Championship thread 25/26! (36 Viewers)

[Hutch11]

Welcome to going top, it had been happening to us for months, every team sees you as a scalp they want rather than just another game. It's obvious going in to 2nd for a week was a great kick up the arse for us. Long may that continue. You need to find a plan B which is what Frank has been working on. Mixing up the passing again like at the start of the season seems to be doing the job for us all of a sudden teams pressing lose a bit of confidence as we are happy to go long or short.

This

 

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[torchomatic]

An absolutely bizarre appointment really, as each of the last three they've made have been. I bet Dennis Lawrence is a bit pissed off.

Weird as he was basically a carbon copy of Mason.

 

[itsabuzzard]

There was a good comment from FL a few days ago in one of his post-game interviews, I can't find in now, but words to the effect that we were feeling the pressure of being top, and it was affecting us, and it had happened to him as a player earlier in his career. He said that in the end you get used to the pressure and it stops having a negative efwelfect, and we should look at our dip in form not in terms of throwing away a massive lead but the lead we had enabled us to (hopefully) come through it still in contention.

It was a tactical masterstroke on FL's part to allow Boro to catch, and then overtake us, just long enough for them to freak out and void their bowels. If we beat the Bladesmen tonight, I don't think anyone will catch us, even the much-feared Tractor Cunts.

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

My personal view was that our slump was overplayed away from home.

What actually worried me was the 2 losses from winning positions v Norwich and QPR in the same week followed by drawing to Oxford at home. That was the real slump.

Our December away fixtures couldn’t get much harder from Stoke (15/11/25) throughout to Birmingham (04/01/26) - 5 of those 7 away games were against top half home form teams. Stoke and PNE were top 6 in home form and league position when we played them.

Before West Brom we failed to win a home game since Middlesbrough at the back end of November.

Sure there's layers of context to why we lost or drew games over the past 3 months - it wasn't all performance based it's probably fairer to say it was more of a hybrid of poor game management and questionable tactics along with the aforementioned.

But a spade is a spade, it was a very poor run that's caused us to slump to 17th in the away form table over the past eight games.

Not sure why we're trying to label it as anything but really.

 

[CovRes]

Actually feel sorry for the guy;

A West Brom fan on Reddit, before the sacking, was saying the rumour doing the rounds last night was that Will Still is coming in.

Would this be the first pair of brothers having each other since the Charltons? Assuming they both last until April.

 

[robbiethemole]

Before West Brom we failed to win a home game since Middlesbrough at the back end of November.

Sure there's layers of context to why we lost or drew games over the past 3 months - it wasn't all performance based it's probably fairer to say it was more of a hybrid of poor game management and questionable tactics along with the aforementioned.

But a spade is a spade, it was a very poor run that's caused us to slump to 17th in the away form table over the past eight games.

Not sure why we're trying to label it as anything but really.

Surely the wave of illness that we suffered had to contribute. So many players were well below the previous levels and playing through with the bug.

 

[clint van damme]

Surely the wave of illness that we suffered had to contribute. So many players were well below the previous levels and playing through with the bug.

Which is why he said it wasn't all performance based.
Though I've searched the British medical journal for an illness whose symptom is leaving Brau one and one at the back when defending a 1-0 lead and it didn't come up with anything!

We also persisted with one of the players who seemed most affected despite having a 4 or 5 millions replacement on the bench.

 

[jordan210]

Seams like a little bit of a headloss interview

 

[clint van damme]

Hellbergs right, the refs are shite!

 

[Robinshio]

cant see the issue with the one we had against them - his arm was stuck right out - albeit we have had 10 + more obvious ones not given

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

Surely the wave of illness that we suffered had to contribute. So many players were well below the previous levels and playing through with the bug.

Like I said there's layers of context to each game that can point to why dropped points.

As a manager you're going to face plenty of curveballs across a full season though. Adapting to those is key to ensuring damage limitation.

The biggest issue for me was game management / tactics - Charlton and Preston; just failed to hold onto leads when we should have quite comfortably, Birmingham; completely the wrong tactics from the get-go, Ipswich; showed them far too much respect, Southampton; head loss from Dasilva changed the dynamic of the game entirely.

Injuries, illness and suspensions of course contributed to the slump as well, but what squad in this league doesn't suffer with those issues pretty much most weeks?

 

[Marty]

Ipswich have a tough run of fixtures coming up, Hull, Leicester and Millwall in the next 5. Can definitely see them dropping points in that run of games.

Tough game tonight, but I fully expect us to get 10+ points from the next 5.

I really wouldn't be surprised to see our point lead over 3rd jump up to 15 points over the next few games.

 

[torchomatic]

"...If you've got heartburn, nausea, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea..herrr!"

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Seams like a little bit of a headloss interview

The Boro commentators were laughing at how Matt Targett escaped a card for hacking down Fatawu last night. Funny he isn’t mentioning that.

 

[Liquid Gold]

We've addressed the lack of depth in the squad now which was a killer.

We had a blistering start that papered over the cracks we'd failed to address in the summer. I don't think for a second we'd have dropped so many points had Onyeka been signed as a Sheaf replacement in August and Esse as an option.

Thankfully we've addressed it now but looking back at the Blues game in particular, the bench was so poor Lampard had his hands tied on who to select as a starting XI.

 

[lord_garrincha]

Seams like a little bit of a headloss interview

Give it a fortnight... and there will be reports from the training ground that Hellberg came off second best in a brawl with Viveash!

 

[David O'Day]

Seams like a little bit of a headloss interview

i expect an essay from the tame smoggies on why hellball is such a brand new way of playing that the normal rules of handball shouldn't apply to boro

 

[CovValleyBoy]

"Strength in depth" is your "out on loan player" scoring a clinical late winner at Celtic

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

The Boro commentators were laughing at how Matt Targett escaped a card for hacking down Fatawu last night. Funny he isn’t mentioning that.

Pressure

 

[SafeAsMilk]

Good old Leicester.. always liked them

 

[robbiethemole]

Welcome to our world, lots of shite decisions going against us. What a whinging git, the pressure looks to be getting to them and they were only top for a week! Hahaha. We’ve handled the expectation far better in the last few months despite the intensity slipping over New Year, but we look to be back on it. Tonight’s game will be a pointer on how well we’ve recovered our desire

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

Welcome to our world, lots of shite decisions going against us. What a whinging git, the pressure looks to be getting to them and they were only top for a week! Hahaha. We’ve handled the expectation far better in the last few months despite the intensity slipping over New Year, but we look to be back on it. Tonight’s game will be a pointer on how well we’ve recovered our desire

I said after our win against Middlesbrough that if opposition teams use the blueprint that we created to unravel Hellball then they will drop a lot of points between then and the end of the season.

Low block, high-intensity press, and restricting their ability to pass freely and progress the ball quickly leaves them completely devoid of ideas.

He can use all the excuses he wants but fundamentally his lack of a plan B is what's causing them to slip.

 

[Briles]

we will be mathematically promoted on 11th April - save the date

I predicted in November time we would be promoted on the day of the sheff weds game. More in hope than expectation though

 

[JSL]

Wrexham on the socials are getting excitable about 4 promotions in consecutive years. With us to play at home, please don't let us aid them

 

[Kris_Boro]

Morning

I hate football

That is all

 

[Kris_Boro]

I said after our win against Middlesbrough that if opposition teams use the blueprint that we created to unravel Hellball then they will drop a lot of points between then and the end of the season.

Low block, high-intensity press, and restricting their ability to pass freely and progress the ball quickly leaves them completely devoid of ideas.

He can use all the excuses he wants but fundamentally his lack of a plan B is what's causing them to slip.

I dont disagree

What was more concerning last night was the actual performance. We didn't play bad against you or Oxford for that matter, last night we looked tired and i mean the majority of players. Passing was slow and players looked backwards rather than forwards which has been one of our key strengths.

End of the day we had two home games against bottom 3 opposition, bottom 3 for a reason and we had no answers. Ipswich had two tricky away games. The hope was to gain more points than them and build a gap. The reality is they have gained two points. ITs a shame

We need a better performance but Birmingham will fancy it on Monday. Playing away may be a blessing at this stage though.

We will go again

 

[HadjiChippo]

"...If you've got heartburn, nausea, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea..herrr!"

Can’t believe he’s moaning about that decision (well I can, he’s under massive pressure now). Wasn’t even in the same universe as the handball against us (distance the ball travelled, arm in an unnatural position etc.,) Leicester player was composing himself to stand up and the ball deflected off the goalkeeper right next to him. Literally nothing he could do. If anything it disadvantaged Leicester that the clearance hit the defender and fell to a Boro player.

The Boro player against us knew what he’d done right away and didn’t even argue against it, one of the most blatant handballs you’ll ever see, every defender knows these days, arms behind the back when blocking a cross/shot.

His head would explode if he had to deal with some of the stonewallers we haven’t got this season.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

I dont disagree

What was more concerning last night was the actual performance. We didn't play bad against you or Oxford for that matter, last night we looked tired and i mean the majority of players. Passing was slow and players looked backwards rather than forwards which has been one of our key strengths.

End of the day we had two home games against bottom 3 opposition, bottom 3 for a reason and we had no answers. Ipswich had two tricky away games. The hope was to gain more points than them and build a gap. The reality is they have gained two points. ITs a shame

We need a better performance but Birmingham will fancy it on Monday. Playing away may be a blessing at this stage though.

We will go again

Ipswich have only gained a point on you though, and they will drop points themselves. I expect we will lose tonight, we may well drop points on Saturday when nobody’s expecting us to.

Lots more twists and turns before it’s all over.

 

[Pezza]

Poor results for us last night but then again, the weekend was very sweet.

I like Hellberg and he is right, the refs are horrendous, they're so inconsistent. I would actually love to go up with Boro, they seem like a nice bunch compared to some.

BUT... the whole "Hell Ball" love'in was so annoying, they won 4 games in a row and were being talked up like they were up! You could argue we were also talked up like that, yes but the difference was at the time we were 10 points clear at the top!

I still see Ipswich winning most games and finishing top 2, probably top.

Hull will tick along too, feel Millwall will struggle to maintain it though... let's see!

 

[fernandopartridge]

I said after our win against Middlesbrough that if opposition teams use the blueprint that we created to unravel Hellball then they will drop a lot of points between then and the end of the season.

Low block, high-intensity press, and restricting their ability to pass freely and progress the ball quickly leaves them completely devoid of ideas.

He can use all the excuses he wants but fundamentally his lack of a plan B is what's causing them to slip.

They don't have a proper centre forward - they created enough good openings in the second half last night to score but had nobody in the middle to finish the chances.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Sorry, but the 2 draws from winning positions in that run, one against 10 men, were also very poor results and contributed to people, rightly, calling it a slump away.

I wasn't overly concerned by Oxford. When you're a team who has a strong home record you'll always get the odd result like that, opposition comes, parts the bus and you can't find a way through, it happens.

A draw v PNE and Southampton in isolation are by no means ‘poor results’. If we revisit the match threads, I’m sure the prevailing narrative was ‘take a draw’.

I was angry that we went 1-0 v 10 men and ended up drawing but performance wise, we win that game most times. Likewise with Southampton, heroic draw given the circumstances but the red card was self-inflicted.

My prevailing point here is that from Wrexham to Birmingham, we basically played all the best teams away from home. Most teams would struggle with that set and I’d wager that we (and possibly Ipswich too) will finish the season with a better record than Boro because their remaining away fixtures are tough. It will be close.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Ipswich have only gained a point on you though, and they will drop points themselves. I expect we will lose tonight, we may well drop points on Saturday when nobody’s expecting us to.

Lots more twists and turns before it’s all over.

I’m looking at Ipswich’s remaining away games and can’t see where they’ll lose. Draws v Southampton and Norwich seem realistic, perhaps one of those will be a loss.

Stoke, Wednesday, Charlton and WBA seem like shoe-in wins. Compare that to Boro’s run in away of Birmingham, QPR, Blackburn, Swansea, Ipswich and Wrexham. 4/6 of those are top 8 at home.

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

They don't have a proper centre forward - they created enough good openings in the second half last night to score but had nobody in the middle to finish the chances.

Yeah I was having a flick through on their forum this morning and they all said the same thing.

Conway does his paper bag act and often drifts wide so there's just a chasm in the box when they're looking to put balls in from out wide.

If the ball is coming in on the left for instance, Whittaker doesn't seem to be looking to get into the box he just stays out to the right.

I think it was Conway that put in a great ball across the 6 yard box last night and there was literally no one there.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

I’m looking at Ipswich’s remaining away games and can’t see where they’ll lose. Draws v Southampton and Norwich seem realistic, perhaps one of those will be a loss.

Stoke, Wednesday, Charlton and WBA seem like shoe-in wins. Compare that to Boro’s run in away of Birmingham, QPR, Blackburn, Swansea, Ipswich and Wrexham. 4/6 of those are top 8 at home.

Bookmark the post, they’ll lose at Pompey, Norwich and Southampton.

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

I’m looking at Ipswich’s remaining away games and can’t see where they’ll lose. Draws v Southampton and Norwich seem realistic, perhaps one of those will be a loss.

Stoke, Wednesday, Charlton and WBA seem like shoe-in wins. Compare that to Boro’s run in away of Birmingham, QPR, Blackburn, Swansea, Ipswich and Wrexham. 4/6 of those are top 8 at home.

Thing is, Ipswich have shown that they're susceptible to slipping up.

Which is why I don't see them suddenly going on a ridiculous run between now and the end of the season. They'll drop points, probably in the games where we least expect them to.

Posters are putting a lot of emphasis on last night's result when in reality it was a game on paper they were always likely to pick up points.

Watford have been pretty poor recently.