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Boro vs. Bristol City 2-1 (Friend, Ayala)


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Pulis said in his interview with the Boro website:

 

"Adam Clayton was exceptional when he came on. If we can get Clayts playing like that for 90 minutes, Grant will find it hard to get back into the team for the remaining 3 games"

 

It probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, but that confirms Clayton will start tomorrow.

Don’t mind that. I rate claytons ability and football brain. It’s just he can’t run, at all. I also think the hate he gets for “always passing sideways/backwards” is harsh. When I watch him I think he always looks to pass it forward just there’s not always an option there. Most central midfielders pass sidewards or backwards, it’s rare to find one that passes forwards on a regular basis, I.e de bruyne.

 

Yeah I agree with that, Clayton's actually a really good passer of the ball. Like u say his problem is that he moves around the pitch way too slow.

 

If he had the engine of someone like De Roon I think he'd have played most of his career in the Premier league.

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Isn't it obvious? Fulham is a perfect match for him on the pitch. If he's going to be on the bench for a team, Jokanovic is a much, much better option than Pulis for Christie. He's been berated for his poor defending at Derby for years now, the option to switch for a team that plays with attacking full-backs or defensive after the years he spent at Derby is an absolute no-brainer. Like you said, he's on the bench for both but at least when he comes into the team at Fulham, he can actually do the job they need him to do.

 

He's not on the pitch for Fulham, that's the long and short of it.

 

Maybe if he'd stuck around he might have been able to do a job off the bench for us as well, Traore has been brought off/switched wings enough times for Christie to have got a chance as a defensive winger when we were trying to close games out.

 

We went with wing backs the other night which would have been ideal for him, my opinion is that he jumped ship far too quickly and hasn't put himself in any better position.

 

If Fulham go up I suspect he'll get even less game time next season, maybe working with a very defensive manager like Pulis might have actually helped him if he'd given it long enough to try.

 

You're putting an awful lot of credence into swapping one bench for another as if it's a purely bad thing. I'd say it's neither good nor bad in itself, either way he has to work his way into a team so he's in the same position in that regard, he's certainly not worse off for it.

 

Usually you view swapping one bench for another as a bad thing if there were first team options available, e.g. Shay Given when he turned us down for Stoke City. Unless I'm very mistaken, Fulham were the only club in for Christie. So his only option is to stay on one bench or sit on another. The switch is entirely neutral at that point. You have to go deeper into why the switch would be made.

 

So what's changed for him by swapping Boro for Fulham? Well, analyse the differences between the teams to see that. Not just in terms of their current results and position as I'm not entirely certain we were that far off each other at the time of the transfer.

 

But difference in style is clear. Fulham are at their best when they play attacking football, the kind that works best with wing backs. The kind that Monk wishes he could have made work, essentially. Pulis teams have a history of playing centre backs as full backs over attacking full backs. At the time of the transfer, that had already been made clear to the fans, never mind Christie himself. We were all talking about it, how Christie having been one of our better players will ultimately struggle in a typical Pulis team which the evidence showed we were moving towards.

 

Along comes a team that fits your style of play. After half a season of showing how good you can be when played in the right way, along comes another team who plays that way and willing to take you away from the kind of football which had already stifled your career to date. You know you won't be first choice and will have to fight for your place still, but you certainly don't need to change the player you are to accommodate your manager. You can play naturally and well... that's about as good a chance as any to work your way into a team.

 

It was absolutely 100% the right move for him and all parties involved, in my opinion.

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Isn't it obvious? Fulham is a perfect match for him on the pitch. If he's going to be on the bench for a team, Jokanovic is a much, much better option than Pulis for Christie. He's been berated for his poor defending at Derby for years now, the option to switch for a team that plays with attacking full-backs or defensive after the years he spent at Derby is an absolute no-brainer. Like you said, he's on the bench for both but at least when he comes into the team at Fulham, he can actually do the job they need him to do.

 

He's not on the pitch for Fulham, that's the long and short of it.

 

Maybe if he'd stuck around he might have been able to do a job off the bench for us as well, Traore has been brought off/switched wings enough times for Christie to have got a chance as a defensive winger when we were trying to close games out.

 

We went with wing backs the other night which would have been ideal for him, my opinion is that he jumped ship far too quickly and hasn't put himself in any better position.

 

If Fulham go up I suspect he'll get even less game time next season, maybe working with a very defensive manager like Pulis might have actually helped him if he'd given it long enough to try.

 

You're putting an awful lot of credence into swapping one bench for another as if it's a purely bad thing. I'd say it's neither good nor bad in itself, either way he has to work his way into a team so he's in the same position in that regard, he's certainly not worse off for it.

 

Usually you view swapping one bench for another as a bad thing if there were first team options available, e.g. Shay Given when he turned us down for Stoke City. Unless I'm very mistaken, Fulham were the only club in for Christie. So his only option is to stay on one bench or sit on another. The switch is entirely neutral at that point. You have to go deeper into why the switch would be made.

 

So what's changed for him by swapping Boro for Fulham? Well, analyse the differences between the teams to see that. Not just in terms of their current results and position as I'm not entirely certain we were that far off each other at the time of the transfer.

 

But difference in style is clear. Fulham are at their best when they play attacking football, the kind that works best with wing backs. The kind that Monk wishes he could have made work, essentially. Pulis teams have a history of playing centre backs as full backs over attacking full backs. At the time of the transfer, that had already been made clear to the fans, never mind Christie himself. We were all talking about it, how Christie having been one of our better players will ultimately struggle in a typical Pulis team which the evidence showed we were moving towards.

 

Along comes a team that fits your style of play. After half a season of showing how good you can be when played in the right way, along comes another team who plays that way and willing to take you away from the kind of football which had already stifled your career to date. You know you won't be first choice and will have to fight for your place still, but you certainly don't need to change the player you are to accommodate your manager. You can play naturally and well... that's about as good a chance as any to work your way into a team.

 

It was absolutely 100% the right move for him and all parties involved, in my opinion.

 

I think time will tell if it's 100% the right move, if he can't get into Fulham's team and has to move again then who knows.

 

In the short term I suppose it depends where he's happiest, if he's happier being on the bench for Fulham than on the bench for us then I suppose it is the right move for him.

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Maybe Pulis didn't want a player here who he didn't think was committed to the club?

 

You do have to wonder about Braithwaite and Christie's mindset when they want to basically give up a few weeks into Pulis's reign.

 

If they believed in themselves surely they'd have stayed and fought for their places. I've got very little respect for either.

 

I read both interviews with Christie and Braithwaite on why they wanted out (in world cup year - both looking like playing in it too) Christie was more informative, but he said he was dropped without explanation after playing nearly every game up until then, then when they trained the first 11 were exclusive to the rest and he was just left out in the cold, then when he was brought in he was given no direction or knew what Pulis wanted from him.  That he said is why he was "itching for a move" in Pulis's words. Braithwaite just said he didn't fit into Puliss plans and with it being world cup year he needed to be playing - I can hardly blame them if that was the case.

The interview is online.

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Christie isn't going to the world cup Ireland didn't qualify.

I've just re-read his interview and he sounded disappointed to be dropped which you can understand, he was a key player for us and then he can't get in the team. I can half understand him when he says that he didn't fit into the style here but he says Pulis wants to play with centre backs at full back, well George Friend isn't a centre back.

Maybe he didn't got in because he's a defender that can't defend. If Christie has international aspirations maybe he needs to learn how to defend because now Seamus Coleman is fit he won't be getting much game time for Ireland.

 

He said Tony Pulis was fine with him so I don't think he was treated badly, he just sounds peeved to lose his place. The thing about training with the reserves he says 'sometimes' we don't really know the context of that, we probably work on set pieces a lot so maybe the set piece work only involves the first team, I don't know but maybe it's not that unusual.

 

He also says he just wants to play football, I guess he'll be moving from Fulham again in the summer?

 

One last point; he said he was living in a hotel up here so Fulham is a good move because it's closer to his home and now he can look to buy a place down there. Maybe he just didn't fancy it up here.

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Do you know what id be really brave today with my selection and pray it works id either go -

..............................Randoph........................

Fabio.......Shotton/fry.......Gibson.........Friend

Troare.......Clayton...Besic.....................Harrison

.................Ayala.......Bamford................................

 

or

 

..............................Randoph........................

Shotton.......Ayala.......Gibson............Fabio

Harrison......Clayton...Besic...............Downing

.................Troare.......Bamford.........................

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Actually another variation you could try on that would be -

..............................Randoph........................

Shotton.......Ayala.......Gibson............Friend

Fabio......Clayton...Besic/Howson........Harrison

.................Troare.......Bamford.........................

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Do you know what id be really brave today with my selection and pray it works id either go -

..............................Randoph........................

Fabio.......Shotton/fry.......Gibson.........Friend

Troare.......Clayton...Besic.....................Harrison

.................Ayala.......Bamford................................

 

or

 

..............................Randoph........................

Shotton.......Ayala.......Gibson............Fabio

Harrison......Clayton...Besic...............Downing

.................Troare.......Bamford.........................

 

The second team on here looks alright.

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Formations aside we all know that this is a game we simply have to win by hook or by crook and the players know that as well.

 

We have criticised them often enough for not stepping up to the plate and rightly so when it is really needed and today is one of those days.

 

The effort and desire and attitude that will be on display later on will indicate just who is bothered and who is not and to a degree the Manager also.

 

Clayton is being mentioned and it seems as if forum members are pleased about that, and I will agree to the extent that at least Leadbitter is not playing, but because he only passes sideways and only goes beyond a certain point then all attacking options open to him are to pass it to players near and next to him and not in front of him which slows the whole thing down and becomes predictable so in this case I am not convinced that we will be more attack minded when the result is all that really matters.

 

We know how BC will cover Traore and from recent displays he just has not been able to contribute and has been very stifled, ok it opens things up to other attack options but really will Adam Clayton be the midfield General who will see and start other potential chances? Would rather use Baker to be honest.

 

Games of significance today are Sheffield United V Millwall ( home win or draw please)

QPR V PNE ( home win please just to get rid of any possible outside chance for PNE) Fulham V Brentford (home win or draw please and besides it is on tv and do not think Brentford can beat Fulham who need to win to retain auto spot) and finally Burton V Derby (only Derby will possibly have as much trouble as Boro to beat Burton but an away win seems certain)

 

We will either be delighted or dismayed on here come 5pm and if we lose ( baring in mind that BC very often do the double over us and our record against top half teams) I think there will be some serious finger pointing at individual players, management and questioning once again about where Boro goes in the future under the current stewardship.

 

Massive,massive game and it is "MUST WIN"

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Ok Tom good idea as we have not had an award placed on Boro games so far this season and we will find out which members let their hearts rule their heads.

 

DS award applicable to this game , correct final score and name of first goal scorer either side.

 

Now I know that a lot will want to predict the same as others in terms of scores, let's face it we will not be getting a 3 or 4 clear goal win today so in the event of same predictions the time of first goal must be indicated and if there are duplicate/triplicate etc predictions then the closest to the time will be awarded the DS award.

 

0-0 also applicable but time of first booking must be included within 5 mins either way to win the award.

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Blimey this is a big game. Anyone who can really should go. Still 4:30 hours to go. Get on a train. Get in the car. Just get there and cheer the lads on. Apathy never won anything.

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