p_mards

We should still be in a decent financial position following our transfer business last summer of selling Tavernier and Spence. In January we were supposedly interested in a permanent deal for one of Ross Stewart or Cameron Archer - albeit not at the crazy prices banded about - and in the previous summer's transfer window we were very keen on Strand-Larsen who was going to cost around £9 million, and since then we haven't spent a huge amount apart from signing Barlaser and the loans of Ramsey and Archer - which was partially offset with selling Watmore. Considering that, alongside Gibson's prev

It's pretty unlikely but I think Jesse Lingard would be the ideal fit for our RW role and his quality will be a class above in the Championship. Last summer he got his move to Nottingham Forest massively wrong so hopefully he fancies playing under a coach like Carrick that he knows well.

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

Alex Neil seems to have called Sunderland's owners correctly from the start and rightly jumped ship to Stoke for a chairman with loyalty. If Sunderland sack Mowbray then I'm sure one of the relegated Premier League clubs will want him.

Lived between Marske and Redcar as a youngster but now live in Great Ayton.

I'm glad to see on Twitter that Red Faction and Boro fans in general are planning on bringing back the "oh Wilder said" chant, albeit tweaked with Carrick's name, for the game. It's by far our most atmospheric chant of recent years and it gets the whole stadium involved so will add an extra bit to what is already going to be an incredible atmosphere.

In the summer we'll need to find the right balance between signing players on permanent deals and leaving space in the squad to sign quality first-choice players on loan from the Premier League like Steffen, Giles, Ramsey and Archer. Ideally we'll be able to sign some of them players on permanent deals or loan deals if they're available and within our budget. A few names off the top of my head that tick a lot of boxes if we're still in the Championship are: GK: James Trafford (Man City) & Etienne Green (St Etienne). RB: Ki-Jana Hoever (Wolves), Cody Drameh (Leeds) & Kaine-Kesler H

Ahh, that's a shame about Forss. Seems like he's likely not coming back in time then. Given Ramsey and Forss are both seemingly out of the play-offs, our depth on the wings is a concern as we'll be very dependent on Jones and McGree keeping fit and performing well. Apologies, I meant Ramsey - not Archer.

I've just noticed that at the end of the Boro match highlights Forss, Fry and Howson went around the pitch after the match. I didn't notice Ramsey (*edit* not Archer) though. The only brief close up shots were of Forss and Fry (10:04 to 10:10); Fry seemed ok but Forss has a slight hobble. The shot of Howson was at a distance but I didn't notice any sort of hobble (10:10 to 10:15). According to fmttm, Forss was walking with a very noticeable hobble. Walking normally doesn't exactly prove they're anywhere near close, but a clear hobble would make their chances look incredibly slim. Did anyo

The comment about us playing a different formation against Coventry is very interesting. If it's true then I'm assuming it'll have to be a 3-5-2 formation, as it will be the best way to defend against the direct styles of play of the three teams that are most likely to finish in the play-off places: Luton, Coventry & Millwall. Them all playing largely the same direct style makes our preparation a lot more straightforward. Despite all the improvements we've made under Carrick, a major vulnerability of ours is the opposition using direct tactics of putting the ball over our fullback's should

I don’t follow fmttm much so don’t recognise the poster Carrickball as someone ITK. However, I’ve had a *stalkerish* scroll through his previous posts and he has said on previous occasions about having contacts such as: having a mate who works and travels with the team, knows someone who freelances to the clubs media department, Chuba lives in his brother-in-laws house, gave a specific date that Crooks had his hernia operation in Germany and gave a specific time that Carrick’s unveiling photos were going to be taken before he was announced as our manager.

Such a shame about Ramsey. So he was one that Carrick was referring to about not recovering in time for the play-offs. Hopefully the rest of the injured players have a chance of returning for the play-offs. We've got to hope that Jones' form maintains and Forss is close to a return; them two at RW are still great options. Jones' resurgence has came just at the right time. So long as we get McGree back for LW then we'll be fine on the flanks. Come the first leg of the semi-final, I'll be delighted if we can start with something like: Steffen; Dijksteel, Fry, Lenihan, Giles; Forss/Jones, H

This is what I read (albeit referring to NFL as football...) regarding the difference between a broken rib and a fractured rib: https://thedisabledlist.com/2008/how-do-broken-ribs-affect-football-players-jason-witten/#:~:text=If the rib is broken clean you’re not,will only cause a slight increase in pain. The key bit is: 1.) Is the rib broken or fractured? If the rib is broken clean you’re not going to be able to play. A fractured rib, though, will only cause a slight increase in pain. It's likely wrong going by what others have said. Maybe American terminology is different. L

I read somewhere that Smith's injury is to his ribs. A quick look on Google said footballers with broken ribs can't play but can still play if it's a fracture.

Carrick's post-match update regarding the injured players was very concerning. Assuming we finish 4th, we have 19 days until the first-leg, 22 days until the second-leg, and 32 days until the final, so even if some players miss the semi-finals hopefully some of them have a chance of recovering in time for the final. Going from Carrick's preferred starting 11, his favourite line-up seems to have 4 injury doubts: Steffen; Smith (doubt), McNair (doubt), Lenihan, Giles; Ramsey (doubt), Howson, Hackney, McGree (doubt); Akpom; Archer. Unfortunately, even the back-up options being injured of Fry

Decent night for us given we suffered no injuries, the patched up team performed well, had some impressive individual performances and the Boro players will be fired up with a grudge over cheating Luton... Considering that's the best Luton have up against our patched up team, we'll fancy our chances if we face them in the play-off final.

I agree, it's a strange area without a set criteria to follow. I'm assuming it's only an issue if a team complains. Equally, even if a team complains, it's incredibly difficult to prove. We should be ok tonight, but it's more risky against teams like Rotherham and Coventry who are in the relegation and play-off mix.

The Evening Gazette have just tweeted saying that it's a young squad that has travelled to Luton.

Burnley were recently reported to the EFL by Huddersfield for resting players against Reading, so we'll need to be clever if we're planning on resting players. Taking that into account, if we rest some players tonight then I don't think anyone will complain as we're the only team they're battling between 3rd and 4th with. Resting players for us will be more complicated against Rotherham (if they're still in the relegation battle when we face them) and Coventry, so tonight is probably the best opportunity to discreetly protect a few players. If we get to the final game of the season against Cov

We have 3 weeks until the first-leg of the semi-final and 5 weeks until the final, so hopefully that's enough time for our injured players of Smith, McNair, Fry, McGree, Ramsey and Forss to return. The way the club hasn't announced any injury timeframes is unusual and I'm pretty concerned about it. I hope the reason that the club haven't announced timeframes for any of them yet is because they want to keep the mood positive and not distract from the players who've stepped up well, and not because it's bad news in terms of their involvement in the play-offs. Smith and getting at least one of th

Hull looked a very good side in the first-half with their bravery and patience on the ball. It was starting to look like they were likely to do a job on us like Stoke did a few weeks ago until we exploded into life early in the second-half. Hull's Vaughan really caught my eye. His quality on the ball and his high energy made him incredibly difficult to deal with. For a diminutive and inexperienced youngster he was full of aggression, confidence and was very streetwise. I'm sure Carrick and Scott will have made a note of him afterwards as there's some great potential there. The high quali

The performance and result on Friday night was exactly what we needed to get ourselves going again. Hopefully the injuries to Ramsey, Forss, McGree and Fry aren't long-term issues, and they're all back before the end of the normal season. If none of them are back for tonight then it's likely going to be a patched up midfield of Hackney, Mowatt, Howson and Jones - which is a concern despite us coping well against Norwich. We're going to especially need Jones to perform well as we'll miss Ramsey's dynamism and flair. We might even see some academy wide players on the bench if none of the i

While we ideally want 3rd place in the play-offs for momentum and confidence that it will bring, finishing 4th will bring many of the same key benefits as we'll still have the home leg last and play one of the batch of teams between 5th and 12th currently - who all seem roughly the same level as each other. So long as we can finish 4th and wrap up our key players and injury doubts in cotton wool then I'll be satisfied. At present it looks like there isn't much between Millwall, Blackburn, Coventry, Preston, Sunderland, Norwich and West Brom so there isn't much to split them - aside from short

A great Athletic article on our youth recruitment in London (copied from the other site): Saturday afternoon in the north London postcode of N22: on White Hart Lane a steady stream of fans make their way to see Tottenham Hotspur versus Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Their path takes them past the New River Sports Centre where, unknown to all, a third major English club — who may be in the Premier League again next season — is studying a different kind of football. On fenced-in Astroturf, the teenagers of the MG Elite academy are pushing themselves in intense five and six-a-

I'm not expecting any changes from Carrick as I think he'll give the players the opportunity to bounce back after the Stoke disappointment. Preston have the 4th best away form in the Championship and are unbeaten in their last 7 matches so they'll rightly feel confident about their chances against us, particularly after our poor performance on Tuesday night against Stoke. Hopefully we have more firepower on the bench as our options on Tuesday were very weak, which made it incredibly difficult for us to get regain some sort of control of the game. Preston are a very physical and aggressiv