Middlesborough away Sat 8th Dec

[blueboy3333]

40 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I'm not really bothered about which position we currently occupy, I want to get to 50 points asap. Those clubs just behind us could very quickly overtake us over the next few weeks if our points return continues in 4 tough games, 3 of which are against the current top 3. 

Interesting post from @SergeiTheMeerKat the other day about being as high as possible in the table come January so that we can attract better players. We all want to see us get to 50pts ASAP but I somehow doubt that Venky's will see survival as the summit of their ambitions, even for this season. It's not for nothing that Mogga has said he has been trying to educate Venky's into seeing this as a long term project. They will want promotion ASAP, not just 50pts.

The problem for Mogga is that when you spend £10m net and get very little return then questions will at some point be asked by the owners...especially if we're at the wrong end of the table. 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

 

I'm not really bothered about which position we currently occupy, I want to get to 50 points asap. Those clubs just behind us could very quickly overtake us over the next few weeks if our points return continues in 4 tough games, 3 of which are against the current top 3. 

I think we can matched anyone in this league and playing the top 3 might help us more IMO. as those sides will attack us so allowing us space to attack them. 

If you offer me 6 points from those 4 games I would take deffo

24 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I’m largely with you JH.

Though I don’t think we will be in any danger bottom 3 wise, I also think we won’t end up anywhere near the top 6 either.

So I’m comfortable with this being a season of transition and the mistakes and at times lack of quality that go with it. 

I hope that Mowbray also sees what I see and those I believe aren’t good enough if we want to thrive at this level are slowly removed from the side - it’s up to the owners to fulfill the promises that are seemingly made on a regular basis to the manager. 

If they do, we could build to something very exciting over the next couple of years, if not and we will be also rans (at best) in this division.

I think we can get top 6 if we can keep performances high and results good and not have many Preston and Wigan away games. 

[blueboy3333]

2 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I think we can get top 6 if we can keep performances high and results good and not have many Preston and Wigan away games. 

Or draw at home to Millwall, Reading, Rotherham etc

[JHRover]

We've no chance of the top six. We draw too many and concede too many. 

We're a competitive side built on usually being hard to beat, but we're far too inconsistent to entertain top six ideas. 

Nothing wrong with any of that given where we've come from over the last couple of years and nothing to fear in this league as we have seen but you need to be more clinical, more ruthless and more resolute defensively than we have been to push on. I also think we need better options from the bench who can change games in our favour. That doesn't happen often enough.

For me we're still playing the same way away from home as we were last season. Last season we got away with it most of the time because we were up against Walsall and Oxford, this season expecting this team to see out 1 goal leads is asking a lot.

Reality check is that whilst we're still in a decent league position points wise gaps are appearing above us and those just behind us are closing in. Quite conceivably we could drop significantly over Xmas IF we struggle against the top teams. IF we pull out a couple of surprise wins then we could equally rise but even draws whilst good results will see us drift off the required pace. 

[Mercer]

11 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maybe so but Mahoney decide to leave even tho Mowbray tried to keep him here. It was Mahoney decision to leave his hometown club. 

And he may well think he made the right decision when he sees Brereton has yet to start a league game despite Mowbray signing him in a reputed £7million deal. 

[47er]

7 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

I’m largely with you JH.

Though I don’t think we will be in any danger bottom 3 wise, I also think we won’t end up anywhere near the top 6 either.

So I’m comfortable with this being a season of transition and the mistakes and at times lack of quality that go with it. 

I hope that Mowbray also sees what I see and those I believe aren’t good enough if we want to thrive at this level are slowly removed from the side - it’s up to the owners to fulfill the promises that are seemingly made on a regular basis to the manager. 

If they do, we could build to something very exciting over the next couple of years, if not and we will be also rans (at best) in this division.

I think TM was born cautious and I think he's too old to change. He has done a great job but that aspect of his personality will always hold us back.

[jim mk2]

8 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

I think we can get top 6 if we can keep performances high and results good and not have many Preston and Wigan away games. 

 Absolutely no chance of top 6. The team and the manager aren't good enough. Far too many drawn games we should have won - yesterday was another example

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, 47er said:

I think TM was born cautious and I think he's too old to change. He has done a great job but that aspect of his personality will always hold us back.

Yes. Last season TM had to look at it differently as it was deemed that automatic promotion was the minimum requirement.

This season expectations are relatively low, the general consensus appears to be that consolidation would be a good season and we are playing down to it accordingly when the opportunity often seeme to be thete to kick on and do slightly better. Frequently failing to convert winning positions, throwing in 2 stinkers against Wigan and Preston after working our way into a promising position, failing to win yesterday playing ten men for 70 mins with a one goal head start etc etc.

[JacknOry]

Echo the general consensus that I would have snapped somebodies hand off for a point before the gamebut as things transpired it is nothing more than 2 points dropped.

I said at half time I hope we go for another goal but we didnt really. It was far too cautious as if we were more worried about protecting that lead (which we didnt) rather than killing off the game. That has to come from the manager. We let them get a foothold into the game and as they did their confidence rose. Of course, they didnt really test Raya but then yet another good goal scored against us. Then it was us holding on in the end.

AA needs a kick up the butt. Not sure if he is sulking because he has been out of the starting eleven the past couple of matches but he looks to have a bit of an attitude problem. He was awful when he came on making the wrong decisions time and again, giving away fouls and kicking the ball away. 

Dack did not look impressed with his team at times just passing it around the back and even came back to get it himself so that he could try and make things happen. He does like hitting the post alot though.

I wasnt happy tbh because our fixtures coming up look bleak.

[arbitro]

Ten of the starting team were the nucleus of last season's promotion winning side and eight were here when Mowbray arrived. Six of the seven substitutes were Mowbray signings.

If we are going to kick on the new signings have to genuinely make us stronger.

[philipl]

Just watched the highlights- the goals came from incredible strikes; both of them stunners.

[DE.]

8 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Yes. Last season TM had to look at it differently as it was deemed that automatic promotion was the minimum requirement.

He didn't look at it differently though. He was as cautious and petrified of the opposition last season - whether we were against Wigan or Bury - as he is this season. We were promoted because our team was far too good for that division and Mowbray, for all his tactical faults, is able to command the respect of his players. 

I think we'll finish mid table this season, and I think that's where we'll finish pretty much every season as long as Mowbray is here. The only way we'll go up or down is if our team either significantly improves (I'm talking becoming the best in the division) or declines (similarly becomes one of the worst). 

Mowbray is a good bloke and a safe pair of hands with a decent squad, but he doesn't have the courage to propel an average team into promotion contention imo. I'd love to be proven wrong but I believe we would need massive investment from Venky's to get promoted with Mowbray at the helm.  

[Bigdoggsteel]

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/17286855.charlie-mulgrew-reflects-on-rovers-draw-at-middlesbrough/?ref=mac

 

Have to agree with Mulgrew that the ref was excellent(even allowing for missing the red first time). Credit where it is due. He was getting a lot of slack from the home crowd ,but he stuck to his guns and got most decisions correct. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Are the two fans giving Mowbray or Pulis daggers?? 

[RevidgeBlue]

44 minutes ago, DE. said:

He didn't look at it differently though. He was as cautious and petrified of the opposition last season - whether we were against Wigan or Bury - as he is this season. We were promoted because our team was far too good for that division and Mowbray, for all his tactical faults, is able to command the respect of his players. 

I think we'll finish mid table this season, and I think that's where we'll finish pretty much every season as long as Mowbray is here. The only way we'll go up or down is if our team either significantly improves (I'm talking becoming the best in the division) or declines (similarly becomes one of the worst). 

Mowbray is a good bloke and a safe pair of hands with a decent squad, but he doesn't have the courage to propel an average team into promotion contention imo. I'd love to be proven wrong but I believe we would need massive investment from Venky's to get promoted with Mowbray at the helm.  

Agree to a point but he still had to revise his mindset from "staying in the game" until half time and being happy to grind out 1.5 points per game for survival etc to obtaining the 2 points per game for automatic promotion so credit has to be given there.

Moving forward however I disagree survival is a given under Mowbray. We need to continually improve.  We might finish mid table this season but If we stand still long term we'll slide backwards.

[Bigdoggsteel]

I agree Mowbray is cautious in many ways, but I think on Saturday he was very positive in the second half. Rothwell for Smallwood was a very attacking sub. Shuld have gotten Brereton on earlier, but I do understand why he would leave Graham on...sometimes he just needs one chance 

[chaddyrovers]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Are the two fans giving Mowbray or Pulis daggers?? 

Pulis isn't well liked from what I can understand. his style of football isn't liked either. Could @Teesside Steel add more to this please? 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Are the two fans giving Mowbray or Pulis daggers?? 

The woman on the right isn't Brereton's girlfriend is she ?

[Bigdoggsteel]

Looks like Gary Monk on the left. Doing some scouting for next weekend 

[oldjamfan1]

7 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Looks like Gary Monk on the left. Doing some scouting for next weekend 

Funnily enough I thought it looked like Ben Stokes, the cricketer.

[arbitro]

1 minute ago, oldjamfan1 said:

Funnily enough I thought it looked like Ben Stokes, the cricketer.

It's George Saville who came on for Boro at halftime.