Boro V Nottingham Forest (A) 1-2

[Tom 2,492]

I think that what haunts me a little bit about Kike is that we signed him when we could have signed Danny Graham. I don't know the ins and outs of the finances (I presume Kike is on a much lower wage), but I do know that Danny was in decent form at the end of last season, and he and Tomlin were starting to form a great little partnership. A mate of mine bumped into him in Yarm just before pre-season started, and he said that he was pretty optimistic that a move to Boro would happen. Then we signed Kike about a week later and it semed as though that ship had sailed.

I'm a big fan of Kike, and agree that he has strengths that other strikers on our books don't have. But is he a better finisher than Graham? There's a nagging doubt that the player who could have made all the difference is the one that got away.

[HoyteForLeftBack 194]

I think there would have been similar frustrations with graham, probably would have scored some of the goals that kike has missed but also missed some that he's scored.

Guess we'll never know though

[Guest Changing Times]

Before this season I predicted play offs, we're currently joint top and I think it's a fantastic effort. Loving it at the moment.

 

Yes it's frustrating but I honestly thought predicting play offs was me being optimistic. Turns out I was being slightly realistic. We are where we are on merit because we are good and we are disciplined.

 

Two weeks ago, after the Leeds game, I got fed up of this place. We played brilliantly against Leeds and the comments on here afterwards were disgusting.

 

This place is starting to become far too much like FMTTM and the Facebook pages after a defeat, or even a draw! It's embarrassing. This forum and the majority of the posters are better than that!

 

I cut my break short after yesterday because it's ridiculous the way some of you are acting. Look at the table FFS! Look where we are, look where we were when AK took over!

 

*** sort yourselves out!

 

This. Very this. Tbh prowler it's part if the reason I very rarely comment on matchday anymore. I used to enjoy the informed debate post matches but now it's decending into reactionary histrionics akin the aforementioned forums.

I appreciate that expectations will be raised due to our standing in the league but we still need to maintain some perspective. We've been cut adrift by this point in recent seasons when teams like derby have been in the mixer for a couple of seasons now.

Bottom line is we are currently joint first. We're into the last 10 games and bar a disastrous run we'll be at least in the playoffs, which lets be honest, we all would have taken preseason!

!

 

I completely disagree.  There have been hardly any disgusting comments or reactionary histrionics,other than the odd post that I'd call silly, such as that we're 'awful' for example.  I'd say you're being overly sensitive if stuff like that is stopping you from posting, just ignore it and read/respond to the posts that are more balanced.

 

When I'm at games I enjoy reading through the comments afterwards to see what people thought. Some stuff I agree with, some stuff I disagree with but so far I've never felt the need to stop reading them at all.  I do think a lot of this really comes down to the fact that some people seem to find it hard to accept people have different opinions to theirs especially if the differing opinions take a more negative slant.  That's something that I think is a big problem on here actually.

 

From what I can see the big issue about yesterday is this discussion about Kike.  Despite the fact that I apparently always get involved when debates like this take place because I just love arguing, I haven't really commented.  Some people seem to think he isn't clinical enough and some people seem to feel that what he offers elsewhere makes up for this.  Each viewpoint seems reasonable enough to me.  The fact that people have strong opinions about it one way or the other shouldn't be an issue. Most of what I've read has been ok whatever side of the fence their on so I don't see what the problem is?

 

I've supported us through promotions, relegations etc so when I compare us to previous seasons I'm not going to simply look at what we did over the previous couple of seasons as you seem to be suggesting here.  We're challenging for promotion, I'm happy about that but I'm not going to just be grateful that we aren't midtable and going nowhere.  If that's your attitude then that's fine but don't expect others to feel the same and if you can't accept that they don't then perhaps the fault lies with you and not them?

 

This forum is fine, it's better than fine actually it's a very good place to discuss all things Boro as long as people don't make things personal or get abusive of course.

[Naughty Boy 18]

Before this season I predicted play offs, we're currently joint top and I think it's a fantastic effort. Loving it at the moment.

 

Yes it's frustrating but I honestly thought predicting play offs was me being optimistic. Turns out I was being slightly realistic. We are where we are on merit because we are good and we are disciplined.

 

Two weeks ago, after the Leeds game, I got fed up of this place. We played brilliantly against Leeds and the comments on here afterwards were disgusting.

 

This place is starting to become far too much like FMTTM and the Facebook pages after a defeat, or even a draw! It's embarrassing. This forum and the majority of the posters are better than that!

 

I cut my break short after yesterday because it's ridiculous the way some of you are acting. Look at the table FFS! Look where we are, look where we were when AK took over!

 

*** sort yourselves out!

 

This. Very this. Tbh prowler it's part if the reason I very rarely comment on matchday anymore. I used to enjoy the informed debate post matches but now it's decending into reactionary histrionics akin the aforementioned forums.

I appreciate that expectations will be raised due to our standing in the league but we still need to maintain some perspective. We've been cut adrift by this point in recent seasons when teams like derby have been in the mixer for a couple of seasons now.

Bottom line is we are currently joint first. We're into the last 10 games and bar a disastrous run we'll be at least in the playoffs, which lets be honest, we all would have taken preseason!

!

 

I completely disagree.  There have been hardly any disgusting comments or reactionary histrionics,other than the odd post that I'd call silly, such as that we're 'awful' for example.  I'd say you're being overly sensitive if stuff like that is stopping you from posting, just ignore it and read/respond to the posts that are more balanced.

 

When I'm at games I enjoy reading through the comments afterwards to see what people thought. Some stuff I agree with, some stuff I disagree with but so far I've never felt the need to stop reading them at all.  I do think a lot of this really comes down to the fact that some people seem to find it hard to accept people have different opinions to theirs especially if the differing opinions take a more negative slant.  That's something that I think is a big problem on here actually.

 

From what I can see the big issue about yesterday is this discussion about Kike.  Despite the fact that I apparently always get involved when debates like this take place because I just love arguing, I haven't really commented.  Some people seem to think he isn't clinical enough and some people seem to feel that what he offers elsewhere makes up for this.  Each viewpoint seems reasonable enough to me.  The fact that people have strong opinions about it one way or the other shouldn't be an issue. Most of what I've read has been ok whatever side of the fence their on so I don't see what the problem is?

 

I've supported us through promotions, relegations etc so when I compare us to previous seasons I'm not going to simply look at what we did over the previous couple of seasons as you seem to be suggesting here.  We're challenging for promotion, I'm happy about that but I'm not going to just be grateful that we aren't midtable and going nowhere.  If that's your attitude then that's fine but don't expect others to feel the same and if you can't accept that they don't then perhaps the fault lies with you and not them?

 

This forum is fine, it's better than fine actually it's a very good place to discuss all things Boro as long as people don't make things personal or get abusive of course.

 

@Changing Times..

Brilliant post that, +1

[MidleastBoro 30]

I don't see what relevance a pre-season prediction has to our current situation?

 

Circumstance's change and ours clearly, has changed significantly.

 

It's clear a lot of people are panicking because of recent form and as a result, Boro dropping out the top 2.

 

What is clearly evident is that our squad is one of the best in the league. Position for position no other team compares to our quality in depth.

 

I think it's perfectly reasonable, given the quality of our squad, for fans to be a little disgruntled. This squad is better than the play offs.

 

Pre-season predictions are irrelevant. If we don't finish in the top two I'd state that the team, the manager and the club has under performed.

 

Not sure how to embolden on my phone, so the phrase I have issue with is "perfectly reasonable, given the quality of our squad, for fans to be a little disgruntled".

 

With what? Joint top? Tough crowd if so.

[Humpty 3,261]

Maybe I should've finished it off with "being outside the top 2" if we're being pedantic.

[Guest Changing Times]

 

 

Not sure how to embolden on my phone, so the phrase I have issue with is "perfectly reasonable, given the quality of our squad, for fans to be a little disgruntled".

 

With what? Joint top? Tough crowd if so.

 

I suspect he means recent form?  We all have to consider that's entirely possible to be disappointed with how things have been going recently without that meaning that there is disappointment for the overall situation. 

[DanFromDownSouth 1,706]

Bit late on the player ratings but I had work straight after the game. So here goes.

 

Dimi - 6 - He did well yesterday, was solid collecting crosses and made a few decent saves, other than that didn't have that much else to do. And he certainly couldn't of done much about Gardener's goal.

 

Fredricks - 3 - Poor yesterday, offered nothing going forward, with probably all of his crosses not making the first post. Kept diving in at Antonio at every give opportunity, missing the ball entirely a lot of the time.

 

Kalas - 7 - Was very solid, made some excellent cover tackles and well timed sliding challenges. Was often the one cleaning up after Fredricks. Going forward I'd like Kalas and Ayala at the back.

 

Gibson - 4 - Made some good tackles missed some tackles. He was average nothing more. I think it was Gibson, but he got absolutely sold on a dummy by Antonio which almost allowed Forest to bag a third. He needs a extended rest in my opinion.

 

Friend - 5 - Defensively really good, nothing from Forest got down our left, tackled well and block a few of Burke's crosses. He didn't have the greatest game offensively, got into good positions. Maybe less that half of all his crossed went into half decent positions. Made a few good driving runs only to pass it backwards or into a forest player. Misjudged recieving a lot of passes early in the second half, probably due to the sun.

 

Clayton - 6 - Did what he normal did, tackled well, recycled the ball well and kept us in possession.

 

Leadbitter - 6 - Same as Clayton, scored a goal that was really out the blue, ran the length of the pitch to celebrate with the fans. Had no impact on our attacks, other than a few blazed long shots.

 

Tomlin - 3 - Very poor considering he is a creative player he created absolutely nothing regards our attacks. Drove forward a lot to either freeze up close to the 18 yard box, lose possession or just pass it to the forest defenders and late in the game had some shots that where about as accurate as Wikipedia pages!

 

Adomah - 4 - Wasted out on the left, linked up well with Friend in the first half to go missing in the second. Like Tomlin would drive forward and then pass backwards to no effect or lose possession. Good to see that the flubber on his chest has gone.

 

Bamford - 4 - Like Adomah he is wasted on the wing. Our top scorer should be playing more centrally. Other than one decent shot I can't remember much else he did. Like most of our attacking players.

 

Kike - 7 - Probably our best player yesterday. How anyone can criticise him for not scoring yesterday when he had barely one half chance is beyond me! He held the ball up well, was often pressurised by at least two defenders, and still managed to get the ball away. Always pressed their defence, and was all over the final third to engineer some space for himself or others.

 

Subs:

Nsue - 5 - Better than Fredricks, stayed on his feet when tackling or jockeying Antonio (Forests danger man). Was a bit better attacking wise more of his crosses actually reached the box. Still think he should back himself and drive into the box, from out wide.

 

Vossen - 4 - Didn't do anything when he was on.

 

Forshaw - 5 - I like the look of Forshaw so far. I think he is a bit of a hybrid between Tomlin and Leadbitter. When he came on, he drove forward well and passed off at the right times, had a decent effort saved. I'd like to see a midfield partnership of him and Leadbitter.

 

We didn't play well yesterday, the wide players ineffective and the full backs also ineffective. You could see that, we were ineffective going out wide, so why did we carry on doing that all game I don't know. We had one dangerous cross but that came from Bamford coming in centrally. Creatively we were shocking. We were horrendously slow in our build up and this lead to our attacks being about as predictable as Derby fans talking about who the best team in the world is. It's obvious we need to up the tempo and add a bit on spontaneity in our attacks.

 

(I've not long been up so there is bound to be errors sorry in advance).

[typicalbrough 17]

 

With what? Joint top? Tough crowd if so.

 

Can we kill this we are not joint top. We have the same amount of points as the team who are top. It's a small but important difference.

[Boro_Phil 4]

Theres still plenty to play for, were not out of it. You never know what will happen in football, so no point trying to predict it, in form or not.

 

The whole kike thing annoys me. Surely a player who holds the ball up well but is poor at finishing the majority of the time would be better suited to a number 10 role? (Crazy to think i know). Other strikers may have done nothing, but kike was in that sole striker spot, not them. Surely presented with as many possibilities as kike was, theyd of likely put it away more times than kike hasnt. Swap kike and tomlin, just for a laugh.

[p_mards 1,365]

Theres still plenty to play for, were not out of it. You never know what will happen in football, so no point trying to predict it, in form or not.

 

The whole kike thing annoys me. Surely a player who holds the ball up well but is poor at finishing the majority of the time would be better suited to a number 10 role? (Crazy to think i know). Other strikers may have done nothing, but kike was in that sole striker spot, not them. Surely presented with as many possibilities as kike was, theyd of likely put it away more times than kike hasnt. Swap kike and tomlin, just for a laugh.

 

 I read this in the voice of Father Dougal :P

 

I sort of get what you mean. I said quite a few months ago that I'd like to see Kike in not so much of a #10 role but play upfront in a forward two but drop deep how Berbatov did so well for Man Utd.

[DanFromDownSouth 1,706]

Theres still plenty to play for, were not out of it. You never know what will happen in football, so no point trying to predict it, in form or not.

 

The whole kike thing annoys me. Surely a player who holds the ball up well but is poor at finishing the majority of the time would be better suited to a number 10 role? (Crazy to think i know). Other strikers may have done nothing, but kike was in that sole striker spot, not them. Surely presented with as many possibilities as kike was, theyd of likely put it away more times than kike hasnt. Swap kike and tomlin, just for a laugh.

 

 I read this in the voice of Father Dougal :P

 

I sort of get what you mean. I said quite a few months ago that I'd like to see Kike in not so much of a #10 role but play upfront in a forward two but drop deep how Berbatov did so well for Man Utd.

 

I'd like to see that, Kike in the centre forward role, with Bamford playing more advanced. I'd probably do away with Tomlin if that was to happen.

[Barticus 29]

I'd like to see Kike & Bamford together up front with Vossen the point of a midfield diamond, Leadbetter the base and Adomah & Reach/ Carayol providing the width, I know it would split up the Leadbetter/ Clayton partnership and make us weaker in defence but we now need to win games, draws will cost us dearly

[p_mards 1,365]

Dimi's positioning for their first goal was awful. He gave himself no chance to save it as he was stood a foot away from the near post. Yes it was a brilliant shot but if his positioning was correct he could have saved it.

[Guest xathras]

Fredricks - 3 - Poor yesterday, offered nothing going forward, with probably all of his crosses not making the first post. Kept diving in at Antonio at every give opportunity, missing the ball entirely a lot of the time.

 

What planet are you on to give Fredericks a 3. When he was on he was one of the only players causing them real problems. Our outlet was there and when Nsue came on we looked different