Middlesbrough 5-1 Norwich City: Paddy Davitt Championship pointers

1. Abject

A night to seize the opportunity. A night to wave the white flag more like. This was a tired, jaded injury-hit squad meeting a team on the up. Middlesbrough had energy, drive, ambition. Norwich lacked the clinical edge at either end of the park. Defensively they were clueless – both individually and collectively.

City were aggrieved at the manner of the second home goal, with Sam McCallum lying prone on the turf and the hosts electing to play on after the official had restarted play.

Perhaps the scale of the anger from David Wagner, his coaches and players was triggered by Norwich putting the ball out of play for treatment to former loanee Aaron Ramsey earlier in the content.

But come on.

This was no hard luck story. What unfolded thereafter was embarrassingly weak. With Grant Hanley, Ben Gibson and Kenny McLean absent through injury this was a rudderless ship.

Whatever Wagner said to his players at the break they shipped a fifth within four minutes.

Chuba Akpom was the latest home attacker afforded the freedom of the Norwich six yard box. Wagner had seen enough before the hour with a quadruple change.

But Norwich fans have seen enough most of this season. It needs a refresh from top to bottom. New personnel, new ideas, new approach.

2. Edgy

One statistic above all told the tale of this tape. At half-time, after a surrender from the Canaries that had to be seen to be believed, Boro had mustered four shots in total, four on target and plundered four goals.

A conversion to have the data analysts drooling. Park the charitable nature of City’s ‘defending’ for a moment and focus on their output at the other end of the pitch.

Before Ramsey had gleefully rifled Middlesbrough in front Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent had both spurned the type of chances they would have slotted in their most fertile periods of this season.

There were more chances after the hosts had gone in front.

Sargent inexplicably sidefooted a close range effort that had so little punch or direction the grounded Zack Steffen was able to stick out an arm to divert. Sargent did eventually find the net when he profited from Paddy McNair’s error to roll underneath Steffen, but the game was already up.

Since that high watermark against Millwall Norwich have mustered only three other goals in seven games. The way Boro moved the ball with speed and intent to confuse labouring Norwich defenders for that late first half goal burst spoke volumes.

Wagner maintained recently he was not concerned at the lack of goals from his frontline. He should be. The debate might necessitate a wider overview about midfield set ups, and the balance of this side, but the inescapable truth is his strikers have failed to deliver when it mattered.

3. Shuffling Sara

If any further evidence was needed - in the case for the offence and the defence when it comes to Gabby Sara - this was the definitive sample.

The man from Brazil, who capped a super show at Millwall in a more advanced midfield posting with a wonderfully athletic winner, has found himself operating in a more withdrawn role since.

Partly in truth due to injuries, but maybe also on Wagner’s part, a nod to Sara’s growing influence and ability to operate in a multitude of positions. Witness that break forward and lashed finish at Ewood Park on Good Friday.

But he is not a defensive midfielder/holding midfielder (delete as applicable). Witness the sloppiness that contributed to Boro’s third and fourth goals.

Note on the latter he even had a chance to redeem the free kick he naively conceded on the edge of his own area in first half stoppage time, when the delivery dropped to his unfavoured right peg. A weak stab was returned with interest.

Stick him further forward, with the licence to impact what is happening at the sharp end, and you get the awareness and the execution for an early chip that led to Pukki’s chance.

Or the loft perfectly to the feet of Onel Hernandez, who picked out Sargent for another big first half moment.

Or when he unleashed that hammer of a left foot with a strike from range that had Steffen beaten, but slammed the inside of his far post.

The growing worry now of course is this body of work has already alerted suitors at a higher level in this country and abroad.

City may well find their resolve tested in the upcoming summer transfer window. In which case where Sara is deployed will be a moot point. It will be someone else’s problem.  

4. Push button start

At what point do those inside the camp admit the game is up and step up the planning for the what next?

Publicly there can be no such concessions, with Norwich’s capitulation at the Riverside only the first instalment in this weekend’s Championship promotion episode.

Not in words but in deeds we saw more evidence of what could lie ahead as part of a Wagner rebuild, in the returns of Jon Rowe and Sam Byram after long term injury in the second half.

Abu Kamara made his senior debut in the recent home defeat to Sheffield United. The desire to see something new, something fresh will grow between now and the end of the season.

You can see Pukki being phased out of frontline duty until his Blackpool swansong on the final day of the regular season. There may be others who face a similar fate.

But this is not about turning full circle and thrusting youth into the vanguard. Jonny Howson was given a standing ovation when he departed late in the second period by the home fans. No doubt a few of the travelling support joined in as well, in recognition of his sterling service in green and yellow.

Howson is 35 next month but has recently signed a one year extension.

He could be back in the Premier League very soon, and he remains the heartbeat of this Boro side. There is a place for experience and leadership and role models in Wagner’s revamp. He just has to decide who fits the bill within this current squad.

5. Riled Ramsey

The script was written for Ramsey to notch against the club he spent the first half of this season on loan, after following the same path from Aston Villa as Dean Smith had before him.

Once Smith was jettisoned, Ramsey was returned to sender with undue haste.

Albeit the suggestion from former City interim coach Allan Russell over the festive period was the attacking midfielder would be out for ‘months’ with knee ligament damage suffered at the winter sunshine camp in Tampa.

As it turned out he surfaced on Teesside in the closing stages of the January window, and was back on the park by mid-February.

Since when he has now notched five goals in 11 loan appearances.

But the manner of his chirpy goal celebration, as he ran directly towards the pocket of away support, hinted at a sense he felt some sort of perceived grievance.

There was a finger to his mouth, in a gesture of silence, before turning his back and making a point of showing the name on his shirt to the travelling support.

It did not work out for either party in East Anglia.

The 20-year-old should take his share of responsibility for that. City fans are in their rights to question the sliding doors moments around Smith’s Carrow Road exit, and what it meant for Ramsey. That should not be taken as a slight on the England youth international’s ability.