Tough Guys Muscled Out By Moyes' Men
ANY PROSPECT of a silver lining to this season of gathering storm clouds has gone.
Perhaps it is for the best. Boro were never going to win the cup. Not this year.
But going down at Everton is not like the sickening kick in the teeth of last season's spineless capitulation to Cardiff. Then, with all the big boys out, victory would have given us not just a jolly at the new Wembley but also a frightening REAL chance of winning the trophy we all dreamed of on the playground.
This time a win would have brought with it a toxic distraction.
Blinded by the glint of glory we would have suffered a debilitating bout of cup fever and idiot gibberings about Europe just as our really important games stacked up and then a demoralising, emotionally draining tonking by Manchester United as we turned into the final straight.
And if by some freak we had got past pan-galactic title chasing octuple hopefuls United then probably Chelsea or Arsenal awaited in the final and there is no lucky losers UEFA Cup consolation prize this year.
So, (dips into big bag of football cliches), it is time to concentrate on the league. I would say we had ten cup finals looming but our record so far in that department is terrible - played six, won one, drawn one, lost four - so there is very little comfort there.
What is deeply worrying is that we have been concentrating on the league for seven months now and it has brought little reward. And despite being told on a weekly basis that we are "learning the lessons" we are still alarmingly close to being bottom of the class. Must do better.
The lessons that we are pointedly struggling with are now easy to reel off for students of typical Boro: failing to score goals when we have our spells of pressure, failing to hold onto a lead, failing sustaining a performance over the full 90 minutes, failing to eliminate individual errors in dangerous areas of the pitch and - crucially - dealing with balls into the box.
The television commentary suggested Boro had been 'bullied' out of it which was a perceptive analysis of the season as a whole but not completely true of the grind at Goodison.
If anything it was Boro that were dishing out the physical stuff against Everton. Boss Gareth Southgate admitted after the game that his side had expected a bombardment of the box from a very direct side and had worked on combatting it.
And Boro had clearly decided that high-rise Afro-ed hitman Maraoune Fellaini was the main danger and opted to target him for special treatment. Almost every time the midfielder-turned-targetman climbed in the box he was grappled robustly by Boro's tag-team markers.
At one point Robert Huth had him in a mid-air half-Nelson and at another, when an Everton attack broke down and the crowd in the box departed Emanuel Pogatetz was left rooted to the penalty spot holding him firmly by the throat.
Huth's attentions in particular were so personal that when asked at half-time if there should have been a penalty, Teesside's rent-a-quote ref Jeff Winter said the Berlin Wall wasn't so much guilty of fouling Fellaini as being close to an arrest for sexual assault.
So,naturally, the first time Fellaini did manage to get free in the air he scored.
Everton boss revealed that he - and assistant Steve Round! - had given his side an uncompromising four letter half-time rocket and they responded by stepping up a gear and changing their tempo and shape.
They brought on Louis Saha, a specialist striker, and dropped makeshift frontman Tim Cahill back into midfield where, along with Phil Neville, he wrested control of what had been a close game in Everton's favour and they increased the intensity of the barrage.
As so often, Boro were slow to adapt to the telling change in the dynamics of that game and as they rocked for that short spell they lost their focus and were punished.
Many will point the finger at Brad Jones for the first goal as he was caught well off his line for Fellaini's looping header but in truth the Boro had already been pulled apart defensively before Phil Jagielka put his cross in for the Belgian while Huth was caught napping and failed to climb with (or all over) his man.
And, again, as so often, leaking that goal sparked a chaotic spell in which Boro lost their shape, their momentum and their focus. After a first 45 minutes of discipline and concentration they unravelled just long enough to Thand over the initiative and the lead.
And for a six minutes spell of mental fragility and self-doubt Boro repeatedly failed to clear their lines as crosses were only half cleared, passes went astray in dangerous positions in their own half and Everton men breaking from midfield were not picked up.
For the second goal a sluggish Julio Arca was caught in possession on the edge of the box (and not for the first time) but despite having plenty of men back Boro's defence failed to close down and prevent crosses coming in from first Jagielka then Steven Pienaar before Saha was allowed to bounce up from his misjudged bicycle kick and rush
in unchallenged to put in a glancing header.
At that point the game was gone. For all Boro's first half industry, and subsequent spirited beavering and throwing men forward there was little prospect of their ragged pressure clawing back the deficit. Everton are far more organised in the box.
Boro had played well in the first half with the midfield trio of O'Neil, Arca and Bates in particular - rapidly finding his feet in an unaccustomed position and starting to add well timed penetrating forward runs to his armoury - working very hard to limit Everton to only limited incursions into danger areas.
And they looked lively going forward with Aliadiere's pace and Tuncay's trickery helping earn Boro plenty of possession in and around the Everton box although there were few clear cut chances against a well organised defence. Whenever a Boro player popped in the box Lescott or Yobo were very quickly velcroed onto them.
David Wheater's goal when it came was well deserved. Boro had worked hard to carve out the opening and although it was scrappy it reflected the balance of first half play.
But after Everton stepped up a gear, Boro struggled to stay with them. Even after they had regained their composure after the six minutes of madness they never had the grip on the game they had in the first half and although they worked hard and threw men forward with increased abandon there was no feeling that Everton would be as fragile at the back as Boro had been. There are few teams as practiced at tenaciously defending a one goal lead as David Moyes' men.
Although Marvin Emnes went close as he pounced on the fumbled rebound from Gary O'Neil's free-kick and again fired over after Stewart Downing's stoppage time surging run there was no way back to salvage Boro's Wembley dream.
Which leaves us needing to put that distraction firmly aside and get back down the bread and butter basement battle very quickly. There is no room for error now.
And having just been brushed aside by route one tactics at Everton despite working at it all week, preparing for the bombardment and trying to out-muscle them in the box it is worrying that our next three massive must- win matches are against no frills Portsmouth, Stoke and Bolton that will be every bit as direct as David Moyes outfit.
We must hope we have really learned those lessons this time and apply them quickly because time is running out quickly.
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Anthony Vickers
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Bitterly disappointed with the result against Everton though not entirely surprised.
There is no doubt in my mind Southgate is 'a nearly man'. Good, but not quite good enough, which is how he explains the many defeats we have had this season.
The same old failings re-appeared- unable to defend a lead, unable to score,to gain a draw or make a comeback to win a match. Listening to the match it appeared that we were outfought, 'bullied' by Everton and lacked aggression. If this was so what chance do we have against Pompey, Stoke and Bolton.
This team is too soft,naive and too inexperienced to deal with what is ahead of us. If we can't compete against determined teams like Everton, who unlike us, make a virtue out of adversity, then we will struggle in equal manner in the Championship if we are relegated.
There have been too many individual mistakes and hard luck stories throughout this season and the finger has to be pointed at a management team which has failed to remove the defensive weaknesses we have endured and the puzzlement that players express in post match interviews as to why goals are conceded in the same way and in rapid succession.
My view of the remaining games is borne of hope rather than expectation and I retain the belief that Southgate is not a 'lucky manager' and is a good loser which he has had plenty of practice at this season.
These cuttings from the Everton match report sum up not only our defeat yesterday but our season:
"For 45 minutes Middlesbrough were vibrant and adventurous and Everton were flailing in their response. Ahead when David Wheater powered a header from Matthew Bates' delivery beyond an off-key Tim Howard, the visitors headed down the tunnel in complete control. However a different team and a different mentality re-emerged for the second half."
"That was not the real Everton in the first half and STEVE ROUND got into them brilliantly at half-time," said Moyes. "The principles we have instilled in them were not there, but they were in the end."
Steve Round??, I seem to recall that name from somewhere.
AV, do you know if Afonso is injured or is his absence from the bench last night mean he has fallen off the pecking list. Will he be seen again this season?
**AV writes: Our bench warming record buy was said to be "ill" yesterday.
Hi AV,
I'm a bit of a lurker on your blog, being a Southern Boro fan I always read with interest, and thought the time had come for a post.
There were a couple of glimmers of hope for me -
Firstly, we looked (Arca aside) physically up for this game; too many times this season we've been bullied at the wrong time or shown naivity and it's cost us. With a bit more industry in the middle (maybe bring O'Neill inside to replace Arca, or replace Arca with Walker when fit), then I think we'd have the platform for the second glimmer of hope.
Second glimmer of hope: four from Downing, Tuncay, Ali, Emnes and Johnson as our front four. The pace and technical ability there would be enough to scare any team, and if GS is going to be true to his 'winning four of ten' then we're actually going to have to go for games.
Meh. Maybe I'm living in cloud cuckoo land, but with a physical defence and centre of the park, maybe, just maybe, that'll give the front four the freedom to show us that attacking football we were promised at the beginning of the season, and maybe it will save us.
That's a lot of maybes though...
**AV writes: Welcome aboard.
Everton did not win the game; Jones flapped it away.
Boro were in control until Jones lack of concentration and judgement threw it away. Ok, yes there was mistakes up to the lead of the first goal, but that keeping error can not be forgiven, he’s a professional keeper having a wander is no mans land. If Jones had stayed on his line, then he plucks Fellaini's weak header out of the air! He could see Huth competing for the ball so Fellaini was never going to get much power behind it. Until this pivotal moment Boro were in control.
Brad Jones is scary! even when he plays for Australia everyone is expecting the worst as he is always liable for mistakes and flapping at high balls.
The whole bloody team needs a makeover starting with Gareth Southgate.
Bring back Big Jack Charlton!
Alves - allegedly - had a 'stomach problem'. Lacks one for a fight, probably.
Sadly, on yesterday's showing he's not the only one - either in the team or the dugout. That's the most worrying aspect - amongst many - of the ten game trial coming up.
If you add 'collapsing at the first sign of pressure' to not scoring enough, conceding too many and keeping on playing Arca however much he gives away, then - as Gate admits - you get second from bottom and almost everyone's second favourite for the drop.
Of the something like 20 pundits in various parts of the weekend media only one - Champagne Charlie Nicholas on Sky - didn't have Boro nailed on to go down.
True to type (remember his pre-Villa Park knifing of The Ex) Gate did an interview with his mates from The Sunday Times before yesterday's game. Interesting read.
It seemed very much like getting your 'equalising' excuses in (without making them sound like excuses) before the critical opposition score.
His treatise on leadership was instructive - if obviously flawed, because it doesn't work - and, as it turned out, explained the difference between the home and away dressing rooms at half time yesterday and - as a result - what happened in the second half.
The conclusion was that 'at least we've got a Premiership training facility, hotel and golf course' but was non-committal on whether we'd have a Premiership football club.
When I first read AV's latest thread I thought I'd mistakenly stumbled onto an official Boro spin doctor press release! Being knocked out of the cup a blessing in disguise! We can concentrate on the league!!
Well, I guess that actually that is all true and sensible, but as a Boro fan I want some excitement and hope, which the FA cup brings and the league for Boro hasn't for too many seasons to remember.
As for the game, Everton didn't win yesterday, Boro handed it to them on a plate, it was obvious that at the beginning of the second half Everton would come at us big time and so they did. They aren't a potent attacking force so all Boro had to do was concentrate and keep it tight, not a chance!
The mistake Jones made for the first goal was of gargantuan proportions, what was he doing? I have no idea and I suspect he didn't either, he may as well have been sat on the bench watching when the cross came over. Huth did enough to ensure the strikers header was weak, from there all Jones had to do was stay put on his line and catch the ball. At that moment the match was lost, the team's concentration and confidence was blown apart.
What concerns me was that Jones then went on to have a poor half, he didn't have the mental strength to put his mistake behind him, which does not bode well for the rest of the season.
While losing away to Everton in the cup on the face of it is not the end of the world, the defeat combined with the capitulation at Spurs means that any momentum and belief gained from beating West Ham and Liverpool is gone.
I hope that the last two results were a blip and the previous two were genuine progress and a change in fortune but I'm not convinced, my view is that boro's chances of survival are 45% at best.
As for Alves being ill, yes I bet he's as sick as a dog.
AV, Boro games follow the same pattern and it wouldnt surprise me if reporters have a template already written out and just change the name of the players.
It is all too predictable, Southgate does not have the ability to change our tactics in mid game. We saw on tv how he was asking to Agnew and Crosby (up in the stand) for help. Who really is controlling the team?
Following JP's post I had a read of Gate's interview in the Sunday Times. All very measured as you expect it would be.
It transpires he didnt give them a rollicking in the changing room at full time. As John says his approach may not be the best we are only summising.
AV mentions three games against physical teams to start our mini season. The truth is we need four points out of the first two as a minimum requirement.
A point a game will see us comfortably relegated. In the next run of games we need to gather as many points as possible but we play teams who will be quietly satisfied at a draw because it leaves us in the mire.
We dont want to go into the last five games needing a couple of wins. ManU and Villa at home, Arsenal, Toon and West Ham away do not carry a guarantee of points. If we dont get four points out of Pompey and Stoke we are facing a huge battle to get out of the bottom three.
Will we be up for it? Watched the match on Setanta and was delighted to be 1-0 up, wouldnt have been unhappy to be level. My son is not good at watching sport on TV and has been known to walk over to the TV, point and shout 'you idiot' at a mispaced pass, missed tackle or stupid ill discipline.
After 15 minutes of the second half he just lay and chortled as Arca scuttled too and fro without getting near an Everton player or surrendering possession. A bit like the mole (?) off Deputy Dawg, 'which way he did go Musky?' But there were many who didnt cover themselves with glory.
Everton just went straight through us. Poor Corporal didnt have his best game in a Boro shirt but Howard at the other end didnt exude an air of confidence either. The problem about Keepers bloopers is that there is a finality about them.
Although I am sincerely praying we don't go down, I am finding it hard to see how we can survive.
Yesterday showed all the weaknesses we have had all season - Failure to hold on to a lead, silly goals given away in a mad 5-10 mins spell that changes the game. As that form has lasted almost 28 games, difficult to see it changing for the last 10.
Note the tone of the blog is now slowly changing. Up until recently we had healthy debate with opinion split between the doom & gloomers and the foam hand waving optomists. Now almost everyone is finding it hard to be optomistic.
Whilst watching the Re-run last night I couldn't help but notice the Boro appear to be run by a commitee. GS and Agnew on the touchline and Cooper and Crosby in the stand (very close to te chairmans ear). Now if Bill Shankly or Brian Clough were advising GS then fair enough.
GS said judge me at the end of the season, ok then Gareth: ditch the committee come up with a plan and stick to it. No dithering and group consultations grab this situation by the scruff of the neck and drag the club out of the relegation zone.
It has been said that a camel is a horse designed by a commitee.
WHAT A SHAME. Gareth Southgate was spot on with his tactics,his team selection and his subs. The lads played their hearts out and Boro shocked the life out of cocky Everton. Yet at the end of the day Gareths Boro were not good enough and I suspect it will be the same story as they troop of the field at West Ham on the final day of the season.
But I am no different than all the other Boro life long supporters. If there is a glimmer of hope a mathematical chance I will be behind them. To the end and beyond.
Yet the undoing of Boro had started a long time ago. You don't become a bad team over night. Its the bad decisions made over the last three years that cost us. The lack of experience throughout the team,the lack of a goal threat up front, the lack of a quality in key positions. All the fault of Gareths bad decision making.
Yes he might turn out to be a good manager in the future. But I doubt it. But what I do know is he has made a real mess of this job. His transfer dealings have been an unmitigated disaster. His coaching has been suspect and patchy, how often for instance on this blog do people complain about lack of heading ability throughout the team.
Then his man management skills are virtually non existent. Look at the amount of problems he has caused with players through bad man management.
What concerns me most is Steve Gibson. How has the credit crunch affected his ability to underwrite Boros finances? Has he the passion to claw us back up again if the club go down? At the end of the season will he look for an experienced manager or stick with the devil he knows? Will he do something about Gareths contract policy for example not allow kids to leave for free because Gareth has decided not to offer new contracts?
This season like in the past there are teams queuing up to take our home grown talent free. Now I you can not keep them all and mistakes are made. But Arsenal always get a few bob with add ons why cant we?
That was the worst I have ever seen Everton play.
Gareth's handling of the goalkeeping problem is a damning illustration of his failings as a manager. He should have got rid of Schwarzer immediately if he really felt Turnbull & Jones were any good - but he didn't he 'piddled around with endless contract negotiations for years !
He could have easily bought a very good goalkeeper but genuinely thought that Schwarzer/Turnbull/Jones were good enough. An appalling lack of judgement.
To put the situation into context the Boro squad is better than West Ham's, Bolton's, Wigan's, Sunderland's, Stoke, Hull, WBA's, Newcastle's Fulham's, Blackburn's and as good as Portsmouth's and yet we are 2nd form bottom of the league.
It's a question of judgement not just about mouthing slogans about "high energy, speedy counter attacking models."
None of Gareth's buys have been a success and not because they are poor players although I am baffled by the Morrison OUT Emnes IN deal.
I feel sorry for Alves and I'm convinced he's a good goal-scorer but God help him if he's expected to link up with Aliadiare and Tuncay who both lack touch and vision.
One more thing - please spare us the "Im no quitter .... I've never walked away from a challenge ....." flannel - it makes me do bad things to my immediate environment.
Gareth has had lot's of support and time from the likes of me. He needs to sit down and work out how much he's earned at the Boro in the last eight years and then ask himself if he's been fairly treated? Once he's answered those questions honestly the next step is obvious and actually quite painless - especially when compared to the situation the average person finds themselves in these days.
In the scheme of things yesterdays game for me was pretty much pointless. With four out of the top six in the Premier League still in it we were never going to progress pass the next round and all the hype of a Wembley semi would have done even more damage to our survival hopes than our midfield maestro and vampire in waiting combined.
What is now important is when have all those lessons been learned because I saw the same old same old yesterday with a "Typical Boro" outcome.
There are enough points up for grabs and enough quality in the squad to get them in theory. I don't know however if there is the cunning ruthless desire, belief and organisation within the Management structure to make it a reality.
Having survived the treacherous journey across the M62 in blustery, wintry showers, paid my tenner to park, I was looking forward to another successful cup memory.
The atmosphere in the Wilmslow was jovial with banter and song abound from both sets of fans.
Then to go one up so close to half time, was this to be a repeat of the Molineaux and Boleyn Ground triumphs? Alas no, it was indeed reminiscent of Black Adder goes forth with Corporal Jones stuck out in No man’s land like a floundering Baldric.
We had done the hard work by keeping Cahill quiet. To allow Crystal tips and his mate Saha, who only gets paid when he plays, to score like that was criminal.
I sincerely hope that the club put their hands in their pockets and pay the fans travel to an away game before the season ends.
Oh look, a pig just flew past the window........
I didn't think it was the best of games yesterday and that played straight into Everton's hands. They are not renowned for passing football but they are very very very well organised and pose a very dangerous threat from set plays which we saw come to the fore on two occasions yesterday.
We didnt deal with the aerial threat well enough and looked uneasy with it throughout. Stunning really that Southgate says the team had worked on it all week in training. How long was it for Gareth? Five minutes at the end?
Our ball retention was poor and it caused pressure in dangerous parts of the pitch which led again to poor goals being conceded. I did think it was Jones's fault for the 1st goal and why on earth he felt the need to come for that cross I have no idea. He has been excellent though in recent weeks so benefit of the doubt is due i think.
So we have 10 games remaining we will be lucky to get 3 points from our last 5 so its all down to these next 5 fixtures. Portsmouth (H) Stoke (A) Bolton (a) Fulham (h) Hull (h) - we need to win all our home games and hopefully sneak something at either Bolton or Stoke that could give us 10 points and with a trip to the Geordies it will be interesting to see how we are shaping up going into the run in.
I desperately want us to stay up but the writing has been on the wall for a long time and the failures of the club to act after the West Brom debacle may just have been enough to ensure we never recover.
Southgate should have gone a long time ago and with some experienced managers knocking about safety may have been closer than it is now. It is a time for strong minds and strong bodies I'm just not sure we have what it takes.............
COME ON BORO!
For me that wasn't quite as bad as Cardiff last season, but it wasn't far behind. What a GHASTLY effort! And what a familiar tale, as many posters have already said.
Aliadiere lacked the guile or the focus to bury the two best Boro chances, Arca and Hoyte allowed two cheap, cheap balls into the box from which they scored. But the most depressingly 'seen-that-before' image was surely the feeling that Everton had 15 men on the pitch and we had about 8.
You know, that feeling all comes about from wanting it more. Managing my U12's the same principles come through there as well - if the boys really really want it and I focus them and keep them focussed, encouraged, positive, then they do the business. Games are generally won by the side that wants to win it more.
The fact that professional footballers can be so obviously out-competed (new word there, sorry couldn't think of another), can produce no threatening set-piece moves, and basically be so easily held at arms-length by an under-strength side, is an embarrassment.
Relegation will be the final nail in GS coffin - it is, I am afraid, inevitable - but the lid was slammed shut and in position yesterday.
Mr Gibson, you have the eternal gratitude of many Boro fans including myself, but not getting rid of GS much earlier, although laudable, was a massive mistake.
And mistakes can often be expensive.
In the second half, we absolutely laid down and died. Two dire non-decisions by Jones ultimately cost us.
AV's right, we wouldn't have won the cup - but it may have provided the players with some sense of belief. If that's gone, we really are in trouble.
League situation is fairly simple - if we take wins from Stoke, Hull, Pompey and Newcastle, we'll stay up. If we don't, we won't - but after yesterday, they'll all be looking at us as three easy points.
Well that's that then - now the only positive one can take from that is for the focus to now rest 100% on league form without the cup distraction to further derail progress.
Suppose we made the last four, we'd have the top three to come against and what realistic chance would we have had? Besides, any further games would be unwelcome pressure on the fitness of the squad - as it is two more defenders could be crocked for our crucial run in now...
No. Forget the cup. We have to concentrate on getting AT LEAST six points from the next three games otherwise it is going to be curtains no questions asked. And once Boro are down, we won't be coming back up again in a hurry cos we simply do not have the quality in depth to push straight for promotion again - I fear post-relegation we might go the same way as Charlton or Southampton - just drop through the league like an anchor.
As for Southgate, he's too soft (again). We all know Moyes gave his players a blasting at half time and that paid off. I somehow couldn't imagine the Gate doing the same even though Boro were a goal up as if to say "Now hold on to that lead and try and add to it, or else!!".
Much of the time it's his softly softly kid-gloves way of being diplomatic with his charges that has ultimately meant Boro not having the fight to push on and either clinch the win or fight back from a goal deficit to drawing/winning - and that has shown in the shocking number of points that have been dropped from potentially winnable situations. Can you imagine other managers in the Prem being as soft as the Gate? Not me!
Anyway, with each successive negative result I am fearing more and more for our prospects of survival in the league. I really can't see much changing beyond even the next month if we can't even win two league fixtures on the trot and then go on an unbeaten run. It seems that all of the other relegation-threatened sides around us may well be upping their game in the coming weeeks and the signs are ominous to say the least.
My prediction - the 10 games left will yield only two wins and two draws at the very most. Not really enough to avoid the drop. And that is being optimistic.
Well that's that then - now the only positive one can take from that is for the focus to now rest 100% on league form without the cup distraction to further derail progress.
Suppose we made the last four, we'd have the top 3 to come against and what realistic chance would we have had? Besides, any further games would be unwelcome pressure on the fitness of the squad - as it is two more defenders could be crocked for our crucial run in now...
No. Forget the cup. We have to concentrate on getting AT LEAST six points from the next three games otherwise it is going to be curtains no questions asked. And once Boro are down, we won't be coming back up again in a hurry cos we simply do not have the quality in depth to push straight for promotion again - I fear post-relegation we might go the same way as Charlton or Southampton - just drop through the league like an anchor.
As for Southgate, he's too soft (again). WE all know Moyes gave his players a blasting at half time and that paid off. I somehow couldn't imagine the Gate doing the same even though Boro were a goal up as if to say "Now hold on to that lead and try and add to it, or else!!". Much of the time it's his softly softly kid-gloves way of being diplomatic with his charges that has ultimately meant Boro not having the fight to push on and either clinch the win or fight back from a goal deficit to drawing/winning - and that has shown in the shocking number of points that have been dropped from potentially winnable situations.
Can you imagine other managers in the Prem being as soft as the Gate? Not me! Anyway, with each successive negative result I am fearing more and more for our prospects of survival in the league.... I really can't see much changing beyond even the next month if we can't even win two league fixtures on the trot and then go on an unbeaten run. It seems that all of the other relegation-threatened sides around us may well be upping their game in the coming weeeks and the signs are ominous to say the least.
My prediction - the 10 games left will yield only two wins and two draws at the very most. Not really enough to avoid the drop. And that is being optimistic.
Now we have Keith Lamb mentioning the Championship over the weekend and also putting a time factor on his statement prior to the Cup semi-final in the News of the World.
He wants replacing and I am buying no season tickets / if he stays regardless of any league. He is old hat and unless one's opinion favours his liking then down comes the guillotine.
The Evening Gazette have been far too kind on many occasions with their match reports, because they knew how important this season was to the club’s future before a ball had even been kicked.
Who is to blame for the mess we are in? Someone has to take the blame and it is obvious our manager only has very limited say on things.
The next three games should really be seen as a comfort zone to enter. Someone upstairs’ is watching over us to have spared us from Manchester United and I hope He is a fan of the Boro.
Your next blog Anthony will tell us an awful lot and I hope the desperation has eased.
Finally, the club will read this message board to gauge the fans reactions which is why we all must say how we feel and move on.
I have been saying for several months now that we are likely to be relegated. However, having looked at the upcoming fixtures on Saturday, we have one final chance to move in the right direction.
We are the only one of the strugglers at home and with what you would think was a winnable game. Everyone else around us are likely (on paper) to get beat: Blackburn away at Fulham mid week then away at Arsenal. Stoke away at Everton, Newcastle away at Hull (in a game that could virtually secure Hulls safety), Portsmouth at the Riverside.
If we get the win then all is not actually lost. If we do not win then i think we are definitely down. Time to stand up and be counted.
The Everton Management Team watched, analysed, diagnosed, re-strategized, “consulted” with their players in the half-time interval and effectively transformed their performance. They read the situation and adjusted.
They, like other teams this season, suckered Boro into conceding a leading position.
Throughout this season, during league matches, opposition goals have found the back of Boro’s net in two high-frequency concessionary game periods. This pattern of concession suggests predictability, management naivety and insufficient ability and/or resources to change tactically during matches. Yesterday was classic theory, in practice!
Individual errors and lack of true quality in key positions are contributory.
Boro’s armoury is virtually bare and the supply lines are stretched.
There are too many detailed facets of the above to mention here without dominating this blog. And besides, many other contributors have touched on several of the issues.
However, suffice to say, it seems very unlikely that the situation will change between now and the end of this season. And this means there is only one likely outcome.
Although I’m very seriously non-superstitious, Boro, right now, need something like Slaven’s backside!
But even that “resource” has long-since passed its sell-by date!
**AV writes: Nice to have you back after your hibernation.
Just a thought Gareth. Peter Crouch. I do hope you spend all week in training dealing with high balls into the box........
For as long as I've followed the game, the day after going out of the FA Cup has always been a sad one.
But, for a bit of perspective, let's consider that Boro were drawn away 3 times in a row - to the championship leaders, then to the teams in 7th and 6th places in the premier league. In time, we might look back and say it was a bloody good effort to come as close as we did to a semi-final place.
I am afraid nice man as he may be G.S is in the same mould as Coleman of Coventry. How many times this season have we heard the phrase we have to learn by our mistakes we make?
Well I am afraid its taken all season and we still haven't because of the youth in the side, lack of experience players they have had all season to learn and have they? No.
Mersons quote was spot on when he summed up the Boro - "walk past the barbers door often enough and you will get pulled in and get clipped!" The Boro have walked past the relegation door every season since they entered the premiership bar one.
I would like to think that the Boro are ambitious but I am afraid mid table and a couple of cup runs like we have in the FA Cup and that constitutes a good season for the boro.
I totally understand the negativity surrounding the recent postings but lets be fair Boro had the game in the palm of there hand until two keeping errors that can't be legislated for.
The fight that Huth, Wheater and Poggi put up in the first half was great to see. We do need to carry on with the battling qualities against Portsmouth as three points would change the mood again.
With Huth and Wheats against the less than pacy Crouch and the still unproven Nugent we need a clean sheet to win a game. If Stewie plays like he did in the last 10 minutes maybe we will get that fabled second goal.
All if's and but's I know but we aren't down yet. We aren't the only strugglers in this league - only three go down. I'm tellin' ya now it all rests on the game at St.James Park. Can we win there?
I dont particularly want to be seen as a foam hander but I still think we can get out.I saw enough in the games against West Ham and Liverpool to convince me of that.
Jones has performed very well until this game but what concerned me was not so much his initial error, although it was dreadful, but the fact that after it he was unable to pull himself together and was a total liability for the rest of the game. Perhaps its a good time to take him out of the firing line.
It's a good job the players dont get a team talk from some of the posters on here.I doubt we'd ever get a point again!!!
Interestingly enough you can still get 11/8 on Boro getting relegated. Although I believe we can still get out I think this is a generous price. I would never bet against my own team however.To those absolutely certain of the outcome lump on - it will pay for your season ticket in the championship next year!!!
There are really important questions to ask at this stage, now that the FA Cup run is history.
Why can't we defend dead ball situations and crosses into our penalty area? How do other teams, when things appear not to be going to their plan, manage to change to a Plan B, when our alphabet rarely gets to A let alone beyond it? Why do other teams usually seem more organised than ours? Why do we buy players (eg Emnes) but not play them, which would be understandable if others in the team were having a great run of form?
Without wishing to harp on, I have suggested in the past that if the ship is aimed straight for the rocks then, unless something is done to change course, a crash (and a probable sinking) is inevitable. The one league win (against Liverpool) in several months was a welcome godsend, but unless it is repeated several times in the next month or so, it will be an irrelevant blip in the middle of a sea of mediocrity.
Do we want to stay in the Premier League? If the answer to that is "yes", the club must do something to change direction. If not, we will sail straight on in the same path we have been following since November - into the rocks.
Let's be sensible here. Would Brian Clough have let this situation go on and on without taking action? Would Ferguson, Shankly, O'Neill, Mourinho or Moyes? Let's get closer to home - would Rioch be at risk of taking this squad down, or a Jack Charlton that could still remember his name? Would they be picking their finger nails as the ship nosed into the shallow waters? Or would they make decisions?
No! The real questions here are where Richard has been all this time, and is it somewhere remote from the internet as posts reach here from Australia, Azerbaijan, Finland, South Africa, Spain, and even North Yorkshire? I'll bet he had more fun than those of us who had been left here to enjoy the full Boro experience for the last few months.
The fact that Gareth Southgate is an intelligent and likeable man, that Steve Gibson is universally acknowledged as the best chairman around, that Middlesbrough are a locally-supported team who do a lot of good in the community, and that we play the game in the right way, with young and local players blended into a team that try to pass the ball rather than break the opponents: these things all make me proud to be a 'boro fan.
I'm not sure however, how much comfort these things will provide if we get relegated. Lacking talent in midfield, bite up-front and a couple of old heads in defence, Southgate has moulded a squad that simply doesn't know how to get results. God it's depressing.
I'd love us to win anywhere but if it's at SJP it may be the last match I get to see for a while as my SkySports videos are courteous of the wife's Dad, who is a nailed-on NUFC fanatic. And if they went down because of it there could be a family hiatus.
But I would wear it if we did!
John, Aus
Forever Dormo:
You're not wrong! Well, not very often anyway!!
Although, I think being in self-imposed exile does assist a bigger picture perspective to be taken. Detachment helps to extract and focus on the essential facts.
It still hurts like hell though when you come back and the situation is worse than when you left it!
I wish I could say it was great to be back!
**AV writes: All we need is Tony Black and we can get the old band back on the road. I'm thinking of a revival tour taking in all the great old venues like Plymouth, Bristol, Swansea, Ipswich, Doncaster...
AV:
What ever happened to Briggsy?
If we win against Pompey, in the words of Bill McClaren, the foamies 'will be dancing on the streets of Southbank'.
I think we are all in agreement that we need a good haul of points in the next five matches, the first one is crucial. There is time left to get out of our pickle but a win against Pompey is absolutely essential.
A defeat would leave us at least three points from safety with a trip to the Brittania Boot Boys to come needing a win to stay in the bottom three! A draw would be a little better and by little I mean marginally better than a defeat.
Let us see how the week pans out - three days at Rockcliffe is a long time. It can help heal wounded morale but it gives ample time for the curse of Rockcliffe to strike eg the Land Crab might not sustain an injury.
I will be travelling up by train this time so thats a treat and will be taking my brother. We seem to play abysmally every time we go together. Several possibilities. I am the jinx, he is the jinx, the pair of us should keep away or we are pants.
A Foy like analysis of all the permutations from previous matches attended or not leads me to believe the Gill family can absolve themselves from any blame.
The next two games are crucial. Win both and we have an amazing chance to stay up. Lose both and we are as good as down.
Having just done the BBC predictor I have us down with West Brom and the Geordies with the Mackams 4th bottom and three points clear. This is a massive period we need to be in touching distance of the pack come the home games against Hull and Fulham and then get after them for the wins.
I think the biggest game of the upcoming weekend is Hull v Newcastle. A Hull win surely puts them out of reach and the Geordies are in deep deep trouble. A Geordie win though and the gap becomes even bigger. it is exciting but its exciting for all the wrong reasons.
How about a basement battle of epic proportions against Newcastle with both teams in the bottom three come the game at Sid James Park?
COME ON BORO!!!!!!!!
Whatever happened to that mad bloke who wanted to take over the world while getting soccer skills work for his client? Bilton, Milton, Hilton? Something like that anyway.
Wasn't he going to come back and take-over the club?
**AV writes: Ah yes, Robin Mitton, Football For Nations. I think I upset him because I kept on cutting out his daily libellous remarks about Keith Lamb. Last spotted preparing a big deal to take over the youth operation at PSG I think.
Whatever happened to cynical old get Never Happy? And his upbeat cousin Always Happy? And what about Paul 'bipolar' Bell?
**AV writes: What is this? Friends Reunited?
I would just like to say that whatever the "other" Paul Bell has to say about the clubs current predicament, I completely disagree with it, I think!
**AV writes: It's funny because it's true....
Dont forget 'Insider' for the raves from the graves slot.
Dave Morrison:
I suspect there are many fans trying premiership predictor. I stlll think you will need 38+ points to stay up especially of your goal difference is poor.
In the past I have listened to East Midlands fans running through the fixtures saying we are at Boro away we should get a draw there, then we have Brum at home and that will be three points etc.
We are looking for where we expect and hope to get points, so are all the clubs and fans above us (I nearly said around us but that would be factually inaccurate).
I apply the same logic to us as I did to the fans of Derby, Leicester and Forest. When you are behind other clubs on points they are in the box seat. When they also have a better goal difference and in some cases a game in hand the task becomes that much harder.
If Stoke and Pompey get a point a match we need to win four and draw two. If we draw both of our games we are going to need to win half our matches to get above them. Other clubs may continue to struggle such as Toon.
It is getting very difficult, without taking four points from the next two games we are almost at the point of needing snookers.
But I will be there on saturday cheering on because as the saying goes 'you can take the fan out of Boro but not Boro out of the fan'. The NASA probe is more likely to find other life forms in the universe than a cure for being a Boro Fan.
David Morrison:
As far as is humanly possible, Boro need to accept full responsibility for our own fate and thereby minimise the reliance on anyone else's results.
Although I think I understand what you're suggesting about the relative importance or significance of some matches, surely, for us, the biggest match of the upcoming week is Boro's 6-pointer against Pompey?
Maybe after that we can argue the toss about Hull v Newcastle?
I guess, as supporters, it's inevitable we'll consider all kinds of combinations and permutations of results and "what-ifs", but the manager and players can't afford to do so. Every match needs to be contested like a cup tie.
If we get it absolutely right, we'll be safe by the time the Newcastle fixture comes round and others will be scrapping it out.
Nearly half the games this season have been 6 pointers looking at how close the table has been and still is. The problem is we have hardly won any of them!
For what its worth i thought Bates , O'Neil, Huth, Alliadiere and Tuncay [ infact most of the team ]had a good game at Everton. Downing was marked out of the match though.
**AV writes: Yes, most have been six pointers... given the inflation of importance and expectation I make Portsmouth on Saturday a NINE pointer!
I read somewhere that we are lacking bit up front, need more in midfield and need wiser heads in defence.
Well, that's as may be, but I don't recall these comments being posted in here after we played the mighty Liverpool off the park and beat them convincingly 2 - 0.
The problem at this football club is the age old problem of " same old Boro " or "which Boro gets off the bus ".
For me, the fact of the matter is that we are lacking something behind the scenes. a motivator, a sports psychologist or whatever else the name is for it, but someone who can speak in plain English and find a way of bringing out a consistency in performance output, desire, passion, the will to win and the never say die fighting spirit.
We then need a manager and set of coaches who can develop the skill side of things and knows about football. Sothgate, Coops and Co are just not up to it.
" judge me this season " Southgate said... so why is he still here ?
All we ever get from the likes of the Gazette, and also from you AV ( sorry, but it has to be said ) is that we have either turned the corner, can be galvanised by the loss and all the other endless Stalinist propaganda that is piped out on a daily basis from what is the mouthpiece of the Boro PR machine, you know, the same lot who asked us not to cheer to loudly during games.
In the case of AV it can be forgiven as he is obviously a true fan trying to find any silver lining and any means possible in order to try and galvanise the terraces, but as far as the Gazette goes it is a cynical and totally pathetic attempt to try and spin what the reality is.
Southgate is rubbish. He is not competent at what he does and neither is Coops and they simply must go. In their place we need a more seasoned, more well respected and frankly far more capable people.
When I mentioned the now Fulham manager last year I was laughed at by some, but he is exactly what we need. Someone with International experience and a wealth of footballing knowledge developed after many a year learning his trade around Europe. What we don't want are any more nice chap, well meaning ex pro's who haven't got the foggiest.
The hiring of Southgate was simply laughable and anyone who thought he was the right man for the job should go quickly for a brain scan, and that includes Steve " the saint / I've got a plan / I know best / I'm simply the best " Gibson who's lack of judgement is simply breathtaking. No qualifications. No experience. I know, let's employ someone like this. IT'S PATHETIC.
" JUDGE ME THIS SEASON " GARETH SOUTHGATE
SOUTHGATE OUT / COOPER OUT
TB
We had one of them. Remember sport psychologist Bill Beswick that McLaren swore by. I dare say he may have had an impact in the 2006 UEFA cup comebacks, but I dare say most people passed it up as hocus-pocus.
Given the damaging effect of the Spurs loss, which clearly undid any benefit from the Liverpool match, an equal reliance on teams around us could see us down if we don't beat Portsmouth. Simple as. I agree with AV that quantifying it makes it even more than a six pointer.
I note the comments about Everton's physical performance and how on earth we will cope with Stoke etc. Well our earlier performance this season against Stoke holds the answer. GS did get it tactically right that day, surprisingly.
Liverpool 4 Real Madrid 0
If we were racehorses, we would be up in front of the Jockey Club Stewards.
tonyblack at 5.49pm - whilst it is great to hear from you, I really think it is time you got off the fence. Come on! Tell us what you really think about the management of the club (if you think it will get through the AV Filter) rather than pussyfoot around the subject.
Grove Hill Wallah:
If we were racehorses we would be:
A Glue
B Meat Pie
C Giving rides on Redcar beach
Delete as appropriate