Middlesbrough Friendly (2pm kick off)

[Nudga]

Really not impressed by sharman-lowe.

At fault for three goals and tried to play will flint in with a man on his back. 

Great cross by Miller for ironside goal.

[IDM]

3-4 now..

[ScillyRover]

Really not impressed by sharman-lowe.

At fault for three goals and tried to play will flint in with a man on his back. 

Great cross by Miller for ironside goal.

v Hull I thought S-L played some very risky balls out to the defenders. He got away with it but doesn’t fill you with much confidence.

[Scooter]

5-3

[The Beast]

5-3, someone said Latte Lath could well enjoy himself!

[ncRover]

Really not impressed by sharman-lowe.

At fault for three goals and tried to play will flint in with a man on his back. 

Great cross by Miller for ironside goal.

v Hull I thought S-L played some very risky balls out to the defenders. He got away with it but doesn’t fill you with much confidence.

I’m not at this game but he looked good on the ball v Hull.

He’ll be getting instructed to do so and Boro are a top end championship side.

[The Beast]

5-3, someone said Latte Lath could well enjoy himself!

Only scored one goal in the end, Livesore had him down for the 5th, now credited to Finch.

[drfcsteve]

Was it a decent performance?

[Campsall rover]

Yes
A good work out against a team who will be top 6 championship this season imo

[mushRTID]

We won’t play a team like that again this season, they were very good.

I have a few concerns but on the whole I think we look ready.

[drfchound]

It sounds as though it was an entertaining match to watch.
Had we lost 5-3 to them in the third round of the cup I suppose people would have accepted it because of their league status.

[Filo]

Really not impressed by sharman-lowe.

At fault for three goals and tried to play will flint in with a man on his back. 

Great cross by Miller for ironside goal.

You know what, I was going to say the same about the keeper, looks slow to react

[StocksArmy]

Enjoyable afternoon. Thank god we have Bailey and Moly tied up because somebody is going to have to pay us a hell of a lot of money to take either of them off of us. Think Sbarra hasn’t looked great in the 2 games this week and TSL I’m hoping today was a one off. The rest look bound for a successful season.

[EasyforDennis]

5-3, someone said Latte Lath could well enjoy himself!

Only scored one goal in the end, Livesore had him down for the 5th, now credited to Finch.

The 5th goal should be credited to the linesman with the yellow flag. He was totally useless.
A massive well done to the youngsters we brought on, they will be pushing for a start before too long.

[scawsby steve]

I wasn't there today, and yes, it was just a pre-season friendly, and yes, Boro are an excellent team, far better than any team we'll meet this season in the league.

However, I still don't think our defensive problems have been fully addressed. Whether that's to do with personnel, formation, or training ground work, I don't know. However, GM did say last week in the DFP that he'd rather win 4-3 than 1-0.

This of course makes for entertaining football. I just hope it doesn't impede our push for top 3.

[Scooter]

I think we are in for a very good season. We have a strong squad with some very talented players

[Campsall rover]

Boro’s 5th goal looked miles off side from where I was which is a long way at the south end of the west stand.
But was told by someone at the other end of the West stand that it was off side.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Really enjoyed that. Game played with intensity from both sides. On that showing, Middlesbrough won't concede 3 goals many times this season, but I wouldn't be surprised if they score 5 a fee times. Excellent play from them from back to front.

We competed very well, causing them problems but once they got into their stride, they were different to hold onto but we worked hard to hold our discipline. A good lesson learned in giving the ball away cheaply, you get punished.

It was good to see McCann mixing things up a bit to try different combinations. We were probably a little weak down our left hand side with Senior and Yeboah but other than that, we played through the lines quite well at times.

Maybe a couple of questions about the Keeper. Was he a bit slow to get down for a couple of those goals into the corners? A mistake obviously spilling the cross leaving their player to smash it home however, let's look at prevention rather than cure.

I'm sure McCann got what he wanted and will be able to use that to refine a few things but I still feel we look a strong outfit, ready to get going.

[monkeytennis]

Cracking game and good to see some of the new lads playing. They scored more easily once Wood/Olowu had been swapped for less experience I think. Our midfield felt a bit leaky but have to remind myself that Boro are a really decent Champ outfit. No shame on Rovers today, we gave them a good challenge I thought.

Jury still out on the keeper for me, felt he ought to have done better for a couple of theirs but again have to remind myself of the context of today.

[Campsall rover]

Should be a really good game next week at Rotherham.

Expect our 1st league game starting 11 to play most of the match subject to injuries.

My predicted starting team v Rotherham & Accrington.

Sherman- Lowe
Sterry
Olowu
Wood
Maxwell
Bailey
Broadbent
Hurst
Molyneux
Ironside
Gibson

Subs:
Lawlor
Nixon
McGrath
Flint
Sbarra
Miller
Sharp

Subject to Anderson, Clifton, Close& Westbrooke are all not fit.

[Chris Black come back]

Should be a really good game next week at Rotherham.

Expect our 1st league game starting 11 to play most of the match subject to injuries.

My predicted starting team v Rotherham & Accrington.

Sherman- Lowe
Sterry
Olowu
Wood
Bailey
Broadbent
Hurst
Molyneux
Ironside
Gibson

Subs:
Lawlor
Nixon
McGrath
Flint
Sbarra
Miller
Sharp

Subject to Anderson, Clifton, Close& Westbrooke are all not fit.

That starting line up would get hammered by Rotherham.

[IDM]

Should be a really good game next week at Rotherham.

Expect our 1st league game starting 11 to play most of the match subject to injuries.

My predicted starting team v Rotherham & Accrington.

Sherman- Lowe
Sterry
Olowu
Wood
Bailey
Broadbent
Hurst
Molyneux
Ironside
Gibson

Subs:
Lawlor
Nixon
McGrath
Flint
Sbarra
Miller
Sharp

Subject to Anderson, Clifton, Close& Westbrooke are all not fit.

That starting line up would get hammered by Rotherham.

Why?  Apart from this being a starting 10, not 11..!!

[Campsall rover]

Should be a really good game next week at Rotherham.

Expect our 1st league game starting 11 to play most of the match subject to injuries.

My predicted starting team v Rotherham & Accrington.

Sherman- Lowe
Sterry
Olowu
Wood
Bailey
Broadbent
Hurst
Molyneux
Ironside
Gibson

Subs:
Lawlor
Nixon
McGrath
Flint
Sbarra
Miller
Sharp

Subject to Anderson, Clifton, Close& Westbrooke are all not fit.

That starting line up would get hammered by Rotherham.

Why, was that because I missed off Maxwell and had only 10 men?
Been corrected now.
Think we will get a decent result next week. Going for a draw but it’s the performance that’s more important than the result.

[glosterred]

As friendlies go ours was certainly more friendly than WBA’s

https://x.com/OfficialVizeh/status/1817185331474530718


COYR

[Lesonthewest]

Really entertaining watch today, good football from both sides & we do look very good in areas going forward, I think we will cause problems for most sides in the league. Tend to agree with some regarding the keeper, first time he's really been tested pre season & looked a bit slow to react, hopefully just bedding in.

A word on Nixon who I thought was excellent, strength, tenacity, & great going forward putting a few really good balls in the box.

[scawsby steve]

Should be a really good game next week at Rotherham.

Expect our 1st league game starting 11 to play most of the match subject to injuries.

My predicted starting team v Rotherham & Accrington.

Sherman- Lowe
Sterry
Olowu
Wood
Maxwell
Bailey
Broadbent
Hurst
Molyneux
Ironside
Gibson

Subs:
Lawlor
Nixon
McGrath
Flint
Sbarra
Miller
Sharp

Subject to Anderson, Clifton, Close& Westbrooke are all not fit.

No Jack Senior in the squad? Has he been that bad?

[Alan Southstand]

That was definately more interesting than the Hull game. Much, much harder test and showed there’s room for improvement. Boro’s speed of passing and moving was a joy to watch and had us in all kinds of trouble.

I agree with the questions over TSL, as I thought he was at fault for a couple of the goals. At times, from corners, he looked like he got lost a time or two and he didn’t instill confidence, but he’s the best we have.

I thought GM could have tried to match them up a bit more in midfield, as we were constantly under manned.

By comparison, we were slow in possession and looked to take the easy option and pass backwards, which only served to give them the ball back in the end. When we got our act together, we looked good and a threat and we will not play that level of team in L2.

I still think we lack a bit of quality in midfield and I hope we’ll have a re-think on that.

[Campsall rover]

Should be a really good game next week at Rotherham.

Expect our 1st league game starting 11 to play most of the match subject to injuries.

My predicted starting team v Rotherham & Accrington.

Sherman- Lowe
Sterry
Olowu
Wood
Maxwell
Bailey
Broadbent
Hurst
Molyneux
Ironside
Gibson

Subs:
Lawlor
Nixon
McGrath
Flint
Sbarra
Miller
Sharp

Subject to Anderson, Clifton, Close& Westbrooke are all not fit.

No Jack Senior in the squad? Has he been that bad?

Can’t put them all on bench. So it’s either Nixon or Senior. Think GM will go for Nixon as is a little more versatile. No way would you have 2 full backs on the bench. Need a balanced subs bench.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Should be a really good game next week at Rotherham.

Expect our 1st league game starting 11 to play most of the match subject to injuries.

My predicted starting team v Rotherham & Accrington.

Sherman- Lowe
Sterry
Olowu
Wood
Maxwell
Bailey
Broadbent
Hurst
Molyneux
Ironside
Gibson

Subs:
Lawlor
Nixon
McGrath
Flint
Sbarra
Miller
Sharp

Subject to Anderson, Clifton, Close& Westbrooke are all not fit.

Probably about right. My only disappointment today was Gibson who didn't seem to apply himself when he came on. Seemed to stroll a bit and was a bit sloppy. Other than that, they all put the effort in and we have genuine competition for places.

Difficult to know how competitive Richard Woods testimonial will be and in the last game before kick off, are both sides going to risk injury? However, will local rivalry supercede that with both teams wanting to send their fans home happy?

I really hope we show a bit of class on the day.

[NickDRFC]

I think Campsall’s team is what I’d go with and also what I’d expect, although I’d want Yeboah on the bench (for Flint).

With Westbrooke, Close, Anderson & Clifton still to come back it does show just how much competition we have for places - 4 or 5 senior players are going to miss out each week with a fully fit squad. Obviously it’s rare that will happen during the season but hopefully we have a bit more luck than previously on that front and it’s still a headache as to who makes the squad.