Was Karanka right to go for 3 points and glory - brave or foolish?

[Lighthouse]

But if they had that extra point. Bournemouth would still need a point from their final game to be sure. Instead Boro blew it.

Have I mentioned the tale of King Henry VIII and his court jester. Henry was old and told his Jester that the jester no longer made him laugh and would be executed . But the Jester said to Henry that he could make Henry's horse talk in a month.

Why did you do that said the Jester's mates.

Well by then, I may die, the king may die or the horse may talk. Said the jester.

Boro would still be in the race. Now they are not on a foolish gamble.

Oh I have mentioned it before.

[RaySmith]

inthought as i saw the goalkeeper went forward it was one of the daftest descions i had ever seen on a football flield.

he had 1 point, he risked that... percentages say the chances of scoring at a corner are so very remote... and with only 10 men the chance of a break was always likely..... 1 point pit pressure on bournemouth.... after that there was prescious little.... if kit would have done the same the boiard would be in meltdown

Have to agree. I can just imagine how our fans would be supporting the brave decision had Symons done the same thing. I don't think.

:plus one:

[Cravenawin]

They had to go for it as a point wasn't enough to keep them in the top 2 anyway. His gamble didn't pay off but it was the right decision to make. We where defending so badly at that point that chances are the keeper being up there would have caused enough indecision to give them the win. Luckily for us it didn't work and Ross done them over. I love football......



Sometimes

If Charlton beat Bournemouth and Boro beat Brighton, that mad decision by Karanka will haunt him forever, especially if they miss out on the playoffs. Stupid decision, take the point as it still keeps them in with a shout last day.

[westcliff white]

I still thik it was correct for them at that point in time. Bournemouth for me have been the best team all season and I reckon they thought they wont slip up unless we put real pressur eon them from a win. A draw would not have been enough pressure.

C'est la vie, for us it was great lets go and do norwich now

[ffc73]

Brave and foolish.  Karanka, and the entire Boro bench got caught up in 'the moment'.  Coming back from 1-3 with 10-men, wave after wave of attacks towards the end packed with their supporters screaming them on and us hanging on like a boxer on the ropes.  If anyone was going to win that game it was Boro.....

Hindsight.  Cold light of day.  Well easy to see now. 

I admire the spirit.  Cavalier and foolhardy as it turned out but it was great to watch.

[snarks]

But Ross still had to go round their Keeper inside their Penalty Area.

It wasn't so much sending the keeper up (he got back after all) but only leaving a couple of defenders back. That was the mistake, the keeper thing is just an excuse.

[Rupert]

But if they had that extra point. Bournemouth would still need a point from their final game to be sure. Instead Boro blew it.

Have I mentioned the tale of King Henry VIII and his court jester. Henry was old and told his Jester that the jester no longer made him laugh and would be executed . But the Jester said to Henry that he could make Henry's horse talk in a month.

Why did you do that said the Jester's mates.

Well by then, I may die, the king may die or the horse may talk. Said the jester.

Boro would still be in the race. Now they are not on a foolish gamble.

Oh I have mentioned it before.

It worked for the Duke of Norfolk, due to be executed but Henry died before the sentence was carried out and he was reprieved. I don't think he had to make the horse talk, though, just renounce his religious beliefs.

[Burt]

Brave...

I would have thought that clawing your way back to 3-3 after being 1-3 down with 10 men was a good enough result, with the point still keeping them in the chase for automatic promotion.

So I wouldn't have done it.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

4.53pm on Saturday, we will all know

[horse1031]

Have you seen how we DEFEND corners?  We are probably the worst in the league in defending set pieces.  I think it was a great decision and if they would have gotten a better ball probably would have scored.

Hindsight is always 20\20.

Looking back at that play again it was a bunch of errors from Boro that caused us to get 2 on 1 with the keeper.  Their number 27 jogged back the whole time... why were they not sprinting to get back!?

[Black and White Town]

I guess the logic was:

Bournemouth will probably beat Charlton
Even with a loss, Boro will still be in the playoffs

Therefore, a win would have meant automatic promotion, whereas the points from either a draw or a loss would still leave Boro in the playoffs. So worth the risk IMO, as it has probably left them no worse off than the draw - assuming Bournemouth win.

[HV71]

They had to go for it as a point wasn't enough to keep them in the top 2 anyway. His gamble didn't pay off but it was the right decision to make. We where defending so badly at that point that chances are the keeper being up there would have caused enough indecision to give them the win. Luckily for us it didn't work and Ross done them over. I love football......



Sometimes

If Charlton beat Bournemouth and Boro beat Brighton, that mad decision by Karanka will haunt him forever, especially if they miss out on the playoffs. Stupid decision, take the point as it still keeps them in with a shout last day.

The goal difference is far too great for this to happen. Charlton would have to win 10 -0 and Boro win 9 - 0 to be in with a shout. Karma knew the odds were stacked against them so he took a chance. FairPlay to him.

[DJinNJ]

They had to go for it as a point wasn't enough to keep them in the top 2 anyway. His gamble didn't pay off but it was the right decision to make. We where defending so badly at that point that chances are the keeper being up there would have caused enough indecision to give them the win. Luckily for us it didn't work and Ross done them over. I love football......



Sometimes

If Charlton beat Bournemouth and Boro beat Brighton, that mad decision by Karanka will haunt him forever, especially if they miss out on the playoffs. Stupid decision, take the point as it still keeps them in with a shout last day.

The goal difference is far too great for this to happen. Charlton would have to win 10 -0 and Boro win 9 - 0 to be in with a shout. Karma knew the odds were stacked against them so he took a chance. FairPlay to him.

The point was that they would only be two points down if they had settled for the point against us. The reason they need the 19 goal swing (actually 20 since they have far fewer goals scored) is that they threw away that point.

I agree that ideally they didn't want to count on Bournemouth slipping up, plus they knew Watford had won, and they may have thought Norwich was winning as Rotherham's equalizer came late, so some risk was acceptable. But bringing the goalkeeper up rarely works, and they were already down a man so they basically left the goal open just to get the numbers they would have had for a normal opportunity. I suppose he thought that if they didn't score the whistle would go right after the ball was cleared, and it might have if we weren't looking at an open shot at goal which the ref didn't want to deny. So I can understand it, but for me the benefit of bringing up the keeper is just too small. There's a reason that's it's typically only used when there's nothing to lose, and a point wasn't nothing for Boro.