Don't Deny Championship Reality: Acceptance Is Where It's At
BORO have been linked with a big money £350,000 swoop for a Colchester winger. Yesterday we got dumped onto the Sky Sports Championship round up. I've handed my Premier League biometric press ID card in. And when the fixtures come out next week we will be looking at being the category A games at Blackpool, Barnsley and Plymouth. Deal with it.
There was a psychologically revealing moment today as deadline loomed and there was a hole on an inside page. I suggested a Championship round up - things are starting to move... Jon Macken and Michael Coulson have signed new deals at Barnsley, Ivan Sproule and Cole Skuse have agreed new contracts at Bristol, Doncaster Rovers have snubbed a £2m Forest bid for Matt Mills, Plymouth have snapped up Carl Fletcher (not the Dream Team one) on a free from Palace... we NEED to know these things. We need to know these players. They are the ones that are going to hurt us next year.
But others disagreed. Those names don't play well with the focus groups, there is no reader recognition, they don't excite and put metaphorical bums on seats like mentions of Didier Drogba, Ronaldo or Torres in the Today in the Premiership. What would the readers want? They want names they know - Andy Murray, Jenson Button, Twenty20 spin sensation Dodgji Chuckabowla - not some obscure utility midfielder at Preston.
These people, like many on Planet Boro, are still working their way through the five stages of grief. Some are still in denial... they are going to get one hell of a shock next Wednesday when they find we are not going to the Emirates or Old Trafford.
A huge mob are really enjoying the anger stage, at players, at each other, at gaffe-prone big-wigs, at the whole sorry situation - but then, that is what we Boro fans do best. A few are bargaining ("if West Ham go bankrupt maybe we will be repreived") and the overwhelming majority are wading through depression, refusing to talk about it, wallowing in dislocation from the things they love, declined to wear their replica strips or renew their once precious season card.
Now it is time for us to move on. It is time for acceptance.
Southgate is back from his holidays, the fixtures are out next Wednesday and the chairman and chief executive both insist the money is there to rebuild properly and have a good crack at promotion at the first time of asking. We need to put recriminations aside and start dealing with the new political landscape.
Relegation is a bad thing. It hurts. But it also presents an opportunity to rebuild the team, reshape our collective pysche and re-energise the crowd. We can cast off some of the more damaging trappings of over-inflated expectation and the frustration that comes with playing in a distorted league that we can never hope to win and all the harmful emotional displacement strategies that go with that bleak existence.
Let's be honest, constant fruitless water-treading in the bottom half of the Premiership has been a soul-sapping experience that has drained us off all the excitement of a decade ago. It has grown as a dark tumour of unspoken resentment that has over-shadowed the sunshine years of Wembley, the joy of Cardiff and the now largely unmentioned mind-blowing achievement of the European campaigns. We have become a grumpy, miserable and bitter people imprisoned in our shrivelled-up ambitions.
Now we have a chance to start again, we a new team, a new attitude and a new relish for the game in a league where we can start to win matches and be galvanised by success. And, to be frank, I'm really looking forward to it.
Boro are now the big boys. No, really. Forget about our insular life inside Teesside's cloud of 'nagativity' and the pessimistic perspective that comes with habitual defeat. Outsiders don't see that.
The rest of the country sees a team that have been relegated after one bad year - but a team that have been cup final regulars for a decade; who broke the hold of the evil quadropoly to become the first team outside the big four to win a national knockout trophy for a decade; who did what Villa, Newcastle, Spurs and Manchester City couldn't and reached the UEFA Cup final; who have a superb stadium, excellent training facilities, big crowds and a universally respected chairman.
When it comes to attracting players that counts. The average player who is 24, 25, 26 and from outside the golden five mile circle around the Riverside hasn't grown up with the "typical Boro" image of cynicism and defeatism. They will have grown up with Boro are a vibrant, ambitious and remarkably successful little club. That gives us pulling power.
That and money. The club insist they will maintain the current wage budget for at least a year. That means Boro will be among the biggest payers in the Championship. The Premier League average wage in 2007-8 was £695,000 a year. In the Championship it was £165,000. Even baring in mind Boro were at the lower end of the top flight spectrum we should be able to blow the likes of Forest, Derby, Bristol and Preston - our new rivals - out of the water when it comes to competing with cash. We should be able to pick and choose who we want.
But we need to know who we want. Forget ephemeral Serbians. The aspirations to bring in "a Gary Neville" figure are real but possibly unrealiseable. It would be great but there are a lot of obstacles to getting the real big hitters.
But that doesn't mean we can't put together a good, solid, industrious and experience side that can give us the best possible chance of a swift return to the top flight. Michael Brown, Nicky Butt, Jason Koumas, Robbie Blake, Matt Kilgallon, James Harper, Kevin Doyle, Jermaine Beckford... all reasonable targets who could 'do a job' for us. I'm sure you have your own half-a-dozen or so in mind.
The merry-go-round will start to roll next week and we will be linked with journeymen players like these. There is no point squealing about. Remember, we have gone beyond denial. Acceptance is where it's at.
********
BEARING im mind that Real Madrid have twice in a week shattered the pan-galactic transfer fee record it is worth recalling that - pah! - we've been there, done that and bought the ill-fitting heavy-when-wet serge replica jersey.
There was moral outrage, predictions of the end of Western civilisation and questions in the House when Boro splashed out on Alf Common in 1905, not to mention short-lived FA attempts to reign in the pernicious attempts by big spending clubs to buy glory. Or at least stave off relegation.
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Anthony Vickers
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So, £80 million for one winger - £350,000 for another. The world has gone mad, even if the clubs in question are Real Madrid/Man Utd and Boro/Colchester. Boro's fall from grace just keeps getting better. Paul Merson to Mark Yeates.
The BBC and Daily Mirror are reporting the Yeates move as a long term replacement for Stewart Downing. I thought that was Adam Johnson. Looks like there is more bad news to come over the next month or so..... Keep smiling.
OK AV - but acceptance of what?
Building a squad that shows real ambition to press for promotion around the likes of Neville and Scholes - and then does it - is one thing but then there's the likes of, say, Mark Yeates 'as a replacement' for Stewie (and Johnno??), can't afford Gomez, 18 year old Serbs and Marlon Harewood.......
I know that all this is rumour and speculation but is it really the sort of stuff that a Boro with the sort of aspiration that we are looking for and the advantages that you outline should even be linked with - even in someone's fevered imagination?
They couldn't even dream it if Boro were seen in the way we want them to be.
You mention Beckford - I agree that he and his mate Becchio could do us well. But his agent is saying that he wants to see evidence of Prem aspiration in any club he'd go to.
So do we all.
So, let's see it.
AV said:
"Now we have a chance to start again, we a new team, a new attitude and a new relish for the game......."
And I think therein lies the problem. We are NOT starting again or afresh. We still have the same management triumvirate who snatched relegation from the jaws of a good team. Why should we expect things to be different this time?
AV also said:
"When it comes to attracting players that counts."
But again last season's 'performance' suggests that attracting players is NOT the issue. What really matters is motivating what we have to play committed football with a semblance of tactical nouse. With GS in charge why should we expect any better next time round? 'Lessons (been) learned', perhaps?
If the Kaka transfer didnt bring about howls of indignation from Platini maybe Ronaldo going to Real will bring the deserved disapproval of clubs fuelling the sky rocketing transfer fees.
It will be good to see the home loving Platini (he played the major part of his career at Juventus which is somewhere in France I believe) criticising clubs spending exorbitant money on overseas players rather than developing local talent.
Oh well, onto the Championship. As I said last week there is little point debating the malaise of the internal workings at MFC because we have no input other than providing funding. We will just get on supporting the Boro because we were told that is what we have to do.
There is no point criticising the Gazette because they have to rely on a close working relationship with the spin doctors or there will be no comfy briefings to allow some insight on the club. Besides which it is counterproductive for the local paper to be at war with MFC.
AV is right, the harsh reality of life in the Championship looms ever closer. Our debate on our demise has long since lacked any purpose. The people who make the decisions have finished their deliberations long ago.
It is 'like it or lump it' time. Everyone has a choice.
I see the Boro have pulled out of the auction for Ronaldo !!!
Can't wait to hear Sir Alex lambasting the officials for the penalty the smug one will surely win for Real Madrid against ManU when being blatantly felled in the penalty area by the fresh air above the goalkeeper's hands, shortly after having been cynically tripped by the veteran and now slightly sluggish blade of grass desperately defending the Manchester goal ..... LOL
I agree AV that at least we have something to look forward to this coming season, we are indeed part of the "big boys club."
But where I do disagree with you, and this applies to the calendar year so far, is that I, and I am sure a lot of readers would agree, is that I dont think we have what it takes at the club to actually acheive the bounce back. The same sort of mistakes made this last year will be punished at any level, we have a team that on paper should not have been relegated, but the reality is.....
So as comments show after the Lambie story, people have no respect for the CE or anything that he says. I personally have to question Mr Gibsons loyalty in keeping him in post. I think this side of his character ultimately does the club no favours, he kept Robbo too long and seems to be doing the same with Gareth and all the while the Chief exec casually undermines anything good that the club wants to acheive.
Out of all the backroom changes proposed I think Lambie retiring would create an opportunity for the club to move forward, I wouldnt say his influence is malignant, that may be too strong, but its time to get someone new in.
Then the rest may start to work!
On the subject of Keith Lamb. I have often wondered how much his involvement with transfer negotiations has either had a positive or a negative influence on the success of otherwise of our incoming players over the last several years.
On the face of it, he appears to have been out-manouevered many times ..... the Alves fee and the Forlan transfer that wasn't, to name but two. I wonder how many good signings we might have been able to make if he hadn't been involved. On the other hand, we will never know and for all we do know the world of Boro may even have been a lesser place without him.
Perhaps the time for navel-gazing should be over now. Yes we are where we are. Yes, none of SG or KL is perfect, but I can't think of too many clubs with a better Chairman or Chief Executive.
AV, I am also looking forward to the new season and to be seeing a winning team, because that is what we will be and we will all enjoy it.
**AV writes: Sometimes (only sometimes mind) I feel sorry for Lambie. Everyone uses the transfers that don't work out as a stick to beat him but then they praise Gibbo for delivering Juninho, Ravanelli, Merson, Hasselbaink or whoever. You can't really have it both ways can you?
I agree - lets use this as an opportunity to rebuild the team and confidence. What I don't want is so called 'journeymen' signings who might get promotion but are not good emough to play in the premiership. Lets build a good team!
Nobody can either criticise or applaud at this stage. The effect that a loss of confidence has on players is immense. If we get off to a good start and build confidence, the players that stay will be unrecognisable from last season.
Also, the championship is totally different, but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the difference in quality beween the two leagues is huge.
This is one reason I hope we keep Alves. His 'quality' should show in this league and I can see him scoring lots of goals if he stays and keeps fit.
I'm sure lots of other supporters have been equally negative after relegation in the past, only to see their team gain promotion with the same management team the following season.
We should look forward to a positive new start and don't be too negative too quick.
Yep, the premiership was a soul sapping experience for sure, only lightened on the occasions when we managed to spank one of the big boys.
I'm looking forward to a competitve Boro competing in the top six (at least). It will all hinge on us buying the right players. It could be a lot of fun!
I'm looking forward to it, chance to visit some new grounds like Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Blackpool - it will be nice to go to away games and actually win a few. We might see some goals at home for once. If we bounce straight back, it will only be a positive experience - and there is no reason why we shouldn't.
I'm quite content with Championship football next season, although the chances of catching Net streamed games has now sadly gone. What still clutches at my soul with its cold, cold fingers, however, is the very real fear that I've had for a while.
A lot of our Premiership players will move on, and the squad needs to be reconstructed with the Championship in mind in any case, so there will be a fair bit of money to spend from player sales and the parachute payments.
What kind of team will we see when all this money is spent? I'm afraid because Southgate and whoever else was responsible for finding and hiring new playing staff have shown very poor judgment in the last few years, both in the quality of the players they've brought in and in their perception of where players were needed and what their roles should be.
Can we expect things will be different this time around? Only with blind faith, not based on recent history. I fear that we will trade a lot of decent players for a lot of mediocrity, we'll have no balance in the team, and the coaching will continue showing all the flaws that have been so evident of late. If so, next season could have even longer term negative ramifications than this one.
With regards to your comments about Platini
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/195524-michel-platini-to-call-into-question-real-madrids-morality
FAO
His comments are hardly the vitriol he pours on anything the Premier League does and he was very quiet over the Kaka move. And if you recall last year he was all in favour of Ronaldo moving to Real for a monstrous fee.
Sorry, it was bland in the extreme. And even if it wasnt he still has a down on English football so dont confuse me with any facts!!!!!
AV: Your “War Cry” reminds me of the first lemming to reach the cliff edge!
For me and for many others, denial is not the issue.
So, here’s an alternative perspective, which, I believe, will represent the views of many:
“TonyBlackitis” has been moving through the community (yes, even as far away as Stockton) like swine flu’. I and many others have caught it. That’s not denial! The symptoms are pain, frustration, a sense of being let down, mistrust of the people and systemic conditions that allowed it to happen. The legacy is similar to clinical depression, from which there is no instant cure or release; just a slow, progressive recovery, provided the remedial regime and other conditions are favourable.
The residual issue is one of choice (something you, AV, presumably feel you don’t have since it’s your livelihood!): Choice to accept, not accept, or put on hold until real evidence of intent and strategic direction is more forthcoming. That is now the issue for me and for many others.
I have no interest whatsoever in learning the identities of Championship players. In fact, unlike the Premier League, I couldn’t even name the Championship Clubs, never mind their players! I and many others am not “football purist” enough to do so. And even if I did, the people I would normally associate with, wouldn't. The conversations would be neither meaningful nor fulfilling. So football is now, effectively, off the main social agenda.
Until recently, I could attend the best that the sport, nationally, could offer. The circus came to town every fortnight and things of direct relevance to us, locally, would be discussed nationally on TV. No longer is that the case. And as a spectating consumer of football, the product, I don’t feel inclined to pay the same money for second rate shows as I would for West-End productions.
All of the ramifications of this relegation, like the economic recession, are not immediately obvious and there's some way to go before many of its effects are fully felt - and even recognised.
When last season’s Boro squad is disassembled and the “cream” has been skimmed, we have the remains of a poor Premier League side that got relegated. If those who go this summer are replaced with even worse players than the ones who leave (i.e. those who got the club relegated), where does that leave Boro?
I’m at a loss to understand the process that is going to take Boro back into the Premier League in one season and leave us with a core of players who will be capable of remaining there the following season and beyond, without spending the megabucks that it’s going to take to keep up with inflationary Premier League spending and the inability to do so that got us relegated in the first place!
The only strategy would seem to be adopting the one that most people have criticized in the past - that of bringing in end-of-career mercenary pension-seekers!
As I had pointed out to me on this blog once before and advised to take heed, the reality of football is that it’s commercial and about money, so why don’t I just shut up and live with it?
Now, by you, I’m being asked to shut up and live with Championship football!
Well sod that! No! Emphatically – No!
Teesside swine flu’? You can deny having it, but it doesn’t change the facts!
“My name is Richard and I’m no longer a season ticket holder”.
It’s my right and MY personal protest! Because withdrawal of custom is all I can do. When they start to deliver a product that’s good enough for me, I’ll consider buying it again.
That’s not total withdrawal. I’ll still attend, but on different terms. As a consumer, I consider that having paid in advance for and sat through every match for the last three miserable seasons patiently waiting for us to “move to the next level” only to find that the next level was the Championship, while contributing to making millionaires out of some headless chickens before they’re 30 years old, I’ve been taken for a mug!
Therefore, I consider I’ve earned the right to my own strategic change!
Your rallying cry may work for those within a 5 mile radius of the Riverside Stadium but the Club will have to tangibly demonstrate something more than a call for “blind faith” before I’ll be convinced of any serious ambitious intent being restored and with it, possibly, enough of my faith for me to gift them a season’s money in advance.
"It's just a good team basically. We've got a lot of top players, we seem to gel so well and we've got a good team spirit and everything seems to fall into place when I play for England. A lot of the lads have been together for years, I know a lot of them from U19s and U18s and the balance in our team is just perfect."
Adam Johnson on his England teammates. His comments are certainly making a hidden point about all that is wrong at Boro. He desperately wants to be away, I hear. Shame really. He could be a real star in the Championship and save us a fortune.... or at least £350,000 for a new winger it seems!
But like AV, I too am looking forward to the season. We are indeed a big fish now. But watch out, oh how the mighty can fall...even further - just ask Leeds.
We can have a good season with the right mix of new experience and keeping hold of key players, confidence and a good start is the key to success in this division. It's just a shame that the men making those key decisions will be Southgate and the Lamb.
I too am looking forward to next season, the football in the the championship might not be as good as the prem, but then there are only four or five teams that show real quality in the top division anyway, the rest squable for scraps and desperatley try to avoid the drop season after season. great fun eh! At least we will be on a fairly level playing field, or even top dogs next season so we should see some real scraps and plenty of goals (remember those?!) Bring it on!
AV, fully agree with you save your last para
We've been assured that a squad will be build around seasoned pro's, leaders who are proven at this level. This is exactly what we need. Players like Ince, Townsend, Vickers, Mustoe,
Neville and or Scholes would be ideal
What we don't want is journeymen or unproven projects, especially Harewood or 18 year old serbs. If we sign them I believe we should be squealing like pigs.
Whoever we sign this summer we have surely got to buy at least one proper centre forward. That Harewood rumour is a deeply worrying
All this talk of being "big fish" - how reminiscent of Newcastle is that?
I suggest we stop it now before we start believing it! Or we may all find "out of the blue" that we're not!
Stockport Wiggy at 10.08pm - a player like Mustoe would have played at least 38 games last season and stood head and shoulders above any of our midfield players (and shown more grit and effort).
It might be possible to bounce straight back up next season - though if we don't do it then or the season after, I fear we would be in The Championship for the foreseeable future - but if the squad is gutted in the next few weeks as a result of the mass exodus of of better players, it could only be achieved by either big spending or a VERY astute series of replacement purchases.
In an ideal world it would be both. However I don't think we have the money for the former. And how many of us on this Blog would like to back our scouting team (with our own money) on the latter? And, as has been said above, what really matters is being able to motivate the players we have in the squad.
There is just the slightest suspicion that our backroom staff could turn silk into a sow's ear, or wine into water (rather than the other way around). It doesn't matter what ingredients you use if the chef can't cook.
I know one season ticket holder who would vehemently disagree with Richard at 7.22pm, believing that it is the DUTY of supporters to support even when reason suggests otherwise, and that it is treason to challenge ANY decision that is made on the club's behalf. That other supporter (and, no, I am not being cute - it isn't me) argues that if people are not 100% behind the club, then the club is better off without them even if it left a rump of only 5,000 fans in the ground, and even if that was in The Conference.
I understand Richard's reasons and his frustration. I disagree with my friend. Support can't be blind. If your friend has B.O. do you ignore it, or is it kinder to tell him? After all, you hope your friend might take the information on board and deal with his smelly problem, so that everyone could be happy. If we support uncritically isn't it inevitable that things would continue unchanged? If the season ticket sales remained high, what would be the motivation to do anything about it?
Football can't have it both ways. It argues it is a business and must be run on commercial lines, and that costs must be trimmed to balance the long-term books. We can only have the football team, not only that we deserve, but also that we can afford. But successful businesses ALWAYS listen to their customers.
Any CEO or Chairman who insisted that only they know the way ahead, and therefore ignored the customers because they were "wrong" would run his business into the ground.
And if the customer doesn't like the product, his ultimate weapon is not to buy it. No manager is safe when the stadium seats are empty. The problem is that when people don't go to the game, and can't see it on TV (in a pub, let's say) they will find something else to do on a Saturday. They might find they get more enjoyment, less frustration and save money following that new pursuit. They might not come back.....
Calls for blind faith will not get the fans back. Being blind cost us our premiership place.
All the soundbites from the club have been heard before. We want to see positive action from the club in the manner of good signings, offloading the players who so sadly disappointed last season.
If Southgate is to stay, then his coaching staff have to go. Collectively, they hadn't a clue, and our poor defensive record shows that former defenders cannot pass on those skills to others. Similarly at the other end of the pitch. How hard is it to shoot at goal? Obviously too hard for our present players. A striking coach is a must. Start with the inside of a barn......
Richard
Your sentiments are correct, they are why I made the comments earlier in the thread about it being like it or lump it time.
It seems we just have to keep the blind faith that the motley crew that caused the shipwreck are the same lot to get their hands on the latest unsinkable vessel, the same lot who have been learning lessons all season.
They may find that others have been learning lessons as well. Like many I cannot stop supporting the Boro but I am not filled with eager anticipation awaiting the new fixtures.
In Finland the Finnish Broadcasting Company used to show English 'old' First Division already in the 1970's. That's how I become a Boro fan in late '70's anyway. During the last few years the pay TV channels have showns Boro (and other PL matches) around 5 games per week here.
My biggest worry is that I cannot see Boro on TV next season as we are in the C'hip now. Is there any way of subscribing to Boro matches through the internet? I have Boro World but that is only highlights after a match though. Please let me know if there is a way of seeing Boro through the internet!
Of course I will try to see a match or two live at Riverside, too. But of course that is quite costly from the real 'North East' of Europe. It's over 1 000 miles one way!
Up the Boro!
I agree 100% with the above AV....Lets stop moaning and get start looking forward too what could be a great season.
I like many am only just coming to terms about my beloved Boro's fall from the Prem, but lets be honest we have been 'punching' above are weight for three years. I like many am sick of turning up at the Riverside and seeing us play stale poor football...the Prem is not everything SSN tells us its IMO, Yes it has money and stars but everyone outside of the big '4' (used loosely) can and do flirt with relegation at one time or another.
Great league?? Take us for example we only won two out of 23 at the end but could still stay up on the final day....Good league?? Everyone from 15th down were good enough (or Bad) to drop with us.
I am sick of us scraping results against teams who come to the Riverside and make no attempt to win...Take Fulham for example they were flying high and playing the worst team in the league(us) but were happy with a 0-0 and did very little to beat us.
Now the Champo is not the end of the earth...i started watching Boro in the 87-88 season so I'm a bit of a 'glory hunter' ha. But the fact is those times were 100 times worse than now. As stated we are now the big club in the Champo who should make a good go of it in the title race...yes we will lose 'stars' but new 'heroes' will emerge from a promotion season.
Boro fans as a rule feel after 12yrs in the Prem that we have a divine right to be there...we do not!! I feel a promotion season will 'galvanize' us again and give players a 'winning' mentality. If we did go up we would probably be favourites to go straight back down...so then like Stoke/Hull the fans would adopt a 'we will show them' mentality rather than a 'moaning' one. As Poggy said its hard on players to battle against relegation every season. it will take its toll!!
I feel for are young players thrust into a relegation battle....they will really benefit IMO from a season in the Champo(if we do well ha).
As stated despite our 'funds' problems we should be able to out bid 80-90% of the Champo with fees and wages and unlike the Prem 'stars' we will IMO be a good proposition for players form other Champo clubs.
Yes the Champo is a hard 'gritty' league but no disrespect to Burnley, Wolves, Brum, how many of there players would get into our side??? Not many IMO (other than forwards)...despite all the doom and gloom i really do feel we can go straight back up under Gareth....Good times!!
Now my only 'worry' is that a generation of Boro fans have only known the Prem (11-12yrs old) so how will they handle it?? Well as I always say Boro fans support the Boro not who they are playing...Man Utd or Barnsley it should not matter...yes it may take a few weeks to get to know the Champo players but there is some good players in there. Trust me doubters
I am not a Prem supporter. I follow other leagues and IMO this season could be fun!! What would you rather see...the Boro struggling against relegation every season or winning the league with 80-90 points and scoring (whats that ha) 80-90 goals?? Now i am not saying this will happen - but it could. look at Reading three years ago.. 90+ points and 100+ goals.
Look at is a new adventure peole i for one am getting my 'Champo' head on and looking forward to Aug 8th and the fixtures next week, Keep the faith....UTB!!!!!
There are some great responses on here to AV's post. Richard's in particular threw up all sorts of thoughts for me.
I guess we (Boro) are a big fish in the fizzy pop league now but all that means is that every team will turn out determined to give us a good tonking. It guarantees us nothing and means we will need to be exceptionally determined every week of the season in order to prosper.
Which is my biggest concern, because for me last seasons failure was down to a lack of determination on the part of the players, to change that mind set over a few short weeks in the summer will not be easy.
When I read Richard's post my first thought was 'are you a Boro supporter or not?' but of course he is, through and through no doubt like all of us on here.
He though as an 'ex' season ticket holder is in a very different place to me.
Richard like thousands has watched dreary football with disappointing results for seasons now, where as I as an 'ex pat' living in London look forward to every game I can get to. So for me next season is a much more exciting prospect maybe than for many Boro supporters.
I know where Peterborough is, Ipswich , QPR, Watford etc and I'm looking forward to visiting, in the hope that we are going to be competitive and produce some exciting football. I'm not bothered that I won't see Ronaldo, Drogba, Fabregas, excitement is more important than quality for me.
As for what Boro need to do in order to be successful in the aim to get promoted; experienced pro's are a must although that doesn't mean we have to buy 'mercenary pensioners' we need a few Townsends while avoiding any Boksics'.
We should be competitive, there will be no excuse for not being, Boro will be a financial heavy weight in the championship and Southgate must make that advantage count.
We all bemoan the impact that the financial clout of the big boys in the Prem has. Well now its up to Boro to use financial clout to our advantage.
As for how we survive in the prem. if we get promoted next season, hopefully we are successful enough for us to be able to spend next summer worrying about that.
Richard et al, I hope Boro are successful enough for you to have your desire to watch them week in week out rekindled sharpish, the ball is in the clubs court.
OK, perhaps I was a little guilty of denial when I posted on the Twitter thread (it could be moved) on being completely underwhelmed with the current crop of transfer prospects being touted in the press.
Given the number of players expected to leave we will struggle in the Championship if we don't recruit the best quality replacements that are prepared to play in that division rather than the PL.
Also the bulk of players recruited will also need to be capable of playing in the PL unless we believe Gareth can build two teams in two years should he somehow manage to finesse promotion.
I was also interested in your statistic that the average wage in the Championship is £165,000 - this means the yearly wage bill for a squad of 25 is a little over £4m, which is £29m LESS than our previously published wage bill - so we shouldn't concern ourselves with the threat of financial meltdown.
**AV writes: Exactly. We could comfortably slash the wage bill by half and STILL be the biggest payers in the division bar Newcastle. The club have said they WON'T cut the wage bill though and so if a couple of big hitters leave (say Tuncay, Huth, O'Neill and Downing) there will be room to bring in at least SIX good quality, proven Championship players with Premier League aspirations.
To come back on some other points...
Some of our younger players have had experience and rave reviews in the Championship - Grounds, McMahon, Johnson, Williams - and Digard and Emnes have had a year getting used to the pace of England. Things are not as bleak and gloomy as we miserable sods have painted them.
That doesn't mean it will be easy. It won't. It will be tough, not least for fans who have grown soft and flabby on a diet of Premier League expectation. But the ingredients are all there for a good season that can shock this club back into some kind of vibrant unity. It is a season of possibility.
And it is not a case of ra-ra blind faith or hallucinations from the fumes off my foam hands. Far from it. I know that if we get it wrong next season then we could be condemned to a generation in the second tier. I know that there is now a large pool of residual antipathy for Southgate and a slow start will see that boil over into vocal opposition and the season will be blighted by internecine squabbling. The boss probably only has ten games to set the tone and save his reign here.
And I know too that the entire future rests on getting the right players. People who think Southgate doesn't know the game, doesn't know about good players and doesn't know what and who he needs are deluding themselves. He will know more about the market and the economic landscape than we could possibly conceive.
But almost all the changes in the squad over the past two or three years that has seen his team get steadily worse have been driven by economics. Yakubu, Viduka, Woodgate, Young, Schwarzer... they haven't left because they had no confidence in the gaffer. It is all about money. Because we have been cutting wages and refusing to pay big signing on fees the players he wanted and needed have gone elsewhere. That is the reality.
But now we will be the big payers at this level. Boro have budgetted for a couple of big hitters (Neville for instance) but should also be able to attract the best of rest from the Championship. Not by Southgate's inspirational eloquence as he outlines his vision, not by Lamb's shrewd salesmanship... by piling more money on the table than the others.
But all that aside, in some ways it doesn't matter. The season kicks off on August 8th and you are either on board or you are not. People can choose on whatever basis they want. And as Richard says, I have to go whether I like it or not - but personally some of my favourite seasons have been outside the top flight. I'm not scared of the future. I'm looking forward to it.
Richard
Agree with most of what you say in yours of 7.22pm yesterday and empathise with all of it. I won't repeat what I said in mine at 11.52am.
In that light, though, it is disappointing to read in various papers this morning that the usual, supine MFC stance on squad building is prevailing again.
It is said that Gate is 'having to be patient' until the hordes deserting the now sunk ship have gone before he can get into the market. Pathetic, if true, but exactly true to previous form.
What were all the so-called 'do you want to stay or go' meetings supposed to be about? Can't anyone there gauge a market to value the potential of likely sales and targets?
If they can't get everyone in until they're sure, what's stopping them getting one of two of the key deals done on the players the new team is going to be built around?
There is one glimmer of sense in that 'a source close to' says that going after Harewood is 'unlikely'. I'd have preferred 'Harewood? Yeravinalarf!!' but there you go.
It's not a surprise to read about Burnley's interest in Rhys Williams and you can't blame the lad for reacting positively to interest from a Prem team with whom he's played recently but he is one of those that a good Boro Championship drive could have been built around.
We'd all like to be optimistic...the difficulty is as others have said, that we have a failed management team leading our promotion challenge
In this summer of speculation has GS been linked with any other club? That surely provides a measure of how his level of ability is assessed more generally
It's worrying that players like Ross Turnbull and Adam Johnson don't feel able to commit to the club. Adam Johnson and Rhys Williams have both proved that they can star at this level - one year down the line they should also be capable of leading our campaign back in the PL - we need them both
I don't have any issues about a season in the Championship - in many ways its refreshing to escape the overpaid, underperforming, not really interested or couldn't-care-less super star syndrome that has swamped many of the middle and lower tier clubs of the PL
There are some big clubs in the Championship - the League itself is far more competitive, the players are closer to reality, most still seem to have a hunger and a desire to improve themselves
All I really need to start feeling fully committed to the cause, to have faith restored and to put aside all the doubts is a new manager who can give me the belief that he knows what he's doing, that he knows a good player when he sees one, that he can weld a team together and motivate it, and that tactically he's at least as good as those he's up against
That's it, that's all I need, and the rest I'll leave to blind faith
(NB: isn't it just fabulous to see Hull City playing in the Barclays Premier Asia Trophy in Beijing...)
Look on the bright side, at least we won't have to wait until the end of "Goals on Sunday" to see the Boro goals. We will see them in the "Championship Roundup" part.
I have to disagree with Steve and others of his ilk who say we have punched above our weight in the Premiership. He even contradicts himself in the same post, by complaining he was sick of Boro not bothering to compete.
We have serially UNDERPERFORMED under Southgate's tenure, and the blame is shared from Manager to Goalkeeper. Manager bought the players, picked the coaches, the players, team selection and tactics. Then he couldn't motivate them.
If Boro had played to their full effectiveness, we'd finish comfortably in the top half of the table. As it was, no one had any ambition, and no one put any effort into achieving what the team was capable of.
Chairman, Manager and fans were prepared to accept a lack of effort and general mediocrity. We fans just moaned, and kept on supporting in the face of an impending doom, which, for all it was forecast, was ignored by the people in charge of the club.
They ignore our words. Our only recourse is not to buy the tickets. No more Blind Faith Mr Gibson. Time for the club to EARN our support.
Failure to employ a rocket scientist is the main problem with our club. A person who can push the right buttons at the right time i have a grandson who would qualify.
One or two major signings now will stir up the natives and show the intent from the club which in turn would wait for it maybe boost ticket sales and wait for it convince the players who we need to stay have a change of heart.
There that was damn difficult, wasnt it? Where do I sign?
Anyone seen the list that go out to all the clubs which says who's available ? Officially or unofficially ? I'd like to know which of the useless lumps we're getting rid of, or would like to.
Also we should start a sweep to see how much money we raise in sales and what we spend. AV can you be the beancounter and set up a weekly online gauge like they do for a Church roof fund ? Let's keep track of this "ambition.
I figure in round numbers Huth £6m, Tuncay £7m, Johnson £3m, Pogi £2m (yeravingalaugh), Arca free, Aliadiere £1.5m, Mido £3m, O'Neil £4m. So I figure we should raise around £26m without flogging Stewie off til he's fit again, and those lot are all big wages too so there's a lot of room for a rebuild.
With the £12m we didn't spend on Love that we we're going to by (according to Lambie) last year and all the money we didn't spent this January which was available (according to Lambie and SG) since "we just couldn't get them to come" plus the funds we should raise as mentioned above, plus the £30m parachute, that's near enough £70m. We should be able to pay off the debt and send every season ticket holder a Christmas hamper to thank them for watching something as painful as getting your teeth pulled out without an injection last season. I think a box of chocies to for all those in Stockton wouldn't go amiss either.
So now we have a big fat virtual slush fund, let's not waste it on Harewood - not good enough at Wolves = NOT good enough for us !
Roll on the Championship - it's Back to the Future !
Trying to get some time off anything Boro for a while, but it aint possible is it?
A couple of things concern me(well actually its a lot more really) The suggestion that Boro "are now the big boys" is a bit worrying AV. I appreciate your argument for saying it and you make good points.
However, it might raise expectations that we have a given right, having been regular members of the Premiership for so long. Perhaps, not so far removed from 'Europe's a real possibility'. Of course, and hopefully, we will have a great season, culminating in a promotion, but there are so many imponderables to consider, not least who goes and most importantly, who comes in.
Another thing that worries me is that Boro settle into, say eight or ninth throughout the season, ie just out of the play off places. If that's the case, then we can expect players and staff coming out with the ' we're only a couple of wins from top spot'. Again, a bit like last seasons qualifying for Europe rubbish.
Oh yes, Michael Brown, Jason Koumas..Think its time for your summer hols AV
**AV writes: Available, looking for a regular game, robust, experienced, far better than the vast majority in the Championship... you give me a few names then.
Why do I have this strange feeling that a certain Mr Clough at Derby will be a success as a football manager? Is it because he comes off as a single minded individual who knows what it is all about?
I read Richard's comment's with interest.I've renewed my ticket in spite of relegation. I fully understand his decision not to part with his money up front and would say that at this moment in time there are few reasons you could give to a "waverer" that they ought to change their mind and buy one.
However in my view he has clearly been brainwashed by the Sky propaganda machine as to how good the Premier League is.Take the top four out and I have to say my view is that the rest are of at best a moderate standard and at worst rank bad.
The result is that the 12 cannon fodder teams at the bottom play survival football which delivers very little in the way of entertainment. Get in touch with any Sunderland and Bolton fan and ask them if they enjoyed value for money on their home season ticket.
Occasionally I watch a match at Hartlepool or Darlo. Last year I saw Hartlepool play an outstanding 2-2 draw at home to leaders Leicester.I can assure Richard that the entertainment on offer was superior to a lot of PL games. Lets face it entertainment disappeared years ago for us in the Premier League.
I think the last time I enjoyed a league season at home was about 5 years ago when Joseph Job was playing in the hole behind 2 forwards.I think we won 9 or 10 home games. I honestly do not think it is possible to be served up with worse rubbish than was dished up last time. I'm looking forward to it.
This blog is fantastic but any chance of everyone aiming for a, say 300 word max. Its becoming a column within a column. I can't be bothered to read some of these posts, especially when there the same thing over and over again! I only have half an hour for me dinner.
Sorry to moan. Am I in the minority?
Please Boro, get promoted quickly, if only so Richard can hold his head up proudly and talk football at his dinner parties.
If his social whirl is happy to chat over the chardonney Boro are playing Lampard, Rooney and Torres but turn their noses when it comes to playing Sheff Wed and Preston then he needs to get some new friends who aren't shallow snobs.
Failing that, if it is just the glamour of the Premiership circus he wants then he can always go to Sunderland [especially if he lives in Stockton ;)].
I have read his posts about football as just a business with interest over the years and in some ways he is right. I know he sees himself as just a customer and that the clubs just see us that way too and it stinks.
But for me it is NOT about money. It is about identity. It is about pride. Boro are my club and I will support them whether they are playing Liverpool or Hartlepool. I've loved being in the Premiership and the UEFA Cup but if it comes to League Two and the Johnson Paints I will still be there.
I am as angry as anyone about a spineless relegation and an inept manager but I will NEVER walk away because I'm not happy with the product.
Stockport Wiggy said:
"This blog is fantastic but any chance of everyone aiming for a, say 300 word max."
Maybe AV could tell you about Twitter. (But maybe not in at most 300 words.)
Renewing was never an issue for me. I really don't understand people who think the club owe them something, or who expect to 'see things happen' before they pledge their loyalty.
As far as I'm concerned, I'll support the Boro, through thick and thin, bad times and good times, and I'll be there every week regardless of who is in charge. That's called being a supporter, last time I checked anyway.
stockton red, I agree with you re the quality of the entertainment that can be served up in the lower leagues, by comparison to the Premier League.
I recall being so excited at the prospect of First Division football when Jack Charlton took us up, only to be so disappointed at the amount of niggling little cheating from the top clubs of the day and overall that the quality of football over 90 minutes was nowhere near as good as the highlights on Match of the Day made you think. Really no change in over 30 years on either of these fronts.
Gutted we got relegated, yes. Excited at the prospect of promotion yes. Isn't that part of what being a fan is all about ?
Good point AV, we will probably have to buy some players that we have never heard of and we may be the Man U of the championship - but can we play like the Man U of the championship? Not if the exodus of good players continues on a relatively bigger scale than at Man U. I dont even think we have a championship Ronaldo to sell.
Talking about BLIND FAITH, I think Gibbo has been using that to select managers constantly.
I will support BORO in the Championship but have not got the confidence to say we will do any good as the wind remains knocked out of me from what was on show since Christmas. I am scared with good reason. Only results will change that.
AV re Michael Brown, a brilliant player in his younger days at Sheffield Utd, but since then his main attribute seems to be kicking the opposition. Jason Koumas, has always flatterd to deceive. However, its all about opinions isn't it and I can't think of many better, but I'll try to.
Well said AV, it is time to look forward. A winning Boro team will attract 25,000+ no matter what league we are in.
I am with Neil M, BoroPhil and Powmill. Enjoyable posts gentlemen. "Boro Passion" I think is appropriate, so much better than the somewhat insulting "Blind faith"
I agree with everything Richard said. My son and I have good seats but after three years of rubbish I have had enough. I gave GS the benefit of the doubt for two seasons but this last season was terrible. No entertainment value.
SG says that he is a fan. Well I could see possible relegation looming before Xmas. If he was content to sit and watch that display of poor passing, shooting and lax defending then he knows nothing about football. A lot of the other clubs who missed the drop bought players and obtained a new manager by Xmas but we sat back smug and complacent.
I will attend the odd match and make my mind up on my season ticket depending upon the quality of our performance.
Neil M - absolutely right: and the kind of 'addiction' that you describe has made football the business it is today. Who wouldn't invest in a business where you can treat the customers with contempt, serve them a rubbish product, and they keep on buying...
I remember when Boro won promotion and tried to relocate East Stand season ticket holders in to the West Stand Corners when it was clear most couldn't afford it. However, as KL pointed out at the time, if they didn't want to pay for the West Stand season-tickets there were plenty more on the one thousand plus waiting list who did.
The kind of 'brand loyalty' that football clubs enjoy is unique and it allows them to get away with taking us for granted, ignoring us, and assume that in the main we'll just keep on paying because the reality is that we will.
Virtually everybody on here writes in because the Boro is in their blood - even those of us who now live or work abroad are still drawn back to our roots by the football club that is the best representation of who we are. That's why we hurt when we see overpaid and underperforming players who don't seem to care as much as we do, or why we find it tough to face up to a promotion battle behind a leader we have no faith in
Whingers or Blind-Faith Disciples we're all one and the same, we all buy the product one way or another...
I must say first of all that Steve Gibson's performance on BBC Radio Tees was just pathetic. He got it wrong on every question. He had the opportunity to sell the supporters his vision for next season and he blew it big time.
His feeble "rallying cry" to give him our "blind faith" just beggars belief. If we do it will be the blind leading the blind into a catastrophic season in the Championship.
It doesn't matter which players we are able to sign for next season: even if it was to be Ronaldo, Kaka, Villa etc we are still left with the same management team that stood by and watched helplessly as our beloved Boro sank without trace to the most embarrassing relegation in living memory.
Let's be really honest about this. Does anybody really think that this management team is capable of building a football team able to compete in any league?
I for one cannot wait for next season to start. It will just take us closer to the inevitable moment when the penny drops for Steve Gibson and he realises what a complete fool he has made of himself.
He needs to get rid of Gareth Southgate and employ a real manager and then leave him alone to get on with the job of rebuilding this great football club!
First signing I would want is Chris Morgan from Sheffield Utd. That would sort out a few non footballing problems for a start and much better than Premier "has beens" on 3 year contracts (cream crackered after 6 months of regular 1st team football) which will put us back 12 years especially if by some miracle Gareth has actually learned his lessons and manages to win promotion.
I'm looking forward to it too. It will be a good season. With the best of the kids and a couple of new faces we will walk this league.
The new boss will get it all organised when Southgate gets the boot in October.
Players to buy.....
Stephen Hunt
Matt Derbyshire
Ross McCormack
Gavin McCann ( don't laugh)
Danny Murphy (money talks)
**AV writes: Boro were within a hairsbreadth of signing Ross McCormack for £250,000 18 months ago. Now Cardiff are asking £6m.
gt at 12.59pm -
Not only because Nigel Clough is single minded. Perhaps also because he has learned his management trade, done his apprenticeship if you like, over a number of years at Burton Albion (which he took to the edge of the League before leaving, and which club then limped over the finishing line after he left). How much management experience did our leadership team have when appointed?
Let's be honest, if you were to have a medical operation would you want it carried out by a surgeon with several years experience in the operating theatre, or by the young tyro at the end of his undergraduate medical course and has looked quite good in lectures but hasn't yet actually wielded a scalpel in anger.
You can't know how someone holds up under fire until the bullets start to fly around. A man might have been a good player but the stress of management and the need to make decisions under pressure from the sidelines can't be the same as playing on the pitch.
Or, put another way, why should our club be the training ground for others?
Surely there must have been SOMEONE known to the Board who had his coaching badges and had SOME football management experience somewhere? If things don't go well in the first couple of months in the next season. and we go for a FOURTH successive rookie manager, there can be no possible excuse. You don't do the same thing four times without it being a policy.
If journalism was run in the same way, AV would be expecting a phone call soon - "Like to edit "The Financial Times" son? We see you have won a few journalistic awards." Actually that might be a little unkind to AV, but you get my point.
**AV writes: Yet ironically all Boro's best/most successful managers have been rookies... Charlton, Rioch, McClaren, Robson. It's a funny old game.
I'm not one of the "blind faith" brigade, that's reserved for the monochrome lot up the road, but after almost 50 years of supporting Boro (even though I've always had a Stockton address or post code ) they are indelibly embedded in my heart, and come hell or high water that will never never change.
I've renewed my season ticket for next season, with some long hard soul searching I must admit. I've read posts here from the "passionate" side of our support who will throw their weight behind the team and look forward to the coming season. I've also heard from those who look on MFC from a more business perspective and the "is the product worth parting with our money for" argument.
But when all comes to all, continuing to support Boro the team is a purely personal thing in my opinion, everyone will have his or her own reasons why they will or will not turn out to get behind the lads on a Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock (now there's a novelty in itself!)
On the season ahead, looking forward to the Championship is like getting ready to go to a party that you just don't really want to go to, but you know you have to show your face. I just hope that when we join the party in August it turns out to be one of those that in the end you were glad you went to.
However I have fears. I fear that we could be in for a sharp short shock (try saying that after 6 pints of John Smith's) this coming season, maybe not in the mould of a Leeds or Southampton or Charlton, but I am filled with a little trepidation that the club may not be as prepared as they think they are for what is coming.
Looking back to the FA Cup last season, when against a weakened Wolves side, we were lucky to get away with a win, with our so-called premiership players, and although that was only one game it showed then that Boro were of Championship quality.
No doubt some will argue "but we beat Liverpool, we drew with Arsenal, we only lost 1-0 at Manure", yes true but where was the same commitment for the rest of the season. Be sure that in the Championship, if Boro show any lack of fight, bottle, commitment, call it what you like, we could be cruelly exposed.
I take most of what MFC say these days with a very large pinch of salt, they are talking the talk "we have made enquiries here", "we have made enquiries there" but I don't see much in the way of action.
Okay, it's early days I know, but now is the time to be making decisions on who is going and who is staying, clearing the decks for this "assualt on the Championship" that Mr Lamb talks about.
My overriding problem is that MFC still have the same people sitting around the boardroom table, they still have the same scouting network, the same coaches and the same manager that made the mistakes last season that took us down, so why should we think they will get it right this season?
**AV writes: "Yet ironically all Boro's best/most successful managers have been rookies... Charlton, Rioch, McClaren, Robson. It's a funny old game."
Uh, you have forgotten McClaren's CV very quickly. Here is the years of top level coaching experience PRIOR to his Boro job, something NOT shared by Robson or Southgate:
Coaching career
After retiring from playing McClaren began his coaching career as a youth and reserve team coach at Oxford United, where Denis Smith was manager.[11] He moved back to Derby County in 1995, where he was assistant manager to Jim Smith.[12] The pair won promotion to the Premier League in their first season in charge and later enjoyed further consolidation in the top flight.
In early 1999, McClaren moved to Manchester United as assistant to Alex Ferguson, replacing Brian Kidd. At the time he was so unknown he was introduced by United chairman Martin Edwards as "Steve McClaridge". His first half-season was distinguished by United winning the Treble, consisting of the Premier League title, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. He developed the reputation as one of the most tactically astute coaches in the country, using modern methods such as video analysis and sports psychologists. United later won the League titles in 2000 and 2001, thus ensuring they won every title contested while McClaren was at the club.
In October 2000 McClaren was made a coach in the England national team by caretaker-manager Peter Taylor. He retained the position under permanent manager Sven-Göran Eriksson until November 2002, combining the job with his roles at club level.
HARDLY A ROOKIE.
The only question left to be answered is whether Gibson will hire someone like Curbishley or equivalent, by December 1st. That is the only possible way we will end up in the Premiership, rather than League One, as explained by a previous comment above:
" We have serially UNDERPERFORMED under Southgate's tenure, and the blame is shared from Manager to Goalkeeper. Manager bought the players, picked the coaches, the players, team selection and tactics. Then he couldn't motivate them. "
There is zero reason to think anything will be difference, no matter which players are in the squad come August. If Southgate took over Real Madrid tomorrow, they would be relegated within the year, obviously.
I am definitely still at the depression stage and moping over every thing about football.
The transfer targets so far have been a right kick in the teeth, neither Gibbo nor Lamb did anything to encourage me in their 'blind faith' spin sessions that the club are doing anything over than crossing their fingers and hoping that whichever deadbeats they end up keeping can suddenly be transformed into a team with bottle and battle and goals.
And I'm dreading the fixtures. Bloody Barnsley? Doncaster? Peterborough? I thought those days were well and truely behind us.
I havent got a season ticket and have never had one so I was unlikely to buy one this summer.
I am not over the moon and looking forward to a season or several in the lower leagues, I am underwhelmed by the thought of the fixtures shortly to be announced.
Living in Derby I do have the prospect of several games against teams friends support; Derby, Forest, Leicester. In addition there are trips to Sheff U and W, Coventry, Scunnie, Doncaster etc. It is more than likely I will meet up with John Powls at Reading and Watford.
I will get to my usual quota of matches but probably fewer at the Riverside.
I am certainly not in mourning, supported the Boro too long for that. I am not into Blind Faith, like the supergroup of the same name it may well turn out to be an ill fated venture without the substance to make a lasting impact.
Just dont expect me to be overjoyed at the pitiful mismanagement of the club.
Why are people talking Boro down before a player has been signed or a ball kicked? Why are people writing off a promotion charge? You do reliase by doing that you are letting Southgate/Gibbo off the hook don't you?
I think we should INSIST that Boro are the big boys, INSIST we sign the best possibly players out there and INSIST that promotion is the absolute bare minumum this season that is acceptable to make up for the miserable spineless show last season.
We should make massive demands on this collective management now and if they don't deliver then we will be within our rights to kick off and demand Southgate's head.
If "the realists" set their targets low and the club reach them how can they complain?
AV
You and I are never going to agree about the Fizzy Pop 'Thud and Blunder' Championship. As Ian says, it's now like it or lump it anyway. And we're all Boro fans through thick, thin and thinner.
The only issue, for me, is how quickly we can get out of it and back to the Prem - if we get a season (or, at most, two) of a real promotion push and then go back up successfully there will be excitement and enjoyment to be had.
But, to listen to some on here, maybe including yourself, they'd be happy to do the 'get to the play-offs (at best) and make sure you avoid promotion' ritual dance that so many in The Championship get into, year after year.
If they think that that's better than what we had in the eleven seasons before the last one then they've got very short memories and don't watch much Championship football.
But there's one thing that I can't let pass.
**AV writes: And I know too that the entire future rests on getting the right players. People who think Southgate doesn't know the game, doesn't know about good players and doesn't know what and who he needs are deluding themselves. He will know more about the market and the economic landscape than we could possibly conceive.
On just what evidence?
With the exception of Tuncay, there is absolutely nothing that Gate has done in his time as manager at Boro that would support that view and everything else he's done in the transfer market supports the opposite view.
Indeed, just a little further on, you produce more contrary evidence yourself.
**AV writes: Boro were within a hairsbreadth of signing Ross McCormack for £250,000 18 months ago. Now Cardiff are asking £6m.
As far as the money is concerned - we can all quote examples of Prem (and Thud and Blunder) managers who have had to do with a good deal less resource than Gate has had and - because they actually do know the market and can make it work for their club - have made a success of it. If Gate had the qualities that you suggest he has then why couldn't he have done the same?
I sincerely hope that what you say about the comparative financial position that MFC now have and the comparative perception of Boro based on the last dozen years rather than the last season are true.
So, there can be no more excuses about resources or how difficult it is to persuade the right players to come to Boro.
We won't have long to wait, then, to see the action we have been lacking so far and we can look forward to the sort of 'quality and quantity' squad that Gibbo, Gate and The Count have all described being put in place with the sort of players that we - and the rest of the football world - will recognise as an incontrovertible statement of intent.
Show me that, then I'll start to get excited about the upcoming season.
**AV writes: Knowing who you want and getting them are two different things and not getting them has not always been Southgate's fault. For instance, two summers ago he wanted Sidwell, Ashley Young, O'Neill and Beattie and only got one of them. Sidwell and Young went to Villa for more money than Boro could afford and Beattie stayed at Everton because Boro wouldn't pay him enough.
The Ross McCormack deal fell through because after agreeing the terms his club moved the goalposts and tried to start an auction between Boro and Wigan, who both subsequently dropped out.
Neither of those can be used as evidence of ability or otherwise to spot talent, just as evidence that the club as a whole have not had the finances - or inclination - to go above their initial valuation to push deals through.
You are right that the proof of the pudding is in the eating and as the club insist the cash is there to fund a promotion push we will see in the coming weeks how far they are willing to go in recruiting.
I would be far from happy with plodding along in the Championship but realistically we have one season to have a good crack at escaping or that is exactly what we may end up doing. Recognising that is not the same as endorsing or wishing it.
So Southgate has started to look for leaders on the pitch. What happened over the past three years?
Shouldn't Gibson be doing the same off the pitch? Answer No. He's happy with mediocrity, someone who will do as he is told and tow the party line. Lamb let's slip in his interview that relegation gives the club a chance to restructure and then they tells us relegation wasn't planned - who are they trying to kid?
Craigie @ 11:30am: A well-intended post.
However, desire and declaration of intent is one side of things, delivery is another. And too often in the recent past, Boro have come up short in the delivery stakes.
In "Offish", they haven't "walked the talk".
The only way to demonstrate our INSISTENCE as "supporters", is to show we're serious about it by withdrawal of that (financial) support for poor and mediocre performance, if that's what we don't want.
Here, I have to make a distinction between supporters and "fans" "fanatics". Also, in response to BoroPhil's earlier post, I suggest that we are both supporters, but I'm not a fanatic, who will support poor and mediocre unquestioningly.
Also, as Nigel (Mumbai) alluded earlier, you're not a very good friend, coach, parent or mentor if you ignore your charge's weaknesses and you don't try to help them improve. Regrettably, it seemed to many that nobody at the club was listening to the "supporters" when things were going wrong,, so some of us have "upped the ante" and decided that more direct action is required.
In contrast to the "blind faith" group, or the self-moralising "I'll be there no matter what" section of the Boro following, those who take action actually say more to the club about their future ambition for the club. And let's face it - nothing else that the support could do seemed to work!!
Decisions not to renew season tickets were NOT taken lightly, I assure you. Nor were they taken in a fit of pique! In my case it was a deliberate, if small, contribution to emphasising that Boro in the Championship isn't good enough. In your terms Craigie, it's my way of INSISTING that to be the case!
I'll buy matchday tickets on an ongoing basis and I'll be there as a supporter. Gibson and the others will get a "fair hearing", but I'm prepared to back up my own INSISTENCE with complete withdrawal if the promises aren't fulfilled. Having a season ticket disables that, because they have my money already.
The real problem is still being ignored.
Gareth Southgate spent £30million in 3 years and achieved relegation. He is unable to motivate has a record of poor buys and is tactically naive.
He had half the season to change things,and we whimpered out of the Premier League without a fight,now the talk is of Scholes and Neville. If we are going down this route George Boatang would be a better bet.
GS may be the nicest bloke in the world,but he has had his chance and failed. Please SG put him and us out of our misery and change the manager before another boatload of cash is wasted !
AV
If we don’t find a consistent striker, it doesn’t matter who the hell we sign. Lamb said, “We have to be seen running from the off”. If we don’t find a striker we will simply pick up from where we left off and be sunk before we sail.
Season tickets sales are very much dependant on a striker, because the squad as it presently stands will quite rightly be envied by championship clubs.
Gareth Southgate has taken lots of flak and I hope it comes good for him. We have moved on and who would you like to see arrive at the club?
Stop worrying,. We'll be top by christmas, Alves will have bagged 15 goals by then, we'll keep most of the squad and add a couple and run riot over all the cloggers. Oh, by the way, Steve Coppell will be installed Aug 31 after three straight defeats and we can sing the song "OH Happy Days"
Ian
Blind Faith. They didn't last, but great for a while and had great careers away from that particular band. There is a God; he's called Eric Clapton.
I hear now that regarding Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, nothing is likely to happen for sometime. Surprise, surprise. Are we gullible or what?
AV "two summers ago he(GS) wanted Sidwell, Ashley Young, O'Neill and Beattie and only got one of them" Says it all doesn't it. Using that argument he may have wanted to sign the whole Man Utd front line. Did the club actually bid for any of the players you mention other than O'Neill? I can't remember reading about it in the Gazette.How much was offerd for each? I don' want to to present as sceptical but!!!
BBC: "West Brom have given Celtic permission to talk to manager Tony Mowbray about the Parkhead vacancy after agreeing a £2m compensation package in principle."
Surely this will help Boro to fight for the top two positions next season? If Tony signs WBA need to start from scratch, again.
Up The Boro!
First Team
P 38 W 7 D 11 L 20
Reserves
P 20 W 6 D 3 L 11
Academy
P 27 W 5 D 8 L 14
We are likely to lose Tuncay, Aliadiere, Turnbull, Bates, Downing sooner or later, O'Neill, possibly one of Huth or Wheater. Mido/Shawky wont be a loss.
The first team were not good enough to stay in the Premiership finishing behind two ex Championship teams.
The Reserves and Academy teams have been largely playing teams from outside the equivalent Premiership sides and showing that we have consistency of quality and performance throughout the club. ManU and Arsenal have kids who can come in and maintain the standards of the first team. At least that is an area we can match them.
Can someone please explain how we are suddenly going to turn an under performing club into contenders. If our better players (who were not good enough) leave, our production line seems to be producing Trabants, how many do we need to bring in to turn things round.
I am painting a deliberately black and white scenario to get people looking at the problems.
AV: Chicken!
**AV writes: Que?
AV, Do you know anything about the story in the Sunday Express that Gibson is about to become a tax exile in Guernsey and would stand aside and allow new investors to buy MFC?
Sounds a bit far-fetched to me but I've heard other reports from local sources that for private reasons he may need to protect his assets (I can't think of a better way to write that if you already know what I'm talking about then feel free to delete this para if it's something you don't want to go into)
**AV writes: Well I've read the story and we've heard reports recently that he has bought property in Jersey but that in itself means very little. He is very rich. No doubt he has property in many places.
I don't know enough about tax law and the question about 'non domiciled' residency to comment on whether that has any significance. Besides it is the status of Bulkhaul - and the club's position within it rather than Gibson as an individual that is of more importance.
I am not convinced that "moving to Guernsey", even if it were for tax reasons, means anything os substance because Boro is so closely knit into a Russian doll corporate structure that it would be hard to untangle it from Bulkhaul as a whole.
That said there has been some furniture moved behind the scenes lately to shuffle the debt around and make Boro look more healthy and the long term cultural changes have been geared to making it sustainable as an independent entity so it is not beyond the realms of possibility.
Gibbo has always insisted passionately, and I believe sincerely, that he has no intention of selling to external owners, that it wasn't run for profit and that he was only had stewardship of the club on behalf of the town.
Mind, every time I played Boro on Football Manager, halfway through the second season Gibbo would sell up to a consortium led by Keith Lamb. Should I start to get worried? That ticks a lot of boxes. *Shudder*
As to the other stories, they - and the imminent takeover by Cleveland Cables - have been going around so long and reappear so regularly we start to miss them if they aren't raised as a darkly hinted reason for every financial blip.
Has anyone seen the article about Steve Gibson becoming a tax exile in Gurnsey?? Interesting eh
I've just accidentally deleted a post about the Gibson/tax story during a shoot-to-kill spam clearing mission.
If it was yours I am sorry. Do you want to have another go?
Eric Paylor's piece in the Gazette around the Neville/Scholes rumours says:-
'The basic problem is that Fergie has not yet even thought about the possible components in his squad for the new season.'
Believe what you like about the story or the rumour - but this bit certainly can't be true.
In general, one of the most key elements of Sralex's dominance of his profession for decades has been his ability to build, deconstruct and rebuild squads and teams.
And now, this season, he suddenly doesn't know what he's going to do?
Secondly, in terms of the specifics, Ronaldo going has been a feature of each of the last two closed seasons and it's evident that some sort of 'heads of terms' pre-contract for the sale to Real Madrid was in place since last Summer.
If you then add that Real, stung by Barcelona's success, had Perez elected as President with a war chest and a preference for 'Galacticos' the outcome was pretty well nailed on.
And Sralex didn't see that coming and didn't have plans for what he was going to do about it or about the Tevez thing either?
If there was ever any truth in the rumours and there are now issues with nailing either Scholes or Neville or both then they'll be on the MFC side not at ManUre.
That could involve either or both not wanting to come to Boro under the current regime - what would they learn about coaching from the encumbents and would they take their direction?
**AV writes: This one is not a rumour. Is it swear down dead territory confirmed by 'sources' at both ends. But it is far from clear cut.
My understanding is that Boro have made a concrete offer to United for Neville that involves him coming here possibly on a one year sabatical that would allow him to do his coaching badges and be involved at a high level with the first team while also playing. At United he is not guaranteed to play but has also been offered a coaching role but one at a much lower level. I think the understanding is that after the year is up United would have an option to take him back if he shows an aptitude for coaching.
The advantage to Boro would be that they get him as a player for a year and also are not committed to his wages beyond that. The advantage to Neville is that he gets to try his hand as a coach while still playing at a decent level. The advantage to United is that they get to out-source their coaches training and keep an option on the player.
My understanding is that the offer remains on the table and that neither Fergie (bigger fish to fry right now) or Neville (England duty and plenty of time to weigh up his options) have been inclined to rush into a decision. I don't know if there is a timetable or what other options Neville has ... although I imagine he has a few.
It is not beyond the realms of possibility that if he did come as a first team coach and was a success that he could be the manager before the year is out.
With Scholes I think the approach remains at the stage of "a strong inquiry" with a view to sign him for one year as a player but in that role he has far more options on his door step; Bolton have been sniffing for instance.
So Steve Gibson has issued a statement strongly denying he's got any intention of selling MFC.
For the benefit of Ian Wood, reports of him becoming a tax exile in 'Gurnsey' are probably just an ugly rumour...
However, there was nothing in the statement refuting that he was about to become a tax exile in the Channel Islands - then again he'd fail his test of season ticket holders living within five miles of the Riverside if moved offshore - but at least we're are spared Sunderland supporters living in Stockton making bogus offers for the club.
Steve Gibson has reacted quickly to rebut the Sunday Express sale tale with a statement to Sky Sports.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11680_5378722,00.html
Thanks for your reply to my earlier post, I've now had a bit of time to mull over the issues.
You're probably right to say that it doesn't make much difference in terms of Steve Gibson's personal tax situation as the club is a subsidiary of the Gibson O'Neil holding company - though I guess once you reach a certain level of wealth it becomes all a bit semantic to what is personal wealth and what are the assets you own through a company.
But since his statement didn't clarify whether he was becoming a tax exile there may be something in it - I don't think there is a problem with not being able to run a club if you're not sitting directly in the Riverside five day a week - but it would be more likely that the public perception of him being a Teesside man through and through may take a hit in the same way as Lewis Hamilton suffered.
On the Gary Neville story - I would be worried that since his influence is needed on the pitch it might be a bit of a gamble - he's 34 coming back from a long layoff through injury to play a longer season on worse pitches - besides where does that leave McMahon and Hoyte? perhaps Gareth plans to convert him to a defensive midfielder?
**AV writes: Just in front of the back four? A Bobby Murdoch role?
AV says "it is not beyond the realms of possibility that if he(Neville) did come as a first team coach and was a success that he could be the manager before the year is out". No doubt, if the nationals get hold of this one it will become fact!. Is that with or without Gareth's blessing? "Remember folks, you heard it here first" (LA Confidential)
Having watched games at all levels from amateur to world cup final over 50 years my opinion is that what makes for good entertainment is having two well matched teams on the same pitch.
Perhaps not the glamour of recent years but Boro fans will undoubtedly get to watch a lot more exciting games in the coming season. And life could be a lot worse; you could have effectively no owner, no manager, no idea what players will be around, no friendly games arranged, be a national and international joke and be heading for administration! Boro are a good bet for a play-off place and far more likely to be back in the big time soon than the zebras.
Been away at the seaside in (sunny) Fife for the weekend and have missed all the posts about blnd faith till just now.
For me being a Boro fan has nothing to do with faith, blind or not. Being a football fan is all about hope, not faith. If we are all hopeful for Boro's success, that is a positive thing that doesn't in any way prevent any of us being realists, but does mean that we see things in the round and (as a glass) half full rather than half empty.
It also has nothing to do with being a foam hand waver, which would make us just sad individuals. As with all things in life, whatever success at football we have we should enjoy it for what it is while we have it, because it is certain that it will not last, but there is always hope that it will come back.
Anthony Vickers said:
"I've just accidentally deleted a post about the Gibson/tax story during a shoot-to-kill spam clearing mission. If it was yours I am sorry. Do you want to have another go?"
Nah its alright, looks like enough was said by the others for it anyways.
Getting away from doom and gloom and trying to see some sort of bigger picture for myself, I am sure the fact that us and them up the road have been relegated is in some way good for football, the Champo will have two bigger teams in it now, well for now at least!
It shows that the PL isnt built on three up from the champo followed by three down as well, so thats got to be good as well hasn't it?
If we do well next season then it will be light relief from the spiral downwards from Gareth taking over, something to look forward to.
It all rests on us making the right moves for the right players, one thing that worries me is the "doesnt meet the clubs valuation" line thats become a bit of a cliche in itself, then they spill the inheritance on somebody like Alves? I know its old ground but the reality of the current situation is that the flawed transfer policy has really come home to roost this season.
We got our manager on the cheap, a lot of the backroom staff as well, we have an academy that only seems capable of producing defenders and wingers so thats no different to what Boro have been doing for decades.
The only people who have actually made a difference to Boro over the last 20 or so years have been Robbo and McClaren. Both had pots of money and maybe more say in the running of things than either Lennie Lawrence or Gareth.
I still stand by my original comment on Lambie, theres something in his makeup that doesn't work. I have only seen him at close quarters once on a train journey in the middle of a transfer window. The arrogance and ego he portrayed in those 2 1/2 hours made the task of not renewing my season ticket easier to stomach back then. A season later Mac was gone and Lambie seems to have even more influence.
I do fear that under the present structure we will not see any difference, I think we will miss out on targets for the sake of an extra sheckle here and there, we will look for management on the cheap and then at the end of the day the fans will get blamed for not turning up.
Gareth is staying we all know that, so the coaching staff definiatly needs looking at.
The Neville story is interesting and he could coach and captain our defence very well.
There is still a need for a striking coach very urgently as our current bunch dont seem to be able to hack it.
Then whats Nugent doing at Pompey? Not getting games scored lots of goals in the lower leagues maybe looking for a fresh start and I still think Murphy is the man to beef up the midfield.
AV said "**AV writes: Just in front of the back four? A Bobby Murdoch role?"
Didn't Murdoch take over as manager and have us relegated?
If we have to have that well known multi-millionaire trade unionist Neville (it was he who encouraged the England squad to strike when Ferdinand was dropped as a result of his missed drug test) - the best role for him would be to be as a defensive coach (no-one else is doing it) and then in a secondary role as full back cover.
I doubt he could last more than twenty games or so a season after his lengthy injuries. Plus, after being a specialist player (albeit an excellent one) for his entire career, it is far too late in the day to re-invent himself as a one-paced Makele.
All these little thoughts that the Boro planned to be relegated have been building up in my mind.
If they really were trying to win games last season then why did the management team get EVERYTHING wrong in preparing the team for matches? Inexplicable team selection, poor tactics, lack of changes during games all leading to another inevitable defeat.
Even when they had seven or eight days in which to get the players organized the result was the same – a spineless effort by de-motivated, unenthusiastic players.
There was apparently no thought of changing anything. No new manager, no influx of experienced players to help stabilize things. No change of tactics. Nothing.
Steve Gibson asserted on Radio Tees that he only realised that relegation was a possibility about four weeks from the end of the season! It all defies logic.
Latest comments from Gareth shows me nothings changed.
He says "don't worry if we start off slowly as that happened when I was at Palace."
Well thats all the motivation one needs to start the season. Secondly "this is a trot not a race".Or words to that effect.
My comments now is it is a race not a trot and we need to hit the ground running get points on the board whilst the squad is fully fit and at full strength.
Finally i would like our first fixtures to be Cardiff home, Newcastle away, West Brom away - bring it on! Get the points on the board that will set the tone for the season. I think many will agree with me Gareth not you. If you don't think more positive that slow start might just hang you.
Today's article in the Gazette reveals that Southgate is already hard at work getting his excuses ready for the start of next season.
He said: "A good start is the ideal scenario for everybody. But when I played in this division with Crystal Palace and won promotion we didn’t have a great start in the first couple of games but, by eight or nine games, we were up near the top"
A bit of advice Gareth, I think the supporters have had enough of the lowering expectations rallying cry - it's time to instill a bit of confidence before everybody loses the will to live.
**AV writes: He really needs to learn some lessons on his use of the press.
In these fickle times it's good to know there are still things you can rely on.
Despite AV's view above that Boro's reputation and money give them pulling power and that they 'should be able to pick and choose who we want' it seems that none of that's going to change MFC's long established approach to transfer windows.
In today's Gazette Gate tells us that players could be going in and out until the end of August and that could 'disrupt the flow'.
This is but part one of the 'get your excuse in early' stuff - we also get the homily about 'promoted sides don't always make the best start - like wot happened when I was at Palace all those years ago'.
Inspirational? Up for the battle? I can almost smell the napalm in the morning and hear 'Ride of The Valkyries'.
Then there's Gibbo - who never, never interferes with the football side of the club - returning from his holidays to give Gate and his coaches 'the ground rules' for the campaign in The Championship later this week.
This would presumably be the same lot of coaches that were going to see changes because Gate and Gibbo didn't have confidence in some of them. Maybe Gibbo's going to do a Lord Alan, call them all into the Board Room and tell one or two 'You're fired'.
All very familiar - if not at all comforting.
Some people on here really need to get a grip of themselves.
So Southgate saying " we had a slow start in the first couple of games but after eight or nine we were near the top" whilst at Palace is now being seized upon as "getting his excuses in early".
Everybody knows that if he does not deliver results in the Championship he is going to be out of a job and that means being in contention at the top end of the table.
Frankly I'm no longer interested in what Southgate has to say or Gibson or Lamb for that matter. It is what they DO and what results are forthcoming on the pitch that matter to me. Trying to pick holes in every remark that is made is pathetic and small minded.He's right anyway - 46 games is a marathon and every promoted team will have a few sticky results as shown by Wolves and Birmingham last year.
Stockton Red:
You make a very decent point. Talk's cheap and at this stage, almost irrelevant.
The trouble GS now has, of course, because his currency is low, is that his every public move will be scrutinised through filters that take all the good intentions out and attenuate the negative stuff.
I have the same trouble at home. I say something genuinely well-intended, but it's interpreted as either disagreement with an alternatively held view, a direct challenge to some "authority", or just plain stupid - and frequently all three!
How one is seen, is how one is viewed! Ho hum!
But he's the manager we've got and he needs to be cut some slack, because he's got a job and a half on his hands! Granted, SOME of it was of his making, but we've been through all that and we are where we are.
Tearing into him at every public pronouncement isn't likely to help though. It's a bit like booing from the terraces. It's maybe cathartic for those doing it but it doesn't really do anyone any good. Maybe people feel that it keeps the pressure on to get rid, but we've already seen SG isn't one for giving in to popular opinion from sections of the support and I'm sure, from recent positioning by him and Lamb, he's already got his success criteria for Southgate's next innings already spelled out. So nothing's going to change until we see what's actually achieved.
So we might as well wait for it and resist the temptation to get all aggressively mardi whenever a head appears above the parapet.
That is unless he says something COMPLETELY stupid like, "people from Stockton all support Sunderland".
THEN we should ALL tear into him!
So, AV, no chance of the Boro stepping in to derail the Ronaldo/Real Madrid transfer? OK. Unrealistic. How about Tevez at a saving of more than £50M? A worried for his future Peter Crouch? Any takers for Jason Scotland? Darlo has a few players and wouldn't put up much of a fight.....
No. It's too soon to think about it yet. The wound is still open. But in a month or so, we can start to dream again.
We'll all sign a peace pact agreeing not to be beastly about The Count, those north of the river will forget the Chairman's recent faux pas, reticence about the purchase of season tickets will melt away, and we will all give the Manager and the players our full backing.
So long as we don't have to learn any new lessons, that should see us through to the end of August, and after that the football world will be our scallop (or something like that). I'll just put the wine on ice....
I'm not sure how else you would interperate Southgate's remarks other than 'getting your excuses in early' - what other point was he trying to make except don't panic if we lose our first few games.
Southgate is only in a job because Steve Gibson is reluctant to admit that he was wrong to appoint him before he learnt how to do the job - Plus if anybody cares to remember previous seasons of failure to motivate the players it's entirely relevant that he's still not exactly sounding inspirational.
So the only person that should get a grip is the person who holds Gareth's spade before he enters a press conference and he shouldn't let go until Southgate has been safely escorted away from the media - failing that MFC should at least invite Norris McWhirter to verify that a record-breaking hole has indeed been dug.
**AV writes: There is a subtle game going on now about where the line is to be drawn. The chairman has said he expects results quickly next season and we have to be challenging for a quick promotion or he will take drastic action... and the fans want that action taken sooner than later. Obviously Southgate wants to push D-Day back as far as possible to give himself breathing space. His job is on the line so he won't want the pressure from setting any early targets.
Off sick, in bed and no new article? Is it on it's way AV?
Plus, combed the internet for stuff on Boro and the Championship, very poor indeed. Even joined the Twitter thing.
Need more info - the lack of coverage is going to be the big wake up call this season.We should all collate a list of good websites, regular articles in the national newspapers, and TV stuff on the Championship - that's if there are any.
**AV writes: I've added the Football League website to my favourites.
A fragile team mentality rocked by too many losses in the prem and maybe weakened by transfers out. We need to make sure it doesn't continue in the championship. So much of the game is confidence Alves on the training ground versus Alves on the match day infront of Viewers is a no contest.
I agree there are not enough leaders on the pitch but its back to the bigger question of can Southgate lead the team as Manager? Until the first ball is kicked we wont know but have our suspicions after some of the tripe that was on offer against Prem opposition in a relegation fight (or was it a testimonial?)
Time is running out for Gate and he really must get it together , he is always gonna be dammed for what he says as he is too honest and not canny enough with too many people trying too catch him out. He doesnt really want to fail but Im sure by his comments he himself knows he is in the last chance saloon this time.
Lets hope Boro come out all guns blazing this time!!!
We need a settled team that can grow in confidence and get out of the Championship at the first time of asking. Fans sniping at mistakes is not going to help and never has though but if mistakes are repeated all of the time along quotes of learning lessons then it will be groundhog day forever until Gate goes.
AV's explanation of the possible Gary Neville deal is interesting. Are we being asked to believe that GS would be happy to take on a player who may well be asked to be his replacement if he were to be sacked? Surely not!
My thought is that getting Neville in on a player/coach basis would be a good idea (well I like the player bit anyway), but surely what Boro need are experienced coaches not yet another player just starting to do his badges?
And surely if GS is sacked Gibson wouldn't be daft enough to repeat the mistake of appointing a recently retired player with no management experience?
Neville as a player who is 'allowed' to pursue his badges, great idea, but if we are to bring in new coaches we need experience surely?
**AV writes: I was explaining what I thought was the club's logic of the deal, not for a second suggesting that it did not have serious flaws.
Richard
Without 'tearing into' Gate, as you put it - I'm surely not the only one who is feeling slightly Bill Murray-ish about the pronouncements so far in the 'Groundhog Day' approach to this transfer window.
In addition to what I outlined above, we've now got an exact repeat on goalies as we had a year ago when Schwarzer left only now it's Ross Turnbull, almost down to what Gate and The Count have said about both.
The only slight tweak is that Gate doesn't see a competition between The Corporal and Jason Steele for the number one berth. He says that goalie isn't his priority but I have to say that in a decent sized squad you would look for three anyway, particularly when one is as inexperienced as Steele.
If, by any miracle, when the discussion is sorted the decison is to go for an experienced custodian then it should be as competition for The Corporal not for Jason Steele.
Then there's the Matt Bates piece. If he is persuaded to stay and sign a contract you can see it being paraded as 'just like a new signing'. That's where the hyperbole is leading, even now.
I know that saying nice things publicly might be seen as a way of persuading the young man that he's loved in pursuit of his signature.
But, given what we saw of him in various square pegged roles last season I'm not sure that I'd necessarily want to be waxing that lyrical about him or even persuading him to stay - unless all you're trying to do is save a transfer fee by filling one slot in your squad. That slot mustn't be labelled 'centre back' either - his physical stature alone rules him out of that berth, partiuclarly in the 'Thud and Blunder' league we're now in.
As I said - it's all very familiar but not any comfort for that. If you always do what you've always done.........
John:
I just don't feel that whatever is written in blog columns in response to public declarations by club officials is likely to change the material facts or the direction in which they decide to go.
Que sera, sera - irrespective of what we think, write, or shoot off the mouth about.
When all's said and done, it's the club management's responsibility. We're only the customers - for now. As you'll have gathered from a (much) earlier post on this thread, I've positioned myself for the next level of protest response in the event that the club’s approach to fulfilling the declared ambition falls short of what I’m comfortable with. That’s my personal way of dealing with it.
It's the only means of protest that will be understood. And even then, I doubt if it'll make a ha'pennyworth of difference.
All the public posturing and pronouncements don’t mean a thing to me any more. It’s the actions and the results that matter this season. Nothing else! And especially this early when nothing of note has actually been decided or done in the markets.
All that said, there'd be little point of having a blog if everyone kept schtumm! Not that I think for a minute that football fans are ever likely to remain schtumm!