Unless we have a catastrophic injury pile up or something, there's no way we end the season bottom 3. And we will get strengthening in January, little question. It was good to see us at least trying to play more 'normal' football today. CM'ers actually allowed on the ball etc. A CF not quite so isolated. Us being not quite as predictable. etc. But as one or two others have said, Daws needs to be a bit braver and shake things up a bit more. Maybe too much to expect given he's only had a couple of days to plan and to work with them. He has to play a LB at LB and he has to drop Pedro now. Bedia with Palmer, Omur or Burstow behind (or Burstow in place of Bedia) - whatever, just not Pedro and not an isolated front man. Maybe even a back 3 with 2 wingbacks (to 5 when defending). Then, even with the injuries to / absence of Millar, Belloumi, and Zambrano, there's still reasonable options within the senior squad to play with, to freshen up with subs, etc. And hopefully the 'thorough' recruitment process doesn't take too long.
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick said: "I thought today was going to be a really tricky game, the type of team they are and the way they play, the change of manager, but we came through it really well and did a lot of good things. "We pressed well as a team, scored goals and could and probably should have scored more, so it was good to bounce back from what was hopefully a blip the other night." Hull City interim head coach Andy Dawson said: "Emotion always runs deep when you're on the run that we're on. We've lost another game, it's hard and I feel the pain that they're feeling. "But I have to take into context what we asked them to do. They kept going until the end. "At 2-0 down, to a man they stuck to the plan, they kept working incredibly hard in and out of possession and scored a good goal. "The players tried to do what we asked of them but there is still loads of improvement needed."
With all due respect GFAW,we've played this tune under Grant McCann and the fact of the matter is,if we don't start winning(and fast)we run the risk of being involved in a serious relegation battle. I know he's said he'll strengthen in January and I believe he will but if we're still loitering around the bottom 3 the pickings aren't going to be very rich,alternatively we're looking for mercenaries on big wages who will bleed us dry with no real affinity to the badge. I thought we were marginally better today,the ref's ****ed us over and they were lucky to continue with 11 men on the pitch but it doesn't plaster over some of the glaring defensive errors and abysmal man marking in the box. We need to cut out the comical errors and gifts,starting next Saturday against a pretty capable Blackburn side.I don't think we'll go down but I'm struggling to find 3 worse sides at this moment in time,that's worrying.
Weak personality. Odd really afraid to change what everyone knew wasn’t working Be surprised if the new manager keeps him on.
There were small improvements today. The biggest issue was that Boro were a lot better than the sides we've played recently. Their finishing was clinical and they deservedly won.
I remember the Great Escape quite well still! I just don't see it like the McCann / Allam shambles. We'll end up mid-table. Super computers aren't called super for no reason
I thought there were plenty of positives from today. Bedia and Burstow deserve a bit more game time, Palmer looked lively. I thought Simons was ok and will get better, Puerta the same. Omur was better than he has been. On the downside, Pedro isn't what we need, Slater still drifts in and out of games and McLoughlin should remain a sub. Drameh had a mare, as everyone does sometimes. I'd still like to see him on the right though, give Coyle a break. Giles has to be better than he's showing, surely?
He changed our tactics significantly, same players and formation yes but tactically we were very different today. played through the middle a lot, more channel balls and whilst we still play out from the back it was more deliberate and not just passing for the sake of it
I don't think Giles played badly today, some trying to pin their 3rd on him but he stood Doak up....I think it's his resting bitch face and tendancy to call other players out when they do something ****, makes people assume the worst
