Well done lads. Rigg what can you say ? Jobe good and Mepham steady and composed .RLB the man with a plan. 5 wins from 6 games and nicely in the pack . Last 10 seasons 6th place has been around 69-75 points. We need another 60 points to get to 75. 40 games to go. If we get 15 points from every 10 games that'll do it. 4 wins , 3 draws and 3 defeats every 10 games. Very realistic . I'm confident. Game on.
I was nervous at 2 points today - getting through the traffic to get there on time (we did - just). Then in injury time - I thought the ref was waiting until Boro scored to blow his whistle. Enjoyed the game though. Some observations - Jobe is so much better this year - stays on his feet, looks to create stuff and gets stuck in. Some great flashes of brilliance from Rigg. Really looking forward to seeing more of Isadore - he loves it, great to see his reaction with the crowd at the end. Would have been nice to see Roberts put his shot away but he played class. Me Pham is looking really good. Patterson’s arse has the outgrown his shorts. Anyway, off to the pub shortly where there will be a smattering of Boro fans. - yay!
Sorry if this has already been said. Just catching up from my last message. I totally agree with you mate, bang average. Pass, pass, pass, turn back. They crossed the ball about 3 times. Once when they hit the bar in the first 5 mins, the other 2 in the 90th minute. Carrick is a good manager but doesn't have a plan B. Should be doing much better with the money they've spent imo
I agree. No limelight, but did a proper CDM job. I feel very confident today was a job specifically designed by Regis for Neil. Boro like to play this possession football in opposition half, looking for little slide rule passess between centre backs. They go side to side a lot as a result looking for the holes. Neil never stopped screening that. He went side to side with the ball all day and I cant remember any of those passes. It was because he did that job and others took his lead as a midfield 3 or 4. On paper it is easy to do, in reality it takes real concentration and discipline. I would bet Regis has had a big thanks for what he did today. Against other teams we will be freer to get him on the ball more and set out passing tempo, but today was about making sure we kept that clean sheet, particularly once we had the lead. Pleased Luke called him out at the end as well, easy to overlook his contribution. He has more to his game, but today was a real performance for his team.
I actually think he would get a lot more hype than he does if he wasnt Jude's brother Jobe has been a beast for us this season and I think he still has a few gears to go up Him n Rigg really do have the world at their feet in terms of their football careers
cheers again RTB... boro wanted us to press but the lads were not conned and basically set the game up from the first 5 minutes, we just stuck to our plan, seems we are not going 'gung-ho' to put a game to bed with RTB calling the shots, pretty much like get a goal and slow it all down, if we win the ball get at them fast rather than giving them gaps to play through...can be a bit frustrating but it is getting points as the team develop. probably my red and white specs but the ref seemed more lenient to the boro, our penalty shout was a good one, he definately had his heel clipped which caused the fall...but then, we never get the luck others get. we looked much better organised than against plymouth, would like to see a few balls put over for mayenda as he is spending large parts of the game with nowt to do, he has shown he can score and that he has the pace but feeding of meagre scraps lately, onien is still prone to the odd error but throws everything into his defending now so you either get a great tackle/clearance/block or an 'AAAARRGGGHHH' moment but if i have a problem with anyone now i'm afraid it would be dan neil, he seems to have hit that sticking point again and just drops out of games, maybe the opposition playing around him more now but i really want to see him involved more (this is not me saying he is 'sh1te' but the lad can do so much more). my MotM has to go to riggy, his performances have grown in each game and finally got the goal he has deserved after a few unlucky saves from his shots in previous games.
Neil was class in that 2md half, a proper CDM performance. A CDM should never really get noticed as they should just be in the right place to block the space, keep the ball moving and often it's about organising the players around you. It took Rodri yrs to get the credit he truly deserves I'll have a look at his stats once they get uploaded to wyscout but CDMs are notoriously hard to analyse stats on (defensive stats normally look better on CDMs in struggling sides who don't have a lot of possession and in possession stats look better in teams that dominate the ball)
I think today was more about us stifling them and making them look poor. I watched it on Sky and loads of times the shape of our side was 100% perfect against boro in possession. You couldnt have places those magnetic counters on a whiteboard any better. For a young side it is quite a feat. What is most exciting to me is that these young players are prepared to play in that way today. Regis and his coaches must be doing a really brilliant job. Natural instincts for everybody in that side is to dominate possession and attack with numbers. Today was so different. Putting my coaches hat on for a minute it is the most well coached I have seen from us so far this season. It really is excellently planned by the coaches and executed perfectly by the players.
Could his surname actually be a blessing for us? The more people think hes only playing because of his name the better for me, let him stay under the radar the lads ****ing brilliant
Unfortunately in scouting circles he isn't going unnoticed at all City scout there today watching Rigg, also has an eye on Jobe. My mate was raving about Jobe again today, says his performances this season are def raising more eyebrows across Europe
100%. Rodri should be how Neil plays. Ultra focussed out of possession on the shape of his side and his position. In posession making the game tick. Rodri is my idea of the best player in the world right now. He is so fantastic to watch. I honestly think the days of players being judged on tackles and headers won is almost over. It certainly should be for the modern CDM role. Coaching in the last 10 years has moved away from reactive defensive play (tackles, duels etc) to proactive defensive play (stopping forward passing, forcing players away from goal, interceptions etc). Cattermole was in the studio today, and he was a far better player than he ever got credit for in that role in my opinion, but in the game now he would be less effective because of his intent to go and win the ball too soon. In my opinion Neil should huge footballing intelligence at times today, as did so many around him. I wont be going overboard yet, but this team have so much going for them. If that is a blueprint for going away from home against top half teams we will not be far away.
No real surprise, selfishly would love to keep them all but it’s just brilliant knowing top clubs want our players, never know anything like it here
aye we were getting premier league offers this summer for Jobe after a season where he was hot and cold. This season he’s been scolding hot. Big bids incoming this summer. Maybe even in January
Yep, we have top scouts at most of our games now because of the young talent I heard that Mayenda is being watched by a couple teams in France as well now Hate it and love it at the same time
We had some this summer but reckon it'll be close to 30 million before we talk to clubs Jobe will def be here till the end of the season, loves it here and his family see us as the best place for his development
Jobe played 40 odd games for us last season and doesn’t turn 19 until the end of this month. The lads got everything in his locker to be a top player.
It's exciting as I still don't think we've been great in possession yet. So impressed with how we are out of possession n the pace we attack with but still haven't put in that perfect performance. So much talent in the team, n we have depth at CB n CM now. Do worry about injuries to our wider players - wingers n fullbacks - but if we keep those boys fit we will be right up there Mundle looks class so far and he will only get better, such a smart signing in January
I don’t think we have them a chance. Was never nervous. They were utterly terrible. Lots of ball, nothing going forward. Our defence ever shook. Said to the lad next to me that they reminded me of Wimbledon. Trying to get the dead balls instead of trying to play football. We’re very organised defensively.
