Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick wants to shoulder the blame for the way his side suffered a 2-0 defeat at the Riverside to Plymouth.
Boro were booed off the pitch at half-time and full-time having been unable to break down a Plymouth side who scored twice in the first half.
Matthew Sorinola’s seventh-minute opener arrived when he turned in the rebound following Tom Glover’s failure to put Darko Gyabi’s curling effort out of harm’s way.
And Ryan Hardie’s 13th of the season, after controlling a Gyabi pass and then finishing coolly in the 31st minute, was enough to claim a second away win of the season.
But Middlesbrough, who have not won at the Riverside in the Sky Bet Championship since before Christmas, could not conjure up anything to reduce the arrears.
Despite a 69 per cent share of the possession, Middlesbrough did not have a shot on target and are now 11 points off the top six.
Carrick, whose side beat leaders Leicester seven days earlier, said: “That’s football. The challenge is being successful in the league and to be able to put performances together and results together, every game is different, and we are not getting that mix right at all.
“We know what we are capable of on any given day, but this was not one of those days. As a group, I will take the hit today in terms of decisions I make and how I put the team out. That was on me.
“The boys tried and gave their best today. The longer it went the harder it became, that’s on me today. I will take that one.
“Not many things went right to be truthful. We had an idea of how it would go, what we wanted to do, the way we play. It didn’t pan out that way, that’s on me.”
Plymouth were delighted with their performance on the back of a run of four games without a win. They could have scored more in the first half.
Ian Foster, who took over at the start of the year, said: “The boys were outstanding to a man, and it was probably the perfect away performance. We had a strategy, a game plan and the players implemented it brilliantly.
“I’m disappointed it was only two at half-time and the second half was terrific in terms of our tactical discipline and transition, the building up.
“We don’t get too disappointed when results don’t go our way and we won’t get too excited when they do. We will get results we don’t like and we will enjoy them when we do get the ones we like.
“In terms of a new coach coming in, and the games we have had, the players have done everyone proud.
“I don’t think it has been a turnaround after recent results. Our levels have been very good.”