Weirdo.

No offence George but I hope you get absolutely well beaten in the final.

9 hours ago, Guffie said:

Sunderland epitomise what we want from a team as fans. Weren’t the best over the 2 legs but stuck together and grinded it out. Stuck to their game plan and got it done. Even the tactics of putting the boards closer to the pitch to nullify coventrys threat. Hopefully Sheff Utd beat them, but honestly Sunderland will be right up for it. I fancy them, aswell as it being just 90 minutes 

They are nowt like a team I want to watch tbh.

13 minutes ago, Changing Times said:

They are nowt like a team I want to watch tbh.

I didn’t say watch. I said want. Meaning fight and togetherness

Just now, Guffie said:

I didn’t say watch. I said want. Meaning fight and togetherness

Ok but why would I want a team that I don't want to watch?  I do know what you're saying but I think it's unfair to accuse us of lacking fight and not being together.  I think it would be an insult to say that the likes of Howson, Hackney, Morris, Dijksteel, Borges lack fight.  And I never got the impression that we weren't together as a group at any point over the season.  Nothing has leaked out about issues behind the scenes, and if the rumours are correct, then when Carrick's job was on the line it was the players who stood up for him.  I just don't think we've been good enough.  It's not about fight, togetherness, effort, or those sorts of things, we simply haven't been any better than decent throughout the season, and decent doesn't usually get it done.  Similarly the Mackems aren't in the play off final because of togetherness or fight, they are there because they were the 4th best team in the league this season.  They just beat a team that they are better than over two legs.  I think any of our 2014/15, 2015/16 or even the 2022/23 teams would get the better of them.

Suspect Sheffield will go up but think it’s churlish to deny the Mackems credit for a great season.That said I wouldn’t want to watch either on a weekly basis, but ultimately they were the 3rd and 4th best teams in the league this season 

I want to watch a successful Boro side. I get far more pleasure from three points than playing beautiful football for 45 minutes then throwing away a three goal lead.

I'm happy enough to watch long throw ins if they cause havoc in the opposition box, or if we can dicky dance our way to promotion then better still but success is what I want when watching Boro, how they achieve it isn't irrelevant but it's my primary driver, winning, that's it!

Realistically we are never going to outplay the better sides like City or Liverpool or for that matter those Clubs with parachute payments (unless they do a Boro or a Luton and screw things up). Pragmatism is what will get us out of the Championship. 

31 minutes ago, Redcar Rioja said:

I want to watch a successful Boro side. I get far more pleasure from three points than playing beautiful football for 45 minutes then throwing away a three goal lead.

I'm happy enough to watch long throw ins if they cause havoc in the opposition box, or if we can dicky dance our way to promotion then better still but success is what I want when watching Boro, how they achieve it isn't irrelevant but it's my primary driver, winning, that's it!

Realistically we are never going to outplay the better sides like City or Liverpool or for that matter those Clubs with parachute payments (unless they do a Boro or a Luton and screw things up). Pragmatism is what will get us out of the Championship. 

To truly compete, we need to be a proper team that's more than the sum of its parts. There was a clip doing the rounds of six Burnley players busting a gut to get back to their box and throwing their bodies on the line to defend a counter-attack - they were 3-0 up and already promoted. I can't imagine our lads doing that in any scenario. Okay, they have more resources and better players than us, but there's zero excuse for failing to match that level of commitment. 

How many points did we lose from unforced defensive errors, losing leads, or spaffing chances that would have been easier to score. I dread to think. 

It's about having the right attitude and concentration for 90 minutes, every week regardless of opposition. We have far too many fair-weather players who are happy to fill their boots against crap sides when everything's going our way, but disappear the second adversity hits. People turn their nose up at Parker, but I wish Carrick had instilled half the team spirit they had at Burnley this season. Carrick is so chill and laid-back to the point of appearing complacent and it clearly rubs off on the players. How many times do we stroll our for the second half and get caught cold by a fired up side who've changed something?

I didn't even catch the Coventry game, as I was convinced we'd already lost mentally. 

Edited May 15, 2025May 15 by SouthernSmoggie

 

Not sure how much it'll affect us next season...but hopefully they get enough pts deducted to bring us into the mix.

5 hours ago, Marvanelli said:

 

Not sure how much it'll affect us next season...but hopefully they get enough pts deducted to bring us into the mix.

I hope they throw the book at them, especially after they blagged it to avoid a points deduction in the Prem. 

42 minutes ago, OldManGravz said:

I hope they throw the book at them, especially after they blagged it to avoid a points deduction in the Prem. 

They'll get two points deducted like Sheffield United did which makes it worth the risk. Let's face it getting promoted and collecting in excess of £150m must be the equivalent of a decade or more in the Championship.

Whilst unpleasant I can see more teams doing it (Hull and Watford immediately spring to mind) if they feel they are close but just need that extra shot of cheat mode to make sure. Didn't Forest and Villa before them do the same?

I would like Boro to do it the ethical way but if the risk was a mere two points then I know I would take the gamble. Make it 25 points and I would doubt any side would gamble that, but even so if you come down with a squad like Leicester's then worse case is you waste a year going through the motions. The challenge then would be could they get themselves up for it after a year of treading water?  

Bottom line is punishment has to fit the crime and like Boro did with Derby somebody who was cheated out of promotion should be recompensed handsomely but we all know the FA will baulk at that.

1 hour ago, Redcar Rioja said:

They'll get two points deducted like Sheffield United did which makes it worth the risk. Let's face it getting promoted and collecting in excess of £150m must be the equivalent of a decade or more in the Championship.

Whilst unpleasant I can see more teams doing it (Hull and Watford immediately spring to mind) if they feel they are close but just need that extra shot of cheat mode to make sure. Didn't Forest and Villa before them do the same?

I would like Boro to do it the ethical way but if the risk was a mere two points then I know I would take the gamble. Make it 25 points and I would doubt any side would gamble that, but even so if you come down with a squad like Leicester's then worse case is you waste a year going through the motions. The challenge then would be could they get themselves up for it after a year of treading water?  

Bottom line is punishment has to fit the crime and like Boro did with Derby somebody who was cheated out of promotion should be recompensed handsomely but we all know the FA will baulk at that.

You're probably right, although with Sheffield United wasn't it due to payments they defaulted on or something and not FFP.

I think you're right with Villa but they've never been back to championship to face justice. I don't remember Forest having a wonder squad when they went up though, I think their overspending happened when they were already in the Prem

1 hour ago, OldManGravz said:

You're probably right, although with Sheffield United wasn't it due to payments they defaulted on or something and not FFP.

I think you're right with Villa but they've never been back to championship to face justice. I don't remember Forest having a wonder squad when they went up though, I think their overspending happened when they were already in the Prem

You're right on Sheffield, but it amounts to the same thing, buying more than you can afford in an effort to get promoted. I'm not sure on Forest, I just hear their name besmirched over some financial shenanigans from time to time.

6 hours ago, OldManGravz said:

You're probably right, although with Sheffield United wasn't it due to payments they defaulted on or something and not FFP.

I think you're right with Villa but they've never been back to championship to face justice. I don't remember Forest having a wonder squad when they went up though, I think their overspending happened when they were already in the Prem

From what I remember they were playing players they hadn’t actually paid for.

5 hours ago, LinoJo3 said:

From what I remember they were playing players they hadn’t actually paid for.

They had a team on tick and renegued on repayments. What's to stop somebody else doing the same if the punishment is only 2 points if you come back down after collecting millions beyond anything an ordinary Championship side could even dream of.