Shambolic Boro looking dead

THERE were moments in this debacle when Steve Agnew gestured for Middlesbrough to calm down. Perhaps it is time he gave blind panic a go.

What a shambles, what a horrible mess, what a clear sign that Middlesbrough are going back to the Championship.

They were crushed on just about every measure, the victims of a sustained beating by Bournemouth but also guilty of making life dreadfully hard for themselves through their own massive shortcomings.

Those have typically centred on the most ineffective attack in the division but here the pain was deeper, given it was the defence who failed so spectacularly and so uncharacteristically.

Gaston Ramirez’s red card in the 20th minute did not help, but even with 12 men it is hard to see how they would survived this game, which was won by strikes from Josh King, Benik Afobe, Marc Pugh and Charlie Daniels.

Even if Boro beat Sunderland in their next game, the following two are against Manchester City and Chelsea. There appears to be no escape.

Agnew said: ‘It is a very emotional dressing room, lots of angry players, disappointed players. We will all be in tomorrow morning to address the situation.

‘We have to be realistic — it’s a huge challenge, but all we can do is dust ourselves