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Date: Saturday 20th March

Venue: The New Den, Millwall

Kick off: 1500hrs or 3pm if you prefer

Live stream cover: MFC TV or any illegal stream you can find

Introduction

The staff and players of Millwall FC welcome the staff and players of Middlesbrough FC to their ground for the 38th game of the 2020/2021season, the battle of the Lions in the Lions Den but will our Lions overcome their Lions and certainly there will be pride at stake (get it?) for both teams to achieve a win.

Millwall come into this game following an away defeat to QPR yesterday having been 2-0 up but eventaully losing 3-2 which must of hurt their pride!

Boro come into this game with their pride intact following a slightly lady luck win against PNE but based on a solid performance.

So whose roar will be the loudest come 5pm on Saturday, Roaries or their Lion (if he has a name)?

Boro sitting in 8th spot with 56 points will remain in 8th spot even with a win as goal difference against Bournemouth is too much to overtake and with Bournemouth playing Southampton in the QF of the FA Cup they will then have a gih over Boro making our next game against Bournemouth very interesting indeed.

Millwall currently in 10th spot with 49 points can not catch Boro up nor indeed Cardiff however Millwall have conceded fewer goals than Boro, 36 to our 38 but scored 9 goals less than us so far (+1 Millwall compared to +8 for Boro).

Current Form Millwall v Boro (last 6)

Millwall LWLWLD

Boro WWLWDL

Last 6 games between both clubs

Boro WWDDDW  Millwall LLDDDL

So our pride of Lions has the advantage recently and we need this to continue.

Other games of interest

Bournemouth as we know play in the FA Cup but those with still a glmmer of hope of continuing catch up can keep an eye on the following:

Brentford V Forest

Watford V Birmingham

Norwich V Blackburn

Barnsley V Sheffield Wednesday

Reading V QPR

Swansea V Cardiff

What will the gaffer do and other talking points

With his latest FA charge to be answered later will the boss decide to maintain the set of players who have been part of the recent wins?

Will Paddy be available and your preferred starting 11?

Will Britt be ever seen again in a Boro shirt?

We know Millwall will be of for a quick start should we do the same and try and score as early as possible?

Is this classed as a "must win" game?

Is there still hope in view of other fixtures?

Will our Irish forum members derail this thread in such an unusual manner as the Preston thread?

If so who will be the main instigator and will Smogdane follow suit?

Fact the PNE thread will be archived today to end this "tomfoolery"😑

Is this a good time for the IB (especially if we were to win?

A view from Downsouth

Well I will be honest and mention that I hope to be one of the few authors to achieve 3 winning threads on the spin and to author the Bournemouth game on April the 2nd so yes I am being selfish but for all the right reasons

It's a hard call this game, yes we have the edge on them this season and over our last 6 games, but we all know that to continue this will be dependant on which Boro shows up.

In terms of progression I believe I am correct in stating that this game is probably the most important away game of the season so far lose this one and honestly all outside hopes will diminish rapidly.

We have seen some real improvement be it in spasms from Boro but we need it to all come together for us to be effective away from home.

I believe we can win this game but I would not be surprised to see this end up as a score draw.

Thank you all for your time in reading this thread, I hope you like the contents and the time and effort is takes to put this together, and for contributing yourself in what is a very important game for all of us.

Finally I hope I get the chance to author the Bournemouth thread as I will have just under 2 weeks to prepare for it.

Up the Boro!

 

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Date: Saturday 20th March Venue: The New Den, Millwall Kick off: 1500hrs or 3pm if you prefer Live stream cover: MFC TV or any illegal stream you can find Introduction The sta

Defeat is absolutely inevitable. No chance we win 3 in a row. None. The Boro will always let you down.

Found him! 🤣

Posted Images

2 minutes ago, Brunners said:

Uhoh I don't like the look of that recent Millwall form. That's got a W for them all over it with that pattern!

I noticed this too .. 

But hey we drew with Cardiff to end a win/lose streak. 

We can hope Millwall are off beat after that crazy QPR comeback

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Massive game win this and things will get interesting. Hopefully Tav and Fletcher are fit to start as I'd like to see us play. I do expect it to be a tight affair but predict we tire Millwall out before bringing on the cavalry in  Mendez, Watmore, Johnson and Saville to hit them with pace as we take a 2 nil win   

             Bettinali 

Fisher. Hall.  Fry.  Bola

       Morsey. Howson

Bolasie.     Tav.       Kebano 

               Fletcher 

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Need a win to keep within touching distance of the play offs. Every loss seems to take 2 or 3 wins to get us back up to where we were. 

Didn't realise how well Millwall had done this season, although they havent really got anything to play for now. Hopefully they take their foot off the gas (or the ball). 

2-0 Boro. Watmore and Akpom to score. 

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What will the gaffer do and other talking points

With his latest FA charge to be answered later will the boss decide to maintain the set of players who have been part of the recent wins?

As usual, I expect he'll use the squad to rotate out any players he feels look tired and in need of resting - or to suit whatever formation he goes with. The squad does feel like its starting to gel somewhat (finally) and just lately it doesn't seem to have affected our performances too much, when he has changed things up.

Will Paddy be available and your preferred starting 11?

I certainly hope so. We always seem to look a better team with him in and I think we'll need his skills in midfield against what is likely to be a stubborn Millwall team.

Will Britt be ever seen again in a Boro shirt?

Don't know and frankly don't care (probably only if all our other strikers are injured).

We know Millwall will be of for a quick start should we do the same and try and score as early as possible?

I think Neil will do what he does best. I'd prefer a balanced approach. Look for opportunities to score, but don't go mad. We're away from home, so hitting them on the break (which seems to suit us) should be our modus operandi. 

Is this classed as a "must win" game?

I suppose...if you're one of those that still believes...

Personally not for me. Though obviously a win would continue our momentum and help cement a positive team spirit.

Is there still hope in view of other fixtures?

Nope. Too much ground to make up. 5 points doesn't sound like much, but we need to win 2 more on the bounce and hope the teams above us lose their games. Which seems unlikely...

Will our Irish forum members derail this thread in such an unusual manner as the Preston thread?

I reckon they'll still be comatose from Wednesday...or else too hung over. 

If so who will be the main instigator and will Smogdane follow suit?

I'd have to go with Blanco. Our Danish contingent are known troublemakers, so probably... 😛

Is this a good time for the IB (especially if we were to win?

Whats an IB? 🤷‍♂️

 

This is going to be a tough game, though saying that Boro have a good recent record against Millwall. The last time we lost was during the 2017-18 season (2-1 defeat at The Den). So we should be looking for at least a draw, but a win is quite achievable.

On the flip side, Millwall will undoubtedly be out for revenge after we beat them comprehensively at the Riverside. Feeling fairly optimistic, so will go for a 2-1 win for Boro and for @Downsouth to get his hat-trick of winning threads. 🤞 The hosts are the league's draw specialists though, so a point wouldn't be a bad result.

 

Also just found out Millwall's mascot is Zampa the Lion (apparently named after one of the roads the stadium is located on. Also seems to have a missus / girlfrienhd (Zampetta? - sounds like an Italian scooter).

image.png.4adb3677ace16675461d11dd4eb7e277.png

Anyone know if Roary has a significant other?

image.png.d30bd340d5d9f8d176d11f334376cd1f.png

 

Edited by AnglianRed
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With his latest FA charge to be answered later will the boss decide to maintain the set of players who have been part of the recent wins?

I hope so. Stick with what works, build momentum and aim to send the players out onto the pitch with the self-belief they sorely lacked under Woodgate and Pulis.

Will Paddy be available and your preferred starting 11?

I don't think he will be fit to start, but hopefully Tav can come into midfield in his absence. I'd rather rest Paddy than risk a more serious injury.

Will Britt be ever seen again in a Boro shirt?

Unless he's Mr April in the 2021 Boro calendar, probably not!

We know Millwall will be of for a quick start should we do the same and try and score as early as possible?

We tend to start really slowly and lethargically, before growing into the game. Do that against a team like Millwall, and we could be a goal down before we start performing.

Is this classed as a "must win" game?

If we have any hopes of the play-offs, yes. If this is just being treated as groundwork for next season, then avoiding defeat is the main objective. Personally, I think we can sneak sixth place this season, but only if we play to win crunch games like this.

Is there still hope in view of other fixtures?

Lots of other teams will drop points, and there are plenty of top six-vs-top six games still to be played. Our run-in looks pretty straightforward if we can get over the recent trend of dropping points against easy teams, so I'd like to think we're in with a shout.

Will our Irish forum members derail this thread in such an unusual manner as the Preston thread?

I enjoyed the discussion about Guinness and water purity, but maybe that's because my dad was a water treatment engineer for most of his career, or maybe I'm just weird. Or both. But hey, it took the thread beyond 30 pages!

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Definitely a must win game, there are only 9 games left but that gap is still bridgable.

We can go level on points with Bournemouth, and at the very least keep pace with Reading and Barnsley.

I've got a feeling Barnsley will lose tomorrow too.

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On 3/18/2021 at 11:33 AM, Downsouth said:

With his latest FA charge to be answered later will the boss decide to maintain the set of players who have been part of the recent wins?

Makes sense to me. Tav and Fletch aside, I can't see much sense of changing much. The only reason I'd keep Akpom in the side is if we're at any stage convinced Fletch will leave.

Will Paddy be available and your preferred starting 11?

I never found out what his injury was so not sure. I'm always fond of the idea with playing 4-2-3-1 but sticking with the plan as we build momentum is a good idea.

Will Britt be ever seen again in a Boro shirt?

I hope not. Not out of any malice or hatred but I don't think he's motivated to succeed this season now and I'm not 100% convinced he's even our 2nd best striker either. Think it's time this story ended for the better of all parties and so long as it's not against us, I'll wish him all the best.

We know Millwall will be of for a quick start should we do the same and try and score as early as possible?

It's a tough one. Throwing caution to the wind at the same time as they do could be dangerous but if we sit back and soak up what they do for the first quarter of the game, we could end up in a position where we're constantly on the back foot. On the balance of it, I'd prefer we just go out to score.

Is this classed as a "must win" game?

I think they all are right now in order to keep faint play-off hopes alive. I don't think this game is special in any particular way, we just need points and we need them fast to build up the momentum a late push requires.

Is there still hope in view of other fixtures?

I don't think so, no. I think at this point we have to be something we've not been at any point in this season so far; consistent. We've had some individuals who have performed pretty consistently but it's rarely together as a unit.

 

😑 (can't get rid of this emoji on my phone...)

Is this a good time for the IB (especially if we were to win?

Nah not in any situation I don't think. If we win or even just simply put in a good performance, it's not good for us. Anything else and it's neither good nor bad. The points lost could be critical.

 

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Always a tough venue, but given the lack of crowds, it takes away from the home advantage. We will need to start with a higher tempo than the last couple of games, but I am sure we will be up for this challenge. Tav coming back in is key for me. I fancy us to sneak a 1-2 away win to keep the dream alive.

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