'It was boring, it was lazy' - Middlesbrough FC boss Kim Hellberg 'devastated' after loss to Portsmouth
A “devastated” Kim Hellberg slammed his Middlesbrough side after their 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth.
Middlesbrough’s promotion push in the Championship has been running out of steam at an alarmingly swift rate and their woes continued at the Riverside.
The hosts enjoyed the lion’s share of possession yet couod not break Portsmouth down.
Pompey punished Hellberg’s men seven minutes into stoppage time, when they clinched three points via Conor Chaplin.
Kim Hellberg slams Middlesbrough
Hellberg said: “I’m disappointed, devastated. The performance was poor, actually. 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.
“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, it’s no energy. It’s passive. That is the disappointment.
“But, I want to be clear, we should not lose this game. 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.”
Middlesbrough have slipped to fourth in the Championship table and are three points behind second-placed Ipswich Town having played two more games.
Praise from Portsmouth boss
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho reserved praise for Boro, citing their attacking threat as the reason for his side’s pragmatic set-up.
He said: “This Middlesbrough side are such a good team, they’ve been in the top two for 90 per cent of the season.
“They have brilliant attacking players, brilliant defensive players as well. They’re so dangerous and that was part of the reason we set up as we did.
“We had to defend for long stages and get through some dark moments for the boys at the back.
“We did get lucky, let’s be honest we got lucky, but that’s something we just haven’t had this season. It tends to be the case when you’re down the bottom.”