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Reply | This Season Almost A Replica of The McLaren Season
at 16:55 9 Mar 2026
Yes they definitely can both be true - For me, they definitely ARE true.
I just want it called out that we went through what we went through with Marti so that CN could situ his own man. Well here he is and this is where it's got us. I just want it marked that we've arguably / probably gone backwards with coaching this season after that ego trip and character smirching propaganda that Nourry conducted 12 months ago. It's yet another bad smell emanating from HQ. Nobody wins. Super. |
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Reply | Boro Post Mortem
at 15:47 9 Mar 2026
Sorry we didn't recruit your favourite players, maybe? |
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Reply | This Season Almost A Replica of The McLaren Season
at 15:38 9 Mar 2026
Well we've just lost our last three games 11-0 on aggregate. Two of those at home.
Over 5 games we've been edged out 15-4.
We've conceded more goals than everyone in the divison excepting Sheff Weds, who absolutely should be excepted.
I'm not saying he's THE problem but I'm starting to believe he's a part of it. It's not normal to defend as passively as they did for 90 minutes yesterday. It's not normal to lose league games in the Championship 7-1. And as stated earlier Ainsworth himself never conceded 4 goals as many times as Stephan has.
Everything is a mess. Including the current coach for me. [Post edited 9 Mar 15:39]
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Reply | This Season Almost A Replica of The McLaren Season
at 14:56 9 Mar 2026
I'm not advocating sacking him now and I certainly don't think JUST replacing him will fix anything long-term. But I equally think it's important we don't just meander past the fact that he is Nourry's guy. We went through all that horrible snide Marti stuff 12 months ago to end up with THIS. Not only has Nourry put this medical / performance staff in place, he's also appointed a coach that manages to get the crap we've watched over the last three weeks out of the players that are available. Nourry is accountable for it all and right now Stephan looks like another tally in the 'absolute w@nk' column. |
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Reply | Steve cook
at 14:06 9 Mar 2026
Superb post. Such a good point. |
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Reply | WE WANT NOURRY OUT SAID WE WANT NOURRY OUT
at 14:04 9 Mar 2026
Well said.
I'd add one more thing to this list around the strange communication and social media behaviour in the CN era, which is probably the root cause of your penultimate paragraph. It terrifies me how many things I read and hear in support of Nourry over football people. I think we're seeing propaganda in action. Not only are we left with performances like yesterday; we also have divisions within the fan base. It's scary stuff. |
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Reply | Boro Post Mortem
at 12:48 9 Mar 2026
I think that IS the exact point Bosh is making. |
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Reply | This Season Almost A Replica of The McLaren Season
at 12:46 9 Mar 2026
I mean do you want me to write the same paragraph again about changing managers definitely does bring changes?
I can't stand Nourry for far more reasons than just the farcical injury / fitness issues we've had for multiple seasons... But that doesn't mean Stephan should get a free ride. As Jack Supple tweeted yesterday, we have conceded 4+ goals in 4 different league games under Julien Stephan - twice as many as under Marti Cifuentes (2) and one more than under Gareth Ainsworth (3). He's had a far more talented set of players to pick from even considering the injuries he's had to suffer. At least four times this season we've sent teams out that have completely folded and tossed it in. We've done it three times in the last four games and the last three games consecutively.
We're being coached far worse than we were last season. That's yet another nail in Nourry's coffin from my perspective but Stephan himself is proving to be a total disaster and deserves far more criticism than he's getting at the moment. |
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Reply | Boro Post Mortem
at 12:35 9 Mar 2026
Agreed but I'm just pointing out that environment could change in a single afternoon. Just like it did all those years ago. |
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Reply | Boro Post Mortem
at 12:34 9 Mar 2026
Good post.
On paper the transfer dealings for a couple of years now have probably been the most sane we've been for a decade at least.
But the net position is an unbalanced squad both in terms of positional depth but also in terms of character, know-how and guile managed by a coach that seemingly is incapable of preparing them for what will be in front of them.
Then on top of that we've had literally half the squad in a hospital wing whilst an army of performance staff sit there looking an iPads with quizzical expressions on their faces.
Basically all the things everyone feared and dreaded when we appointed a 26 year old CEO that had a questionable (at best) CV in terms of football experience have come to fruition.
It really shouldn't be a shock. |
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Reply | Boro Post Mortem
at 12:23 9 Mar 2026
We 100% definitely said that about our set up just before Warnock came into it. |
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Reply | This Season Almost A Replica of The McLaren Season
at 12:21 9 Mar 2026
That's not true though is it? We were the worst team in the division under Beale, Critchley and Ainsworth. And then Cifuentes walked in and over an immediate 6 months won the 9th most points in the division. Changing the manager definitely makes a difference.
Not defending those above him. I have even more frustration with them and in fact they're culpable for Stephan being here in the first place... But clearly there are match day issues with this coach. We're consistently performing worse than the sum of our parts. They're not running or tackling. There's space everywhere. We're dreadful. |
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Reply | Steve cook
at 11:30 9 Mar 2026
This is very telling surely of the atmosphere around the team. There's just too much smoke to suggest there isn't a fire burning somewhere that is making the club a toxic place. |
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Reply | Boro Post Mortem
at 11:21 9 Mar 2026
I'm certainly not defending Nourry here... And he absolutely DOES need to do something about our fitness for next season... But irrespective of your insinuations here that Stephan's being forced to play certain players (you can only be referring to Saito and Walsh surely), there have been major tactical / motivation issues that Stephan is directly accountable for.
Even if we had a full squad to choose from yesterday we'd have gotten soundly beat with that little energy and organisation.
Look at what Marti did away at Preston in his first week on the job. He had an identical squad of players to choose from that had previously consistently performed at an unacceptable level in unacceptable means. He had them on the front foot, pressing, working for each other etc etc. That's what good managers are able to do. The standard set by Stephan this season at best is that they turn up in an orderly and functional fashion maybe one in three or four.
That squad had 8 days to prepare for that game yesterday. And they performed like it was the 15th game of the week.
Yes there are plenty of questions that absolutely have to be answered above Stephan but what he is getting from the players that he does have available is completely unacceptable at the moment. There is never an excuse to completely cede the centre of the pitch. Never an excuse to consistently allow overloads in wide areas. Never an excuse to afford Hackney, Ayling and Browne the time and space INSIDE THE FCKING PENALTY AREA they had for the goals yesterday. A well coached team gets beat in a game like that with blood left on the pitch and there's no shame in that. We didn't even fcking try. |
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Reply | Steve cook
at 11:02 9 Mar 2026
Agree. Plus... There's no way Cook will or should be here next year, so why would he be picked in our current position over two players that will, one of which being arguably our biggest investment bet in the entire squad?
Also, if we're THAT reliant on one bloke that turns 35 next month to keep 'those' sorts of performances at bay, just how weak is the rest of the team? And WTF are we going to do without him for 46 games next season? |
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Reply | Richard Kone
at 09:11 9 Mar 2026
We have a plan A? What is it? jog around behind the ball out of possession, don't close down or tackle, let them into the final third and the box untouched and hope they stick the shot wide? |
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Reply | Middlesbrough Reflection
at 08:59 9 Mar 2026
If yesterday isn't filed in the 'horrific' section, please can we be given a forewarning ahead of future horrific performances so I can leave the country / planet so I don't have to endure them please?
We did virtually nothing - at home, in a league game - for the entire 90 minutes. We had no pace, no quick movement, no shifting play, no passing, no tackling, no fight. We didn't look annoyed or angry. We were just a group of blokes vaguely floating around like a body of water paying lip service to defending. On the occasion of having possession of the ball we more often than not misplaced an easy pass out of play.
Sometimes this season I've been frustrated by a lack of quality - in front of goal, in the final third, with set pieces, with crosses etc. Well that frustration never really came to fruition yesterday because we were so rarely in positions to even hope for some quality.
The makeup of this team is all wrong. It's as if there was no clear (dare I say) methodology involved in building the team. We've just stuck a bunch of individuals on the pitch whom all have some redeeming traits but have none in common. We don't have an identity. We're not good enough to be a ball playing team. We're not quick enough to be a lightning counter attacking team. We're not strong enough to out-muscle teams. We're not fit enough to outwork a team. We're just a limp mess.
Yes I know, I know we have injuries... But they're part of the above problem for me. At this point I'd almost rather watch a bunch of Pulisian set piece thugs ambling around the pitch becasue at least we'd have a clear directive. This team / era looks like a complete damp blanket. Weak, fragile, flimsy. So utterly easy to play against, home and away. Yesterday showed us up to be exactly that. |
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Reply | Academy Update
at 17:13 2 Mar 2026
Good point.
And you know full well that when QPR draw the QPR Academy away in the Papa John's trophy we'll beat us 1-0. |
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Reply | Field...
at 11:22 2 Mar 2026
The hubris of shipping Field out when we did was always going to bite us in the buttocks. You could see it a mile off. |
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