‘Watching paint dry’: Middlesbrough boss’ forceful verdict after Portsmouth smash-and-grab win
The Middlesbrough boss hasn’t held back on yesterday’s events, as Pompey produced a smash-and-grab win at the Riverside Stadium.
Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg rounded on his players after their promotion suffered a dagger blow against Pompey.
The Swede branded his side’s display ‘boring’, ‘lazy’ and ‘lacking in energy’ as they struggled to break the Blues down, before succumbing to a stoppage-time 1-0 defeat at the Riverside Stadium.
Hellberg’s frustration centred on a lifeless first-half performance, before failing to make more of their openings after the restart.
The Boro boss told the Northern Echo: ‘I’m disappointed, devastated. The performance was poor. First half was terrible, it was like watching paint dry. I don't know why.
‘I must have failed with everything I told them before the game because we weren't good enough. Second half, we come out better.
‘Our best spell was in that first 15-20 minutes in the second half when we created enough to at least score the goal. But we are not efficient enough to do that.
‘To be fair, the defensive part is okay during the whole game. I don't recognise them having any goal-scoring opportunities through the whole game. And then it's a set piece again. Ball comes out, shoots, deflects. I think it's their two shots in that whole game. 96 minutes. Deja vu from the Bristol City game. It’s tough to take.
‘I don't think this was a good performance at all. I’ve praised the performances even when we’ve not won, but not today.
‘Again, we created most of the chances, but this performance was not good enough. It was boring, it was lazy, there was no energy, except in that first 15-20 minutes in the second half.
‘In the first half, it's slow, it's boring, there's no energy. It's not the same way taking the ball back, it's passive.
‘That is the disappointment. But, I want to be clear, we should not lose this game.
Boro 6 games without win and 6 without home success
‘This was poor by the high bar we’ve set ourselves. We maybe don't deserve to win, but you cannot lose this game, when they have no chances in the whole game.'
The defeat for Boro makes it six games without a win at home, matching their past six league outings without victory.
That leaves the Teessiders fourth in the table and two points off second-placed Ipswich Town, who have two games in hand.
Hellberg added: ‘For the moment at home, we're struggling in terms of that, and we, for the moment, find a way to not win. I have to be honest, because everyone sees it. There’s no hiding from that, and that we have to sort out.
‘In general, our structure was not as good as we wanted.
‘That was the negative thing. I’ve praised the performances when they've been good enough. This game, I don't think the performance was good enough.
‘They were unclear with the structure, which means that how we wanted to attack them doesn’t happen. That is a big failure from me, if that was unclear.’