Boro v Rotherham (A) 0-1

[Humpty 3,261]

Haven't been through the thread to have a look what has been said.

 

I have to say, AK should not be taking any heat for the result last night.

 

Individual error led to their goal, and we created numerous chances which were not put away.

 

The only thing i could suggest in hindsight is Rhodes might have buried some of those chances.

 

AK cannot put the ball in the net for the players. AK cannot step in and fix the error which led to the goal.

 

Jaw just hit the floor.

[MMC 1,000]

As with Blackburn, we forget about this and move on. Automatic promotion is still very much in our hands if we can beat one or both of Hull and Burnley.

 

Seems like Stuani is offering very little at the moment so I think he needs to come out of the team. Whether it's Downing, De Pena or even moving Forshaw forward and bringing Leadboots back in, something needs to be done because he's the one person who I came out of watching the Wolves game thinking he's been a passenger from start to finish and last night has done very little in changing my opinion about that.

 

The problem with Stuani is he's most effective in the box, there can be no denying that. He's not a winger, you can see it in his play. He wants to get into the box, he wants to shoot at goal and he wants to do it from the middle. Unless we're utilising his effect at the back post, he's barely existent on the right so we either need to get him more involved in the scrap in the middle and give him something to work with or we need to drop him because we seem to lose half of our threat on the right-hand side when he plays.

 

Why can't we give him a run out at CF? He's our top scorer and has proven to be a cool finisher, he also seems to be liked by AK. I'd bring him in ahead of Nugent and stick Downing on the left.

 

Indeed, we never know what will happen but it seems Karanka is set on selecting between the two of Nugent and Rhodes for the single striker role.

 

If we were to go for a proper 4-4-2, I would prefer Stuani up front alongside one of the others. He's a battler, he will surely give the defenders something to think about in the air, especially with Downing and Adomah crossing balls into the box. Nugent and Rhodes are either too similar or Nugent instinctively will act as a deeper forward and be asked to pull back too often.

Out of interest which player would you drop? Would it be one of the 2 holding midfielders or Ramirez?

 

If I was to go for a 4-4-2, Leadbitter or Clayton would partner Ramirez in the middle. It's trying to find that right balance to keep Ramirez in the team but allow Downing and Adomah to maintain their crosses into the box.

 

I'm not saying we should play 4-4-2, though. I'm just saying if we went for 2 up front, we should consider Stuani as one of the two rather than seemingly wasting him on the right.

 

I agree with Stuani up front, having him drift in from the right worked wonders when no-one really knew his game - watching him pull that particular move off to perfection against Wednesday seems to have put a total end to that.

 

Putting Ramirez in the middle as part of a centre midfield pairing would just take us back to the end of the Mowbray era where we were very competent going forwards, but constantly outnumbered when defending and porous at the back. If we go 4-4-2 IMO the centre midfield pairing have to be balanced and capable at doing one another's jobs if caught out of position, etc. I personally would still have Ramirez in the team in a 4-4-2, just on the left with the option to switch with Adomah on the right if we wanted to play narrower.

[pikerman 1,121]

Haven't been through the thread to have a look what has been said.

 

I have to say, AK should not be taking any heat for the result last night.

 

Individual error led to their goal, and we created numerous chances which were not put away.

 

The only thing i could suggest in hindsight is Rhodes might have buried some of those chances.

 

AK cannot put the ball in the net for the players. AK cannot step in and fix the error which led to the goal.

 

Jaw just hit the floor.

 

If you go looking for it Humpty you will find mine down there too. Players are responsible for individual errors, but surely the management are responsible if the other team play with, and I quote ''more desire''.

[MMC 1,000]

Haven't been through the thread to have a look what has been said.

 

I have to say, AK should not be taking any heat for the result last night.

 

Individual error led to their goal, and we created numerous chances which were not put away.

 

The only thing i could suggest in hindsight is Rhodes might have buried some of those chances.

 

AK cannot put the ball in the net for the players. AK cannot step in and fix the error which led to the goal.

 

Jaw just hit the floor.

 

Yeah, mistakes lead to our loss last night. Nugent should be scoring and we should be defending better at the other end.

 

Saying that Karanka picked the team, he had the option to change things to make us more incisive in the second half, he could have instructed the players to stop with the aimless hoofball we resorted to and he definitely, definitely, definitely should have had the team fired up to tear strips off Rotherham in the second half. How the players perform is the manager's responsibility and his failure to fulfill that responsibility is rightly resulting in him being castigated.

 

It's been 6 weeks since these spineless performances began and despite at least 10 mill spent between then and now we've just had a mirror image of the Bristol game.

[GwenStuani 4]

Haven't been through the thread to have a look what has been said.

 

I have to say, AK should not be taking any heat for the result last night.

 

Individual error led to their goal, and we created numerous chances which were not put away.

 

The only thing i could suggest in hindsight is Rhodes might have buried some of those chances.

 

AK cannot put the ball in the net for the players. AK cannot step in and fix the error which led to the goal.

 

Jaw just hit the floor.

 

If you go looking for it Humpty you will find mine down there too. Players are responsible for individual errors, but surely the management are responsible  if the other team play with, and I quote ''more desire''.

 

Did they play with more desire or is than just another line from the AK playbook?

 

At the end of the day we hammered first half. Looked comfortable second half, and hammered them for then minutes leading up to their goal. To quote the gazette, it was a sucker punch. And I agree.

[BillyWoofs_shinpad 1,884]

 

Why can't we give him a run out at CF? He's our top scorer and has proven to be a cool finisher, he also seems to be liked by AK. I'd bring him in ahead of Nugent and stick Downing on the left.

 

Indeed, we never know what will happen but it seems Karanka is set on selecting between the two of Nugent and Rhodes for the single striker role.

 

If we were to go for a proper 4-4-2, I would prefer Stuani up front alongside one of the others. He's a battler, he will surely give the defenders something to think about in the air, especially with Downing and Adomah crossing balls into the box. Nugent and Rhodes are either too similar or Nugent instinctively will act as a deeper forward and be asked to pull back too often.

Out of interest which player would you drop? Would it be one of the 2 holding midfielders or Ramirez?

 

If I was to go for a 4-4-2, Leadbitter or Clayton would partner Ramirez in the middle. It's trying to find that right balance to keep Ramirez in the team but allow Downing and Adomah to maintain their crosses into the box.

 

I'm not saying we should play 4-4-2, though. I'm just saying if we went for 2 up front, we should consider Stuani as one of the two rather than seemingly wasting him on the right.

 

I agree with Stuani up front, having him drift in from the right worked wonders when no-one really knew his game - watching him pull that particular move off to perfection against Wednesday seems to have put a total end to that.

 

Putting Ramirez in the middle as part of a centre midfield pairing would just take us back to the end of the Mowbray era where we were very competent going forwards, but constantly outnumbered when defending and porous at the back. If we go 4-4-2 IMO the centre midfield pairing have to be balanced and capable at doing one another's jobs if caught out of position, etc. I personally would still have Ramirez in the team in a 4-4-2, just on the left with the option to switch with Adomah on the right if we wanted to play narrower.

 

I'd keep the 4-2-3-1 but with Stuani as the lone striker, it would be worth a try.

[pikerman 1,121]

Haven't been through the thread to have a look what has been said.

 

I have to say, AK should not be taking any heat for the result last night.

 

Individual error led to their goal, and we created numerous chances which were not put away.

 

The only thing i could suggest in hindsight is Rhodes might have buried some of those chances.

 

AK cannot put the ball in the net for the players. AK cannot step in and fix the error which led to the goal.

 

Jaw just hit the floor.

 

If you go looking for it Humpty you will find mine down there too. Players are responsible for individual errors, but surely the management are responsible  if the other team play with, and I quote ''more desire''.

 

Did they play with more desire or is than just another line from the AK playbook?

 

At the end of the day we hammered first half. Looked comfortable second half, and hammered them for then minutes leading up to their goal. To quote the gazette, it was a sucker punch. And I agree.

 

I could not get there last night, (thank goodness), so I can only go by brief highlights and post match comment. The problem is that your statement above is now becoming a regular accompaniment to our games, which then begs the questions why and who is responsible for the team selection, tactics and morale as you cannot be unlucky all the time.

[Humpty 3,261]

Haven't been through the thread to have a look what has been said.

 

I have to say, AK should not be taking any heat for the result last night.

 

Individual error led to their goal, and we created numerous chances which were not put away.

 

The only thing i could suggest in hindsight is Rhodes might have buried some of those chances.

 

AK cannot put the ball in the net for the players. AK cannot step in and fix the error which led to the goal.

 

Jaw just hit the floor.

 

If you go looking for it Humpty you will find mine down there too. Players are responsible for individual errors, but surely the management are responsible  if the other team play with, and I quote ''more desire''.

 

Did they play with more desire or is than just another line from the AK playbook?

 

At the end of the day we hammered first half. Looked comfortable second half, and hammered them for then minutes leading up to their goal. To quote the gazette, it was a sucker punch. And I agree.

 

We never looked comfortable second half. Not at all.

 

Karanka picks the team. If he picks Rhodes he continues his run in the side he builds more consistency, he probably scores either of Nugents chances. I'd loved to have been in that dressing room at half time because the contrast in performance between both halves was staggering.

 

There was no tactical change. There was no calmness in the performance especially when things got tough second half. Our key players are not performing to their true potential....i don't know who else i should be blaming for all this happening other than Karanka.

[MMC 1,000]

 

Indeed, we never know what will happen but it seems Karanka is set on selecting between the two of Nugent and Rhodes for the single striker role.

 

If we were to go for a proper 4-4-2, I would prefer Stuani up front alongside one of the others. He's a battler, he will surely give the defenders something to think about in the air, especially with Downing and Adomah crossing balls into the box. Nugent and Rhodes are either too similar or Nugent instinctively will act as a deeper forward and be asked to pull back too often.

Out of interest which player would you drop? Would it be one of the 2 holding midfielders or Ramirez?

 

If I was to go for a 4-4-2, Leadbitter or Clayton would partner Ramirez in the middle. It's trying to find that right balance to keep Ramirez in the team but allow Downing and Adomah to maintain their crosses into the box.

 

I'm not saying we should play 4-4-2, though. I'm just saying if we went for 2 up front, we should consider Stuani as one of the two rather than seemingly wasting him on the right.

 

I agree with Stuani up front, having him drift in from the right worked wonders when no-one really knew his game - watching him pull that particular move off to perfection against Wednesday seems to have put a total end to that.

 

Putting Ramirez in the middle as part of a centre midfield pairing would just take us back to the end of the Mowbray era where we were very competent going forwards, but constantly outnumbered when defending and porous at the back. If we go 4-4-2 IMO the centre midfield pairing have to be balanced and capable at doing one another's jobs if caught out of position, etc. I personally would still have Ramirez in the team in a 4-4-2, just on the left with the option to switch with Adomah on the right if we wanted to play narrower.

 

I'd keep the 4-2-3-1 but with Stuani as the lone striker, it would be worth a try.

 

I've always wanted Stuani to play up front for us as his movement was excellent on the occasion he played there against Oldham.

 

I also think he's got the best attributes for the role compared to the others, definitely the best at winning headers and the strongest. From what I've seen as well he's the best finisher, although that doesn't look to take much.

["KM" 1,656]

Haven't been through the thread to have a look what has been said.

 

I have to say, AK should not be taking any heat for the result last night.

 

Individual error led to their goal, and we created numerous chances which were not put away.

 

The only thing i could suggest in hindsight is Rhodes might have buried some of those chances.

 

AK cannot put the ball in the net for the players. AK cannot step in and fix the error which led to the goal.

 

Jaw just hit the floor.

 

If you go looking for it Humpty you will find mine down there too. Players are responsible for individual errors, but surely the management are responsible  if the other team play with, and I quote ''more desire''.

 

Did they play with more desire or is than just another line from the AK playbook?

 

At the end of the day we hammered first half. Looked comfortable second half, and hammered them for then minutes leading up to their goal. To quote the gazette, it was a sucker punch. And I agree.

 

Whether we played with less desire or not that is what AK came out with and that is what people will use as a stick to beat him with.

 

I get the impression the honeymoon period between AK and the fans is now well and truly over. Every defeat, every decision, every mistake will be microscoped.

[MattyBoro 4]

Rotherham where all over us from the kick off of the 2nd half we didn't get a foot in the game again until after we conceded. Stuani was a passenger this game and I personally cannot remember him influencing the game at all, even during the dominant first half.

 

AK simply reacted too slowly to sub Stuani and Nugent, didn't really attempt a significant tactical change to counter the 4141 change to formation Rotherham did 2nd half.

 

It could be said Nugent should have buried at least 1 of his chances 1st half, would it of been a different game? Probably. Would we of won? Can't be said. Did AK's delayed reaction to the tactical change by Rotherham half time lead to them then dominating the whole of the 2nd half. Almost certainly!

 

For me AK is responsible for motivating the players and team tactics. Both directly lead to the poor 2nd half showing and defeat. For me, this game, falls on AKs lap.

 

3 games now he has said that the other team wanted it more than us. That's 3 times too many!

If he can't motivate them after last years heartache then we are in trouble.

["KM" 1,656]

Rotherham where all over us from the kick off of the 2nd half we didn't get a foot in the game again until after we conceded. Stuani was a passenger this game and I personally cannot remember him influencing the game at all, even during the dominant first half.

 

AK simply reacted too slowly to sub Stuani and Nugent, didn't really attempt a significant tactical change to counter the 4141 change to formation Rotherham did 2nd half.

 

It could be said Nugent should have buried at least 1 of his chances 1st half, would it of been a different game? Probably. Would we of won? Can't be said. Did AK's delayed reaction to the tactical change by Rotherham half time lead to them then dominating the whole of the 2nd half. Almost certainly!

 

For me AK is responsible for motivating the players and team tactics. Both directly lead to the poor 2nd half showing and defeat. For me, this game, falls on AKs lap.

 

3 games now he has said that the other team wanted it more than us. That's 3 times too many!

If he can't motivate them after last years heartache then we are in trouble.

 

If AK is failing to motivate his players to go out on the pitch and beat relegation candidates time and time again then I am sorry but I think it's time to say goodbye in the summer.

[MattyBoro 4]

If Boro fail to go up this season I can't see how Karanka can stay on as manager. Surely he would be a failure with the money and time he's been given

[GwenStuani 4]

Rotherham where all over us from the kick off of the 2nd half we didn't get a foot in the game again until after we conceded. Stuani was a passenger this game and I personally cannot remember him influencing the game at all, even during the dominant first half.

 

AK simply reacted too slowly to sub Stuani and Nugent, didn't really attempt a significant tactical change to counter the 4141 change to formation Rotherham did 2nd half.

 

It could be said Nugent should have buried at least 1 of his chances 1st half, would it of been a different game? Probably. Would we of won? Can't be said. Did AK's delayed reaction to the tactical change by Rotherham half time lead to them then dominating the whole of the 2nd half. Almost certainly!

 

For me AK is responsible for motivating the players and team tactics. Both directly lead to the poor 2nd half showing and defeat. For me, this game, falls on AKs lap.

 

3 games now he has said that the other team wanted it more than us. That's 3 times too many!

If he can't motivate them after last years heartache then we are in trouble.

 

If AK is failing to motivate his players to go out on the pitch and beat relegation candidates time and time again then I am sorry but I think it's time to say goodbye in the summer.

 

Is this in general or if we don't go up?

 

If AK took us up and was sacked it would be up there with Brentford sacking Mark Warburton.

 

We will go up this season. 

 

Brighton have gone back to begin draw merchants. Hull are very similar to us run wise (worse even).

 

I've stated this before, I have seen nothing to suggest we will not go up this season. As people point out we play better against the bigger teams. Burnley, Hull and Brighton will be crucial. Win those and Rotheram will be long forgotten.

[Prowler 197]

Many sheets need changing, I think.