Queens Park Rangers Vs Middlesbrough FC

MATRADE Loftus Road

Sunday, 8th March

KO: 16:30 (What the ***, EFL/Sky?)

LIVE on Sky Sports Football

Football, eh? It's a funny old game. To quote Forrest Gump, "You never know what you're gonna get."

Boro, winless in 3 don't forget, went to St. Andrew's and picked up all three points. Of course, being Middlesbrough we didn't make it easy for ourselves, the team going in 2-0 up at half time seemed to forget that Rob Edwards is now at Wolves and came out after the interval half asleep, allowing Birmingham to quickly halve the deficit before thankfully, David Strelec rose like a salmon from Luke Ayling's cross to head us back into a 2 goal advantage.

With automatic promotion still very much in the balance, I'm not tempting fate with this thread's song. I am however, sticking with the alt-rock style, as it seems to be working. Have a listen and tell me what you think!

(The last song only got 14 plays, so just in case people missed how to listen to it, you click the underlined text above. Honestly, it's a good song...well, it's better than a Nobby Barnes poem at least. Right, guys? Guys...?)

Lyrics (Copyright Denzel Zanzibar, as always.)

[Verse 1]

We won on a cold night on Monday

Breath was hanging in the air

Three goals put past Birmingham

Red smoke everywhere

Checking phones at full time

Who’s slipped?

Who’s climbed?

Still second in the table

And the season’s on a knife

[Chorus]

Can we keep our place?

Or will May bring the heartache?

Are we going up

Or is it playoffs

Playoffs again?

With eleven left to play

It’s a long

Long way

But I’m singing

I’m singing their name

Boro 'til the end

[Verse 2]

Long trips and late trains

Scraps for every ball

Injury list like a novel

But still we're standing tall

Forty-five

We’re roaring

Ninety

Breath is gone

Every tackle

Every shot

Every header

Like our lives are riding on

[Chorus]

Can we keep our place?

Or will May bring the heartache?

Are we going up

Or is it playoffs

Playoffs again?

With eleven left to play

It’s a long

Long way

But I’m singing

I’m singing their name

Boro 'til the end

[Bridge]

Maybe we'll fly

Maybe we'll fall (Hey!)

Maybe we’re crying at that playoff wall

But hand on badge

And hand on heart

My friend

We’re Boro

And Hellberg's smart

[Chorus]

Can we keep our place?

Or will May bring the heartache?

Are we going up

Or is it playoffs

Playoffs again?

With eleven left to play

Whatever comes our way

I’ll be singing

I’ll be singing their name

I'm Boro 'til the end (oh yeah)

Boro 'til the end

'Til the end

(Why, thank you!)

QPR are up next, and despite their recent home form being hot garbage, they're no pushovers. Ipswich could very well jump above us on goal difference on Saturday if they beat Leicester at home (which they are likely to do) so it's imperative we do the business.

QPR's forum makes fmttm look positively stylish, and when they do start discussing the game you can find their MDT here.

Talking Points

Will Kim Hellberg go back to his usual tactics for this one, or will the fact we scored 3 goals playing with wingbacks have given him food for thought?

Will David Strelec now go on a Morgan Whittaker-esque scoring run?

Will Morgan Whittaker ever go on another Morgan Whittaker-esque scoring run?

Be honest - will we go up automatically?

Okay that's it, fingers crossed for another 3 points and a third matchday thread from yours truly 😉

I think the real question is will we ever play a Saturday 3pm game again??

Related to Ipswich, Leicester seem to have a good record against them. Let's hope they do better than Hull last night who just couldn't hold on.

5 minutes ago, Somerset Boro said:

I think the real question is will we ever play a Saturday 3pm game again??

Were due to I believe after the IB but very well subject to change I should think

QPR are among the first 'beach' teams with no realistic chance of relegation or play offs. Will they defend for their lives like Oxford? Hope not.

Away games seem to suit us, bit more space and opportunity for transitional play. I think we'll win.

Same team for me. Fry shores everything up nicely, and the other four defenders are all excellent footballers who can contribute in attack as we saw last night.

Hate to say it but Whittaker has been a weak link for me in recent games. I said we needed to play Strelec from here on and live or die by his performances, as we have no real other option at CF. His finish and attitude last night were definitely encouraging!

Reposted here on request.

I think, for now at least, that our formation against Birmingham suits our players best.

People get obsessed about wing-backs but the way we play there is very little difference between a wing-back and a full-back. By playing with 3 central defenders our 2 wing/full-backs have more defensive support which means they can focus more on their attacking duties. If anything, it means they may have to do less running because they won't have to be starting their attacks from a deeper position.

With three CBs and 2 wing-backs we have Brittain, Targett and Ayling who all have Premier league quality in their passing along with Malanda who is infeasibly good at passing from the back. That means we have plenty of attacking potential but, during periods when the other team presses us high, they can fall back to a back five. It also means Ayling can't be isolated by a centre forward.

When it comes to back-ups, we have Brittain, Browne and in an emergency Ayling at right back, Malanda, Fry, Ayling, Jones (when fit), Edmundson, Browne and Targett who can all play CB in a 3 and Targett, Munroe (and when fit) Bangura as a left back. I wouldn't mind betting when chasing a game that Targett gets replaced by Sarmiento who can possibly play as a hybrid winger/wing-back the same way that Izzy did.

Having three up front makes sense given the thinness of our options. We have McGree, Conway, Strelec, Whittaker, Sarmiento and Castledine who appear to be the six that Hellberg actually rates. Silvera will give us a 7th option when fit. We can play with 2 strikers and a #10 or 2 #10s and a striker depending on the match.

Our normal midfield 2 is Hackney and Morris with Gilbert and Browne as first back-ups. We can also switch to 3-5-2 on demand as well. McGree and Gilbert are both perfectly good #8s on the left side.

14 minutes ago, Bruce said:

Reposted here on request.

I think, for now at least, that our formation against Birmingham suits our players best.

People get obsessed about wing-backs but the way we play there is very little difference between a wing-back and a full-back. By playing with 3 central defenders our 2 wing/full-backs have more defensive support which means they can focus more on their attacking duties. If anything, it means they may have to do less running because they won't have to be starting their attacks from a deeper position.

With three CBs and 2 wing-backs we have Brittain, Targett and Ayling who all have Premier league quality in their passing along with Malanda who is infeasibly good at passing from the back. That means we have plenty of attacking potential but, during periods when the other team presses us high, they can fall back to a back five. It also means Ayling can't be isolated by a centre forward.

When it comes to back-ups, we have Brittain, Browne and in an emergency Ayling at right back, Malanda, Fry, Ayling, Jones (when fit), Edmundson, Browne and Targett who can all play CB in a 3 and Targett, Munroe (and when fit) Bangura as a left back. I wouldn't mind betting when chasing a game that Targett gets replaced by Sarmiento who can possibly play as a hybrid winger/wing-back the same way that Izzy did.

Having three up front makes sense given the thinness of our options. We have McGree, Conway, Strelec, Whittaker, Sarmiento and Castledine who appear to be the six that Hellberg actually rates. Silvera will give us a 7th option when fit. We can play with 2 strikers and a #10 or 2 #10s and a striker depending on the match.

Our normal midfield 2 is Hackney and Morris with Gilbert and Browne as first back-ups. We can also switch to 3-5-2 on demand as well. McGree and Gilbert are both perfectly good #8s on the left side.

I agree Bruce, it gave us a lot more balance on both wings. Just having Targett in that space instead of an isolated Conway worked so much better going forwards.

Is it just me but I always think QPR have a very compact ground though always a good ground for wingers and wing backs.

Bit of a throw back to most other stadiums

5 minutes ago, Downsouth said:

Is it just me but I always think QPR have a very compact ground though always a good ground for wingers and wing backs.

Bit of a throw back to most other stadiums

Taken from Googley - While many modern top-flight pitches are standardized at 105m x 68m, QPR's surface is smaller at 102m x 66m, similar to historic grounds like Craven Cottage.

Let’s just hope that we see more of the smiling David Strelec at the end of games. More smiles equals more goals hopefully.

The Queen’s Rangers 2-2 Boro

2 hours ago, Bruce said:

Malanda who is infeasibly good at passing from the back.

Apart from the first 20 minutes or so on Monday when he did a great impression of a concussed, one-eyed goalkeeper.

QPR will be a very different game than Birmingham who are high pressing, possession based team who really got after us. QPR are much more likely to sit in and let us have possession. However like Birmingham they've got two pretty big Centre Forwards which might warrant the 3rd Centre back, so I'd go unchanged in the team-sheet.

But I'm expecting we don't get many chances for balls over the top and in behind for this one, predicting more of a patient build-up and will play out more like games we've witnessed for the rest of the season.

59 minutes ago, Bosco's Tuft said:

Apart from the first 20 minutes or so on Monday when he did a great impression of a concussed, one-eyed goalkeeper.

It was so so poor, but he settled into the game and tbh we have to get used to periods like that with him, hes incredibly progressive for a defender and spots gaps a lot of midfielders cant see with their passing. The nature of that means that he'll have quite a few cut out too.

Good thing is he has good recovery pace and with fry and ayling beside him, two very intelligent defenders who tend to see danger before it fully happens

I think we will keep the same first 11.

I think Hellberg will continue to give Strelec starts in the hope he continues to improve - and grab those important goals. Conway and McGree are clearly nailed and must starts too...meaning if we go with a back 5, there's no space in the line up for Whittaker - which is a tad unlucky as he's been decent this season, but it is what it is.

I feel like, regardless of formation...the following will definitely start:

Brynn, Brittain, Targett, Malanda, Morris, Hackney, McGree & Conway....

....then there's 3 spots up for grabs....with at least 1 going to a CB Fry/Ayling....and potentially 2 of those spots going to CB's (if we play with WB's)....leaving 1 or 2 spots up top....and I think Strelec is ahead of anyone else in the pecking order, in attack.

Browne is also unfortunate to miss out too as he has been great, wherever he plays.....but Browne is more of a jack of all trades, master of none....which is perfect for us when coming off the bench.