Middlesbrough Home Build Up

Let's try and win this and qualify for a competition that we can then play a weakened team in throughout. Excellent.

Let's try and win this and qualify for a competition that we can then play a weakened team in throughout. Excellent.

Be fair we need to play weakened teams to maintain our ruthless pursuit of 12th in the league, below WBA, Watford, Stoke and Bournemouth. We'd never have hit those heights without rotation .

Anyone give a flying **** about this one?

I'm currently looking for a bookie that will give me odds on Ramirez to score with Boro's solitary shot on goal sometime in the second half and Southampton having 62% of possession, 7 corners and 1 shot on target. I'm being very specific in the hope of getting good odds.

Putting my house on Gaston to score.

Meh.

Its how I feel about Saints at this time.

A rousing 5-0 home win will change that!

Time for a re-think and a back to the future 4-2-3-1

Usual across the back

Romeu + one ... don't have any great preference for JWP/Hoj/Clasie .. they can all do that job

Boufal and Tadic plus Davis

Long up front

Would for me be the way to go from here for home games especially, 'rest' Redmond, he looks physically and mentally shot, he's not good enough at this stage for the role he's being expected to play. Bin the negative 4-3-3, hoof it in from wide stylee.

Genuinely couldnt give a **** about this game

This has got the makings of a tedious 0-0 draw.

Nah, its got the makings of Gashton tearing us a new asshole.

Simply shocking

I'm guessing Boufal won't feature if he hasn't been in training this week.

Looking forward to it.

And wont have to suffer Heisenberg's hundred posts about the same thing

I'm guessing Boufal won't feature if he hasn't been in training this week.

I don't care if he's playing in a wheelchair, he'll still offer more than Redmond...

The team without question needs to show us fans a reaction from the disappointment of last night.

No better way to do that than securing a good win against a very average Middlesbrough team. They will come to us and play 4-5-1 which could play into our hands.

There has to be a reaction... there just has to be!

Anyone give a flying **** about this one?

I'm currently looking for a bookie that will give me odds on Ramirez to score with Boro's solitary shot on goal sometime in the second half and Southampton having 62% of possession, 7 corners and 1 shot on target. I'm being very specific in the hope of getting good odds.

Your spot on though because that is literally how predictable Saints FC have become.

Southampton FC ‏@SouthamptonFC

Puel says @chazaustin10 is not available for #Boro, but the full extent of his injury is not clear yet. #saintsfc

Southampton FC ‏@SouthamptonFC

Puel says #SaintsFC hope to have @JayRodriguez9 and Sofiane Boufal available for the visit of #Boro.

Southampton FC ‏@SouthamptonFC

Puel indicates Dušan Tadić could be in contention to start for #SaintsFC against #Boro on Sunday.

5-0 to Saints. Pair each from Long and Redmond and a cameo appearance off the bench for Jay brings the up the 5th.

Anyone give a flying **** about this one?

I'm currently looking for a bookie that will give me odds on Ramirez to score with Boro's solitary shot on goal sometime in the second half and Southampton having 62% of possession, 7 corners and 1 shot on target. I'm being very specific in the hope of getting good odds.

Made me smile and I am afraid very likely to happen

Our tactics should be to defend as well as we can, and hope that 1 of the 25 chances Tadic & Boufal create bounces in off a defender.

Watch us turn up and win this and that'll make last night even more annoying.

5-0 to Saints. Pair each from Long and Redmond and a cameo appearance off the bench for Jay brings the up the 5th.

I hope you're right.

Boro could be in for a backlash!!!

5-0 to Saints. Pair each from Long and Redmond and a cameo appearance off the bench for Jay brings the up the 5th.

Then the alarm clock goes off and you have to get up for work.

Then the alarm clock goes off and you have to get up for work.

It's Friday and it's nearly Christmas. Maybe I started drinking a bit too early today.

I hope you're right.

 

Boro could be in for a backlash!!!

Yes, it’ll be the worst 0-0 thrashing they’ve ever had.

How strong have performances away from home been this season?

 

Solid, but not spectacular. Boro have lost just one of their seven away games this season, at Everton, in a bruising 3-1 defeat. That said, they have only won one, at Sunderland. The last four away games have been draws, and Boro can take heart from spirited displays at two of the title contenders. They soaked up the pressure superbly and could have won at Arsenal with some sharp counter-attacking, then showed grit and guile as they changed shape and fought back from behind to draw 1-1 at Manchester City. Last time out they drew 2-2 at Leicester after playing perhaps their best football of the season, only to be pegged back by two penalties, the second deep in stoppage time.

Source: https://southamptonfc.com/news/2016-12-09/inside-track-southampton-middlesbrough-premier-league

Putting my house on Gaston to score.

I hope you have a tent. Seems he's injured and unlikely to play. Thankfully.

Two dull teams who struggle to score.

4-4 it is then.

Our home form is pretty good. Still, the only team that has beaten us in 2016 is Chelsea.

I think Middlesbrough will try and play for a point.

We need a fast start and a goal early on.

I don't give a flying fV€k who he plays. The team have simply got to win this game.

No excuses.

Our home form is pretty good. Still, the only team that has beaten us in 2016 is Chelsea.

 

I think Middlesbrough will try and play for a point.

 

We need a fast start and a goal early on.

Bloody hell wish I had even a slice of your optimism. Talk about cherry picking positives.

I hope you have a tent. Seems he's injured and unlikely to play. Thankfully.

Seems you might be right.

Head Coach updates on squad for visit to Southampton…

 

Aitor Karanka says Boro will check on the fitness of three players ahead of Boro’s trip to the south coast on Sunday.

 

Alvaro Negredo, Gaston Ramirez and Jordan Rhodes are all doubts, while George Friend will also miss the weekend’s fixture.

 

“Alvaro, Gaston and Jordan couldn’t train with the team today,” Karanka said.

 

“I need to check tomorrow with the doctors."

Source: http://www.mfc.co.uk/news/article/2016/middlesbrough-fc-aitor-karanka-gaston-ramirez-alvaro-negredo-3459822.aspx#zEJZwy2oPj4UpKb3.99

Anyone give a flying **** about this one?

Erm, yes.

It'll be 0-0 and we'll be told how it was a good defensive display and we did well to get a point from a decent opponent.

Bloody hell wish I had even a slice of your optimism. Talk about cherry picking positives.

Two bad results and performances aren't enough to worry me that much. If we don't win on Sunday or in any of the away games at Stoke and Bournemouth then that is the time to be concerned that there is a serious problem.

As it so happens, I think there will be a positive reaction from the players and manager.

And hopefully we will sign a striker in January!

Two bad results and performances aren't enough to worry me that much. If we don't win on Sunday or in any of the away games at Stoke and Bournemouth then that is the time to be concerned that there is a serious problem.

 

As it so happens, I think there will be a positive reaction from the players and manager.

 

And hopefully we will sign a striker in January!

A positive reaction on Sunday against some peoples tip for relegation really doesn't make up for going out of Europe and a competition we're unlikely to enjoy again for years.

A positive reaction on Sunday against some peoples tip for relegation really doesn't make up for going out of Europe and a competition we're unlikely to enjoy again for years.

I'll take it for starters though. I think 'Boro is going to be a very tough game.

A positive reaction on Sunday against some peoples tip for relegation really doesn't make up for going out of Europe and a competition we're unlikely to enjoy again for years.

So you'd prefer a negative reaction?

I disagree about us not playing in Europe again. We'll be there sooner than you think. Maybe not this season (unless we win the EFL Cup).

0-0 or 0-1.

Not overly confident. Really need to bounce back with a win. It'll be interesting to see who comes into the team after 2 disappointing displays in a row.

I'd love to see Long get a goal as we really need him to rediscover his form especially now Austin is out.

On a (welcome) non-footballing note it looks like they've started serving bottles of Budweiser and pints of Tetley's at the bars at SMS so not everything is doom and gloom!

So you'd prefer a negative reaction?

 

I disagree about us not playing in Europe again. We'll be there sooner than you think. Maybe not this season (unless we win the EFL Cup).

Did I say that? But yestersday wasn't any old game as you seemed to imply, was it?

I'm hoping for a counter-reaction following the last two poor performances. If we could get Long going after Austin's injury, that would be positive given our lack of striking depth. This is an important string of games against beatable sides.

Did I say that? But yestersday was any old game as you seemed to imply, was it?

I know you didn't say that, but a positive reaction is better than a negative one.

For some reason this season, I haven't really been bothered about the Europa League games. After our summer dealings, I knew we didn't really have the squad to deal with it adequately. Hopefully in January we can bring a couple of players in and rectify that.

I know you didn't say that, but a positive reaction is better than a negative one.

 

For some reason this season, I haven't really been bothered about the Europa League games. After our summer dealings, I knew we didn't really have the squad to deal with it adequately. Hopefully in January we can bring a couple of players in and rectify that.

There's a massive flaw in that plan...

There's a massive flaw in that plan...

I expect he means next season's Europa League, for which we may or may not qualify..

Good plan though,buy some new players,as if we don't have enough already.

There's a massive flaw in that plan...

I think with or without Europa League, we are a striker light (and perhaps a couple more too). Maybe we were in for players and it didn't work out for some reason. Who knows. We'll see in January anyway what we do.

I think with or without Europa League, we are a striker light (and perhaps a couple more too). Maybe we were in for players and it didn't work out for some reason. Who knows. We'll see in January anyway what we do.

I was being somewhat facetious in my reply. I agree that we are light up front. Think that boils down to the board thinking J-Rod was going to regain his form, and maybe also that Long wouldn't completely lose his.

A positive reaction on Sunday against some peoples tip for relegation really doesn't make up for going out of Europe and a competition we're unlikely to enjoy again for years.

When we went out to Midgetland everyone said we'd wasted "probably our last chance in Europe for years".

I think with or without Europa League, we are a striker light (and perhaps a couple more too). Maybe we were in for players and it didn't work out for some reason. Who knows. We'll see in January anyway what we do.

Didn't Puel state he was happy with his squad towards / at the close of the summer window? Still, there are many reasons why he may have said that regardless of whether he actually believed that.

Didn't Puel state he was happy with his squad towards / at the close of the summer window? Still, there are many reasons why he may have said that regardless of whether he actually believed that.

Supposing Shane Long had managed 4 goals, against Watford, Sunderland, Leicester and Hapoel for example. Not an extraordinary stretch of the imagination. We'd currently be 6th and still in Europa.

I think that's the problem. We would have planned on a few more goals from Long and, to a lesser extent maybe, Boufal and Rodriguez.

It's not that we're a striker light, it's just that too many that we have aren't performing. I wouldn't be upset to se JR and Long both leave, if we got someone in who was physical and knew where the net was.

It'll either be more of the same or it'll be a decent performance and win and we'll dig out all the positive posts for a game or two forgetting Thursday!