marvin 301 694 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 PICTURE THIS: <The Riverside Stadium beautifully lit up on a dark night. This view is from the old Ayresome Park gates outside the West Stand. Through the open gates you can read "MIDDLESBROUGH FC" and below it "RIVERSIDE STADIUM." In the bottom left corner of the scene is an image of Tony Mowbray, Birmingham City Manager, looking defeated. Alongside him is a teary eyed Mark Venus, the man who is taking the reins at Brum while our Mogga recovers from his unnamed illness. They are both depicted below an image of the Birmingham City badge that the club used from 1905 to 1936 (I chose to represent the club with that badge because it made me laugh out loud when I saw it.) In the centre of the scene is the date 12/03 above the time 19:45 which sits above the name of Birmingham City's stadium name: St Andrew's @ Knighthood Park, which to me is more of an email address than a football stadium. In the bottom right corner of the scene, a jubilant looking Michale Carrick is punching the air below our most recent badge.> WHO: The Bluenoses' Blues V The Smoggies' Boro WHAT: The Championship fixture that was set for the 27th January and then rearranged due to Birmingham City's unforeseen progression to the fourth round of the FA Cup WHERE: standrews@knighthoodpark.co.uk or something WHEN: 19:45 Tuesday 12th March 2024 WHY: Wellllll, let's just see what happens, yeah? ˌɪn.trəˈdʌk.ʃən This match, the 37th fixture in the season 2023/24, sees a Middlesbrough team who may or may not have turned a corner after two straight wins, face a struggling Birmingham side who are on manager 3.5 this season. This season has been a real clichéd roller coaster of a ride so far. We had an arguably questionable/potentially genius transfer plan in the summer, followed by the worst start to the season since humans first kicked a football in Middlesbrough. Then we went on that winning streak and everything seemed positive and maybe the transfer plan worked, and look we're in a cup semi final and we've even beaten Chelsea at home! Contrast that with the away fixture at Stamford Bridge. The fixture v Rotherham before that (thanks Jordan Hugil) and in the opening few minutes, we resembled strangers that had somehow won a competition to play a game on another planet that they'd never heard of. And the rest is history. But even before that, losing Latte Lath in the first few minutes v Chelsea at home feels like another key moment. We were left with a half fit Josh Coburn, with treacle on his boots, to fill the gap. It's just not fair. Look at the players we lost in the summer. How is that fair? How can it be that we can be so close to going up and then failing. I was honestly about 98% certain promotion through the playoffs was ours. But it wasn't ours to lose, because it was never ours in the first place. Just like success this season wasn't a given right. Yes it has been a largely frustrating season and it feels like there's been a lot more to be sad/mad about than we deserve. But, and it's a big but, these last two games feel like things might just have changed. Yes, we were lucky Norwich went down to 10 men and crumbled, but there's plenty of games when a team goes 1 man down when 1 goal up, and breaking them down seems impossible (ask Jonathan Woodgate.) And it wouldn't have been a surprise this season if we'd got beaten by more than one in the end. But we won. Then came the QPR test. At a ground we're traditionally not great at against a team below us that happen to be in decent form. It had defeat written all over it. First half v QPR and some fans thought Carrick had given up his play from the back philosophy and reverted to a Pulis style defend and hoof game. But, maybe Carrick has learned from his mistakes, maybe he's becoming less naive, maybe this is the turning point, not only for this season, but for his own management career, which can only be a good thing for us. ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən A quick squint at "The busiest and best Birmingham City fan forum on the internet. Primarily aimed at adults..." (Click >here< if you dare) sees the Bluenoses even more despairing than the most pessimistic of fans on this forum. They don't think Venus is cut out for holding the fort whilst Mowbray recuperates. A win and defeat and a draw when he took care of us: "shrug" ˌek.spekˈteɪ.ʃən Being an eternal Boro optimist (who always fully expects us to win the premiership in the next 5 years) I'm obviously expecting that we have turned a corner and everyone can go back to loving each other and agreeing that we're the best team in the world and we'll beat Birmingham with a world record score and Carrick will sign a really long contract and never leave and we'll just keep winning everything and it'll never even get boring. Or something like that. ˈkwes.tʃən Has Carrick actually turned a corner, managerially? How much has luck (good or bad) effected this season? How many will we win by? Starting 11? UTB 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaCider24 13,968 18.6k Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 All of a sudden a huge game. Win and there's a slim chance that the season isn't over, which is a pleasant surprise. Hoping we see the second half Boro from yesterday and can get a big win, our goal difference is significantly worse than the 3 main remaining play-off chasers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiseAgainst 4,084 3.5k Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) Christ, that Birmingham badge from the 1930s really is chronic, isn't it? Like someone using a Commodore C64 had a logo dictated down the phone to them but then got distracted and went down the pub. On a brighter note, the IPA headings in the OP are a touch of class. I had a go at vocal coaching for a year and got precisely nowhere with it, but I did learn my fəʊnɛtɪks along the way. Has Carrick actually turned a corner, managerially? No, I don't think so. If Norwich had kept 11 men on the pitch, we'd be having very different conversations. He's played 5-3-2 in the past, but hopefully this time he won't jettison it as quickly. How much has luck (good or bad) effected this season? A great deal. You can't look at our injury list and claim otherwise. However, dreadful luck has been compounded by an inexperienced managerial team (and Woody) making basic errors like substitutions occurring too late in the game to make a difference. And a scattergun approach to signings which has so far produced far more misses than hits. And selling two goal scorers in January without replacing either of them. And playing clearly unfit players, which has then aggravated existing injuries. And insisting on playing one up front. And the general ineptitude of our loan signings. How many will we win by? One goal in three. Starting 11? I'd leave it unchanged again unless Izzy is ready to replace Ayling. Play two strikers, score two goals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLF10 4,928 6.6k Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 I would not be surprised if LL was on bench for this one after MC comment about managing him after QPR victory. He has been out for nearly 2 months and has then played 3 games in 7 days (90 mins, 70 mins and 75 mins). Given Jones has not trained much might be similar to Leicester with Silveria up top but this time Forss and McGree either side of him. Apart from that one change I imagine we will be unchanged for this one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erimus74 3,595 3.7k Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 In our history we've never beat Small Heath/Birmingham City in any cup competitions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldManGravz 1,676 5.6k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I'd like to see the same formation on Tuesday, with Jones in for Ayling (if fit) being the only change. If we have to manage LL, let him terrorise their defenders for the first 60 mins before letting someone like Silvera take over. Wont get to watch this I dont think as it's my birthday and the Mrs is taking me away for a few days so I wont have the dodgy stick, which is a shame as I reckon we're gonna put 3 past them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downsouth 6,744 36.2k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Good OP @marvin well done. So it is here the infamous @Neverbefore game in hand has finally arrived. And with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding this game He better be blooming right!🤪 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverbefore 12,330 26.6k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 12 minutes ago, Downsouth said: Good OP @marvin well done. So it is here the infamous @Neverbefore game in hand has finally arrived. And with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding this game He better be blooming right!🤪 3 points are as good as in the bag al. Just wish that Rooney was still there so we could have put out the kids and given everyone a rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Johnson 770 1.1k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Another one of our bogey teams to face! The FA Cup game in the 70’s still haunts me from time to time! Hoping we can bury another bogey team , 2-1 to the Boro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denzel Zanzibar 7,315 14.3k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 We have a fairly decent record at St. Andrews, don't we? Think we'll stick with the same formation as the last two, harsh to drop Lath but think we need to manage his fitness. Can Azaz play up top? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheJew 3,167 5.2k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 3 nil defeat. This team won't win 3 games in a row and Birmingham will exploit our inevitable mediocrity. Defeat is inevitable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borodane 6,816 26.5k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Just hope Carrick doesn't try to be too clever here and sticks with what works. Nothing like Silvera as a striker or McGree as a false 9. We should come into the game with a bit of confidence but Carrick still needs to set the lads up and firing from the first minute. This is just about last call if we want to make the runin a bit interesting. Win the two games this week against Brum and Blackburn at home and it might just get interesting after all. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverbefore 12,330 26.6k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 5 minutes ago, Borodane said: Just hope Carrick doesn't try to be too clever here and sticks with what works. Nothing like Silvera as a striker or McGree as a false 9. We should come into the game with a bit of confidence but Carrick still needs to set the lads up and firing from the first minute. This is just about last call if we want to make the runin a bit interesting. Win the two games this week against Brum and Blackburn at home and it might just get interesting after all. How would you set up if ELL isn't fit to start 4 games in less than 2 weeks though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcar Rioja 6,780 6.6k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Unfortunately due to work I'm going to miss this one but I think Carrick should stick with the same side except I'd put Silvera up top instead of ELL just to give him a break and not risk a recurrence of his injury. If needed maybe bring him on for the last half hour but in fairness to Silvera he can run at defenders, stretch them and cause problems with his energy plus he has nabbed a few goals so I'd even fancy him to open the scoring. Keeping it tight at the back and not conceding will always give us a platform to build on. It may not be as slick as we would like but watching the speed and execution of Carrickball between Liverpool and Man City yesterday and it is obvious that we don't have the players with that speed of thought and off the ball positioning to receive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downsouth 6,744 36.2k Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Would be good to see Boro take the game straight to then instead of allowing wake up calls before we start to attack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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