1 hour ago, Nobby Barnes said:

Could have gone either way that game.

Fine margins, Dana sounded very depressed on BBC Radio Cleveland afterwards. It's not what we need to hear at this point. We have a great opportunity to get back in the Zone Friday! 

PS I'm pretty certain Cov won't beat Hull btw...

Nobby you quote Dana. Listened to her. The girl has a refreshing honesty about herselfand is more than a tad knowledgeable. calling it as it is does not receive universal recognition - and i include you amongst those ranks.

Plymouth? No gimme at all. They have a greater desire and spirit we frankly could presently hold for. And I think we will get beaten.

Top 6? That ship has sailed.we won't be and dont deserve to be. The inconsistency shown is all too depressingly familiar. And we now have a familiar trait coming to the fore - relying on others around us to lose.

And before you start this isn't negative -it's a cold light of the day assessment.

Edited April 13, 2025Apr 13 by Robin Johnson

In 2025 our form has us 17th in the league. Appalling.

2 hours ago, Dynamo Kev said:

carrick will be let go in the summer, if hes not then we need to sign loads of quality players. because carrick will only ever be successful if individuals win the games. because hes so tactically inept. 

If he's still here I wouldn't be spending a fortune at all because he'd play Messi at CB, Haaland in goal and have De Bruyne on the bench permanently crocked. He is a one trick pony and once his single solitary tactic was exposed he has become completely ineffective.

1 hour ago, Robin Johnson said:

Plymouth? No gimme at all. They have a greater desire and spirit we frankly could presently hold for. And I think we will get beaten.

Plymouth are fighting for their survival, we have never had any fight in the side under Carrick at all, just sticking monotonously to Plan A and sticking with it, and if that isn't working it's Plan A or bust!

I said in a previous post I hope Plymouth win because they need the points and I like them as a Club plus we will have no use of the points even if we did scrape 6th because there is no way Carrick could lead and inspire us through the Play Offs.

2 hours ago, Dan1234 said:

Out of interest where would you suggest their best positions are? We've seen Burgzorg on the left and despite him being better than the right he was still ineffective. We've seen Conway as a 10 behind Lath and again similar stuff, chips in with the odd goal but other than that lacking.

You can see that Burgzorg is so imbalanced on the right, so if you are going to play him, and yes I agree he is limited, then it has to be on the left. Conway is not a no9, he cannot shield the ball and cannot play with his back to goal, he would be ideal if we played with two forwards up front but Carrick will never change his system, he wants the players to adapt, which is barmy imo

Just watching the boat race guys.

It must be a fiddle....

The same 2 get to the final every year !

 

 

 

Do I win anything?

 

Won't post the links due to the new rules but both Scott Wilson from the Echo and Craig Johns from the Gazette gave pretty damning assessments on yesterdays performance. A little bit from both below.

Johns: "The 1-0 defeat at the Den was by no means Boro’s worst performance of the season. In fact, for the majority of it, they were the better team. But in leaving empty-handed, it was 90 minutes that ultimately exposed so many of the flaws that see Boro on the outside looking in, with just four games now remaining."

Wilson: "Play some decent football without any real semblance of an end product. That box was ticked in the first half. Lack the fight needed to outbattle limited opponents, whose superior spirit and commitment was ultimately decisive. That was the story of the second period. Fail to alter the course of a game once it had begun to get away from them, with their head coach’s tendency to be reactive rather than proactive contributing to their overall failure. How many times have we seen that this season?

6 minutes ago, Redcar Rioja said:

Won't post the links due to the new rules but both Scott Wilson from the Echo and Craig Johns from the Gazette gave pretty damning assessments on yesterdays performance. A little bit from both below.

Johns: "The 1-0 defeat at the Den was by no means Boro’s worst performance of the season. In fact, for the majority of it, they were the better team. But in leaving empty-handed, it was 90 minutes that ultimately exposed so many of the flaws that see Boro on the outside looking in, with just four games now remaining."

Wilson: "Play some decent football without any real semblance of an end product. That box was ticked in the first half. Lack the fight needed to outbattle limited opponents, whose superior spirit and commitment was ultimately decisive. That was the story of the second period. Fail to alter the course of a game once it had begun to get away from them, with their head coach’s tendency to be reactive rather than proactive contributing to their overall failure. How many times have we seen that this season?

Pretty damning stuff RR and just sums up what we have mostly seen this season, sadly Carrick does not seem able or willing to learn from his mistakes, which he just repeats hoping for a different outcome. In my opinion he has failed despite having been given sufficient backing to finish top six in a poor Championship and can have little complaint if he is replaced at the end of this season

the article in the Echo is spot on.

Having woke up earlier and watched the goal again, I am genuinely appalled at the lack of effort to stop that goal yesterday. Ball watching and jogging. They can all say they’re giving their all but that is categorically not. Hackney has been so much better off the ball recently but I hope he is ashamed watching himself lose the ball then just allow the goal scorer the freedom of the box. It was obvious in the stands the lack of effort but only hindsight made me realise how poor it was.
All the local press is right, yesterday was a huge magnifying glass over the problems at our club.

I have supported Michael Carrick but supporters aren’t daft and the way he addresses some of the problems that happen on the pitch feels muggy. How many times have we heard that they’re giving their all? Leeds game we were showing effort, yesterday we weren’t in the most insulting of ways. The extortionate amount of money people spend to follow boro and they’re jogging back to defend. Azaz as a highlight, he is a talented player that can produce winning moments, yet the way he shirks out of challenges is infuriating - in fairness to him, he is a No.10, and would be so much more effective there, getting on the half turn in their middle third instead of being the one needed to supply the pass.

I believe yesterday he should have put on Fry for Howson second half. Despite being one of the best yesterday, through no fault of his own Jonny couldn’t handle both physical presences once Neil made those changes. He could’ve brought Fry on at 60’ to try and counter that but he decided against it. I believe if we had put Dael on we would’ve been able to grapple back momentum that had clearly swung in the game. That is down to both parties but surely if the head coach is seeing players struggling to handle that he should be changing it. I’ve never seen Boro team get bullied as much as we did in that second half. So much more desire to win the game. And yet, a point would have done. That goal doesn’t define the season, but it encapsulates it.

We’ve built a side that is mentally and physically weak, and as much as I really enjoy the character of some of the players there has to be some serious questions asked. Carricks play-off team had players that would stand up and be counted. Smith, Lenihan, Fry, Howson were big Characters, even McGree, Forss and Chuba had the nous and desire to control a game.

This is the worst championship in years and we have what Carrick has titled his best squad he’s had - and we’re 8th. A categorical failure across the board this year. Factors have affected that, but we have lost countless points from winning positions that would have had us comfortably there, never mind an inability to get back into a game after going behind. That is not injuries or recruitments fault. Even with failure, you would expect effort. These players are good enough technically, and Leeds had me believing they may have turned a corner regarding their desire to contend with the best in the league. Yesterday brought us right back to square one.

Give me a side with desire over ability any day. We’re still not out of the fight, win our next three and it’ll go down to the final day. Unfortunately, I don’t think this squad has the capability to stand up for the fight.

Just now, Ben J said:

Having woke up earlier and watched the goal again, I am genuinely appalled at the lack of effort to stop that goal yesterday. Ball watching and jogging. They can all say they’re giving their all but that is categorically not. Hackney has been so much better off the ball recently but I hope he is ashamed watching himself lose the ball then just allow the goal scorer the freedom of the box. It was obvious in the stands the lack of effort but only hindsight made me realise how poor it was.
All the local press is right, yesterday was a huge magnifying glass over the problems at our club.

I have supported Michael Carrick but supporters aren’t daft and the way he addresses some of the problems that happen on the pitch feels muggy. How many times have we heard that they’re giving their all? Leeds game we were showing effort, yesterday we weren’t in the most insulting of ways. The extortionate amount of money people spend to follow boro and they’re jogging back to defend. Azaz as a highlight, he is a talented player that can produce winning moments, yet the way he shirks out of challenges is infuriating - in fairness to him, he is a No.10, and would be so much more effective there, getting on the half turn in their middle third instead of being the one needed to supply the pass.

I believe yesterday he should have put on Fry for Howson second half. Despite being one of the best yesterday, through no fault of his own Jonny couldn’t handle both physical presences once Neil made those changes. He could’ve brought Fry on at 60’ to try and counter that but he decided against it. I believe if we had put Dael on we would’ve been able to grapple back momentum that had clearly swung in the game. That is down to both parties but surely if the head coach is seeing players struggling to handle that he should be changing it. I’ve never seen Boro team get bullied as much as we did in that second half. So much more desire to win the game. And yet, a point would have done. That goal doesn’t define the season, but it encapsulates it.

We’ve built a side that is mentally and physically weak, and as much as I really enjoy the character of some of the players there has to be some serious questions asked. Carricks play-off team had players that would stand up and be counted. Smith, Lenihan, Fry, Howson were big Characters, even McGree, Forss and Chuba had the nous and desire to control a game.

This is the worst championship in years and we have what Carrick has titled his best squad he’s had - and we’re 8th. A categorical failure across the board this year. Factors have affected that, but we have lost countless points from winning positions that would have had us comfortably there, never mind an inability to get back into a game after going behind. That is not injuries or recruitments fault. Even with failure, you would expect effort. These players are good enough technically, and Leeds had me believing they may have turned a corner regarding their desire to contend with the best in the league. Yesterday brought us right back to square one.

Give me a side with desire over ability any day. We’re still not out of the fight, win our next three and it’ll go down to the final day. Unfortunately, I don’t think this squad has the capability to stand up for the fight.

And Sunday is meant to be the day of rest! I can now forget about our problems and give myself some blind faith that we’re winning the next 4 and going up 😃 UTB

9 minutes ago, Ben J said:

Having woke up earlier and watched the goal again, I am genuinely appalled at the lack of effort to stop that goal yesterday. Ball watching and jogging. They can all say they’re giving their all but that is categorically not. Hackney has been so much better off the ball recently but I hope he is ashamed watching himself lose the ball then just allow the goal scorer the freedom of the box. It was obvious in the stands the lack of effort but only hindsight made me realise how poor it was.
All the local press is right, yesterday was a huge magnifying glass over the problems at our club.

I have supported Michael Carrick but supporters aren’t daft and the way he addresses some of the problems that happen on the pitch feels muggy. How many times have we heard that they’re giving their all? Leeds game we were showing effort, yesterday we weren’t in the most insulting of ways. The extortionate amount of money people spend to follow boro and they’re jogging back to defend. Azaz as a highlight, he is a talented player that can produce winning moments, yet the way he shirks out of challenges is infuriating - in fairness to him, he is a No.10, and would be so much more effective there, getting on the half turn in their middle third instead of being the one needed to supply the pass.

I believe yesterday he should have put on Fry for Howson second half. Despite being one of the best yesterday, through no fault of his own Jonny couldn’t handle both physical presences once Neil made those changes. He could’ve brought Fry on at 60’ to try and counter that but he decided against it. I believe if we had put Dael on we would’ve been able to grapple back momentum that had clearly swung in the game. That is down to both parties but surely if the head coach is seeing players struggling to handle that he should be changing it. I’ve never seen Boro team get bullied as much as we did in that second half. So much more desire to win the game. And yet, a point would have done. That goal doesn’t define the season, but it encapsulates it.

We’ve built a side that is mentally and physically weak, and as much as I really enjoy the character of some of the players there has to be some serious questions asked. Carricks play-off team had players that would stand up and be counted. Smith, Lenihan, Fry, Howson were big Characters, even McGree, Forss and Chuba had the nous and desire to control a game.

This is the worst championship in years and we have what Carrick has titled his best squad he’s had - and we’re 8th. A categorical failure across the board this year. Factors have affected that, but we have lost countless points from winning positions that would have had us comfortably there, never mind an inability to get back into a game after going behind. That is not injuries or recruitments fault. Even with failure, you would expect effort. These players are good enough technically, and Leeds had me believing they may have turned a corner regarding their desire to contend with the best in the league. Yesterday brought us right back to square one.

Give me a side with desire over ability any day. We’re still not out of the fight, win our next three and it’ll go down to the final day. Unfortunately, I don’t think this squad has the capability to stand up for the fight.

Teams that are mentally and physically weak win nothing. In fact it's a recipe for relegation.

1 hour ago, Plastic Goat said:

Teams that are mentally and physically weak win nothing. In fact it's a recipe for relegation.

That was one of the main takeouts from yesterday. When the pressure really comes on these players, most of them can't handle it. And you're right; a team that can't handle pressure goes nowhere. That is evident in four 'derby' defeats this season, only one where we took the lead.

Was talking to one of the lads earlier and commenting on how the lack of a bit of nasty in the squad had cost us this year and he asked a question that I didn't know the answer to. Who are the five players in the squad that would be up for a fight if a brawl broke out... I was fairly confident about three but then I started to struggle and ended up with a couple of borderline decisions.  Maybe we are pushovers in that respect... certainly nobody that puts the frighteners on anybody 🙂   

6 hours ago, Dan1234 said:

Out of interest where would you suggest their best positions are? We've seen Burgzorg on the left and despite him being better than the right he was still ineffective. We've seen Conway as a 10 behind Lath and again similar stuff, chips in with the odd goal but other than that lacking.

He's got 12 league goals for the season, which admittedly is probably what you'd hope for from an attacking mid, but not too shabby when you think of how Carrick has shuffled the team around over the season.

For reference its one more than Latte Lath got in his half-season with us and a couple more than Azaz has managed.

He's obviously not a 20+ goal a season striker like ELL was, but he's doing better than anyone else has managed so far. Which is pretty impressive when you consider the general standard of service to our front players.

Also not saying we couldn't do with better players, but the trick is 1) finding them and 2) getting them to sign.