2 months after the last poll, how confident are you in Woodgate now?

[TLF10 4,496]

@wilsoncgp. Agree with what you are saying but despite all that we still should not be where we are. If JW had us 14th/15th I can hand on heart say i would be fine with that. I and a lot of fans have very much lowered our expectations in line with what JW is having to work with it. But even with all the mitigation the bottom line remains we should not be where we are.

[ManBearPig 1,853]

36 minutes ago, TLF10 said:

@wilsoncgp. Agree with what you are saying but despite all that we still should not be where we are. If JW had us 14th/15th I can hand on heart say i would be fine with that. I and a lot of fans have very much lowered our expectations in line with what JW is having to work with it. But even with all the mitigation the bottom line remains we should not be where we are.

Unfortunately this is the trap of where we find ourselves.  "We should not be where we are". 

I'm sorry but we're in the relegation zone because weve been *** this season. We didnt even manage a shot on target against 10 man Fulham yesterday! 

We've made chances but failed to take them, other teams have and therefore we deserve it. 

Added to this, our only 3 players we signed in the transfer window dont even improve the current 11. Why have we signed them if this is the case? Again, just all stuff Boro is so farcical when you look below the surface. 

[RealSlimSladeyy 769]

Here’s a quote from Vickers’ latest article on how we’re in a relegation scrap:

’He has abandoned his Utopian ideas of expansive 4-3-3 attacking and instead opted for a pragmatic three at the back and solid midfield approach.’

If shifting to an attacking 4-3-3 is utopian, then it is only because we don’t have the players to play it. It doesn’t take a genius to realise we don’t have the players for it, and that is because Woodgate was let down so much in the transfer market. Did Gibson really believe, deep down in his heart of hearts, that signing 3 players that have never regularly played above league one could transform a team that’s been lacking attacking potency and width for years? That’s been stuck under a Pulis regime for 18 months? A change to a very different style of play does not have to be (SHOULD not be) considered utopian, but when there is a lack of commitment from the board to making that change, then I guess it is. Obviously Vickers doesn’t explicitly criticise Gibson, since Gibson has them by the balls, but I think it is implicit in that quote. 

[Denzel Zanzibar 6,972]

1 hour ago, TLF10 said:

@wilsoncgp. Agree with what you are saying but despite all that we still should not be where we are. If JW had us 14th/15th I can hand on heart say i would be fine with that. I and a lot of fans have very much lowered our expectations in line with what JW is having to work with it. But even with all the mitigation the bottom line remains we should not be where we are.

 No, we definitely should be where we are. The whole club is a *** state from top to bottom.

[Duvel 2,446]

1 hour ago, RealSlimSladeyy said:

Here’s a quote from Vickers’ latest article on how we’re in a relegation scrap:

’He has abandoned his Utopian ideas of expansive 4-3-3 attacking and instead opted for a pragmatic three at the back and solid midfield approach.’

If shifting to an attacking 4-3-3 is utopian, then it is only because we don’t have the players to play it. It doesn’t take a genius to realise we don’t have the players for it, and that is because Woodgate was let down so much in the transfer market. Did Gibson really believe, deep down in his heart of hearts, that signing 3 players that have never regularly played above league one could transform a team that’s been lacking attacking potency and width for years? That’s been stuck under a Pulis regime for 18 months? A change to a very different style of play does not have to be (SHOULD not be) considered utopian, but when there is a lack of commitment from the board to making that change, then I guess it is. Obviously Vickers doesn’t explicitly criticise Gibson, since Gibson has them by the balls, but I think it is implicit in that quote. 

Well we got the two full backs that Woodgate wanted, 2 attacking full backs in a 4-3-3 should instantly make us more attack minded. 

Unfortunately they don't seem to be good enough to keep players like Howson, Shotton or Coulson out of the team. 

Edited October 27, 2019 by Duvel

[LinoJo3 3,191]

Coulson has been one of the only bright points of this season. Still having to resort to midfielders or CB at right back, specially after spending £2m on a new one is just rubbish though.

[Duvel 2,446]

10 minutes ago, LinoJo3 said:

Coulson has been one of the only bright points of this season. Still having to resort to midfielders or CB at right back, specially after spending £2m on a new one is just rubbish though.

I know he has but even Shotton was being picked ahead of Bola up until Coulson came back. 

It doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the Bola signing does it!  

[p_mards 1,365]

Nobody at the club (aside from the academy) does their job to a decent standard. Gibson and Bauser can't run a football club. Our recruitment department is terrible at signing good value for money signings. Woodgate can't put a team out onto the pitch that can perform to a decent standard, nor does he play new signings that are apparently signed to fit his style of play. Any club with such fundamentally terrible individuals within key positions deserve to be relegated from the Championship.

Something drastic needs to change if we're going to merely keep ourselves in this division next season. There are no positive hopes left of promotion for this season. This season is a write-off at best. At worst, it's a well deserved relegation which will leave no room for Gibson's awful leadership to hide as no amount of spin by the Evening Gazette or BBC Radio Tees could cover it up.

Edited October 27, 2019 by p_mards

[Skinemrippers 895]

Anyone with any inside info to give a glimmer of hope? I’ve still no idea the style we are trying to play, only that it isn’t attractive, high press, high scoring. The new philosophy was no more big money signings, lower league players to fit the style of play and make a profit. Our first three signings of this brand new dawn can’t get in the team. Plan A clearly not working - any ideas whether we even have a plan B? 

[SmogDane 4,055]

The team that finished 5th included Braithwaite, Bamford, Gibson, Traore and Christie 

The team that finished 7th included Flint, Besic, Downing, Hugill and John Obi Mikel...

So saying that woodgate has the same team that finished 5th and 7th is not the truth... 

Our squad is very thin atm ... Any manager would struggle to get this team to score enough

[Neverbefore 10,939]

Talking about where we finished under pulis in his final year is pointless. If you take away the first few months we were much closer to the bottom of the table than the top. This rot has been going on for over a year now, under both managers. 

 

The squad simply isnt good enough. I really dont see how anyone can argue otherwise. 

[LinoJo3 3,191]

3 minutes ago, Neverbefore said:

Talking about where we finished under pulis in his final year is pointless. If you take away the first few months we were much closer to the bottom of the table than the top. This rot has been going on for over a year now, under both managers. 

 

The squad simply isnt good enough. I really dont see how anyone can argue otherwise. 

Agree, even in pulis’ 2 seasons here we went backwards, he might have kept us in the league but we’d never have improved under him. Is that what we want? To ‘survive’ in the championship, or do we want to actually build something?

Someone on fmttm made the point that Pearson, shakespear and Steve Walsh are all available. It’s those three that dragged Leicester up, maybe worth a go here?

[TLF10 4,496]

I previously said Rowett would be decent as its clear we are not aiming for promotion for a season or 2 but to lay some solid foundations down for a push thereafter. He has gone to Millwall.

Other options that fit that category are Nigel Adkins, the 3 above that @LinoJo3 mentioned or a more ambitious choice would be Hughton. If he has got over his desire of wanting a PL job as i don't see anyone from PL wanting him tbf. 

[TAPOUT 361]

I’ve never been one for calling for the managers head and despite my concerns I dont think another manager will do any better with the players we have. We have no pace or creativity and the forwards are pi55 poor. A new manager is not going to change that. It is concerning though that JW felt the current squad could play a high pressing game and that Bola and Dijksteel were going to be the dynamic full backs we need. It calls into question his ability to identify the talent we require going forward. I think ffp is still a concern with the wages some of the players are on and until they leave I dont see anything positive from any transfer window soon. With these things in mind I am really concerned about the direction the club is heading but maybe like a septic wound, you have to cut out all the rot before you start to grow again and heal. For me though, at the moment Woodgate is not part of that rot. Not yet anyway.

[TLF10 4,496]

3 hours ago, SmogDane said:

The team that finished 5th included Braithwaite, Bamford, Gibson, Traore and Christie 

The team that finished 7th included Flint, Besic, Downing, Hugill and John Obi Mikel...

So saying that woodgate has the same team that finished 5th and 7th is not the truth... 

Our squad is very thin atm ... Any manager would struggle to get this team to score enough

Regarding the team that finishes 7th. We as fans all agreed flint and hugill were woeful. Mikel looked good for first month and then average. Besic has essentially been replaced by Paddy and is performing better than him imo. That leaves us with downing. And if he is the difference between 7th and 22nd i will give up on football.