December 2009 Archives

RELEGATION. The worst away form in living memory replaced by the worst home form. Letter Gate. Mackem Gate. A summer of fire sale chaos. Not sacking the boss at the right time. Sacking the boss at the wrong time. Over 10,000 shaved off the gate in seven months. Slipping behind the play-off pace. Getting caught out massaging the attendence figures. An epic misjudgment of the market on Man City ticket prices. What a pathetic 12 months for bungling Boro. Worst year since 1993-94. I can't wait to see the back of it.

There are few redeeming features. Here's a look back. If you can face it...

A GAME of two halves. But a side that can only play in one. A schizophrenic side that follows every good display with a dud. A mentally weak side that crumbles under the first spell of sustained pressure. A side that needs a two goal cushion away from home just to get a point. Where to start?

Why bother? Let's just usher this entire miserable ill fated year of despair and defeat out as swiftly as possible and hope that the January purge can inject some steel and leadership and spark some kind of revival.

A SIZZLING show of rampant action to melt the snow and a few layers of cynicism. Boro battered shell-shocked Scunny. A first home win for Strachan. A timely boost to flagging morale. Great entertainment that rewarded the diehards who braved the cold chill and the prevailing pessimistic worldview.

Yes, we got an early Christmas present .The soft penalty and resulting harsh red card after Jezza was brushed aside in mid-stumble was a bit of an embarrassment - they gift-wrapped us a diamond studded three points and all we got them was one golden egg cup from the pound shop - but by then they were already punch-drunk.

WELL THERE'S a surprise. Attendences of late have been well below the declared figure. Boro have admitted that they count everyone who pays to see the game - that is they start from the season ticket base and add away fans and walk up on to it.

That is not unusual in the industry and is totally logical but has served to disguise the collapse in support this term. The evaportation was most obvious in the Cardiff game when a declared crowd of 17,232 was widely met with laughter and described on this blog as having the authority of a North Korean election result.

The true attendence for the Cardiff match was just over 14,000 - which means that the crisis of faith is now so pronounced that several thousand season card holders did not bother to turn up for the high stakes small screen showdown.

THE DRESSING room walls were blistered by Gordon Strachan's reaction to what was another heartless, spineless, shapeless and frustrating display in a massive match they should not need motivating for. Good. There was no pride, no passion, no hope and they should not be able to walk away without knowing exactly how poor it was.

Too many players lack bottle, determination and steel. There are too many weak links. No organisation, communication of coherent, collective passages of play that threatened to hurt the opposition. That was not a team out there. Yes, there were a couple of bright spells at the start of either half. Yes, there were a few chances. Yes, there were a couple of individuals who did 'alright'. And yes, a few BIG decisions went against us. But we can't keep on making excuses all along the way as we slide down the table. We know that as soon as a goal is leaked the team will quickly fade and heads will go down.

This "team" needs ripping apart before it is too late. I'm not sure how many are even worth keeping on the showing of the last three games. It is beyond anger now. Beyond redemption. Roll on January.

I'M BANKING on Typical Boro to kick in on Sunday. Full strength Newcastle unbeaten at home all season and having won seven out of eight... patched up Boro jerking through a new manager's bedding in and with the natives getting restless after back to back home defeats against play-off rivals... we've got an appalling record up there with just two league wins in 20 years... we're bound to win.

PREDICTABLE. Frustrating. Soul sapping. Morale draining. Damning. Camel's back breaking final straw for another layer of the dejected, dwindling, empty,frozen diehards who are now looking in vain for reasons to believe. But mainly predictable.

HOW CAN a team go from the sizzling, superlative spattered show at Loftus Road to that spineless, shapeless surrender to Blackpool so quickly? Welcome to the crazy world of bi-polar Boro, the Jeckyl and Hyde outfit with a fatal flaw.

IT'S TIME to smash the tyranny of the season ticket. The current flawed set-up is now more trouble than it is worth. What was once a throbbing financial engine for the club has now become a political prison. What was once powerful symbol of unity and solidarity with the Riverside Revolution has become divisive and a point of friction.

Scrap the entire tattered system and start again.

TYPICAL Boro! Squandered a load of chances, rattled the woodwork twice and had two good penalty shouts waved away then got caught cold at the back!

Sorry. Habitual stock kneejerk reaction. But it is a fair point. The historic rampant display at QPR - not only did it break the new broom's dug-out duck but it was also Boro's first ever win at Loftus Road - was little different in general complexion from, say, the Preston, Palace or Peterborough games.