Place holder for @tonycotonstache preview. Can be merged when posted. Just doing this for peeps who want to start any discussion.
As far as I know it's always been the name fans' call them. Takes less time to say I guess Even back in the days of Ceefax and Teletext they were listed as "Middlesboro" sometimes. It's a bit like Manchester United fans' calling their team "Man U" or "United" which I think is strange as there a few teams that end with the word United. I guess it's just a common thing now in modern football to shortcut team names.
This match is probably the most important game of the season so far. There's a lot riding on it. If we win, all is good and it'll put a little distance between us and the bottom three. But a draw or loss could signify a serious problem for Ismael, with Sunderland and Cardiff away to follow before the international break. This is why I feel a win here is vital to our season. If we only pick up a point or nothing from the next three matches, this will, without doubt, be a watershed moment for Gino. Never before has he ever stuck by a coach with this sort of record. 9/10 points the first 11 games. I think he will sack him if that happens, as I don't believe he's changed one iota, but maybe he'll stick by him? That, for me, will be the big test to see if this really is a new dawn, or as usually is the case, a sack load of BS peddled out from the top.
This is going to be a really tough game. Middlesbras performances weren't nearly as bad as their results suggested and two wins in the last week (albeit one in the mickey mouse cup) will have changed the mood around the squad. I can't see us winning this one, as usual.
Think we should just have enough to beat Boro who have had two positive results in a space of a week. We looked sluggish against Leeds and a week's break will do us the world of good.
A lot of truths in there that could come home to roost. Lose tomorrow and it's two wins in nine. Which is relegation form or dangerously close to it, despite how much better we are playing on the pitch (last weekend excluded), this is a results business and Gino knows this. VI may of gotten the squad to play like a team again but the fact we are still struggling to win games despite giving him such a poor squad and expected to work miracles, he might be pretty close to the axe even before the next International Break. Tomorrow is also a big game for Boro', they win move within two points of us. I know Southampton are form wise one of the worst in the division having lost four in a row but they still have a lot of time and talent to turn things around. All we can do is hope we play a lot better than the scared stiff statues we were last weekend and actually try to give the opposition a game for once. I know history means nothing but we have a pretty good record against Boro' at the Vic (won the last three) but this is a totally different team as we all know and still in the phases of gelling. However much more time VI gets is becoming shorter each week as we sink closer to the bottom three.
VI definitely needs at least a win from the next two games, otherwise it will be just 2 wins in 10, and I don’t care how much of a ‘reset’ or ‘recalibration’ this season is meant to be, Gino will 100% be loading the shotgun, he won’t be able to help himself. No Pozzo manager has survived that sort of record, even as a PL team massively out of its depth.
If he does he should clear the boardroom and then stick it in his own mouth, as it's him and his entourage that have taken us backwards over the last 5 seasons. We were at one time competing to be "the best of the rest" in the premiership, now we are struggling to achieve mid table in a pisspoor championship. I have a 120 mile round trip to watch them week in week out and the quality is getting worse each season, I'm finding it hard to justify the time and the petrol if I'm honest.
General: Both sides like to keep the ball at the back for spells of possession (Deep Circulation), although we're better at keeping the ball in the opponents final third than them (High Retention). Both sides like to counterpress (tendency to react immediately after losing possession and try to win it back) whilst Boro use this to spring their own attacks, ranking well for Transitions (tendency to attack quickly after winning the ball as opposed to entering positional attack). Boro don't often utilise Attack: The main thing that immediately jumps out from this data is how good we've been at creating chances from switches in play - something that Middlesbrough have been very poor at defending against, so would look to play high tempo with the wide players looking to attack when we win the ball. Looking at the maps of where they apply defensive pressure (not linked here) there looks to be a weakness at their right-back position, so far this season that role has been split between Paddy McNair and new signing Rav van den Berg. McNair hasn't had the greatest of times against dribblers this season and at 19 years old and coming from the 2nd division in the Netherlands - van den Berg lacks a bit of experience, Martins could have a lot of success down this side. Defence: Boro have created a lot of chances through their dribbling ability, but this is something we've generally been pretty good at defending so far this season. The areas that Boro have struggled to create chances in (switches, high crosses, cutbacks) are the areas we've struggled to defend against, so not sure how we'll fare in those areas. Denying Hayden Hackney (radar above) time on the ball will be important as most of their attacking play flows through him. Boro have an insane 1st touch ratio from corners to the GKs right, despite not registering much in terms of xG - but upon looking deeper it's because they pretty much only take short corners from this side! Verdict: As others have said, Boro deserve to be higher up the table than they are and this'll be a tough game. I'm going for a 2-1 Boro win. Martins to score/assist for us with Emmanuel Latte Lath scoring a header and Silvera scoring a long shot past Bachmann. Sierralta booked. (448/1 on PaddyPower!)
Tough one. Boro should be in the top 6 but are bottom 3 instead. We're incredibly generous when it comes to giving teams a boost. We need a reaction from our "performance" at Leeds. I think we'll try too hard, make a dumbass mistake, lose our heads and also the match... 1-3
Apologies @SkylaRose Much shortened preview than normal: Back at the Vic and desperate for a win after last week's Leeds no show, plus only one win in five now, VI should be looking for a bright early start in this one. Expect Boro to deploy the same as everyone else has done against us so far at home (except for QPR) and let us faff around at the back and try and wait for a mistake. King Ken is still getting back to match fitness so misses out. The lesser spotted Healey played in a midweek youth game so might feature today. Other than that VI has most available for selection. The question is whether he freshens up the first 11 as Ryan Porteous has looked out of form since the international break, Tom Ince is still falling over up at Elland Road and Imran Louza needs to be more involved and stop the flicks and no look passes. Who plays as number 6 if Sierralta drops back into defence is anyone's guess. Old man Livermore might get a rare start if that's the case. Boro have won two on the bounce in league and Cup so they arrive in better form now despite still sitting 22nd in the table. After last seasons run of form Carricks team were many pundits pick for play offs but like us they've lost a lot of key players. Losing the top scorer last season is always tough but they spent £5 million of Emmanuel Lath (1 goal in 4 matches). It's at this point to remember Bryan Robson knew exactly what he was doing to get Kevin Miller sent off at the Vic in 94, unlike in this pic where someone should've told him he looked like an idiot.... Some great recent played for both teams. Chalobah went to Boro after his great loan spell with us in 2012/13. Mark Yeates (the forgotten man in the Pozzo's first year) also played for Boro. Watford legend and club ambassador Danny Graham started his career at Boro before being a top notch Championship striker for us. Adlene Guedioura went to Boro after his successful stint with us. He was apparently a bit naff for them. Who cares though he was mint for us!!! Andrew Taylor played for both and did this in his last game for us: It'll be my youngest daughters first match and every time I've taken my kids to their first game they've always seen a Watford win.... The bookies have us down as 6/4 favourites with a draw 5/2 and a Boro away win 21/10. Tache prediction: Dave starts and scores in a 2-1 home win....
Nail on head.! We've been moaning about sluggish slow attempts at playing football with no real passion for 3 years.... VI says his main priority is to get our guys on their game pressing hard etc.... And here we are after 8 games, lots of zip in the final third and nothing behind it...
It's the local accent. If we're saying Middlesbrough, it's pronounced more like Middlesbreh. But we'll often just refer to the club - as well as the town - as The Boro which, confusingly for others, is more often than not pronounced The Borreh, rather than The Burreh. Does that help?
Sounds like there could be some surprises when the lineups are out if VIs pregame comments are anything to go by. Change in shape? Change in personnel? Wouldn't be against a 352 with Healey or Martins alongside Raj.
Strangely one of the best teams in the league (excuses given for last week) are losing 0-3 at half time to Southampton, the same Southampton who lose 2-1 to Boro last week.
