Two of the hardest fixtures of the season out of the way, there's only really Sheffield United away that could be comparable. 1 point out of those two fixtures is what the bookies had us down for - and it's what we ended up getting - lets finish these last 3 fixtures and see where we are at the halfway point.

9 minutes ago, JTG said:

I’m not taking comfort in anything 🤣

I’m just taking my boro hat off, looking at the game objectively, and giving Leeds credit. I’ve seen us in enough games this season where we’ve threw it away ourselves to know what that looks like and imo we were just well beaten last night.

If anything I feel like I’m being a realist and the ones telling themselves that we inexplicably shot ourselves in the foot and would win that game 9 out of 10 times are the deluded ones.

And I'm seeing it from a Boro fan perspective. Potentially the biggest game of the season and we hardly performed at all in the first half. We could have had little complaint if we were 3 down at half time.

The hardest part was identifying players from our team that emerged with any credit.  Apart from 15-20 minutes in the second half we were uncompetitive, lacking pace, allowing Leeds the freedom of the pitch.

All in all, a tame effort against a team who admittedly were better than us - but we contributed to how good they looked.

2 minutes ago, Nobby Barnes said:

Weren't you supposed to meet her on Saltburn pier and got ghosted ?

Oh you are such a comedian Norbert........

20 hours ago, Adam P said:

This is why he hasn't cut it at a higher level, and why Villa we're happy to let him go and shell out 15m for Rogers going the other way. That bit of pace and physicality is massive the higher up the leagues you go. Fully agree with everything you said, he's a bit of a Championship flat-track bully, in games where we dominate he will make things happen. Under the cosh he can't take the ball on the half turn and roll somebody and get away like Chuba and Rogers can. Not his fault obviously, but it does contribute to us struggling against the best teams. 

What is a flat track bully ? Is it someone who does well against poorer teams ? Azaz was playing for Plymouth last year and did alright. 

Might have missed it but anyone ask Carrick how he got his black eye/bruised cheek last night

West Brom winning and guess who scored.

 

1 hour ago, HolgateHero said:

'ignore user' button really brightens this place up. 

I do ignore him I still see him when other people quote him haha

West Brom winning, so we're out of the top 6 as it stands.

40 minutes ago, Plastic Goat said:

West Brom winning and guess who scored.

 

Jeff Astle?

7 hours ago, JTG said:

When he says he can’t fault them, it’s his way of taking responsibility for it because it’s how he’s asking them to play - which is fair enough. If he’s telling them to stick to their principles and to not let their heads drop even if they get caught out then you can’t really blame the players for not changing things up and going long.

But you can certainly blame the coach, and question whether they actually are being asked to do the 'right things' or not.

3 hours ago, JTG said:

Tbf they were saying on comms that we were one of the best teams to come to Elland Road this season. I don’t claim to have watched a huge amount of them this season, and I agree that we were largely crap, but does that not perhaps suggest that maybe they’re just really good and made us look poor by our standards.

Lots of Leeds fans on the Championship subreddit said we were the best they'd played and the only side who'd turned up to play instead of packing their box.

Give or take, I can count on one hand the amount of Middlesbrough seasons I've genuinely enjoyed in my life.

We might not be as good as Leeds, but it's nice watching a team that plays on the front foot and scores goals. I'm not taking that for granted after watching Pulis, Warnock, and Monk teams. Before that was even worse.

Even when we were good for a season or two under Karanka, we'd never slap five or six past a team.

Watford losing 👍🏻

14 minutes ago, SouthernSmoggie said:

Lots of Leeds fans on the Championship subreddit said we were the best they'd played and the only side who'd turned up to play instead of packing their box.

Give or take, I can count on one hand the amount of Middlesbrough seasons I've genuinely enjoyed in my life.

We might not be as good as Leeds, but it's nice watching a team that plays on the front foot and scores goals. I'm not taking that for granted after watching Pulis, Warnock, and Monk teams. Before that was even worse.

Even when we were good for a season or two under Karanka, we'd never slap five or six past a team.

Off the top of my head we hit 5 past Millwall under AK

18 minutes ago, GrimsbyBoro said:

Off the top of my head we hit 5 past Millwall under AK

That was a rarity mate. We hit 15 in three games only last month under Carrick.

I just think we waited so long to actually score some goals and be an entertaining side to watch... some should be careful what they wish for.

2 hours ago, Riverside94 said:

Might have missed it but anyone ask Carrick how he got his black eye/bruised cheek last night

be that training pitch at rockcliffe taking someone else out again

Edited December 11, 20241 yr by Rob