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Your v Match Reports

OldClactonBlue added 15:19 - Mar 14

Not good enough.
Tactically naive. Too little quality.

battyblue added 15:31 - Mar 14

Town continue to leak goals through a stubborn manager who does nothing to address the problem.

kpblues added 15:43 - Mar 14

Our poor defence was outclassed by their quality forward line

Dallas_Blues added 15:58 - Mar 14

Our defensive line can clearly only deal with crosses into the box.

Scuzzer added 16:03 - Mar 14

good first half and didn't deserve to be behind on the play. Second half was appalling. Defence needs to be re-looked at.

harmitfc added 16:14 - Mar 14

"That was easy" a Boro support said on the walk back from the Riverside to the town centre. He was right but only because Town weren't bothered about getting three points today and Boro were. Middlesbrough were average at best and we should have been home and dry in the first half. Lots of huff and puff but no end result.

I felt that we had the options and more creativity in the middle third with Bish and Skuse playing well together; but we relied too heavily on Parr (playing strangly as a right winger) cutting in and feeding Murphy. At the back Berra and Smith seemed to lack any cohesion and look as if the have never met each other, let alone should be playing in a partnership. Chambo was industrious and showed some nice positioning. Even though we were 2-1 going in at half time, I thought we still had enough about us to come away with something.

The second half came and we were a different team. Far from full of options and creativity we were full of misplaced passes, stratospherically high through balls and the tactical positioning of a team used to playing at 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning down on Dog Muck Park. The pace of Bamford and Adomah showed how woefully slow we are at the back. Bamford exposed us every time we pushed forward and there was no-one to keep up. This possibly is the job that should have been done by Mings. But don't even get me started on him - ineffective and too laid back that some might call him lazy...

I don't get to many games (living just outside Middlesbrough) but when I do I like to see a team that has desire and belief right through until the end. Whether they were shellshocked from Gerken's early injury, the goal from that incident or the fact that Middlesbrough is so damn far away we lost the necessary will to win before the game really got started.

Top 2 is now a distant dream and I want desperately to believe that Top 6 isn't either . If we play like we did in the second half again it will be. There is hope in Parr, Bish and Murph but the rest of the team need to buck there ideas up. Like most of us Town fans I'm disappointed but still hopeful.

Pilgrimblue added 16:27 - Mar 14

That must be the first time we've had most possession but lost so easily! Smith was dreadful and Mings not much better plus Berra was so close to giving away penalties/free kicks. While we did have possession we didn't seem to know what to do with it which was the main difference between the sides. Too many of our players are so slow. Take for example Tabb v Adomah. While Tabb had plenty of the ball he was so slow in moving it on and in one instance when he was in central position with nobody challenging he took it out wide. Adomah would have gone for goal or set up for teammate.
Will MM do anything? Not likely as he'll focus on their good play. He wont move Chambers in or replace Smith with Clarke. He wont drop Tabb for pace of Stewart or Connolly. One highlight for me was Parr so put him with Skuse who played well and then have some pace out wide.

carsey added 16:53 - Mar 14

i have said it all elsewhere on this site. Nervous error prone back 5 particularly Smith and Mings. Midfield better today but no goal threat from any of them. Murphy held up well but Sears for all his running unable to cause a threat because everything was in the air or over the top.
Team set was typical McCarthy with players out of position again and the wrong formation.
@Boro were not that much better than us accept Bamford vs Smith which was really annoying considering Bamford shouldn't have been on the pitch after his assault on Berra in the first half.

northstand1962 added 21:01 - Mar 14

gippeswyk added 19:08 - Mar 15

I went to the game and Town started well and created chances in the first half but didn't take them. Had a good chance to make it 2-2 at the break and the result might have been different but the post got in the way. Boro were dangerous in attack and our defence looked shaky. We couldn't defend two short corners right in front of us away fans. Schoolboy defending. Mings was on another planet. Tommy and Chambers couldn't cope. Parr, Skuse and Murphy put in decent performances. Bishop and Tabb couldn't take a decent corner/free kick between them. Wood is reminds me of Salmon - can't win a header and no ball control. Bart should have saved the 4th goal.

-1

harlingblue added 00:55 - Mar 16

Poor goalkeeping by Gerken for the first goal and poor defensive work for the other goals. What has happened to our scoring from corners?

Barty added 12:59 - Mar 16

Good first half - Terrible second

Very Poor defensively throughout

4 - 1 flattered Boro

We have no other goal threat other than Murphy

we are so far off being a Premiership team its unreal

Club needs a serious financial backer to get us out of this division

Just hope we don't bottle it completely and miss out on Play -offs

Where has the passion gone ??

Micks tactical weaknesses are now very evident