3 hours ago, TheJew said:

Ahead of Silvera, Greenwood and as much as it pains me, Jones and Rogers.

He's better than them all.

If he had played instead of Greenwood it would have made a massive difference. Especially as he wouldn't have been playing for Hudds.

He scores and creates, not just from crosses either. Check his offside finish.

He's scored 5 goals in his entire career mate.  I don't see that as much of a goalscorer really.  By way of a comparison, Greenwood has 5 for us this season, and Jones has 4.  He's definitely a creative player I know that but most of that creativity does come from crosses - 18 out of 26 career assists.  He has 7 goal involvements this season in 1900 mins, that's the same as Greenwood who has only played 1200 mins.  Rogers has 6 in just over a 1000 mins, Jones has 5 in 1650 mins, Crooks 9 in 1500 mins, Silvera 4 in just under 900 mins.  He's obviously playing for a worse team, which has to be factored in somehow, although it's difficult to quantify how much difference it makes exactly.  I really don't see how he'd have made a massive difference tonight for us though.  Who would he have been setting up with chances?  I suppose the argument would be Coburn after he came on but it's not like we had the ball a lot in attacking positions in the second half, and in the first half he'd have been trying to supply the same players we think played poorly.  I think he had a better game than a couple of ours did, I wouldn't dispute that, but ours have played much better games this season so it's like comparing a high point to a low point, which is never a very good comparison to make if you can help it.  Also, and I don't know how much this matters, only the manager and coaches at the club will know, but his overall game looks quite poor - he doesn't do a lot defensively, his passing accuracy is below all of our lot - maybe because he crosses quite a lot.  I dare say he'd be handy for set pieces but another attacking player who doesn't score that much himself feels like the least of our needs right now.

Edited December 30, 20232 yr by Changing Times

3 hours ago, LinoJo3 said:

Was it not him that was bursting through the middle and playing people in? For their one on one that glover saved, the chance where they hit the bar and their goal?

I confess I'd forgotten the one v one (the one in the first half I think you mean?), he did well for that one I agree.  Although I could be unkind and say that having to out sprint Howson and Barlaser probably helped but that was a nice ball through you are right.  The chance where he hit the bar was a nothing pass to me, any of our players could have done that, he picked up a loose ball and played a 15 yard pass to someone in at least 5 yards of space (because VDB wasn't concentrating again).  I really don't see that as anything even remotely special to be honest, it's basic stuff you'd expect from any professional let alone a Championship player.  As for the goal I think he gets lucky, he did burst through a bit mind, which was decent play, but he actually loses the ball, and they only score because Fry panics for some reason and screws up clearing it.  Would we be calling that good play if it was Silvera or Greenwood or Jones?  I feel like we wouldn't, in fact I'm fairly sure some people wouldn't.  Thomas had more touches than any of the attacking players on either side tonight but I don't think he stood out particularly other than that he crossed the ball an awful lot.  The best bit of play was arguably from Rogers, which to me was a better ball than either of the two passes highlighted. 

It sounds like I'm crapping on the lad but I'm not.  I quite like him, I think I may have mentioned about us signing him in the past actually  One thing I like is that he's both footed as far as I can tell, or at least comfortable enough with his weaker foot for it not to be much of a weakness.  But this feels like a situation that I've seen quite a bit where we play poorly and suddenly all our players are rubbish and everyone else's are better, which we know isn't really true.  I feel like Thomas would have been available in the summer if we'd been interested - I know he went out to Blackburn on loan last season for some reason - but we didn't go for him then and we signed players who to me are quite different in how they play so he wouldn't seem to be a natural fit for us but that's just my take on it.

6 hours ago, SimonD said:

Crooks? Yer getting old mate! 

Haha, yea, thats what three 12 hour shifts do for you, 😂

Engel for me has to be ahead of Bangura, especially after the cheating has appeared in his game, his constant running like bambi on ice, never seems to feel he has the ball under control & if the rumours are true regarding someone interested in him then get rid, dont want to see that side of the game at the Boro

Jones and Sorba Thomas are both the same age. Here's their respective Championship records.

Played 99 (7,293 mins), goals 8, assists 15, cards,  25 / - / -

Played 113 (8,444 mins), goals 5, assists 25, cards 24 / - / -

One is better with assists the other is better at scoring. 

28 minutes ago, Erimus74 said:

Engel for me has to be ahead of Bangura, especially after the cheating has appeared in his game, his constant running like bambi on ice, never seems to feel he has the ball under control & if the rumours are true regarding someone interested in him then get rid, dont want to see that side of the game at the Boro

I don't think Bangura can play for another team this season,  am pretty sure he played for the Dutch side before we bought him.

I think the issue with Thomas is that he always seems to be a stand out for the Terriers whenever we play them therefore as Boro fans he catches the eye and our opinions on the lad are emotive rather than rational. That said, from the little I've seen of him my gut instinct is that he could do well for us at this level but looking at his stats he seemingly saves it all up for when he plays against us!

On the Bangura topic, he as Hammy Legend mentioned above has played three times for Cambuur this season before coming to us so couldn't play for anyone else. Interestingly on checking that he has made 113 senior career appearances and scored 6 goals which straddles between Thomas' and Jones' stats from Bruce above.

Well the weekend has got off to a good start and as I am going to Newark tomorrow to see in New Year I am taking the opportunity to get to the Coventry game on Monday!

Sadly the miss has been classified as the "miss of the season" and I hope it does not affect Jones moving ahead, the lad has real talent and he needs to have the confidence to forget it and make amends for it next time he has a chance to score.

For the likes of @BoroAbroad and other members far far away please enjoy the highlights because a win is a win!🖐️

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/championship/13039304/huddersfield-town-1-2-middlesbrough-championship-highlights

8 minutes ago, Downsouth said:

Well the weekend has got off to a good start and as I am going to Newark tomorrow to see in New Year I am taking the opportunity to get to the Coventry game on Monday!

 

Does that take into account that the game is at Boro?

5 minutes ago, thatoldchestnut said:

Does that take into account that the game is at Boro?

Yes Newark kinda of being half way to Middlesbrough from where I live seems to be a perfect chance for me to get to Middlesbrough without driving for four hours or so the Match Day

And I did say get to the Coventry game😉

I’m going to stand up for Izzy on his miss. The highlights show an angle from behind the goal, and it’s either the spin or it hits a divet when it bounces just before he swiped as it changes direction massively and comes towards him. The main angle it looked like a horrible miss, but in actual fact it was a very hard thing to hit. Admittedly, just shielding it into the net would have been a better option. 

Howson’s penalty was actually very well struck, and also very well saved. As for his goal, well you can see why his doesn’t score many! 

A win’s a win, though!

33 minutes ago, Downsouth said:

Yes Newark kinda of being half way to Middlesbrough from where I live seems to be a perfect chance for me to get to Middlesbrough without driving for four hours or so the Match Day

And I did say get to the Coventry game😉

Sorry I was assuming too much. I never thought about Newark being closer for you than normal!

Had a family get together yesterday so missed the game. Far too lazy/hungover to read 49 pages (DS will be happy) 

could someone please give me a condensed rundown of the game please 🙏 

7 hours ago, Changing Times said:

He's scored 5 goals in his entire career mate.  I don't see that as much of a goalscorer really.  By way of a comparison, Greenwood has 5 for us this season, and Jones has 4.  He's definitely a creative player I know that but most of that creativity does come from crosses - 18 out of 26 career assists.  He has 7 goal involvements this season in 1900 mins, that's the same as Greenwood who has only played 1200 mins.  Rogers has 6 in just over a 1000 mins, Jones has 5 in 1650 mins, Crooks 9 in 1500 mins, Silvera 4 in just under 900 mins.  He's obviously playing for a worse team, which has to be factored in somehow, although it's difficult to quantify how much difference it makes exactly.  I really don't see how he'd have made a massive difference tonight for us though.  Who would he have been setting up with chances?  I suppose the argument would be Coburn after he came on but it's not like we had the ball a lot in attacking positions in the second half, and in the first half he'd have been trying to supply the same players we think played poorly.  I think he had a better game than a couple of ours did, I wouldn't dispute that, but ours have played much better games this season so it's like comparing a high point to a low point, which is never a very good comparison to make if you can help it.  Also, and I don't know how much this matters, only the manager and coaches at the club will know, but his overall game looks quite poor - he doesn't do a lot defensively, his passing accuracy is below all of our lot - maybe because he crosses quite a lot.  I dare say he'd be handy for set pieces but another attacking player who doesn't score that much himself feels like the least of our needs right now.

I see your points here, Young Sheldon - But don't forget that he plays in a very poor side. What I saw from him yesterday was more than enough to convince me, that he could thrive in a better team and his driving is so direct and "creative" (I lack words) that it would for sure create a lot of space for other players .. He is a handful and will draw a lot of attention from the opponent defense .. And oh boy could he hit a ball .. It was offside but that strike was phenomenal and you will NEVER se a Jones even getting close to something like that. 

We don't have many, if any, direct players and that is needed to create the space and keep the denders busy .. 

On a sidenote: 
When we play in small triangles over and over again, like was it a training ground drill between four cones, we need to take the long range shots once in a while to spice it all up .. It's far tooo easy to defend against, if the opponent knows for sure, that we won't take the odd shot .. 

3 minutes ago, Uwe said:

Had a family get together yesterday so missed the game. Far too lazy/hungover to read 49 pages (DS will be happy) 

could someone please give me a condensed rundown of the game please 🙏 

Paste it all into ChatGPT and ask for the key takeaways in no more than 5 bullet points