That's brilliant AV. It more or less rewrites my post of about a year ago. It's all we have left, reliance on our kids. Cash strapped, injury torn, I hope they can do it.

If only, yes, if only, we could bring through a striker to do the simple things. ie hit the bloody ball into the back of the net. No wonder our defence caved in after countless crosses from Bennett and McMahon went unconverted.

We must stick with the kids and come out in force on Saturday. Encouragement is what youngsters want, not criticism. So come on you fans, get out there. Crisis games are afoot and the relegation zone looms.

As you say, the focus on youth is one of necessity at the moment and not one of choice. The choice the fans have is to give Mogga, and the youngsters, support and patience in these testing times or to wait until the good times return.

We all know the club have made mistakes over the last few years, mistakes that can not be glossed over, but it is still Middlesbrough Football club, OUR Middlesbrough Football Club.

We can see what Mogga has achieved in such a short space of time, and survival remains the priority. We must stick with the team, be positive in our support and the youngsters will flourish. After all, to enjoy the good times you have to endure the lows.

Give the team your support as always.

WE SHALL BE.

Right on the mark AV, time is crucial and will determine the future of this proud 'very poorly - in intensive care' football club.

I am like many others hoping, (yes hope, mediocre and inexperienced players is about all we have at the moment) that Mogga can keep this club in this division and along the way, these 'kids' gain experience which will stand them and us in good stead next season.

Then, and if we are able to save a few bob to put in the kitty, we may start to forget about looking over our shoulders at relegation, and start to look upwards.

I read that twice AV, very inspirational especially the 2nd time with Land of Hope and Glory playing in the background.

Bring it on is what I say, and I agree these Academy lads will give there all I am sure plus we have another inspirational manager who cares and wants to bring out the best in raw talent

What a great account of the present state of things at MFC.

I agree with everything that AV says, I love the Boro, and believe that the kids will deliver. The past 20 years has been like throwing money down the drain as far as the expensive failures were concerned. We can continue to produce the likes of Downing, Johnson and Wheater and we have a great manager to guide them. Give them a chance, well done AV.

Great piece AV.

Things being as they are, there is no greater satisfaction or pride doing it with our own academy kids. We might not be world beaters, but we'll manage to become a decent championship team, battling for the play offs in due time. And that with a core of own bred youngsters. Thats both rare, beautiful and a tribute to the game and what its all about: Heart and Soul.

Who knows that these Academy kids wont make the grade given a bit more experience?

i bet the team of 86 were pretty shaky in season 85/86 ( im too young to remember that season, didnt start my time until late 86) and look how they turned out.

Maybe not world beaters as you say AV, but one hell of a team, all lads working their socks off for each other

AV interesting you say you were "shot down" by the club for your comments. out of interest do you get much feedback on the whole regarding this column and your Gazette stuff? Or does it all go through EP like some sort of heirachy? Also have you ever been or going to go on BBC brownlee, journos night?

As always keep up the excellent work

UTB

**AV writes: Oh yes, I get feedback. So far this season there have been two diplomatic incidents/complaint over things on the blog (because I refused to condemn the Red Faction out of hand and said the club's position was counter-productive and because it was suggested that Mido was poised to sign for Boro until he read my character assassination on him and flounced off in a huff... if that is true it is probably the only recorded case of him ever taking criticism on board.)

Sometimes the complaints are channelled through Eric which is funny. It is like he is my Dad or something. He stops my pocket money and grounds me until I promise to only write positive things.

I do sometimes go on Radio Brownlee but not often because I play football on Thursday and that is far more important.

My brother in law is a Man Ure supporter, my brother likes the Gunners. But poor me I have always supported the Boro. No trophies - only LC quite recently - and no big wins.

But I have always rated the home grown players we had. Especially that match against Fulham when Cattermole became the youngest ever and Coops the oldest ever captains of Boro. And all the rest were from the academy except one - and he was British, too. When was it before that that a fully Bristish team was fielded in the PL?

I agree with you, AV. We need to be patient but also we can look forward to having a great manager in Mogga for a few years now.

Up the Boro!

The last few weeks have just confirmed what I though when Mowbray was first appointed.

The current players are not good enough and our policy off selling off our "sell-able" players will ensure we will remain nothing more than a lower to mid table Championship side if we are lucky !!

To even contemplate an assault on the Premiership next season will require a large amount of money well spent and there is nothing to suggest that a fraction of what is needed is available.

We need to get realistic in our expectations and get used to what we have because unless someone comes in and gives TM the money he needs to rebuild the team this is it

Notice big Steve Howard not in Leicester team?

Geordi la forge

I wouldnt count McClaren as added value though he deserves much credit for our first trophy and europe. A good part of our debt came during his stewardship but we lived the dream.

Elsewhere AV replied to a poster about being warned off for being negative four years ago when talking about needing to control the cost base of the club. I am firmly in that camp but I am not going to go over old ground about how we wasted money.

The current crop of kids look the best since our youth cup winning team. They have not had the instant impact of Downing, Morrison, Catermole, Wheater, McMahon, Johnson but time will tell.

The one thing that does concern me is that we havent produced a decent striker, Danny Graham was the last to put himself about but he appeared not to be Arsenal Lite enough for Southgate. Not living locally so a bit adrift from local news it may be he didnt look as if he was going to make it, fair play to him he is having a good season.

It looks like we are creating attractive young players who are pleasing on the eye but maybe lacking an edge and some physicality though Bennett seems fiesty enough.

As Mogga says he could do with Thommo, McManus and Robson back. We have just got to hope that our state of the art facilities are being used to the best advantage and our witch doctors are treating the correct limbs of the afflicted players.

You just have the fear that Robson has his arm in a sling, Thommo has the wrong leg in plaster and McManus has an eye patch on.

So McClaren was sacked by the Wolfsburg team. Where does he go next? He seems to succeed in every second job - Boro OK, England not, Twente OK and Wolves not. Who's next?

We have Mogga - hope he is here in 2020's, too. Up the Boro!

AV wrote in his reply to Simon at 3.26pm:

"Oh yes, I get feedback. So far this season there have been two diplomatic incidents/complaint over things on the blog (because I refused to condemn the Red Faction out of hand and said the club's position was counter-productive and because it was suggested that Mido was poised to sign for Boro until he read my character assassination on him and flounced off in a huff... if that is true it is probably the only recorded case of him ever taking criticism on board.)...."

Can I take the step of Publicly Thanking Vic for doing what was needed to dissuade Mido from "sign for the Boro" a short while ago. It is difficult to imagaine why anyone would think Mido would have been a positive signing for any team let alone a club strapped for cash and in desperate need for committed players who can dig in for a fight against relegation.

If people in the club thought that Mido's (re-)signing was a real starter, then I can only conclude that you CAN fool some of the people all of the time. Let's be honest, the idea is so completely laughable that it isn't seriously up there for debate.

People at the club should realise that many of the people on here are committed Boro supporters who want the best for the club. There would have been a revolt against Mido. If we could have found him a shirt to fit, he would have been booed as soon as his name was read over the loudspeakers. You did the club a service, Vic, and if important people running the club don't realise that.....you just have to worry what sort of reality they inhabit.

I have an idea for a haulage company in 2011. Why not get rid of the diesel tractor units and replace them with steam traction engines? They might be a little slow and less agile than current vehicles, but with loads of low-down tork, and with centuries worth of coal buried below our feet, no risk of running out of relatively cheap fuel, or of the supply being cut off by some foreign power. Any chance of someone at the club biting?

**AV writes: To be fair, while some figures within the club complained my piece helping scupper a cut-price no-strings signing I get the distinct impression others were laughing their socks off with glee and breathing huge sighs of relief.

People keep harping on that our players are not old enough to be in the team regularly.

If you are good enough, you are old enough. Look at the likes of Rooney and Walcott. They both broke into their respected first teams when they were really young, and have been there ever since.

I think what the team are lacking is that 12th man. Yes I am talking about the crowd. I know I am in the US, but if I wasn't I would be there every game!

Now we are in a recession, and I agree that a lot of people are struggling to afford just getting by. That is where the club should step in.

Surely it would be better to drop the prices to attract the fans back. Yes the people who have paid for their season tickets may complain about this, but wouldn't they rather see a 3/4 to full stadium because the club made ticket prices more affordably in this current financially unsteady climate. I wouldn't complain if I had paid for my season ticket, and they dropped the prices to fill the stadium. The more the merrier I say. Bring on the old atmosphere.

My reckoning is that we are 20,000ish short of a full house. Why doesn't the club offer tickets at £10 a pop. If they got half of the empty seats filled, that is an extra £100,000 in the bank, or the wages for an extra 15 - 20 players per week. Yes I am making a point there. We don't need all those extra players, but we could get in some more experienced players on loan and use that money for their wages.

Anyway, just an idea. Anyone know someone at the club you could tell this to? AV maybe!!!

RED ARMY.

"...it was suggested that Mido was poised to sign for Boro until he read my character assassination on him and flounced off in a huff..."

I'm with Forever Dormo & Cobalt. If this is indeed true then we (and the club) owe you a huge debt AV. They should be casting a medal for you.

On to other things. I'm amazed that poor Roberto Di Matteo has been sacked. He did a great job taking over from Mowbray at West Brom, got them comfortably promoted at the first time of asking playing stylish football.

So far they have done OK in the 1st division and remain (just) outside the relegation zone. They are certainly doing better in the 1st division than they did under Mowbray when they were bottom pretty much right the way through. What on earth do the Directors expect?

I know Mowbray was popular with their fans as well, maybe West Brom will be tempted to bring him back. Hope not. Although I wasn't a supporter of his when the Boro job was vacant, Mowbray is certainly doing a great job so far, and it appears that the fans are willing to give him time to sort things out. The last thing we need is another change of manager.

By the way...it is to go boldly...I thought every school child knew that by now.

**AV writes: It is indeed, but then the Star Trek allusion wouldn't work.

AV -

I asked the question on here a few days ago about Zemmama and the work permit. No answer - and no articles trumpeting his arrival and availability. So one assumes he's still in Morocco.

But one of your Uncle's pieces and something on the MFC website indicated that he could be included in consideration for the squad this weekend 'if he has received his work permit in time'.

Best part of a fortnight to get a work permit that - surely - should have been sorted (even if it involved an appeal as we've done before), in principle, before we signed him to a three and a half year deal and when we're desperate for midfield re-inforcements - even ones that might only be capable of cameos for now?

Hmmmm..... is there a story here that's being 'soft pedalled' for relationship reasons and to prevent you having your privileges being removed by Uncle Eric again or am I (I hope so) barking up the wrong tree?

**AV writes: You're definitely barking : ) Last I heard he was flying into London on Saturday morning and was meeting up with Boro after Palace to come back to Teesside. Whether that happened or not I don't know. I've despatched Uncle Eric to Hurworth to speak to Mark Venus to ask the question.

Have you ever thought there may be a mole in amongst our erstwhile bunch of Untypical posters AV?

Could Tony Black have been the Count trying to use reverse pshycology? Is ton up king GHW Bernie Slaven? Is Richard's second name Hawking?

Why does the academy not produce strikers?

Simple - the coaches convert them to centrebacks.

Take any matchday squad and there will always be a minimum of four defenders on the pitch and a couple on the bench - same with midfielders. You start with one or two strikers and another on the bench, possibly two but usually the squad will contain three at most. So we have twice as many defenders as strikers involved - barely more than we keepers.

When we won the youth cup Morrison was the main forward - when he got into the first team he was dropped back to midfield. And critised in that role for not defending well enough.

Coaches are obsessed with what you do when the opposition has the ball and not when you have the ball so pack the teams with defenders and defensive midfielders and expect the forwards to play in thier own half as much as in the oppositions.

Take a look around and you will find very few strikers at any club. We coach goalscoring out of kids at an early age.

**AV writes: There are a lot of problems in identifying strikers early doors. We bring LOADS into the club at the age of 12-13-14 because the best young players at their school and at their clubs. The ones that really stand out, are the ones who score five and six a game. Thei rcoaches push them up front because they are the best players and because they win games. David Wheater was a 60 goal a season striker at Teesside Athletic when he was signed up by the Boro Academy.

But scoring in the TJFA when you are the biggest, fastest, strongest lad on the pitch and doing it when your are 18 or 20 when everyone else you are playing against is just as athletic is a different matter and not everyone adapts to the changing environment when they lose that physical advantage.

The lads who arrive as brilliant pre-teen strikers are often quickly revealed to be not technically good enough, or fast enough, their control and movement may not be up to scratch. There is a higher drop out rate for strikers in the Academies.

AV, in your reply to Jiffy about why the academy doesn't produce strikers you said: The lads who arrive as brilliant pre-teen strikers are often quickly revealed to be not technically good enough, or fast enough, their control and movement may not be up to scratch"

Does that mean academies merely separate the wheat from the chaff rather than develop them - couldn't you improve a kid's technical ability, control and movement if you had good coaches?

It's the old argument about nature versus nurture - is 11 too late to start coaching kids? Should we get them at 7 instead?

*AV writes: Discuss....

Why dont the club find quality strikers at the youth level?

One reason I believe is the fickleness and jealousy among a certain crowd of parents and so called coaches in the Teesside youth football fraternity.

You know what Im talking about. In my day there were more people who told you "you're no good" than told you to keep at it. And Im talking about a lot of kids I knew, with a bit of encourgement just might have gone further.

My advice to anyone who sees a kid who starts to bang them in at what ever level,
is to put your arm around them, tell them they are fantastic, tell them to ignore the negatives, push them to the front, tell them to be selfish because thats what makes a Shearer or a Defoe and above all enjoy the delite in putting it in the back of the net

What also makes me unhappy Is the amount of Injuries we have over the seasons. Every player we bring In becomes Injury prone at Boro and also the forwards we bring score before we buy them then go through a goal drought. We get rid of them and there score goals again.

Same with Injuries. The likes of Huth and the rest couldnt put a string of matches together without becoming Injured but when they leave they never miss a game.
I believe we are too soft with players - or this training ground which Is suppose to be one of the best In Europe Is a Jinx. Or are players wrapped up too much In cotton wool at the Boro!

Also Mowbray bringing In Haas who then says he needs too acclimatise Is beyond a Joke why bring players In who have too be wrapped In cotton wool next we will know Is that Haas and Zemmama are Injured without kicking a ball! What are the Answers A.V.?

A Bewildered Fan!

I share the general concern that there may have been some backlash within the club over your wonderfully written piece on Mido. Worthy of Swift (Jonathan not Frank) I would have thought.

As the Frank Swift reference might suggest, I have been supporting the Boro since 1945,and there has not been any journalism about the club during that time to touch the quality of the work regularly produced by AV on this blog.

I'm not an uncritical fan. The piece on Juninho last year was a bit mean spirited and very much out of tune with the sentiments of the hugely appreciative majority. But the posting last summer on the Boro's identity was probably the best single thing ever written about the club.

What is especially heartening is the quality of the responses and the generally thoughtful level of debate that AV's work has stimulated. This should be a tremendous resource for the club, if anyone there has the slightest interest in the considered , rather than knee-jerk, responses of the supporters. Keep up the splendid work AV!

**AV writes: Aw shucks. Thanks. Another one for the "print out and stick on the editor's desk" pile.

Ladies and Gents, on the coaching subject....

I live in Spain and aside from every small town and village having a spanking brand new sports centre paid for by the EU, or by the local construction company which is building on green belt, there is a difference in coaching at school level.

As was discussed by Strachan's sports guru matey who he brought in to do the preseason (got a name AV?) there is a different approach to teaching school kids.

A mate recently went home with his kids and even just after a few years of being over here he says the standard of school football is shocking in comparison. His kids were ok in England, they were never going to play pro, but they enjoyed the game. After two years of coaching they are beyond their school year level, so are playing up an age group but then are getting panned cos they are lacking in size and weight.

They dont play 11 a side at school in Spain. it is always smaller, seven or nine. If one team is humping the other, the weaker team plays with an extra player. Uneven teams????? Shocking!!!

It develops close passing, control and skill.

I watched a youth game the other day on a bigger than five a side but no where near full pitch, the ball was passed 4-6 times between defenders before it even made the midfield. Triangles, looking for space... (the diving for fouls was terrible though!!)

Spain does not genetically grow better football players they just play at a higher standard from much earlier on because it is taught that way.

School teachers need to get their Pro licences in the UK, then train the kids to this standard. From their we can start to play catch up. Till then it will be the same old, same old.

ArchieStevensBirthdayparty said:

"Also thanks to the "supporters" at the front who decided to stand throughout meaning the entire Boro support (including several elderly gentlemen) also had to also stand for the entire match. Why they could not go and stand with the Red Faction at the back (whose support was excellent btw) and let the rest of us sit down I have no idea.I went down to the front at the end and there was no restricted view (as at Upton Park)."

Are you sure that was not the Faction at the front? I was speaking to a lad at the back who said he was part of the 12th man, Apparently they get a block booking as close to the back as possible so that they dont block anyones view.

It is all ver reflective at the moment. I am a Boro fan therefore I think, or something like it.

Does Uncle Eric know he is Uncle Eric? Is he the Uncle to Vic that Sergeant Wilson was to Private Pike?

I was especially impressed when AV got an 'early doors' into one of his responses. Is he selling his soul to Murdoch so he can be on their football coverage?

On the issue of why no strikers I am am probably partly culpable for the question.
Maybe it is part of the search for technical excellence in many academies, pursuing solution of the many faults of the system.

Very difficult to find an answer. halifaxp makes a good point in that we must be careful that we dont criticise the kids.

With regards to the question of why the academy is not producing strikers, I don't think it's a problem unique to us.

The country as a whole doesn't seem to be producing strikers (at least not high level ones) and it's been that way for some time. I read that there were only five English strikers who got into double figures for goals last year in the Premier League (Rooney, Bent, Defoe, Agbonlahor and Carlton Cole, although Lampard also scored plenty from midfield). English football hasn't produced a steady stream of good centre forwards since the early 90s.

My guess as to the major contributor to this dearth of striking talent would be that the levels of technique at the top of the game have improved and English forwards, who come up in an environment where raw physical attributes are more highly sought than technique, have been left behind.

There are plenty of other contributing factors, but I suspect development of technique is the major one, and what's more, it's one that can be addressed.

mickemmo said:

AV,spot on as usual but when you mention the lads of 86 you would run into them on a night out in the Boro,or on Doggy market. These lads now are already well on the way to being millionaires,what do I talk to these about? when do I bump into them in Morrisons?

Very true. I remember seeing Stuart Boam many times having a drink in Guisborough. Even if he had a poor game he was there to talk to the fans. They may not have been all locally born lads but they were local in their attitude to the punters.

RE: Academy Strikers

I feel one of the biggest problems we have in this country (and I understand it is partly being addressed) is that we ask our kids to play on full size pitches.

Now when your parents are on the sidelines screaming for you to win the game what is the best thing for a kid to do on a full pitch? Lump it up front and let the bigger, faster lad up front beat the defender and score - just as AV pointed out.

Now what does that lad have to do to score? Pretty much thump the ball anywhere but at the tiny 5ft keeper stood in the middle of a full size goal. Where's the skill in that? Where's the finishing? You could almost imagine a 13 year old Leroy Lita being the king of this. He hasn't changed since and still just hits the ball as hard as he can in hope.

Now move to the continent where they play on half size pitches with much smaller goals and the striker has to place the ball to beat the keeper. Those early days are important.

What I've found amazing over the years is how many players Boro have managed to sign who couldn't hit a barn door. Surely as a footballer who plays and trains every day you should be able to hit the ball well enough to shoot reasonably accurately say 8 times out of 10. I mean we're not just talking about getting it on target here, we're talking about players who spoon the ball all over the place on a regular basis.

On the subject of drop-outs... I too have seen some technically excellent players move away from football for various reasons but I suspect in this day and age we are far too quick to rubbish the kids before they've even had chance to learn the game.

I stood at the Crystal Palace game (yes everyone was standing with not one steward in sight to get them to sit down) near some fella who decided that every single mistake should be loudly berated with obscene language - a professional on 20k per week can walk away from that and laugh at it but a little kid who is just trying his best is likely to want to walk away and not play again.

Following on from Sunderland’s appointment of David Milliband to their board of Directors, Middlesbrough have approached me. In my current role as Junior housing Minister, I can add invaluable expertise to the club in this time of financial austerity.

Firstly as the current team is full of teenagers (minimum wage earners) I am well positioned to give them advice on how to acquire their first home from the council. Step one; get one of your girlfriends pregnant. Step two, move in.

Also as the club cuts its cloth accordingly, player acquisitions will be limited to fellow EU states and impoverished North African countries. Using my contacts I can get these lads to the top of the queue for Housing Authority properties in Hemlington. Even by only having a team that Teesside can afford we can still appeal to potential new signings.

Also the club, disappointed with current attendances have noticed on blogs like these that a lot of Boro fans live outside of the area. Some as far a field as Finland, Derby, Stockton, Halifax and even the Moon.

The club would like to boost attendances and would like to offer affordable housing to ex – pat Middlesbrough fans with the purchase of a season card. I believe a similar scheme at the turn of last year upset existing season card holders. I can assure you that this scheme has been looked at from all angles and current Season ticket holders living in Middlesbrough will be offered a £5 club shop voucher instead.

Should any supporters be interested please contact me at
Sandra.Peakes@thegovernment.com and put in the subject line Homes for returning Heroes

Please note: Our Friendly stewards will also provide 24/7 security on the premises and because these properties will remain the property of MFC the following will be banned.

Drunkenness/falling asleep
Large gatherings
Flares – incendiary devices
Flares – 70’s style trousers
Singing
Non fire retardant bed linen
Standing
Smoking

John -

You must have been near me at the Palace game - I recognised your description of the loudmouth as soon as I saw it. He was just down the row from me.

Actually, he wasn't even bothering to wait for mistakes most of the time and just ritually slaughtered the players in turn!

Also, amazingly, after arriving late then leaving early and coming back late at half time when he'd done a bit more beer-ing up, he left the ground about twenty minutes from the end, his 'therapy' complete.

There's nowt like a great afternoon at the footy, is there!

In our situation at the time, i.e., UEFA cup finalists, top half of the Premiership, Danny Graham was poor and sub-standard. The club can't be criticised for letting him go, and I don't remember many people complaining at the time either.

BoroPhil -

I think the debate was about why we havent developed strikers at the club. I have been at pains to state that when I mentioned 'Danny Graham' it was only to inform the discussion. Neither club nor player should be beaten with a stick.

Where I would disagree is that Danny left in 2007 after Eindhoven when we were trying to rebuild on a low cost base around youngsters. He was one of a group of academy players that left over a few years.

Would he have become a first team player? We will never know. What we do know is that we havent produced a proper striker for years. Would he have been better than Dong Goal Less or Jason Euell or Caleb Folan is open to debate.

I repeat that the issue is not Danny Graham but why we havent produced a striker.

Playing the youngsters is always what most of us would like to see an also to see them doing well but there has to be some experience in the side.

With most of our older heads on prem wages and a lot already gone it worries me that we are not renewing Arca's contract. We are proberbly having our best season out of him thus far now hes going in the summer. Maybe its window dressing I dont know.

Woodgate just about played a full season for Spurs when he left, Huth well he just goes on and on. Not so sure about Digard but this also raises questions why did they not do it for us?

Very tough month ahead with a much weakened squad fingers crossed.

**AV writes: Julio Arca is on (approx) £25k a week. Boro can't afford to renew that. It is a non-starter. If they offer him a deal it will be on a fifth of that. He thinks - probably quite correctly - that he can get a lot more elsewhere.

AV

Given what you've pointed out about Arca, I'm presuming that Mogga and Veno might be looking for a similar left back to creative midfielder transition for Tayls as happened with the Land Crab (presuming he doesn't go elsewhere too) as a direct replacement - hence all the 'you're really a midfielder who can retain the ball and pass neatly, son.' stuff.

It'll be interesting to see if it comes off.

Interesting thoughts on the academy players that have gone (for nothing or not much), I wonder how much input Dave Parnaby has when the club wishes to sell or release players.

I watch some matches on the telly and notice players who were once with us but somebody decided to give away or release them.

How much did West Brom pay for their new skipper? I think it was £3.5 million, we gave him away or released him. The centre forward at Birmingham I think was with us, he also cost millions, we got nothing. A few have mentioned Danny Graham who would probably cost a million or so and we got nothing.

Whoever has made these decisions, seems to me they can't see potential, that why I ask if Parnaby is sounded out.

PS You can't really count Graham being an academy find as I believe he was released by the skunks and we obtained him from the northern league, (could be wrong on that though).

**AV writes: Danny Graham joined Boro's Academy mid-term as a 17 year old from Chester-le-Street.

Sandy

Consultation? Isnt that when someone asks you something then goes ahead and does what the were going to do anyway?

When I stated earlier in this thread the discussion about the Academy not producing strikers the point I made was that teams regularly take the field with one up front and four or even five defenders and the midfield is more negative than positive.

That isnt just Boro - its endemic across British football.

Danny Graham has been highligfhted as he seems to be the only one from our Academy playing upfront anywhere else - I would add Tom Craddock as he is not doing too badly for himself at Oxford after being at Luton. Were we really incapable of developing these young talents any further than we did?

Our Academies have to turn out seven or eight defensive players for every two or three attacking ones. Your reply AV summed it up perfectly when you said that Wheater arrived as a 60 goal a season goalscorer and was promptly turned into a centreback. That is precisely my point.

None of our Academy trainees arrive as finished articles - all are judged to have potential to be groomed by our coaches into the players of tomorrow for both club and hopefully country. A few years down the line some of them will be discarded and in some cases the potential has not been developed but goes on to flourish elsewhere.

Now when that cull takes place we require three or four times as many defenders as strikers so its obvious that a 2nd choice striker will be discarded whereas a 2nd choice defender will be retained. If you are not the top dog you will be moved back to a defensive role or you are out the door and that process began the day you came through the academy doors.

We need our coaching staff to include strikers not just defenders and defensive midfieders. We have specialist coaches for keepers - what about forwards?

Next time you watch Match of the Day or The Football League Show and see all the managers being interviewed after games count up how many of those were strikers in their playing days and how many were defenders. Pretty much all our coaches and managers in England are former defenders. Negativity is endemic in our game. Is it any wonder we have bred goalscoring out of our game?

I think the other thing that's interesting about our Academy - apart from how very successful it is - is another part of its consistency; the types of players it regularly turns out and the (very good) 'habits' they are coached into.

This may be something in common with other Academies and why they don't - as a rule - turn out strikers.

If you look at the 'make the grade' Boro Academy products of recent years, they tend to excellence - particularly - as central defenders and speedy, wide players whether full backs or wingers (with a marked genetic trait of left-footedness!). Lately, there's been an emerging thread of goalies too.

There's an interesting debate - as in all human endeavour - as to how much is nature and how much nurture.

So, how much of the success in producing those three types of roles is down to the nature of the lads we get in to The Academy and how much to the nurture they get from coaches who have these areas of expertise and coach in certain ways, according to their own skills and preferences?

Has the rise of specialist goalkeeping coaches - at Boro and elsewhere - influenced the fact that we're now producing more goalies through The Academy?

And does the fact that you have these acknowledged areas of expertise and succes mean that the intakes to The Academy are skewed because those who select are better at 'picking' those who will succeed in those roles because they've seen so many go through the process?

Does it work the other way round - like other aspects/institutions of learning, training and development - so that youngsters who show promise as central defenders, speedy wide men or goalies seek out the Boro Academy because they've seen how successful they are with lads in those positions?

Dave Parnaby's such a thoughtful and personable bloke - as well as an expert in this field. It would be great to hear his views.

That brings us back to 'why so few strikers' and to the point jiffy makes above. Decent striker coaches and great strikers who become great managers or coaches are the exception, not the rule.

People talk about 'born', 'instinctive' or 'natural' strikers. I would guess that many great strikers would see themselves as more on the nature than the nurture side of the debate and, likely, had little specialist coaching themselves. Being rugged individualists - and with the self-centred and blinkered nature they need to get goals - they probably wouldn't have listened anyway.

So, there is probably no cardre of striker coaches out there for Academies to call on and, as yet, nothing in place to develop many. And bear in mind, you don't necessarily need to have been a great 'anything' to coach that thing effectively. The skill sets are different.

Perhaps this is something for the agenda of the new FA Head of Elite Development. Oh, no - what I am saying!!

Smog - well said.

For those banging on about the failure of the Boro academy to produce a striker, good strikers are notoriously hard to come by which is why they are always the most expensive payer on the pitch. The rarer something is the more it costs which is why Torres cost £50 million.

Name me one top English striker who came from an academy............er?

Strange but I am also in a positive mood despite the Palace result.

There is a term "Regression toward the mean". Which means your league position does not ( normally ) lie. The result against Palace was so easy to predict we have should have all made a few bob. Palace tend not to concede goals at home, Boro do not score away from home. Boro concede at least one goal per game. Boro would have needed big slices of luck to swing the balance in our direction in contrast Palace only needed a small slice to get a result. Hence the result 1 - 0.

Based on this principle, Boro will pick up just one point over the next four games; anything more than that will be a bounus, or the honeymoon impact of our Moroccan investment. The good news is that the key three teams below us are very very poor.

I belive there is only one place left in the trap door train. The occupant will be, Boro, Palace or Shef Utd.

It will not be the Boro, not this year - "Regression toward the mean" !!

With reference to the team of 86 - that is so a red herring I can smell it from here. The phoenix of 86 is a once in a life time experience. If anything this is an 85/84 team that has yet more contraction to undertake and one step back yet to take.

However, I am looking forward for the first time in a long time - everything that Mogga ( aka Picard ) says , everything I have seen with my own Riverside eyes since his arrival has me believing that next year will be a good ( relative ) regression toward our mean year.

Am I missing something?

There seem to be a number of posters saying "stop beating the club up over losing players like Danny Graham" or words to that effect, but I can't find many posts above that are having a pop at the club.

Percypieblocks seems to be having a little bit of a go, but I can't see much else.

I'm certainly not disgruntled. As I said before there wasn't much outcry when Graham was sold/released and in any case he looked limited for the level we were at at the time.

The non-forthcoming strikers debate was more about English football as a whole than a criticism of the Boro academy.

Let's be honest, you're not posting on here at the moment because you are all watching "Question Time" on BBC One. Aren't you?

**AV writes: I'm watching "The Revolution" live on Al Jazeera English. I'm waiting for Mido to show up to claim his rightful position.

Wow got through for the first time in months.

Agree AV, wages are very high for this division but if everybody else is going I dont see the quality,experience coming in. Wheater,O'Neil out, which i know had to happen Maxi and Zam in - these are not hardened experienced championship players. Not knocking the new boys at all but their past does not set any fires alight.

Still a very bumpy ride ahead but always live in hope.

I have been reading this blog with interest over the last few days and the conversation has quickly shifted from the academy back to clubs current plight.

Now I agree with John Prowls as to the type of players we are producing and the lack of central attacking players. AV, are you able to get an interview with Dave Parnaby and ask the question why central attacking midfielders and strikers are unable to graduate from our academy?

I missed Radio Tees last night and would be interested to know what was actually said, in relation to Tosh’s post above. My opinion on the crowd situation is that the economic situation has had a minor impact, but the two main reasons are that we are fed up of having the wool pulled over our eyes by the club and the poor football on show for the price of the ticket.

Blind faith is a notion saved only for the delusional part of humankind. Where is our deified leader and his faith now.

**AV writes: You can probably "listen again" on the BBC Tees website by now but I don't think it is anything like as explosive as Tosh seems to feel.

Ian Gill said: "As far as I am aware Keith Lamb has been responsible for global warming, the decline of fish stocks in the North Sea, the problems in the Middle East, the banking crisis, third world poverty, the quality of beer in the concourses, the erosion to the barrier reef and the failure to eradicate malaria."

Yes, the Egyptians are blaming Lamb for letting Mido go back to Middle East. Sure, Keith's fault.

Up the Boro!

I just put ‘Chronic Mismanagement’ into Google to see if Tony Hayers’s career at BBC2 would be mentioned. It wasn’t but this article popped up. I have read it and I can’t help but feel you could all do with reading my motivational autobiography ‘Bouncing Back’.

If driving back from Palace last week you felt low and despondent. I hear your pain; I once drove up to Dundee, barefoot!

So to help get the Boro Bouncing back I am willing to give a motivational seminar to the lads. I am paraphrasing but it would go like this ‘you give the ball to him

you kick it to him



.and you put it in the net. Kiss My Face, Eat my goal’.

There would also be a question and answer session with me and Bill Oddie for all matters motivational. Wagon wheels would be provided too.

Would this help?

A’HA!!

AV writes: :..........mentalist!.....

A’ha!!!!!

It didn’t take long did it, even Mogga’s on board!!!

I gave him a signed copy when we bumped into each other at the Swaffham Spice museum.

http://www.mfc.co.uk/articles/20110211/mowbray-we-must-bounce-back-quickly-_70639_2291193?

Jarkko -

Remember my posting when the troubles started in Egypt, there were vigilantes posted on the corners in the suburb of Zamalek to keep undesirables out.

Sadly this hasnt appeared to work

'' Cairo giants Zamalek have registered striker Mido in the first team squad on Wednesday although they are yet to receive the player's International Transfer Certificate (ITC).

"The club reached an agreement with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to add Mido to their roster without the ITC, which is yet arrive from the 27-year-old's former side Middlesbrough due to the ongoing protests in Egypt.''

I would have thought Lambie would have flown out personally to deliver the clearance just to get shot.

The protests against Mubarak are nothing to do with democracy, he is a Zamalek fan and the people are protesting at the return of Mido so you are right, Keith is to blame again.

Well spotted Jarkko, you must do some research in those long Scandinavian nights.

Karren Brady mentioned the Olympic Stadium would be "good for cricket, good for athletics and good for football". Are they planning one day cricket internationals to be played there?

And I'm surprised, since several have already broken the news on this blog, that John Simpson on the BBC news has completely overlooked the role played in the revolution in Egypt by a certain afficionado of Parmos and Newbould's pies. Maybe there's something good in the bloke after all?

Curses! Probably foiled again!

"AV said: We've heard it all before. It has been the damaging default for the best part of three years."

I'm sorry, AV, and I know you don't like to hear this kind of thing, but if that performance assessment occurred with successive managers in any other business, the bosses who made the managerial appointments would also eventually go, wouldn't they? So why are our incumbents still with us?

They aren't exactly gaining much in the plus column to offset things are they? I'm really sorry mate but our current regime at the top has to call it a day after all this time and move on...after all, as an example, Niall Quinn's takeover at Sunderland hasn't faired too badly, has it?

Tantalisingly left on 99 posts for 12 hours?

Surely our finishing is better than our team's?

Get in there!

I'd like to thank the midfielders for the hard yards they put in. I'd like to pay tribute to the selfless sacrifice of those at the back who built the platform on which it proved possible to turn this thread into a winnner. And I'd like to thank that creative duo, Simon in the USA and Ian Gill, for the incisive passes that created the opportunity for me to score.

Most goals, and most matchwinning performances, are built upon teamwork. My team mates engineered a position from which my 25 yard volley into the far top corner was just the cherry on top of the cake.

I know I've had a barren spell, but I always had faith in my abililty. It was good to know the crowd was behind me all the way, and the delirious scenes at the final whistle have galvanised the dressing room. We are sure we have now turned the corner, and it's upwards all the way from here.

(It would be good to hear something like this said after a win against Swansea, but enjoy it while you can. Centuries will seem like nothing if Boyd could break the ice wih a hat trick. Now, before I leave for the match, where did I put those foam hands?).