S25/26 | The Official Match Thread | Middlesbrough 1 Swansea 0 | Att: 26,035 (Away 685) | 3pm | Saturday 9th August 2026

[sit_down_jack]

The trouble is, parking concerns about style for a second, as a club what do you do?

The previous three managers all had their own way of doing things, but the common ground they all shared was that they were very good at not winning many games of football.

In comes Sheehan and starts getting results. Regularly.

We had to give the job to him. He earned it. And he's probably earned the right to be given time at it and all, as long as he keeps getting results.

The big difference for me is this ownership wasn’t there for those managers. I don’t want to blow too much smoke but we have people in charge that will back a manager now, Russell Martin didn’t have that in his second season especially. I think if these owners had been in charge back then, we’d have gotten Matt O’Riley for example.

I wouldn’t say he “earned” it, I don’t think it works like that. It wasn’t a given for me that he got it. The decision makers will go with who they want to go with regardless. They still did a fair bit of looking around at other managers.

I’m not a Sheehan out type despite how this post looks but I’m a bit more concerned after today.

 

[Michu78]

The big difference for me is this ownership wasn’t there for those managers. I don’t want to blow too much smoke but we have people in charge that will back a manager now, Russell Martin didn’t have that in his second season especially. I think if these owners had been in charge back then, we’d have gotten Matt O’Riley for example.

I wouldn’t say he “earned” it, I don’t think it works like that. It wasn’t a given for me that he got it. The decision makers will go with who they want to go with regardless. They still did a fair bit of looking around at other managers.

I’m not a Sheehan out type despite how this post looks but I’m a bit more concerned after today.

I was always going to be concerned how Sheehan does on his own starting a season from scratch, at the moment it's pretty bad from pre-season and this first game. Our style of play resembled a Cymru Premier side today, I'm not sure what we were trying to do, it look like hit and hope at times.

 

[sit_down_jack]

I was always going to be concerned how Sheehan does on his own starting a season from scratch, at the moment it's pretty bad from pre-season and this first game. Our style of play resembled a Cymru Premier side today, I'm not sure what we were trying to do, it look like hit and hope at times.

Yeah, there was a bit of that with him last season but most of the time the long balls had a point. Today it just looked like we had no other ideas.

 

[gerwyn.evans]

A better performance with more attacking intent and maybe a positive result. Bet Millwall fans weren't expecting 3 points at Norwich today, or Bristol at Sheffield United. It's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of positivity and a game plan.

And a more settled squad, if you were seriously expecting cohesion today despite all the transfers in and out, lack of fitness due to injuries and a disrupted pre season and an incomplete squad (including a first choice 9) then no wonder you’re disappointed. As a comparison, a colleague of mine is a Bristol City fan and he tells me they’ve only lost a few players and brought in 3-4, different level of change to the playing staff, despite a change of manager.

 

[Dr. Winston]

I don't know why people keep banging on about style. For the most part we haven't had one since Potter left. Certainly most of the vehement Sheehan critics have the whiff of Martin apologia about them.

It's one game, after an injury hit pre-season, when we're likely to have at least two, probably more additions to the first team to come. Calm down.

 

[Londonlisa2001]

Still doesn’t answer the question of what you expected today?

I expected to lose (although I expected Boro to be better than they were - miles better). But I also expected to see the hints at least of a style of play that would not involve lumping the ball up field in a fairly aimless fashion.

First half we were relatively tight and I had no problem with that. But second half is when I would have expected some degree of players passing and moving and finding each other that didn’t suggest they met on the bus. In other words, irrespective of result, I expected to see a shape of play beginning to suggest itself. Unfortunately, the only style of play that suggested itself was Stoke City at their most hoof like. We do not have the players for that. So as well as being awful to watch, we won’t be very successful results wise.

I also expected an amount of creativity and drive in our play. I didn’t see any.

It’s early doors and as you said we will bring players in. But it needs to be quick and they need to make an impact.

I hope we will not have to see Fulton starting again for some time (although he was better than Franco today who looked very unfit). I also hope not to see Cullen and Vipotnik as our two main strikers.

At the back we look ok (assuming cover brought in at full back). Elsewhere we don’t.

I also hope that the club makes the decision to bring in some experience. Player future profit for PSR purposes is really important but it won’t help resale value if we spend a season down the lower part of the league or worse.

 

[cmajack]

And a more settled squad

Nothing to do with the squad, we had enough quality at our disposal today to have caused them far more problems than we did, and to have got something out of the game. The fact we didn't was down to the manager with his team selection and negative tactics.

 

[Blackpooljack]

I expected to lose (although I expected Boro to be better than they were - miles better). But I also expected to see the hints at least of a style of play that would not involve lumping the ball up field in a fairly aimless fashion.

First half we were relatively tight and I had no problem with that. But second half is when I would have expected some degree of players passing and moving and finding each other that didn’t suggest they met on the bus. In other words, irrespective of result, I expected to see a shape of play beginning to suggest itself. Unfortunately, the only style of play that suggested itself was Stoke City at their most hoof like. We do not have the players for that. So as well as being awful to watch, we won’t be very successful results wise.

I also expected an amount of creativity and drive in our play. I didn’t see any.

It’s early doors and as you said we will bring players in. But it needs to be quick and they need to make an impact.

I hope we will not have to see Fulton starting again for some time (although he was better than Franco today who looked very unfit). I also hope not to see Cullen and Vipotnik as our two main strikers.

At the back we look ok (assuming cover brought in at full back). Elsewhere we don’t.

I also hope that the club makes the decision to bring in some experience. Player future profit for PSR purposes is really important but it won’t help resale value if we spend a season down the lower part of the league or worse.

Exactly as i saw today.

 

[Londonlisa2001]

The big difference for me is this ownership wasn’t there for those managers. I don’t want to blow too much smoke but we have people in charge that will back a manager now, Russell Martin didn’t have that in his second season especially. I think if these owners had been in charge back then, we’d have gotten Matt O’Riley for example.

I wouldn’t say he “earned” it, I don’t think it works like that. It wasn’t a given for me that he got it. The decision makers will go with who they want to go with regardless. They still did a fair bit of looking around at other managers.

I’m not a Sheehan out type despite how this post looks but I’m a bit more concerned after today.

I will be forever grateful we didn’t give Martin any more money than we did.

An awful manager. And one that we are still recovering from.

 

[cmajack]

And a more settled squad, if you were seriously expecting cohesion today despite all the transfers in and out, lack of fitness due to injuries and a disrupted pre season and an incomplete squad (including a first choice 9) then no wonder you’re disappointed. As a comparison, a colleague of mine is a Bristol City fan and he tells me they’ve only lost a few players and brought in 3-4, different level of change to the playing staff, despite a change of manager.

A lot of our transfer work so far was done reasonably early, so what could possibly be the excuse for a performance like that. It was as if 15 total strangers met up Play football for a kick about . If the defence had shown problems today i would have understood it, with Cabango being absent in pre season, but it wasn't. We created nothing, and we have had 6 weeks to sort out a style best suited to the players we have. Pre season friendlies were a disaster, we created very little in them, and that has just carried on into todays non event.

 

[cmajack]

I will be forever grateful we didn’t give Martin any more money than we did.

An awful manager. And one that we are still recovering from.
[/QUOTE

I will be forever grateful we didn’t give Martin any more money than we did.

An awful manager. And one that we are still recovering from.

The one after wasn't much better either, and personally i didn't want Sheehan to have it either, though it was difficult not to give it to him. I thought a clean break away from the Martin era was best for the club and would have given it to Hellborg myself.

 

[Swansea93]

Hellberg has been on the phone to Rich & Modric already

 

[sit_down_jack]

I will be forever grateful we didn’t give Martin any more money than we did.

An awful manager. And one that we are still recovering from.

In some respects I agree with you. Martin is too dogmatic to manage in the Premier League in my opinion. However, I think he did get it right with us albeit right at the end. He’s the type of manager where more money and resources do help for the championship because he needs better calibre players to play the way he wants to. That’s why he struggled in the Premier League though, his players were the worst in that league at that time and his style was only ever going to end in football suicide.

 

[Dr. Winston]

In some respects I agree with you. Martin is too dogmatic to manage in the Premier League in my opinion. However, I think he did get it right with us albeit right at the end.

He was forced into it by results so bad that most other managers would have been sacked long before. There's no real evidence to suggest that had we given him even more money to piss away things would have been different. Indeed, his subsequent career at both Southampton and Rangers say otherwise.

 

[monmouth]

Martin was shite. Full stop.

Unfotunateterly Shhehan might follow him, if he carries on the way he’s started. No one can be optimistic after watching that today