r00fie1
Well-known member
Its that time again>>>>>>>
Birmingham City V Middlesbrough. EFL Championship. St Andrews Stadium. Tuesday 12th March 2024. KO 19:45 hrs
Come On Boro!
r00fie 11/03/2024
Birmingham City V Middlesbrough. EFL Championship. St Andrews Stadium. Tuesday 12th March 2024. KO 19:45 hrs
Michael Carrick had a smile on his face for the second game in a row at Loftus Road on Saturday. It's a place we had only won at twice in ten games or more in recent seasons. So, thoughts going into the "R"s den weren't particularly optimistic, though coming off the back of the splendid 3-1 win over 7th place Norwich gave us hope and momentum. We hadn't won back-to-back league games since October, beating Birmingham City on the 21st [1-0] and Norwich on the 24th [2-1]. For Carrick, the season is not yet over, though he gave no hints of being over-optimistic or being "carried away" at his most recent Media Conference:
Results can determine your season either way, and we've kind of gone through it...... a kind of negative impact if you like, over recent weeks, but this certainly the last week or so has been really positive. [Birmingham] is an important game for us, you know. It's kind of catching up on our game in hand as well and......in the end it could prove to have a big impact on what we do moving forward
[The boys put in a shift to beat QPR]
The "character" which Carrick has spoken about recently, is showing through the squad. It's fair to say we were all having doubts about whether we were going to win another game [!?] because we had recently put in some below-par performances. But that has suddenly changed. We had a jittery start to the Norwich game, but it was important to see Latte Lath and Forss scoring and the whole team pulling together.
[Marcus Forss and Emanuel Latte Lath are both coming into form at the right time after both being out injured]
The other important part of the jigsaw was that Carrick's team remained basically the same for the QPR encounter. He said pre-Norwich that consistency in having a settled squad of players was the key to success. Ironic that right at the business end of the season, we have a good squad to chose from, with Isaiah Jones also ready to play a part:
I just hope the boys get the rewards for that you know, cuz their intentions are fantastic, and they keep coming in working hard, doing the right things, desperate to do well and, hopefully.... we can use the momentum that we have with the little bit that we've gained over the last week and build on that.
Certainly, the league looks different for us in terms of our proximity to that last play-off spot, although it would be very foolish [and over-optimistic] to suggest that is our target. Carrick was asked about that possibility, but reiterated his belief that we take each game as it comes, not projecting on ifs, buts and may-be`s. Bar Preston, we have a game-in-hand over everyone around us. A win today [Tuesday] could see us jump over Cardiff and Preston [we have a superior goal difference] into 9th place, just behind Coventry [57 points] and Hull [58 points].
[Isaiah Jones doing the "T" for Teesside after scoring in our win over Cardiff]
That would leave us 5 points from 6th placed Norwich, on the same points as Hull, but with a better goal difference. The permutations are fascinating, and certainly one for the stats fans and "super computers" to focus on. Fact is, no one can predict what will happen in the last ten games for us. Things change quickly in this league, as Carrick said:
We had a bit of a sticky run and, all of a sudden, we put a couple [of good results] together, and hopefully we're trying to build on that. So momentum is important......momentum is huge and finishing well is always in some ways better than starting well. But that's that's what's in front of us really and the game's coming up that we can look forward to and try and build on what we've just kind of started.
[A tough night awaits at St Andrews]
Carrick is in no doubt that Birmingham will be up for the game, with no intention of rolling over or of us being complacent. Every team, regardless of their league position, has a reason to play well and look for those wins. We can see at the top that Leicester, who were once considered guaranteed favourites for automatic promotion, are down from an eleven point lead to just three!
[Boro did a good job taking six points out of six from the Foxes, helping to dent their automatic hopes...]
At the other end of the table, Sheffield Wednesday have climbed to within a point of safety. It may not seem much, but they were "dead and buried" at Christmas.
Carrick will choose players from those available, but is mindful that some aren't 100% fit just yet, but could still play a part:
I always think Saturday [then] Tuesdays there's time to recover normally, so we'll have to make a call on that because there is a few with knocks and bumps and bruisers and boys that have not played a lot of football recently who have came into a cluster of games.....like Manny [Latte Lath] and Johnny [Howson] specifically. So we'll have to make that decision [on Tuesday]. But at the moment we'll have to wait and see.
Latte Lathe has now scored nine goals in the league this season, followed by Marcus Forss on seven. Lathe has spent a lot of time out injured and needed time to adjust to the Championship. Carrick sees Lath as much improved since he arrived and says he is the "life and soul" of the squad. He certainly showed the Sky TV cameras his joy against Norwich and QPR, and appeared to be enjoying his football. Carrick isnt surprised:
I think there's more to come from him, you know. He's nowhere near ,kind of, fully fit yet so I'm sure between now and the end of the season, there's even more to come from him.
[Jonny Howson - what more can we say]
Carrick will adapt his game according to the opposition and also chose players he feels will do the required job. Certainly, Marcus Forss can play down the side or through the middle. He's got flexibility with McGree, and it's so good to have Jonny Howson back. O`Brien seems to have upped his game, and our defence held up with all the in-form Rangers could throw at us. Dieng looked sharp and confident. We played with a level of confidence and tactical awareness, which needed sharpening up before we beat Norwich. We looked more composed, even if the game wasn't pretty at times.
Isaiah Jones is still on the way to being 100% back to his best and there are other players whom Carrick believes need managing, so won't just be chucking players straight into games, and increasing the risk of injury. Players being match fit is important for the boss, but Jones is definitely in the frame:
I think obviously we've got to be careful and man manage [Jones] back but, the boys who have played have done great as well, so there are both sides of it really. I don't think this is [just about] "Izzy" individually, but I think there's no one really that's going to just come straight back into the team. I think that's the beauty of it with a squad we've got: that it's good [to have] healthy competition to kind of push each other, to be at a good level and bring out the
best in everyone really.
A final word about Sonny Finch, who did well at the back end of last season and was then out with injury and has worked hard to get fit and back into the U21`s. He scored a brace in the 3-2 victory over Man Utd U21`s last week and appears to be back to his best. Carrick is very protective though and understands how young players need to be managed and coached to get them fit and capable of consistently producing their best. He was particularly pleased for sonny Finch:
[I`m] delighted for Finch. He's kind of had few issues with his ankle for on and off for a period of time, so [we] took the decision to try and get it sorted.......be patient with him, give him a period of time and get back training and get fit.......he's playing and scoring goals and that's kind of what he does. He always finds a way of finding the back of the net, and it's great to see the longer it goes we'll get him around us as time goes on. But yeah, it's great to see him back fit, and he's so young. It's the start of his career, he's got his whole career ahead of him so Lo loads of time for Finchy.
Carrick had a final word for Tony Mowbray, whose deputy, Mark Venus, continues to manage the team until he is able to take the reins once more:
[I`ve] been in touch with Tony myself over recent times and wish him all the best. It's very unfortunate for Birmingham as a football club to have to go through it, and obviously for Tony and his family. But certainly I wish him all the very best and hope to see him back on that touch line sometime
very soon.
We concur with that and send best wishes to Mogga from all the Boro family.
Get well soon
If it's possible, let's approach Birmingham with the same confidence and mentality we've done over Norwich and QPR. Boro fans have a kind of inbuilt "gallows" humour and approach to football: none of us dare get too hopeful, but we go barmy when we meet positive expectations and win. Our ex-striker Lukas Jutkiewicz, who is 35 on the 28th March, still ploughs the furrow up front for the Blues and has been an ever-present through their ups and downs for eight years! Blues are in a period of "transition" on and off the pitch. For us, it's the next challenge, our next chance to bag three valuable points and let other teams and clubs look after themselves.
Cross your fingers and let's go for it.
Results can determine your season either way, and we've kind of gone through it...... a kind of negative impact if you like, over recent weeks, but this certainly the last week or so has been really positive. [Birmingham] is an important game for us, you know. It's kind of catching up on our game in hand as well and......in the end it could prove to have a big impact on what we do moving forward
[The boys put in a shift to beat QPR]
The "character" which Carrick has spoken about recently, is showing through the squad. It's fair to say we were all having doubts about whether we were going to win another game [!?] because we had recently put in some below-par performances. But that has suddenly changed. We had a jittery start to the Norwich game, but it was important to see Latte Lath and Forss scoring and the whole team pulling together.
[Marcus Forss and Emanuel Latte Lath are both coming into form at the right time after both being out injured]
The other important part of the jigsaw was that Carrick's team remained basically the same for the QPR encounter. He said pre-Norwich that consistency in having a settled squad of players was the key to success. Ironic that right at the business end of the season, we have a good squad to chose from, with Isaiah Jones also ready to play a part:
I just hope the boys get the rewards for that you know, cuz their intentions are fantastic, and they keep coming in working hard, doing the right things, desperate to do well and, hopefully.... we can use the momentum that we have with the little bit that we've gained over the last week and build on that.
Certainly, the league looks different for us in terms of our proximity to that last play-off spot, although it would be very foolish [and over-optimistic] to suggest that is our target. Carrick was asked about that possibility, but reiterated his belief that we take each game as it comes, not projecting on ifs, buts and may-be`s. Bar Preston, we have a game-in-hand over everyone around us. A win today [Tuesday] could see us jump over Cardiff and Preston [we have a superior goal difference] into 9th place, just behind Coventry [57 points] and Hull [58 points].
[Isaiah Jones doing the "T" for Teesside after scoring in our win over Cardiff]
That would leave us 5 points from 6th placed Norwich, on the same points as Hull, but with a better goal difference. The permutations are fascinating, and certainly one for the stats fans and "super computers" to focus on. Fact is, no one can predict what will happen in the last ten games for us. Things change quickly in this league, as Carrick said:
We had a bit of a sticky run and, all of a sudden, we put a couple [of good results] together, and hopefully we're trying to build on that. So momentum is important......momentum is huge and finishing well is always in some ways better than starting well. But that's that's what's in front of us really and the game's coming up that we can look forward to and try and build on what we've just kind of started.
[A tough night awaits at St Andrews]
Carrick is in no doubt that Birmingham will be up for the game, with no intention of rolling over or of us being complacent. Every team, regardless of their league position, has a reason to play well and look for those wins. We can see at the top that Leicester, who were once considered guaranteed favourites for automatic promotion, are down from an eleven point lead to just three!
[Boro did a good job taking six points out of six from the Foxes, helping to dent their automatic hopes...]
At the other end of the table, Sheffield Wednesday have climbed to within a point of safety. It may not seem much, but they were "dead and buried" at Christmas.
Carrick will choose players from those available, but is mindful that some aren't 100% fit just yet, but could still play a part:
I always think Saturday [then] Tuesdays there's time to recover normally, so we'll have to make a call on that because there is a few with knocks and bumps and bruisers and boys that have not played a lot of football recently who have came into a cluster of games.....like Manny [Latte Lath] and Johnny [Howson] specifically. So we'll have to make that decision [on Tuesday]. But at the moment we'll have to wait and see.
Latte Lathe has now scored nine goals in the league this season, followed by Marcus Forss on seven. Lathe has spent a lot of time out injured and needed time to adjust to the Championship. Carrick sees Lath as much improved since he arrived and says he is the "life and soul" of the squad. He certainly showed the Sky TV cameras his joy against Norwich and QPR, and appeared to be enjoying his football. Carrick isnt surprised:
I think there's more to come from him, you know. He's nowhere near ,kind of, fully fit yet so I'm sure between now and the end of the season, there's even more to come from him.
[Jonny Howson - what more can we say]
Carrick will adapt his game according to the opposition and also chose players he feels will do the required job. Certainly, Marcus Forss can play down the side or through the middle. He's got flexibility with McGree, and it's so good to have Jonny Howson back. O`Brien seems to have upped his game, and our defence held up with all the in-form Rangers could throw at us. Dieng looked sharp and confident. We played with a level of confidence and tactical awareness, which needed sharpening up before we beat Norwich. We looked more composed, even if the game wasn't pretty at times.
Isaiah Jones is still on the way to being 100% back to his best and there are other players whom Carrick believes need managing, so won't just be chucking players straight into games, and increasing the risk of injury. Players being match fit is important for the boss, but Jones is definitely in the frame:
I think obviously we've got to be careful and man manage [Jones] back but, the boys who have played have done great as well, so there are both sides of it really. I don't think this is [just about] "Izzy" individually, but I think there's no one really that's going to just come straight back into the team. I think that's the beauty of it with a squad we've got: that it's good [to have] healthy competition to kind of push each other, to be at a good level and bring out the
best in everyone really.
A final word about Sonny Finch, who did well at the back end of last season and was then out with injury and has worked hard to get fit and back into the U21`s. He scored a brace in the 3-2 victory over Man Utd U21`s last week and appears to be back to his best. Carrick is very protective though and understands how young players need to be managed and coached to get them fit and capable of consistently producing their best. He was particularly pleased for sonny Finch:
[I`m] delighted for Finch. He's kind of had few issues with his ankle for on and off for a period of time, so [we] took the decision to try and get it sorted.......be patient with him, give him a period of time and get back training and get fit.......he's playing and scoring goals and that's kind of what he does. He always finds a way of finding the back of the net, and it's great to see the longer it goes we'll get him around us as time goes on. But yeah, it's great to see him back fit, and he's so young. It's the start of his career, he's got his whole career ahead of him so Lo loads of time for Finchy.
Carrick had a final word for Tony Mowbray, whose deputy, Mark Venus, continues to manage the team until he is able to take the reins once more:
[I`ve] been in touch with Tony myself over recent times and wish him all the best. It's very unfortunate for Birmingham as a football club to have to go through it, and obviously for Tony and his family. But certainly I wish him all the very best and hope to see him back on that touch line sometime
very soon.
We concur with that and send best wishes to Mogga from all the Boro family.
Get well soon
If it's possible, let's approach Birmingham with the same confidence and mentality we've done over Norwich and QPR. Boro fans have a kind of inbuilt "gallows" humour and approach to football: none of us dare get too hopeful, but we go barmy when we meet positive expectations and win. Our ex-striker Lukas Jutkiewicz, who is 35 on the 28th March, still ploughs the furrow up front for the Blues and has been an ever-present through their ups and downs for eight years! Blues are in a period of "transition" on and off the pitch. For us, it's the next challenge, our next chance to bag three valuable points and let other teams and clubs look after themselves.
Cross your fingers and let's go for it.
Come On Boro!
r00fie 11/03/2024
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