A great initiative, GHW. Plenty to talk about there.
NW saw a different game from most of us on here at Stoke. And for me the same applies to the Norwich game, where I thought we were second best for the second half and, in spite of our penalty fiasco, ultimately fortunate to keep the score down to 0-1.
Fletcher appears to be becoming a better striker with every week he remains injured.
Historically I've never been a fan of Warnock's. Mainly because of what has always appeared to be something of a split personality. Off the field his 'I'm a normal bloke, me" persona is very appealing. We have seen a lot of that since he arrived. His communication skills and rapport with his players, the fans and the media put him streets ahead of any of our recent bosses. And his improvement of the team from the depths of last season are there for all to see.
I just find it hard to reconcile this side of his personalty with what have been historically major failures of self-control on the touchline. His criticisms and confrontations with match officials have been more persistent and more extreme than probably any other manager in the game over the past 30 years. It's a record of bringing the game into disrepute, given its copy-cat effect at every level of the game, which does him no credit and is strikingly at odds with the likeable hail-fellow-well-met character of his inclusive press conferences. (Are you with me?).
Age and doctor's orders have no doubt mellowed him. It's hard to recall any manager at any level who is as laid back as Warnock has been since he arrived here. He's seen it all, done it all, nothing can surprise him, and he's going to relax, appreciate the area, enjoy his work, and encourage his lads to do the same. He makes the New Age Nigel Pearson, bespectacled, smiling, quietly spoken, recently graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Anger Management from the University of Life, seem like a raging psychopath.
So far this season, Warnock has shown admirable touchline restraint. Though mild by past standards, his criticisms of referees, however, persist in almost every match. At Stoke, for example, his haranguing of the referee at the end of the game only convinced me that this is a feature of the modern game which should have been nipped in the bud years ago. Why should anyone bother to referee a football match at any level if they have to put up with this kind of nonsense?
At Stoke the game was ruined as a spectacle, not by the referee, but by the lack of skill by both teams. We all got sick of the ref's whistle because both teams were guilty of persistent fouling. Blame the players and managers, not the ref who penalised what they were doing. There were some questionable decisions, no doubt (Bola's booking, for example) but these are part and parcel of every game, and should be accepted far more readily than they are rather than becoming the subject of inquests and post-match recriminations.
And so (virtually) to Preston. Persistent heavy rain all day here in the North West with more forecast for tomorrow suggests that this might be yet another mud-bath, a lottery in which anything might happen.
Given our recent decent record at Deepdale I'll go for a squeaky 0-1
I would hazard a guess that everything NW does, is done for a reason. Whether that is touchline antics ( trying to influence the referee to think twice before penalising his players) or in press conferences, hoping to put it in the mind of the assembled hacks, that they should be more attuned to his view of games.
He always tries to protect his players, albeit he is not averse to throwing a few barbs their way disguised as tongue in cheek comments. He commands respect from his players by refusing to accept outside criticism of them, but I’m sure it’s a different story in the privacy of the dressing room.
We are still a mid table Championship outfit punching above our weight, but if he can keep the team around the play-off positions perhaps the Chairman may loosen the purse strings in January.
I feel three points are achievable tomorrow night, but again it’s going to be a tight game with Fry finally getting a set piece goal.
0-1
Unfortunately I can't agree with Len and GHW 's prediction of the result at Preston.
As we have seen recently, NW has not banished "typical Boro" and given Preston's appalling home record then an away win should be on the cards except that this is another potential "typical Boro" game! So, its 2-0 for me but hoping I am completely wrong.
If we are to get a result then we need to be at it from the off and with a side that is set up to take the game to the opposition.
Tav had a good game a few weeks ago and linked well with Bola so I would play him wide left, and either Watmore or Roberts wide right with Akpom up front. The defence and midfield as at Stoke. CoB 😎
KP, As every player who comes to play for the Boro they pass through the portal of "Boro' where they get some kind of strange injection to make them conform to the typical Boro stereotype. A sort of fissure or tear in the time-warp continuum.
There, now I know supporting the Boro gradually drives you mad. You see conspiracies and avoid stone rings on the moors, North Yorkshire obviously, just in case you too enter the outer limits known as Typical Boro. Now a proper noun, I think. Pills please nurse.
Stay safe everyone,
UTB,
John
I’ve got time on my hands as long as I can keep awake. As soon as I switch on the television within half an hour I’ve dozed off, even when watching Match of the Day which usually takes twice the time to view within siestas. That’s why I spend a lot of my time on my iPad especially writing about classical composers. I could well have chosen the history of British comedians, Yorkshire cricket, etc anything to stop my falling asleep. So having exhausted writing about the history of Middlesbrough FC and Castleford Tigers (on a different forum) I thought to myself ‘Why not write above classical music, that sounds completely different’. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest if nobody reads my posts, truly! It’s something to keep me awake, and cathartic. Anyway enough of all that ‘pomp and circumstance’ I’ll take up the cudgel of writing about tomorrow’s opponents Preston Northern End, but don’t expect it to be as high a standard or as witty as Werdermouth’s. Let’s start at the beginning.
Preston started as a cricket team in 1863, and wanting to keep fit in the winter months decided to form a rugby team in 1878 but it wasn’t successful so after only one season turned to football when William McGregor a Scotsman decided it would be a good idea to form a Football League to supplement FA Cup matches. Preston were invited to enter along with 5 other Lancashire clubs - Accrington (not Stanley), Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley and Everton plus 6 Midlands clubs - Aston Villa, Derby, Notts County, Stoke, West Brom and Wolves. No London or any Southern club at that time, and it was Preston who took the first league title unbeaten with 40 points from 22 matches and 11 points more than runners up Villa. What’s more Preston also won the FA Cup without conceding a goal beating Wolves 3-0 in the final at Kennington Oval in front of 15,500 spectators. The following season Preston now called the Invincibles won the title again but this time with only 33 points and 2 ahead of second placed Everton. They also reached the final of the FA Cup again within conceding a goal but scoring no fewer than 56 on the way. That huge total included 26 against Hyde United and is still the highest score in any FA Cup match. Before the final though William Sudell the chairman was so confident that Preston would win the Final that he arranged for his players to have their photograph taken with the cup before the match in their pristine ‘Lilywhite’ shirts as he didn’t want a photograph taken of his players holding the cup in creased and soiled shirts. What happened next in a typical Roald Dahl ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ moment was that the invincibles lost 2-1 to West Brom. Although Preston finished runners-up in the following two seasons, they have never won the League title since. As for the FA Cup they’ve only won it once more in 1938 against Huddersfield although as a Second Division side they did reach the Final losing 3-2 against West Ham in 1964. Going back to 1887 they also lost 2-1 to Hibernian in Edinburgh what was classed as the World Championship.
Other facts about Preston is that Deepdale is the oldest ground in the country where league football has been played continuously since 1875 and once had a capacity approaching 43,000. Indeed the record attendance was 42,684 for a League match against Arsenal in 1938 although the current capacity is 23,404. The approach to the stadium is called Sir Tom Finney Way, quite rightly too as although he had his own plumbing business, he and Wilf Mannion were the finest players I ever saw in the 1950’s. Deepdale was also the home of England’s Football Museum which I visited about 25 years ago.
What about matches against Boro though. I well remember Preston beating Boro 6-1 in September 1948 yet were relegated that season just a point above Boro, but before my time in 1935 Boro recorded their biggest win at Deepdale 5-0. Over the years Deepdale has been one of Boro’s most productive venues with 15 wins and 12 draws in 46 visits, more so in the Second tier with 9 wins, 7 draws and only 4 defeats from 20 meetings. In fact Boro have only lost once there in the last 13 visits. This is a game Boro should win in view of Preston’s dismal home record this season. Indeed a defeat is unthinkable as mid-table beckons.
Earlier in the season when Boro went 10 games unbeaten there was a certain consistency to their play. But I feel that has changed in recent games , blowing hot ( Swansea) and cold (Stoke) and so, I think predicting the score or, indeed the level of performance against Preston is very difficult.
Preston have lots of injuries, certainly more than Boro and are poor at home, so, the game is there for the taking but I’m far from confident.
Whilst I like NW’s laid back friendly interviews not criticising the players when they deserve it , I’m sure behind the scenes he’ll tell them straight.
Philip of Huddersfield
If we won, we would be just a point behind Stoke again. So a win would do nicely but it is not an easy game - they never are in the Championship.
But a surprice 0-1 win for the Boro. Britt penalty after 66 min.
Up the Boro!
Battle of the Badges
Your statement about NW and ref's was not out of order, but there is an alternative view. Anyone who watches football on the box (particularly when their team is not involved) must surely come to the conclusion that the refs are, as a body, trying to climb the greasy pole of promotion to the top spot in their world. They soon realise that the giants expect nil bad decisions, and I mean nil. Therefore any goal scored against them is instantly subjected to intense scrutiny, any, even the tiniest infringement and its ' no goal'. The other side of the coin is of course that any penalty given against them has to be cast iron (and then some). All this seeps down to the Championship. Fist things First, the worst ref's in the world operate in this league, expect any decision, and you will not be disapointed. The habit of just running into opponents is widespread, and unchecked, the professional foul is widespread, and unpunished, timewasting is endemic and the habit of threatening to do something about it (but doing nothing) is suffered in every match, and we are wasting our time if we speak about diving, a very well organised skill, and used to great effect by specially trained operaters who are worth every penny of their salary, real match winners, every one. So, to return to my point I do not blame NW For getting after them, they are not very good.
Team News
So Tavernier dropped to the bench. He’s a young player and has a lot to learn and blows hot and cold every other game and I’m not really surprised.
Nice to see Whatmore playing and hopefully will provide some opportunities for Britt.
I’m going to go for the eyeballs 👀 in the sky
⚽️⚽️
OFB
@plato good post as a former ref I agree that the current standard of refereeing seems to be poor and has been for some time in the championship.
I would suggest that some of the current crop of referees should be assessed for inclusion to a professional standard and the fees charged to the premiership to ensure that mistakes are eradicated.
Of course even refs are human but not being able to clamp down on blocking or professional fouls is just not making decisions.
OFB
No report tonight I'm afraid due to just getting in after a car problem. Vorsprung durch technik my backside!
Another borefest after 45 minutes.
We have zero attacking intent against a team with one of the poorest home records in the league.
No Tav, so no creativity
Britt invisible.
Bettinelli time wasting after only 20 minutes. Why are we hanging on for a point so early?
Schoolboy defending errors so far from Bola, Saville and Fry in quick succession.
Looks like one goal might settle it, and we are content to let Preston have almost all of the ball.
Need Tav on now, and a complete change of intent.
That first half was so poor
Vic's half-time assessment:
Very scrappy, Champo nil-nilly. Preston prising Boro man-to-man marking apart without hurting. Brought one good save. Disjointed Boro very long & wayward, got forward a few times but no final ball/connection. Britt anonymous. Not much to cheer up [Craig Johns - he was replying to the latter's tweet: "I'm saying nothing"].
It's starting to feel like we've been found out. Teams are playing around our man to man marking. Not that Preston are world beaters. Bola's having his first bad game for a while but Spence is doing well.
I know everyone's having a go at Britt but I don't think he's had a pass anywhere near him. It's a thankless task playing up front for us at the best of times but Britt and Akpom seem particularly unsuited to it.
And I thought the 1st half was poor, wow is woodgate in charge now, absolute s%^t
Lost 3-0 and lucky to get away with that scoreline, Preston also hitting the bar
Still we managed a shot on goal after 70 minutes.
Britt and Akpom: twin strikers and both complete lemons offering absolutely nothing.
Johnson's crosses our sole method of attack, so he is the sole contender for our M-o-M.
A big defeat to a mediocre team and the worst Boro performance in many a long day.
Relegation form this.
I went into the kitchen to finish preparing my dinner with the score at 0-1. I return to the lounge & it's 0-3! 🤣 What the hell happened?
https://twitter.com/untypicalboro?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
I take it all back. That Vorsprung durch technik thing is truly incredible, saving me from that dross!
Dreadful. Seems the wheels are coming off. Where is the team of a few weeks ago? Is something going on off the field?
Embarrassing! I have every faith in NW but now he and his staff need to have a total revamp. Are some of the players become a little to comfortable. Time for Roberts to start every game.
January will be an important month to get rid of some dross and get some more experienced players to get us into the play offs at least. But what do I know.
To be fair I didn’t think Preston were a mediocre team. They had pace whilst Boro on the attack were ponderous and forever slowing the game down. We need to be more proactive from the start as there are no outstanding teams in this league and whoever gains promotion will be odds on to be relegated next season. The gulf between the Premier League and the Championship is widening every season. I can see Sheffield United, West Brom and Fulham being back in the Championship next season.
After another early start yesterday and a 12-hour shift on my decorating project, my eyes gave up fighting shortly after half-time following a first 45 that had given few reasons for them to stay open. I woke up just before the full-time whistle to discover that it seems Boro's defence had also been caught napping too. It appears the play-offs were nothing more than a dream, which will take more than a Bobby-Ewing-style shower to resurrect. I guess a blunt team and a thin squad are struggling with two games a week and are showing what they really are - a mid-table outfit at best.