Defensive frailties / Lenihan / Smith?

mercury_redstone7 said:
I have never rated Lenihan tbh I think he's hopeless, great at pointing and shouting after the event.
Smith wont play for the Boro again, as his contract is over in June and he has been past it for a long time, slow as old boots even prior to his injury.
I guess he was a reasonable player at times though, especially against poorer teams. But Smith at 33 coming back from a bad injury, we would be really hard up and would be showing little ambition if we re-signed him. I barely forgave him for chucking it in against the club he captained to their play off victory Huddersfield. I think he really helped them out when they needed him most in last seasons away game.

I think we should look between now and the beginning of next season to replace a lot of the defenders.

I cant see us making the play offs, although there has still been some decent football played at times. I think some the players hearts aren't big enough, but hopefully he can see the shirkers, or at least I hope he can.

Djiksteel has to go imho, he either injured or banned., which is no good to us at all.
I think McNair is leaving anyhow, I'm not sure about Clarke, see how the rest of the season goes for him.
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Smith's contract runs out in 2025.
 
Smith's also only 31. Should be at the stage where his experience is making up for him being just past his peak physically.
 
mercury_redstone7 said:
I have never rated Lenihan tbh I think he's hopeless, great at pointing and shouting after the event.
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He's bang average. 2 years left on his contract, if he's fully fit in the summer, I suspect well listen to offers. He was free, 1.5m would be a good return, and would appear a bargain for potential buyers as he's very experienced, and still only 29

mercury_redstone7 said:
Smith wont play for the Boro again, as his contract is over in June and he has been past it for a long time, slow as old boots even prior to his injury.
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agreed, very unlikely. Released or free transfer of he has a year left.

mercury_redstone7 said:
Djiksteel has to go imho, he either injured or banned., which is no good to us at all.
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Not technical enough for what Carrick wants. There will be offers for him, he's proven to be ok at this level, and with 1 year left we'll probably be ready to sell, someone will offer 1m for him

mercury_redstone7 said:
I think McNair is leaving anyhow
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agreed, would be nice if he can get fit and we can cash in during January, particularly with CBs being touted to join us. Could get 1m-1.5m for him. Wouldn't be surprised to see Cov enquire. They play it from the back, they prefer to play 3 at the back which works for him and they know he can do a job.

mercury_redstone7 said:
I'm not sure about Clarke
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He's a decent enough player, but probably a little short of what we need. I think he's the least likely of these to leave, but he's got a good standing in the game, so I wouldn't be surprised tog et offers for him.

On top of this, I think it's time for Fry to look for a new challenge, I don't think he'll be first choice next year. With a couple of CBs incoming and RVDB looking a long term shoe in, then it might suit all parties to sell. In fact if Worall is incoming, and we have any offers for Fry, i'd do it in january and play Worrall and RVB with Clarke as backup.
 
All this talk again about central defenders as not good enough when the real shortage of quality is in the fullback areas.
 
Heam44 said:
For several reasons I don’t get to watch as much or the mighty boro as I’d like to. Or as much as many of you lot. I’m limited to a couple of homes games a season and then sky sports live games / red button and highlights. So I’d be interested in others opinions on our defensive issues.

I think we’d all agree - defence is our main issue.

But why?

We’ve got a great manager, who has us playing great attacking football. Is ‘defensive coaching’ his/the mangement teams weakness?

Or are we missing our ‘defensive organisers’ Lenihan and Smith?

Or do we just need a better defensive midfielder? There’s no doubt we are missing Hackney. And it’d be great to get O’Brien back.

Could it be that we haven’t had chance to play a settled back 4?

Or is it a combination of the above?

Do we need better defenders? I don’t think it is. In my opinion the recruitment team have identified some good talent at bargain prices. Personally I’m happy with all of our defenders on an individual basis.

Thoughts?
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I think it's quite a lot of things and you've mentioned a few.
That bit of leadership and know-how is missing
The back four has been changing a lot due to injuries
We've given the ball away in midfield and up front a lot more than last season meaning our defense has got exposed on the break a fair bit
The likes of McGree and Forss have been out who probably give better protection in front of the full backs than the other options.
Our keeper is now missing so we've got a bit worse again
 
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