MiddlesBrough vs Aston Villa (1st leg) match thread

[AstonThriller]

Just thought I'd get it started early and hopefully my track record can help us over the line. Will post team news closer to the game.

COME ON VILLA!!

[Saunders82]

Just thought I'd get it started early and hopefully my track record can help us over the line. Will post team news closer to the game.

COME ON VILLA!!

Great stuff we might need every bit of luck to get to the Prem UTV

[deadbuzzardalive]

Well this time next week we'll know if we've made the final or not. I just hope we're still in with a chance after the first leg, with so many danger men like Gestede, Adama, Downing, Bamford and Assombalonga they could really blitz us, I think we'll need at least a draw at their ground, to stand a chance going into the Villa Park game, a narrow defeat by one goal might give us a slight chance, but they'd definitely be clear favorites in that scenario.

Hopefully our players don't crumble under the pressure, if Snodgrass, Grealish, Adomah, Grabban, and Kodjia are all on form then it will be hard for anyone to stop us, but that's easier said than done.

[FoxyAV]

Hopefully our players don't crumble under the pressure

The players are fine, we have to worry about the manager still not knowing what his best side is, how to react to what's happening during a match and when and how to use substitutes. On top of which our opponents haven't bought the league, they've made it to the playoffs with good management and well-drilled squads.

For me it comes down to midfield. If he plays one of Onomah, Jedi or Whelan he's taken a place away from Thor, Grealish or Hourihane. Thor is mobile, allows both Grealish and Hourihane to go forward and has scored a couple of nice goals this season. Whelan or Jedi aren't mobile, which hampers Hourihane's ability to go forward and knock in the rebounds and clearances. That for me is the key - we can't have a slow, old DM there who the opposition can just run past, we need a mobile midfield that allows the extra attacking midfielder (what's Hourihane on, 10 goals?) forward into or around the box.

Talking of mobility, Hutton gets forward better on the left than Taylor and interacts better with Adomah and Grealish. He I think will also handle Traore better too.

Grabban has to be our only choice for forward although Kodjia needs to be on the bench.

That's pretty much it. Stick with Elmo and Snoddy on the right, smash the hell out of them.

The first leg's away from home. I bet we see Whelan start, they'll run rings round him and Bruce won't do anything about it. If we make it to half time goalless we'll change nothing and they'll score within 10 minutes of the second half. The referee will be toweringly shit. Who knows who'll win! What we need to do though is beat Boro and save the Wolves performance for the final.

[DelboyVilla]

I have zero expectations for this game so I won't be disappointed?

[FoxyAV]

Me neither. We either get promoted, presumably keep Bruce and rebuild Hull 2016/17 (but at least we'd see PL football for a season) or we stay in the Championship and, oh. Would Bruce go due to complete failure to do his job or would we see him here another year ('it was too much to ask to rebuild a team in two seasons using the best players plucked from the league and some old PL rejects, especially with two key players injured for most of the season" etc etc etc)?

There is a plus side - my mother's had a really crap time of it over the last 18 months and while she still can't manage coming to a match we are going to watch the match on Saturday from the comfort of my sofa with a friend who supports Boro.

[deadbuzzardalive]

This seems to be really dragging, I'm fearing the worst, but am still nervous as the difference between what will happen to the club if we go up or stay down, is massive...

[gaffer85]

This seems to be really dragging, I'm fearing the worst, but am still nervous as the difference between what will happen to the club if we go up or stay down, is massive...

That's my fear
We need to go up cause if we don't we'll be stuck in the championship for years and probably never compete on the top top level again

[deadbuzzardalive]

I see so many people suggesting that staying down wouldn't be a bad thing because 'at least we'd win some games', you'd think we were Burton Albion going for promotion, not a team who've historically been one of the better teams in the top flight, and only really began to struggle in it because Lerner lost interest, it won't be easy to begin with, but with some spending there's no reason why we can't compete with most teams in the Premier league,they also seem to forget that once FFP has hit us, we won't have the advantages of our first two seasons in this division, so winning games in the Championship will become just as hard as it would be if were in the top flight, as our squad strength will become relative to the division we're in.

[Army villain]

We need to get out of the championship, Bruce has said he has the best experience in getting promoted from the playoffs, here's hoping he pulls it off UTV.

[Army villain]

We need to get out of the championship, Bruce has said he has the best experience in getting promoted from the playoffs, here's hoping he pulls it off UTV.

[Jae1411]

Hopefully our players don't crumble under the pressure

On top of which our opponents haven't bought the league, they've made it to the playoffs with good management and well-drilled squads.

They spent 53m this season?!?!

And a load of loans on top of that

[FoxyAV]

I just looked it up, spent £50million, sold £48.5million.

[NARLA24]

Hi guys and girls. Sorry not been on for a while due to work commitments and buying a new business.
Just got word through from Donald Duck......those who know will know... That this is the team for tomorrow.
Sam
Elmo
Scottish Cafu
Chessa
JT
Houlirane
Whelan
Grealish
Uncle Albert
The beard that is Snoddy
And Grabban.
Subject to one change maybe.
Thoughts? Possibly the Jedi could be in instead of Whelan

[deadbuzzardalive]

That's exactly the team I would have expected, maybe a month or so back there might have been a question mark over Whelan, but towards the end of the season he came into a bit of form, so think Bruce will go with him.

[AstonThriller]

This seems to be really dragging, I'm fearing the worst, but am still nervous as the difference between what will happen to the club if we go up or stay down, is massive...

LOL when have you never not be scared? And I don't believe anything drastic will happen if we don't go up tbh. Get a new CEO and Director of football (hopefully), get a new manager and coaching staff, bring back Gollini and Gill, sell a few players here and there, get a few loans and cheaper signings and we're off again. Was Cardiff's team built with millions? Was Huddersfield's? too many people love to paint the bleakest of pictures. Just chill out and let the chips fall where they may. I just saw the Derby and Fulham game tonight and once again I didn't exactly see Barcelona on the telly. This is just a matter of whether the manager can pull the absolute maximum out of the lads. If he does then we've got more than enough to get promoted imo. Yes, it's an edgy period but the facts are the facts. We've beaten Boro and Fulham, and battered Derby the other day In a game where they should have lost by four of five. Just have to believe that the squad will get the job done now when it really matters.

[Terry Derry]

Hi guys and girls. Sorry not been on for a while due to work commitments and buying a new business.
Just got word through from Donald Duck......those who know will know... That this is the team for tomorrow.
Sam
Elmo
Scottish Cafu
Chessa
JT
Houlirane
Whelan
Grealish
Uncle Albert
The beard that is Snoddy
And Grabban.
Subject to one change maybe.
Thoughts? Possibly the Jedi could be in instead of Whelan

Any idea of who iS on the beNch?

[deadbuzzardalive]

I doubt very much that failure to win promotion will cost Wyness and Round their jobs, Bruce isn't guaranteed to go either. Just need to concentrate on Middlesbrough now though, and forget about everyone's future until we know where we are next season.

Just hope we're still in the game after tonight, need a result I think.

[AstonThriller]

I doubt very much that failure to win promotion will cost Wyness and Round their jobs, Bruce isn't guaranteed to go either. Just need to concentrate on Middlesbrough now though, and forget about everyone's future until we know where we are next season.

Just hope we're still in the game after tonight, need a result I think.

I think you're underestimating what Xia is about if you think he won't consider all the futures of all the guys who will have failed to get us promotion. This is what they were brought in to do at the end of the day. He sacked RDM after eleven games, but then turns around and gives Bruce another year after two failures? No chance.

I also can't understand why you're hyping up Boro so much? They lost to Wolves at home despite Wolves having NINE men, and we've also beaten them away from home already. Yes, anything can happen, but let's be realistic about who we are playing here. There's a reason why we never lost to them during the season and finished higher too. But like i said before, it's on Bruce now to get us over the line.

[FoxyAV]

It's the playoffs, anything can happen. Derby could beat Fulham a second time. Boro could come into it more fired up than us, beat us today and we could collapse at home.

We never know which Villa is going to turn up so why is it unreasonable to worry, if we're that good why are we in the playoffs?

I really haven't a clue who's going to win today, on Tuesday or in the final. Ultimately we're all in the playoffs because we're good enough (but not quite good enough for automatic promotion) and really a lot of it is now down to confidence, luck, players getting it right and managers making it all stick together.

[deadbuzzardalive]

Team is as expected, except that Jedinak plays instead of Whelan.



I guess Jedinak makes sense really, when you think about the amount of goals Middlesbrough score from set-pieces, so we'll need his aerial ability, then there's the fact that he's got previous experience in the play-offs with Palace.

[De Kuip]

We really should come through this with those players. Also, in championship terms that's a bloody strong bench.
Hope we don't try to play a containiing game - I think we've  had our best results this season when we've gone at teams from the off.

[smetro]

1-0 Jedinak.

There keeper looks a bit ropey for the goal - but not as ropey as the ref - jesus wept

[Army villain]

We need to keep the pressure on UTV

[Army villain]

Think they would have had a better ref, no protection for Grealish.

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