Time To Look Beyond Window Pain

Sailing a little closer to the wind regarding official editorial policy than usual on this and your last blog AV - great to see! Keep up the good work.

You never know, a little semi-official media pressure on the management, tactics and players to perform rather than the rather generous ride they are usually given (not in particular by yourself I hasten to add) by the local media might pay dividends.

Now we know what resources we're stuck with (as if we didn't already after yesterday's tumbleweed inducing levels of excitement), would you care to spend a little more time on our side of the fence and name the team (and more importantly the formation/positions they should actually play) that you would personally like to see start against Sin City?

AV, do you think it is still possible for Gibbo to lower our expectations?

The reason we have no money left is because the YTS boy Gareth blew £30m on Alves, Mido, O'Neil, Emnes and Hoyte - none of whom were either able or deemed good enough to start our last crucial game against Backburn.

I agree, theoretically we have some winnable games coming up in March (none in February) - just in the same way we had half-a-dozen winnable games in the last 12.

Yes I also hope Gareth was watching Masterchef as he needs to replace some of his half-baked offering of late that have only proved to be a recipe for disaster.

**AV writes: The reason we have no money left is that for a decade the combined TV and gate money has barely covered the wage bill and so every single transfer since we moved to the Riverside has been done with borrowed money - either from Gibbo or from the bank.

Further, the reason we have no money is that almost all those transfers have made a massive loss because they were older players with no resale value. Just think Ugo - £8m, Maccarone £8m, Southgate £6m, Viduka, £4m... not a penny back in sales. Chasing the dream like for a decade has left the club with a debt at a time when the banks are not happy or capable of extending credit.

That policy is what has to change.

Adam

It certainly is a crucial month but the month just gone by was even more crucial. We got two points out of Sunderland/Blackburn at home and West Brom/Chelsea away. Ideally we needed say 6 ponts from the fellow strugglers. Those results dropped us down amongst the dead men.

The matches this month are not against teams around us, if anything are harder with Citeh at Eastlands - currently 10th with 28 points -followed by Wigan in 7th with 33 points and Liverpool 2nd with 51 points.

If we cant get points off fellow strugglers then we just have to get them elsewhere, some of my points from unlikely sources so why not start on Saturday.

I can understand in general the lack of activity from Boro during the last two days of the transfer window. Before this statement attracts a volcanic eruption of criticism, let’s look at our options all around the pitch.

Defence : we have enough defenders in all positions except left back, and I have to confess, this is one position that I thought we would have filled during this window. There has to be plenty of options out there who could have been brought in. I recall Hull’s left back Ricketts, a rather ordinary footballer, having a significant impact on the game when we played them at their place. He was far more effective that day than Andrew Taylor defensively AND offensively than Stew Downing, and he cost peanuts from Swansea.

That aside, we have enough strength in depth individually. Let me move on before I return to explore the possible problems in that department.

Midfield : Again, we have many options, when all players are fit, and yes I realise that is a big statement given the record of ‘training injuries’. O’Neil, Digard, Shawky, Arca, Walker, Downing, Johnson, Aliadiere (?), Tuncay (?), Emnes (?) and yes Matt Bates. If we cannot field a decent four out of that eleven then why are they in the squad? A part of the club?

Strikers : Alves, King, Aliadiere (?), Tuncay (?), Emnes (?)

I believe we have a squad as good as most teams outside of the top five. Then why are we in deep trouble? Why are we on a shocking run of defeats and struggling draws?

It has to come down to the approach of the management, in terms of tactics, in terms of instilling confidence. I could not believe GS’s comments following the disappointing defeat against Everton at home, something along the lines “
we suspected they were a little low on confidence and are not surprised at the outcome
”. If a manager suspects his workers are low on confidence isn’t it his job to pick them up BEFORE going to work instead of using it as a justification after a poor performance??

Tactics? If a manager believes in his players, and we have heard GS testify to this many times, surely he should select a team and set them up play to their strengths.

The Blackburn game was
.annoying. That is the best description I can come up with because the game was there for the taking yet we were too afraid to go and take it.

In addition, to return to our defending, at times we have looked distinctly poor in that department especially from dead ball situations. How can a partnership of Southgate and Cooper oversee such woeful conceding week in week out?
Secondly, how many times do we see our full backs (centre backs?) overlapping, attacking?

My overall point here, is that the squad may very well be good enough to compete in this league and secure a comfortable mid-table position given the balance and the freedom to play. However the seeming inability of the management to recognise the best eleven and the best formation after all this time in charge is shackling our progress and instilling a defeatist culture throughout.

Take note of Tuncay. We all know of his capabilities – we have seen it early season. Yet his form and body language of late tells a story of disillusionment and frustration.

Bringing in one or two more individuals on the last day of the window, in my opinion, would not have had a significant affect while we continue to play players out of position, adopt a defence strategy and ultimately prevent flair players playing with flair.

The message should be : go out and attack, pass and move, stretch defences, get players into the box and when we lose possession get men behind the ball.

If the squad is of adequate quality then it comes down to the management to get the best out of them. For the past ten weeks this has not happened. I suspect the players feel the very same way.

Nice to read something positive.

For the record I don't think we are going to go down, sure it will be a close shave, however, there are enough points to be won that will ensure safety.

Even the bookies are not sure who's going down and are offering generous odds that we're already down. http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/barclays-premiership/barclays-premiership/relegation

I didn't think we would bring in last minute reinforcements and in a way i'm glad. It could be that Mr Gibson has decided to part company with Southgate at seasons end so it would be folly to give him any more money to waste on under achievers, just as it would be bringing in a new man at this stage and giving him no funds.

Let's see the season out and start afresh. If Mr Southgate does manage to keep us up, I just hope we don't get the usual "lets give him another chance,at least he kept us up." It's time for a complete change,and that means clearing out the backroom staff. Jobs for the boys did not work when Robbo was manager and its failing miserably now.

After Saturday's debacle its difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel. We need 6 wins at least and we have only managed 5 out of 24. It's a tall order but the fans at least will remain loyal - but we will not stand for any more spineless performances. It's over to you Mr Southgate, and please no more team selections made up of 50% centre-backs... it's embarrassing.

AV, I think you misunderstood my point - Gareth (or the club) has recently spent £30m on players that weren't picked to start our most crucial game. Alves was dropped, Mido was loaned out, Hoyte not played in favour of Wheater out of position and Emnes is apparently a 'Project' - O'Neil wasn't able to play but is not sure of a starting place. My point is that the precious £30m should have been better spent if money is so tight.

Also I disagree that Maccarone was too old to have resale value - he was just overpriced and lost confidence under Mac. Plus we could have got money for Viduka but we let him run his contract down in the hope he'd resign. Though I agree Ugo and Southgate (can you sell managers?) were never going to give us a return.

So I accept that the new policy is required but it hasn't stopped us making bad decisions of late.

**AV writes: There is no doubt what little money has been available has not been spent wisely. The biggest investment this summer - whatever division - should be on ripping apart the entire scouting network and replacing it with the best, most extensive and pro-active system money can buy.

Cattermole was getting distracted, he had to go. Yeah, Gareth has made some mistakes in the transfer market but nowhere near as many as Roy Keane did before leaving them in the lurch.

We just need to revert to Downing on the left wing and Tuncay playing off Alves. Stick with it and results will come. When Ali's back we'll have him on the right and Emnes to come off the bench. King looks poor but Mido was more trouble than he was worth.

I would like to know what has happened to the attacking football we saw at the start of the season, which earned us plaudits from across the country and GS a manager of the month award?

Yes we missed hatfuls of chances, but the important thing was that we were creating chances; if you dont score goals you can't win games, and if you don't shoot then you can't score. The last few games have been painfully devoid of creativity and genuine chances.

Enough of the back to basics defending and trying to sneak one on the counter attack, while still defending naively. Lets get two wide men, two forwards, at least one full back who isn't a central defender who will get forward and support the attack (I know we've got one!). We are in real danger of going out with a whimper.

After the Villa win we had something like 17 points from 12 games, we need another run like that to keep us above the trapdoor.

What seems particularly pleasing from these posts are the real lack of negativity from the authors. I also believe that our first team is good enough to survive in this league and now the injuries are healing and suspensions are ending, BUT does Southgate know his best eleven?

So Cattermole was an headless chicken when he was here? Yes, I agree to a certain degree. However, he has gone to Wigan very rarely gets booked and is near enough man of the match in every game played.

This is down to the manager and how he gets them to play for them, he is not playing out of position, but in a position that is natural for him. When he first came into the BORO team he looked the part and then fell apart due to the positions the manager played him in.

Are we not seeing exactly the same with Wheater? He is no longer in the thoughts of Cappello for any England team, simply because after playing so well Southgate decided to play him out of position and the lad has never been the same since.

This manager is a joke. By the way I am writing from Kazakhstan this is further away than spain. Near or far, does it make any difference, we all see the same games and the way the team is playing.

All the talk of economics is irrelevant. We have more than enough quality in the squad to survive and even move into the top half of the league but untill we have a manager who can motivate, organise and strategise the resources we have available we will be urinating into the wind.

Operating from a low cost base requires huge managerial skill and experience so expecting a rookie to do this is unreasonable and will not work. This applies to all businesses in hard times. For as long as Steve Gibson does nothing to ensure we are covered in this area - the club will go backwards - rapidly.

We are all of the consensus that the manager and backroom staff need to be changed.

I would like to start a debate by naming Martin Jol as GS replacement. I cannot think of anyone else who is suitable. I would not entertain Curbishly, O'Leary, Hoddle, Souness. The other option could be Paul Ince but would be deemed a gamble and the gambling with managers has too stop. Over to you for any thoughts.

I think the perspective that the previous transfer policy was 'unwise' is an interesting one. While I totally agree that buying experienced players on high fees inevitably means that when they leave there is no resale value its important to remember why it was done.

It was done to build an experienced team that could deliver success which it did.
We won the Carling cup, had two seasons in Europe and reached the UEFA cup final, plus two FA cup semis. That is what the old transfer policy brought us - unwise? I would question that.

Steve Gibson was generous enough to fund Boro from his Bulkhaul profits, for which I will be eternally grateful. What has changed is that in the last 2/3 years fuel prices have rocketed which will have ripped Bulkhaul's profits to pieces, we are now in a recession, haulage is hard hit, Gibson will be doing well if his haulage business breaks even this year, he may even need to get Boro to 'repay' some of the loans back to the haulage business, who would begrudge him that? Not me.

The clubs transfer policy has for ten years being funded by a succesful haulage business operating during ten years of growth and plenty, now the cash has run out, for a few years at least.

It may result in Boro not being able to afford to stay in the prem. If so then hopefully we can fall back on our 'low cost' academy continuing to turn out good quality players in order that we can compete in the Championship and rebuild. Or even better we survive this season and the young inexperienced squad is next year more able to compete in the Prem.

Our current position is not necesserily entirely a reflection on the quality of the management, managers are only as good as the players they can buy.

As for Lee Cattermole, I wish I had a quid for everytime I read about an ex player playing so well and what a mistake it was to sell him. We'll see if he can maintain the form for a few years, maybe he can or maybe he has a point to prove because he was kicked out by Boro and will fade away. I would have sold him, he was always average for Boro and Digard looks much better for my money.

Smoggy In Exile

The debate about Gate changing as his badges beckon has been on here before. I have alluded before to the fact that at infant school level the 'coach' puts players where they are best suited and as you approach the pinacle (as badges kick in) the logic of 'left footed left side' seems to have evaporated, lost amongst the marxist maxims of coaching speak.

I agree about the 'stuck with' as regards the players. They were the same players who played well at Villa, they are professionals and should be good enough for the job. I probably look at it too simplistically and see it as a case of organising them to best use their skills and giving tham a framework to do well.

AV

I have enough problems with the number of work related sites and sourcing systems and our computers without risking changing browsers. Sadly, I will just have to wait until you become chief executive of Trinity Mirror. Power to the people!

New signings or no new signings, it's irrelevant to me as Mr Southgate had enough fit and available players for the Blackburn game, but he chose a poor, negative team to settle for a draw before kick-off and he never tried to win the game throughout.

He may care deeply about MFC, but he's a scared man, a rabbit in the headlights, who's decision making is that of a man at panic stations.

If Gareth doesn't have the bottle to attack teams we will go down! Playing for draws is all well and good, but we've scored only 18 goals in 24 games so far and some people think we will stay up, who's kidding who. Without goals we are gone!

Gareth is making McIdiot look like the tactical genius he thought he was!!

Much is being made of the economic climate etc and the affects it is having on the club etc....

What I want to know is when Southgate took over was this model already in place? Was he aware that from that point MFC was no longer going to plough millions into the transfer market for over the hill journey men who give you the chance for instant success?

Did he know that the academy was going to be used as the backbone of the club and that the emphesis to use it would be leaned on more so than ever?

Answers on a postcard please......

My feelings are that no he didnt ,and that the club has shifted ground and left him with a massive challenge and job that even the shrewdest manager and wheeler dealer would find difficult. I have said before that for the model to work there needs to be a man at the helm who can run it from the top and have experience of dealing with this sort of financial restraint and working with in that budget.

Southgate in my opinion will be a very good manager but only if he has the financial support to bring in players that are technically gifted and that are between ages of 17 - 24 with one or two lavish buys mixed in to bring the experience needed to challenge and to bring the younger ones on.

MFC has changed and Southgates methods have had to adapt to the times but if its not his philosophy to play that way does he have full faith in himself and was this seige mentallity an underlying blast at the heirachy for financially handcuffing him?

The more i think about it and look at his comments he is coming across as a frustrated, lost soul and that is not Sareth Southgate the man, the leader the winner.
I want him to succeed i want him to be a top manager and i want him to be at Boro but can he do it and does he have the beleif and confidence to challenge those that knock him?????????

COME ON BORO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**AV writes: I think the intention WAS there from day one, even if the model had not yet started to be implemented. I think the fact that the club wanted to go down this route may well have been one of the factors in Martin O'Neill not being pursued beyond the initial talks or the German even getting that far. All the senior officials at the club are in agreement that a more prudent model is the only viable way of the club having a top flight future although they know it is strategy that brings risks.

Smoggy In Exile - while you may not feel "we are stuck with what we've got", a lot of them are stuck with us! Downing, Tuncay and O'Neill all apparently want out, as did Mido, and the rest of the team will know this, dragging everyone down.

The rest of the experienced midfield either GS doesn't rate or don't want to play for him, hence the choice of the kids in central midfield, perhaps GS thought that they were the only ones willing/able to put a shift in.

So, from the midfield we have Shawky and Arca not rated, (get rid / benchwarming) Downing, Tuncay and ONeill off regardless at the end of the season, leaving Johnson and Digard to build a team round.

Saving the club from relegation is possible but only if the wantaways can be motivated to play, and the message can be spread to the rest of the team that everyone's up for it.

Combine this with a nice sensible team selection and a midfield that's encouraged to go forwards, play the ball to the wide men, and strikers in correct positions up front, and we have a chance.

The team selection for the Blackburn game WAS mystifying, frustrating, or just plain bad. It was all of those things and signalled that the team was being selected out of fear and by a manager who needs some experienced help quickly.

The transfer window IS now closed so we go with what we've got, and in my opinion what we've got SHOULD be good enough even now.

The premiership IS gradually being 'bought out' by billionair's, so leaving less and less room for clubs run by mere millionaire's.

Steve Gibson HAS bankrolled the club for the last 14 years, giving us supporters the best 14 years we've ever had. Now due to the economic situation in the world this level of financial support is no longer possible.

Maybe SG CAN'T get rid of GS even if he wanted to. He'd have to pay up his contract (clubs usually do this, SG did with Robbo), a new manager would need a substantial contract, his own backroom staff (more contracts to pay up and new ones to provide). A new manager would also want significant money to spend in the summer. I just don't think that the club has the money to do all this.

I posted last season that what we were seeing at Boro were the 'good times'. The trouble with good times is that they don't last forever and we at Boro should know that better than most. God knows when you've seen a team managed by Raich Carter get relegated to the old third division you know what bad times are.

We ARE stuck with what we've got so we may as well make the best of it. Let's try and keep the club in the premiership (even if for just one more season), but if we do end up in the championship then we have to make the best of that too.

This is all just part of being a Boro fan and I hope next season if we are in the championship large numbers will renew their season tickets, I know I will.
But let's turn up and give it all we've got to keep the club up.

WE ARE NOT DOWN YET.

MacClaren was a dead man walking when he got the England job.

He had done his job but couldnt take us any further, the alleged back room rebellions amongst the troops bear witness to that. True or not the damage was done. Gibbo and Lamb going on air comment enough on the situation.

The squad needed totally reshaping whether Mac stayed or not. I repeat yet again the league form was pants long before Eindhoven, the players couldnt be roused for bread and butter games. That was the type of squad we had. Ageing and expensive.

A similar process may have been followed with Mac still here but (hopefully AV will back me up if he can remember) even when people were calling for Macs head my view was that he was going whatever at the end of the season and no purpose would be served in sacking him mid season. The bonus was the FA giving us some money as well.

The project since has become somewhat derailed.

"We are all of the consensus that the manager and backroom staff need to be changed."

I'm not. I want him to stay at least till the end of his contract.

Martin Jol? Have a look at the Bundesliga table. Hamburg are challenging for the title. They beat Bayern just last week. They are home to a 2nd div club in the cup quarter finals and are going along nicely in the UEFA Cup. Why on earth would he even consider swapping all that for Boro?

Over on the Gazette's "Boro Forum" board there is a thread asking people to declare now the total points they expect Boro to score this season, along with a Y/N on whether they expect us to survive the drop.

It seems to echo the balance of opinion on this blog, with a majority committed to the cause and ready to hope against hope that there will be a turnaround and we'll survive, somehow.

As an incorrigible foam-hander, my own prediction is for us to score 38 points.

As a hard-headed gambling man, I predict that our 38 pts will leave us in 18th place and that we will go down.

My gut-feeling is that salvation lies in GS reverting to his (early season) winning strategy of going for broke and playing the best attacking side Boro can muster.

My dread is that we will try to eke out survival with low-score draws, finish 18th and then go down on goal difference.

Sadly, on the evidence, I have to predict my dread result.

The below 21 points from our last 14 games I reckon would definitely guarantee safety at 43 points come the end of the season. Drop 4 of those points and I'm not so certain, drop 5 and I reckon we are over and out.

Man City (A) 1 point
Wigan (H) 3 Points
Liverpool (H) 0 points
Spurs (A) 1 point
Pompey (H) 3 points
Stoke (A) 1 point
Bolton (A) 1 point
Hull (H) 3 points
Fulham (H) 3 points
Arsenal (A) 1 point
Man U (H) 0 Points
Newcastle (A) 3 points
Villa (H) 1 point
WHU (A) 0 points

The question is what is Gareth going to change to ensure we Win 5, Draw 6 and lose only 3? What is absolutely certain is that we need to score goals otherwise we are finished and playing 5 Centre Backs is definitely not the answer.

Perhaps Gareth hasn't done the forecasting part of his Badges yet (as Saturday indicated very clearly). If so then I hope someone at a senior level in the club takes accountability and responsibility to achieve the above as an absolute minimum.

A point I would make to Steve Gibson is that as a businessman you do not get yourself into these situations, and its not as if he couldn't see it coming!

How many words does a picture say - well my belated take of last weekends Foxsports highlights told me in volumes that we were about the poorest team on view, maybe Portsmouth edged us.

Compared to say Stoke, Hull, WBA, Bolton and our two dreaded neighbours we offered almost no attacking fizz,guile or strength. The others had at least one of these qualities. And as compared to the top bunch we are in a different league.

Except for the angst of their respective supporters it's unlikely to make any forseeable difference to the EPL as a competition whichever three of the bottom dozen clubs go down. But on Saturday's evidence unless we can quickly switch on to an EPL worthy level, we are heading to makeway for someone else to have a try.

John in Aus

AV

Surely O'Neill must have been set a 5 year plan at villa? They were nearly relegated a few season back and were swapping managers all over the shop. This will be his 3rd year and yes I agree he has spent a lot of money but would you not agree he has spent it wisely? He buys players to go with a set style of play and also a set formation.

Also the players he has bought the transfer fees aren't a million miles from what we have paid in recent times. We must have spent half of that £90m in the 3 years southgate has been at then helm? The only difference is that in the last year he has splashed a bit more on players that he needs to make the team work: Heskey, Young x 2 but we already have downing, so no need to buy.

We had Yak, Viduka, JFH, would you swap Rochemback for Petrov? The teams in my oppinion are not a million miles apart and we showed that beating them at Villa Park earlier.

The point im making is that for the MFC model to work the money spent and players bought have got to be in line with that model and the way the team is set up to play.
Southgate said he wanted young, energetic, pacey attacking football with youngsters that have something to prove blah blah blah.

Where does Alves fit into that? Yes he is a goal threat but not in this league and his stature is not in the same mold as Heskey or Carew. King is in line with what you need but nowhere near consistent enough and that is the problem. The manager needs to instill the confidence to perform and with that comes the consistence.

I'll stick my neck out and say that on paper Boro are no worse than Aston Villa player for player....

Mr Agnew in today's Gazette has just outlined the we are going to try and stay up by drawing every game between now and the end of the season.

Is the Boro management the only group of people in existence who believe that we can survive relegation with another 14 points? Even this will only happen if the opposition doesn't score past us at all for the remainder of the season - so no chance then.

His interview seems to suggest that scoring the occasional goal would be nice, but isn't exactly a priority. Well just have a look at our players & fans faces during a match when the opposition score and they know we have no way back into the game.

There's far too much use of the word 'confidence' as to why we're doing so badly. Mostly this is absolute tosh. Put the ball at the feet of two strikers 30 times a match with a genuine shooting opportunity and even the least confident team will get two or three goals.

When you are doing anything and things aren't going right you get your head down and keep on doing the things you know will work. Knuckling down, working hard and producing positive attacking play will get us goals, and we need goals to win enough points to stay up.

Regarding the posting issue that's also being brought up, may I suggest no a solution, but a remedy that may help? Once posters are finished typing, right click on the box and click copy, so if the post is lost it can be easily reposted immediately without a massive amount of typing. I know its not a proper solution, but it may ease some of the frustration a little.

"The biggest investment this summer - whatever division - should be on ripping apart the entire scouting network and replacing it with the best, most extensive and pro-active system money can buy."

I disagree totally with this AV because as some of the excellent posters on here have pointed out the problems created are a result of abject, inept, hapless, weak, unintelligent and a spineless management.

Whether high paid foreign imports, steady away domestic pros or promising academy products, every player at this club is under achieving and there is no way with this quality of squad should we be struggling.

The examples of Cattermole and Morrison achieving somewhere near their potential that was largely untapped under Southgate speaks volumes.

No the answer is obvious to the vast majority of Boro fans who possess half a brain; Gibbo needs to spend any money he can afford, or scrape together by paying up the contracts on this manager and his hopeless back room team and get people in that can organise, motivate, direct and orchestrate the undoubted talent that is at our disposal now.

There is not a lot wrong (just the basics, like how to head a ball properly) that anybody with experience and a decent track record in football management could not put right with immediate effect.

Is Gibbo's reluctance to make this hard nosed decision based on economic considerations or does his ego and much trailed, highly respected standing within the sycophantic football media mean more to him at this present time ?

Werdermouth, if only I would read the labels on the side of those bottles before typing, that way I wouldn't have fallen off the stool!

Sadly my foam hands have long since lost their infrastructure and like our strike force, are crumbling rapidly. Regarding us going 10 games and only losing one, I reckon there is more chance of me building 11 Snowmen tonight, putting red shirts on them, transporting them to Eastlands for Saturday lunchtime, playing them in a 4,3,3 formation and winning 4-0.

Ah well here I am sat in my wellies, bags of carrots and coal, scarves at the ready, just staring out the window waiting for those flakes to start falling. Mind you Gareth's tactics are probably far more sophisticated (oh no its those little pink ones in the bottle taking effect again).

In regard to the technical stuff, any attempt at trying to read the Gazette website as a whole is becoming an increasingly slow job. Could it be that there are too many adverts trying to load up? Shame if that's the case because I for one will soon give up trying and will thus never see the adverts in the first place!

However, in regard to football, your ringing out of the telephone in Lamb's office together with the reference to the missed call were spot on, AV, so well done and keep it coming! The truth will out!

Lampard was sent off by our friend Mike Riley (who cant spot two footed penalties - fine chap). He made his decision from behind Lampard, when he saw it again from sideways on later he rescinded his red card. He had played the ball well before Alonso arrived, Alonso actually kicked him.

As an advocate of using video evidence retrospectively I have no quibbles with that at all. It was also used to let off Paul Robinson of West Brom but that looked a well dodgy challenge launched from row Z of the stand. Oddly Mowbray, when he launched the appeal, had a go at 'pally' referees favouring the big teams.

The biggest culprit is Stevie G. In the first half of the match against Chelsea he deliberately drove the ball from a few yards into the Chelsea player lying on the floor. Riley smiled tapped him on the shoulder and carried on, didnt happen like that for Delap the day before. Shortly afterwards he launched himself and went a good foot over the ball into a Chelsea player. No action apart from the smile for Stevie G. Even Andy Gray said the armband was protecting him. Then there was the appalling dive that got him booked, he shouldnt have been there to do it.

Rooney is an appalling example to all young players with his foul mouthed abuse and some dodgy tackles. The problem for him is possibly his background where maybe abusive language is not abusive. We have all sat at matches where we have cringed at some of the language going on around us so we have to be aware where it comes from. But he is paid more than enough to moderate it. One clear way to help is to allow him to spend time reflecting on his language whilst Sir Alex whispers in his shell like that he isnt much use sat in the stands!

I am quite happy for players to be brought to book for their actions by video evidence, goodness knows, I have posted often enough about it. Boronoia is another thing. Mascerano getting Aliadiere sent off and having no sanctions against him is wrong, Luke Young conceding a 'penalty' at Villa are excellant, valid reasons for Boronoia.

It's not about who we did or didn't get this January, although the Harper story is just another humiliating episode for the chairman, the club and the supporters (maybe if the chairman's farm had sold it would have made a bit of difference, if Mrs Gibson concurred). Southgate must be pig sick.

No the real story is about some Boro supporters thinking that Big Mac was a manager at all, never mind best of the last three. If it hadn't been for Big Mac's disastrous transfer policies, some mentioned in the article, but in particular the Spanish superstar, however unfortunate, and the unforgettable Massimo plus not being able to get the Aussie -hit man on the field, and so on and so on, PLUS the despicable ejection of Juninho, then the club would probably be on a sounder footing. Big Mac just proved the critics right in his time as England manager.

But it must not be forgotten that the chairman and his henchman were complicit in all this, and the big payoffs to Big Mac's woeful staff. What Southgate has achieved under the constant crisis situation he has worked under is the best achievement and he's played some good football too.

Robbo and Big Mac were like spoiled kids with too much easy money (sounds like the country as a whole) and we know who gave them all the goodies.

So we're left with Alves, who can do the stuff, and a team who can't consistently supply chances to him or anyone else. For the sake of £1m or so the situation might have changed.

Posters debating the recinding of Frank Lampard (and SW Phillips) red card :
Are we missing one very important point?

As far as I recall Boro did not appeal against Digard's red card. Chelsea and City did so. Who is at fault? The FA or the club for not appealing?

As for tomorrow's game, it goes without saying that we really need to get something out of this game. I fear that if we lose the confidence will be shot to pieces for the rapidly approaching run in.

Incidentally, talking about the "run in", where will Gary O'Neil's interests lie when we play Pompey? Just a thought. No accusations of course.

Less talk from players and backroom staff in the Gazette before games, and more talking from the players by their performances on the pitch, please.

It is still possible to avoid the drop. But we have to start NOW. Fingers crossed for the Manchester City game tomorrow.

Whoever is running our club right now has ripped the heart out of it....Considering that the area is built on steel, not much is on show during games....Whoever is running our club right now is now working on it's soul.