Thoughts on Sunday's game

Ex Footy Legs

Ex Footy Legs

Well-known member
So, my thoughts on our playoff chances



Coventry obviously looked good on Monday or Gykores and hamer did and the rest work hard and give robins everything for the cause.

Was that Coventry at their peak given they needed something from a game they'd normally be super happy with a draw ?



In my humble opinion, given it looks highly likely we have no Ramsey, fry, forss and possibly howson. All excellent contributors in their own ways....and we have good options/cover still but I think Coventry will prove a stern test because of our injuries….. It could go either way over 2 games and the away leg is a very important game.

It is a wonderful opportunity though for the likes of Mowatt and Barlassor to show Carrick what he's been missing because these lads are top players but nows the time to really show Mr C and especially Mowatt, win himself a new deal.

10 minutes in and a hamstring issue for Gykores would be devastating for the lad. What a good player 😬

Our combined powerful forward line though of Chuba and Archer are better than Coventry with goal threats from Mcgree and Hackney.

It’s too late for Ramsey and forss because they’ve lost their match sharpness and so howson is the only hope.

Jones on the right side was bereft of confidence on Monday. Carrick was watching what we were and seen it.

I think Carrick might potentially do something radical to try and catch them out and perhaps shuffle Hackney to right side and bring in barlassor alongside mowatt if howson doesn’t make it. That would leave us with footballers right across midfield because ball retention is everything on Sunday and cool heads under pressure.

Coventry are going to try to bombard us with intensity with long balls into gykores and the only way to deal with it is to keep the ball and feed archers pace and chuba in the pockets of space.

I hope Carrick doesn’t play jones because of the last match but suspect he will and if they do it’s then upto the management team to get something out of jones in this crucial away leg. Jones’s using his pace is how he gets his confidence back and a cut back cross to finish with…but he has to take a risk and if Carrick plays him I’m sure they will be telling him he can hurt Coventry and be key (which is true if he plays to his potential)


Some have suggest Dijksteel right Midfield and go more defensive but Carrick won’t move away from our way of playing and I think would rather go down swinging than change our philosophy, if we’re honest, his project is ahead of schedule really….

A draw would be a great result but I wouldn’t rule out us just out scoring them if we have chuba and archer firing because we really have the best forward line in the division (I believe) and we only need one of them chaps to fire..Archer seems like a big game player.
I also wouldn’t rule out them scoring 2 goals early and sitting back and then it’s a very dangerous game for us of being hit on the break for more.

Perspective though. We would’ve snapped someone’s hand off for this position when Carrick took over so really, we should just enjoy this ride considering where we were….
And let whatever unfolds - be whatever it is because for the first time in such a long time I really enjoy watching us play proper football
And I’m just going to trust Carrick to make the best choices possible with the cards he has at his disposal…..

Team I would pick ;
Steffen
Smith(just) Lenny Paddy Giles
Hackney Mowatt Barlassor (assume no howson) McGree
Chuba Archer

Team Mr C will probably pick ;
Steffen
Smith(just) Lenny Paddy Giles
Jones Hackney Mowatt (assume no howson) McGree
Chuba Archer

Come on you Might BORO!
 
On Monday it looked as though Jones was told to take it easy - first half he was very, very poor. Can only recall him trying to outpace their LB on a couple of occasions, mixed success. Looked like a quick player coming back from a hamstring injury and is a bit hesitant to go full pelt.

I hope it's all a bit of Carrick mind games - Coventry now don't pay him any special attention and he rips them apart. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

If Jones plays - assume he will - he looks much better with Dijksteel behind. And with Coventry favouring the long ball into the channels for Gyokeres to chase, Dijksteels pace could be invaluable.
 
h_m_boro said:
On Monday it looked as though Jones was told to take it easy - first half he was very, very poor. Can only recall him trying to outpace their LB on a couple of occasions, mixed success. Looked like a quick player coming back from a hamstring injury and is a bit hesitant to go full pelt.

I hope it's all a bit of Carrick mind games - Coventry now don't pay him any special attention and he rips them apart. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

If Jones plays - assume he will - he looks much better with Dijksteel behind. And with Coventry favouring the long ball into the channels for Gyokeres to chase, Dijksteels pace could be invaluable.
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Agree with what your saying regarding the physical elements of dijksteels game, but my issue with Dijksteel is he falls asleep at curcial moments, dont think id trust him to keep an eye on Gyokeres for a full game
 
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Smith and McNair need to be much better up against those long balls to Gyokeres.

Got caught out several times but thankfully Leninhan was on hand to clean up.
 
Its a very tough game - we lost there in 2021 and 2022. I went to the 2021 game and we were second best

Coventry matched us at the weekend. They did a bit better than I thought they would.

You have to make Coventry favourities, my odds are:

Coventry 40%
Draw 27%
Boro 23%

I would change these odds if we had some of the injured players returned.

oops in a rush this morning

Coventry 40%
Draw 28%
Boro 32%
 
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Redwurzel said:
Its a very tough game - we lost there in 2021 and 2022. I went to the 2021 game and we were second best

Coventry matched us at the weekend. They did a bit better than I thought they would.

You have to make Coventry favourities, my odds are:

Coventry 40%
Draw 27%
Boro 23%

I would change these odds if we had some of the injured players returned.
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What about the other 10%? ;)
 
MickaelDebevePhenomenal said:
Agree with what your saying regarding the physical elements of dijksteels game, but my issue with Dijksteel is he falls asleep at curcial moments, dont think id trust him to keep an eye on Gyokeres for a full game
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Totally agree - more of giving cover/help to McNair. Definitely wouldn't ask Dijksteel to mark Gyokeres all game.

Think Paddy had an excellent game second half against Gyokeres (only got away from him once?) but absolutely no chance Gyokeres will outpace Dijksteel. As cover, we "should" be able to keep him quiet.

Now, Dijksteel falling over, forgetting what day it is etc ...... different matter. 😁😁
 
InglebyUTB said:
Smith and McNair need to be much better up against those long balls to Gyokeres.

Got caught out several times but thankfully Leninhan was on hand to clean up.
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Do you know what though - perhaps the game on Monday gone was a great chance to go up against Gyokeres and see how he likes to play at full pelt. It allowed us to observe first hand and prepare still further for Sunday and what he likes and doesn't like. So, perhaps Monday's experience was good timing ready for 2 full on match ups.
 
Given that we have been "on the beach" for the last few weeks, I dont see anything in Coventry that worries me if/when we play our A game.

At 1:1 there was only one team in the last game, and it wasnt Coventry, even though they needed the result more than we did.
 
Coventry either 2-1 or 2-0. We have lost away from home this season on a regular basis even when our form was right up there, now it isn't and we are waiting for key players to come back from injury, I still think we can have a massive night at our ground but it needs all stands to be singing and pushing the team on.
 
Unlike other away games this season and unlike Coventry, we are under no pressure to win so can play a little more defensively if needs be.

For me anything up to a 2-0 loss, whilst not ideal, wouldn't be a disaster. Lets not forget how many games we have come from behind to win, usually quite comfortably so if Coventry think they can park the bus and hold a lead for the full 90 minutes of the second leg they may be mistaken.
 
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Diego said:
Not sure Carrick will go with Barlassor, he may end up going with Barlasto or Barlazier or even Ballasa

But more likely Dan Barlaser will be on the bench.
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There's been some questionable spelling of player names on here over the years, but Barlassor has to take the prize for me :D
 
I expect Coventry will have a real go at us from the start and we dont look too clever when teams do that to us. They did it in the first 20 minutes last week and could have been three up at half time. Huddersfield did it to us as well. I think we should adopt a more defensive posture at the start of the game and look to hit them on the break. We need to avoid letting in early goals.
 
Hope we are not naive. Think we need to preparee for an onslaught in a bouncing atmosphere. Be very compact to begin with. We have no big need to win. Draw would be fine as i fear we are capable of losing 2 or 3 nil if we arent fully at it and do our usial trick of conceding first. Be nice to keep a clean sheet for once.
 
I hope that at least Howson is back. I think we have missed him the last couple of games. After Chuba he's been the player of the season for me.
 
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