Sounded like we got off to our too regular slow start, WBA went straight at us to get the 2 goal lead then their their good defending didn't have much trouble stopping us getting back into the game.
Had to happen sooner or later. 🙁 Vic's verdict:
FT: Boro punished for a creaky start then struggled to break down the well drilled Baggies. Results elsewhere went against us so lost the ground gained in midweek. Play-off zone squeezed again. See-saw stuff. That's football.
Boro the only top-six team not to win.
@k-p-in-spain Yes very true KP. WBA were excellent today, initially aided by a poor Boro defence. However as the game went on, the home side missed two golden opportunities and were steadfast in their defence and organisation.
Boro produced very little, tried to pass the ball into the net, and ultimately created nothing. In fairness, you could say WBA are very, very good at home with lots of clean sheets.
Boro have to generally score two or more to win. The defensive five do not really inspire total confidence. If we make the play offs, I hope we not up against WBA.
As an aside, as good as he has been this season, I was surprised Smith was given a two year contract, even if on a low-ish salary.
One of those games where the overriding feeling is one of well done WBA. That was the most organised and disciplined defensive display we’ve faced all season and they had a bit of physicality when needed too.
We won’t face another defence like that all season and, quite frankly, I can see us giving Reading a royal hiding next Saturday.
Disappointed but far from despondent.
I do not think we played badly but lacked the cutting edge to breakdown a very well organised defence, which had a times eleven men behind the ball. We go again next Saturday.
Come on BORO.
Disappointing but not entirely unexpected. Part of WBA's wobble over the last few games has been caused by them moving their players around to accommodate Albrighton. Corberan dropped Albrighton to the bench and put his best players back in their best places. The result was WBA's best performance in a month.
We definitely have an issue with starting slowly away from home. This time we were punished for it twice and that was too much to come back from. As with Sheffield Utd a burly frontman caught us cold.
It's not the end of the world. We probably needed 30 points from 13 games to have a decent shot at second; now we need 30 points from 12 games with potentially our toughest of those 13 games over. We probably need 20 points to finish in the play-offs so we still need those 20 points from 12 games. If we don't manage those 20 points then we simply won't have been good enough.
So far we have bounced back strongly after each loss and it may be a cliche, but we're likely to have learned more from losing today than from many of the more comfortable wins.
Despite today going badly for us, the players kept trying to do what's worked under Carrick. We didn't lose our heads or start lumping the ball up the pitch and hoping.
So I am still optimistic that we'll end the season in 3rd place and, if we bounce back then I think the race for 2nd will go down to the wire.
And that’s the key point, Deleriad, isn’t it? Today’s defeat was disappointing, but we have to hope it was just a bump in the road. What matters now is how we bounce back. We’ve done so very well following previous defeats. We need to do so again against Reading so as not to lose the tremendous momentum we had built up. Reading beat Blackpool 3-1 today, so it won’t be easy. But I’m confident MC won’t panic, will prepare us effectively and will set us up to give us the best chance of winning.
I agree. In my garbled post from yesterday I did suggest that if Middlesbrough3 didn't show up today, it will be sure to come back next Saturday with even greater conviction. (Even if I did post the wrong hoops as the opposition....thanks to everyone for not picking me up on that !! 🙄).
It is perhaps a good game to have lost, especially losing by having stuck to our principals and having dominated possession. We had to lose again this season, at least once, and that is now one of our defeats out of the way. We will perhaps only come across such a well drilled defence again playing Burnley and possibly also against Norwich and Bristol Cities. So it is all still to play for and we must at least still be favorites to be in the top six come May. Given the run ins, for all the current top teams, 2nd place might not be decided until the final fixture.
I expect a positive reaction against Reading, and not least because me and Powmill Jnr are coming down from Scotland and joining another 10 of the wider familly in the West Stand.
Or did we start too keenly at WBA? We had 70% of the ball whole game time. Also the first five minutes. But then WBA hit two on the counter attack in a couple of minutes. Should we have been more careful, perhaps?
We played our normal game but WBA made it very difficult to find spaces in the final third. Archer did not see the ball - perhaps he did not touch the ball in the first 45 min at all?
WBA let us to have the ball - as said for 70% of the time. There were about four scoring chances in the match - three for the Baggies and one for Akbom - his header went directly to their keeper.
WBA's tactics were spot on - and they used all their chances in the first half. At half time I was hoping us to come back to the game. But we never found the key to unlock their defence. There were no spaces in their half to attck.
The better team won. Pity we didn't defend for a five minute period and lost. But we had a chance to get a 0-0 draw at max. The Baggies defended superbly.
Up the Boro!
We’re now well into our first week of Lent when Christians give something up until Easter. Well I once more wasn’t able to follow the Boro after another horrendous 10 days of bowel incontinence. I certainly didn’t intend to give up football or cricket voluntarily, but that appears to have happened anyhow.
Nevertheless I would willingly like to give up bowel incontinence if only for a brief period, but I doubt that the good Lord would only allow me to give up one of life’s little pleasures, and I can state that bowel incontinence doesn’t fall into that category.
My only hope is that one night I may die in my sleep to put me out of this nightmare. One cannot fight against bowel incontinence, it is too unforgiving.
@ken. Sorry to hear of your ongoing problems Ken. Best wishes and thinking of you. 😎
I feel sorry for Geordies, again. Ken must be one of a few in the NE to remember them winning anything. Is it the way it has been since 1950's?
Seriously, I remember well when we had won nothing ever. Kind of thought we were unique in that way when we played in the first division. The band on the shirt and the empty trophy cabinet.
I hope all the best for Ken. Keep on fighting, my friend. You never know if we could be winning at Wembley for the first time ever!
Attached is a picture trending in the twitter. Up the Boro!
Southgate, Juninho and the Carling Cup Trophy. I never saw the match on TV but now those years with McClaren feel magnificent (sorry, no pun intended).
I would like to dream we could win a promotion and do as well in the top league as Fulham, Brighton or Brentford (!) are doing this season. They are not really any bigger as a football club than us.
And one day one of the smaller clubs will win a cup competition. Like us or Newcastle (they were so near yesterday after being trophy-less for generations).
It could happen again. Up the Boro!
Ken
everyone on this blog is fighting with you to stay strong and see the Boro promoted at the end of the season.
probably the hard way by the playoffs !
OFB
I always thought it unlikely that Boro would overtake the Blades and we have to start again on a winning run to remain in a playoff position. It’s not as easy though to do that as West Brom have shown other clubs how to stifle Boro. We should beat Reading on Saturday but football doesn’t always work like that. Swansea away will not be easy, and if Boro don’t beat Reading they might not win at Swansea either.
Nevertheless I still believe that by Easter when I next look at the league table I doubt that much will have changed from the current situation. As for the League Cup I was always confident that Boro would beat Bolton, whilst Geordie fans as disillusioned as ever were never going to beat Manchester United yesterday although I didn’t see the match. Both Sunderland and Boro have won major trophies since the Magpies last major success in the Fairs Cup against the Hungarian club Újpest Dozsa in 1969. Three FA Cup Final defeats in 1974, 1998 and 1999, plus three League Cup Final defeats in 1976, 2003 and now 2023 is all they have to show since then. I very much doubt that they will ever win another trophy in my lifetime either.
Ken - Sorry you are having a hard time at present. Hopefully the situation will ease. I hope the Boro will have a gift for you at the end of the season (and that England will win in NZ tomorrow).
Jarkko - I may be in a massive minority but I hate Wembley. Three losing Cup Finals there (in the FA Cup and League Cup), and a particularly underwhelming performance against Norwich City in the Play-Off Final will not be easily forgotten. That's quite apart from the fact I am too old now to seek a mortgage - which I'd need if I wanted to buy a pint of beer at Wembley or something to eat before the match. If we are to go somehere in the future again for a losing Cup Final, can it please be Eindhoven (where the Police were SO friendly) or Madrid, Barcelona or Munich but certainly not Rome (where the Police were a militaristic joke that went wrong). I propose all future domestic Cup Finals be played in Cardiff. No arrests there, pubs all around the city centre right next to the stadium, and a good result!
Deleriad and others - I agree the game at WBA was a "bad day at the office" for Boro. We did start slowly and had a disastrous 5 minutes from which we could not recover. One goal was perhaps "do-able" but to come back from 2-0 at WBA always looked as unlikely as Newcastle coming back from the same situation against Manchester United. Some of us on here MIGHT have been getting a bit too enthusiastic about the outlook for Boro in Michael Carrick's Football Wonderland ("He sheepishly looks down to avoid others' eyes, and lifts up his collar in the hope of avoiding recognition...") but ....but.... one defeat doesn't mean the train is derailed. How the team turns up for the next game is the important issue and I, for one, expect the manager will get this sorted out.
To overtake Sheffield United from the position in which Boro found itself when Carrick was appointed was never going to be easy. In fact it seemed almost improbably unlikely but, at the point we have now reached, it is still (amazingly) POSSIBLE. If it is achieved, it is likely be a skin of the teeth affair and, as Ken has said previously, let's look at the situation at Easter. By then whether we should put out the bunting or not may be more apparent, but I still think it will go right to the wire. But even if that ideal outcome of automatic promotion is not achieved, the Play-Offs should still be available and I think our competitors for the Play-Off places have matches between each other which means it is inevitable that many of them will drop points in the games to come. Nerves will come to affect them all. Bring it on....!
I agree that not omly the automatic promotion slot, but all the playoffs positions are still too early to call and it looks like there will be interest in all 5 positions still alive on the last day of the season. However it pans out (and we all know how we would like it to be) this is one of the things we follow our football teams for. This will be a really exciting last two months not only for Boro fans, but for fans at all of the promotion hopefuls.
@forever-dormo If Boro were to win at Wembley, I know a happy gentleman from HR to love the place.
But must admit, that it is not a happy hunting ground for neither Boro nor Newcastle ... Up the Boro!
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2023 - Part 1
The weekend results have altered the landscape as we go into the first part of this season’s challenge. I think we all know the rules for the challenge so I don’t think I need to repeat them, although those that need a gentle reminder scroll down to the social club and click on last year’s challenge page 1, I will remind you to post your predictions as follows:
Example - Burnley (76) WWWW (88) (It makes it easier for me to spot errors)
You will notice that Coventry, Luton and Millwall have not got a starting total, that is because they play catch up matches on Tuesday (not included) and I will fill in their starting points on Wednesday morning, so it might be advisable to hold back your entry until then. I have included eleven teams down to and including Coventry, and as always the included teams could change by parts 2 & 3. I will give reminders during the week about the deadline to post entries, which is 1900 hrs Friday 3 March.
Good luck everyone, especially the Boro.
Burnley (76) B’pool (A) Wigan (H) Hull (A) Blackburn (A)
Shef Utd (64) Blackburn (A) Reading (A) Luton (H) S’land (A) WBA (H)
Boro (57) Reading (H) Swansea (A) Stoke (H) Preston (H)
Blackburn (55) Shef Utd (H) Stoke (A) Reading (H) Burnley (H)
Millwall ( ) Norwich (H) Reading (A) Swansea (H) H’field (H)
Luton ( ) Swansea (H) Shef Utd (A) Bristol (H) S’land (A)
Norwich (52) Millwall (A) S’land (H) H’field (A) Stoke (A)
Watford (50) Preston (H) QPR (A) B’ham (H) Wigan (H)
Sunderland (49) Stoke(H) Norwich (A) Shef Utd (H) Luton (H)
WBA (48) Hull (A) Wigan (H) H’field (H) Cardiff (A) Shef Utd (A)
Coventry ( ) H’field (A) Hull (H) Wigan (A) Blackpool (A)
If anyone spots any errors in the fixtures please let me know.
Come on BORO.
Thanks so much for all of your hard work in organising this for our enjoyment. Greatly appreciated.
Here is the verdict from the Wirral jury:
BURNLEY(76) WWWD (86)
SHEFF U (64) LWWDD (72)
BORO (57) WDWD (65)
B'BURN (55) WLWD (62)
MILLWALL DDWW
LUTON WLWD
NORWICH (52) DWWL (59)
WATFORD (50) WDWW (60)
S'LAND (49) WLDD (54)
WBA (48) DWWDD (57)
COVENTRY DWWD
@exmil. Many thanks for all your work on this which I certainly appreciate and enjoy. Here are the votes of the Spanish jury:
Burnley (76) WWWD (86)
Shef Utd (64) DWWDD (73)
Boro (57) WDWW (67)
Blackburn (55) DLWD (60)
Millwall ( ) DWWW
Luton ( ) WLDL
Norwich (52) DWDD (58)
Watford (50) WWWW (62)
Sunderland (49) WLDW (56)
WBA (48) WWWWD (61)
Coventry ( ) LWWW
😎
Hi @exmil and thank you again for bringing us the Exmil Challenge, bringing a topical bit of fun for us all as the season hots up.
Here is my set of predictions for part 1:
Burnley (76) DWWL (83)
SheffU (64) LWDLD (69)
BORO (57) WWWW (69)
Blackburn (55) WDWW (65)
Millwall (54) WDWW (64)
Luton (54) WDDL (59)
Norwich (52) LWLD (56)
Watford (50) WDWW (60)
Sunderland (49) WLWW (58)
WBA (48) DWWDD (57)
Coventry (49) LWDL (53)
Good luck to everyone joining in this year 🙂
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2023 - updated starting scores.
Millwall (54)
Luton (54)
Coventry (49)
Come on BORO.
@exmil - the scores from Edinburgh
Burnley (76) WWDL (83)
Shef Utd (64) DDWLW (72)
Boro (57) WWWW (69)
Blackburn (55)DLWW (62)
Millwall (54) WDWW (64)
Luton (54) WLWL (60)
Norwich (52) LWWD (59)
Watford (50) DDWW (58)
Sunderland (49) WLWW (58)
WBA (48) DWWDL (56)
Coventry (49) DWWW (59)
Thanks for running this again. I always do terribly but it's great fun nonetheless.
Here's my hopeless guesses:
Burnley (76) WWWL (85)
Shef Utd (64) WWLDD (72)
Boro (57) WWWW (69)
Blackburn (55) LWWW (64)
Millwall (54) WDWW (64)
Luton (54) WWWD (64)
Norwich (52) LWDW (59)
Watford (50) WWWW (62)
Sunderland (49) WLDD (54)
WBA (48) WWWWD (61)
Coventry (49) LDWW (56)