Well a positive start which was then spoilt by poor defending to let Preston back into a game where they were initially second best.

Good performance from Akpom/McGree running the Preston defence ragged at times but little involvement from Muniz.

At present Jones is more of a liability than an asset.  He has had no impact offensively and has allowed Preston far too much room down our right hand side.  They have grown into the game since they scored.  DF has been suspect with the ball at his feet on a couple of occasions 

MC needs to have words to tighten up.

Preston are no great shakes and we should be able to win this if we get our act together again.  CoB 😎

Not the best quality game with Boro not building on their early lead and failing to create any further clear-cut chances other than a half-chance for Akpom from a Giles cross. Defensively, Boro had a good shape in the first quarter but Giles should have done better for their goal plus Fry has looked a bit tentative on the ball. Too many hopeful balls for Akpom and Hackney also a little off the pace in midfield - I would probably sub him as he looks likely to make another bad tackle and get sent off - perhaps bring on Bola and move Giles further forward. This is a game that could be won if Boro find some quality - sadly don't think there's much on the bench to improve matters today!

Good open game.  We look promising on the break but are giving Preston too much down their left with Jones not getting back and leaving Smith two against one. 

Jones's diving is riling the crowd and doing us no good.

Akpom as good as I have seen him, but Muniz continues to disappoint. We are missing Watmore.

And yes, a suicide pass from Fry lead to a booking for Howson and then directly to their goal.

I'd say Preston are favourites but Boro still in it, and the longer that continues the more hope we have of coming out winners

Great start from Boro with Akpom steeling in to nod home. After that more or less back to normal. The odd surge forward with a couple of half chances, but PNE have the ascendency.

Three at the back not working as it has not this season. Poor defending once again, especially from Fry. Midfield generally second best, with the HT stats showing why. 

Need more from Jones who has been poor and more from Muniz, although the service has nor been great.

All to do and more to get anything out of this as I expect Preston to score again against our poor defence.

The goal that would have given Preston the lead in the 65th minute thankfully chalked off by one of the linos.  🙂

Forss on for Muniz in the 71st minute.

Preston 2 - 1. Following another free kick with no marking.

We're doomed. Sack the manager!

New manager same old same old

Needless free kick and man standing all on his own

Mr Woodgate has a lot of work to with those bloody defenders.

Oh Well...!  At Half time, 1-1, I was hopeful that we'd get at least the point that would set us on track and, possibly, even all three points.  Sadly not to be with a goal for PNE in the dying moments of the game. So we lost, but at least not as dismally (it sounded to me via BBCTees) as we have in some recent games.

Maybe a missed opportunity but some chinks of light to be seen through the dark clouds?

Typical Boro, losing with a new  head coach. Like McClaren etc.

A decent match by us but poor defending from set pieces again costing us. We need to learn to defend. It is seldom that Preston scores a brace at home (or away).

Work in progress. We should have got a point but three was offered to us, too. Chuba should have scored a couple before tiring. Up the Boro!

Boro upped the pace in the second half with McGree pulling the strings but still no end product with just Akpom's early goal being the only shot on target in the entire game. In truth there was nothing on the bench to improve matters for Carrick and as Akpom tired Boro offered little threat as the game wore on. In the end more poor defending from a set-piece gave Preston the points in a game where Boro should have managed at least a point. Perhaps the full-backs is an area that needs looking at as Giles rarely made forward runs and Smith offered little attacking threat or linked with Jones. Much to ponder for Carrick but looks like January will need some incoming to fill the gaps and add some quality.

Maybe just a faint glimmer of light with a detectable but small improvement in the overall performance but the major plus from today is that Carrick can now be under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge he faces.  He will have done well if he keeps us up. 

Bitterly disappointing to lose to an added time winner with two men left unmarked beyond the far post. Very poor defending, but we were lucky to have an earlier Preston goal chalked off for a barely discernible offside.

That said, we played well with Akpom our M-o-M and McGree not far behind.  Both gave their all in two non-stop performances.  It was the best display in a Boro shirt for each of them.

Hackney and Howson both excellent.  Jones disappointing.  Giles frustrating, with some typically dangerous crosses undermined by a reluctance to push himself forward and attack

Forss, coming on fresh with 20 minutes to go, made absolutely zero impression.

Fry gave away too many balls with poor short passing, but on the whole we played the ball around well.

Carrick will have been crestfallen by the late goal, but he will have taken a good deal of comfort from many of the performances.

Over all a promising managerial debut. The team played pretty well but the young coach still has a great deal of work on his plate as we remain in the relegation mire.

@lenmasterman.  Excellent summary Len.  Something to build on hopefully. 😎

Player ratings from the echo

How did the players fare in Middlesbrough's 2-1 defeat at Preston?

PRESTON (4-2-3-1):

@boroexile 

Well 17 points from 17 games tells us that a point a game is not the sign of a good team - just to add more simple maths, Boro now need another 58 points from the remaining 29 games to reach the magic 75 mark for a play-off spot, which is now exactly 2 points per game. The season is over bar avoiding slipping into League One - hopefully Boro can only improve under Carrick but he could do with a few wins soon to avoid getting stuck in a small group of teams losing touch with the rest of the table.

It’s so disappointing to lose to a goal in added on time but they gave away a silly free kick and then failed to defend the ball into the box. Had the team got a point we’d be saying that’s a good start whereas to lose we’ll look at the League table and repeat we’re in a mess and a battle to avoid relegation.

Carrick and his staff have an almighty task to change things round.

But  we keep hoping for improvements - all I would like is, first and foremost, a win  to improve confidence.

Philip of Huddersfield 

Matt Crooks' & Duncan Watmore's absence explained by MC:

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/23087753.michael-carrick-explains-absence-matt-crooks-duncan-watmore-preston/

Well I am going to have to disagree with a couple of the previous posts.

Great start with a well taken Akpom goal, who continued to give PNE problems through out the game until  he ran out of legs.

However, Boro offered very little going forward, McGree was energetic but not decisive. The midfield just does not create sufficient for the forwards to be worthy of their places if we are being brutally honest. Giles put in some good crosses but to whom? Jones, least said the better.

But the defence is a shambles. Lenihan needs to play on the right. Fry for all his potential when younger has turned out to be an average Championship player. He has no vocal command at all. His passing is suspect at times, generally poor and his only attribute is his height.

We need a left sided, left footed CB who does not get injured.

As far as I could see we were playing with three at the back, which has been a disaster. MC alluded to sticking with what the players know, at least in the short term. Well god help us because this defence is a sieve with no sign of improvement what so ever.

I know that some will call me a pessimist, well please give me some reason to be optimistic. I certainly need something to hold onto.

Carrick will of seen at first hand today that he has one enormous task ahead of him just to avoid relegation. I am not sure what Woodgate can do to help him. Probably his only chance is if we can bring some additional better players in come January.

@pedro 

I largely agree with your downbeat assessment, Pedro. I was there. It was a typically frustrating performance by Boro. Our passing was often sloppy and our forward movement much too slow against a solid and organised PNE. We created few chances and had just one shot on target. Boro frequently had to defend stoutly in our own box in the first half, with defenders several times blocking dangerous Preston attacks; it seemed that the midfield simply wasn’t providing enough cover, with Jones in particular often caught out of position as PNE attacked down their left flank. Eventually, the defence inevitably folded, failing to clear a free kick then allowing danger man Riis far too much space.

Before the game I met with my Preston-supporting mate. He told me they have been very poor this season, carving out very few chances and scoring very few of the ones they do create. It was therefore very worrying that they managed to break into our box dangerously so often first half. 

For 20 minutes in the second half, we bossed the game, but without ever really threatening. Then, suddenly, we lost the initiative and PNE forced us on to the back foot. Even so, it seemed we had done enough to earn a point until yet another defensive lapse in concentration right at the death. Aaaaaarrrrggghhhh. 

Unlike in the final game last year, Boro at least turned up this time and were mostly competitive. We worked hard. Chuba played well and held the ball up really well. He was MOM. Steffen kept well, but his distribution from the back was much more ponderous than usual today, which slowed our momentum. Jones needs a rest: he had an awful game, contributing nothing, either in defence or attack. McGree was often involved and energetic, but missed a couple of breakaway opportunities through careless control  or sloppy passing. I wish he could tackle. Muniz achieved very little. Ditto Forss, who continues to disappoint. What I think was most disappointing was how it all just fizzled out after a really promising start. We just lacked spark. Too many players proved again today just how average they are. This was my last live game before the World Cup and I was hoping for so much better. No doubt Michael Carrick was, too. He was realistic in his assessment afterwards, saying that he knows it will take time and he needs to make small incremental improvements. I think he may have learned today that he has a big job on his hands. 

Really sorry to be so cheerless, playmates. I’m going to raise my spirits by listening to some Leonard Cohen and some Morrissey. Heaven knows I’m miserable now. 

The big Jack.

Up the Boro!

@clive-hurren    It was bad enough having to watch the Boro on TV, but for all those that went like you, I feel sorry.

@pedro 

I'm sure Boro were playing 4-3-3 from some of the wide shots of the shape I saw in the first half - though whether each full-back was instructed not to go forward if the other was is a possibility as both were rarely pushing on. Maybe Clarke would ultimately prove a better left-sided centre-back when fit but I wasn't convinced by either Smith offering support going forward or Giles defending - I think Dijksteel (if coached to iron out his positioning) and Bola would prove better fullback options.

With Crooks and Watmore missing it offered few options for Carrick and with Muniz out of form and Howson not at his best - plus Jones looking well below par - it left few players able to influence the game. I thought McGree showed the energy needed but often the players around him were not on the same progressive page. OK, Hackney tried to be positive but he was often quite careless with his passing but you would expect that from a young player who is still learning to play at this level.

Perhaps Carrick needs to dip into the academy to find a few others who could add something extra to the side - I'm sure he would have preferred the options of youngsters Coburn, Coulson or Wood, all of which were deemed surplus under Wilder but all of whom are regarded as one of the best players at their respective clubs. Would Coburn have been a worse bench option than Forss or Hoppe?

Anyway, Carrick is stuck until January with what he's got and quite a few players are well below their best - imagine a team with Jones and Dijksteel of last season, a fit Crooks who was last season's top scorer, Fry on his A game like he was against Man Utd and Spurs - plus the reliable McNair of old and the Muniz who looked the real deal in his first few games.

Hopefully, the much mentioned man-management skills of Carrick can see all these players rejuvenated in the coming weeks - otherwise it would need to be a busy January window if Boro are still struggling in the bottom three. But then again how many decent players could Boro attract for a Championship relegation battle? It appears to me that our fortunes this season depend on Carrick being able to improve what he's got and then Boro may be an attractive option next summer for players with more quality.

@werdermouth - Fair comment.

@werdermouth.  I agree it was either 433 or 4411 but definitely not three at the back.

Fry has not looked his best since not being paired with a natural left footed CB eg Gibson.  I thought Lenihan was going to be the answer until I discovered he was right footed and here we go again with square pegs in round holes! 

In my view we should have gone all in for the Hull City guy but that boat sailed when the price got too high.

I would play Dijksteel and Bola as you suggest with Fry and Lenihan in the centre.  Giles can’t defend and Smith offers nothing going forward so it is worth a try playing Dijksteel and Bola and trying to improve the weaker parts of their game. Giles should be used as a left winger/midfielder.

As I see it at present, avoiding relegation will be an achievement this season.  😎

@k-p-in-spain 

Not sure if Greaves would have helped much as Hull have had the worst defence in the Championship by far - though still above Boro! Anyway, we play them on Tuesday so he'll probably have a blinder...

@k-p-in-spain 

I listened on the radio. Strictly on the evidence of my ears, it was a case of the Good fortune of an early goal. Followed by the foolishness of conceding a quick equalizer. Most matches are decided by game management, and by that I mean, when you get in front, it is wise to concentrate on spoiling the (desperate) efforts of the opposition to get back on terms. We never seemed to pin them in their own defensive area, it seemed to be one long weak clearance followed by us letting them into our box, even the lucky escape of offside late in the game could not enliven us enough to block everything they heaved into our box, and they heaved plenty.    

@k-p-in-spain     I just not sure what MC can do or achieve over the next few games before the break.

The defence is awful so surely there is nothing to lose by trying what you and Werder suggested, Dijksteel and Bola as the full backs. However when  against Huddersfield I complained about Giles at FB and shouted for Bola, he came on and was worse.

Werder is correct in that every player now appears to be playing at their worst level. If and it is a big if, MC can get some to improve, maybe we can pick up sufficient points to keep us out of the bottom three, but with other clubs having games in hand, a tall order.

As an aside, I had not seen that Carlos Corberan had joined WBA and endured a first game defeat. It will be interesting to see who does better out of two that were interviewed (according to rumours) for the MFC job.