r00fie1
Well-known member
It's that time again.......
[Steve Daniels: www.Geograph Britain & Ireland]
V
Saturday 14th September 2024. EFL Championship. Middlesbrough v Preston North End. KO: 15:00 hrs.
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[Steve Daniels: www.Geograph Britain & Ireland]
VSaturday 14th September 2024. EFL Championship. Middlesbrough v Preston North End. KO: 15:00 hrs.
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It feels longer than two weeks since we came away from Cardiff with that 2-0 victory in a very subdued Cardiff City Stadium. Despite the long journey and the ridiculous kick-off time, the Red Army turned up in force and made a hell of a din throughout the game. At times, particularly in the first half, it wasn't pretty to watch, but the second half was a different story: let's remind ourselves that WE ACTUALLY SCORED FROM A CORNER [!] when Matt Clarke headed in on 55 minutes and Aidan Morris's deflected shot finished off a lacklustre Cardiff's hopes of taking anything from the game.
It was certainly a good bounce-back after the trouncing by Stoke the previous Tuesday in the League Cup, and was our second clean sheet in the league season so far. In terms of the League, Matt Clarke is our TOP SCORER with two goals, with Latte Lath and Conway on one apiece. Finn Azaz is leading the assists with two. But it's early days yet!
I wonder if Clarke is the new John Hickton [?]. Hickton arrived having played Centre-Half for Sheffield Wednesday, then following promotion in his first season, he became Boro`s top scorer for the next six seasons! Hickton certainly had more hair, but there are similarities in their character and fearlessness. We'll have to see if Clarky gets a penalty take and measure how long his run-up is !
Our record against Preston in recent seasons hasn't been spectacular, but, like all games in the Championship, it's going to be tough, and hopefully we can improve our goal tally and notch up another clean sheet!
Up The Mighty Boro !
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MICHAEL CARRICK
[Screenshot: https://www.mfc.co.uk/videos/3ace1b52-8e6d-493a-9c02-50f96536cf26]
We've got really good senior players with good character and personalities. Who set a good example, which is really important for the younger players, and look after them. We feel we've got a good group, numbers-wise, to get us through the season and quality-wise, then time will tell [if we're] good enough. [Michael Carrick]
In his most recent Media Conference, Carrick was fairly upbeat about the state of the squad and positive about the likely returns of Marcus Forss, Tommy Smith, Darragh Lenihan, Dael Fry, Rav Van Den Berg and others over the coming weeks.
Asked specifically about Marcus Forss:
He's been out for a good period of time, so he won't be close to being in the match day group just yet. I think that's a bit of time away yet. He needs a bit of training and getting up to speed and feeling confident in himself as well. So there's a little bit further [to go] even though he's great that he's training with us, and he's back with us. I wouldn't expect him to be involved in the next couple of weeks at least.
Carrick is aware that some players arrived late in the transfer window, with some still getting up to match speed, but he has no concerns about their training and settling in amongst the lads:
Ben's [Doak] been away. George [Edmundson] has trained with us a lot, so that's good. Neto [Borges] has been in and around us so that's that's really good, but Ben obviously came late so he's had a couple of days training. The boys have all settled great to be honest: it's a good group and ...what they all say every time we bring a new player is how easy it is to settle into the group. So that's a really positive thing from my point of view. The boys are desperate to get up and running really and get on the pitch and perform.
Competition for Places:
Carrick now has competition and cover for every position on the pitch, which is a “nice” position to be in. Injuries aside, he has the options we didn’t have last season and arguably has a stronger squad. But he isn't worried about players competing for places in terms of his team selections. He inferred that some players will be developing in the squad this season, which may mean they will be more ready for next season. Clearly there is a plan in place. But he wasn't blasé` about their ability to take into account the ups and downs of “a hell of a long season”. It's not really started and the International break in just a few weeks time is going to break up momentum, but will also present an opportunity to bring players up to speed, whilst enabling those recovering from injury to focus on getting back in the frame. He described the squad as a real asset, particularly those who could be coming off the bench in games. No one need feel “left out”.
I think if you've got good players to choose from, then it's the perfect scenario for any coach and manager. The boys are a joy to work with, and we're going to need everybody to have some kind of success, whatever that may be this season. So it goes from game to game, obviously. But, we've got to look ahead and not take our eyes away off that, because that's why the squad is the squad [the way it is]. You've got to run with the bumps in the road through the season, whatever that is results, performances, or injuries, or whatever that may be. We feel like we've got a squad that [are] capable of doing that, so from my point of view, it's a real positive.
Preston:
Paul Heckingbottom is an “established, experienced and proven coach and Manager“ said Carrick. Like us, they have had time to train and sort out their team during the break. Incidentally, Heckingbottom took over on the 20th of August this year and was their third Manager in the same month [!]. The two others were Ryan Lowe [left after just one game] and Caretaker Mike Marsh. That's some statistic.
Carrick has kept an eye on the Whites from North End:
[Heckingbottom`s] been there for a number of weeks now. But we've watched them, obviously, as they'll be watching us. I think there's a kind of natural uplift when the new manager and any staff come in…….we've got to be ready and prepared for what they've been working on so…. The boys will be ready for it.
Millwall Fans:
[Edited. The Old Grey Wolf. flickr./photos/a_tom/6788812783/]
Finally, Carrick laughed when acknowledging the success of our players out on loan, especially Josh Coburn:
Over the last couple of weeks, when I was back in Manchester, [Millwall fans] were just randomly bumping into me and saying thanks for letting us have Josh and thanks….. he's done great!
Meanwhile, it's back to the tough long season of Championship games, made no easier by pushing fixtures closer together with the International breaks. It's moving towards the time of the year when it starts to become colder, when the wind, rain and snow blows in off the North Sea across The Riverside. Some of our newcomers may be requesting long-sleeve shirts and gloves?
Let's hope we can keep the momentum going, get back to creating and finishing off our chances, and watch our talented squad flourish and keep us towards the top of the table.
Come on Boro!
@r00fie 13/09/2024
It was certainly a good bounce-back after the trouncing by Stoke the previous Tuesday in the League Cup, and was our second clean sheet in the league season so far. In terms of the League, Matt Clarke is our TOP SCORER with two goals, with Latte Lath and Conway on one apiece. Finn Azaz is leading the assists with two. But it's early days yet!
I wonder if Clarke is the new John Hickton [?]. Hickton arrived having played Centre-Half for Sheffield Wednesday, then following promotion in his first season, he became Boro`s top scorer for the next six seasons! Hickton certainly had more hair, but there are similarities in their character and fearlessness. We'll have to see if Clarky gets a penalty take and measure how long his run-up is !
Our record against Preston in recent seasons hasn't been spectacular, but, like all games in the Championship, it's going to be tough, and hopefully we can improve our goal tally and notch up another clean sheet!
Up The Mighty Boro !
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MICHAEL CARRICK
[Screenshot: https://www.mfc.co.uk/videos/3ace1b52-8e6d-493a-9c02-50f96536cf26]
We've got really good senior players with good character and personalities. Who set a good example, which is really important for the younger players, and look after them. We feel we've got a good group, numbers-wise, to get us through the season and quality-wise, then time will tell [if we're] good enough. [Michael Carrick]
In his most recent Media Conference, Carrick was fairly upbeat about the state of the squad and positive about the likely returns of Marcus Forss, Tommy Smith, Darragh Lenihan, Dael Fry, Rav Van Den Berg and others over the coming weeks.
Asked specifically about Marcus Forss:
He's been out for a good period of time, so he won't be close to being in the match day group just yet. I think that's a bit of time away yet. He needs a bit of training and getting up to speed and feeling confident in himself as well. So there's a little bit further [to go] even though he's great that he's training with us, and he's back with us. I wouldn't expect him to be involved in the next couple of weeks at least.
Carrick is aware that some players arrived late in the transfer window, with some still getting up to match speed, but he has no concerns about their training and settling in amongst the lads:
Ben's [Doak] been away. George [Edmundson] has trained with us a lot, so that's good. Neto [Borges] has been in and around us so that's that's really good, but Ben obviously came late so he's had a couple of days training. The boys have all settled great to be honest: it's a good group and ...what they all say every time we bring a new player is how easy it is to settle into the group. So that's a really positive thing from my point of view. The boys are desperate to get up and running really and get on the pitch and perform.
Competition for Places:
Carrick now has competition and cover for every position on the pitch, which is a “nice” position to be in. Injuries aside, he has the options we didn’t have last season and arguably has a stronger squad. But he isn't worried about players competing for places in terms of his team selections. He inferred that some players will be developing in the squad this season, which may mean they will be more ready for next season. Clearly there is a plan in place. But he wasn't blasé` about their ability to take into account the ups and downs of “a hell of a long season”. It's not really started and the International break in just a few weeks time is going to break up momentum, but will also present an opportunity to bring players up to speed, whilst enabling those recovering from injury to focus on getting back in the frame. He described the squad as a real asset, particularly those who could be coming off the bench in games. No one need feel “left out”.
I think if you've got good players to choose from, then it's the perfect scenario for any coach and manager. The boys are a joy to work with, and we're going to need everybody to have some kind of success, whatever that may be this season. So it goes from game to game, obviously. But, we've got to look ahead and not take our eyes away off that, because that's why the squad is the squad [the way it is]. You've got to run with the bumps in the road through the season, whatever that is results, performances, or injuries, or whatever that may be. We feel like we've got a squad that [are] capable of doing that, so from my point of view, it's a real positive.
Preston:
Paul Heckingbottom is an “established, experienced and proven coach and Manager“ said Carrick. Like us, they have had time to train and sort out their team during the break. Incidentally, Heckingbottom took over on the 20th of August this year and was their third Manager in the same month [!]. The two others were Ryan Lowe [left after just one game] and Caretaker Mike Marsh. That's some statistic.
Carrick has kept an eye on the Whites from North End:
[Heckingbottom`s] been there for a number of weeks now. But we've watched them, obviously, as they'll be watching us. I think there's a kind of natural uplift when the new manager and any staff come in…….we've got to be ready and prepared for what they've been working on so…. The boys will be ready for it.
Millwall Fans:
[Edited. The Old Grey Wolf. flickr./photos/a_tom/6788812783/]
Finally, Carrick laughed when acknowledging the success of our players out on loan, especially Josh Coburn:
Over the last couple of weeks, when I was back in Manchester, [Millwall fans] were just randomly bumping into me and saying thanks for letting us have Josh and thanks….. he's done great!
Meanwhile, it's back to the tough long season of Championship games, made no easier by pushing fixtures closer together with the International breaks. It's moving towards the time of the year when it starts to become colder, when the wind, rain and snow blows in off the North Sea across The Riverside. Some of our newcomers may be requesting long-sleeve shirts and gloves?
Let's hope we can keep the momentum going, get back to creating and finishing off our chances, and watch our talented squad flourish and keep us towards the top of the table.
Come on Boro!
@r00fie 13/09/2024
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