[BORO v Blackburn Rovers 0-0]

The squad has never looked like a promotion winning squad from the start of the season, a lack of quality in midfield, a strike force never good enough, and its coming home to roost.

A disappointing season with the fans once again let down by the signing of poor to bog standard quality players, we're like a rudderless ship going nowhere.

[QPR v BORO 0-2 (Latte Lath, Forss)]

The sending off obviously changed the game against Norwich, so I'm not getting carried away, beause we were poor up until then.

I'll go for an optimistic 1-1 which considering our form of late wouldn't be a bad result.

[BORO v Norwich 3-1 (Forss, Latte Lath, Engel)]

4 minutes ago, Redcar Rioja said:

Is it possible that Barlaser would have assumed that considering Dieng can see the bigger picture he wouldn't (and in this scenario shouldn't have) have passed the ball out to him if he was surrounded?

Well that's the theory anyhow, you would assume Dieng would have enough football intelligence to know when not to pass the ball out, obviously not.

[BORO v Norwich 3-1 (Forss, Latte Lath, Engel)]

1 hour ago, YouAreBoateng said:

It’s certainly very telling that the last two games we’ve been beaten by teams who, like us, are going through a sticky patch and the fans are wanting the manager sacked.

I personally don’t see us winning tonight, but it would be typical boro to put in an outstanding performance and win comfortably, only to lose to QPR on Saturday. 

Fingers crossed something clicks tonight and we end the season in good fashion. 

Just read an interesting stat: in all our home league games since NYD, we’ve not scored a first half goal. How important it would be to get that early goal tonight. 

What a poor stat that is, but that's what you get when you fail to sign a striker or 2. 

[Do we need a new manager?]

I voted Carrick to stay, any manager coming in will be told that Woodgate has to be part of the 1st team coaching staff and that for me isn't right. 

If Carrick left tomorrow rater than bring someone in, I would gamble Woodgate would be put in temporary charge till the end of the season.

[A day we thought we'd never see - Carling cup winners]

9 hours ago, Erimus74 said:

29th February 2004 a day us Boro fans thought we would never see, well I know I thought that

I can still remember when I started work as a 17 year old back in 1977 & going on in our works cabin about how good the Boro were & watch us this season under John Neal, we'll finish high up the league & win the FAC

One of the older lads then said to me, I'll bet you whatever, the Boro will not win anything before your 21st, so I took him up on it, though to be honest, we both knew that within 12 months we wouldn't be working together, but anyway, I was convinced we were on the verge of greatness after riding high with big Jack's team

Well needless to say, he was right, we came close a few times & those words I heard throughout my life & never thought would be the case, until one day I realised yep, that's going to be the case forever with the Boro, the old timers would always say, 'Listen son, the Boro will always let you down in the 11th hour & they were right, until...............................................................

Cup runs came & went, renewed hope came & went & then, the impossible finally happened, against one of the best teams in the PL, we beat Arsenal over two legs in the semi final, we very rarely win at Arsenal & now, we're in the Carling Cup final

On this day, the 29th of February, there were only 2 people I wanted to be with 'when' we lifted a major trophy, my dad & my younger brother, we started out together in late 71 me & my brother in the boys end, our dad in the Bob end & fingers & toes crossed we'll see the mighty Boro triumph together

Without going in to the agonies of the remaining minutes after Schwarzer dropped a howler, then produced a magnificent display, we won our 1st ever trophy (though for me it will always be the Anglo Scottish Cup)

Just think some of the great Boro fans who weren't with us on this glorious day, Cliff Mitchell the sports writer, Willie Maddren to name two

Me, my dad & brother, together we witnessed triumph & heartache, promotions, relegation, liquidation & finally, on this day 2004 we were together we witnessed winners, we hugged & celebrated together, neither are with us today, but that one special moment will live with me forever

29th February 2004 - Millennium Stadium, our name as winners x

Whoever is going to the town hall tonight, have a great night 

Before kick off I was in a pub just outside the stadium, I told all my mates this is our day, this is meant to be, it was just that feeling

 

9 hours ago, Erimus74 said:

29th February 2004 a day us Boro fans thought we would never see, well I know I thought that

I can still remember when I started work as a 17 year old back in 1977 & going on in our works cabin about how good the Boro were & watch us this season under John Neal, we'll finish high up the league & win the FAC

One of the older lads then said to me, I'll bet you whatever, the Boro will not win anything before your 21st, so I took him up on it, though to be honest, we both knew that within 12 months we wouldn't be working together, but anyway, I was convinced we were on the verge of greatness after riding high with big Jack's team

Well needless to say, he was right, we came close a few times & those words I heard throughout my life & never thought would be the case, until one day I realised yep, that's going to be the case forever with the Boro, the old timers would always say, 'Listen son, the Boro will always let you down in the 11th hour & they were right, until...............................................................

Cup runs came & went, renewed hope came & went & then, the impossible finally happened, against one of the best teams in the PL, we beat Arsenal over two legs in the semi final, we very rarely win at Arsenal & now, we're in the Carling Cup final

On this day, the 29th of February, there were only 2 people I wanted to be with 'when' we lifted a major trophy, my dad & my younger brother, we started out together in late 71 me & my brother in the boys end, our dad in the Bob end & fingers & toes crossed we'll see the mighty Boro triumph together

Without going in to the agonies of the remaining minutes after Schwarzer dropped a howler, then produced a magnificent display, we won our 1st ever trophy (though for me it will always be the Anglo Scottish Cup)

Just think some of the great Boro fans who weren't with us on this glorious day, Cliff Mitchell the sports writer, Willie Maddren to name two

Me, my dad & brother, together we witnessed triumph & heartache, promotions, relegation, liquidation & finally, on this day 2004 we were together we witnessed winners, we hugged & celebrated together, neither are with us today, but that one special moment will live with me forever

29th February 2004 - Millennium Stadium, our name as winners x

Whoever is going to the town hall tonight, have a great night 

I was in a pub outside the Millenium stadium, I remember telling all my mates, this is our day we're away from Wembley this is meant to be. It wasn't bravado it was a strange undescribable feeling that I'd never had on our trips to Wembley, I just knew. When that final whistle went I've never been prouder to be a Boro fan. What a day that was, will we ever see the likes again, who knows stranger things have happened. 

[Boro v Plymouth 0-2]

You look at the players that have left this season and pre season and the signings we've made and the club unfortunately looks like it has no ambition, never ever thought I'd say that.

We needed to bring in a striker in the January transfer market but apparently there was no striker available in Great Britain or Europe to  fit that role.

 

[Leicester V Boro 1-2 (Azaz, Silvera)]

I can't see anything other than a Leicester win, I'll go 3-0. The keeper has got to be dropped he goes down in instalments on his front post, he's made some decent saves in the last few weeks but he's goalkeeping basics are poor.

[Middlesbrough V Sunderland 1-1 (Forss)]

The keeper has cost us the game, its as simple as that.

[Chelsea vs Middlesbrough (League Cup Semi Final - 2nd Leg) 6-1 (Rogers)]

We were always going to be up against it last night, but you can't gift goals to any team by losing possession time and time again and making error after error. Chelsea didn't need to work that hard last night to win the ball we gave it to them.

We knew the injuries we had were going to play a significant part in the game, but there's no excuse for the mistakes, they're school boy errors, really poor, regardless of who the opposition is.

[Seasons Greetings]

Merry Christmas have a great day.

[Forum Issues]

16 minutes ago, Erimus74 said:

Whats your thoughts on Mogga Georgewhitt? 

Sunderland fan at work has been saying for a while he should be sacked, TBH I cant see his logic in that, thought he was doing a really good job 

I agree with you, given what Mogga has at to work with lack of funds and having to give 16 year olds debuts, he's done an excellent  job.They were narrrowly beaten by the Play off winners last season and still not that far off top 6 at this stage of the season, its a poor sacking IMO. 

[Boro vs Leicester 1-0 (Greenwood)]

Leicester best defence in the league, 2nd highest scorers in the league, and defensively we aren't that great, don't fancy us at all, hopefully I've got it wrong.

[Next manager? Who does Gibson turn to?]

23 hours ago, LinoJo3 said:

Come on it’s deeper than that, we shouldn’t be bottom of the league because we lost 4 players from last season. Fair enough we’re miles off promotion or play offs but we aren’t a bottom 3 team.

If you can't defend and you can't score goals then the league doesn't lie, our defending was poor last season we let 56 goals in, but we had the advantage in that we had   attackers who hit a *** load of goals. The defensive issues from last season still haven't been addressed and that's one of the major problems, we all know our defending isn't good enough. and we haven't brought the players in who will improve it. If the fans can see it, you would assume Carrick/Woodgate would be able to, unless they're burying their head in the sand. 

[Next manager? Who does Gibson turn to?]

Its not rocket science, you replace the quality players from last season with inferior players, then it bites you in the ***,and thats exactly whats happening to us. 

When it comes to recruitment, for the most part nothing changes much, we're pretty crap.  

[Boro v QPR 0-2]

The players who we've brought in will need to blend into our style of play, Carrick will know this more than anyone. Yes its a poor start but I'll wait to see what we're like when the new signings are in the starting line up, thats when we'll know what we're about.

[Bolton Wanderers v Boro (League Cup) 1-3 (Crooks, McGree, Rogers)]

7 hours ago, Erimus74 said:

Play our strongest team, whatever that is & hopefully progress & a cleansheet too

Since our glorious Carling cup win we have played in the 2nd/3rd round (depending which round we entered) 13 times, winning 7 times, 2018/19 was the last time we progressed to through to the next round

What a weekend that was in Cardiff, matchday morning everything felt right, walking up to the ground I knew it was our day.  

[Boro v Huddersfield 1-1 (Hackney)]

I think we'll edge this today I'm going for a 2-1 win, we must get our season on track, we can't afford to play catch up, even at this early stage.

[Coventry v Boro 3-0]

Dreadfu performance,,  we haven't come anywhere near to replacing the quality of the loan signings that we had from last season, and there lies the problem. The squad is a lot weaker its as simple as that.

[BORO v Coventry - Semi Final 2nd Leg 0-1]

21 hours ago, tmcc said:

the form was our worst, but relatively wasn't that bad still 2 wins 2 defeats and 1 draw.  i don't doubt it played a part, but i don't feel it was the key factor as i feel we let our foot of the gas abit once playoffs were secure and we knew we couldn't get autos.

we changed our style which i feel hampered us more than form, in the first leg for example, we were happy to play for the draw. against no side this season have we ever played for a draw. we've got out to win in every game in the regular season. We only had 5 total shots in the first leg , our lowest number of shots in any game this season. 

 

I honestly can't see how we were playing for a draw in the 1st leg, 1st half for instance Akpom's effort deflected onto the post, Jones goal disallowed for offside, Coventry couldn't get the ball off us, both Giles and Jones were trying to create from both wings, and Akpom missed a great chance early on in the 2nd half with a header. Both sides were poor 1st leg, 2nd half, they cancelled each other out, and as the half progressed it petered out, but us playing for a draw not for me.

[BORO v Coventry - Semi Final 2nd Leg 0-1]

3 minutes ago, tmcc said:

id argue we didn't handle the pressure of the big game,

we didn't play our usual style and were very reserved (compared to our usual style) over both legs. were a free-flowing attacking team and we were restricted to 3 shots on target over 180 mins of football. also, we were the only team across all league playoffs games this year not to score.
 

for one of the 2nd most prolific scoring sides in the league to not find a goal over 180 mins of football is a huge disappointment. to sum up how poor that is, the last time a team didn't score over two legs in the playoffs was also back in 2018 under Pulis. in fact, were the only side in the last 10 championship playoffs not scoring over two legs, and we've done it twice. 

whether id go as far as bottling, im still not sure, but we definitely blew a great chance to get to the playoff final with two lackluster performances. and to have not scored a single goal now in our last 5 playoff (including the final) games is becoming a worrying pattern. 

 

I'm not so sure it was the pressure of the big game, I'd argue we went into the play offs in our worst form of the season since Carrick took over, that was my take on it.The other 3 sides in the play offs were in good form.    

[2023 Summer Transfer Window Post Mortem]

22 minutes ago, Rob said:

jones isnt going to the premier league, and there is no guarantee's that he wants to sell him anyways, if a decent offer come in if it was me I'd potentially let him go if we can get better in , but that offer might not be there that makes it worth while and if he's not a regulary starter then he is still good enough for a squad member and think he will be pretty cheap in the wages department

It was Phil Jones, he's leaving Man U and apparently wants to take time to weigh up his options.  

[2023 Summer Transfer Window Post Mortem]

13 minutes ago, "KM" said:

I think Carrick knows all about Jones without a chat.

Yeh, so Carrick will know whether Jones sees his next move looking for another Premier club or playing in the championship, without a chat, fair enough.   

[2023 Summer Transfer Window Post Mortem]

3 minutes ago, p_mards said:

Failing in the play-offs feels all the more saddening because it's clear to the fans and players alike that we were more than capable of promotion this season. I'm imagining Carrick will use that hurt to create a bonding effect among the players with the aim of starting next season with a focus and a fire in them. The first thing we need to do is settle down Carrick's future, so hopefully Gibson, Bauser and Scott can have talks with Carrick about next seasons budget and plan, and maybe even get Carrick signing a new contract to commit his future here. I'm assuming that'll have a domino effect of giving Akpom the security he will want to sign a new long-term deal. Getting them two tied down will help create a positivity again, and importantly show other transfer targets that the key elements of this season are staying so we're building from a strong core of the Championship's top scorer and an excellent manager. 

There's room for improvement in most positions, and we're going to only have a certain budget so will need to prioritise so won't be able to improve every areas. I see the rough base to build around being something like: GK; Smith, McNair, Lenihan, LB; RW, Barlaser, Hackney, McGree; Akpom, ST. Though, there's room for improvement in RB and CB if our budget can cover that far - which likely depends on if the likes of Dijksteel, McNair and Fry are sold. Other squad players like Bola and Crooks look highly likely to leave also. As Jones is best as a wingback, not as a RW, I wouldn't be surprised to see us cash in on him also.

While I'd love us to re-sign the likes of Steffen, Giles, Ramsey and Archer, I just can't see many of them returning as the market forces are against most of their return. I think either the players will have more attractive options willing to pay high transfer fees or we'll prefer similar quality players that are better value for money. Archer will surely have Premier League interest so will likely be a huge no-go for us unfortunately. While Steffen is supposedly willing to take a wage drop, I think for his reduced wages and transfer fee we'll be able to find better value for money - someone like James Trafford on loan from Man City would be ideal. Similarly, if Wolves want too much for Giles then I'd be happy for us to look elsewhere, such as Ryan Manning on a free transfer, as it'll be a far better use or resources. After the full-time whistle last night I noticed Giles looking towards the North Stand and pointing to the Boro badge on his shirt so it looks like he's wanting to stay. The most likely to return will probably be Ramsey as he's still at the stage where he needs regular starts in the Championship and his club aren't going to want to sell him. He just needs to play games and avoid injury at this stage in his career. Even if we don't sign the loan players then we'll surely be wanting players with a very similar skill set to what they provided in their roles. Given our attractiveness to potential signings, and our recent recruitment success recently under Scott, I'm confident that we'll be able to have a successful summer transfer window - even without spending a huge amount of money. Aside from the relegated Premier League clubs throwing money about, we should still have an excellent chance of signing the better players looking to move for footballing reasons as we were the second top scorers in the Championship, our style of play is the sort that footballers love to play in and we have Carrick who has a tremendous reputation. In particular, our success with our young loan singings of Giles, Ramsey and Archer will boost our chances of winning the race for highly sort after young Premier League players.

The thought of playing under a young manager like Carrick and the amount of goals we scored and the style of football Carrick likes to play is very appealing to any player. I think the future looks very rosy indeed.

[2023 Summer Transfer Window Post Mortem]

1 minute ago, estonpidge said:

Pay as you play deal, I'd be ok with.

Don't think he'd accept that, but I'm on the same page as you, no doubt quality in the Champo but his injury record not good.