Well it was probably mainly all about getting the three points and drawing a line under what has been a disastrous season so far. Can't fault the players for effort but while it wasn't the best Boro have played this season it was perhaps a more determined team performance than we've seen for quite a while.
The big plus was seeing how Hayden Hackney demonstrated that having a midfielder prepared to break the lines and run and shimmy past the opposition midfield gives Boro an extra dimension beyond what has become the predictable wing-back outlet.
Also early signs that Akpom and Muniz could become a useful partnership up front but maybe they need McGree just behind them as a playmaker. Perhaps too many utility players being deployed with McNair and Dijksteel doing a job when asked but still not quite good enough in any one position. Bola looks to be improving both defensively and going forward and looks the best option on the left of defence.
So much to ponder for the new manager in how to play with the players he will inherit - Boro not quite having a cutting edge and also prone to being exposed defensively by pace with a midfield in need of being freshened up.
Leo's passion has got the players and the crowd back up for the fight but it will take some tactical nous as well as good man-management to make Boro back into contenders. Let's hope Boro can build on the confidence of winning again and being freed from a frustrated Chris Wilder blaming them for errors.
An uninspiring game by two very average teams. Had it not involved Boro I would have switched to another game via the Red Button.
For Boro there were too many misplaced passes and “hit and hope “ balls.
But they stuck at it, wasting as much time as possible, and achieved the single most important objective tonight - winning a game of football which should improve confidence.
Philip of Huddersfield
Phillip
Sometimes as a team you just have to win ugly. We were in no position to play fast fluid football with dispirited players and reorganisation of the coaching staff.
They did the job !
OFB
One snippet of news that Radio Tees disclosed tonight was that Crooks is suffering from a hernia. This probably explains some of his performances which are not as good as last season. I wonder if he’ll have an operation during the World Cup break?
OFB
Does anyone have trouble with the Boro tv link I paid for a season and its asking me to but a 10 pound ticket!!!!!
It wouldn't let me in for five or so minutes but then accepted my log in and gave me access to the stream.
I didn't find the game as bad as people are saying and I thought that Birmingham looked quite good in possession and gave Boro some problems. We had good spells and dropped off when Birmingham applied presure rather than by playing badly. We did the same thing to them at times. We defended well but were a bit lucky that their forwards missed everything with Hogan in particular having a shocker.
Bola was my MOM followed by Fry and i was impresssed by Hackney's ability to bring the ball forward. He looks like a genuine midfield man. I wonder if there will be a way for him and McGree to play in the same team. Contrary to the Gazette, I thought that Dijksteel wasn't as effective as i hoped in the wing-back position. He had good moments but seemed to get caught neither right forward when we attacked nor covering when they broke quickly. I'm assuming that Jones will be back at Millwall and it will then be an interesting choice for the rest of the right hand side.
Leo and the team handled the subs well. Hackney was starting to make mistakes and it mde sense to bring on McGree. Muniz and Ackpom look to be the best bet to start up front and then first Watmore and then Forss came on with genuine pace which will always worry tiring defenders. I just wish that Watmore had a better idea where his team-mates are running. McGree made a great support run and Watmore should have played him in for a clear shot. In a similar situation McGree played in Forss instead of shooting himself and the B'ham defender pulled off a stunning block.
I hope that any new manager who comes in is contracted to keep Leo and the rest of the coaching team. They are bringing through good players and they understand the club. Having a quality coach (and assistant?) at the top will be fine but we don't need a clear-out. It's like Ange Postacoglou going into Celtic without any new coaches; Just his own ideas and personality.
This season could still be fun.
UTB
Does anyone have trouble with the Boro tv link I paid for a season and its asking me to but a 10 pound ticket!!!!!
It wouldn't let me in for five or so minutes but then accepted my log in and gave me access to the stream.
Same problems for a few minutes, too. But once logged in about 3 min before kick-off, I had no problems. UTB!
Does anyone have trouble with the Boro tv link I paid for a season and its asking me to but a 10 pound ticket!!!!!
It wouldn't let me in for five or so minutes but then accepted my log in and gave me access to the stream.
Same problems for a few minutes, too. But once logged in about 3 min before kick-off, I had no problems. UTB!
Like everyone else took four/five attempts to get logged in then everything ok. 😎
I had no problems watching with my stream, apart that it was from the Birmingham end, so with their own commentators.
A different perspective to Maddo. 🤣🤣🤣
I missed the first 10 minutes which sounds like that was no bad thing to miss. As others have pointed out, in some ways the match was very similar to the ones against Sunderland and Swansea: an unconvincing 1-0 win. I prefer to be more positive though.
Talk around the ground is that people at the club from top to bottom are glad to see the back of Wilder. If true, and so far I haven't seen any players come out and thank Wilder, then the atmosphere will be more positive and that will help on the pitch.
I hear that Crooks has been struggling with a hernia and that does explain his really laboured performances. If you watch him last season he actually has a decent burst of pace and good agility but he looks to be crawling through quicksand at the moment.
Hackney's performance was as good as any midfielder this season and he earned his place on the pitch. I also thought McGree was as good as I have seen him when he came on. He worked hard and looked defensively better than he has in the past.
For the first 30 minutes, I thought Dijksteel was the best player on the pitch. Then he played his suicide pass and that seemed to affect him. He was probably a tie with Hannibal for worst player on the pitch after that.
Lenihan looked really assured. I really like Muniz. I don't think he'll be a prolific striker but I think he could end up being somewhere in between Ricard and Nugent. He also seems to have taken Tav's role as team joker. He gives every impression of bonding really well with his team mates.
Forss was excellent and I'm pretty sure he wasn't offside for his goal.
Overall, it felt like once we got the goal some of the weight lifted and even when Birmingham put us under pressure we were never completely scrambling.
It could be a false dawn, goodness knows we've had enough of those, but it is at least something to build on.
Forss was excellent and I'm pretty sure he wasn't offside for his goal.
Overall, it felt like once we got the goal some of the weight lifted and even when Birmingham put us under pressure we were never completely scrambling.
It could be a false dawn, goodness knows we've had enough of those, but it is at least something to build on.
I agree that it was difficult to see if Forss was offside or not. The Echo said he was clearly in an offside position but me and my wife thought he might have been onside from the replays.
I like Muniz and Bola as they bring the team some happiness and relax the team. We usually play better with them in the team. Of course we miss Tav on the ball, but these two will help as jokers.
Just one match at Millwall before I will see the following three matches live in the UK. I now have the tickets for all three matches.
Looking forward to seeing the new manager. But I will be OK with Leo at helm, too. Up the Boro!
Before I start I have to say that for some reason I was unable to watch last night’s match on the red button as although advertised on Sky Sports that it was available on the red button it appeared to be not the case on my iPad via Virgin Media. However yesterday was a confusing day all round as I had thought I’d missed a hospital appointment to see my consultant assuming that yesterday was the 12th of October not the 5th. It all stemmed from realising that at 84 years of age that I was no longer fit to drive and with the help of my carers decided to sell my car, so now am completely housebound but grateful to my carers for doing all my shopping for me. I also discovered that my cleaner Pauline was unable to find a regular spot to do my cleaning anymore as my bowel incontinence has taken over my life - not a very nice situation to be in as I obviously came into this world as incontinent and like many others look likely leaving to depart from this world with the same problem. However I’ve managed to find a replacement cleaner living locally to start next Tuesday.
Now having got that of my chest I’m looking at the league tables in total. To accommodate the Papa John’s Trophy 16 group stages of 3 matches each last Tuesday a plethora of league matches in Leagues One and Two have been postponed this week to accommodate the situation, though fortunately not Hartlepools home match with Doncaster Rovers which Pools were able to win at last after 19 winless matches and rise if only temporarily from the relegation position. Not that this affects the Boro of course, but produces a Championship League table that shows a complete unbalanced table. Firstly I have to ask why Coventry City were not forced to switch their 3 postponed home matches to their opponents grounds thus allowing the postponed matches to be played later in the season?
Because of original postponements due to Queen’s death, every club would have played 7 matches home and away after next weekend’s fixtures. It is often said that the League table never lies, but that is not the case this season. Only 11 clubs have played an equal number of home and away games at this juncture whilst 6 clubs including Boro have played 2 fewer away games than home matches. Indeed Boro have taken only one point from their 5 away matches, the other 12 points coming from their 7 home matches. The current league table shows that Boro are 18th in the table, but in reality their projected number of points would amount to 43 points at the end of the season and in 22nd place in the table with only West Brom and Huddersfield below them. So in reality Boro are still in a relegation position and need to win at Millwall on Saturday to climb out of this position. In fact unless Boro start to accumulate points away from home they will find themselves 26 points behind Swansea in 6th place at the end of the season.
So whilst welcoming last night’s win it is imperative that Boro start winning some away matches as soon as possible as we approach the third way point through the season and not drop any silly points at home as well. It’s not inconceivable that Boro can do this, but I can’t see Boro reaching anywhere near the playoffs this season, the most likely final position being 12th to 14th. Sorry to put a damper on things, but relegation is still a possibility. Who would have thought that Yorkshire CCC would be relegated this year, but from what I’ve seen this season in Football’s League One, Plymouth, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth and even Barnsley have been playing better football than Boro, so imperative that Boro reach the 52 points mark this season or find it as difficult as Sunderland have found it to get back into the Championship quickly.
The bookies' odds for the next managerial appointment courtesy of The Sunderland Echo:
Some extraordinary possibilities!
If punters are putting money on the majority of those, then they want theirs ears clipping. No wonder the Bookies make big profits.