r00fie1
Well-known member
It's that time again>>>>>>>>
[Photo; Tony Hisgettwww.flickr.com/photos/hisgett/3548559842/in/photostream/]
Tuesday 1st October 2024. EFL Championship. West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough. The Hawthorns Stadium. KO: 20:00 hrs
V 
[Photo; Tony Hisgettwww.flickr.com/photos/hisgett/3548559842/in/photostream/]
Tuesday 1st October 2024. EFL Championship. West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough. The Hawthorns Stadium. KO: 20:00 hrs
V Last Saturday was a welcome break to most of us. According to Kam Sam, the Stoke Fan, "that Doak is a good bloke", who put on a sterling performance in his first start in the famous red n white of the Boro. Down that right wing, he wore out the pitch, demonstrating his technical ability and fantastic work rate. Even when he slipped in the area, he managed to get straight back up and keep the ball.
[photo: MFC.co]
His goal was Wilkinsonesque - the typical poachers' goal: Firing it into the net from the goalkeepers parry. What a great way to score your first professional goal! And right in front of the South Stand, too! The eighteen-year-old showed exactly what he could do, and the team streamed to the corner to join the celebrations. His crossing in the air and on the floor kept up the team's momentum and pace. It was just what we needed. It also worked well, because we were attacking down the middle and from the left-hand side. Stoke fans were enamoured with his performance: "****ing hell, he's alright him"!
It was noticeable that the return of McGree also fired up young Hayden Hackney and upped the pace. Morris is a real gem and gets better by the minute. Ayling is....well, Luke Ayling really. We seemed to move the ball around a lot quicker and at times we drowned Stoke under a barrage of bodies, shots to feet, headers and switches of play across the pitch. Latte Lath is still looking for that next goal, but he must be a nightmare to mark and play against. He's always on the attack, but not averse to helping out at the back. His next one will come soon enough, for sure. There were, of course, a few "hairy" moments and the referee seemed to be on a yellow-card-bonus, but we didn't let that worry us.
[Photo:.gazettelive.co.uk/incoming/gallery/gallery-paul-wilkinson-7492905]
Paul Wilkinson was probably one of our best goal-poachers.
Michael Carrick looked happy after the match:
[Photo: mfc.co]
Getting Doak in on loan was a master-stroke and Izzy Jones will have to work hard to dislodge him, from making that role his own. The Liverpool loanee wasn't the only one, of course, but his contribution made it what was probably the best match of the season so far. Certainly Michael Carrick seemed to agree in his post-match interview:
I'm delighted for Ben. I think obviously the goal was a terrific moment for him. He’ll remember that as THE big one. As a team, we created space really well for him, especially the first half. He looked dangerous down that side, and that's what he can do. We knew that [before he signed]. He's young. He's developing and he's growing in experience. Along with him and Izzy at the moment and [soon] getting Marcus [Forss] back, we've got options. Today was one for Ben and he played really well.
We saw a lot more in-your-face attacking football and playing the high line: at one stage we had a five-on-two steaming towards Stoke’s goal, but Azaz coul;d only manage a shot into the keeper's steady hands. We never stopped pushing forward and even when they had the breaks, like the shot pushed to his left by Dieng, there wasn't that "oh-my-god-here-we-go" feeling from us fans. Stoke fans didn't appreciate Ayling`s crunching tackles and at one point in the second half, to add to their frustration, he gave them a characteristic smile and a wave to wind them up.
It seems Carrick had taken advice from the FMTTM board before kick off: He mentioned being "ruthless" and pushing for the next goal. He was quick to praise the whole team performance after picking out young Ben Doak:
We wanted to keep pushing, and that's [about] finding that bit of extra ruthlessness, really. [They are] such a good group of players and, individually, a great group of men. But we can't be "nice" on the football pitch. We've got to find that extra kind of ruthlessness, and I thought we found that today. With the ball and without the ball, there was an aggressive kind of nature in our plan. In the end, I thought we fully deserved our victory.
West Brom:
No "doctor's surgery" about injuries. We'll see whose back when the team sheet comes out. No point worrying if someone's not fit or otherwise unavailable. West Brom got taught a lesson by lowly Sheffield Wednesday, especially dragging the Baggies wide from inside their typical crowded midfield. Marvin Johnson celebrated a great opener down the left. For their second, Josh Windass, with a smart looking haircut, headed it over the goalies out-stretched palms and the third was a pearler from a through pass, straight to Barry Bannan [who must be about 55 by now] who passed it straight across the goal line to Anthony Musba. West Brom didn't look as organised at the back as they might be. Their style we know well and in the recent past we have struggled to break them down. But Wednesday got in behind their midfield, rounded their defence and could have scored more. Alex Mowatt`s equaliser was a speculative shot through a crowded box, which bounced and landed in the back of the Owls net.
Carrick finally had this to say on tonight's opponents:
It's another game. We'll recover. We'll prepare for it. It's a good game. They've had some good results at the start of the season. We know they are a strong team, [but] we are a strong team. We'll see how it goes.
A wet, dark, Tuesday night in the Black Country isn't perhaps the first choice of many. It's still a fair treck back home after the match. Hopefully we can come back with the three points. West Brom are a side who still have some old campaigners like Furlong and Mowatt. But we have nothing to be afraid of if we play with the momentum and pressure which we had on Saturday. They sit top of the pile because they deserve it, but there may have been a hint of sarcasm when Carrick said they had had some favourable results - "at the start of the season"? We need to take it to them and not start on the back foot. Time to get the points, dig in and consolidate our climb up that Championship table. We want promotion, don't we?
Come On Boro!
@r00fie1 01/10/2024
[photo: MFC.co]
His goal was Wilkinsonesque - the typical poachers' goal: Firing it into the net from the goalkeepers parry. What a great way to score your first professional goal! And right in front of the South Stand, too! The eighteen-year-old showed exactly what he could do, and the team streamed to the corner to join the celebrations. His crossing in the air and on the floor kept up the team's momentum and pace. It was just what we needed. It also worked well, because we were attacking down the middle and from the left-hand side. Stoke fans were enamoured with his performance: "****ing hell, he's alright him"!
It was noticeable that the return of McGree also fired up young Hayden Hackney and upped the pace. Morris is a real gem and gets better by the minute. Ayling is....well, Luke Ayling really. We seemed to move the ball around a lot quicker and at times we drowned Stoke under a barrage of bodies, shots to feet, headers and switches of play across the pitch. Latte Lath is still looking for that next goal, but he must be a nightmare to mark and play against. He's always on the attack, but not averse to helping out at the back. His next one will come soon enough, for sure. There were, of course, a few "hairy" moments and the referee seemed to be on a yellow-card-bonus, but we didn't let that worry us.
[Photo:.gazettelive.co.uk/incoming/gallery/gallery-paul-wilkinson-7492905]
Paul Wilkinson was probably one of our best goal-poachers.
Michael Carrick looked happy after the match:
[Photo: mfc.co]
Getting Doak in on loan was a master-stroke and Izzy Jones will have to work hard to dislodge him, from making that role his own. The Liverpool loanee wasn't the only one, of course, but his contribution made it what was probably the best match of the season so far. Certainly Michael Carrick seemed to agree in his post-match interview:
I'm delighted for Ben. I think obviously the goal was a terrific moment for him. He’ll remember that as THE big one. As a team, we created space really well for him, especially the first half. He looked dangerous down that side, and that's what he can do. We knew that [before he signed]. He's young. He's developing and he's growing in experience. Along with him and Izzy at the moment and [soon] getting Marcus [Forss] back, we've got options. Today was one for Ben and he played really well.
We saw a lot more in-your-face attacking football and playing the high line: at one stage we had a five-on-two steaming towards Stoke’s goal, but Azaz coul;d only manage a shot into the keeper's steady hands. We never stopped pushing forward and even when they had the breaks, like the shot pushed to his left by Dieng, there wasn't that "oh-my-god-here-we-go" feeling from us fans. Stoke fans didn't appreciate Ayling`s crunching tackles and at one point in the second half, to add to their frustration, he gave them a characteristic smile and a wave to wind them up.
It seems Carrick had taken advice from the FMTTM board before kick off: He mentioned being "ruthless" and pushing for the next goal. He was quick to praise the whole team performance after picking out young Ben Doak:
We wanted to keep pushing, and that's [about] finding that bit of extra ruthlessness, really. [They are] such a good group of players and, individually, a great group of men. But we can't be "nice" on the football pitch. We've got to find that extra kind of ruthlessness, and I thought we found that today. With the ball and without the ball, there was an aggressive kind of nature in our plan. In the end, I thought we fully deserved our victory.
West Brom:
No "doctor's surgery" about injuries. We'll see whose back when the team sheet comes out. No point worrying if someone's not fit or otherwise unavailable. West Brom got taught a lesson by lowly Sheffield Wednesday, especially dragging the Baggies wide from inside their typical crowded midfield. Marvin Johnson celebrated a great opener down the left. For their second, Josh Windass, with a smart looking haircut, headed it over the goalies out-stretched palms and the third was a pearler from a through pass, straight to Barry Bannan [who must be about 55 by now] who passed it straight across the goal line to Anthony Musba. West Brom didn't look as organised at the back as they might be. Their style we know well and in the recent past we have struggled to break them down. But Wednesday got in behind their midfield, rounded their defence and could have scored more. Alex Mowatt`s equaliser was a speculative shot through a crowded box, which bounced and landed in the back of the Owls net.
Carrick finally had this to say on tonight's opponents:
It's another game. We'll recover. We'll prepare for it. It's a good game. They've had some good results at the start of the season. We know they are a strong team, [but] we are a strong team. We'll see how it goes.
A wet, dark, Tuesday night in the Black Country isn't perhaps the first choice of many. It's still a fair treck back home after the match. Hopefully we can come back with the three points. West Brom are a side who still have some old campaigners like Furlong and Mowatt. But we have nothing to be afraid of if we play with the momentum and pressure which we had on Saturday. They sit top of the pile because they deserve it, but there may have been a hint of sarcasm when Carrick said they had had some favourable results - "at the start of the season"? We need to take it to them and not start on the back foot. Time to get the points, dig in and consolidate our climb up that Championship table. We want promotion, don't we?
Come On Boro!
@r00fie1 01/10/2024
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