Written by G Clark
How have the Boro players performed this season? As a collective not well but how about as individuals?
Assombalonga -best of the front players, but needs too many opportunities per goal, would probably have reached the magical 20 goals if he had played every game, but he should have reached that from the opportunities he had this term.
Hugill- often picked ahead of Britt, never looked fit, poor movement and struggled to hold the ball up or score, shame as I believe he wanted to be a success.
Fletcher -was roundly written off earlier in season, but showed character to return and improve towards the end of the season, winning a lot of fans over.
Mikel- a quality player, always looks composed, few small errors but can’t be too critical.
Wing- one who can hold his head high, always looking keen to go forward/ shoot, doesn’t always work, but a rare gem in this team, an attacking player. Commitment can never be questioned
Besic – same trick, 360-degree turn ever time he gets the ball, mixed season, needs more consistency
Tavernier- should have had more game time! Who was keeping him out of the team? One for next season
Clayton- always committed, probably exposed as all our midfielders are very similar, no pace and defence minded.
Howson- has a good shot on him, works hard and is one of few who will get forward, decent season
Saville- has played out of position, works hard, runs himself into the ground, oftener visibly tired in last 10 mins but no one on the bench to replace him with
Fry- young, promising season, will be the backbone of the defence in the future
Flint- solid and dependable, few injuries, should he have scored more from set pieces?
Ayala- Has had a poor season by his standards, fan favourite but has been frustrating this year, always looks likely to give a dangerous free-kick away, get booked/sent off or to concede a penalty, has contributed to defences collapse in form, has he become a liability?
Freind- great servant of the club, a fan favourite, but has been exposed on the pitch too often this season.
Shotton- great long throw! What else does he bring? Often caught out of position and struggles with pace.
Randolph- nothing but praise for the keeper, made some crucial saves this season, excellent all year. Well done, please stay!!
Overall not great to write or read, some players need to look at their performances(or accept the views of those who pay to watch them every week), I know they have said we can not question their commitment but I am sorry to say we can, far to often there has been no commitment shown, no drive to get a result, no resilience.
They have said the home fans being nervous affects their performance, so I ask were the fans nervous at the start of the season? The answer is no, they have become nervous from watching nervous performances, holding on for draws, trying to defend slim leads(sometimes for 80 mins) often without success, all passes being backwards etc etc, the fans want to cheer, they want you to do well/ be successful, should they cheer and clap blindly regardless of what they are seeing? If we performed like you have this season we would have been lucky to retain our jobs.
A lot of players need to leave this year, to allow for new younger, faster players who aren’t afraid to attack to come in. We are still close to the playoffs, meet almost every fan is disappointed with what they have seen, the league was there for the taking, you just didn’t show up!!