring.
Up the Boro!
Thanks RR for your preview which was very informative and clearly indicates Coventry are no mugs and another potential banana skin for the Boro to slip on.
Going back to the Cardiff game, I also watched the highlights and OFB was correct in that the Cardiff goal was scored from a foul throw in as the throwers foot was over the side-line and on to the field of play as he delivered the ball. It is surprising that no one else has picked up on it albeit immaterial now as the result is 1-1.
Saturday was a much improved team performance over Tuesday but we were still clueless for much of the game and played into Cardiff's hands; as a team they were no great shakes and it was therefore disappointing that we could not take all three points.
Given our erratic displays so far this season and as Saturday was a decent performance I am expecting us not to turn up tomorrow and Coventry to sneak it by 1-0 but hope that we can do an untypical and come away with all three points.
To do so we need to start with the team that finished the game on Saturday or close to it, that means NML and BA on the bench albeit I would prefer the latter to be sent on gardening leave for the rest of the season. 😎
Redcar Red,
many thanks for your effort and the finished leader piece. This is another 'Typical Boro' fixture, aren't they all? It doesn't matter who we sign most injuries seem to have our name on them. The referees and officials develop a strange version of selective vision and we have slipperey pitches that don't seem to affect the opposition so here's hoping Boro can become a cohesive unit with eleven men on the pitch, that is no Britt.
I haven't a clue about a score as long as we don't give them a one or two goal start so we can play a blinder for the last ten or fifteen minutes. And fail.
My inclination is to drift towards an OFB but Boro can build in so many variables of incompetence and skill I haven't a clue.
As long as our defending isn't 'diabotical', Jarkko's new word, which is somehow way more appropriate than diabolical being far more individual and specially tailored for Boro.
Stay safe everyone,
UTB,
John
@john-richardson Surely, the word should be diaborocal...
Thanks RR for your article.
Britt should never play for Boro again. Reminds me of a classic song 'I who have nothing'
I dont get why clubs persevere with players that do not contribute, feeling obliged to have them in the team or at least the bench because they are being paid.
In the case of someone that is a free agent in a couple of months, I would banish them from the club and let them work out their own training regime. Lack of fitness and especially match time will make them far less attractive at top wack. So hit them where it hurts.
I think NW’s strangest decision this season was appointing BA as captain. I hope one day that he explains his reasoning.
On a related note, I do think a vocal, experienced captain would have given us a few extra points this season. There’s no obvious candidate that I can see, so maybe NW needs to sign one.
I think NW thought he could get more responsibility and better performances from Britt by appointing him as a captain. I think it was a clever move but unfortunately it did not work, though. But the analogy was there.
Apparently there is no real or natural leader in the team like Martin said. I was thinking if Grant Hall could be one but he has been injured and has not gained a regular place in the team. We really miss a terrier like Leadbitter.
BTW, I looked the 'Boro v Cardiff City - Inside Matchday' at mfc.co.uk this morning. It was terrible to see the Cardiff goal again. The Cardiff player was marked there with all our three (3) cantre backs. Neither McNair, Fry nor Hall were able to jump! Perhaps they were too close to each other. And then the goalie wanders away ...
But that is football. Usually two mistakes are needed for the opposition to score. Hope we get our concentration back for Coventry.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko. I agree it was a poor goal to concede. I am not sure why they felt they needed all to crowd together. To my mind it is unlikely that a forward will score directly from a throw in unless he is marked as he was on Saturday and if there is no-one guarding the far post. Most of the time the ball is coming in from a height without a lot of pace on it so it is more likely that the second ball/flick on will result in a goal and that is what teams should be guarding against.
I also agree with you on your view on NW's strategy re Britt but sadly, as you say, it did not work and I see little merit now in playing him as he is no longer making a positive contribution. 😎
I see little merit now in playing him as he is no longer making a positive contribution.
Based on his performances at least the pitch is being fertilised.
@redcarred. B...dy expensive fertiliser or perhaps explains why players keep slipping over!! 😎😂
Boro have been much better away from home for a while now so I have some hope for tonight.
Coventry tend to play wingbacks as far as I can tell and their back three, much like Cardiff's, as said to be slow, albeit not as imposing as The Bluebirds'.
I hope, therefore, that NW goes with pace and mobility up front and tries to unpick them. I don't think they'll be able to live with Tav and Kebano if they're on song.
I think it might be time for a little bit of a reshuffle, part tactical but part because of injuries. I still think the back three/wingbacks suits us best but think that with a fuller complement of defenders fit, it might be time to move McNair into midfield more permanently given that he has more ability on the ball than Saville or Morsy but still has the physical attributes required. Tav and Kebano are musts for me for their speed of thought and passing and I would go with the mobility and finishing of Watmore over Akpom. Like others, I don't think Britt should be in the equation for here on.
I would move Bola inside to partner Fry and Djiksteel in that back three and bring Johnson back in for the left wingback role to provide more width and better crossing than the solid but unadventurous Bola provides. Bola is a natural left back or left centre-back (in a three) for me and whilst he does a good job in the wingback role I think Johnson offers more going forward.
Fisher plays on the right if fit. If not, we have Spence or can bring Hall into the back three and move Djiksteel there, though that is less preferable for me.
Call it a 3-5-2, 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-3 but I would go with:
--------------Bettinelli-----------
-------Djiksteel Fry Bola--------
Fisher Howson McNair Johnson
-------------Tav Kebano---------
--------------Watmore----------
In Second Division fixtures Coventry and Boro have only met 6 times in the Midlands and Boro have yet to win, 4 defeats and 2 draws, so is it about to change tonight?
The entire affair of making Britt Captain was an amazing example of hope over experience (that would be the fans experience) the very idea that Britt has had a slump in form is strange, to say the least. He has never performed within one tenth of his cost, which is in line with the fans rating of him, to watch him was, from the start, a realisation that we had, yet again, bought a pup. However, many clubs buy pups, very few of them put their heads down and grimly decide to grind out his five seasons, After all, there is always another sucker and there must have been times when he scored his annual ration in a couple of months, and could have been unloaded (at a great loss, natch, but still?). He is the living example of the folly of sending your latest Manager out with your cheque book and permission to buy four players at an average of 3/4 million, the opportunities for things to go wrong do not bear thinking about. On this very subject, a great article in the times in the last few days. As follows. Young man growing up is obsessed with analising replays of current matches from any and all leagues, and becomes known for his opinions on players, plus more. Picked up by Rogers at celtic and asked to use his expertise. Follows him to Liverpool and Liecester. With the results as can be seen. Discuss!
Wasn’t it Steve Gibson who wanted Assombalonga? As I remember in a bidding war Boro offered something like £9M for him, but Burnley upped that by £1M or so, then Boro determined to get their man blasted Burnley away with a bid of £15M. Those may not have been the correct bids but it was something like that. After all he’d scored 23 goals for Peterborough in 43 appearances and 30 in 65 appearances for Forest.
Britt, Watmore & NML replaced by Spence, Kebano & Akpom, with Bolasie on the bench:
Glad he’s kept McNair in midfield and brought Kebano back.
I fancy us tonight (famous last words). Cov 0-2 Boro (Akpom, Tavernier)
High quality bench. It’s a while since we were able to bring on players like Watmore, Bolasie etc as subs.
UTB
Just settled down for the evening and find its 1-0 already.....hiolds head in despair
@powmillnaemore. And from a long throw in would you believe - unbelievable Jeff!! 😎
This is not working and we need to change shape/personnel quickly. Midfield not getting a grip on the game and defence is being pulled all over the place. 😎
Phew. That goal was as bad to concede as ours was though a lovely delivery from McNair.
Kick on now Boro.
And what do I know 1-1 Grant Hall from PM free kick. 😎
Grant Hall equalises! There's still hope!