Redcar Rioja

I thought Nunthorpe Red was Woody and CT was AV 🤷‍♂️ Anyway was thumbing through my redcar reading, riting and rithmetic book and came up with Hiiro Komori, 24 Japanese Striker under the radar, taps nose! Cheap as chips I reckon £1m to £1.5m could seal the deal.

Reality is we need to replace both ELL and Doak, the latter was never ours and was only ever temporary. If Doak had been poor nobody would be interested in him and we wouldn't have benefitted from his loan, it is what it is, damned if he did and damned if he didn't. I think we need replacements lined up and in place now rather than wait and gamble on the last day of the window. Then there's the Keeper crisis, LB dilemma and Midfield issues. Of course the higher ups may have decided to play out what's left of this season, regroup and re-arm in the summer.

It's a very strange phenomenon at the minute for all the reasons you listed. Under Stan Anderson we kind of just accepted this as the norm with no expectations. Big Jack ruined all that by getting us promoted and then my generation realised just how dull treading water in the second tier actually was. We have had a series of ups and downs since, the lows of '86 and highs of Robbo promotion and Cup Finals then Schteeve taking us to Cardiff and Eindhoven. The Tartan fiasco followed by hopes that local hero Mogga would deliver us. Even the promotion under Karanka was nail-biting but euphoric in the end but it wouldn't be Boro unless we stank out the Premiership the following season and as a Bob Mortimer opined, "Boro turned up, farted and left". Monk, the less said the better, same with Pulis and let's pretend Woodgate never happened. Warnock arrived, saved us and then Covid nearly killed us. Wilder could have and should've but couldn't keep his ego in his pocket. Then enter Carrick, saying and doing all the right things but stagnating and blinkered over time and sadly now close to looking like a beleaguered Robbo or lost Southgate. Like Southgate, he has us in a highish league placing yet something is misfiring and just isn't sparking into life, and like Southgate he I think could eventually become a Coach of some repute but right here right now something has to break, be it a Eureka moment from himself or another El Tel to get us firing again even if it's remote and under the veil of secrecy. Successful sides have their Home as a Fortress, for some bizarre reason Carrick has flipped that with an excellent Away form but dire and hard to watch at the Riverside.

Thought he oozed confidence along with a few drag backs that got him (and us) out of a few tight situations which is perfect for Carrick's playing us into trouble tactics.

I'm sure Scott will have a list just like when he brought in Morris. We don't even know if Morris was first or sixth on that list but I'm confident that he didn't just have a list of one midfielder and there will be others who he will be constantly monitoring. The "problem" for us as fans is that we are unlikely to know much if indeed anything about the players (like Morris as a good example or ELL for that matter) until they are announced and we all go scrambling on YouTube for their best bits to pick holes in them before they even pull on the shirt. The very nature of "the model" works by identifying players currently under most radars otherwise we revert back to signing the more obvious names like Saville and Flint. Think I'd be more concerned if we did immediately think of them, the likes of Conway whose contract is maybe expiring and a good deal possibly in the offing would be the exception to the above. I think Goalkeepers for me fall outside of the model due to the importance of proven experience like Dieng v Glover.

Juno's Journal versus Nobby's Notes!

McCabe looks a useful player and his performance was well beyond his years.

How much fun can you have in a shed?

Welcome back 🤣🤣🤣 Let the fun commence!

I guess because they are Man City they can, the FA will just add it to their ever lengthening list of misdemeanours and kick it further down the road, that's assuming it's even in conflict of the rules which City seemingly ignore with impunity anyway.

along with Edmundson, McGree, Jones, Hackney falling off......

he changed it like for like He made three Subs in the 69th minute that night, a full sixty seconds ahead of schedule and in doing so totally confused the Hull bench and their game plan. I know I was excited to see Boro Subs so early. The Earth has an axial tilt of about 23.44°, I would swear it wobbled just for a millisecond to 23.43° at that moment!

Somewhere along the line we have morphed from Carrickball to Apathyball.

Think you have nailed it, the players don't seem to be enjoying it anymore. It seems like they are following instructions to the Nth degree and as a consequence affecting their individual and collective belief and self confidence.

I don't think we can win the Play Offs because opposition Managers will either employ a low block or a high press and then Carrick is stuffed with no Plan "B". We saw what Robbins done with Coventry and we were toothless. Any side we come up against will know exactly what to do and what to expect from us even down to the timing of our Substitutions over the two legs. That strugglers can nullify us with limited squads regularly tells a story that tactically Carrickball is dead in the water in it's current guise. There is a lot of merit in some of our passages of play but the negatives just kill those positives. A more ruthless and pragmatic approach during phases of games instead of "Carry on Carricking" could elevate his squad to a much higher level than we are currently achieving. Our Home record is absolutely woeful and I see no signs of anything tightening up, improving or becoming wiser with experience. He has time to sort things out but I don't believe that he believes there actually is an issue to resolve.