Thanks to RR for creating the thread that everyone can reply to for adding their thoughts on how they think the first game after that long break is going to pan out.

Although just how match-fit and tactically drilled the players will be after just a few weeks of proper training will perhaps become apparent on Saturday!

I watched the City Arsenal game last night on NBC. The seats in the stadium were covered in City flags and the broadcaster added authentic crowd audio as a backdrop to the usual commentary. To be honest there wasn’t much difference to a normal TV match and I soon got used to it.

One interesting point raised by the co-commentator, Graeme Le Saux, was that with the absence of a home crowd there wasn’t a great deal of pressure on the referee from fans. This may go some way to explaining the success of the away teams in recent Bundesliga games.

Boro 1 Arm Breakers 0

I thought the Villa/Blades game was pretty dire and just lacked atmosphere it seemed almost surreal and like a knockabout down the park. The "goal" that wasn't was a real shocker and lets hope that Villa don't survive by a solitary point or Sheffield miss out on a Europa league placing because of the lost two points. 

I think that experience soured the City/Arsenal game for me. Have to say I don't like it but its better than just abandoning the season. I would have said it was the fairest way to finish the season but after the Sheffield Utd goal that wasn't given I'm even doubting that now. I suppose it will take a few games for Players, Officials and Technology to get up to speed.

I'm curious to know if the EPL/EFL is hoping to admit a limited number of supporters into each section of the ground, somewhat in line with the restrictions on drive-in cinemas which are now allowed to open in the UK, I believe. 

Down here in the relatively Covid-free regions of Australia and New Zealand, they will soon be letting crowds back in to rugby and Aussie Rules. NZ has gone the whole hog and Australia is going the limited numbers route with some access to corporate facilities and a move to 25% capacity in July.

Is it different to a crowd in the park. In any case, allowing some home supporters in might overcome the dead atmosphere that removes home advantage. Having said that, I honestly don’t know if I’d roll up to a game in the UK. 

Coming back to the Swansea game, its really hard to pick a team and so I wont even bother. Should JW start with experience or youthful enthusiasm. Do you start at high speed looking to create an advantage. I honestly have no idea which group will react better.

UTB 

Thousands of armchair football fans will be frantically searching amongst the channels on their Freeview/Freesat Boxes to try and find PICK TV after SKY chose it as the platform where they will share their “ free to air” coverage.

its hidden in the vicinity of all the channels that are a blur as you flick through them trying to find something to watch. Usually this happens in the early hours of the morning for the self isolating.

Unfortunately there won’t be a similar option for Championship games. Quest will have their usual highlight packages, but other than that it will be via subscription to watch MFC live.

Thanks for your post RR, it is good to be able to talk about football again albeit I am still not convinced that we should be back up and running when there are still millions not back at work and kids not being schooled but it is what it is.

Saturday is really difficult to call in terms of team selection/formation, player commitment and outcome.  There will clearly be a lot of tired legs given the long lay off and the short time to prepare.  

JW indicated that he would have almost a full squad to pick from for this game but did not go further than that.  He indicated that some of the out of contract players may already have spoken to other clubs which leads to the question will they still be prepared to play beyond the end of the month.  Only time will tell.

Given the lack of a home crowd, Swansea are likely to feel more comfortable and seeing this as a good opportunity for three points.  Some supporters ascribe to the view that you can't place any credence on friendly games but I believe they either build confidence or can sow doubts.

As much as I want a win I can't see beyond a draw at best.  If the unspeakable happens then I fear for the future and a disastrous end to what has to be one of the worst footballing seasons in MFC's history in recent decades. CoB 😎

So far KP it is the worst in nigh on 30 years, lets hope it doesn't get any worse. Barnsley and Luton would need to win two or three more games than us and Charlton and Hull on paper both look weaker squads. Luton have gone back to their former Manager Nathan Jones and Barnsley looked to be a decent side under their recent Manager and had even strung a few wins together before a couple of pre-lockdown defeats.

I'm not overly confident but I think that there are four worse sides than Boro but the break may change things dramatically with some having the opportunity to dust themselves off and come out fighting. Its a bit like a Boxer getting a pummelling and then the bell goes to save him only to come out and land an uppercut on an overly confident and unsuspecting opponent.

Wow, I vanish for a couple of months and we have a forum!

Like the new look.

Hope everyone is well - I honestly have no idea what to expect tomorrow, results wise or team wise.  I can't even remember what formation we ended up with at the time of the break.

I will go for a shock 2-0 win for the Boro. Not a surprise for me to say that but a clean sheet and a two goal win for Boro might be a shock to some 😉.

I hope we start with Roberts and the two of Assombalonga and Fletcher up front.

Attendence: zero plus some officials.

When was the last time we went unbeaten for over three months in the league? 

I do not think we have that many centre backs to play three of them now that the Spanish guy with a glass angle is out. So for me it is flat back four in defence. We need to have some CBs on the bench, too.

Up the Boro!

I'm going for a 1 -1 draw.

We have enough trouble coping with a reasonably full stadium and the expectancy of the fans. On second thoughts maybe no fans being present is a good thing because we've been told how good our strikers are on the training pitches and maybe the verbal from the fans upsets them. 

Oh dear, I don't know how Boro will react to this strangely artificial environment. 1-1 it is.

Stay safe and UTB,

John

Just hope the sream doesn't crash with the increasing numbers wanting to watch

Well this is all very swanky. Hats off to you Werdermouth - just when we thought we had it all you go and make it better still! I hope everyone can migrate across successfully and normal service resumes, albeit with a more contemporary look and feel whilst being more able to compartmentalise the various off-shoots of debate.

Goodness knows what the team and performance will be like tomorrow. I can't say that I'm confident but, as ever, I'm hopeful.

With Ayala out of the equation I'll revise my guestimation at the team selection to:

3-4-2-1

Pears

Shotton Moukoudi Fry

Spence Howson Clayton Coulson

Roberts Wing

Fletcher

@billy, Is that 'stream or scream'. I pray for stream!

Stay safe and UTB,

John

As most of the others, it's going to be a bit of a shot in the dark (more than usual) trying to predict the team. I suspect we may see something like 4-4-1-1 as I thought Woodgate had drifted away from a back three in order to double-up in the wide positions to try and prevent crosses.

Although, with everyone seemingly fit if not match-fit, then he's going to be spoilt for choice.  Obviously most think Pears will be in goal but I thought Stojanović looked quite a commanding figure between the sticks. I'm thinking Howson and Friend will be at full-back with Fry one of the centre-backs and maybe the big unit that is Moukoudi will also get the nod. I'd then like to see Spence and Coulson providing the width with perhaps a midfield pairing of Wing and McNair. Personally, I'd pick Fletcher as striker with Roberts playing behind him.

Stojanović

Howson - Moukoudi - Fry - Friend

Spence - Wing - McNair - Coulson

Roberts

Fletcher

As for the score prediction... Well I'm of the view it's going to have plenty of goals as the defences will be lacking drill time in training and the forwards will have forgotten they can't score - so I'll go for a narrow 3-2 win for Boro.

Thanks Werdermouth for all your hard work. I’m trying to write without my spectacles as they irritate an abrasion below the left eye and the sooner I get rid of my Frankenstein appearance the better

Don’t know what to make of tomorrow’s match, though I think that the team that scores first will easily win, could be 3-0 or 0-3. Hope it’s the former.

Thanks Ken and don't worry as we're all flying a bit blind trying to work our way through the new forum and second-guessing the team - nevermind the score. Could even be 3-3...

Tomorrow will be a first with a totally empty Riverside although that could favour Boro with no hostile crowd watching a potentially poor performance.

I really  hope that JW is able to motivate the players and convince them that it is not a practice match. 3 points is a must but I am not holding out much hope.

In many respects I can’t get that excited about it all but for what it is worth here is my team prediction

Pears

Shotton Fry Friend

Howson Wing Clayton McNair Coulson

Roberts 

Fletcher

Boro 2 Swansea 2

Well. I have no idea who will be in the starting 11.

Hope to see Pears in goal. Back 3 of Shotton and Fry with Howson. Coulson and Spence wing backs.

Clayton to hold the middle with Wing and Tavernier either side and switching.

Finally, Fletcher  and Roberts up front.

On paper we do have the players to win this. So I'll dust down my foam hands and predict 3-1 to Boro.

Thanks for your work on resetting Diasboro Werder. After initially being baffled by your straightforward instructions about getting on to the forum I knew I had to join before the match so I re-read them this morning and it was so simple!

I am already suffering from pre-match nerves. I hope my usual pessimism will prove to be wrong but will have a bottle of wine ready for opening if necessary. I would have preferred us to be playing a middle of the table team rather than one with a chance of reaching the play-offs but we should soon see what our prospects are for ending the season away from a relegation position. Having watched football from Poland, Portugal, Denmark, Germany, Spain and even England (yesterday) it will be different today to be involved in the emotion of watching Boro in a strangely empty ground.   

One of the reasons I renewed my season ticket this week was that I had read that crowds for next season might be restricted to allow social distancing and I expect season ticket holders will have preference. Hopefully, by then trains will be available for normal travel and hotels open. 

Mokoudi and Roberts will surely play.

Stojanovic

Howson  Mokoudi Fry Friend

Roberts Wing Clayton McNair Coulson

Fletcher

subs

Pears

Dijksteel

Saville

Shotton

Tavernier

Nmecha

Assombalonga

(do we get more subs?)

Can see this being 0-0 but I'll go for a 1-0 Boro win

Borophil - as I understand, clubs will be allowed five subs. It could mean the second-half gets messy and disjointed if there are potentially 10 players coming on. Though one of the side-effects of this could be quite a bit of 'injury' time being added on - wouldn't be surprised to see ten minutes so plenty of potential for late winners or late heartache (depending on your glass being half empty of full).

Is it just me, or has news coming from MFC on the playing side been surprisingly sparse? Usually there are all sorts of stories regarding players form in training, yet aside from the detrimental snippets on Ayala we seem to have heard nothing.

Is this JW playing his cards close to his chest, or a bit of siege mentality setting in?

Will the same PL rules with regard to substitutes apply in the Championship also?

IE; Three periods for substitutions, that have been brought in to stop managers playing silly buggers to disrupt the flow of a game to suit them with “tactical” changes.

<a href=" removed link "> removed link

can we embed tweets?

“What is the five-substitute rule?

The 'five-substitute rule' is a temporary change to the maximum number of substitutes a team is permitted to make during a game, increasing the number from three to five.

In addition, the Premier League has increased the maximum number of substitutes permitted to sit on the bench from seven to nine.

However, while the total number of substitutions possible in a game is now 10 instead of six, managers will only be allowed to make changes at three points in the game.

The idea behind limiting the number of stoppages for substitutions is to reduce the level of disruption in a match, something that could in theory be exploited.“

apparently not.

<img src=" removed link " />

and Mokoudi and Roberts don't play.

well no doubt Woody has upset some people with that selection.  I did wonder if Nmecha was being talked up for a start with him featuring in the press this week.  I don't really see the rest as much of a surprise, Gestede started the last match so no reason why that wouldn't continue.

Well a few surprises with notably Gestede and Nmecha starting up front!

Starting XI: Stojanovic, Howson, Shotton, Fry, Friend, Clayton, Wing, McNair, Coulson, Nmecha, Gestede.

Formation is hard to work out but could be a return to the 4-2-3-1