Birmingham City v BORO 0-1 (McGree)

[wilsoncgp 9,488 19.5k]

16 minutes ago, Erimus74 said:

Yes, I thought he would have took him off, can see Silvera starting v Blackburn, ELL has out in a lot of minutes since returning from injury, he took a knock last night, around his lower back too

Was an odd one that one, he looked injured to me too but Maddo reckoned he was just winded. The fact he kept going and wasn't brought off may suggest that, too.

I also thought he might take him off but soon after I was thinking it, he made a good header from a defensive corner. He's not your stereotypical big lad up front but he's got one hell of a leap on him. So maybe it was more about that?

[Erimus74 3,595 3.7k]

6 minutes ago, wilsoncgp said:

Was an odd one that one, he looked injured to me too but Maddo reckoned he was just winded. The fact he kept going and wasn't brought off may suggest that, too.

I also thought he might take him off but soon after I was thinking it, he made a good header from a defensive corner. He's not your stereotypical big lad up front but he's got one hell of a leap on him. So maybe it was more about that?

Archie Stephens leap 😉

Yes he may have been winded, good player for me 

[Downsouth 6,733 36.2k]

11 hours ago, p_mards said:

What a massive win that thankfully keeps our season alive. Our formation worked well yet again as we controlled the central areas incredibly well and looked comfortable sat into our incredibly effective low block. The current tactics and defensive mentality takes me back to the days of Karanka as we look a nightmare to break down. The quality of the game was obviously poor but we held our shape and had the moment of high quality in attack from McGree. It was clear that a few players standards had dropped after the tight turnaround of Wednesday, Saturday & Tuesday, with the latter two being long away days, so some of the less impressive performances like O'Brien need to be viewed in that context. The current style of play isn't attractive but it sure brings the best out of our team, especially from the likes of Ayling, Berg, McNair & Clarke. Considering our defensive performances under Carrick I can't believe that we've managed to keep back-to-back clean sheets. Hopefully we can now make the most of the break to recharge the batteries for Saturday as the starting 11 have played a lot of minutes in a short space of time.

While the current style of play and tactics isn't Carrick's first choice, I'd like to think that he's learnt a lot about the effectiveness of holding more of a solid structure behind the ball - certainly when injuries bite and the team isn't able to dominate possession as preferred. Hopefully it helps takes the edge off the bipolar nature of our form under him. At the moment we're akin to a team like Coventry City with the way we have a solid structure behind the ball but can counter-attack and grind out scrappy wins - seemingly in a consistent manner. If we can somehow scrape into the play-offs and get promoted then we'll look back at Howson's experienced reaction to Norwich's Sainz stray boot and view it as a massive sliding doors moment.

Keep saying this I do appreciate your thoughtful and considered posts.

[Erimus 63 488 3.1k]

1 hour ago, AnglianRed said:

Couldn't agree more.

At this stage of the season, even though the play-offs are once more within reach (albeit still a long shot), I think its more important to build team cohesion and understanding of roles.

Playing 2 games a week will take it out of the players, so we can't expect brilliant football game after game. Think this was a perfect example of grinding out a result, even though we were below par. Keeps our momentum going and builds confidence & morale in the team. Play to our strengths, even if it isn't always pretty.

Does seem as though Carrick has had some sort of epiphany. Whatever, this run of results is giving us all reason to be hopeful for the rest of the season.

Epiphany equals a good bollocking off Gibson and told to pull his finger out 😀

 

[Erimus74 3,595 3.7k]

Really looking forward to the Blackburn game & again, probably historically, we dont know which Boro turn up

Only downer im on nights 😔

[LinoJo3 3,893 11.2k]

2 hours ago, wilsoncgp said:

Was an odd one that one, he looked injured to me too but Maddo reckoned he was just winded. The fact he kept going and wasn't brought off may suggest that, too.

I also thought he might take him off but soon after I was thinking it, he made a good header from a defensive corner. He's not your stereotypical big lad up front but he's got one hell of a leap on him. So maybe it was more about that?

I think lath had some kind of specific role last night which I assume Carrick thought was working so didn’t wanna bring him off. All the space in behind I’d have liked to see Silvera given a go aswell.

[SouthernSmoggie 4,447 6.2k]

2 hours ago, Erimus74 said:

Yes, I thought he would have took him off, can see Silvera starting v Blackburn, ELL has out in a lot of minutes since returning from injury, he took a knock last night, around his lower back too

He looked knackered. Was a bit weird from Carrick tbh, no idea why he didn't eat up a few minutes of that added time by subbing Lath for Silvera or Jones.

[SouthernSmoggie 4,447 6.2k]

1 hour ago, Erimus 63 said:

Epiphany equals a good bollocking off Gibson and told to pull his finger out 😀

 

I was thinking what a crazy sliding doors that (now rescinded I believe) red card could end up being for Carrick. 

Norwich were already one up and let's be honest, looked certain to add to their tally sooner rather than later. 

Imagine if we'd lost heavily then turned up to QPR totally bereft of confidence with the fans on the team's back? 

Ref keeps his card in his pocket and we're possibly going into the international break with a new manager. 

[Leesider 1,145 1.3k]

Apologies in advance for any drunken posts next weekend😬  I'm off to Vilamoura  tomorrow to celebrate my 60th Birthday & Sunday being Paddy's Day will result in vast quantities of alcohol being consumed 👀........

[Blanco 5,130 6.8k]

1 minute ago, Leesider said:

Apologies in advance for any drunken posts next weekend😬  I'm off to Vilamoura  tomorrow to celebrate my 60th Birthday & Sunday being Paddy's Day will result in vast quantities of alcohol being consumed 👀........

🙂 Have a great time @Leesider 🙂 Happy 60th Birthday

[Humpty 3,855 9.5k]

5 minutes ago, Leesider said:

Apologies in advance for any drunken posts next weekend😬  I'm off to Vilamoura  tomorrow to celebrate my 60th Birthday & Sunday being Paddy's Day will result in vast quantities of alcohol being consumed 👀........

'kin hell i had you down as half that age. Many happy returns

 https://media3.giphy.com/media/BPJmthQ3YRwD6QqcVD/200.gif

[Erimus74 3,595 3.7k]

When we played Birmingham at the Riverside they were, IIR, the form team & sat in the top 6, fortunately they brought in Rooney & everything turned upside down, another reason for us to stick with Carrick, the grass isnt always greener

[HolgateHero 624 2.1k]

On 3/14/2024 at 5:27 AM, Erimus74 said:

When we played Birmingham at the Riverside they were, IIR, the form team & sat in the top 6, fortunately they brought in Rooney & everything turned upside down, another reason for us to stick with Carrick, the grass isnt always greener

Agreed. It's baffling the amount of completely irrelevant posts about who we should get as our next manager. gibbo has been very patient in the past and we desperately need to stop the knee-jerk reactionism if we are to get anywhere. Carrick seems fully aligned with the ethos as well, so took losing Morgan Rogers - who he improved - in his stride. Very happy the powers that be aren't flinching despite the caterwauling that accompanies every downturn in form.

UTB

[Downsouth 6,733 36.2k]

7 hours ago, HolgateHero said:

Agreed. It's baffling the amount of completely irrelevant posts about who we should get as our next manager. gibbo has been very patient in the past and we desperately need to stop the knee-jerk reactionism if we are to get anywhere. Carrick seems fully aligned with the ethos as well, so took losing Morgan Rogers - who he improved - in his stride. Very happy the powers that be aren't flinching despite the caterwauling that accompanies every downturn in form.

UTB

It is within our rights as Boro supporters to moan😁

[Redcar Rioja 6,772 6.6k]

7 hours ago, HolgateHero said:

Agreed. It's baffling the amount of completely irrelevant posts about who we should get as our next manager. gibbo has been very patient in the past and we desperately need to stop the knee-jerk reactionism if we are to get anywhere. Carrick seems fully aligned with the ethos as well, so took losing Morgan Rogers - who he improved - in his stride. Very happy the powers that be aren't flinching despite the caterwauling that accompanies every downturn in form.

UTB

Gibbo did have a reputation for being patient but that was a long time ago. Monk, Pulis, Woodgate, Warnock, Wilder, 5 Managers in as many years (June 2017 - October 2022)!

It's maybe worth considering that the "caterwauling" that accompanied the most recent downturn was the catalyst for a rethink and a radical tactical change which has in all likelihood saved Carrick's tenure. It's also worth pointing out that although there has been an upturn in results, performances have been far from convincing and both the circumstances and the quality of opposition cannot be ignored. At the moment we are winning ugly but I doubt that is part of any plan that Gibbo, Scott or Carrick had in mind.

Injuries are returning and as his options improve we may see a renaissance of pure Carrick but without stopping the rot he wouldn't have survived. As has been mentioned on here already, the sending off was a sliding doors moment.