Window Pain As Watershed Looms
GORDON Strachan has a little list of players who "want to come to Boro". Well, he'd better get a move on with getting some of them in quickly because we are running out of time and bodies if we are serious about making the play-offs.
Boro are heading into what could be a watershed run of six "winnable" fixtures that they must cash in to have any hope - and they have an injury ravaged squad that is thinner than ever after a fruitless and frustrating transfer window so far.
For the game with high-flying Swansea (a team who looked shambolic as Boro ripped them apart in those halcyon days of August when we still had the Berlin Wall and Tuncay was the big kid showing off in the primary school playground) Strachan has lost his most outspoken and zealous disciple, first signing, kingpin elect and the foundation stone of a new Boro-on-Clyde - Barry Robson - to a hamstring niggle.
Osbourne is out. Arca is struggling. Yeates, Digard and Shawky have been flogged. Poggi is crocked. Taylor is in rehab after his op. Bent has been sent back. The trialists - Weaver and Kivavu (Eranu) - have been bombed out. Caldwell went to Wigan. Boyd looks set for Villa. We can't afford MacDonald and Brown. Matt Kilgallon has signed for Sunderland (no matter how many slips of the tongue on Sky Sports).
On the plus side there is a bid on the table for QPR's jobbing flanker Wayne Routledge and it looks like another is imminent for Coventry striker Leon Best.
But even if those two are pushed through quickly it would still leave the squad short of another striker, a central defender, a specialist left back that the boss trusts and an undisputed first choice keeper. It would be amazing if Boro - notoriously poor January shoppers (*cough*Alves-Ricketts-Christie-Ricardinho-Gook*cough*) managed to secure them all and go into the second half of the season with a well balanced squad that offered depth, quality and options of the kind of that a play-off push demands.
The timing of the current injury crisis is unfortunate. Or totally predictable typical Boro depending on your outlook. Running down the squad on the hope that a few targets will sign is naive at best, especially with a decisive run of fixtures coming up that will determine whether Boro are looking at the play-offs or looking over their shoulder.
We have discussed on the blog over the past few days the kind of target needed to make the play-offs (sixth place has meant an average of 75 points over the past six years) and what we need to get there (43 points from 21 games). Given that the recent sorry sequence - five defeats in six in the league - is relegation form it is going to need an immediate, dramatic and sustained upturn in results and returns.
Boro now go into a relatively gentle run of six games before things get really tough again. And given that the gap between them and Sheffield United in the last play-off spot has now yawned to six points they really must cash these in. Realistically to claw back some of the gap, restore morale and gain some precious momentum Strachan's side probably need to win four out of six. And have other results swing their way too. Sadly draws may not be enough now.
The looming fixtures are:
H Swansea
A Doncaster
H Bristol City
A Ipswich
H Barnsley
H Peterborough
Three of those are below Boro while Doncaster are just a point ahead (that hurts to write) and Bristol City three points better off. We battered Swansea, Doncaster and Ipswich in the reverse fixtures... although that all seems centuries ago now when ubiquitous small screen presence Gareth Southgate was in charge.
The opposite fixtures played since Strachan arrived were the 2-2 draw at Peterborough which featured the mandatory leaked late leveller and the sub-zero second half surrender in the 2-1 defeat at Barnsley.
We can't afford any slip-ups in that run. After that four of the next five are tough ones away at Blackpool, Forest, Cardiff and home to Newcastle. If we don't go into those with points already in the bank then the season could be in tatters before Easter.
*******
AFTER some tinkering under the bonnet and a quick clean of the points and plugs we are going to try again with the live matchday blog against Swansea, so roll up, roll up for an interactive scrum of scurillous cyber cynicism, faceitious muttering from the global diasBoro and occasional snippets of news and views from the game.
If you can't get to the game this is the next best thing. You may not get a comprehensive blow by blow match report but there is top quality chuntering, yelps of excitement, fat capped nostalgic meandering, leg-pulling, drunken rambling from the post-midnight Aussie posse, DIY tips in German and the odd recipe. It's great.
*********
PORTSMOUTH going belly up; Palace, Watford, Derby, Hull and Notts County on the brink; West Ham tackle their debt crisis by offering £100k to a "special" player, Liverpool close to a funding meltdown; and even mighty Manchester United accounts show the cash cow being ruthlessly milked. And it is all being reported in detail.
Here's the edited highlights of a brilliant, compelling analysis on the fanastic "two hundred percent" blog about the media's current belated reaction to football's self-inflicted cash crisis and political paralysis and the questions it throws up....
"There's something in the air. Attitudes are starting to change. Football is in the process of eating itself, and football sells newspapers. There is a tangible sea change in the attitude of the printed press in its attitude towards football and money.
"The truth of the matter is the people running English football clubs are losing the trust of the public and the responsibility for all of this lies with them. Excuses will be thrown around. It's the fans for not turning up. It's the taxman for demanding payment. It's the authorities for trying to eliminate debt. These, however, are the the bleatings of the culpable. If they can't run their business properly, they should face the consequences. The "club" - the community, the shared experience - will keep going. We know this from the clubs that have reformed after the failure of clubs as busineses in the past.
"Elsewhere, the game stumbles from PR disaster to PR disaster.The game is starting to smell rotten from the inside out, and this smell is starting to become all-pervasive. The question now is whether the current press enthusiasm for sniffing around is a passing fad or something capable of bringing about meaningful change."
And, as a consumer echo to that, here's that QPR fan's "I HATE MODERN FOOTBALL" cyber-terrace rant currently striking chords on a message board near you.
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So Robson has a niggle. One game and maybe a week of training. Is he another Aliadiare?
Yes you are right AV. Mr Strachan said he had a list of players who want to come to the BORO. Maybe the list only contained 4 names, the CELTIC rejects.
It is sad that we have so many injuries but I am not wrong in thinking that many of them have been injured for some time now. Even the players that are fit Mr Strachan does not want to play them in their true position instead he plays players out of position who are not as good as the player who does not get the chance.
I do hope that we sign at least another 4 players, because even if all of the squad are fully fit they are still a very mediocre team.
I still pray that we can get something out of this season, but I am not holding my breath. The reason being I am a realist (not a moaner) it would appear that what some of us write on this website we are seen as continual (moaners) not realists who can see what is wrong, and that we want something done to correct it.
AV look forward to the live matchday blog, missed it the past few weeks.
Talked about the play offs last night in the pub..general consenus of opinion is absolutely no chance... season written off already !
Come on, three points tomorrow can start the ball rolling
AV, I think Swansea will beat us tomorrow. The way we are playing relegation is far more likely than promotion.
I hope I am wrong and Strachan can turn us into play off hopefuls over the next few weeks, however things have gone backwrds at an alarming rate since his arrival.
Does anyone on the sports desk get the chance to talk to Steve Gibson?
It would be interesting to hear what his plans are for MFC now that promotion looks more unlikely by the week.
C'Mon Boro!
**AV writes: We don't speak to Gibson very often but we are trying to line up a post-window chat in the next week or two.
In all the "flag waving" and "doom & gloom" on this blog, one voice of reason, as always is you AV.
The tone of todays article sadly shows that even you are feeling the pain and disappoitnment of this season and a little pessemistic on the prospects of this transfer window and the Boro making the play-offs!!
Truly a sad day!
It's fantastic, isn't it? After ONE game and ONE slight injury Dave Connor starts asking if Robson is another Aliadiere.
For God's sake.....
Looks like GS2 has finally clicked to Boro ways...he states regarding Johnson and O'neil....
"He added: "There's a lot of hard work going on, but unless they are completed, anything can happen, as we have seen at this club before."
So he expects both to leave this month.
AV,
Never mind getting Gibbo on what about a reconvened Talking boro panel and this time an open no holds barred session.
I think the truth is that we have a weak squad that has been stripped to help the finances. We could say Yeates, Shawky and Digard are losses to the squad. You could argue that many of us didnt think Yeates was going to make it and that Flood is a similar player. Shawky and Digsoft were not here or injured so are they a loss to the squad? A moot point methinks.
So we lost Huth, Tuncay and Downing in the summer. They were replaced by Lita, St Ledger and Yeates/Flood.
Many were questioning whether St Ledger was worth the money long before the hissy fit (or not) by one party or another sent him back to Preston.
Robson has come in only to be Crockcliffed and Killen is the obligatory non scoring striker. Unless we get a couple in sharpish then we are exactly where we deserve to be with the players available, mid table.
We could do with a burst of goals from Lita to get some momentum. But will it start against Swansea? One fears not but I am invoking the 'points from unexpected sources' post that I keep back for such circumstances.
If, and it's a big if, GS had a list of players wanting to come to the Boro, then they would have all signed on January 1st.
Or is it a misprint and he has a list of prayers!
AV
Injuries? Crockliffe has earned its added 'C' - so that's no surprise.
Describing the upcoming run of six fixtures as 'relatively gentle' begs the question 'relative to what?'. Relative to the run that follows, yes, but relative to Boro's form and threadbare squad? I don't think so.
I agree with your view on the 'four out of six wins' return being the minimum necessary and three of those four must come against the sides currently above Boro. The opportunities for these 'six pointers' against possible play off challengers now start diminishing rapidly.
Another way of getting some perspective on the ask to make the points necessary for the play offs is that 43 from 21 is slightly better than the 2 per game average that was, rightly, identified at the start of this season as what was needed for a pretty well nailed on top two slot.
So, Boro have to switch - pretty dramatically and without delay - from what equates to relegation form to what equates to automatic promotion form.
Anyone really see that?
Erimus
Are we not allowed a question??
I know what you would say at work if you got a new starter and after one week he took time off. grow up man
We just to say have a team for Saturday according to the Friday night paper on line. So it is even more to the point now. A slight injury. There was a time when players would have to have a serous injury NOT TO PLAY, nowadays the slightest thing and they DONT WANT TO PLAY.
Have you been watching the rubbish that has been served up in the African Nations Cup. I have not seen so much PLAY ACTING since I went to the Little Theatre. Grown men going down like ten pins without even being touched.
I stand by my question. Regarding Robson (1) game and out injured "for gods sake"??
Erimus
You should read the Evening Gazette comments I am not the only one saying these type of things. Injuries. I played in goal, I got 9 broken ribs, punctuerd lungs, heart up on my shoulder all in one game). Now that is an injury. Not a tweaked pull of the hamstring.
Its great being a Boro fan, when I log on to the Gazette's borofc, a strange event occurs. I read the articles and seconds later I am giggling and laughing like an escaped mental patient.
Optimism has deserted Boro fans, it's impossible to even dare to dream of a win at home. Even amongst the flag wavers, their heads must be saying "maybe next season" because its not going to happen this season.Can you imagine boro winning three games on the bounce? Really? Can you?
I thought we would look impressive in the Championship. I had my visions of Merson and our last foray into the wilds. Empty coffers, empty stadium, things arent the same as last time and i think we are down here for the long haul.
Still proud to be a boro fan, what can we do? tommorow...(cringe)a lesson in football and a 0-4 spanking.
AV, can we now class this season as an entirely new slow-motion car crash, or is it still classed as a continuation of last seasons slow-motion car crash?
Just imagine if the Glazers can't raise the £500mil for manure utd through the bond issue. The government tells RBS its time to pull the plug on Liverpools loan. Chelsea's oligarch decides he's had enough and clears off. Citeys owners have enough of cold wet nights in Manchester and retreat back to the desert with the cash. Portsmouth and Hull go belly up the PL will implode on itself.
And those of us who have moaned and groaned about the purse strings at the Riverside been shortened will start and realise by doing what we have done we will hopefully at the end of it be able to still stay at least we have a football team all be it at the moment one thats worringly looking down instead of up. Here's hoping we can start to turn things around tomorrow with even a 1 - 0 result.
Dave Connor
Barry Robson stats
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1997–2003 Inverness CT 135 (17)
1999–2000 → Forfar Athletic (loan) 25 (9)
2003–2008 Dundee United 145 (32)
2008–2010 Celtic 42 (5)
2010– Middlesbrough 1 (0)
National team‡
2005–2007 Scotland B 2 (0)
2007– Scotland 7 (0)
Ali's stats
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2001–2007 Arsenal 29 (1)
2005 → Celtic (loan) 0 (0)
2005–2006 → West Ham United (loan) 7 (0)
2006 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 14 (2)
2007– Middlesbrough 70 (11)
National team‡
France U21 7 (1)
The answer to your question seems to be "no"
C'Mon Boro!
I’m glad you mentioned Matt Kilgallon. I caught a bit of Sky Sports news last night and saw that he was having a medical at the boro and he was joining for £2m. Later I saw on the text that he’d gone to Sunderland. Curse you Mr Bruce!
Were we even interested AV?
Shame as we could have had a Lita, a Gallon, then make a move for AnTONNE Ferdinand, Gorka PINTado at Swansea. Any others?
Then I read we only have 11 fit players. Is this just paper talk and miraculously a couple of them make it or will the bench be full of teenagers?
Still think we’ll win, snatch a play off place but get beat in the final to a last minute Dele Adibola goal. As you know that would be the worst of all possible out comes.
Or we just get beat tomorrow and bob along to a 15th placed finish.
Come on Boro!!
**AV writes: There's the big lumbering defender at Bolton (?) Abdoullay METRE.
AV the question that everyone keeps asking me is that "how long do Boro have to keep on getting beat before GS2 is sacked or resigned"?
It doesn't take a genius to realise that he hasn't made a lot of waves. I appreciate that he has inherited a team that was joint 2nd from top by one point after 13 games played, but do we have to wait for the season to end before Mr Gibson / Lamb does anything about it?
Maybe this will be too late, maybe we might make the playoffs, current form suggests the latter. Can Boro afford to pay him off? All in all I think he was a rush signing to replace GS1. Whatever happens we will all still be banging about similar issues thit time next year whatever division were in...and still supporting the Boro.
Well, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. We can win and despite Swansea being above us, we should win.
Ok, we have injury problems, but unless I’ve misunderstood, we can still put out a front six of O’Neil-Flood-Arca-Johnson-Lita-Killen? More than good enough, and that’s assuming none of the people with knocks recover.
These six games are very winnable, no reason why they can’t kick-start our season at last.
I think its about time Mr Gibson and Mr Lamb come out of the shadows and tell us what on earth is going on because the silence is deafening. If they don't i think they run the risk of losing countless fans as at the moment I feel cheated on what has gone on this season.
The should count themselves lucky how patient the fans have been because some supporters of others clubs would not have taken the shambles which is churned out each week.
So I am challenging Mr Lamb and Mr Gibson to speak to fans and let us know what is happening if they have the guts???
So Boro fans please support me in this.
Dave Connor wrote:
"The reason being I am a realist (not a moaner) it would appear that what some of us write on this website we are seen as continual (moaners) not realists who can see what is wrong, and that we want something done to correct it. "
I don't think anyone can argue that there is good reason to moan about the state of the Boro at the moment. I see a big difference in those who write passionately about these affairs and who can moan with good reason and I'm in no doubt, also great despair. A despair that I think we all share.
Sadly, there are others who will just moan for moanings sake, as if it is some sort of unavoidable habbit.
Neil from Canada had a good last post on the last thread. We all have the right to moan but we all have the responsibility (if we are true supporters) not to let that moaning become more important to us than actually supporting the team.
Hope to get on the match day blog AV. Hope we do get the 3 points we need. A good result on Saturday, again on Tuesday and then next week-end will come with us all feeling a bit brighter.
Yes, the watershed is looming on Saturday.
The live matchday blog must now work. There might be many injuries out at Gazette's end but this is it! At least the back five is fit. But we need a better striker than 'poor' old Anthony - any hopes for late reinforcements before Saturday 3pm?
Looking forward to joining in the live matchday blog, AV. See you then. Up the Boro!
Three points tomorrow no problem, the tide has turned!!
The football league is full of imperial measurements:
Danny Graham, (in an S African accent Danny Gramme)
Jamie Hand
Paul Furlong
Miles Addison
James Perch
Rood Van Nistelrooy
Steve Stone
Gillingham
Just think this time tomorrow, us lucky few will be there in our own little theatre of dreams.
Earlier this season I gave GS an alternative target. Beat Forest, win at St James and win on my Birthday. Having failed in his first attempt to beat Forest, SG was decisive and let GS go. GS2 remains unbeaten against Forest, but failed at St James. But a good win on Boxing Day has him back in my good books. However defeat on the 20th of Feb and my support may waiver.
Now is the time to launch the Victory on the 21st campaign…… Don’t worry I’ll not be doing that again.
However a quick plea to all Boro fans. As I am originally from Nottingham I can tell you that they think we have poor support. So anyone in two minds about a trip to the city ground, lets all go and show we are very good fans.
Come on Boro!!
"Shame as we could have had a Lita, a Gallon, then make a move for AnTONNE Ferdinand, Gorka PINTado at Swansea. Any others?"
Well, we already have Julio Acre.
I remember last season when the calculators were out to show we could escape relegation. The cold hard fact is we won't go up this season as Strachon rebuilds the team he wants.
January window just doesn't give enough time. Where is the "striker" and defender.
When you are up hit creek without a paddle (even if the club personally launched the last paddle at an annoying fly 10m away) its best not to sit there thrashing away with your hands in anger. You only end up covered in smelly stuff, with a bad, bad taste in your mouth and big angry red eyes.
Sometimes you have to accept where you are and deal with it. Who steered, who paddled and who threw - sometimes - just aren’t important anymore.
Time to suck it up (not the creek). Roll the sleeves up and as calmly as you can, get the hell out of there.
Support the team, cheer them hard and cheer them long, lets stop booing the errors and help the team home.
You make me happy,
When skies are grey.....
COB!
Slow motion car crash?
Crash test dummies!
What has every Football Club got In common?
DEBT-RIDDEN AND OVER-PRICED TICKETS FOR OVER PRICED TRANSFER FEES AND OVER-PRICED PLAYERS.
The premiership and The football League and the FA have watched and let this happen. Clubs been run Into the ground by greedy agents and foreign influx players who dont get a game and still get paid.
We should of had players wages capped, even paid has you play. Every club should of had In the players contracts If relegated your wages are halved. Player and Agent power are to blame. No player should be worth more than a club Is worth. Bring back Manager power. How can you train and coach these players when there are on thousands a week and who think they're bigger than the Club!
EVERY CLUB SHOULD HAVE EQUAL FINANCES AND EQUAL AMOUNT OF PLAYERS AT EACH CLUB! THE MELTDOWN HAS BEGUN!
I can't believe all the excessive doom and gloom floating around the Boro ether!
Bad runs have to end sometime and it might as well be tomorrow when we do the double over Swansea. I reckon it'll be 3-1 to Boro. Jinky will tear them apart and we'll more than match them in the middle of the park. At last, the boys at the back will keep them at bay with 90+ minutes of concentrated effort and the kind of assuredness that's been missing for some time.
C'mon my fellow smoggies, it's ok to believe that we will overcome! If it doesn't happen, we can go back to being all glum and depressed and blame AV!
Dave Connor,
Making riduculous and groundless suggestions about a man being as injury prone as Alliadiere after he has played ONE game is the sort of thing that people used to come out with in the first year at senior school. You are the one who needs to grow up. But I suspect you're very young, aren't you?
Connor:
He's had ONE game. How can you suggest comparisons to Alliadiere's injury record after ONE GAME? If he misses as many as Alliadiere through injury by all means make your infantile, snide remarks but after one game how can you possibly know?
Stop embarrassing yourself, son.
Great shouts from BoroBoro and ronmarg...
Looking forward to the retooled live blog too - shouldn't take us long to get back into form!
I heard today that the Jacks very rarely have the double done on them in a season only Crystal Palace managed it last season - Hopefully we can do a typical Boro and win!
I agree with the call for either Gibson or Lamb to break their silence before all trust is gone.
Gibson in his May interview on BBC Tees asked for blind faith and he indicated it was his intention to go into this season with the strongest squad in the Championship.
Then what happens? Downing,Tuncay, Huth, Alves Turnbull and Mido depart and their replacements are two free transfers and a league one player for £500k in the summer. The squad is immeasurably weaker.Whilst we all understand why some of them had to leave they were not replaced.
Compare and contrast with West Brom.They lost Greening but brought in Dorrans, Mulumbu[for about £200,000 each], Jerome Thomas, Jara , a new centre half and Simon Cox.Their squad is stronger than it was last season.
Is it any wonder that they have a good chance of going back up and we dont?
Football going belly up is our best chance of gettingback to the top. It will only take one Prem club to collapse (Pompey are likely) and the banks will panic and call in the loans and a whole load of them will go... West Ham, Liverpooll, Spurs, it will be a domino effect.
Then all the cost cutting, wage slashing and debt paying will be worthwhile. Boro will be one of the few stable clubs around.
Sick as a parrot.
Thank you for the stats, but that was in the past and he is at the BORO now, a place where many players spend more time on the couch than on the field.
He has a tweak/niggle and we dont have a team for saturday, he should fight for the cause. We need players who will go through the pain barrier at the present time if we are to get anything at all out of this season,
Strange he only wrote an article for the gazette on Thursday and Friday he is out. NEED I SAY MORE
Erimus
are you new to this site." Very young / grow up son." Obviously you do not read much of what has been written previously by me in response to other questions.
I'm 63 years old
supported BORO since 1959
season ticket holder since 1972,
played myself till 58 years old (still play 5 a side) and
played good level of football in 60/70s.
I had more injuries playing in goal, than these players could cope with.
All I did was ask a question, but you saw fit to go off at a tangent. I answered your questions above but obviously it is you who has a small mind.
Thanks for the young and son. I could read tham as compliments, but I think you were only being cynical in thinking that I was a youngster who knows nothing. But to use a cliches I have possibly forgotten more about football than you will ever know.
So Shakespere question "TO BE OR NOT TO BE" let us wait and see. Personally I hope not, I would hope that he plays every game, because we need fighters in this POOR team.
Erimus played with all those injuries! You free this afternoon old son?
As for turning the corner. We thrash QPR away from home, next game home to Blackpol. Turned a corner there alright. We've turned a corner when we can get three games undefeated, win or draw.
I have never left a Boro game at half time before that Blackpool game. Think that burger van knew more than me as he was ready for the exodus.
How bad and sad has it become when Doncaster pose a threat?
I want to beliive in Strachan and that ultimately he will get it right. Doing it this season would be very impressive and a massive bonus.
I'll just stay in my bunker in the West Stand and stick these bad times out.
Supporting this team is definately some kind of sadistic drug.
ronmarg
One thing that I say and do know I was a much better keeper than Jones ever will be. How this lad got to be a professional and spent all of these years at the BORO beats me.
Anybody who has ever played in goal could see he was useless, and yet our manager kept him in the team when week after week he played poor.
It would have been an honour to have played for my home team. Thanks for the support.
Also in closing do you remember Turnbull's words when he left the BORO. I am not going to sit on the bench behind Jones in the the Chamionship league. WHO CAN BLAME HIM FOR LEAVING?
Wonder if Rob Hulse regrets not leaving Derby in the summer. He isnt my idea of the perfect player but he is better than Forlorn and more likely to score than Bent (Marcus not Darren).
May be worth a punt.
ronmarg:
"Supporting this team is definately some kind of sadistic drug."
Oh yeah. Hell yeah. So much so I refused to listen to the QPR game and did something more useful instead back in December. You can imagine my reaction when I saw the result, and mistakenly believed we were on the up again...
David Connor:
"Do you remember Turnbull's words when he left the BORO. I am not going to sit on the bench behind Jones in the the Chamionship league."
If he'd had signed a new deal like he was supposed to he wouldn't have been dropped for Jones in the first place. No matter, Abramovich has set up his family for life...
A day of mixed news on the rumour and Boro PR fronts.
Pearsy says that Brad Jones will bounce back - oh no x 2 (one for the sentiment itself, one for the abject judgement of Boro's goalkeeping coach)
Down the column Pearsy says his bounce back may have to be somewhere else - Phew - he might just have been doing a bit of 'shop window'.
Benfica want Arca - and are, seemingly, prepared to pay for him. Yippee! Whip round for the air fare for him guys?
Hulse is now on the market again - and for a lot less than Derby were originally after. Surprise, surprise - but, overall, I think there has to be a consequence to his public snub of Boro.
Leon Best, McDonald and Boyd are better anyway. When we've secured one of those - and Kevin Phillips - we could let Hulse know that he should have when he could have.
A couple of points:
1. I will be at the match this afternoon (with a certain amount of fear and foreboding, but I'll still be there) so will miss the live Boro match blog. Hope those on there have fun, and if there are any who can't get to the game then maybe they could tune in for me?
You'll get all the hot news on AV's half-time feast from the Press Room (smoked salmon, shepherd's pie and Krug, profiteroles to finish maybe) and the feelings of the Boro fans over the world as play progresses and scores come in from elsewhere. Get on there and boost the numbers!
2. I hope Robson is fit and can play. I'd like to see him. I'm not criticising him (he may have a genuine injury, I don't know) but we certainly have had our share of Permacrocks in recent years at the Boro.
Why do we buy players who are injured at the time? Do we have a look at their medical histories before signing on the dotted line? Do we have a medical team? I accept that injuries will happen and it may not be the player's fault, but we could do with some robust players who have a record of 30-odd games a season.
How many games has Aliadiere ever played in a season? Was Digard ever fit? John Powls would have been more use to the Boro than Digard for the time he was here, and I guess JP would have been prepared to sit in the stands, or the treatment room, for half of Digard's wages each month. And JP wouldn't have cost us a transfer fee.
Actually it would be interesting to work out (if we had the figures) how much certain players have cost us per game played in recent years. Taking into account the transfer fee and the wages, do we think we had value for money from (let's just drop a few names here...): Digard, Boksic, Gascoigne, Christie....? I won't ask how many goals per million from the likes of Alves, Ricketts, Don Gook.
No wonder we are feeling poor and have to make financial cuts to survive. For years we have basically been throwing money away as if we were allergic to it. Great for some players and their agents. Bad for the club and its supporters.
I have a better idea than employing ex players and mates of the management team as scouts, identifying suitable targets. Why not get pages from the latest football annual and get a blind man to throw darts at them. We can try to buy anyone who gets a direct hit from a dart. Surely as likely to be a success?
Incidentally when Spike Armstrong went through his long list of consecutive games for us, do you think he ever had a knock, that he ever carried an injury? Just how much would he be worth now, for his skill, industry and commitment? Can’t imagine him being precious about things (“You know what, Boss, that bruise on the left arm from last week is still there, and I felt a twinge when getting out of the Jacuzzi on Tuesday so I’m not 100%. Maybe I’ll give it a miss this week?”).
Or Juninho? ("No, Boss, I think it might be broken, but if we can put a splint on it at half time, I'd like to give it a go in the second half..."). There are a few who, over the years, it has occurred to me that I wouldn't mind having had an injury, maybe employing s sniper high in the West Stand to aim at the hamstring as the player warmed up before teams had been finalised etc.
Anyway it's time to leave for the Fetid Frog for a livener before heading off to the Riverside.... Keep your fingers crossed.