Commiserations Boro

[The Great Mass Debater]

Losing a play-off final is almost as heartbreaking as getting relegated in the first place.

This season has been an incredibly tight and competitive season, and it was always clear that quite a few teams were going to be justifiably upset and disappointed that they missed out. Any one of 7 teams could have deservedly gone up this year. I cannot remember a championship season so tight.

So commiserations Boro, and good luck for next season. You may have lost to us today, but you had the better of us over the course of the season.  I hope you are able to build on this platform and finish the job next year.

I would like to see Middlesbrough, Derby and Brentford go up next year after their contribution to a very competitive promotion challenge this season

 

[kirku]

You may have lost to us today, but you had the better of us over the course of the season.  I hope you are able to build on this platform and finish the job next year.

They may have beaten us twice, but we finished above them.

 

[Beauseant]

Having taken the tube in from Watford with their arrogant gobby fans I don't feel overly sympathetic.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Having taken the tube in from Watford with their arrogant gobby fans I don't feel overly sympathetic.

What were they like after the game?

 

[morty]

The day was all about who rose to the occasion, they have shown, twice this season that they were good enough to beat us.

Could not believe just how we dominated them yesterday, first half especially!

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

The day was all about who rose to the occasion, they have shown, twice this season that they were good enough to beat us.

Could not believe just how we dominated them yesterday, first half especially!

We did a Boro to them. We did exactly to them what they did to us. Which is really encouraging, because it suggests Alex Neil will learn from his mistakes and adapt quickly. He got the tactics spot on and Boro didnt have an answer - very encouraging for next season 

 

[morty]

We did a Boro to them. We did exactly to them what they did to us. Which is really encouraging, because it suggests Alex Neil will learn from his mistakes and adapt quickly. He got the tactics spot on and Boro didnt have an answer - very encouraging for next season 

Everything is encouraging for next season. *goes to start a thread*

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Im really excited to see how Alex Neil will approach the Premiership with us. I get the feeling he was chosen because he approached the SPL with Hamilton with a no guts no glory approach. I suppose I wasnt too enthused about a return to the Prem because I had spent 2 years watching Hughton-ball, where essentially the team had defensive discipline drilled into them and we set-up not to lose with our gameplan skittled usually after 20 mintues.

Not only was this awful to watch but also, it didnt work.

I suspect Neil will have us swashbuckling to some extent the way Lambert did, but wouldnt be surprised to see us become a high pressing, high workrate, fast and effective counter-attacking team.

I cant for a minute see him setting us up to play anti-football. Positive times 

 

[derehamyella]

Hughton.. who the hell was he .. O yea that horrible 2 year blip destroying what had been built over the pevious seasons. 

I do not feel to much for middleborough,  a horrible game to lose in, but we know that only too well.   Sure they would not be feeling much for us..

It was about who scored, who set up the best and stuck to the game plan, who came out and forced themselves on to the game and we did that in most professional way.  We have been good over the league games, but yesterday we were simply awesome, a day it all needed to come together, it did perfectly.

Out Smarted. Out Played. Out Fought  Out Scored ..

 

[Wiz]

The result was pure 'karma' for their Carrow Road antics a few weeks ago.

They were a disgrace that game, Ayala especially so.

 

[splutcho]

I don't really have any sympathy - I met very few that conducted themselves with any humility before or after the game (especially the lard arse spoiling for a fight outside after we drowned out his red army chants with our yellows ones) and they gave us the biggest display of anti football I've ever seen at Carrow Road. Which usually would be fine, but their fans acted as though they were the 1970 Brazil team afterwards. So frankly I hope they don't get Bamford back and drop like a stone.

 

[Beauseant]

Very quiet!

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Very quiet!

Good!

 

[Boyerboy]

I'm with Splutcho here.

Personally I hate hypocrisy.   I believe that if you dish it out you must take it.  I despise Fellaini not because he uses his elbow in a vile sneaky way but because when anyone gets physical with him, he runs to the referee crying and complaining like a spoilt little girl.   I loved Holt because he would dish it and soak it up without complaint.

All the Boro fans I met on Wembley way were pleasant and ordinary.  However, I sat by the half way line right up against the Boro fans.

Before the game, their noise was awesome and I doubted we could match them.  We did of course and it was wonderful.

Now, you would think that after their shameful display at ours, Boro fans would bite their lips but not a bit of it. As soon as we scored, they were moaning and shouting at every break that we were time wasting.  They responded like we were them with added Chelsea.  It was pathetic.

Even when Ruddy got the ball and put it down for a goal kick they were going crazy.  What they would have done had he put it down, picked it up, put it down, had a cup of tea, phoned his Mum and signed some autographs the way their keeper did at ours is unimaginable but I suspect it would have required the mounted police in response. 

When Vellos was booked, they were incandescent and when we started the inevitable "Cheat" chant they went bonkers.

Yet, for all their passion and confidence, they started to leave after 75 minutes.   We started cheerioing them and again their anger was huge.  I never leave early and I know Middlesbrough is a long way from Wembley but surely your team deserve support till the end?  They had obviously never heard of Southend.

I've no doubt the vast majority were decent ordinary folk who love their team.  As a group, they were pretty horrible and they were hypocrites.

 

[Canaryboy]

Had no problem at all with Middlesbrough fans before or after the game. I had to walk all the way through their side of the ground to grab my ticket and spoke with quite a few after the game outside a Norwich designated bar, lots of hand shaking going on. Some Norwich fans clapping all of their coaches as they went past and there were a lot more claps returned than w*nker gestures. Personally feel that they were generally humble and defeat and acknowledged that we were just the better side.

Biggest *bleep* that I encountered was actually a Norwich fan on the tube who was signing songs about Adam Johnson being a peado at their fans after the game. Boro fans take a bit of credit from me for not laying the gobby idiot out to be honest, doubt any of the Norwich fans on the tube would have had his back.

I do take some satisfaction out shutting them up though after they threw internet tantrums after our 1-0 home defeat, especially the muppet who came on here!

 

[Din]

I do have a little sympathy for their fans. It's a fair bit further to Wembley from Boro than it is from Norwich, so to go all that way (probably not getting back until the early hours of the morning) after a defeat, having watched their side barely even look bothered must be so disappointing. Clearly they have come across as pretty moronic to some on here, but ultimately there are fans like that of every football club, including ours. When I was walking out of Wembley I walked past these 2 kids who were probably about 11/12, and as I walked past they started shouting in my direction about how they beat us 4-0 earlier in the season. If I was in a pub and some bloke did that to me then I would give as much abuse back as I got, but as we'd just beaten them in the play-off final, meaning that we were promoted at their expense, I felt that they'd already got their comeuppance, and therefore just laughed at them as I went past (plus it would've been a bit out of order had I started on 2 kids). To be fair I had a look on a Boro forum a little earlier and they all seem decent, and accepted their defeat, so got no real issues with any of them.

I have absolutely no sympathy for their players though. Serves them the f*ck right for coming to Carrow Road and putting on one of the most unsporting displays of football I have ever seen. In the second half when they were desperate for a goal, I really wanted Ruddy to collect the ball and go to the ground and lie there for a while, so I could watch the Boro players react furiously, just like our players and fans did when their keeper hit the floor even though there was no contact from a Norwich player. That all said though Karanka seems like a nice bloke, and he was really sporting in defeat. Waited on the pitch until we had lifted the trophy and the stands, and then shook every Norwich player's hand when they came down. 

I wonder if we'll ever see that Boro fan who turned up on here again?

 

[SussexYellow]

Having taken the tube in from Watford with their arrogant gobby fans I don't feel overly sympathetic.

Not my experience. Travelling out on the tube from central London I had a sensible and long football conversation with 3 of their supporters. Thoroughly nice guys.

After the game walking down Olympic Way in response to our chants of "Going, up, up, up" they were humourously responding with chants of "staying down, down, down".

And they did do us a huge favour in our last promotion season by winning at Cardiff to set up promotion at Portsmouth.

So yes I do feel some sympathy for them.

 

[CanaryNath]

Having had a bit of a read on the Boro forums, to get a flavour for their post-match reaction, i must say that 99% of the comments are along the lines of "we were pants, we were beaten by a better team'

Very few comments suggesting a foul on Ayala, which i thought they'd be all over.

Most Boro fans seem gutted at their team's performance, but big enough to admit when they were beaten by a team who were on song.

 

[Boyerboy]

Nice to know Nath.  Thanks.

My feelings as above were as much of the day as the things that annoyed me.  I do find the early desertions strange but a lot of fair weather fans go to these matches for the experience and we did look to have won the game after 30 minutes.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

I'm with Splutcho here.

Personally I hate hypocrisy.   I believe that if you dish it out you must take it.  I despise Fellaini not because he uses his elbow in a vile sneaky way but because when anyone gets physical with him, he runs to the referee crying and complaining like a spoilt little girl.   I loved Holt because he would dish it and soak it up without complaint.

All the Boro fans I met on Wembley way were pleasant and ordinary.  However, I sat by the half way line right up against the Boro fans.

Before the game, their noise was awesome and I doubted we could match them.  We did of course and it was wonderful.

Now, you would think that after their shameful display at ours, Boro fans would bite their lips but not a bit of it. As soon as we scored, they were moaning and shouting at every break that we were time wasting.  They responded like we were them with added Chelsea.  It was pathetic.

Even when Ruddy got the ball and put it down for a goal kick they were going crazy.  What they would have done had he put it down, picked it up, put it down, had a cup of tea, phoned his Mum and signed some autographs the way their keeper did at ours is unimaginable but I suspect it would have required the mounted police in response. 

When Vellos was booked, they were incandescent and when we started the inevitable "Cheat" chant they went bonkers.

Yet, for all their passion and confidence, they started to leave after 75 minutes.   We started cheerioing them and again their anger was huge.  I never leave early and I know Middlesbrough is a long way from Wembley but surely your team deserve support till the end?  They had obviously never heard of Southend.

I've no doubt the vast majority were decent ordinary folk who love their team.  As a group, they were pretty horrible and they were hypocrites.

Perhaps someone should put together a youtube clip show of all their timewasting antics at Carrow Road to remind them!