Middlesbrough (H)

[Cheese]

Thought we were by far the better side first half. Second half they piled the pressure on and we almost stood up to it. Not worried at all with that performance.

[Krimzon]

 

[Biggish Dave]

Nowhere near as poor as some are making out. We were the better team in the 1st half but couldn't argue Boro deserved their win.

We looked like we had a few too many players blowing out their arses late on so no surprise at the late goals. Great to see Toal back though, he'll only improve fitness wise

 

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Biggish Dave said:

Nowhere near as poor as some are making out. We were the better team in the 1st half but couldn't argue Boro deserved their win.

We looked like we had a few too many players blowing out their arses late on so no surprise at the late goals. Great to see Toal back though, he'll only improve fitness wise

 

Completely agree with this, there seems to be some overreaction because of the final result but I thought the performance was encouraging.

1st half we were the better team, they couldn’t cope with our press and their crowd were just starting to get on their backs - then comes their goal out of nothing, good finish but Thomason doesn’t track his runner (again), Iredale is out of position (he had a poor game again) and Coleman is in no man’s land. It was a good finish to be fair but if we go in at half time 1-0 up then it might have been a different game.

2nd half they came out fired up and we couldn’t live with their pace. We tired after 60 mins - it’s surprising how much of a fitness difference there is to a championship team, it was the same with Villa last year but that is more understandable - and did well to last until we did, in the end it was a worldie of a strike from an Aussie international that did for us.

Individual positives -

I thought Morley looked far better than the past few games,

Charles looked brilliant for the first hour, especially with his hold up play which usually isn’t his strong point - that chance thought is his Achilles heel, if he has time to think about it he’s in trouble, such and instinct player,

Really liked the look of Forrester, I think we’ve found a good one there and don’t think it will be long before we see him in the starting 11,

Toal had a really good game considering it was his first game back and the level of opposition he was up against

Mendes Gomes showed glimpses of what he can do and Ashworth had a decent enough game although was shagged with 30 mins to go (and then they brought on another pacey forward!)

Negatives -

Iredale and Jones both had poor games again. Jones’ distribution has gone to shit, he can’t find a white shirt, and Iredale’s defensive positioning is terrible. It’s really starting to show that when we spend the majority of the game attacking, Iredale will be fine in that position but when we need to defend against better teams he’s going to be found out. Medium to longer term I think Toal and Forrester will likely become the natural replacements in those positions.

Thomason - still don’t see it. Liability on the ball, caught out and gave the ball away in dangerous positions on multiple occasions and turns like a ship - getting his standard yellow card in the process because he gave it away and had to chop one cause they were on the break. £1m would have been robbery.

Onto Derby!

[tomski]

Didn’t watch owt so won’t comment on the game but no big loss in my opinion. 
Not a lot is inspiring a battling performance on Sat though. I’ve never done it but Derby at 2.3/1 seems very good value for those that do.

[radcliffe white]

LOV was ok it did have a canteen feel to it and there wasn’t a queuing system at the bar so a free for all luckily it wasn’t packed

i wouldn’t pay full price think Derby is £49 much better value in reflections

 

[Johnnyrotten]

4 hours ago, Biggish Dave said:

Nowhere near as poor as some are making out. We were the better team in the 1st half but couldn't argue Boro deserved their win.

We looked like we had a few too many players blowing out their arses late on so no surprise at the late goals. Great to see Toal back though, he'll only improve fitness wise

 

To be clear I didn't think we played poorly, just that they were miles better (last hour).  Encouraging 1st half hour with better performances than of late by Morley, Charles, Iredale and no worries replacing Santos for a bit if its Toal and Forrester. 

I was just surprised at how much better Boro were than us in the 2nd half - but they would have been better than every L1  side so its not a reflection of how we might perform v Derby.  And it was good to see us perform well in a backs to the wall type of way, some great interceptions and blocks, and saves by Baxter.  But for anyone to say 3-1 flattered Boro, no idea what that's based on.

Oh and as said elsewhere, I'm Jones biggest fan but my god he was poor, distribution has gone to pot and I'd be happy for him to be replaced by Forrester/Cogley on Saturday. 

[Johnnyrotten]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

Thomason - still don’t see it. Liability on the ball, caught out and gave the ball away in dangerous positions on multiple occasions and turns like a ship - getting his standard yellow card in the process because he gave it away and had to chop one cause they were on the break. £1m would have been robbery.

Yes the standard yellow for being late to the scene, and no tackling that I can recall, yet some suggest he adds physicality and bite to the midfield.  I really don't understand this, Sheehan wins the ball far more times and just as importantly doesn't give away free kicks/yellow cards but it seems to be missed because he's neither physical or aggressive.  Kieran Lee was even better at this.

However, you haven't mentioned a couple of Tomo's sublime passes in the first half, that's what he can do, those whipped 25 yard passes with curl that land on a sixpence (I think to Ashworth on left wing).  Twice he produced "wow" moments where you have to acknowledge an outstanding pass to folk your sat with, nobody else can do that in our team.

[Wanderlust]

Wasn't completely disastrous but there was some naivety on display against quality opposition e.g. George losing his man for their equaliser at the same time that Baxter's positioning was poor and Ashworth ball-watching for the third as the ball was played in behind him. Some of that has to come down to others not preventing the passes in the first place, but collectively it was a bit naive.

For a struggling Championship side, Boro have some real quality - athletes like Isaiah Jones who destroyed us on the right and substitute Riley McGree who scored a beauty and then picked out the pass/assist for the third - Baccus' international teammate emphasising the gulf more than anyone IMO.

Again it was noticeable that our midfield was dominated centrally and the only real success we had was by spraying it out wide and attacking from the sides as we got very little joy trying to play through them for the most part.

I know I'm sounding like a stuck record but against better opposition we need a stronger midfield than we currently have. Sure our guys can destroy weaker teams, but there are games when we need to be more competitive.

[Tombwfc]

Entertaining game, we gave it a go but were outclassed in the end. No particular surprise or dramas in that.

Most important thing was Toal coming through 90mins and looking good.

[fester58]

first 30 mins we dominated them and they did'nt look interested, think our keeper made it to easy for them to score and ended up in no mans land, 2nd half though we dug in and battled well against there quality and speed,i thought forrester looks a decent player, ashworth did ok but wasnt really pushing forward, i though gethin jones and toal played really well,good to have toaly back, you can see the quality mendes gomes has but he was in and out the game too much,

worried about our midfield getting over run again, morley was bollocksed after 70 mins,thomasson passing is good but hes an accident waiting to happen

it was a really good game to watch and ive no issues with our prformance. on to derby and if we play like that iam sure we can beat them,

also a decent away following from the boro

 

[Johnnyrotten]

12 minutes ago, fester58 said:

also a decent away following from the boro

 

Certainly was, there were half a dozen Boro fans sat in front of us in ESL.  Given they had sold out a week before the game it seems odd not to offer them the top tier, even if they only sold another 300.  Some L1 teams will have less than 300 in the top tier and we don't ask them to sit with the home fans.  Seems an unnecessary risk.  Its easy to comment when you don't have to make the decisions, so its not a moan, just an observation.