Middlesbrough (H) | Vital Football

Middlesbrough (H)

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Arthur_Itis

Vital Squad Member
Well, it took all of about 5 minutes for my pre match anticipation to evaporate against PNE but, much like Windass, these games are Thick and Fast and we look forward to Boro tomorrow night.

Cooks pre match interview told us nothing we didn't already know.

Unfortunately, I think Saturday was a massive step backwards, we need a win, but I can't see us getting anything other than a scrappy 0-0 at best.
 
Mr Cook, please read this:

Boro can prove that attack is the best form of defence as they prepare for the crucial trio of games against the bottom three sides.
In fact Jonathan Woodgate’s sudden wealth of selection options has come at exactly the right time.

This especially applies up front where Woodgate has the men, and the firepower, to take the game to respective opponents Wigan, Luton and Barnsley.
Wigan’s win at Leeds United just over a week ago proved that the bottom three are no complete mugs. Boro must treat the games as cup finals.

Perhaps the most important factor in Boro’s favour is that the Tony Pulis style of football has finally and completely been consigned to the past.
The one-dimensional Pulis approach has now been binned in favour of a progressive, attacking style which puts the accent on winning rather than not losing.

We now have ten-goal Ashley Fletcher, Britt Assombalonga, Lukas Nmecha, Rudy Gestede, Marcus Tavernier and Patrick Roberts, when fit, all challenging for roles as strikers or No.10s.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bottom-three-no-mugs-attack-17719462
 
Depends on selection and formation,Four at the back is a must after the farcical 60 minutes on Saturday,and lets put Moore and Garner together with Joffy just behind them and have a bloody good go at them,we really need to start going for the three points from the off!But knowing how stubborn he has become i would not be surprised if he kept the same formation that implodrd on Saturday!
Really after reading the PNE managers opinion on the Moore substitution on Saturday proved that our manager seems a wee bit lost !!
 
exiled tic said:
Depends on selection and formation,Four at the back is a must after the farcical 60 minutes on Saturday,and lets put Moore and Garner together with Joffy just behind them and have a bloody good go at them,we really need to start going for the three points from the off!But knowing how stubborn he has become i would not be surprised if he kept the same formation that implodrd on Saturday!
Really after reading the PNE managers opinion on the Moore substitution on Saturday proved that our manager seems a wee bit lost !!
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Send that in a email to Darren Royle please! :clap:
 
exiled tic said:
Depends on selection and formation,Four at the back is a must after the farcical 60 minutes on Saturday,and lets put Moore and Garner together with Joffy just behind them and have a bloody good go at them,we really need to start going for the three points from the off!But knowing how stubborn he has become i would not be surprised if he kept the same formation that implodrd on Saturday!
Really after reading the PNE managers opinion on the Moore substitution on Saturday proved that our manager seems a wee bit lost !!
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Moore and Garner together?

Imagine if we could be so lucky!
 
Jesus Christ he gets worse.

I’d settle for inconsistent. That would mean we’d be sitting in mid table through losing one week then winning the next. Sadly we just consistently lose. What an absolute tool. It’s up there with the chairman’s comments about football manager. Has the club no longer got a PR officer?
 
Boro will see this as a vital win to guarentee safety and avoid getting dragged back in.

We will see this as a must win to try and not get cut adrift any further.

It's a 6 pointer - we have always been crap at 6 pointers under Cook, and Cook will likely approach this game negatively like he usually does so it's hard to see that pattern changing without him trying to do something new.

I'd love for us to pick an attacking line up with all our best players in their right positions and some fresh ideas but it wont be - if Cook had that in him he'd have shown it by now. So I'm expect 1 striker isolated, no Geldhardt, Jacobs / Massey and Lowe start, lots of long ball, etc all the stuff we know doesn't work. Love to be proven wrong but after that cowardly approach against Preston when confidence should've been high then i don't think Cook will ever be positive.

I hope Boro are woeful on the night, we start Dunkley and we score from a set piece and scrape out a shitty 1-0.

Should be a great chance to get 3 points but Cook will be shit scared of Boro and go into the game acting like they are Real Madrid.

As for Cooks comments - they just get worse. Never known a manager like this. As bad as we've been under previous managers they never came out with the defeatist rubbish Cook does. We wonder why we have a losing mentality and don't ever seem to aspire for excellence and it's claer to see where it's coming from.

Generally when you speak to the media you are careful of what you say, you put your best face on for the world and generally try and talk a good game - so imagine what he must say to the players in private if he's this negative in public. I don't really like his sucking up to the opposition to the level he does, but i can live with it, but his negative comments about us i find so poor. He comes accross like he doesn't even believe we are good enough, so how can he convince the players to feel confident they can get out of this mess he's dragged us into?
 
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Made in Wigan said:
Jesus Christ he gets worse.

I’d settle for inconsistent. That would mean we’d be sitting in mid table through losing one week then winning the next. Sadly we just consistently lose. What an absolute tool. It’s up there with the chairman’s comments about football manager. Has the club no longer got a PR officer?
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You've still got half a glassful there MiW ......... don't chuck it away !

That's quite a negative spin on what Cook's said. I thought he was merely trying to say that we're just as likely to go out and stuff Boro tomorrow .......... because that's how inconsistent we are.

I've a poem in the next Mudhutter ........ it's called "Why can't we just be shit?". You'd like it.
;)
 
moonay said:
You've still got half a glassful there MiW ......... don't chuck it away !

That's quite a negative spin on what Cook's said. I thought he was merely trying to say that we're just as likely to go out and stuff Boro tomorrow .......... because that's how inconsistent we are.

I've a poem in the next Mudhutter ........ it's called "Why can't we just be shit?". You'd like it.
;)
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There’s no spin. He’s wrong. We’re consistently shit, have been for 16 months and we rarely deviate from that.
 
I’d like to see Robinson playing further forward in front of Pearce. Our left side has been shite all year. I think those 2 could link well. Pearce put some cracking balls in on Saturday and I think Robinson’s pace could cause problems if he’s played further up the pitch.
The 3 at the back needs to be scrapped but even if it does I think Cook will insist on having Naismith, Kipre and Dunkley all starting. Naismith has done well at centre back but he was woeful at left back v Preston and I think he’s looked poor whenever he’s been played on the wing. I don’t see the need for the 3 holding midfielders either but fully expect Cook to start them all. If Lowe starts again ahead of Gelhardt or Garner then it’s a disgrace.
 
It's a winnable game. Boro are no great shakes and arguably Woodgate is another manager who is clinging to his job by a unicorn's pube.

We're at home, and if we took the game to them, we could win. That means more than two attacking players on the pitch. Moore and Garner with Gelhardt behind sounds like a good shout.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the same setup as Saturday though.

If it was me, I'd go:

Marshall
Dunkley, Cedric, Kal (CB)
Byrne, Robinson (WB)
Williams, Morsy (CM)
Gelhardt (AM)
Moore, Garner (ST)

The width can come from the wing backs pushing up and one of the top three moving wide to support.

I know it's 3 at the back, which has failed before, but it does allow the wingbacks to push up and have a second striker on the pitch.

The two CMs are equally good defensively so either one of them can also break forward so long as the other knows to stay deep. Also, having Kal in the back 3 means that we can quickly switch between a back 3 and back 4 by pushing him up into midfield or even onto the left wing and move Joffy onto the right for a more traditional 442 formation without having to use a sub.

Played with an attacking mentality (which is what Cook's usual 5 at the back lacks), that would get the best out of what we have imho.
 
Made in Wigan said:
There’s no spin. He’s wrong. We’re consistently shit, have been for 16 months and we rarely deviate from that.
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I suppose he's referring to the excellent away win at Leeds, and the (surprising ?) late comeback against Sheff Weds.

Consistently inconsistent......... let's hope it continues tomorrow.
;)
 
The_Pon said:
It's a winnable game. Boro are no great shakes and arguably Woodgate is another manager who is clinging to his job by a unicorn's pube.

We're at home, and if we took the game to them, we could win. That means more than two attacking players on the pitch. Moore and Garner with Gelhardt behind sounds like a good shout.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the same setup as Saturday though.

If it was me, I'd go:

Marshall
Dunkley, Cedric, Kal (CB)
Byrne, Robinson (WB)
Williams, Morsy (CM)
Gelhardt (AM)
Moore, Garner (ST)

The width can come from the wing backs pushing up and one of the top three moving wide to support.

I know it's 3 at the back, which has failed before, but it does allow the wingbacks to push up and have a second striker on the pitch.

The two CMs are equally good defensively so either one of them can also break forward so long as the other knows to stay deep. Also, having Kal in the back 3 means that we can quickly switch between a back 3 and back 4 by pushing him up into midfield or even onto the left wing and move Joffy onto the right for a more traditional 442 formation without having to use a sub.

Played with an attacking mentality (which is what Cook's usual 5 at the back lacks), that would get the best out of what we have imho.
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No point having wing backs though when they can't cross. If it was me I'd tell my wingers to stay wide rather than tuck in to give full backs the space that they never do anything with. Then ask full backs to be less aggressive so we don't need 2 def mids covering the holes they leave so only Morsy sits in and Williams get involved in attacks.

I'd personally go

Marshall

Byrne
Dunkley (need him for set pieces)
Kipre
Robinson

Morsy
Williams
Dobre (can't be worse than Jacobs, Massey and Lowe)
Naismith (need his crossing)

Geldhardt
Moore / Garner

I would love to play Pilkington but he prob won't be rushed back with Cooks favourites all fit and clogging up the bench. I'd love even more to play Windass but he's not even here. I'd like to start Moore, Garner and Geldhart but feel it would expose us in midfield too much.
 
moonay said:
I suppose he's referring to the excellent away win at Leeds, and the (surprising ?) late comeback against Sheff Weds.

Consistently inconsistent......... let's hope it continues tomorrow.
;)
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I was going to say I’m beyond caring, but sadly it seems I still do. Two rare results unfortunately. Today’s comments about suggesting we are foolish about expecting consistency are as ill advised as the bollocks about us expecting to steam roller teams every week. I just don’t think he gives a shit anymore and is effectively begging to be sacked by goading fans and his paymasters.
 
This is a game where we must target 3 points and a win is essential.It's a chance to get that PNE game out of our system quickly and close the gap to safety to just a point.
Cook MUST make changes to PNE both in terms of approach(positive)and player changes.I would personally go back to a back 4 after the symbolic way we defended with 3 centre halfs on Sat.
We could play 4231 making sure it is played positively with 4 attacking players on the pitch.The number 10 should be Joffy and he should be played just off the striker and the wingers need to provide width and get crosses into the box as well as tucking in around the striker.
I'd go Marshall
Byrne,Kipre,Naismith,Pearce(if Robinson not available)
Williams,Morsy
Pilks,Joffy,Jacobs
Moore or Garner
Or we could go 442 with the same back 4 and 2 centre mids and have Joffy on one of the wings were he was devastating in his cameo against Forest,with Pilks or Jacobs on the other.Moore and Garner up front.
Regarding Jacobs he was poor for me till before the West Brom game,but since I actually think he has improved his performances and I would start him over Lowe and Massey.The other consideration is the lad Dobre from Bournemouth.Their fans rate him and he can't be any worse than Massey or Lowe at the moment,so why not give him a go,at least from the bench.If we go 442 the other loan striker Mlakar should be put on the bench.
Middlesbrough have only scored 32 goals this season,have 3 points from their last 5 games and are only 7 points above us.I believe this is an ideal opportunity for a win and lift spirits again,IF Cook changes that cowardly approach for 50 mins on Saturday.Be positive and get the players on the pitch who are most likely to get us the goals/assists we desperately need.Let other teams worry about us rather than worry about them too much!
If we do this 2-1 tics!!
 
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We are simply not good enough for this league. 0-2 and I'm getting ready for Crewe, Exeter and Northampton next season.
 
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