Neil Warnock's damning assessment of Middlesbrough strikers: 'It shows what we need' [Gazette] + "Massive Mentality Issues" [Mail]

“The point being that footballers, like life, cannot be programmed like machines to perform precisely as the Man in charge wants them too.
Humans are unpredictable creatures.”

True but a comment I didn't hear in the whole of the first half of last season. 😉
 
There is an amount of psychology that needs to be understood.

When NW came in, we were in danger of being relegated, the moral and belief was low and he had to boost and motivate the team to escape relegation. We then lost experienced players which had a big presence to support and motivate the dressing room.
We know that we had a small squad in the summer and recruitment wasnt easy due to our poor performance in the previous season.
NW job was therefore to build belief amongst the players. As we know, forwards have to have confidence, making Britt captain and bigging up Akpom was to try to build the belief.
Did we start the season with the thought that we may get promoted or that we would stay away from relegation while we rebuild. The closer we stay to playoff the more our expectation builds , but is this realistic with this team in a pandemic. Remember that not all the players are local and we dont know what their support bubbles are like, we all realise how hard it has been for all of us on lockdown.
While I have never been a fan of his, Britt has been weighed down by his price tag and has failed to live up to it. Some characters will dig in and play better, some wont. He must have been affected by the transfer gossip in the window. Knowing that he is coming to the end of contract and unlikely to get another at that level. He was talked about being exchanged or sold. I dont know about you, but that would mess with my head, particularly if he feels that he isnt wanted next year.
I hope that the players dont read social media, the negativity expressed on this board is beyond belief when they dont play well compared to praise when we do, it is a good example of polarisation.
The has been talk of us missing the leaders from previous seasons, again these players didnt have to deal with social media, pulling them apart every game. Yes we need leaders, but they also need support from the fans.

Personally I am happy for this to be a rebuild season, to build a squad that qualifies for automatic promotion with a spirit that may be successful in the premiership. I want my club to be successful, but recognise the steps that we have to make to achieve this.
 
Lyndon Dykes doesn't appear to have ripped up any trees at QPR, which is a relief, as he was another we were linked with.
 
Corco65 said:
Other then hope and faith, I've not seen anything on the pitch or results wise, that suggests we are good enough to put a consistent run together, to beat enough teams on a regular basis to put us in a position for promotion, maybe you have.

It reminds me of the relegation fight under Southgate when after each defeat, I would work out it was still possible to stay up if XY or Z happened but of course it never did and the inevitable happened.
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nah, it's not relegation. it reminds me of under mowbray, he performed a minor miracle saving us from league one.. he cobbled together a group of bargain buys and got us within touching distance of the playoffs. the big problem there was our lack of power up top. I remember some unexpected defeats and speaking to fmttm rob in the Westgarth (at the bar I think) saying we were potentially something daft like 5 wins away from the premier league. he smiled and nodded and disappeared into the sepia toned haze of guinness and some sort of americana folk band..

Reading, Cardiff, Bournemouth, Barnsley, Boro & Stoke are all very much still in there for 5th and 6th place imo

We play Cardiff and Bournemouth so our density is very much in our own hands.
 
Simply red said:
If your boss slags you off and says your useless , do you
A) work harder to prove him wrong , or
B) down tools , do as little as possible , and look for another job ?
Britt and Akpom have chose B) Fletcher is injured now , so 3 choices less , and Bolasie and Laing are not fit which makes 5 .
So , we have Watmore , Kebano and hopefully Tav as a front 3 , with Johnson , Spence , Saville and Coulson as back up .
Not a bad front 3 IMO , let's play teams off the park , instead of trying to be something we are not .
Archer
Dijksteel Hall Fry Bola
Howson McNair Morsy
Kebano Tav Watmore
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Well said that man! (y)
 
Smog in Wilts said:
There is an amount of psychology that needs to be understood.

When NW came in, we were in danger of being relegated, the moral and belief was low and he had to boost and motivate the team to escape relegation. We then lost experienced players which had a big presence to support and motivate the dressing room.
We know that we had a small squad in the summer and recruitment wasnt easy due to our poor performance in the previous season.
NW job was therefore to build belief amongst the players. As we know, forwards have to have confidence, making Britt captain and bigging up Akpom was to try to build the belief.
Did we start the season with the thought that we may get promoted or that we would stay away from relegation while we rebuild. The closer we stay to playoff the more our expectation builds , but is this realistic with this team in a pandemic. Remember that not all the players are local and we dont know what their support bubbles are like, we all realise how hard it has been for all of us on lockdown.
While I have never been a fan of his, Britt has been weighed down by his price tag and has failed to live up to it. Some characters will dig in and play better, some wont. He must have been affected by the transfer gossip in the window. Knowing that he is coming to the end of contract and unlikely to get another at that level. He was talked about being exchanged or sold. I dont know about you, but that would mess with my head, particularly if he feels that he isnt wanted next year.
I hope that the players dont read social media, the negativity expressed on this board is beyond belief when they dont play well compared to praise when we do, it is a good example of polarisation.
The has been talk of us missing the leaders from previous seasons, again these players didnt have to deal with social media, pulling them apart every game. Yes we need leaders, but they also need support from the fans.

Personally I am happy for this to be a rebuild season, to build a squad that qualifies for automatic promotion with a spirit that may be successful in the premiership. I want my club to be successful, but recognise the steps that we have to make to achieve this.
Click to expand...
Absolutely.
Spot on.(y)
 
Block21 said:
He wasn’t first choice that’s clear as we tried to sign Moore before him. It’s a poor signing by Warnock. The point I’m trying to make is let’s not pretend even if Warnock does sign players he wants we are gonna have a great season as it’s a mixed bag
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i think its clear to see what our problems have been,its we have very poor strikers!!!!,replace them with a little better quality and it would have us higher up the league
 
Strikers need service, it’s no good when the midfield choose to just hit it high and forward and hope it lands to one of them .
it’s all about movement, keep it low and be available for a pass.
look how Man City play, every player moves into positions where they can receive a pass,
yes we havnt got that quality of individual skills , but we could move about and not just move like a plough line
 
How any of our fans can still speak confidently about a play off spot astounds me. If the performance against Bristol was a one off then fair enough. The fact is the team have produced below par/ poor performances far too regularly over the season.

And now we are falling back on a familiar trait of some Boro fans. This being the reliance on clubs above/ around us losing to keep the hope alive.

The bottom line is unless we eliminate our tendency to perform poorly we have no chance of a play off position. And who can predict with confidence we can do this?
 
I live in Devon and I am off the Home Park on Saturday to watch Argyle v Huddersfield. Do any of you Warnock fan boys want me to whisper owt into his ear from my seat next to the away dug out?

Nobby: Dunno if you are on this thread, but if NW has his bumbag on him on Saturday, do you want me to grab a pre-signed modelling shot for you? I'm happy to post it ye.

(You could always laminate it 😁)
 
McBrid said:
In what world would Chuba Akpom tear the championship up? His record at this level is incredibly bad. I keep hearing people saying let’s see who Who Warnock brings in but that sort of worries with me with some of his signings. Couple have been great but a large share of them have been poor.
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Aged well
 
McBrid said:
In what world would Chuba Akpom tear the championship up? His record at this level is incredibly bad. I keep hearing people saying let’s see who Who Warnock brings in but that sort of worries with me with some of his signings. Couple have been great but a large share of them have been poor.
Click to expand...
In the world of the 22/23 Championship season perhaps? Hindsight is mint.😁😁
 
A minority find it funny taking the pizz out of the rest of us.
Says more about them than us.
 
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