Derby D-Day Is Bigger Than Eindhoven
THREE YEARS ago we were in Eindhoven. A dramatic and memorable campaign had taken bubbling Boro to the heights of the UEFA Cup final and offered a glorious opportunity to bring an unprecedented Golden Era to a climax with a European trophy.
The Riverside years had served up trips to Wembley, world class stars playing to full houses, a major national knockout trophy at Cardiff after a fruitless century of heart-break, the longest spell in the top flight since the war and successive Euro campaigns. We had never had it so good. The world was at our feet. We had raised our profile, raised our expectations and raised the bar.
Fast forward through three stuttering seasons of down-sized ambitions and slow-motion strategic retreat and we face an even bigger watershed with far more at stake.
In Monday's derby D-Day at Newcastle the entire future of the Riverside Revolution is in the balance. No one could dispute that the tide has gone out since the high-water mark of 2006. How much that has been self-inflicted by short sighted cost-cutting and how much has been a necessary step back from an expensive road to ruin is a moot point. What is certain is that we are at an epoch defining moment.
Defeat could push Boro to the edge of the abyss and leave us tottering pathetically before we plunge back into the Twilight Zone of the Championship. And this time we will not go out and buy a Paul Merson and Andy Townsend as we did in 1997. This time we won't bounce back urged on by sell out crowds ignited by a righteous anger over the Three Points Saga.
This time Boro face an uncertain future as just another ejected provincial Premier League makeweight, looking to rebuild in against a background of uncertain finances and demoralised and dwindling crowds, many who will be at odds with a failed management and ethos.
Arguably, the Titanic Tyne-Tees tussle is bigger than Eindhoven. To listen to the talk around Teesside it is the biggest game since Cardiff, Elland Road in 1997, Wembley, the Victoria Ground in 1986 and the 1966 World Cup final. On MotD 2 Adrian Chiles sarcastically referred to it as "the biggest game in the entire history of world football." The national media are always playing Boro games down.
Certainly Alan Shearer thinks it is his biggest game ever and in his pre-match rallying call branded it bigger than the Euro 96 semi-final. In contrast Boro's gaffer thinks it is just the next game and is refusing to be lured into labelling it a "must win."
In cash terms it is worth what I believe accountants refer to as "shedloads of dosh". The consensus measure in recent years has been that promotion to the Premier League is worth ã60m but it seems to be 'think of a number' back of envelope calculations. The
Sun says the game is worth ã100m in all. To put it in perspective, Boro said they made a paltry ã2.5m from the run to Eindhoven.
In political, financial and psychological terms there is far more at stake that Eindhoven. And even victory won't guarantee survival, it just keeps us in the game and raises the stakes against Villa and West Ham - although at least a win would go down in terrace folklore with 1990, especially if it was decisive in condemning Newcastle to an ugly bout of in-fighting and trips to Peterborough and Plymouth.
The mutually assured destruction of a draw - a double-edged Martyr's belt Schadenfreude embrace - would not be a complete immediate disaster after Stoke obliged and twisted the knife at Hull, but with the Baggies also deciding to finally put up a fight, it would make things difficult in the season's tense five way shoot-out for survival over the last two games.
Someone take the script off Southgate. He has been hinting that the draw would be a good result and that we have a young rookie side measured against their battle-hardened veterans (or crocks as I prefer to call them) and that Newcastle are favourites on home turf.
But this is a match that Boro must go looking to win. And Boro can win. All week people have been saying Newcastle are the better team and at least they have goals in them. But Boro have been inescapably awful all season and the Geordies are only ahead on goal-difference so they can't be that good. And they have only scored ONE goal under their latest misfiring Messiah Alan Shearer. Their form is worst than Boro's over recent weeks. This dysfunctional club haven't won at home since before Christmas and a riven with dissent and turmoil in the dressing room, the boardroom and the crowd. They are a brittle club and we must go for the jugular.
Southgate knows that we can go there and battle against them. He has the scars. He has gone toe-to-toe with Shearer and come out on top. Back in April 2005 an injury ravaged Boro side fought out a spirited 0-0 draw and he was well on top in their personal duel when he clattered by the flying elbows of death in a second half aerial clash with the now Newcastle boss. There was claret everywhere. Southgate was left on the turf spurting blood but was bandaged up and came straight back on to surge across the pitch and clattered Shearer leaving him rattled and moaning and quiet for the remainder of the game.
In that match George Boateng was also crocked. His foot was stamped on twice in quick succession and he had to limp off for treatment to a nasty gash but came back on to put in a steely show then after the game as he left on crutches he insisted on showing us the blood still seeping through his sock. Yeuch.
That is the kind of gritty resolve and willingness to get stuck in we need on Monday. The players - especially the local lads who understand the concepts of local pride, bragging rights and derby rivalry - must stand up and be counted. And the manager who used to pump the air with an inspirational Southgate Salute and who helped turn the 2006 Eindhoven season around with his stirring impromtu dressing room rallying cry must do the same again. The need is greater now.
Meanwhile, talking of 1990 and the prospect of Boro staying up with a famous win over Newcastle that scuppered their dreams and condensed a disastrous season into a famous cultural touchstone and a chaos of crazy EIOing.....
And talking of winning at St James' Park, which we were...
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I see Hull obliged and Sunderland put a point in the pot so it is all on the Monday night game, and the Baggies are making a go of it too!!
To be honest we have all seen this coming since November and now we are looking reality square in the face. It doesn't help with GS saying that it is getting better as we need less points to stay up, points are very hard to find these days - ask Hull!!
Anyway if we deserve to be in the PL then we will get the points, if not then we will go down and find our own level. I fear though that even the championship may be too good a league and that an age of darkness is about to come upon us.
A final thought - would another struggling season in the PL be in the clubs interests anyway?
On the previous thread, nipper wrote:
âÂÂSeems like a long time ago now but didn't Everton under Moyes just escape avoiding relegation for a couple of years running?âÂÂ
That might be comforting if true, but unfortunately it isnâÂÂt. David Moyesâ premier league record as manager of Everton is:
2002-3 59pts 7th
2003-4 39pts 17th (Leicester 18th 33pts)
2004-5 61pts 4th
2005-6 50pts 11th
2006-7 58pts 6th
2007-8 65pts 5th
2008-9 57pts 6th (current, West Ham 7th 48 pts)
Gareth SouthgateâÂÂs record as manager of Middlesbrough is:
2006-7 46pts 12th
2007-8 42pts 13th
2008-9 31pts 19th (current, Hull City 17th 34pts)
Moyes had one âÂÂbadâ season, but Everton finished well clear of relegation. What wouldnâÂÂt Southgate give to finish this season on 39pts? Even 35pts now seems an ambitious target. SouthgateâÂÂs season average would be 41.0pts if he achieved 35pts. Moyesâ average would be 55.6 if Everton failed to get another point this season.
A more direct comparison with Southgate is that the average for Moyesâ first three seasons at Everton was 53.0pts. Boro's fortunes have declined steadily under Gareth Southgate's leadership.
Steve Gibson claims that this season's relegation struggle has taken him by surprise. That seems hard to believe. Last season, Boro achieved the same points total that had seen Bryan Robson sacked in 2001. That equalled the lowest points total for any season in the Premier League, if the 3pt deduction of the 1996-7 relegation season is excluded.
For comparison, Steve McClarenâÂÂs record as manager was:
2001-2 45pts 12th (+FA Cup SF)
2002-3 49pts 11th
2003-4 48pts 11th (+Carling Cup winner)
2004-5 55pts 7th
2005-6 45pts 14th (+UEFA Cup Final, FA Cup SF)
The despised McClarenâÂÂs season average was 48.4pts. The average for his first three seasons was 47.3pts. Clearly inferior to Moyes, but equally better than Southgate. Gareth has said that Steve Gibson is a âÂÂruthless businessmanâÂÂ. The statistics tell a different story.
"A final thought - would another struggling season in the PL be in the clubs interests anyway?"
Exactly, this is why tomorrows game isn't as big as people make out as far as I'm concerned.
Besides, outside of the North East and Hull no one will give a fig about this game.
If Boro win tomorrow and stay up, the fans are going to be rewarded with comments by Gibson and Lamb about "how we never doubted Gareth, Gareth is the right man for the job and always will be, We will be pushing for Europe next season" etc etc.
Its a no win situation for Boro the way I see it!
At the start of the season, Lamb was quoted as saying 'this is the best team we've ever had'. Southgate quoted saying 'judge me on this season'.
The plain fact is that Gibson's money has been wasted buying CRAP players. Who's fault is this? What happened to our revitalised scouting system?
The squad was paper thin at the start of the season, and the gamble failed badly. We have been forced to field makeshift teams, with no cohesion, spirit or tactics.
We deserve our current league position, and most of us expected it. Why didn't the management team also expect it, and try and do something about it?
The way West Brom are playing, if there's any justice, they will fight their way clear of relegation. Fight is something Boro don't seem to understand how to do.
AV:
Your assessment of the importance of the game is exactly right.
For those who - for some strange reason - see some benefit in a further asset stripped struggle in The Championship as preferable to the same in the Prem, I have just three things to say:
1. Charlton Athletic
2. Southampton
3. Norwich City
I see the Boro Boss is at it again with GateGarbage in the Sunday Sun. He's now invented a new concept - developing backwards.
He believes that Boro have developed in his time in charge - starting just a month after Eindhoven - but that development has been backwards.
Priceless.
Good one Myth Buster.
When I put forward a similar point of view, using Moyles as a perfect example of good housekeeping. A.V. was not happy because Moyles has spent big on three or four players.
But you have to look at the years he's been in charge, the players he has sold like Rooney to see he has a terrific record in the transfer market and Moyles certainly did not inherit the quality squad Southgate did. Southgates transfer activities have been disastrous. Simply disasters.
As for monday night game at Newcastle. AV you're spot on. AV, unfortunately for us Boro fans YOU have more passion more Idea and more commitment to the cause than Southgate.
I want us to win. I want Boro in the Premier League but I can not see us winning another GAME. Not with Southgate in charge. As a manager he is a loser and the point that Paul Bell makes about a no win situation, I concur with.
But we can HOPE. Finally, why was Turnbull left out of MFC.s official list for young player of the year? He has to be a clear contender.
**AV writes: Turnbull has become an non-person because he declined Boro's contract offer, which is as clear a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face as you will ever see. Strangely Stewart Downing has not been excluded from the main award even though he put in a transfer request and still seems set to go.
The last chance is coming up but this is the perfect time to play Newcastle. They cannot defend and cannot score. 1-0 Boro and Shearer to blow a gasket.
This is a massive game. Not just because if we lose we are down but because if we are down then it is time up for Gibbo's dream.
This time there will be no coming back stronger. No way. If we go down now the superstars who got us in this mess will be off leaving us to rebuild on the cheap.
I don't buy this idea of a disastrous Leeds/Leicester scenario, bankrupt and down straight through the divisions. That's what Gibbo has been hedging against the last three years with all the wage bill cuts.
But I do think we are right back to square one and Boro will revert to type, mid-table in the second tier and crowds of 18-20k. In five years time we will be dreaming of being a yo-yo team and it will be like Eindhoven never happened.
ps... what would we give now for a player who could do what that lad climbing up the Holgate fence on that clip could do?
AV, this marvelous column is fast losing its appeal as I now believe their is a greater chance of AA busting the net with a clinical screamer than my own contributions appearing on here. Twice this afternoon i have been thanked and informed you retained my entry. Tomorrow I shall book my appointment to discover what species I indeed am! Rant 1 Over.
Secondly, the eve of such a massive massive game, an article to stoke us up drawing on examples of heart and famous victories, designed, I suspect (?), to bring us all together, to back the team AND MANAGER with all our will in the hour of collective need. What do we get?
Talk of descending into an age of darkness, nonsense about whether its worth staying up, statements of how we can't and won't win, won't fight, writing us off all before even a ball has been kicked. Isn't this what everyone has been berating Southgate for before/after the Man U and Arsenal games. Total Defeatism. I can't believe the negativity man!!!! Its time for a bit of moral courage, not to sound like the descendants of Lord Halifax.
Southgate's position may well be untenable in a few weeks, but we have a chance and while hope remains we have to back him to the hilt. The time for the inquisiton will come but it is not now. We've always had a rep as a club of backing players and managers, much more than the hysterical loonies up the road, and if we chant his and the teams name all through the game on Mon, who knows, we may help the team, and turn the deluded geordies against theirs.
On a diffent note the real reason for this seasons demise can be found at www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/jan/22/middlesbrough-premierleague. Billy Ashcroft's fault apparently.
Anyway, I'm having a ã5 on AA to score the winner on Monday night at 8/1. He's 100/1 for a hat trick. This is my 3rd attempt today. What odds the double!
Boro could lose at Newcastle and beat Villa 34 pts 1 game to go
Newcastle could beat Boro lose to Fulham
34 pts 1 game to go
Hull could lose at Bolton
34 pts 1 game to go
Sunderland could lose at Portsmouth
36 pts 1 game to go
A win tomorrow guarantees nothing just as defeat tomorrow doesn't mean we are down. It is still all to play for regardless of tomorrow nights result.
If we are going down I just hope we take them deluded idiots with us. I think we will struggle in the Championship but I think they will disintegrate. The telephones in the Bigg Market is gonna get ripped apart.
Tomorrow night is Premiership survival...or not. We MUST 'stamp' our authority on the game...nothing less.
Destroy their midfield and we will win. But where do we have a true Captain to ensure we stranglehold this opposition? We need an LA RAMS Linebacker for this game not a footballer as such.
Don't go down like wimps. Destroy them BORO and survive!!
Best,
Robin Mitton CEO SUPERTEAM SPORTS
www.superteamsports.com.br
I feel an extended rant coming along....... Who here apart from the (even now) misguided and overpaid and naively overoptimistic players themselves seriously thinks Boro have any sort of chance tomorrow evening at St James's?
Not me that's for sure. Consider the stark facts and reality: Boro have the worst away record in the Premier League at present. They have lost thirteen away games, and ten of those on the bounce. They haven't scored a single goal in 9 of these.
In fact, they have this tendency to go on goalless runs where they cannot score for love nor money four or five games on the bounce. This has already happened several times this season alone. Most recent was the last three games, after finally winning by more than two goals against Hull at home (oh wow!).
Who's to say that Monday night will be another one of these performances where yet again Boro trudge sorrowfully and pathetically back down the A19 with not a single point to show for their efforts, despite all their pre-match baloney to "go all out on attack" or "throw everything at the oppositon" and "play like their lives depended on it" ? (yeah, right, and what did they do at the Reebok, Emirates and at home against ManUre just recently eh?).
Clearly, the fight went out of the players months ago. I knew that this would happen, I had the inkling as far back as Xmas that once this slump dragged on further, the more deep-set it would be and thus become a psychological hurdle.
Seriously, not since Sunderland's risible 2005-2006 campaign and Derby's recent spell in the top flight have we seen a side so toothless, aimless, feeble, pathetic and clueless as Southgate's Boro have been this season. It really defies all belief and comprehension.
Time and time again we lived in hope that Boro would one day be like, say, Everton and grind out positive results and avoid even the most trivial of defeats with gritty draws, not to mention at least try and win three or four games on the trot regularly....but no, this is about as likely as seeing the proverbial rocking horse poo or hen's teeth: it is impossible.
Boro simply do not have it in them to go on such runs and this has been pretty much the way it has been for the entire duration of the club's top flight existence.
Only one campaign under Robbo yielded a top half finish, likewise only one under McClaren (arguably their best ever season in terms of football played, results and big name players). Okay, so they made it to the UEFA cup final the year after that but that was then at the expense of the league campaign, so once again it was back to aspiring to mid-table mediocrity.
Sadly, now, even THAT humble aspiration has become dust: Boro aren't even good enough to be mid-table mediocrities anymore: preferring instead to be the softest possible target for relegation fodder.
How on earth can that be considered "progress" if Gibson and Lamb are to be believed? Have they seriously been paying attention to what has transpired this season (all of that directionless tosh that has passed for fooball being played out week in week out home and away)? What planet have they been on?
Have they not realised that this season has been a spectacular one for the club: a spectacular one of failure that is, with records constantly being broken by the week. When I say records, I mean in the worst category: fewest goals scored in the entire football league, most away defeats on the trot, fewest games won at home, longest winless run ever, longest goalless run, most goals conceded from set pieces / free kicks, etc etc.....need I go on? What sort of club goes from the giddy heights of European contenders to basement battlers in the space of three short years?
And still they believe they can stay up!!! Are they stupid? Are they blind? Having thrown away AT LEAST fourteen points in the last 18 games (including home draws against Wigan, Fulham, Portsmouth, Blackburn, Sunderland, as well as a shocking failure to even get a point away at places such as Hull, Bolton, West Brom and Stoke), the still feel they can escape relegation by beating Newcastle and getting 7 points from the last 9? No chance!
Boro, sadly, don't have the fight in them that kept Fulham and Bolton up last season......even West Brom are now starting to win more than their usual quota of games and what's the betting that by a fortnight's time they would have overtaken Boro on points and goal difference to sit, maybe a place or two above them in the table, or even pull off the unthinkable and avoid the drop altogether, leaving Boro rock bottom with a goal difference of over minus 30 and doomed.
I really can see it being, if not exactly a tight fought contest tomorrow, then a one-sided game where, true to form, Boro will be beaten by one or two goals to nil by the Magpies, who may use this opportunity as their last ever chance to win again at home before the curtains come down (possibly). Yes, Boro are THAT predictable away - gutless and hopeless.
And with yet more players crocked now (no Pogo....) and with inexperience still prevailing, then what exactly are our chances now, this late in the day, of pulling off a remarkable turnaround to our miserable, feeble, pathetic, useless excuse for a non-season? I'm not holding my breath.
In fact I really do fear that on Monday, the barcodes may explode in one last anguished battle cry and thoroughly tonk the hapless smoggies and condemn our lily-livered schoolboy contingent to a well-deserved exile in the second tier... because the truth is, even if people say otherwise, Boro have been so wretchedly appalling this season that we probably wouldn't even merit a place in League One.
Perhaps our next winning run might come along once we're in the Championship? I mean, can anyone here seriously think we're going to win two games on the bounce this late in the day? And you know the worst thing of all right now, something which gives me absolutely no pleasure or vindication at all? It's this: that when Boro are relegated in a couple of week's time, who in the media or pundit land are going to really give a fig? After all, we've never exactly been a "big news" sort of club have we? Even West Brom or lesser lights like Fulham, Charlton, Norwich or Southampton get more column inches in the papers of late.
No, of course, the big story would be if Newcastle go down as well as us, the papers will be lavishing endless column inches and attention to THEIR plight because, you know, they're supposedly a big club aren't they? Nobody else gives a stuff about Boro or how well or badly they do year upon year - except Boro fans ans supporters like us. And that is the sad truth the way I see it....
Once we fall down into the Championship, I'm afraid that is it for Boro as a credible club. All I can think about is Charlton, Southampton and, hell, even Luton and Stockport County........
You know something, it's just occurred to me that there may have been a reason for this sorry decline we've witnessed: Southgate did after all win "Manager Of The Month" back in August - his first one for Boro. I think, either this has gone completely to his head, which explains the dreadful run of form ever since, or the award should have been for "Mullet Of The Month" - in which case he would have bloody won it every single one running to the present.
I always maintained that if he had cut his hair short and neat, it may well have had some positive effect on his charges' performances. This, then, probably explains why they played so wretchedly at Bolton and Arsenal the other week...... I've noticed how Tuncay's barnet has become increasingly 70s-esque. Maybe he's trying to copy the gaffer - but then please pardon me for digressing....
Another long post sabotaged by Captcha, this blog is becoming a waste of my time.
Attempt no 2
The real problem for Boro is that we are unable to score. Our game is based upon pacey attacking (so Gate says) but we dont use our pace nor de we attack.
A few monthn ago I looked at the stats for the season and they were all against us in terms of possession, territory, shots on and off target. Yet Downing is the top crosser in the premiership.
I coined the view that 'man who wants to win lottery must buy ticket'. We must get into the opponents penalty area. The situation has deteriorated since then.
To misquote Mohammed Ali. we 'float like a bee and sting like a butterfly'!
We have an inexperienced defence behind an inexperienced midfield behind a non striking attack coached by an inexperienced manager.
Winning tonight would be some performance, repeating it against Villa would be extraordinary, getting something at West Ham would be astonishing. That is the scale of our problems. We went through the motions against Arsenal and ManU with our attention focussed on tonight. You cannot switch form on and off like a tap.
The weekend has kept us in touch, failure to take advantage will leave us needing snookers.
Nigel, soz to hear about your efforts being all in vain by the Captcha bogey thing. It seems to be a common occurrence from what I've been reading here...... I've likewise had several long posts lost in similar fashion in recent weeks, so I've now learnt to type in the entirety of my post on a word document / simple text page first and then copy and paste it into this page. At least that way you don't lose all your hard work. Hope that tip helps in future! :)
Re: Downing.
This season I have been utterly exasperated by him and his lack of sharpness as he hasn't been able to score any goals in league games. Perhaps he's just itching to move on whilst at the same time make out like he really cares for his club (check all those pronouncements he has made for most of the season, all of them basically meaningless baloney).
You'd think that the Tyne-Tees derby of all games would be one where he might just be able to put one away for posterity (he managed it a couple of times before). I mean, cast your mind back to when we beat Liverpool and Downing was "raring to go" against Spurs the next game, he went on about it "being no problem that we would get a result down there" as they were full of confidence....... Yeah, right. More like reverting to type in the usual fashion.
So if he's going to be playing a part tonight, then the onus is on him to try and make some of these increasingly rare goals happen! Mind you, with an inexperienced squad practically full of schoolboys (they would struggle to score in a third-string amateurs' friendly at this rate), I can't see any surprises in store.
If they're not going to get beaten, then it's probably going to be a dull goalless draw. But that isn't good enough is it?
Southgate, decent chap though he his, is probably the worst manager that Boro have EVER had, in my opinion. It really, truly cannot get any worse than this, but I really fear that it can - and will - do.
Oh, what I'd give now for us to be where Pompey or Bolton are just now........ if only.
It makes a nice change to wake up on a Monday morning and not feel depressed about another Boro performance - hopefully I'll feel the same way tomorrow.
So Hull and Sunderland continue in their quest in contriving to keep us in the PL - now we must ensure that we keep our side of the bargain by playing a high energy game and somehow scoring a few goals.
At last I finally believe Gareth may be letting his cool gentlemanly exterior slip as he used the 'F' word in an interview in The Times - I wonder if he'll be moved to use the 'R' word should we get relegated?
Although, I'm not sure if it's an advantage to have too many local lads in this fixture as they may not be able to keep their minds on their game - perhaps that's why the likes of Viduka and Berbatov are so cool in front of goal - they're not that bothered what happens at the end of the day.
Stubbsy - I've always agreed and admired your views on the barnet front. I'd particularly like to know how you feel about the way Southgate has added a side parting to his mullet, how should snoop doggy emnes style his braids next year, and what is that product that Jones uses on his locks - Loctite? How about Steve Bruce, that can't be natural?
However, I'm glad I'm not in the trenches with you. "Welcome Helmut, we surrender, we were never going to win anyway. Wow, what a lovely hairdoo ".
Show some Dunkerque Spirit Man!
Tonights match isn't a game, it's war.
We need Digard and others to thunder into challenges and put them off the game before it even starts, as they will be doing the same to us, and there have been plenty in the Boro team without the stomach for a fight this season. Lets make damn sure we see Viduka hobble off the pitch before he can do any damage.
Come on Boro - show us some desire - FIGHT FOR IT!!!
Anthony
Alves now has our future inside his boots. That is the real truth of the matter when all the cards are on the table and he owes us big time.
He will certainly get his chances this evening because they are full of holes like we are. I think Jérémie AliadiÃÅ¡re's pace could play a significant part in tonight's game. However, Alves is the goal scorer and we must expect.
Gareth on 5 live is talking defensive again... heaven help us
Saw these two pearls whilst catching up on the newest items in the main Boro FC page:
Southgate said: âÂÂIn a strange way, the situation we find ourselves in now compared to eight weeks ago, we are probably closer to survival than we were then because the tally needed to stay up seems to reduce every week".
What??? How the hell did he come to that conclusion? This guy really comes out with some priceless garbage. He's even beating McClaren at his own particular game when it comes to spouting meaningless drivel.
âÂÂWe are still out of it as it stands and yet, as we sit here today, one win can take you out of the bottom three, which is remarkable given the run we have had."
Sorry to be pedantic Mr Mulletgate, but unless you beat Newcastle by six goals to nil or summat, Boro's goal difference will mean that even a win taking us to 34 points will still mean we only go as high as 18th. So do your maths right sir!
Gareth Southgate says Boro will fight on for their Premier League lives.
Is he getting this stuff from Comical Ali?