Middlesbrough v Ipswich Town preview and matchday thread

[Magicmark]

Good result against a top team that have everything still to play for & better still that prat nugent didn't score

[James Scharmann]

Good result against a top team that have everything still to play for & better still that prat nugent didn't score

Or Rhodes!!!

[arana peligrosa]

I can't believe 0-0, clean sheet as well, what a result

I was one of many who thought we were not only gonna lose but get thumped full credit lads I have to say

This is almost amusing and I don't find humor in much these days. How the f*ck can the team obtain a point away from home against an opposition that occupies the promotion places or was in first position at start of play, after the sh*t of the last few games.

Bizarre score but by all accounts Boro SHOULD have won today and had far greater chances and possession. Maybe this won't be redemption for that player with the stupid name that scored for them in '81 to end our league title dream but by god this is going to seriously harm their automatic promotion chances with the two or three games left. (Burnley and Brighton Hove Albion won also)

Don't know how we kept them out for 90 minutes but... well done ? Got to pleased with it, even if by rights they should have maybe won by a large margin. If you can't take your chances or win as clear favorites then you need to get your own house in order.

[number 9]

Well MM has fixed our defence, then...

[marko69]

I must be on acid.

If it helps, I've thought this for a while, buddy.

[marko69]

Nice 0-0 draw, and there will many furious Boro fans tonight. I'd certainly be well and truly pi$$ed off with that. Well done ITFC.

[Charnwood]

The game had a big impact on my bets...

10 correct from 12 on a results accumulator, the two wrong ones Liverpool and guess who else..
Middlesbrough.

However the good news.... every week me and two mates have our Oil Bet which is 3 draws on The Owls, Ipswich & Leicester... (It's only paid out once so far this season).

This morning I had an email which suggested we should drop Ipswich this weekend and put it all on a double instead of our usual treble, this is something we never do so I ignored him in part and put half on a Sheff Wed / Leicester double and half on the treble. We now stand to win £702 if Leicester draw tomorrow.

Normally I'd be rooting for Leicester to win, but maybe I'll be happy with a draw now, or cash in at £146, but that would be boring.

Well done Town... I think Mikes report will be interesting.

[Tangfastic]

Get in there.

In the MM world, this is like a 4-0 drubbing..... he will have have his mojo back tonight.

Genuinely, good result and not turning over when it's not that important for us. Could be influential result for teams still in the mix. Searching for positives when most of us want season to end. Pity we are just potential party-poopers now.

[herforder]

Good, hard-earned, and probably unlikely point. Well done to the boys for sticking with it, and to MM/TC for getting the set-up and mental stuff right. Digby must feel good having played his part, along with TS, in keeping both Rhodes and Nugent at bay.

Something to build on for the rest of the season.......ooops!

[itfc76trev]

The game had a big impact on my bets...

10 correct from 12 on a results accumulator, the two wrong ones Liverpool and guess who else..
Middlesbrough.

However the good news.... every week me and two mates have our Oil Bet which is 3 draws on The Owls, Ipswich & Leicester... (It's only paid out once so far this season).

This morning I had an email which suggested we should drop Ipswich this weekend and put it all on a double instead of our usual treble, this is something we never do so I ignored him in part and put half on a Sheff Wed / Leicester double and half on the treble. We now stand to win £702 if Leicester draw tomorrow.

Normally I'd be rooting for Leicester to win, but maybe I'll be happy with a draw now, or cash in at £146, but that would be boring.

Well done Town... I think Mikes report will be interesting.

I got 8 out of 10 correct only ones to let me down boro and hull!!

[itfc76trev]

good result maybe. Great result it would have been had we not F'ked up our season with sub standard performances since Christmas!!!

[Dubai Blue]

Prem results interesting. I would put money on Norwich being relegated now.

[barmy billy]

It sounded a bit fraught in the first half, but we held out. Second seemed like were much better which will no doubt be confirmed by Mike.

Well done all concerned.

[Shed on tour]

For me the highlight has to be Nugent kicking the post in frustration after failing to convert that chance at the end.
Perhaps there is a god after all!

[arana peligrosa]

They only have themselves to blame. They would have been aware that Nugent is a significant nuisance to us but they didn't deploy him until too late in the game. The initial pleasure at getting a fine no score draw at today's opposition has slightly eroded into anger as why couldn't we play like this earlier in the season ? (Read on a rival page the defense played well and we appeared quite robust in some areas today)

And others (have) put it : all too little too late, unfortunately.

[herforder]

For me the highlight has to be Nugent kicking the post in frustration after failing to convert that chance at the end.
Perhaps there is a god after all!

Rhodes shot hit the post and rebounded into Bart's hands. Poor striker, good job we got rid!

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

Match report

This day looked set to be continuity of our recent malaise. The doom and gloom got even bigger when we found out our line-up. Digby in defence against such powerful attack, Hyam and Skuse together. I was asking myself: 'what am I doing here? Might be better off coming back'. Very inexperienced centre back. Two defensive minded midfielders, I was wondering too :'what's the point of that as we have nothing to lose, why not to be brave and try to be adventurous?'

First 5 minutes were promising as we were virtually on their half. We even had a shot on target (McGoldrick) albeit easy to save. But it was only first few minutes of that. After that we were on the back foot for the entire first half. The combination of Bialkowski's couple of fine saves, them wasting their chances and pure luck was the reason why it ended goalless at half time.
We had literally nothing upfront. It was like awaiting execution and there is not much to report from the first 45 minutes. Bialkowski parried away Downing's shot on also won one on one with Rhodes as the latter had lots of time to choose his shooting option. Digby blocked Nsue's shot, Adomah wasted a glorious chance. Diving idiot Rhodes fell down as if he'd been shot and pathetically waved to the ref afterwards. Their first goal was a matter of time.
Adomah would cause us loads of problems on his side and Knudsen was really busy to deal with that. I dare say that if Adomah had been facing Chambers it would have been far more fruitful for them. As for Chambers once again he was poor. His ball distribution was pathetic, even simple pass to Feeney was beyond his abilities.
Digby was fine and actually looked a shy boy too scared to make a mistake.
There was totally nothing in the centre of our midfield. We were flattered to have been 0-0 at half time. Very, very slow and sluggish. One surprising Micks decision was playing Hyam in the advanced role that was to be close to their box as Bru played behind him. Perhaps end-of-season Micks experiment however it didn't turn out to be really special.

I guess Mick must have either reprimended or encouraged players in the dressing room as we looked significantly better from the beginning of second half. Not only were the first few minutes promising again that was the case for almost whole remainder of the match. On the backfoot in the first half but after the break we restricted them to couple of chances. Yes, Middlesbrough had more possession but somehow lacked ideas how to break us down. And when Bialkowski was finally beaten by Rhodes the ball bounced off the post. Nugent also wasted his header couple of minutes from time and that was it from them.

We were far more encouraging. A few attempts to create quick counter attacks from Feeney on the right wing and Sears on the left. And that was really quick given how slow we generally are in the midfield. We may have failed to test Konstantopoulos properly but we kept their defence on their toes. I think there are two aspects that are the reason why we were unable to grab a win. First was lack of killer pass particularly from Sears. We were really fine until we approached their box. From that point we lacked a final idea. Sears had couple of moments where a killer pass would have done a lot for us. That lack of killer pass that was the main issue. Sears was annoying with his wastefulness but on the other hand day his proper role is receiving balls not delivering them.
The second aspect was lack of support from central midfield unfortunately. Leadbitter who himself didn't have an exceptional afternoon for Middlesbrough would still have done a big difference in our midfield. We miss the ilk of player like him. Don't know why he was booed by a few Town fans today.

McGoldrick - dear, dear how badly did we miss him this season. Very strong tendency to keep the ball on the deck and dribble with it. He also had a fine moment when he went past three defenders but at the final moment he had no space to either shoot or pass the ball. Really fine effort from him and for me our MOTM today alongside Bialkowski. When he operates with the ball and you always have a hope that he can produce something out of the blue.

Bishops late introduction turned out to be positive as his effort was decent. Hungry for every ball, good off-the-ball movement.

Final result may not be a fair reflection of the game. 1-0 to Middlesbrough would have been more true given their first half domination but we certainly deserved something for the second half display.

There are umpteen of Town fans who are really obsessed about the style in which we gain the points so they should know that hoofball wasn't our domain today. A bit of hoofball, a bit of football on the deck, a bit of everything.

Also loads of Town supporters have been very critical of team and Mick lately but we can't be critical today. I'm not happy myself with some issues particularly Evans' policy and some Micks decisions but today the team deserves a praise for the courage they have shown in the 2nd half. People are quick to slate players and Mick but this cannot be the case today. Of course not everything was perfect but certainly better than some recent performances.
Tommy Smith who had had a horrid time at Riverside last season when we lost 1-4 was very assured today. Different player to that one who was embarrassed by Bamford 13 months ago.

Yes, of course I was a bit greedy in the second half when I saw our improvement. Greedy as smash and grab win would somewhat have been a little payback for Bosko Jankovic but it ended how it ended. A point that had looked unlikely prior to the game and during first half.

Fully fit McGoldrick, fully fit Bishop next season and little bit of financial help from Evans as we need a ball operator in central midfield + couple of wingers and we may successfully challenge.

Thank you for the excellent company Bluemike that is always the case

[Bluemike]

Summed up perfectly Mach and pretty much exactly as we discussed the game this afternoon. As you say we really did ride our luck in the first half and thanks to a couple of top saves from Bart and a super block from Digby we found ourselves level at the break. The second half was indeed much much better and I felt we well deserved the point for that 45 minutes alone, aside from the Rhodes effort off the post we were far more comfortable.

I am really quite concerned/disappointed with Freddie Sears the last few weeks, for me he has totally lost his way. Playing in a 4-2-3-1 may not be his ideal position but it is hardly being played out of position, it is not as if he is out wide on the wing, for me his touch has gone and his decision making is terrible right now, had he chose the right ball today we could well have sneaked a win, it was not quite in the Knudsen/Pitman mould but not far off.

As you say Mach Didsy finally looks fully fit and interested and when he is like that he is without doubt an asset, I have never been his biggest fan but if he was here next season and playing like we know he can that would be like a massive new signing.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Paul Digby, after a tentative start he settled into the game well and pulled off one super block to deny an almost certain goal. The wind caught him out once but by and large he passed the test well and to do it against such a potent strike force makes it even more encouraging, despite playing nearly all of his football as a Midfielder MM sees him as a CB in the making and who better to bring him on in that position, this could be another potential asset for next season if he can build on this performance.

The down side for me once again was the Midfield duo of Hyam & Bru, both are very limited and create so little, although Bru was a bit better today than of late, for me Skuse is by far and away the best holding Midfielder we have, a plyer like Bishop in front of him makes us look so much more threatening and this has to be the way to go, it would not bother me one bit to see those two shipped out in the Summer.

I said all I wanted was for us to put in a performance today and I think we did that against a very good side in difficult conditions, there is still much to work on but what we saw today was so much better than many games we have witnessed recently. Great to see you again Mach, it is always a pleasure and a good laugh, look forward to doing all again at Derby in a fortnight.

[bluepeter]

Thanks Mach & Mike....can't either of you get plagiarised by that buffoon at Archant.
It is a relief that we are keeping clean sheets.Players returning and showing form and Knudsen/Digby peeling potential monkeys off their backs.
I can see us getting turned over by MK and then beating Derby.
I'm looking forward to the summer Euro's and MM/TC at the helm next season with 6 points against the scum.
You never know Evans might even give a small war chest.

[derick_ipsw]

Match report

This day looked set to be continuity of our recent malaise. The doom and gloom got even bigger when we found out our line-up. Digby in defence against such powerful attack, Hyam and Skuse together. I was asking myself: 'what am I doing here? Might be better off coming back'. Very inexperienced centre back. Two defensive minded midfielders, I was wondering too :'what's the point of that as we have nothing to lose, why not to be brave and try to be adventurous?'

First 5 minutes were promising as we were virtually on their half. We even had a shot on target (McGoldrick) albeit easy to save. But it was only first few minutes of that. After that we were on the back foot for the entire first half. The combination of Bialkowski's couple of fine saves, them wasting their chances and pure luck was the reason why it ended goalless at half time.
We had literally nothing upfront. It was like awaiting execution and there is not much to report from the first 45 minutes. Bialkowski parried away Downing's shot on also won one on one with Rhodes as the latter had lots of time to choose his shooting option. Digby blocked Nsue's shot, Adomah wasted a glorious chance. Diving idiot Rhodes fell down as if he'd been shot and pathetically waved to the ref afterwards. Their first goal was a matter of time.
Adomah would cause us loads of problems on his side and Knudsen was really busy to deal with that. I dare say that if Adomah had been facing Chambers it would have been far more fruitful for them. As for Chambers once again he was poor. His ball distribution was pathetic, even simple pass to Feeney was beyond his abilities.
Digby was fine and actually looked a shy boy too scared to make a mistake.
There was totally nothing in the centre of our midfield. We were flattered to have been 0-0 at half time. Very, very slow and sluggish. One surprising Micks decision was playing Hyam in the advanced role that was to be close to their box as Bru played behind him. Perhaps end-of-season Micks experiment however it didn't turn out to be really special.

I guess Mick must have either reprimended or encouraged players in the dressing room as we looked significantly better from the beginning of second half. Not only were the first few minutes promising again that was the case for almost whole remainder of the match. On the backfoot in the first half but after the break we restricted them to couple of chances. Yes, Middlesbrough had more possession but somehow lacked ideas how to break us down. And when Bialkowski was finally beaten by Rhodes the ball bounced off the post. Nugent also wasted his header couple of minutes from time and that was it from them.

We were far more encouraging. A few attempts to create quick counter attacks from Feeney on the right wing and Sears on the left. And that was really quick given how slow we generally are in the midfield. We may have failed to test Konstantopoulos properly but we kept their defence on their toes. I think there are two aspects that are the reason why we were unable to grab a win. First was lack of killer pass particularly from Sears. We were really fine until we approached their box. From that point we lacked a final idea. Sears had couple of moments where a killer pass would have done a lot for us. That lack of killer pass that was the main issue. Sears was annoying with his wastefulness but on the other hand day his proper role is receiving balls not delivering them.
The second aspect was lack of support from central midfield unfortunately. Leadbitter who himself didn't have an exceptional afternoon for Middlesbrough would still have done a big difference in our midfield. We miss the ilk of player like him. Don't know why he was booed by a few Town fans today.

McGoldrick - dear, dear how badly did we miss him this season. Very strong tendency to keep the ball on the deck and dribble with it. He also had a fine moment when he went past three defenders but at the final moment he had no space to either shoot or pass the ball. Really fine effort from him and for me our MOTM today alongside Bialkowski. When he operates with the ball and you always have a hope that he can produce something out of the blue.

Bishops late introduction turned out to be positive as his effort was decent. Hungry for every ball, good off-the-ball movement.

Final result may not be a fair reflection of the game. 1-0 to Middlesbrough would have been more true given their first half domination but we certainly deserved something for the second half display.

There are umpteen of Town fans who are really obsessed about the style in which we gain the points so they should know that hoofball wasn't our domain today. A bit of hoofball, a bit of football on the deck, a bit of everything.

Also loads of Town supporters have been very critical of team and Mick lately but we can't be critical today. I'm not happy myself with some issues particularly Evans' policy and some Micks decisions but today the team deserves a praise for the courage they have shown in the 2nd half. People are quick to slate players and Mick but this cannot be the case today. Of course not everything was perfect but certainly better than some recent performances.
Tommy Smith who had had a horrid time at Riverside last season when we lost 1-4 was very assured today. Different player to that one who was embarrassed by Bamford 13 months ago.

Yes, of course I was a bit greedy in the second half when I saw our improvement. Greedy as smash and grab win would somewhat have been a little payback for Bosko Jankovic but it ended how it ended. A point that had looked unlikely prior to the game and during first half.

Fully fit McGoldrick, fully fit Bishop next season and little bit of financial help from Evans as we need a ball operator in central midfield + couple of wingers and we may successfully challenge.

Thank you for the excellent company Bluemike that is always the case

Once again a excellent report. I really look forward to your reports. They are so honest, where as others have blue tinted glasses an MM tattooed on there head.

[arana peligrosa]

We appreciate the comprehensive reports from those that provide an insight into what occurs at the games for the benefit of others who are unable to attend or maybe miss out on relevant details not provided from other write-ups or sources.

It's a shame (if not frustrating) when the team decides to play better and improve on previous performances when it's ultimately a lost cause or too late to make any difference but there were encouragements to take from yesterday even if by rights, Middlesbrough should have won on the day.

One last time, if yesterdays score jeopardizes Middlesbrough's automatic promotion chance or that they fall into the play-off games and miss out completely, (unlikely, but in this game all things are possible) then vengeance for 1981 would have been paid back by a considerable amount.

[number 9]

Yes, I'd like to echo the gratitude toward Mach's and Mike's reports. It really is appreciated, and please continue to do so. As has been said on another thread, you just can't get an accurate interpretation of the game by watching highlights and reading articles. And for me, living in Dallass Texass...I can at least see the games vicariously through the eyes of Mach and Mike. Cheers again!

[Charnwood]

Well done M&M and thanks as always for the reports, I do hope you both had a great day out. Enjoy your trip to Derby, yet another ground on my doorstep which I can't get to this season as we return to Spain this week.

[BLUEBLOOD]

Well done M&M and thanks as always for the reports, I do hope you both had a great day out. Enjoy your trip to Derby, yet another ground on my doorstep which I can't get to this season as we return to Spain this week.

It's a hard life Charny but someone has to go to Spain to keep our interest there going.

[arana peligrosa]

Rumor has it that Karanaka is set to leave the club at end of season whether Middlesbrough get a promotion or otherwise.

So says some sub-standard news publication (you can take your pick from that) and they're discussing it at length on their main fansite (oneboro.co.uk)

Point being, bad timing to release such information when you're in the top two positions and every game is imperative from here to end of season. Will be playing on supporters minds and they got to focus 100 per cent until the end game if they are to be assured of an automatic place. By all means put up rumors and talk when all is done and finalized - or there is nothing to play for -, but people will take issue at the timing of this disclosure.

(Karanka has done well, he's taken them to the play-off final game last season and within striking distance of an EPL place with a few games remaining - can only guess if this rumor or whatever it is, is accurate, then he'll be stepping down of his own free will and sees opportunity elsewhere. Their directors would be wrong to issue a termination)

[Kerry Blue]

Yes, I'd like to echo the gratitude toward Mach's and Mike's reports. It really is appreciated, and please continue to do so. As has been said on another thread, you just can't get an accurate interpretation of the game by watching highlights and reading articles. And for me, living in Dallass Texass...I can at least see the games vicariously through the eyes of Mach and Mike. Cheers again!

Yes it's the same for me living in Ireland I always think I'm getting a true reflection of the match from your reports keep up the good work many thanks