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Birmingham v Boro 0-2 (Connolly, Balogun)


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191614522_BrumvBoroMDTHeader.png.2be4f436c99aaf0c0d4be32417078d17.png

 

Introduction

Oh dear...brace yourselves folks. Things have apparently got so bad that DS has asked me to do another MDT. As you know, to quote @TheJew when this happens, "defeat is inevitable". @Weasel was originally lined up to do this thread, but wisely left it very late to show up, so he could get to do the Cup thread against Chelsea instead...smart cookie! 🤓

Last Time Out

Unless anyone has developed amnesia, you'll recall Boro's last outing against a scrappy...some might even say "dirty" Millwall side, saw a performance that wasn't great...but also wasn't terrible either. A significant improvement over previous away games. We managed to exert a degree of control and created a few good chances. Defensively we were reasonably sound, though we needed Lumley to pull off a pretty nice save, plus the assistance of the woodwork, to keep a clean sheet. Up front our attack continued to fire as many blanks as an Army training exercise.

Brum similarly struggled to a goalless draw at home to the mighty Hull. Which does give us grounds for hope. I mean, we are better than Hull, right?

The Game

Birmingham haven't had the best of seasons and are in a distinctly below-average run of form. However, they are 16 points clear of the relegation zone and don't look like being dragged into a scrap for survival. The best they can hope for is mid-table mediocrity, so hopefully their motivation isn't especially high.

Boro's poor away form has repeatedly thwarted their efforts to cement a place in the play-offs. However we are still (somehow) only a point off the top 6, so its still a very real possibility...though the 2 teams ahead of us - Luton and QPR - have a game in hand. Hopefully this will give the lads all the motivation they need to build on the Millwall performance and go for all 3 points.

Head 2 Head

I'm worried I've somehow read the figures wrong, as we apparently do far better against Brum at St Andrews, than at the Riverside. That can't be right, surely?

Overall:     W47 D36 L37

Home:      W14 D20 L26

Away:       W33 D16 L11

Boro's last 10 trips to Birmingham, stretching back to Boxing Day 2007, have brought the following results: W4 D3 L3. So no real indicators of what to expect there. The hosts' home form this season has been decent, if not great, while Boro's travails on the road are only too well known. It'll be interesting to see whether historical or current form prevail.

Birmingham Home: W6 D4 L6

Boro Away:              W4 D4 L8

View From the Other Side

Had a look at a few forums, but only one currently has a matchday thread started. They can't spell Boro properly but they do know our other nickname.

https://wewilljourneyon.proboards.com/thread/6367/middlesbrough-home-prediction-thread?page=1&scrollTo=112494

https://forum.wearebirmingham.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=e52a9f20cf338c73c9ce375a5890e9fc

Questions

1. Can Boro build on their performance from the Millwall game and bring home all 3 points...or will they leave St Andrews with a case of the Blues?

2. Changes, preferred starting XI?

3. Score prediction?

4. Does anyone know any decent strikers we could realistically sign?

5. Should Wilder start using Crooks up front and make Connolly an attacking midfielder?

6. Should Birmingham change their name back to Small Heath?

 

 

 

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Well my grandson has made his appearance and though I am clutching at straws I hope this coincides with a Boro win tonight

With no context boy does that look bad 😂

I need a win tonight.    It's been a horrible day.  My cat died of a sudden heart attack less than 5 hours ago. 

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If we lose then they have done the double over us therefore this equals "must not lose" simply for prides sake.

To know we have Peterborough next on our travels and also next league game Boro have to stop the rot on our road trip to hell!

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2 hours ago, Alves car salesman said:

I feel like we never do well at St Andrew’s so not expecting much and think some players minds wrongly could be on the weekend and the glamour tie against Chelsea! 

Thats the other thing I forgot to mention. Will we see a repeat of the Barnsley performance, where minds appeared to be wandering to the Spurs game...or at least weren't focused on the job in hand?

 

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Really hope we can win this game so we can go in to international break with the away day monkey of our back.

Lumley

Dijk Fry Paddy

Jones Crooks Howson Tav Bola

Sporar Balogun

 

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10 minutes ago, TheJew said:

Defeat is inevitable blah blah blah.

Hernandez scores at least 1 and highlights our January failings.

 

Ah come on @TheJew we rely on you being far more enthusiastic than blah blah blah 🤷‍♂️
 

Come on man you can do a lot better with your negativity 😃

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A win, now there's a thing, at Birmingham will make the table even more interesting for this yo-yo top half of the table.

Bmouth V Reading

WBA V Fulham

Luton V PNE

Coventry V Hull

Millwall V Huddersfield

Blackpool V SU

Forest V QPR

Cardiff V Stoke

There are other games but the above are the current games of interest

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Very important game this. Best hope we pick up a win on tuesday to take off some pressure before the "free game" against Chelsea. After that we have 2 weeks rest which should do the team really well and set us up for a busy end to the season with 9 league games inside 5 weeks plus potential play off games. We really need to get Bola and McGree fit at least and hope for Payero to come in and some quality from the bench in the last games.

I hope Wilder and the players are ready to show that the recent away games are a thing of the past now, and that we are ready to lead a charge for the play offs. Plenty of rivals are going to pick up points. I expect both Luton and Coventry to win and Forest/QPR will pick up at least a point. A win here would be massive as both Sheffield and QPR have easy games at the weekend where they will be expecting three points and we're not playing, so we don't want to have to play too much catch up.

I think we are going to win this one 2-1. Tav and Crooks to score.

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2 minutes ago, Borodane said:

Very important game this. Best hope we pick up a win on tuesday to take off some pressure before the "free game" against Chelsea. After that we have 2 weeks rest which should do the team really well and set us up for a busy end to the season with 9 league games inside 5 weeks plus potential play off games. We really need to get Bola and McGree fit at least and hope for Payero to come in and some quality from the bench in the last games.

I hope Wilder and the players are ready to show that the recent away games are a thing of the past now, and that we are ready to lead a charge for the play offs. Plenty of rivals are going to pick up points. I expect both Luton and Coventry to win and Forest/QPR will pick up at least a point. A win here would be massive as both Sheffield and QPR have easy games at the weekend where they will be expecting three points and we're not playing, so we don't want to have to play too much catch up.

I think we are going to win this one 2-1. Tav and Crooks to score.

It'll be bloody typical if McGree is better just in time fly to the other side of the world and be run into the ground by Australia. And no doubt Paddy will play 90+ mins in both of NI's friendlies. Sporar and maybe Connolly away too?

Rest of them will hopefully get some much needed time on the training ground with Wilder and his team. Get the midfield rested up. Work on shape with Bola who has been out. 

Calling it now... We'll have a good April. A win against Brum would set it up perfectly. 

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14 hours ago, TLF10 said:

Really hope we can win this game so we can go in to international break with the away day monkey of our back.

Lumley

Dijk Fry Paddy

Jones Crooks Howson Tav Bola

Sporar Balogun

 

I'd go with this. I'm not sure how Physical Birmingham are but if they aren't I'd be tempted to drop Crooks for Boyd Munce. He's impressed me when he's played and Crooks has been pretty awful for a while now. 

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27 minutes ago, SouthernSmoggie said:

It'll be bloody typical if McGree is better just in time fly to the other side of the world and be run into the ground by Australia. And no doubt Paddy will play 90+ mins in both of NI's friendlies. Sporar and maybe Connolly away too?

Rest of them will hopefully get some much needed time on the training ground with Wilder and his team. Get the midfield rested up. Work on shape with Bola who has been out. 

Calling it now... We'll have a good April. A win against Brum would set it up perfectly. 

CW mentioned he did not expect McGree to be ready until after the IB but would that also mean he would not be ready or Aussie matches, I hope he stays here working on his fitness tbh

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