02/03/2020 – Riverside

A massive game tonight as Boro play Forest at the Riverside. Can we stop this amazing slump and fight back up the table?

We will need to tackle promotion chasing Nottingham Forest who boast one of the best away records in this division. They beat us home and away last season, whacked us in actual fact, yet this season Paddy McNair's penalty saw us draw level at the City Ground and share the points.

A point each tonight will not be sufficient to see us leapfrog Stoke City and so out of the bottom three. That is the task at hand we need to restore pride and belief with a victory against the 4th place team trying to cement their play off credentials over the final couple of months of the season.

It is amazing to think back to quite how quickly things have unravelled for Jonathan Woodgate and Boro. I was reminded today that just over two weeks ago we were leading ten men Wigan 2-1 and so coasting well above the relegation zone. Since shipping that final own goal everything has been downhill so fast. Unnervingly so.

But can restore confidence as quickly as we have lost it? For me that can only come from the old cliché of all pulling together. I don't think there is sufficient time now to regroup and refocus under a different manager. We have to put our faith and support in the present regime. Think of the spirit of Leo and that bond that means the world to all of us and build around that.

If young players are struggling to come to terms with the pressure, help them out, don't get on their backs but support them.

More seasoned fans with longer memories will be able to reflect on incredible escapes from relegation, maybe none so dramatic as the last ditch 4-2 victory over Newcastle United under Colin Todd. Bernie Slaven, our saviour had departed, the team had slipped from Wembley final defeat to the brink of the 3rd flight. Yet we all rallied on that last day and backed the team with the kind of atmosphere that folk were still talking about 20 years later. It was the kind of occasion that stood out, even when held up against future cup finals and European triumphs. It was so special because the fans were there with Ian Baird and Bernie Slaven and co. and we hammered the Geordies. They were denied automatic promotion and we were saved from relegation. Let's forge new memories again starting tonight. Let's pull together to topple the tricky Trees, Albert Adomah and Sammy Ameobi and all. Make this the start of our comeback. Teams rise and fall in this division constantly lets show that we can rise up once again tonight. A couple of months ago we could beat anyone. We need to restore that confidence and get behind our team.

Come on Boro and Up The Boro

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