Well, that was a bit embarrassing

[CaptainMorgans]

I didn't think that was embarrassing at all. I expect Middlesbrough to be be in the top 3. We went away to them and looked to really assert ourselves early on and played some really nice football, we came back into it after being dominated between 20th-65th minutes (ish) and wouldn't have been too bad a value for a draw (though 1-0 to them was probably about fair).

Freeman was getting some joy down the right, his first touch has improved. Fleck and Coutts looked strong when in possession and Carruthers was busy finding holes, though a little wasteful on the ball. Sharp and Clarke lacked movement and any cutting edge, you could see the glaring difference between their front men and ours. Enda Stevens had a poor game, looked rushed on the ball and reverted to hoof too often. The centre halves did OK against one of the best front lines in the division, Basham will be severely disappointed with that awful header though.

We've been spoilt this year with the football on offer, we were always going to lose eventually and away at Boro in that manner isn't cause for concern. Our front line is my biggest worry at the moment. I don't think they have the pace and movement to create chances for themselves.

 

[GrayBlade]

Just a fee points after I've slept on it.

Did anybody really expect us to go to teams like Middlesborough and do anything but battle until we're up to speed in this division and have upgraded the squad (which could take a season)? We won't play like we did last season away from home, we'll get points against the top teams by effort and organisation just like teams tried to do to us last season.

After what happened last season and so many people were so quick to write players and manager off in August, don't they think it's a bit daft to repeat it and write players off after just one game away against the favourites that have cost tens of £millions that we should have drawn? Some just love to overreact in my opinion, and even if we do bring in 3 quality players we'll still be mikes behind he likes of Boro overall, that's a fact of life right now, but it doesn't mean we won't stuff them back at the Lane because the team will have adjusted by then even and other players will have come in.

My own view is that we should chill out and wait and see what happens in the rest of the window, and we'll really know where we're at when we play teams like Forest, Ipswich and Barnsley.

 

[sufcboy95]

Have.

Could've

 

[mosbolad]

Blackman showed his experience. For me with more in net we don't concede that.
.

How many more were you thinking of?

 

[Blade58]

For 80 minutes today, we looked slow and ponderous, nothing like we normally play.
As I said, I don't know why, but I do know at times (you know, when we kept rushing, misplacing passes, heading the ball straight back to the opposition, lacking any kind of penetration) it was a bit embarrassing. Yes, I think we'll be OK and yes, that was one of the better teams we'll play this year, but them being good didn't cause us to mis-place passes and play so negatively. Where did that come from?!!

Not sure we looked any slower than we did last season

It's the £43m + plus the rest of their team that are actually a bit quicker

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

There is no shame in losing to a side that was in the PL last season and spent £££ over the summer. They were always going to dominate at times against us. Second half we did much better, and we have basically been robbed of a point.

Yes, we have some isues to deal with (such as lack of pace), but in Wilder we trust.