Boro v Chelsea (FA Cup QF) 0-2

[sanddancer 1,967]

35 minutes ago, Will said:

He has to be negative about something, it's his nature.

Will can’t help yourself can you. Do you feel comfortable slagging people off hiding in a pack. Come on be a man and stand up for yourself, counter the post and justify your statement..  

[kentucky 341]

Wilder keeps mentioning getting better players in, that says it all, he knows the kind of quality needed going forward , the team now is what it is, and have done well , but you have to look forward , a goalkeeper , two centre backs, two in midfield , and three strikers, I doubt we will get them, but I'll bet eighteen months from now , the squad will be nothing like it is now.

[Changing Times 12,347]

2 hours ago, Foxtrot Oscar Colin said:

I think that's the backbone of a very good championship team and I don't think we will see too many changes to first 11 unless prem teams come sniffing around some of them.

I hope that you're wrong about that.  I reckon we need at least 5 changes to the starting XI - Two strikers, one in midfield, one left sided player, and a GK.  That's half a team right there, and that doesn't take into account players lost because someone above us wants them nor does it take into account other changes we may want to make, such as a left footed central defender.

[Redcar Rioja 5,979]

1 hour ago, Changing Times said:

I hope that you're wrong about that.  I reckon we need at least 5 changes to the starting XI - Two strikers, one in midfield, one left sided player, and a GK.  That's half a team right there, and that doesn't take into account players lost because someone above us wants them nor does it take into account other changes we may want to make, such as a left footed central defender.

Definitely two Strikers needed and that's before we consider who will still be here. It's likely Ikpeazu will be gone along with Sporar, Balogun and Connolly. Watmore struggles for full fitness and Coburn may be sent out on loan although I'd prefer him to stay and be utilised. That may mean as many as four Strikers coming in but I'd wager two as an absolute minimum and likely three. 

Midfield may be decimated if Tav goes and Howson isn't offered a new deal and arguably it's maybe time to move on from each other. The Jury is still out on Payero and it looks like we need competition for Crooks or even an upgrade. None of us know what's going on with McGree but hopefully he will come through.

At the back I'd be happy to offer Sol another 12 months but look to move on from Peltier and Taylor. A left sided CB is a must along with another LWB for competition to Bola. Hopefully we hang onto Jones but none of us would be surprised if we accepted a stupid offer for the lad. I wouldn't be surprised to see Dijksteel used to replace Jones with McNair moving across to RCB with a new LCB (the lad from Rangers?) coming in. I don't think Wood is anywhere near ready and needs a loan somewhere so maybe we will see another CB arriving if Hall is seen as surplus which seems likely.

In Goal, Lumley seems to have improved of late (Chelsea's second goal aside) but for me he has improved to the point of being an understudy rather than first choice. Brynn seems to be an enigma and I'm guessing we won't see Stojanovic again on Teesside so another Keeper is odds on with Daniels thanked but despatched. 

That means at least six but maybe eight new faces arriving who will take time to settle and blend so we may not see the start that we hope for next season until the Autumn kicks in. Then of course what happens if we actually go up through the Play Offs which puts an entirely different perspective on everything!

[Foxtrot Oscar Colin 607]

4 hours ago, sanddancer said:

I said I don’t expect to see many of the faces we see today. Loans will leave and new keepers and fwd line. Signings and cover required for DEF, MID & WB, 

Aye Fair enough I must have misunderstood your original post 

[Foxtrot Oscar Colin 607]

3 hours ago, Changing Times said:

I hope that you're wrong about that.  I reckon we need at least 5 changes to the starting XI - Two strikers, one in midfield, one left sided player, and a GK.  That's half a team right there, and that doesn't take into account players lost because someone above us wants them nor does it take into account other changes we may want to make, such as a left footed central defender.

I think he will move mcnair into midfield once a new cb is signed. Defo a new gk, new lwb and two Strikers although I hope coburn can nail down a starting spot regularly next season. Coulson should also be brought into squad.

We can't lose sight of the fact that all of our valuable players are academy/ youngsters who we have brought through and given chances to. For me coburn, wood and Brynn need to be playing games next season. We need to balance out signing a few for the here and now and making sure there's a pathway for those lads to also be getting games and we still finish top 6. That's the challenge for wilder imo.

[Bruce 1,565]

Assuming that we are in the Championship, that the only player we sell is Spence and that all the loan players go home, I'm not convinced that we have a lot of money to play with.

I'm not convinced that Lumley will be replaced unless we get a really good loan deal because I think it might be hard to afford an upgrade.

I suspect that a left-footed CB is #1 or #2 on the priority list. If the incomer is better in that position than McNair then maybe McNair replaces Howson. 

Obviously strikers remain a problem. Wilder does play his cards close to his chest. Generally though, if he's supportive about a player in public it means that unless the player improves, he's out. I'm sure he's disappointed with Connolly, Sporar and Balogun but he does have very specific needs from a striker. Probably the key thing is how Coburn develops over the summer and how much playing time we can get out of Watmore. I think he'll resign Balogun on loan if he can and hope to buy someone with money saved from losing Sporar & Uche. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Payero depart if we can get our money back on him. 

Left wing-back will depend on whether it looks like Bola can stay mostly injury-free. If not, he will need to recruit a 1st choice, otherwise he may look for a back-up. I don't see Taylor staying.

I can see one of Bamba or Peltier staying because we don't have back-up for Fry and would need to buy or loan someone. I also see us attempting to keep Howson though maybe more as back-up to McNair if McNair moves out of defence. I don't think Crooks can play Howson's role because it demands constant running for 90 minutes and Crooks has the wrong build for it.

Overall, I see us looking for two first choice players: a left-sided CB and striker. The rest looks likely to be about squad depth and maybe a new 1st choice keeper.

GK: Lumley, A. N. Other, U23

Centre-backs. Dijksteel, Fry, LCB, McNair, Bamba, A. N. Other/U23/Peltier

RWB: Jones, A. N. Other/U23

LWB: Bola, A.N. Other/U23

Midfield: Crooks, Howson, Tav, [Payero/A.N. Other], McGree, Boyd Munce/A.N. Other

Strikers: A.N. Other, Balogun, Watmore, Coburn, A.N.Other/U23

[sanddancer 1,967]

8 hours ago, Bruce said:

Assuming that we are in the Championship, that the only player we sell is Spence and that all the loan players go home, I'm not convinced that we have a lot of money to play with.

I'm not convinced that Lumley will be replaced unless we get a really good loan deal because I think it might be hard to afford an upgrade.

I suspect that a left-footed CB is #1 or #2 on the priority list. If the incomer is better in that position than McNair then maybe McNair replaces Howson. 

Obviously strikers remain a problem. Wilder does play his cards close to his chest. Generally though, if he's supportive about a player in public it means that unless the player improves, he's out. I'm sure he's disappointed with Connolly, Sporar and Balogun but he does have very specific needs from a striker. Probably the key thing is how Coburn develops over the summer and how much playing time we can get out of Watmore. I think he'll resign Balogun on loan if he can and hope to buy someone with money saved from losing Sporar & Uche. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Payero depart if we can get our money back on him. 

Left wing-back will depend on whether it looks like Bola can stay mostly injury-free. If not, he will need to recruit a 1st choice, otherwise he may look for a back-up. I don't see Taylor staying.

I can see one of Bamba or Peltier staying because we don't have back-up for Fry and would need to buy or loan someone. I also see us attempting to keep Howson though maybe more as back-up to McNair if McNair moves out of defence. I don't think Crooks can play Howson's role because it demands constant running for 90 minutes and Crooks has the wrong build for it.

Overall, I see us looking for two first choice players: a left-sided CB and striker. The rest looks likely to be about squad depth and maybe a new 1st choice keeper.

GK: Lumley, A. N. Other, U23

Centre-backs. Dijksteel, Fry, LCB, McNair, Bamba, A. N. Other/U23/Peltier

RWB: Jones, A. N. Other/U23

LWB: Bola, A.N. Other/U23

Midfield: Crooks, Howson, Tav, [Payero/A.N. Other], McGree, Boyd Munce/A.N. Other

Strikers: A.N. Other, Balogun, Watmore, Coburn, A.N.Other/U23

Bruce a good logical post and I would suggest the task of wholesale change is enormous, disrupting and probably unachievable in the time frame. The next season challenge is the need to be quick out the blocks and collecting points, not gelling players.
I believe we will release those that haven’t performed or don’t fit into CW plans. We can’t remain one dimensional and there is a need for strikers and strengthening the left side. Wonder how many points we could gain if we added some height to the squad?  I also think we lack numbers and need some quility in squad depth, but how much movement we witness is down to cost and market availability.    

[Foxtrot Oscar Colin 607]

9 hours ago, Bruce said:

Assuming that we are in the Championship, that the only player we sell is Spence and that all the loan players go home, I'm not convinced that we have a lot of money to play with.

I'm not convinced that Lumley will be replaced unless we get a really good loan deal because I think it might be hard to afford an upgrade.

I suspect that a left-footed CB is #1 or #2 on the priority list. If the incomer is better in that position than McNair then maybe McNair replaces Howson. 

Obviously strikers remain a problem. Wilder does play his cards close to his chest. Generally though, if he's supportive about a player in public it means that unless the player improves, he's out. I'm sure he's disappointed with Connolly, Sporar and Balogun but he does have very specific needs from a striker. Probably the key thing is how Coburn develops over the summer and how much playing time we can get out of Watmore. I think he'll resign Balogun on loan if he can and hope to buy someone with money saved from losing Sporar & Uche. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Payero depart if we can get our money back on him. 

Left wing-back will depend on whether it looks like Bola can stay mostly injury-free. If not, he will need to recruit a 1st choice, otherwise he may look for a back-up. I don't see Taylor staying.

I can see one of Bamba or Peltier staying because we don't have back-up for Fry and would need to buy or loan someone. I also see us attempting to keep Howson though maybe more as back-up to McNair if McNair moves out of defence. I don't think Crooks can play Howson's role because it demands constant running for 90 minutes and Crooks has the wrong build for it.

Overall, I see us looking for two first choice players: a left-sided CB and striker. The rest looks likely to be about squad depth and maybe a new 1st choice keeper.

GK: Lumley, A. N. Other, U23

Centre-backs. Dijksteel, Fry, LCB, McNair, Bamba, A. N. Other/U23/Peltier

RWB: Jones, A. N. Other/U23

LWB: Bola, A.N. Other/U23

Midfield: Crooks, Howson, Tav, [Payero/A.N. Other], McGree, Boyd Munce/A.N. Other

Strikers: A.N. Other, Balogun, Watmore, Coburn, A.N.Other/U23

The thing is you don't need to be spending fortunes in the championship to build a good side you just need a good scouting system that know the exact sort of players suit your system.

Our best recent signings 

Crooks, Dijksteel, Jones, Spence, Bola 

Theres half a team of good/top championship players for around 2.5 million. 

Then you look at the likes of sporar 7mil euros, Connolly would probably be in the region of 3-4mil. Siliki? Those sort of players cost more on their own and they are fairly/very poor. There's no reason we can't sign players in the positions we need and have a chunk left over from the spence transfer if Keiron Scott knows what hes doing. It seems like as a club we are always wanting to make statement signings and they never really work out and end up biting us in the end. 

[Bruce 1,565]

31 minutes ago, Foxtrot Oscar Colin said:

The thing is you don't need to be spending fortunes in the championship to build a good side you just need a good scouting system that know the exact sort of players suit your system.

Our best recent signings 

Crooks, Dijksteel, Jones, Spence, Bola 

Theres half a team of good/top championship players for around 2.5 million. 

Then you look at the likes of sporar 7mil euros, Connolly would probably be in the region of 3-4mil. Siliki? Those sort of players cost more on their own and they are fairly/very poor. There's no reason we can't sign players in the positions we need and have a chunk left over from the spence transfer if Keiron Scott knows what hes doing. It seems like as a club we are always wanting to make statement signings and they never really work out and end up biting us in the end. 

I agree but with a caveat. Dijksteel, Jones, Bola and Spence all took at least 12 months from signing to come good. Crooks was the exception but he was, I think, Rotherham's player of the season after a year in the Championship so he was as close to a sure bet as you can get in the Championship.

I agree that we have a bad habit of making failed statement signings. If Payero stays and gets over his run of bad luck he could come good next year but in many ways, blowing pretty much our entire transfer budget on him was a vanity move. Lea Siliki was a waste of money, Sporar looks like the latest in a long line of forwards who have failed with us.

My personal feeling is that Wilder will try to minimise the changes for the first 11 but fill in the gaps in the squad. Realistically that means a striker and either left-footed centre back with McNair moving into midfield or a central midfielder. Most of the churn may be beneath the surface as it were.

Outs: Spence, Sporar, Uche, Lea-Siliki, Daniels/Lumley/Brynn, Taylor, Akpom, Coulson, Olosunya, Wood, Hall (and pretty much all the U23s currently out on loan except Kavanagh and Fletcher)

Uncertain: Payero, Connolly, Peltier, Bamba

Returns/extensions: Balogun, Howson

That's a huge purge but most of it is deadwood. If that many do leave it's also a statement on our shoddy recruitment since the Unhappy Monkdays. 

[Humpty 3,261]

I wasn’t particularly impressed with our showing. I thought we were 6/10 all over the park and as a result Chelsea never got out of 1st gear. It’s not hugely surprising though, we’re Championship club that struggles with consistency. I also think we lacked a bit of punch possibly because physiologically we’d played on edge against United and then Spurs and quite possibly complacency kicked in against Chelsea. Genuinely believe had we beat Championship sides to get to the quarters and then played Chelsea, we fly into that game at 110 mph. That gets the crowd going (because it was flat to start with) and the game pans out a little differently.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Humpty

[Barnaby 957]

On 3/20/2022 at 10:48 AM, Aphex_Boro said:

Give me a lifetime of supporting a mediocre team all day long instead of sharing a club with clowns like that

Plastic fans every where lol

[Barnaby 957]

5 hours ago, Humpty said:

I wasn’t particularly impressed with our showing. I thought we were 6/10 all over the park and as a result Chelsea never got out of 1st gear. It’s not hugely surprising though, we’re Championship club that struggles with consistency. I also think we lacked a bit of punch possibly because physiologically we’d played on edge against United and then Spurs and quite possibly complacency kicked in against Chelsea. Genuinely believe had we beat Championship sides to get to the quarters and then played Chelsea, we fly into that game at 110 mph. That gets the crowd going (because it was flat to start with) and the game pans out a little differently.

I think it was more Chelsea took the match more seriously after watching Man U & Spurs get dumped I thought it was closer than the 2-0 Still onwards & upwards

[ChipBarrington 315]

Thought our performance was ok, we just came up against a world class team - individually and as the unit they play in. From TV, the fans in the stadium did us proud (I persoanlly didnt hear any rent boy chants).

 I honestly think the perfect striker for our system would be promotion season Negredo.

[Changing Times 12,347]

22 minutes ago, ChipBarrington said:

Thought our performance was ok, we just came up against a world class team - individually and as the unit they play in. From TV, the fans in the stadium did us proud (I persoanlly didnt hear any rent boy chants).

 I honestly think the perfect striker for our system would be promotion season Negredo.

Do you mean Stuani?