SpiritOfTeesside 2 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Intro Wednesday sees Boro travel to the West Midlands to take on a stabilized Birmingham City under their their new manager Gary Rowett. The Blues will prove a stern test having only lost 2 out of their last 10 league games and have become a much more resilient defensive unit in recent times, Boro likewise are in good form in the league winning 7 out of their last 10 including just 1 defeat to Ipswich in December and on merit are one of the best teams in the championship (the table doesn’t lie). Boro much like Derby and Bournemouth have responded well to poor results this season and hopefully this continues against Birmingham on Wednesday. It must be said Boro need to bounce back quickly after the defeat to the Gunners on Sunday and this game provides the perfect incentive knowing we will return to the top of the table with a win against the Blues. What Happened In The Reverse Fixture? A fairly different looking Boro team comfortably beat Birmingham City 2-0 on the opening day of the season with a polished display to end a long run of opening day games without a win. Back then Boro only had one recognized striker in Kike and much to the worry of many fans we had no backup if he was to get injured, fast forward to February and Boro now have ample striking options and now possess a much stronger and more balanced squad. [video=youtube] Recent Form Boro’s last 6 games: ***nal 2-0 Middlesbrough (FA Cup) Blackpool 1-2 Middlesbrough Middlesbrough 3-1 Charlton Brentford 0-1 Middlesbrough Man City 0-2 Middlesbrough (FA Cup) Middlesbrough 2-1 Cardiff Birmingham’s last 6 games: Birmingham 0-1 Millwall Fulham 1-1 Birmingham Birmingham 0-0 Norwich Sheff Wed 0-0 Birmingham Birmingham 1-2 West Brom (FA Cup) Leeds 1-1 Birmingham Talking Points? Will we finally see Muzzy Carayol back in a Boro match day squad after so long out?Should Jelle Vossen replace Kike in Aitor Karanka’s rigid 4-3-2-1 system?Should big Ken retain his place or should he be replaced by Woody or Kalas?Should Albert Adomah finally be rested and placed on the bench to give someone else a run out, maybe Reach?Is Downsouth’s famous phrase very much applicable to this game? View from the Opposition (you will need to register first) http://bcfcforum.co.uk/index/ If anybody finds a better forum then please feel free to post it up here and I'll replace the existing one. :) Link to post Share on other sites
Aphex_Boro 1,425 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 No win in 7 for them I think I'm right in saying, a team at the lower end of the table that is out of form should be a comfortable win but we can't underestimate them. This game is massively important, need to keep the pressure on the teams around us and try and open up a bit of a gap at the top Link to post Share on other sites
Barticus 29 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Looking at their recent results it can be seen that they don't let many in but then again they don't score many, who ever gets the first goal will be crucial, let's hope we're quick out of the blocks, I'll take a 0-1 now UTB Link to post Share on other sites
p_mards 1,363 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I think it will be something similar to Blackpool, a scrappy game with very few chances. Hopefully with the same outcome. It will be interesting to see if Karanka keeps faith in Meijas after his brilliant performance at ***nal. I'd like to see us start: Dimi; Fredericks, Kalas, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, Leadbitter; Bamford, Tomlin, Reach; Vossen. Derby play away to Rotherham on Tuesday, so we will most likely be out of the automatic promotion spots when we play Birmingham on Wednesday. The hectic run of 3 games(Birmingham, Leeds & Bolton) in the next 6 days will give us a massive opportunity to break away from condensed pack, and potentially get a nice few points cushion inside the automatic promotion spots. Link to post Share on other sites
Downsouth 6,175 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Well was surprised to see this thread up and running this way as I thought MMC would have authored the game already but as the game is fast approaching we do need something to start talking about. Nice first effort SOT have made a slight change to the thread title to keep it in line with the usual format Link to post Share on other sites
Maccarone 264 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Good to have the thread up, thanks SOT. I hope Reach and Vossen start, both added pace and movement when they came on against ***nal. Lets remember Birmingham are no ***nal and are on a fairly poor run after some good results after the Manager change, good game to get back into winnings ways although like all games in this division it won't be easy. Hopefully not too many changes, Blackpool was extreme and we just got away with it, this time we won't. 2-0 with Vossen and Adomah. Link to post Share on other sites
cornishboroboy 272 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Watching the highlights from last time. That free kick.... Link to post Share on other sites
Erimus 63 478 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I think the whole squad will have taken something out of the master class delivered from ***nal and Birmingham, unfortunately for them will suffer for it. Expecting us to return to the top of the table with a 0-2 victory. Link to post Share on other sites
London_born_Boro_bred 29 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Well this is the best tonic to get the ***nal Game out of our system and I think the team will be looking to prove a point after not performing to their best on Sunday. I'm expectig a few changes but the team i'd like to see is: ------------------------Dimi------------------------ ---Kalas---Omeruo---Gibson---Friend--- -------------Forshaw---Leadbitter----------- ---Nsue------------Tomlin----------Reach--- ---------------------Bamford-------------------- 1-3 Boro Tomlin, Bamford & Leadbitter Link to post Share on other sites
Silvio_Dante 29 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Hello everybody this is my first post. I have been lurking on this forum for yonks but had some trouble activating my account. These match day threads have been a godsend for me as I'm in N.Z and are usually in bed when the games on, unless I have the next day off! Anyway, I have the next two weeks off work and can hopefully find some decent streams to watch these games including this one against Brum. I must admit I am a little bit nervous with the amount of games we are playing in the next couple of weeks but hopefully our squad depth will see us through. On the other hand somebody's going to get a spanking off us at some point I reckon. I'd like to see Kalas replace Ken and Kike to start for this one (save Jelle for Leeds). Link to post Share on other sites
CurtisFleming 86 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Welcome to the forum Silvio Link to post Share on other sites
Downsouth 6,175 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Hello everybody this is my first post. I have been lurking on this forum for yonks but had some trouble activating my account. These match day threads have been a godsend for me as I'm in N.Z and are usually in bed when the games on, unless I have the next day off! Anyway, I have the next two weeks off work and can hopefully find some decent streams to watch these games including this one against Brum. I must admit I am a little bit nervous with the amount of games we are playing in the next couple of weeks but hopefully our squad depth will see us through. On the other hand somebody's going to get a spanking off us at some point I reckon. I'd like to see Kalas replace Ken and Kike to start for this one (save Jelle for Leeds). Very pleased to see you post at long last even after trying to encourage you by pm :) Want to see you posting on a frequent basis now that your account is activated Link to post Share on other sites
MidleastBoro 30 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I have to say I'm a little nervous about this one, I think St Andrews will be a tough place to go. Talking to a Brum fan their manager now has the players playing in their correct positions, something Lee Clark wasn't doing, and their form has improved dramatically for it. That being said, I was surprised to see how many draws they've had in their recent run of games. Hopefully they don't get another one tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites
London_born_Boro_bred 29 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Seems we stayed in London and have been using Chelsea's training ground. Good idea that. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/middlesbrough/11796890._/ Link to post Share on other sites
Downsouth 6,175 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 The only favourable thing that happened over the weekend was the Bournemouth draw, many here believed that Brentford would fall away and this now seems to be the case but others are closing in once again on our points tally and making it very clear that the top 2 and even top 6 is no forgone conclusion. I agree that the game is going to be very difficult as many will question whether the lads have got what it takes to put the ***nal defeat behind them and move on. However Birmingham are not ***nal albeit they seem to have improved and if our players have the right attitude then it is a game they could and possibly should win. We do not have a good track record at St Andrews do we? and tbh I am not convinced that we will bounce back as much as we all hope. I think a draw will be the result and in the grand scheme of things maybe seen as a decent point away from home but 3 points would be a MASSIVE result especially leading up to Saturdays game against Leeds. I think I may ask someone else to perhaps use my seldom used phrase Link to post Share on other sites
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