Middlesbrough were outstanding in victory at Loftus Road and scored 15 goals in three games that week to show their potential, and yet here they are on a dreadful run of form set to miss the play-offs again - @DanaMalt and @jamesyboz try to make sense of it for us.

How’s the season been for Boro?

DM: Annoying, but very Boro. We started slowly, which has become a theme of the last few seasons, because apparently we have to go through the trenches before we can enjoy nice things. We then picked up a little bit - finally - but were still not at full tilt. It took until November for us to realise we are actually a good football team, and that included a 4-1 win over you guys and a further 11 goals in the following two games. But good things don’t seem to last long at Boro, and suddenly we went from a feared, front foot, free scoring side to… being beneath Bristol City.

JB: To sum it up in a word, frustrating. Up until Christmas we had done ok to be honest, thrown away a lot of stupid points but at least in a solid 5th/6th place. Even then there was a sense of (maybe misplaced) under-achievement. A horrible run since then though has seen us slip outside the play-off places. The amount of games we have lost when scoring first seems to be crazy - got to a point where it was almost not worth celebrating when we took the lead as we just knew what would happen. Groundhog Day all over again.

Boro in the league so far
Boro 1-0 Swansea Latte Lath pen 25
Derby 1-0 Boro Jackson 14
Boro 2-2 Pompey Clarke 11, Conway pen 90
Cardiff 0-2 Boro Clarke 55, Ramsey og 82
Boro 1-1 Preston Conway 16 – Frokjaer-Jensen 43
Sunderland 1-0 Boro Rigg 24
Boro 2-0 Stoke Doak 34, Hackney 73
West Brom 0-1 Boro Hackney 73
Watford 2-1 Boro Kayembe 75, Baah 87 – Edmundson 54
Boro 0-2 Bristol City Mehmeti 27, Hirakawa 45
Boro 1-0 Sheff Utd Latte-Lath 80
Norwich 3-3 Boro Sainz 9, 71, Dieng og 80- Conway 13, 40, Azaz 45
Boro 0-3 Coventry Thomas 42, Wright 76, Eccles 81
QPR 1-4 Boro Dijksteel og 69 – McGree 31, Conway 35, Latte Lath 87, Barlaser 90
Boro 5-1 Luton Burgzorg 30, 54, Latte Lath 42, Azaz 51, 87
Oxford 2-6 Boro Leigh 24, Scarlett 72 – Latte Lath pen 37, 45, 49, Azaz 43, 83, Conway 80
Boro 0-1 Blackburn Hyam 77
Boro 3-1 Hull Azaz 24, Conway 41, 79 – Burstow 70
Burnley 1-1 Boro Roberts 37 – Dijksteel 13
Leeds 3-1 Boro Gnonto 14, James 74, Aaronson 90 – Wober og 54
Boro 1-0 Millwall Latte Lath 10
Plymouth 3-3 Boro Gibson 38, Gyabi 72, Bundu 81 – Howson 50, Hackney 77, Latte Lath 84
Boro 3-3 Sheff Wed Doak 5, Azaz 15, 30 – Ingelsson 47, Windass 54, Valery 61
Boro 0-0 Burnley
Hull 0-1 Boro Gilbert 90
Boro 1-1 Cardiff Latte Lath 11 – Chambers 21
Boro 0-1 Blackburn Wiemann 70
Pompey 2-1 Boro Ritchie 54, 82 – Latte Lath 30
Boro 2-0 West Brom Hackney 29, Doak 83
Preston 2-1 Boro Thordarson 28, Riis 78 – Burgzorg 52
Boro 2-3 Sunderland Burgzorg 11, Hackney 59 – Neil 33, Isidor 51, Giles og 87
Sheff Utd 3-1 Boro Rak-Sakyi 32, Brereton 75, Ahmedhodzic 87 – Burgzorg pen 45
Boro 0-1 Watford Sissoko 40
Bristol City 2-1 Boro Earthy 72, 82 – Conway 37
Stoke 1-3 Boro Jun-Ho 45 – Forss 20, Azaz 52, Conway 73
Boro 1-0 Derby Azaz 80
Swansea 1-0 Boro Ji-Sung 26

All the gear no idea? How is this squad not in the play off places?

DM: We just aren’t consistent enough. We’ve been plagued by avoidable defence mishaps and so we can often put ourselves on the back foot before we’ve even got a foot in the game. It’s frustrating, because when we’re good I genuinely believe us to be among the best sides in the division, but unfortunately on the flip side, when we’re not-so-good we ooze mid-table. The difference between the two levels points to a side that, despite their talents, could find themselves on the wrong side of the play-off line.

JB: It's a good question. I think the answer is we cannot stop conceding ridiculous goals, and part of the problem is the way we are set up to play. Carrick has, rightly or wrongly, stuck to his guns in terms of the way we play but it does at times leave the defence exposed. Add in the comedy defending and a recipe for disaster. When Morris was out injured for eight weeks, we really missed his presence in the midfield as well - there is no-one else in the squad who can really perform that role. Added to the fact the Rockliffe may as well be staffed by the NHS at this point. At the time of writing our only fit defenders consist of one CB and two left backs.

Pressure building on Michael Carrick, or have these couple of wins eased that?

DM: It’s muted it somewhat, but I still think it’s there, simmering under the surface. It’ll only take another defeat or two to get it amped up again. The two wins were much welcomed, but I know I’m not alone in wanting more. I’m still not convinced we’ve ‘turned a corner’, per se.

JB: Pressure was definitely building on Carrick - indeed after the Watford home defeat half of Teesside had a source who insisted he had left. It would have felt different to previous sackings - we have played some of the best football seen on Teesside for years and people really want Carrick to do well. The last two wins has eased the pressure slightly, plus with the local media briefing that Gibson really wants to keep Carrick then it feels like he has a stay of execution until the end of the season at least.

How was January? What was done and left undone?

DM: We lost our top scorer to the MLS, which is rather depressing actually. Not to mention he went to a side who have former Boro goalkeeper Brad Guzan as some sort of glorified icon. The same Guzan whose legacy moments on Teesside were getting booed for not being sent off in one match and getting megged three times in another. We also didn’t sign a centre back for some reason, so now we’re down to the bare bones through injury and might need to wheel Jonathan Woodgate out of retirement - although he’d probably get injured too knowing him.

The players we brought in, they’ve been, in a word: meh. Morgan Whittaker has been getting there, and Mark Travers is an upgrade on Dieng and Glover, but between Ryan Giles, Samuel Iling-Junior, George Edmundson and Kelechi Iheancho, all I have for you is a shrug of the shoulders.

All in all, it was a window that probably made us worse, which is not what you’re wanting to achieve when you’re in the middle of a play-off campaign.

JB: It was a strange January. It felt going into it we didn't need a great deal adding, a couple in maybe just to beef the squad up but we really went all out. I think we all expected Latte Lath to be on his way, although MLS was a strange move. What did feel odd is the lack of any real replacement. We did bring Iheanacho in, but he is a different type of player and has not hit the ground running as of yet. Morgan Whittaker was another that came out of nowhere, perhaps with a nod to replacing Doak when he goes to back to Liverpool (or as it turns out, for when he gets injured for the rest of the season). We let Matt Clarke leave and not replacing him felt at the time a bit of a risk, and now is looking almost negligent. With Edmundson, Van Den Berg and even now Ayling all out injured we are down to just Fry who can play CB.

Summer Ins >>> Tommy Conway, 22, CF, Bristol City, £5m >>> Micah Hamilton, 21, LW, Man City, £4m >>> Aidan Morris, 22, CM, Colombus, £3m >>> Delano Burgzorg, 25, LW, Mainz, £2m >>> Neto Borges, 27, LB, Clermont, £1m >>> Luke Ayling, 32, RB, Leeds, Free >>> Ben Doak, 18, RW, Liverpool, Loan >>> George Edmundson, 27, CB, Ipswich, Loan

Winter Outs >>> Emmanuel Latte Lath, 26, CF, Atlanta, £20m >>> Isaiah Jones, 25, RW, Luton, £5m >>> Matthew Hoppe, 23, CF, Sonderjyske, Free >>> Matt Clarke, 28, CB, Derby, Undisclosed >>> Micah Hamilton, 21, LW, Stockport, Loan >>> Lukas Engel, 26, LB, Cincinnati, Loan >>> Sam Silvera, 24, LW, Blackpool, Loan >>> Alex Gilbert, 23, AM, Charlton, Loan >>> Tommy Smith, 32, RB, Retired

Player of the season candidates?

DM: Finn Azaz is the only one that springs to mind, but even he has had consistency struggles this season which lead to him being dropped out of the starting XI only last month. His output is excellent though - ten goals and ten assists for the second season running. I’ve endured some sticky footballers in my time supporting Boro - the type that I would laud for passing five goal involvements in a season. Finn Azaz is of a much higher grade than that. He’s what ties our attack together, and when Azaz is not on song then we are a good way towards a poor result.

JB: Pretty small list to be honest it feels like. Doak was electric at the start of the season, but even before his injury his levels had slightly dipped (to be expected for a young player!) Conway has done well up front when not injured, Hackney has looked good especially when partnered with Morris and perhaps one from leftfield but perhaps Burgzorg. Not much expected of him at all when signed in the summer, but was the only real shining light in our poor January run.

Weak links in the side?

DM: It might be unfair, because on the whole he has been good of late, but Anfernee Dijksteel played the last game against Derby like he’d been out on the piss all night. If he is that cumbersome again I fear we may see another addition to the ever growing list of memeable moments. Other than that, maybe Ryan Giles. He’s never been the greatest defensively and has also had a fairly tough two years at both Luton and Hull. He’ll probably start, with Boro’s defensive problems prompting Neto Borges to play central in the second half in the last match. He could be one to target.

JB: Defence. Even with everyone fit we are always liable to ship a comedy goal. Signing Travers has helped have a bit of a calming presence behind the back four, but still never really feel comfortable. Right back has also been a problem area, Ayling's legs look to have gone and Dijksteel just can't stay fit long enough. Without Doak, there does also seem to be a lack of pace throughout the side - we found it tough to break down a Derby side who came looking for a point at the weekend.

Expectations for the remaining games? Only two points shy of the six, going to make it?

DM: I think we’ll do what we did last season and go on an impressive run towards the very end. Unlike last campaign though, where it ultimately left Boro short of the top six, I do think we’ll get into it this time. We’ll likely do naff all in them, but at least we can say we made it.

JB: I still fancy us to make the playoffs, but I am not sure I can justify that faith. A 'kind' run of games on paper will leave outsiders thinking we should be back right in the mix but we do have a tough end to the season including a trip to Frank Lampard’s Coventry on the last day. I will stick my neck out and say we will make it, but can’t really see whoever finishes fifth or sixth making it past the semi-finals.

Links >>> Middlesbrough Official Website >>> Teeside Gazette — Local Paper >>> FMTTM — Message Board >>> Boro Breakdown – Podcast >>> One Boro — Forum >>> Bonkers for Boro — Blog >>> Boropolis — Podcast

The Twitter @jamesyboz, @DanaMalt, @Boro_Breakdown, @loftforwords

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