I have a lot more to say ,but when your back four and goalkeeper has more of the ball going nowhere than anywhere else on the field there's a problem, Coventry attackers all one of them saw more of it in forward areas , this is on Carrick , too many players struggling but stayed on changes at halftime or just after should have been made, although we were out thought and outplayed by the almighty Coventry, really
Interesting that the scores mirrored the previous playoff vs villa.
0-0 away and 0-1 at home.
Dare I say the tactics were not dissimilar to Mr Pulis, too cautious.
Too many backward passes. I lost count of the free kicks we had in good forward positions that ended up back with Stefan, especially in the away game.
We could and should have won that game.
There is a lesson in this somewhere and I hope it is heeded for next season.
Good experience for MC and the team, I did enjoy the ride while it lasted.
It feels as numbingly disappointing at 8.15am the next day, as it felt at the referee's blowing of the full-time whistle. I suspect we all knew as soon as Coventry scored that there would be no game at Wembley for Boro this year. On the bright side, there will be more money in my bank account in June than if Boro had played in the Final. No idea what the prices would have been - £85 for a middling ticket then, of course, there is getting there and back and food&drink? Some folk might even have tempted fate by booking hotel rooms in The Smoke for the weekend! I might have found that within 10 minutes of going on sale the only tickets left are £120 (or whatever)! The Murdered Monkey would have been packed out by those not going to London, and record bar sales would have been made. Not now. The Teesside armchair audience, in front of a TV or in a pub, for the Play-Off Final has probably been cut by 90% . It will be different in Coventry and Luton.
All not to be. Disappointed somehow doesn't fully describe the feeling. Still, imagine how supporters of Real Madrid feel this morning. Time for a pot of tea. Life goes on....
Well that was not how the fairy tale under MC was supposed to end!
Congratulations to Coventry/Mark Robins who worked out how to blunt us and just needed the one goal to win the tie.
I wasn’t entirely surprised as we never reached our previous heights after the international break, not helped by injuries to Howson, Forss and Fry.
I predicted, following the last league game against Coventry, that unless we raised our game then we would struggle to beat them and sadly it came to pass.
As Werder has pointed out, MC and the team need a plan B to overcome those teams that high press and pack their midfield.
The big question now is what happens during the summer.
If there is a positive, it is that I will be able to watch, next season, the majority of matches home and away in their entirety, as opposed to highlights on MoTD and the occasional appearance on Sky; small consolation for missing out on a possible win at Wembley and promotion. 😎
I’m disappointed but we can’t have any complaints- Coventry did exactly what they needed to do and nullified our threat.
I can’t agree that Jones should have started - his end product was poor in my opinion and refs seem to dismiss most of his fouls/falls as they’re probably expecting him to go down. Overall I thought the officials did well last night.
I think timing hasn’t helped us - having three dead rubbers at the end of the season and losing key players for the playoffs definitely seemed to lose us momentum.
We go again next season. UTB.
Well, got out of my wi-fi black hole just in time to hear the last agonies. Obviously, I have nothing to say about the game. A disappointment but not terminal. Over 4 games this season, Coventry have beaten us twice and drawn with us twice. They were worthy winners.
Coventry and Luton have shown, the importance of building a team over a period of time; like Brighton and Brentford before us. We've kept trying to buy shortcuts to the Premier league and failed every time. You can get lucky, as Forest showed with Cooper but sustainable success comes from a club that builds from the bottom up. Now, under Scott and Carrick, we are in the first 6 months of what could/should/might hopefully will be, a long haul. The failed first take at the Golden Thread seems to have been resurrected on the quiet and there is every reason to think that, at the very least, we'll make the play-offs again next season.
Probably the biggest risk this summer is avoiding yet another summer of rip it up and start again but we have 6 loans going back and 7 players entering the last 12 months of their contracts, including Akpom and Fry so it's going to be hard to avoid a lot of churn. Scott and gadgie from Palace are going to have their work cut out finding the right players, getting them in early and ensuring that Carrick can build a team based on the current foundations rather than having to invent a brand new one.
I do think the future is pretty bright. It feels like the club as a whole is working together and even though we didn't get promoted this season, I reckon we will in the next 1-2 seasons. If we keep it together, I think the club has a decent chance of going up and staying up.
A certain symmetry to season start of season win 2 of 11 under wilder end of season win 2 of 10 under Carrick. As has been said we need a plan b
To play Coventry twice in a week and not get it, is disturbing, all they did was make the pitch long , we started from our box all the time, giving them a chance to block the lanes, if we had started higher up and pressed they're not that good, Archer on his own really, Crooks should have started , Archer coming on, Crooks would of been at least an option cutting out the the midfield swamp, you wonder if the club want it, why give Smith and Howson longer contracts they wouldn't have been any good in the premiership, not happy at all
We all have many different feelings this morning. My thoughts are that overall it has been an enjoyable season with a bonus of scoring lots of goals. The quality of the football has been good thanks to MC.
Now the BUT - it could have been a fairytale season with the achievement of promotion to the Premiership. I feel that it would have been had the team not had lots of injuries towards the end of the season.
I feel the target next season is to finish in the top 2. With the present squad plus a couple of new players it would be achievable. However , as we all know the team will lose the loan players, probably Akpom will be lured away to a Premiership team and maybe 1or 2 others may be moved on. This means that around 8/9 players will leave and so another rebuilding programme is needed.
That is a major job. Perhaps MC’s name and the football his team plays will be an attraction to get the right players whilst on the other hand, opposing teams will find a way to combat his style.
But that’s all next season which feels miles away and so perhaps we all need to enjoy a rest from football and a stress less period doing what we like doing .
Thank you to all the many and varied interesting contributions to this site which is my first port of call each morning.
Philip of Huddersfield 👍👋
To play Coventry twice in a week and not get it, is disturbing, all they did was make the pitch long , we started from our box all the time, giving them a chance to block the lanes, if we had started higher up and pressed they're not that good, Archer on his own really, Crooks should have started , Archer coming on, Crooks would of been at least an option cutting out the the midfield swamp, you wonder if the club want it, why give Smith and Howson longer contracts they wouldn't have been any good in the premiership, not happy at all
We’re all disappointed but I really don’t believe that the club don’t want promotion.
@martin-bellamy I might be a little overboard on my questioning the clubs ambition Martin, but how many times have we come up short in recent seasons, I know you don't have a Devine right for success , but really, Luton or Coventry, even Sheff U, I believe won't get 25 pts next season, we would have needed to spend millions just to be competitive, I hope Carrick as learned it's the game your playing , meaning it's different types of opposition, adapt
As one of the few who anticipated that defeat last night I take no pleasure in being correct. As Philip stated let’s take a break from football until August. There is still the Ashes cricket to look forward to, and following another fall last night I don’t expect to see my beloved Boro play again.
However I’m pleased to read that most diasborians accept that the better team won. No excuse about injuries resulting in Boro’s downfall, but I’m not in the least surprised that Boro lost. I’ve already got over last night’s result; it’s just old news now! At least most fans will eventually see Boro rise again, but not me.
I’m ready to meet my maker now with the hope that I’ll be reunited with my late wife, though like football my faith is not that strong. Those that have watched the Boro for almost as long as I might have reasons to believe the gypsy’s curse, but perhaps it’s the fact that MIDDLESBROUGH contains 13 letters that’s been the problem. If only Boro had retained the word ATHLETIC after its name as originally intended things might have turned out differently.
BnI
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2023 - Semifinal Playoffs - Results
jarkko (4+5) (3+6) (5+4) (3+4) = 31
KP in Spain (5+4) (3+4) (5+4) (4+5) = 34
Winner KP in Spain
Norfolk and Boro (5+5) (3+3) (4+3) (3+5) = 31
Andy R (4+5) (3+4) (3+4) (2+5) = 30
Winner Norfolk and Boro
Unlike Boro, KP in Spain and Norfolk and Boro will contest the playoff final, the rest of us like Boro, will lick our wounds, dust ourselves off, do not start pointing the finger and build the team further for another attempt next season.
PLAYOFF FINAL RULES
Both players are to predict the score at halftime and the final whistle (including extra time but not penalties) in each case score 5 points for the correct amount of goals per team but -1 point per goal +/-, as per the semifinals.
TIE BREAKER each player is to predict the time of the first goal, nearest will be the winner, in the event of it still being even, I will toss a coin to determine the final promotion spot. Good luck to you both.
Come on BORO.
@ken - Sorry to hear you had a fall. I hope you recover and was pleased that you didn't mention any broken bones or similar. Take care. The Ashes should give us something else to concentrate on.
This isn't the time or place to enter into a detailed analysis of "where we went wrong" (even if I were capable of such analysis). So perhaps just a few quick thoughts, like a pebble thrown into a lake, so we can watch the ripples fan out:
1. Accepting PaulinBoro's stats (above), Boro won 2 games in 11 at the start of the season under Chris Wilder before he was guillotined, and we ended the season with 2 wins in 10 under Michael Carrick. First thought on that is that, since the season is only 46 league games long and since we have already accounted for almost half of them with only 4 wins out of 21 games at either end of the season, that leaves precious little time to mount a successful promotion bid in the 25 or so games in the middle. It is remarkable Boro managed to finish 4th in the table on that basis. Probably Championship winning form in the middle section but far from that level at the start and the business ends of the season. If football is the game of momentum many of us have mentioned on here, the team clearly had momentum of the wrong sort when it counted. If we went into that last game having won only 2 games in the previous 9 it would have been unrealistic to expect the players to have gone into that last game with confidence unless they were to ignore what had been happening on the pitch in the month or two beforehand. (I am not saying this to be antagonistic or as a "lashing-out" in frustration following Boro's defeat by Coventry last night. It is just a simple recounting of the facts, the maths, in terms of games played and games won. Since we played Coventry 4 times this season, won 0, drew 2 and lost 2, it can hardly be denied they deserved to get through).
2. There is no time to get promoted like the PRESENT time. There is no point thinking "we're not ready for promotion at present so let's bide our time this year and give it a real go next year". The reality is that things change. You need to grab opportunities when they are they. They may not come along next year. Things happen to change the circumstances. In Boro's case, let's assume that Akpom stays: is he likely to score 29 goals next season (if he does, I'd be surprised as he's only done that once in his career so far)? If he is sold are we likely to find someone else, within our purchase price and wage structure, who will match him next season? We would have to be VERY lucky if Coburn comes back after his loan (which would be a positive), he settles into the team and does well, so that he is our leading scorer with 20 goals in 2023/24. If we haven't achieved something for decades isn't it a little unrealistic to expect to achieve it with either the same player or with 2 different players in consecutive seasons? So, if we are to lose a bucket load of goals at one end, we HAVE to stop up a fairly generous defence at the other end, in order to stay in the same position. But next year we have to IMPROVE on our position to be promoted, so perhaps we need both to score MORE and to concede FEWER goals.
3. I think it highly likely Akpom will, in fact, move on. He has had an unprecedented (both for him and the club in recent memory) purple patch of scoring goals which sadly died out in the vital last few weeks. In view of his age (born 9th October 1995) he will have his 28th birthday in the early stages of next season. He has one year left on his contract. He MIGHT give it a go until Christmas on the basis he is happy at Boro and if the team is flying at the top of the league he can achieve automatic promotion, but in the knowledge that is things are not going so well, he can get a move elsewhere. BUT, but, but... He may get only one shot at Premier League football and if a club (let's say Palace or similar) were to come in for him during the summer, offering a significant Premier-level wage rise then, bearing in mind he was born in Canning Town and it may be like going home for him, surely he is likely to want to go. The keeper will surely go, too. His Manchester City wages are the highest in our club and he'd have to take a massive pay cut to stay at Boro. Craig Hignett did but how many players wopuld now do the same? Actually two players who didn't cost much - Hignett and Mustoe: how much would they now be worth and wouldn't they WALK into our team if they were 22 years old now? There may be people in other clubs even in the Premier League willing to take a punt on Hayden Hackney as a rising midfielder who, a year ago, few had heard of. Or Forss in the PL or even Isiah Jones (another EFL club that he feels will give him a regular start)...? How much would it cost to replace them and, at the same time, and bearing in mind Father Time, how much would it cost to replace Jonny Howson who will be 35 years old in 3 days time or Paddy McNair (28 years old now) or Lenihan (28 also). I don't say that because 28 is old - for some players it might be approaching their peak - but because it might be the age at which "last moves" might be thought possible (or, for the club, lucrative).
4. As I have mentioned previously, we will see Southampton and also 2 out of Leeds, Leicester, Everton or possibly even Forest coming down to the Championship next season (let's assume West Ham are now "out of it"). Coming down with big support and in the case of the first 4 teams I mentioned, with war-chests and parachute payments the result of many years in the Premier League, and their supporters will be expecting a quick return. So there will be lots of competition from the relegated clubs in adddition to those teams who "missed out" on promotion this season. We will have to be better than this season just to stay in the same position we acheived this season. We will have to run to stand still.
5. Imagine next season, if things are going reasonably well. Let's say we aren't storming away with the Championship a la Burnley, but looking as though promotion was a reasonable though far from certain prospect. But next season there will be a number of Premier League clubs who are NOT doing so well. in October or November they may well be looking over their shoulders and in need of change to improve their chances of Premier League survival. It might be a club where he has previously played (like West Ham) or a Wolves or a Bournemouth. If they came calling, would Michael Carrick resist the chance to prove himself in the Premier League? And if he leaves, then what?
The club ended up much better placed than seemed likely last October. But will we be well-placed enough to improve on that when the 2023/24 season gets under way, or at least when the next transfer window closes? More questions than answers, as usual. We were so close to elation that finishing a mere fourth in the league and going out in the Play-off semi-finals seems a let-down. We had fun in the football after Wilder left. But what will next season bring? Nobody knows.
(Sorry! That sort of grew as I went along. I had intended a few short paragraphs!)
Congrats to our finalists! Good luck in the final gents.
@andy-r. I can't say I am taking any pleasure from being in the final as it was based upon a prediction that Boro would not reach it, which has sadly proved to be the case.
I am so deflated this morning as I think this was our time and it's now gone. I am not convinced the club has the wherewithal to keep this team together or build upon it but we shall just have to wait and see over the summer; FD has raised some very pertinent points/assumptions which, I suspect, many of us have had thoughts along similar lines. 😎
@exmil. Here are my best guesses:
Coventry 0-0 Luton Half time
Coventry 0-1 Luton Full time
Time of first goal 109th minute.
Good luck to Norfolk and Boro😎
@andy-r. I can't say I am taking any pleasure from being in the final as it was based upon a prediction that Boro would not reach it, which has sadly proved to be the case.
I am so deflated this morning as I think this was our time and it's now gone. I am not convinced the club has the wherewithal to keep this team together or build upon it but we shall just have to wait and see over the summer; FD has raised some very pertinent points/assumptions which, I suspect, many of us have had thoughts along similar lines. 😎
Congratulations, mate. I trusted Boro and Carrick too much, again. My heart ruled over my head.
I feel we were more ready to play in the premier league than the two teams in the Wembley final. I mean playing style and squad wise.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko. I agree that we are a better footballing side than both the finalists but it results that count and we have come up short; there is always next season, again! 😎
I’m just numb today. I’ve got the promotion blues hangover. I was so tense at the game last night and used up so much nervous energy, all to no avail. A friend, who has lost a playoff final with PNE, said it was perhaps better to lose last night than lose at Wembley. Having suffered the same fate versus Norwich, I have to agree with him. Nonetheless, it was a huge blow, however well Boro and Michael Carrick had done to get us there in the first place.
I thought most of our approach play was terrific, but as so often, the final ball or the final cross, let us down. All credit to Coventry: over the course of the two games, nay three games, they restricted two of the best marksmen in the Championship to very few chances. Their defending was outstanding. Unfortunately, so was their time-wasting. I can’t recall a more cynical performance than Coventry’s last night, and I really think the ref should have booked the keeper much earlier than he did.
Where do we go from here? No doubt, some of the best players will be on their way, probably Chuba and Archer. Maybe we will also lose Giles and Hackney. It probably won’t require a complete rebuild, but MC will certainly need to recruit for several key positions, perhaps with an emphasis on the defence as a starter? But let’s hope that Michael Carrick at least stays with us for another year to have another bash at promotion.
I still feel fed-up about the result but in a way I expected it. I'm not being a pariah but fairy tales don't really happen, well not to the Boro anyway. I don't think the so-called international breaks help and the loss of form came at just the wrong time but I suppose there's never a good time for a loss of form.
It'll be interesting to see who leaves, I think we may have some surprises in who will stay but we'll see. Plainly there's a lot to do and a lot has been learnt but there's still a lot to learn, after all I don't think B.ro got the better of Coventry once. The coaches need to do some work on how to handle the physical sides too, obviously you ca't pass them off the park and I'd be interested to see the injury ratios for those games.
I've no doubt we'll pass Coventry and Luton coming the other way at the end of next season, with their pockets full of Premier League millions of course. Now to see how the recruitment develops. Who said the close season is boring.
Cheer up and UTB.
Stay well everyone, especially Ken.
John
First of all, Micheal Carrick has a contract until June 2025 and I firmly believe he has no intentions of going anywhere, if you think about it where we were when he signed and do you think, at that time, would he have realistically thought he could get us anywhere near the playoffs. Even after last night’s defeat, his thoughts and comments were about moving forward and building on what he and the club have started together and I for one will not doubt his integrity.
Yes I agree there is no time like the present to get promotion even if it meant coming straight back down a bit richer but didn’t we do that with Karanka 🤔, can we build a squad, even if it takes a year or two, to be able to sustain us in the Premier League for at least one season, only time will tell with this new team, management and recruitment together.
Am I despondent about missing out on the final, yes in one way (no guarantee that we would have won it) and no in another way. I remember a departed friend of mine once said “ I would prefer to stay and compete in the championship, winning a lot more games than being in the Premiership getting beat every week”. Which begs the question, would we all prefer the Challenge to be about us fighting for survival or for promotion/ playoffs 🤔, no guarantee on either.
I am excited about the close season and transfer window to see how Boro deal with incoming and outgoing, we all have our ideas of who we should keep and who we should “try” to bring in but I am quite happy to leave to those in the know.
Come on BORO.
Great article in the EG about Zac Steffen, following the match last night.
We are all guilty, at times, of being critical when players don’t meet our on field expectations but forget they are human, caring and compassionate.
Well done Zac and I for one are disappointed that you will probably not be back next season.
😎
Ps Just realised that the video of Zac in the article does not copy through to my post so it will be necessary to go to the EG article to watch the video and see him interacting with the fans after the game.
His comments to one young upset fan at the end speaks volumes; we should be glad that we had the opportunity! 😎
@forever-dormo Absolutely great post Dormo.
In the end that stats were correct. Now only one team in the last eleven years that was not in form and won 10 or more points out the last fives got promotion.
I am in no way criticising MC, but as PaulinBoro said about this season, it started with Wilder and his poor start and finished with MC and his poor finish. I do believe that even given the injuries, the Coaches got it wrong with their tactics.
We had one system and no alternative. That I believe was down to inexperienced management.
The defence has not been good enough all season and finished in the same way.
Next season many will have high expectations. Unfortunately I think the competition will be just too strong, also coupled with the probable turnover in the first eleven squad. It will need a minor miracle or some astute signings backed by Mr Gibson giving it a go with extra cash.
Personally, I think we have missed the boat and it will be difficult seeing either Coventry or Luton in the promised land.
@pedro - We will have to HOPE for next season, that we don't lose all our better players and that we will sign some players who have flown under the radar and prove better than expected. And a decent handful of good luck wouldn't go amiss...
Unlike Pedro, I think our problem for the past few weeks has been scoring goals. When Akpom, Archer and Forss stopped scoring, our results nose-dived. Had we even scored a couple of goals more, we could had a few more results.
The defense did not leak more than before - actually they were the best ever at Coventy. But it was the last 1/3 of the pitch where we failed as a team. I cannot blame Chuba for failing to score in the last two home matches as he had scored in all the previous nine matches or so.
I don't want to blame Archer either even he was more or less useless against the three matches against Coventry. But I say that we as a team did not create chances for Archer because Coventry did not allow us to do so. They defended superbly.
But I feel confident for next season.
I cannot see Carrick to leave yet after being a manager just over a half a season. Having read his autobiography recently and seeing him just starting at Boro, I believe he will stay. The only doubt I have about his stay is that his family is still living in the Manchester area. And that is a surprise as he and his wife are both from the Newcastle area.
Akpom is an interesting thought - I wouldn't blame him going to the Premier League now and get a good contract. It will also mean a hefty fee for the Boro.
I hope at least one of Giles, Archer or Ramsey will return. But they usually won't. Was Bamford on loan to us twice before signing permanately?
I think Carrick and the style we play will attract some good players. So we can dream Bamford or Payero to come back. Or players of similar ilk. Especilly young players like Archer and Ramsey from the Premier League.
But it will frustrating to wait another 12 months. I am still disappointed as it won't be any easier next season. But in Carrick we must trust. Up the Boro!
Where was the Middlesbrough3 in May? Just asking, like.
Up the Boro!
I was nervous over the playoffs and still will be over the summer months as Boro will look to rebuild. There will be massive games next season as the teams coming down from the Premier league will want to go straight back up. Without knowing what will happen at Boro I suspect at the moment I can see us in midtable next season. I also hope our contributers to Dias Boro keep posting information and thoughts during the close season.
@jarkko. “The only doubt I have about his stay is that his family is still living in the Manchester area. And that is a surprise as he and his wife are both from the Newcastle area.”
Children’s schooling plays a big part in decisions on whether to move home or not. I believe he has a son and daughter but I am not sure of their ages. 😎