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Huddersfield v Boro
 

Huddersfield v Boro

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As the international tumbleweed lifelessly trundles by, we can finally turn our attention back to all things Boro and the next testing encounter – Huddersfield away on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.

Boro, of course, signed off for the final break of the season with a thumping 4-0 win against the previously obdurate Preston North End. As complete a performance as we’ve put together all season, the international interruption didn’t come at the best of times for Michael Carrick though it’s hard to imagine any inconvenience would be enough to agitate our composed Head Coach. At 6’2-ish, Carrick has a lengthier stride than most and seems to take everything serenely within it.

Happily, though several players have been away with their countries, there are no new injuries reported, with the travel weariness of Aussie midfield schemer Riley McGree seemingly the only mild concern. That said, we’ve been down this path before with McGree and he’s yet to suffer from any jetlag-induced hangover. With Boro’s squad options enhanced over January, Carrick does now have more choices but McGree has emerged as a key component over the past few months and you’d imagine he will play if he can.

Now four games unbeaten since the humbling at The Hawthorns, scoring 13 goals along the way, Boro sit fourth in the overall form table of the last six games and third for away form. whilst only Champions-elect Burnley have scored more goals over the season. These are special times at The Riverside. What could possibly go wrong?

April Fools Day, you say? NEIL WARNOCK you say??!! Gulp.

Long-suffering Boro fans are all too familiar with footballing banana skins but Warnock’s Huddersfield away on Saturday 1st April has the whiff of a viscous bruised-fruit smoothie. You just know he’d love to see us choke on it!

In fairness, Warnock’s relationship with Boro fans (at least) remains a pretty cosy one. Sure, the football was terrible at times – an absolute world away from the quick-quick-pass-move-shoot-score-win-dance-sing style we’re enjoying today – and his ceaseless berating of the match officials grated, but the man saved us from almost certain relegation back in 2021, had a certain septuagenarian charm in his pressers (are you with me?) and brought in one or two useful players on a budget, not least a certain Chuba Akpom. In fact, you can be sure that Warnock himself will be taking more than his fair share of the credit for Chuba’s resurgence in the lead up to Saturday’s encounter. You’ve gotta love him!

That mutual fondness may not extend to the likes of Kieran Scott and Neil Bauser however, for whom Warnock likely holds a traditional Yorkshire grudge following his curt and discourteous Boro exit. Warnock was said to have received a phone call from Steve Gibson on the morning of the away game at West Brom, informing him that the game would be his last in charge. An episode that didn’t reflect well in truth.

Still, that is now water under the bridge for many with Warnock then thought to have retired from the game (again). That was until he received the call from Huddersfield Town in mid-February. The 74 year-old Yorkshireman previously managed The Terriers between 1993-1995, where he guided them to promotion via the Second Division playoffs. It was an eventful period for Huddersfield including a Football League Trophy Final as well as the promotion, and the move to a new ground, at the time called the Alfred McAlpine Stadium. They also won something called the Yorkshire Electricity Cup (me neither) in 1994 before Warnock rather abruptly quit and moved to Plymouth Argyle, where his love of Devon was fostered and remains to this day.

In his second spell with the Terriers, Warnock’s record reads P7 W2 D2 L3 GF4 GA11. That is not a particularly scary set of results for Boro but they have faced promotion hopefuls Burnley (0-4), Coventry (0-4), West Brom (0-1), Norwich (1-1) and Millwall (1-0) in an extremely difficult run that seems to have no end. They are 18th for overall form but still down in 22nd for home form with just one win in their previous six.

In terms of tactics and setup, we know all too well how Warnock likes to match his opponents shape and employ a man-marking system in an attempt to strangle the game. Rarely are his sides fluid and creative going forwards, preferring to keep matches tight, allow the opposition to have the ball and play direct, often to a more robust sort of centre-forward. Set pieces are likely to be a threat (though I don’t recall too many set piece goals at Boro during his time) and Boro will have to be up for the physical battle.

Despite the obvious banana skin, I have to say that I’m increasingly confident of a high-scoring victory for Boro this time. We witnessed Warnock’s man-marking system being torn apart by good footballing sides in the past and Boro are very much a good footballing side now. Having control of the game via possession is exactly what this Boro side enjoys and those 4-0 defeats to Burnley and Coventry are the sort of game that this Boro are more than capable of. Of course, a horrible 1-0 to Huddersfield is also entirely possible but it’s difficult to see Boro failing to score very often, whilst our intelligent movement and smart passing should cause a rigid Huddersfield defence real problems.

So I expect a scrap from Huddersfield and perhaps not as entertaining a game as many of late but Boro should have too much ability in a tactical tussle that could suit us to the ground. Observing the contrast in the dug-out temperaments could be an interesting subplot and I’m going for a 3-0 Boro win.


Site Creator
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Thanks for the opener Andy but I'm currently carrying out a site back-up ahead of software update so I may have to make the Discussion Forum read-only access until I know where everything is at

Apologies to the inconvenience but I'll keep you informed

*UPDATE: Actually decided against attempting to make the Forum temporarily read-only as it involves altering loads of permission tick-boxes on different user profiles and don't want to risk extra problems 🤔 

This post was modified 1 year ago by werdermouth

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Thanks Andy appreciated as always

Ive had an interesting break as the Brain fog turned into full blown COVID for myself and Mrs OFB. Which is why I haven’t posted much I’ve this period.

I managed to see the whole of the Boro game on TV and enjoyed it so much I watched it again! It’s a long time since I’ve done that !

Ill stick with Middlesbrough3 thanks

UTB

OFB


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Thanks Andy for another terrific opener, I am on a train to London, back on Thursday when I will check all entries for the challenge Part 2, hopefully no errors but please keep an eye when you posted your predictions, “Recorded” and everything is fine.

Come on BORO.


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Thanks Andy for another good read.

I think we have probably already done enough to maintain a top six spot over these last few matches and still remain outsiders for the second spot.

We need, however, to maintain momentum and particularly when going into the playoffs so this becomes another game where the points are more important than the performance.

I suspect, as you have said, that NW will set up Huddersfield to frustrate and spoil as much as they can and nick a goal on the break or from a dead ball situation.  

We have proved, however, that we have the quality and skill to beat anyone in this league so should run out winners. 0-2 CoB 😎


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Andy,As always, thanks for a great opener and thanks to Werder for his continued efforts to sort us all out, obviously sorting us out in the nicest possible way! OFB, get well soon brain Fog is bad enough but not with COVID complications.

Mr Warnock will no doubt be loving the idea of spoiling Boro's progress but the new mental strength and confidence Boro have will see them through. I hope me writing that doesn't put the mockers on the performance. As always Boro don't concede and keep doing the good stuff, like boosting your goal difference.

Best wishes to everyone.

UTB,

John


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Bob, sorry to hear about the Covid. It's still rampant and most unpleasant, though now receiving almost no publicity with no one taking any precautions.  My daughter has just come down with it too.  Get well soon, and especially so for the week-end.

Andy, excellently penned opener yet again. Greatly appreciated.

exmil, I have posted my guesses for your challenge today on the PNE thread.


Philip of Huddersfield
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Boro have been very fortunate to have Steve Gibson as owner for so many years with the millions of pounds of his own money  he’s put into the Club.

Huddersfield have had  a similar owner, Dean Hoyle, who a couple of years ago sold out to a successful owner (from  Stockport or Southport?) who promised the earth.    Unfortunately , I understand that 7 of his 8 companies went bust- unfortunately these 7 companies provided the cash to company number 8 which also then went bust. Investment into the Club didn’t happen and Dean stepped in to become the owner again even paying wages at one time.

He has , in the last few days , sold out to an American ( no details yet) and part of the deal is his agreement to writing off £40 million owed to him and keeping the Club going at a cost of £6 million which is promised to be refunded to him by the new owner in due course. 

By doing this he has avoided  the Club going into administration and being deducted 12 points and almost certainly  relegated. They are odds on already to be relegated.

Where is this story leading to ? - I’m sure it will figure in Neil Warnock’s motivation message to his players of the generosity of Dean Hoyle and his commitment to his Club.

Neil has improved the performances of Huddersfield Town with tactics of solid defending and little attacking in the hope of keeping the score at 0-0 and then “ giving it a go “ in the last 15 minutes or so. There is evidence of this happening in the last 3 games including nicking all 3 points in their last game away to Millwall.

So I’m hoping Boro can score an early goal to spoil Neil’s tactics.

Meanwhile, I have a problem - I couldn’t get a ticket from Boro and so will be  with the Huddersfield supporters. I’m practising showing some appreciation of Huddersfield’s play but obviously will be pleased to withhold my enjoyment when the Boro hopefully score a goal or three.

Philip from Huddersfield 


jarkko
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@philip-of-huddersfield You are better to practise sitting on your hands now that we have Michael Carrick in charge. I cannot say how to keep your mouth shut when we score three times on Saturday,  though. A lot of chewing gum in your mouth?

Up the Boro! 


Philip of Huddersfield
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Thanks , Jarkko - good advice!!


   
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jarkko
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Championship side Huddersfield have named American businessman Kevin M Nagle as their prospective new owner.

Nagle, who owns Sacramento Republic in the USA, agreed to buy the club from chairman Dean Hoyle, subject to legislative and governance procedures.

Hoyle became the club's sole shareholder earlier this month. Hoyle took over in 2009 before selling the club to Phil Hodgkinson 11 years later.

Read more in here: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65107317

I don’t think this change anything short term yet. But shows their fincial problems are easing out. Up the Boro!


   
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Site Creator
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Thankfully, with all the technical stuff sorted for now I can properly thank andy for another excellently written match preview of Boro's visit to ex-Boss Warnock's new patch - with Terriers perhaps being an appropriate moniker for a team under him.

Though to be honest I expect Boro to win every game these days and am surprised on the odd occasion they don't. Michael Carrick has proved to be an inspired appointment as he's simply not only hit the ground running but is now even upping the pace.

Unbelievable, Carrick has bagged over 50 points in his last 23 games, which you don't need a calculator to see that's equivalent to over 100 for a season - not just automatic promotion form but indeed Champions form.

On top of that it's been achieved while playing some of the best entertaining football witnessed in years by Boro followers and puts to bed the myth of the old school generals of Warnock, Pulis or Wilder that success in the Championship requires steady gritty performances that avoid losing first and look to keep in the game to earn the points.

For sure Warnock will try to stop Boro playing on Saturday - though not many succeed in that task if the players are on their game.

So I'm looking for another three points and probably three goals as well - sadly missed the Preston game due to having to attend an important 50th birthday party - hopefully, I'll be raising another glass come Saturday evening!


Ken Smith
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1. Just a few facts about Huddersfield Town our opponents on Saturday, remembering the days when all football clubs played to a rigid 1-2-3-5 formation without substitutes. In the 1952/53 season which few ex-Fartowners will recall, the Terriers entire defence of goalkeeper Bill Wheeler, fullbacks Ron Staniforth and Laurie Kelly, and halfbacks Bill McGarry, Don McEvoy and Len Quested played in every one of Huddersfield’s 42 Second Division matches, as did left winger Vic Metcalfe.

2. Huddersfield Town created a new Football League record of 43 League One matches unbeaten from 1st January 2011 before losing at Charlton on 28th November 2011. During that run Jordan Rhodes scored 40 goals in 42 appearances before moving on to Blackburn Rovers and eventually Boro.

3. Going back now to 1923 to 1928 Huddersfield Town were the first club to win the First Division in 3 consecutive seasons, and also finished runners-up in the following 2 seasons. Their manager at the time was Herbert Chapman who went on to repeat that performance with Arsenal from 1932 to 1935.

4. However on a brighter note as far as Boro are concerned I remember 30th September 1950 when I saw Boro start an unbeaten run of 15 matches which took us to the top of Division One in December as the Terriers were put to the sword as Boro won 8-0 with Wilf Mannion scoring a hat trick in the first half, whilst Alex McCrae scored a second half hat trick. In those days there were few updates on the radio of scores until BBCs Sports Report at 5.00 pm. As I ran towards the bus stop to Redcar I remember an elderly lady in her front garden enquiring about the score and I told her 8-0. She obviously didn’t believe me as later she asked another fan about the final score also.

This post was modified 1 year ago by Ken Smith

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@werdermouth - I agree with every Werder you wrote. I wouldn't be surprised if we scored three or more but I also expect Warnock's team to make things difficult for Boro. It's just that THIS Boro team tends to find a way through in the end and, having found that way, the team tends to put the opponents to bed. I accept that in recent games Huddersfield Town was beaten soundly by Burnley (to be fair, Burnley has beaten most teams soundly this season) and Coventry, but the better perfomances and results against WBA, Norwich and Millwall don't suggest a team in a relegation struggle. I will say Huddersfield Town 0 - 3 Boro but, once again, any win will do.  Could be a song in that line...


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Well, l the player I have been on about for some time and that Boro should have had a look.        Ryan Porteous was sold by Hibs to Watford for a pittance starred last night in Scotlands brilliant win over Spain. He got a rating of 9. Not that I am a talent spotter 🤣 


jarkko
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Thank you very much, Andy for the opener. As good as ever.

Have you all seen the Warnock interview this week, done by the Echo? I must say that the positivety of Warnock shines through, totally - are you with me? A fabulous chap, not like Wilder as a talker.

Watch the interview with Warnock in full: https://youtu.be/E0HqbBRf5NA

All the best for him ... after Saturday. After Boro they play Watford and Blackburn.  But the drew with Norwich and beat Millwall away in their last match. So no pushovers. Up the Boro!

This post was modified 12 months ago 2 times by jarkko

Powmill-Naemore
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Thanks AndyR for another great opener.

"GULP" indeed. I have to confess that the MC vaccine has not had full effect on me yet as I am still suffering mild Typicalborophobia.

I think it has something to do with the highly contagious International Break Syndrome. We looked to have built up a head of steam and then it all stops. Frozen in an international time warp. Then, GULP as AndyR expresses, it is Neil Warnock's Huddersfield Town away from fortress Riverside that is first up.

I hope my belief fog will be blown away on Saturday, but until it gets to 5pm I will be content if we scrape through an ugly game by a single freakish goal.

CoB


jarkko
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@powmillnaemore I think Warnock wanted to play down their chances in the above interview. He said he has not a clue how to stop Boro. I am pretty sure he has a plan - and after drawing with Norwich and winning at Millwall, the match won't be easy.

Then there is the thing that he knows some players very well and must have followed our fortunes closely while he was in semi-retirement. I am afraid he might be like Mogga, who knows Boro well and often wins over us.

I hope he is right in saying we will be promoted this season. Well, we are destined to end in play-offs at the minimum. So who knows!

More interesting is that he says we will stay in the EPL if we get there. So much he likes the CarrickBall he has seen. And I will agree with him, in there. The difficulty is getting out of the Championship usually.

What gives me some confidence is that we have some players Warnock does not know. McGree, Chuba in n:o ten position and then of course Archer,  Forss, Giles and Ramsey - just to name a few.

I think we have so fluid players in our four attacing positions, that Huddersfield's defence must be struggling. The players mentioned above will give problems to any defence in the league. Not only a bottom three club like Huddersfield. 

So the key word will be fluidity - how we keep the ball moving, exchange positions between the four attacking players, how quick we are. If we play our normal way and have no dip in form generally, we will win. So as I said earlier, 1-3 is the most likely result. But it could be hard untill we get the first goal in.

In Carrick we trust.  Up the Boro! 

T

This post was modified 12 months ago by jarkko

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Thanks for the link to the Warnock interview Jarkko - an entertaining watch and I agree he probably has a plan for Saturday despite calling Boro unstoppable. Clearly a man still a bit miffed in the manner of how he was dismissed - didn't sound keen on Bauser and Scott plus I noticed he grudgingly referred to Wilder as the 'previous manager' before Michael Carrick, who he was full of praise for.


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@jarkko 

Thanks for the link, Jarkko.  it's a great interview. I loved the line about Huddersfield's  report back on the Boro-Preston game.

I can't remember a time over the past 75 years in supporting the Boro- and yes, Ken,I was there in the Boys' End on 30th September 1950, when we beat Huddersfield 8-0- when our go-to predictive scoreline for every game was a 3-1 win.

So it's another 1-3 from me.


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This may be of interest to some of us.  MC certainly gets my vote and deserves the accolade for his achievements in the PL as a player.  Accolades and awards as a manager are surely on there way.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/middlesbrough-carrick-premier-league-hall-26592078

😎


   
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@lenmasterman - Surely it's a Strictly "Severrrn from Len"!  Or is a "Ten from Len"?  Maybe that's too much of a dream....?


Powmill-Naemore
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@jarkko 

Adding my thanks for the link to the NW interview. How lovely to hear him talk with such genuine warmth and appreciation.

Good luck to him and the Terriers, just not on Saturday.


   
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@forever-dormo 

I always felt that the somewhat Philistine Mr Goodman endlessly inveighing against "foreign rubbish', such as pasta and curry was a disgrace to his Christian name, and to such distinguished gentlemen who bore it  as Messrs Hutton, Shackleton, Henry, Bruce etc.


   
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Thanks Andy for getting us back to the football that really matters. Just 8 must win matches to get us promoted though it is starting to look unlikely that we will overtake Burnley. (Just trying to show a bit of optimism!) Strangely I haven't managed to stop biting my nails during the last couple of weeks. I am wondering if, after 70 years, it has become a habit and isn't just part of a Boro supporter's torment.

On paper this is the "easiest" match we have to play but over the years we all have seen that, no matter what past form says, any match can throw up a surprise result. It will be great if we pick up 7 more points than Sheffield United though even being in the playoffs would be way beyond what I was resigned to before Carrick took over. My thanks to Warnock for saving us from relegation but his attempt to do a similar job with Huddersfield needs to restart after we have beaten them.   


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Apologies to everyone, as I seemed to have caused a bit of a panic by not recording everyone’s Part 2 entry until today 😂. Truth is I was taken to London for my birthday by my girlfriend, where we went to see “Book of Mormon” and “Mama Mia” both were very good, especially Book of Mormon which was very funny. I didn’t get back from London until about 6, so only had time to record about 4 entries before I had to get ready to go to my club for a few pints of John Smith’s (couldn’t get it in London, so had to settle for Guiness £6.50 a pint 😱). I have recorded 13 of the 14 entries as I seem to be missing the one from Peasepudinperth but he still has about 3.5 hours to post his entry.

Good luck to everyone, especially the Boro.

Come on BORO.


   
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Clive Hurren
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Great posts, everyone, and especially Andy for a superb opener. It’ll be a difficult game tomorrow, no doubt. 🫣For me, any win will do. Sheffield United are at Norwich, so it would be really good if we win and they lose. 🤞🤞🤞

It’s nice to see werdermouth back, btw! We’ve missed you, mate! 


jarkko
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@clive-hurren werder is in the UK  -without a home game during his stay. He must be starving to mis CarrickBall at Riverside.  Up the Boro!


   
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