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OzzyPorter

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Posts posted by OzzyPorter

  1. With regards to Diedhiou, I think the main differences between his game and that of Britt's are his movement in the box and his height advantage. Certain strikers come alive in the box and know how to position themselves to get on the end of the balls being put in there.

    Having seeing the Bristol lad in action he anticipates very well. By that I mean he looks like he can see what type of cross is on and adjust his own position. For example if the ball is going to be stood up to the back post he will drop off and get a run on the defender or if it looks like it will be driven in then he'll get across his defender. That's something that we miss as Britt doesn't consistently do that for us. Akpom is better at it but still not accomplished. Diedhiou would bring that threat and we would convert more chance resulting from crosses which is a big part of the way we play.

  2. 55 minutes ago, rutters said:

    Assuming that a person is racist simply because they voted to leave the EU is exactly what makes the other boards so toxic.

    Exactly. This forum is pure football. Need to keep that sort of talk off here. Comeonboro and FMTTM are both there for that.

  3. 12 minutes ago, ScarBoro said:

    Well into play off spots.

    Not sure how much either was a huge error from Gibson/Bausor though. Fact is, we don’t know how much money it would have taken to get Moore here, or whether money (unless stupid amounts) wouldn’t have changed his mind.. I guess if we had thrown enough money at him, he  might have come here, but he did seem set on Cardiff so even that isn’t certain. 

    As far as Bolasie is concerned,  why did the transfer fall through? It does seem as though the club were only told something at last minute that affected decision. Whether that was misunderstanding between Bolasie and agent, or a deliberate attempt to try to get more money hoping club would roll over, I don’t know. The club has to set limits though and if it took cost over those limits, then I don’t blame them.

    On Bolasie, if he was desperate to come to Boro, then he could have sorted out new financial terms in December, ready to sign straight away in January. The fact that there are no whispers of anything imminent may mean he is going to tout himself around all this month in hope of increasing offers near end of month. If this is case, I would rather we looked elsewhere.

    I can't really argue with that. We are not privy to the financial details of those deals. I just look at Moore and the goals he scores and think how much of a perfect fit he is for us. I do though, and this might sound crazy, have big hopes that Fletcher can turn himself into a similar type of player under Warnock. It's all about instilling a mean nasty streak into him because he has all the attributes. Moore up top and Fletcher just off him with the amount of crosses we put in the area would have scared the bajesus out of championship defences.

    Interesting point about Bolasie too. I hadn't thought of that. If he really did want to play under Warnock again then he has had since September to agree terms so that he could sign as soon as the window opened.

  4. 13 hours ago, Denzel Zanzibar said:

    Fmttm and CoB are full of Brexit supporting, racist idiots which sadly seems to be the norm online these days.

    We don't stand for that here and discussing politics is generally frowned upon so it's not as active here, despite this clearly being the best forum.

    Supporting Brexit does not make me racist and I'll have words with you personally if you are suggesting I am. Quit it. No place for that. 😡

    • Like 3
    • Haha 1
  5. Here's a little question for you.

    Where do you think we would be in the league if the club had got Warnock the two attacking players he really wanted in Kieffer Moore and Yannick Bolasie?

    For my part, I look at our style of play and how much we are crying out for an out and out right winger and a player that has the physical attributes, desire and nasty streak to get on the end of crosses that get put in the box. Those two would have made a huge difference to us in terms of goalscoring. I don't think an extra ten goals so far already this season is an exaggeration.

    Huge error of judgment by Gibson and Bausor again. Praying that they have FINALLY learnt their lessons.

  6. The morning after another hugely frustrating night for Boro fans. Once again we find ourselves bemoaning missed opportunities and a lack of cutting edge.

    It was the same old story at Hillsborough that it has been numerous times already this season. The players produced an energetic display and ran themselves into the turf but lacked a clinical, ruthless streak that is so important at the business end of the league.

    I'll give you a prime example. Early on in the game with the score at 0-0, Marvin Johnson wriggles free on the left hand side of the Owls penalty area. For one of the few times in the evening he does deliver a quality final ball into the box. It takes out the goalkeeper and flashes across the six yard box. Any striker/attacking player worth their salt would be stood there in position waiting for a tap in. In our case the ball fizzed out for a throw in on the opposite side of the pitch. With first goals so important in games you feel that we would have gone on to win had that opportunity been converted. Again.

    Time after time we found ourselves in promising positions but our final ball was lacking, a moment of hesitation here, a lack of technique there, failing to hit the target when it would have almost certainly have resulted in a goal. Fans watching at home, like me, throwing their arms in the air in typical Boro frustration. 

    I would hazard a guess that we have thrown away 6-9 points already this season in such situations. Games where we have been in control but haven't had the guile, quality, killer instinct to snatch vital points. Those extra points would have us 2nd or 3rd in the league.

    And so we come to the relationship between manager and chairman. So often a strained one but it's different at Boro isn't it? Steve Gibson usually always has a good working relationship with the man he hires (Garry Monk aside). Our managers frequently lavish praise on the chairman in the local and national press. So why has Steve Gibson got it so wrong in recent times?

    He has a habit of entrusting bang average managers with a huge transfer budget and denying the better ones the tools they need to finish the job. Strachan - backed, Mowbray - penniless, Monk - backed, Pulis - backed, Warnock - penniless. Can you see a pattern developing here?

    Neil Warnock has spoken glowingly about the club and the chairman. He has been waiting for this chance all his career in fact. He does not hide his admiration for Gibson and says that this is the only job he would come out of retirement for. Surely now is the time for Gibson to repay the faith that Warnock has put in him. 

    When Warnock came he immediately identified the unbalanced nature of the squad. He spoke about the pressing need to add to certain areas, particularly in advanced attacking areas. Fast forward six months and he is still waiting for reinforcements to arrive in those key areas. Heaven knows what has happened with Patrick Roberts but he clearly can not see where he fits into his side. He is neither clinical enough to play in the role recently occupied by Watmore or hard working, responsible enough to play in one of the wide positions. I'll be amazed if Roberts is still here at the end of January and I have no doubt in my mind that the only reason we took him back on loan is because of our inability to get the players that the manager really wanted. His other recruit, again for zero outlay, has been Watmore. Thankfully the ginger genius has hit the ground running and looks a very astute acquisition. However, the fact that he is now our top scorer and has had a hand in so many goals this season whilst only being with us a month or so speaks volumes about the pressing need for attacking additions.

    So, January looms and Warnock has revealed we only need two or three additions rather than the mooted four of five he had previously identified. That is fair enough in my opinion. It's not a case of the manager pandering to the chairman and trying to take some of the pressure off him. The fact is that since the season started a few players have really stepped up to the mark. Both Djiksteel and Bola have been magnificent and made those full back positions their own whilst Marvin Johnson has developed into our most potent attacking outlet on the left. With Watmore frequently occupying an inside right position he has been able to manage our deficiencies and keep us in touch.

    This month marks a vital point in our season though. Even the most pessimistic supporter would surely agree that we have a better than average chance of reaching the playoffs at least. Considering that Warnock teams usually perform even better in the second half of the season this seems like an opportunity that simply can not be spurned. Steve Gibson must buck the trend of recent seasons and invest money at the right time. If he could find the cash, and I appreciate how fragile finances are in these troubles times, to back Neil Warnock with a few low risk, short term signings then I really think it would pay off. The mutual respect between the pair, the fact that they speak so highly of each other in both professional and personal terms must surely count for something. 

    If we fail to back Neil Warnock in this window. If it costs us a chance to go up. If it means we remain in this league another season which results in Warnock walking away to enjoy his retirement. If these things all happen because we have another inept transfer window then I think we deserve all we get. A decade of championship mediocrity.

    Big few weeks coming up.

    • Like 2
  7. I championed this lad last season when he was getting slated. I looked at his physical attributes and thought he would be worth a go in a holding midfield role but goodness me the lad has shone like a star playing in defence this season.

    He is strong and powerful with a great turn of pace but I've been extremely impressed with how he has held his own in aerial battles too. If you also add to that his reading of the game and how comfortable he is on the ball then it's even more impressive. 

    I've noticed one or two weaknesses in terms of his positioning and concentration at times where he has been done with a little one two or a player running off his shoulder but that's being overly critical really considering he is learning all the time in his new role.

    I'd also like to point out that young Bola is making huge strides this season. The pair of them are looking like good signings so well done to Jonny Woodgate for identifying them and for the legend Warnock and his staff for improving their games and recognising their potential in different roles.

    Now let's see the same happen with young Browne who I think also has plenty of raw talent and physical attributes to make it.

    One final message for the scousers. Hands off Virgil Van Djiksteel !

    • Like 5
  8. I'm expecting a very different game to the one in which they triumphed in the League Cup a couple of weeks ago. We will have a much stronger side out than that day and I think having played them once and seen the full extent of how they like to play and their gameplan that evening is a big advantage.

    On that League Cup showing they came and played on the break looking to exploit the spaces down the flanks that were left by our attacking wing backs. We will have learnt from that and a couple of minor changes will make a big difference today.

    Firstly, ball retention must improve. This is especially the case when we commit numbers to attacks. We simply can't be as sloppy in possession as we were that night. I'm sure they will have been working on that in training. Attacks that break down before the ball is delivered into their area allows them to move the ball quickly and break on us using a lone striker to either work the channels or hold it up and bring their wide attackers into play. We must take care of the ball and ensure we complete our attacks with a final cross or shot then recover our shape quickly. For this reason alone I would start with Sam Morsy today in place of George Saville who doesn't look like he is fully firing as yet.

    I expect McNair and Djiksteel to play either side of Fry. Both of the aforementioned players have a nice turn of pace and will be comfortable in wider areas. It is worth noting that only one of them was on the pitch at any given time in the previous game against todays opponents. Having the pair of them both in from the start today will make a big difference.

    Secondly, we have to create more chances than we did in the previous meeting and indeed more than we usually do create. We are very one dimensional at the moment and our only real attacking gameplan, especially at home, seems to be to look to find the runs of our overlapping wing backs and get onto the end of their deliveries into the box. Patrick Roberts will certainly give us another dimension in this respect and I have also been encouraged by the vision and positive intent shown by Morsy in his brief cameo's to date. Obviously only Morsy is available for us today and if selected I think he could give us slightly more going forward than we have had so far.

    Expect Barnsley to again let us have it up until the final third and then press us strongly in central areas in particular. There will be more space out wide but they coped fairly comfortably and dealt with almost everything that went into their box from wide areas in the last game. The difference is that this time we have a presence in there in the form of Chuba Akpom. Whilst Britt and Fletcher can get on the end of crosses, they are not the type of players who will win challenges "that they have no right to win". Akpom seems like he has the physicality and mindset to win battles even when the odds aren't necessarily in his favour so that is a big plus for us going forward. Spence in particular struggles to deliver pinpoint crosses so I think having Akpom in there means we will carry much more of a continuous threat from wide positions.

    I would expect/hope for us to line up as follows:

    Bettinelli

    Djiksteel - Fry - McNair

    Spence - Howson - Morsy - Tavernier - Johnson

    Britt - Akpom

    In terms of a score prediction, I fancy us to score twice today in either a 2-0 or 2-1 win. It is vital that we pick up three points today and whilst it woulld be nice to get a performance to go with it I think three points to get us up and running for the season so that we can look towards the top end of the table is of massive importance. That would certainly make a nice change considering where we have been languishing in recent times.

    • Like 4
  9. 28 minutes ago, TeaCider24 said:

    Shotton, Ayala, Moukoudi and Friend - a loss, one replaced

    Gestede + Nmecha - no loss and replaced 

    Roberts - a loss, not yet replaced

    Clayton - no loss, still replaced

    Morrison - no loss, doesn't even need replacing

    We got 6 points from the first 6 games last season (1 from the first 3), we are currently on 2 points from 3 games, if we win our next 3 games then we are 5 points ahead of where we were last season.

    I don't think there has yet been real progress, but I don't think we've regressed at all.

    Even if we only sign 1 centre back, I think we've got a better squad than what we started last season with, with the exception of the goalkeeper.

     

    Ah so you agree with me 😂

  10. 2 hours ago, TeaCider24 said:

    So we have made progress?

    Not sure what your issue with the statement is then.

    Obviously if we make more signings, it's only progress because of the new signings, so it doesn't count.

    Warnock took charge of six games last season with last season's squad of players. 

    From those six games we took 12 points.

    Then during the summer he lost eleven first teamers and has only been allowed to recruit four as it stands.

    With this season's squad we have taken 2 points from our opening three games. Even if we win our next three games we will still have taken less points than the six from last season.

    If you call that real progress then you are part of the problem.

    • Like 1
  11. 36 minutes ago, AnglianRed said:

    Well we managed to land a competent manager...thats some sort of progress.

    How much of an impact our new signings will make remains to be seen. Still too early in the season to make any reasonable judgements, but on the evidence so far we are looking more like an actual team of footballers, rather than the herd of blindfolded donkeys were were for most of last season.

     

    Due to the manager and his coaching staff.

  12. 13 hours ago, Humpty said:

    You didn’t watch us last season, did you?

    The only reason we have improved as a squad is due to Neil Warnock. He himself mentioned we were glaringly short on numbers and quality yet he has lost eleven and recruited just four. So yes, in terms of numbers and quality we are indeed in a worse state than last season. Everyone can see it apart from the club, the media stooges and a small number of blinkered supporters 

  13. but still need that little bit of oomph.

    Who pays these journalists a wage? We are worse than last season in terms of both numbers and quality. What a nonsense article by a clown of a journalist who, and this shows how bad the others are, is the best the Gazette has to offer.

    This smacks of an attempt by the club via the local rag to prepare the fans for no more signings. We were three or four players short last season and have lost eleven first teamers since then and only added four. Do the club and the Gazette think we are all morons?

    • Like 1
  14. 9 hours ago, Tom said:

    I can't believe people are trying to justify us selling Bamford. It was a ridiculous decision at the time, and appears even more so now. 

    I'm genuinely struggling to work out a single decision that Pulis made in his time at the club that has benefited the club in the long term. The signing of McNair is probably the only one that might qualify.

    I can name quite a few but the glaringly obvious one is playing and developing Traore. Step out of that mist of hatred and bias, open your eyes and give a balanced opinion.

  15. 44 minutes ago, Mr_Maz said:

    comeonboro is full of racists/bigots and other people who are happy to tolerate them as there a few funny threads on the forum.

    and not something that I want my clubs name to be associated with

    I am neither a racist nor a bigot and I'll have words with anyone who says otherwise. Absolutely guaranteed you post on fmttmboro with an attitude like that. 

    • Haha 1
  16. I quite like the comeonboro forum. I visit once a week, usually on matchdays or the day after. It can be quite amusing. I don't post on that other one fmttmboro and having read it its probably for the best that I don't. Such an arrogant and intolerant site, hardly a forum, more a soap box for those who have the same opinions on everything in the world who want those opinions validated with hearty back slaps.

  17. 1. Three million euros is not three million pounds.

    2. I'm almost certain the transfer fee could rise to three million euros with add ons etc. Initially around 1.5.

    3. When did loads of you start being accountants instead of fans? I want good players here and I dont care about how much it costs 

    4. Akpom is a Warnock type striker. Big and strong and direct.

    5. We will bring one more striker and a creative player in next. Zohore on loan and possibly Roberts. 

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  18. It looks as though the pair will not be offered new deals as we are linked with another left back, this time Fox at Sheffield Wednesday.

    Friend has been a great servant but is becoming increasingly injury prone and, in the modern game, his alarming lack of pace is a real hindrance. I think he may be retained but only in a player coach capacity.

    Johnson is solid enough and does a job but is not a natural full back and I don't see him challenging for a more advanced role. He has been a model pro for us and has always been complimentary about the area but business is business and we can probably bring in somebody more suited to the way Woodgate wants us to play.

    The only other theory is that Woodgate sees Coulson as a left winger whish is something I don't agree with. The lad could either be a top class attacking full back simular in style to Robertson at Liverpool or a decent winger. He should be kept at full back and allowed to flourish there.

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