There is a ‘really strong possibility’ that Middlesbrough will miss out on the play-offs due to their conservative style, according to their former striker Noel Whelan.
Swansea were the latest side to get the better of Boro with a 3-1 victory at the Liberty Stadium. That made it six defeats in a row for Tony Pulis' men, a poor run which has seen them drop out of the play-offs and into eighth.
They are now four points adrift of the top six and have six games left to save their season. Seven days ago, Middlesbrough were 11/10 with Sky Bet to finish outside of the top-six, they are now 1/6.
"Middlesbrough were poor [in defeat to Norwich]," Whelan said in the latest edition of Sporting Life’s Sky Bet Championship podcast.
"They’ve got no pace, their passing is slow, they are an ageing side, boring to watch and it does not matter if you can defend a 1-0 lead when you are behind. You’ve got [Jordan] Hugill and are making a substitution on 86 minutes when you have been 1-0 down for most of the second half.
"That, to me, is not good man-management. I like Tony Pulis, but you’ve got Hugill sitting on the bench and bring him on for three or four minutes to try get back into a game, that should have been done 25-30 minutes ago.
"If I was [Britt] Assombalonga, I’d hate playing in that side. It is rubbish to watch, poor.
"When I’ve been at Middlesbrough, we’ve always had flair players, passing, it’s exciting. To watch that, you feel sorry for the fans."
Whelan, 44, who made 62 appearances for Boro in a three-year spell on Teesside, says with or without promotion they will need to invest in the summer.
With just 40 goals scored in 38 games, they are the lowest scorers in the top 13 in the Sky Bet Championship and the conservative style has attracted criticism from the club’s fans.
Whelan continued: "You’ve got to have a bit more forward thinking about a team, you’ve got to have a balance. Defending, creativity, attacking. Goals win you football matches and they are not scoring enough to win.
"It is a bit of both [about style as well as results], but it’s all about winning.
"Fans come and pay money. I watched it the other night and could have fallen asleep it was that bad, they were that poor. There’s no pace or intensity to their play, it’s very laboured and you won’t win football matches like that.
"Maybe that’s what [chairman Steve Gibson] thinks he needs to get out of the Championship. But it’s not – look at Norwich and Leeds, very, very attacking [teams].
"They go out and take it to teams with their attacking style, intensity, quick one-two passes and they cut through teams.
"I just find Middlesbrough very strange and they’ve got a very dangerous opportunity they could miss out on the play-offs because of their defensive football.
"This is the best chance any teams in the Championship are going to have because next season they are going to have to spend a lot of money.
"I think there’s a really strong possibility they will miss out, there’s nothing for me to suggest they are better than Derby or Bristol City."
- Hear more from Noel Whelan, Gareth Jones, Tom Carnduff and Dom Newton-Collinge on the latest Sky Bet Championship Podcast - click the image below to find out how to listen...
Odds correct as of 1700 GMT on 02/04/19
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