Downsouth 6,740 36.2k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Need a win and though we do not often win away at Preston think we might just do that however they may want to reverse the home result. Did MC have his presser yesterday? There seems to be some esculation in the rumour mill about him going to either West Ham or Palace. Will have to see what happens to Hodgson following lastnights defeat at Chelsea. Bit unsettling tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denzel Zanzibar 7,315 14.3k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Really CBA with this one. Preston owe us a spanking, think they'll beat us 3-0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnglianRed 6,500 15.8k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 1. Preston are in decent form right now, so I don't fancy our chances...even though the stats suggest their defence can be leaky. In their last 5 league games, they've beaten Bristol at home (which as you'll recall we just failed to do), narrowly lost at Leeds, drawn at Miwwaww, before beating Ipswich at home and Cardiff away. On top of that, Preston has historically not been a good place to visit for Boro. So I'm inclined to think we won't get anything from this. Prediction: Preston NE 2 - 1 Middlesbrough (Of course, now I've said that, Boro will doubtless pull a win out of the bag) 2. Preston seem to favour 3-5-2, so Carrick's preferred 4-2-3-1 might actually be the way to go, allowing us to match them in midfield (theoretically anyway). Only problem is we'll likely struggle to create chances. 3. Only if there's nothing better to do... 4. I'll see your "Meh" and raise you a... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsoncgp 9,488 19.5k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Usually all in for O'Brien but I think I'm actually gonna go for Howson this time. For me: Dieng Ayling Fry VDB Engel Howson Hackney Forss Azaz McGree Greenwood 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce 1,955 1.7k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 One of those matches where everything points to one result so, let's hope something random happens. Personally, assuming McGree isn't fit to start but Dieng is, I would rather go with a 3 man midfield and try and reduce the amount of shoe-horning going on. Dieng Ayling - Fry - Clarke - Thomas Hackney - Howson - O'Brien Silvera - Forss - Azaz It's a bit of a leap of faith with Thomas and O'Brien but you have to hope that they will do well and that leads to us retaining them next season. If we have to play 4-2-3-1 Carrick ball (which I think really isn't going to work at this level with this quality of player) then I guess my preference would be as below but we really need McGree to play because I don't think any of our other players can work as a roaming, wide #10. Greenwood hasn't done much wrong but he also hasn't done much right and seems to have suffered a catastrophic loss of confidence in front of goal. You could put O'Brien there but he would probably just take up space and tackle some people rather than doing anything with the role. Dieng Ayling - Fry - Clarke - Thomas Hackney - Howson Silvera - Azaz - Greenwood Forss Don't see how we can play 3 at the back because we don't have any fit wingbacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcar Rioja 6,776 6.6k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 2 hours ago, Downsouth said: Need a win and though we do not often win away at Preston think we might just do that however they may want to reverse the home result. Did MC have his presser yesterday? There seems to be some esculation in the rumour mill about him going to either West Ham or Palace. Will have to see what happens to Hodgson following lastnights defeat at Chelsea. Bit unsettling tbh I would hope that in 6 months time we aren't reading about MC having his head turned in January, Wilder style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borodane 6,815 26.5k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 2 hours ago, Downsouth said: Need a win and though we do not often win away at Preston think we might just do that however they may want to reverse the home result. Did MC have his presser yesterday? There seems to be some esculation in the rumour mill about him going to either West Ham or Palace. Will have to see what happens to Hodgson following lastnights defeat at Chelsea. Bit unsettling tbh I don't see any chance of a Prem team coming in for Carrick anytime soon. He is showing way too many flaws here for a Prem team to think it's a good idea and he is very inexperienced. Too much of a gamble. He's in no way or shape a Premier League manager. I reckon he'll sign a new contract because he's in a good place to learn. But we also need him to step up and quick. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erimus74 3,595 3.7k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 6 minutes ago, Borodane said: I don't see any chance of a Prem team coming in for Carrick anytime soon. He is showing way too many flaws here for a Prem team to think it's a good idea and he is very inexperienced. Too much of a gamble. He's in no way or shape a Premier League manager. I reckon he'll sign a new contract because he's in a good place to learn. But we also need him to step up and quick. Agree, the lads I sit with concerns that Carrick could be leaving us I think fingers crossed to further his career, he's best if signing a new contract & staying here, but agree again, the next 6 months are viral to see which way he'll be going mind 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borodane 6,815 26.5k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 12 minutes ago, Erimus74 said: Agree, the lads I sit with concerns that Carrick could be leaving us I think fingers crossed to further his career, he's best if signing a new contract & staying here, but agree again, the next 6 months are viral to see which way he'll be going mind I think managers like Mark Robins are Corberan er probably ahead of Carrick when bigger teams look towards the championship for the next manager. However I appreciate that Carrick has a bigger name due to his time as a player in the game, but as a manager he's probably still behind. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce 1,955 1.7k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 13 minutes ago, Borodane said: I think managers like Mark Robins are Corberan er probably ahead of Carrick when bigger teams look towards the championship for the next manager. However I appreciate that Carrick has a bigger name due to his time as a player in the game, but as a manager he's probably still behind. Not sure who the last Championship manager was to get appointed to a Premier league team. Nathan Jones perhaps? Frank Lampard sort of. There's not exactly much evidence of it happening. Championship managers seem to rely on getting promoted in order to manage in the Premier league. You can argue that McKenna and Carrick both coached at Man Utd but I don't see an established Premier league team taking a gamble on someone who has never managed in a major league. Carrick's 3 games don't count. I guess there's a slight chance that Carrick walks if he has a fall out with the club or feels he can't take us any other further but I see no signs of that. I see plenty of signs of the fanbase starting to get sceptical about Carrick but this is probably a fairly normal low point for a manager in their first job. I reckon odds are that Carrick will prove to be a top manager and that this season will be the making of him. Painful right now though. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borodane 6,815 26.5k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 32 minutes ago, Bruce said: Not sure who the last Championship manager was to get appointed to a Premier league team. Nathan Jones perhaps? Frank Lampard sort of. There's not exactly much evidence of it happening. Championship managers seem to rely on getting promoted in order to manage in the Premier league. You can argue that McKenna and Carrick both coached at Man Utd but I don't see an established Premier league team taking a gamble on someone who has never managed in a major league. Carrick's 3 games don't count. I guess there's a slight chance that Carrick walks if he has a fall out with the club or feels he can't take us any other further but I see no signs of that. I see plenty of signs of the fanbase starting to get sceptical about Carrick but this is probably a fairly normal low point for a manager in their first job. I reckon odds are that Carrick will prove to be a top manager and that this season will be the making of him. Painful right now though. I haven't lost any faith him btw, but I i'm aware of the obvious flaws. It's just that plenty of people are making him sound like some sort of managerial goldenboy genius that is coveted but Prem teams and we live in fear that they will appoint him any time now. I just don't see it. He's done relatively well at Boro in his 16 months here but not better than a few other Championship managers. He gets a lot of praise for turning us around post Wilder, and rightly so, but very little critisism for the flaws we're showing on a weekly basis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnglianRed 6,500 15.8k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) 56 minutes ago, Bruce said: Not sure who the last Championship manager was to get appointed to a Premier league team. Nathan Jones perhaps? Frank Lampard sort of. There's not exactly much evidence of it happening. Championship managers seem to rely on getting promoted in order to manage in the Premier league. You can argue that McKenna and Carrick both coached at Man Utd but I don't see an established Premier league team taking a gamble on someone who has never managed in a major league. Carrick's 3 games don't count. I guess there's a slight chance that Carrick walks if he has a fall out with the club or feels he can't take us any other further but I see no signs of that. I see plenty of signs of the fanbase starting to get sceptical about Carrick but this is probably a fairly normal low point for a manager in their first job. I reckon odds are that Carrick will prove to be a top manager and that this season will be the making of him. Painful right now though. Think last season was possibly a bit of a false dawn as he had the luxury of players we couldn't realistically hold on to long-term. Now he's probably getting a more objective idea of the scale of the task, having to work with players we can actually afford. I could be completely wrong, but I still can't shake the feeling Carrick is also being hamstrung by the current coaching set-up. I've not seen anything to suggest the players we bring in are improving in any aspects (apart from whatever they learn in the heat of battle on matchdays). Also seeing Woody standing alongside him during matches, knowing how he turned out as a head coach, its hard to think MC is getting any worthwhile advice from him. Would really love to see our coaching staff overhauled...but thats probably not happening any time soon. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverbefore 12,329 26.6k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Really finding it hard to be interested in this match tbh. Recent results have made me a bit meh about everything at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaCider24 13,968 18.6k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob 5,310 8.2k Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 6-0 to the boro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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