Boro, Identity And Trigger's Broom
FOOTBALL clubs are a lot like Trigger's Broom.
Fans of ducking and diving, apples and pears entreprenurial eighties sit-com Only Fools And Horses may recall the episode Heroes And Villains in which Roger Lloyd Pack's amiable but dim streetcleaner Trigger wins an award from the council for having used the same brush for 20 years. "It's had 17 new heads and 14 new handles," he explains proudly.
"How can it be the same bloody broom then?" asks Dave/Rodney. Trigger then produced a picture of him with his broom and asked: "What more proof do you need?"
The tale of Trigger's Broom is a reworking of the old Greek paradox the Ship of Theseus (or, in America, George Washington's Axe) relates to objects maintaining their identity and purpose despite repeated replacement of the component parts. It applies to businesses, organizations and cultural or political entities too - successful ones anyway.
In cheesy girl band pop terms, look at the factory line creation that is the Sugababes. They have not only an interchangeable membership but also the line-up at any given time seem to be made up of interchangeable pick-and-mix multi-ethnic facial characteristics that can be reconfigured without altering the brand. A triumph of musical broomism. A brief appearance in Boro shirts at the Riverside does not absolve them of their crimes against music.
The Trigger's Broom concept definitely applies to football clubs. At the heart of the identity of a football club is the understanding that players, managers, directors and, albeit at a slower pace, supporters come and go over the years to be inevitably replaced by new component parts but the essence, the identity and the function remain the same. Supporters stay loyal to an entity in flux while insisting it is the same old (not always reliable) broom.
For that to hold true though there needs to be an understanding of what the identity and function of the broom/club is and an assurance that any broken or worn parts are replaced sympathetically with appropriate and compatible replacements. If you replaced the brush with a mophead, for instance, it wouldn't be Trigger's Broom would it?
You can tinker a bit. You can change a shirt, a badge, a nickname and you can move the ground within reason but if the all important continuity of identity is undermined then the essence is changed and the construct collapses. Ask AFC Wimbledon fans. They had to make a completely new one from scratch when the FA allowed someone to steal their shabby broom, take it halfway across the country to store in a new cupboard, give it a respray and revamp and start calling it an MK Klean-o-tron.
Which brings us to a particular component part being replaced: the manager. This musing was prompted by two dug-out appointments this week that seem in defiance of the need to preserve the fragile identity of a club and maintain the delicate balance of cultural nuances within the supporters. Both seem provocative, at odds with the traditions and essence of the club and contemptuous of the supporters wishes.
West Ham are a club that pride themselves on attacking, passing football so the appointment of long ball merchant Sam Allardyce is a risky strategy. And Aston Villa have trampled over supporters feelings in giving the job to Alex McLeish.
Some of the issues of tribalism and identity are articulately expressed in an impassioned piece on the Twisted Blood blog, which in itself was in response to an aloof assesment of the Villa situation in the Guardian by Paul Hayward that dismisses the irate feelings of Brum supporters as "an emotional restraint of trade." He belittles the backlash and appears to suggest that such emotion is only appropriate at big clubs, ones that matter.
He is wrong. A sense of identity is the most precious resource a club has no matter what the size (arguably it is more important the 'smaller' the club.) The willingness of fans to become passionate and mobilise around that identity is the engine that drives clubs onwards and upwards.
For those that don't live in Gazetteshire, here's an abridged version of today's column.
*******
DOES a football club have a soul? A heart? An identity?
Does a club have a shared set of traditional ideals that players and supporters can buy into, unite around and feel proud of and that other fans recognise and acknowledge?
Does that give a club an institutional strength? And what happens if you interfere with it? What happens if you tinker with or trample over a soul?
This philosophical navel gazing was prompted by the ill-fitting appointment of Sam Allardyce at West Ham and the high-risk leap over the Birmingham barricades of new Villa boss Alex McLeish.
Irrespective of those managers' qualities both cases have upset the delicate balance of what fans see as their club's carefully cultivated and fiercely guarded image.
First West Ham. The Hammers not only "won the World Cup" but they were also famously a hot-house for adventurous coaches who championed cavalier, attacking football. A golden generation of coaches - Malcolm Allison, Dave Sexton, Frank O'Farrell - came through the club committed to an attractive passing game and a tradition grew up that encouraged the promotion from within of players and staff steeped in that ethos.
For Hammers' fans, that 'Academy' heritage is the heart and soul of the club and people in the boardroom and dug-out "understanding" it, has been a comfort blanket through the dark days. And there have been plenty. For them to be confronted with the culture shock of Sam Allardyce and the prospect of his direct and robust functional football has caused some spiritual dislocation. The long ball won't go down well at Upton Park. The fans expect a certain panache.
Allardyce has no time for that. Why should he? He has been hired to get the club back in the big time, not run an historical enactment society, a footballing Sealed Knot.
The seeds of discontent are there. It does not bode well.
McLeish faces similar cultural resistance at Aston Villa. His appointment was greeted with protests and offensive graffiti at the training ground and a backlash from fans. Not only is his own style of cautious defensive grind seen as anathema to the expansive Villa ethos and his record of two Premier League relegations well short of the CV expected, he has come from the enemy camp. He is tainted.
Swanky Villa are seven times champions and have won the European Cup. They are undisputed lords of the second city. These aristocrats fallen on lean times clearly feel a sense of entitlement. They thought owner Randy Lerner "understood" that - to take on a failed boss with a dour style and from their bitter rivals to boot, suggests otherwise.
Lerner got cold feet over both Rafa Benitez and Steve McClaren after adverse fan reaction. Unless Villa get off to a flier he ain't seen nothing yet.
So what's that got to do with the Boro? Well, in contrast to that duo of teams that may be promotion rivals, after some years of apathetic drift Boro have started to rediscover their own sense of identity.
And what is Boro's identity? For me Boro's heart and soul comes from a defiant parochialism, a sense of unity between crowd and team in times of adversity and the burning belief that the pride of the town is being fought for by the team.
There is little else of Teesside that will be recognised by outsiders but Boro. Nothing else to put us on the map. British Steel and ICI have long gone. The Transporter was sold off to Arizona. We are not a centre for the arts or a transport hub. There are no architectural gems or historically important icons. There is little to attract outsiders or catch the national eye. In a place like this, the club is the only show in town. It is the cultural glue that holds us together.
That is true of many industrial Northern towns of course. But what makes the focus more acute here is the knowledge of exactly how close we came to losing it. Much of our sense of the identity of what the club is and what it represents stems from the traumatic galvanising effect of the liquidation crisis 25 years ago.
The icy fear of just how close we came to disaster has never left us. It makes us more conscious of the role the club plays and maybe more actively demanding from the relationship. It informs our sense of what we have achieved from the lowest possible base - we measure everything from 1986, not 1876 - but makes us more sensitive to the dismissal of our achievements too.
The bond forged between team, board, terraces and town in the years that immediately followed the club climbing out of the coffin has under-pinned everything that has happened since: Premier League, Riverside, Wembley, Cardiff, Eindhoven - they all stem from that last gasp escape and explosive revival. The diehards who went through it - fans and players - experienced an emotional bonding more intense than most footballing event can conjure and have reshaped the mythology of the club.
And as fans we expect that bond to be acknowledged.
But supporting Boro goes beyond football. It is in the DNA of the community as a whole. It is an inherited trait. It is intimately entangled with every aspect of life on Teesside. At root, Boro is a reflection of something wider than football. The club is a tangible focus of the identity of an area united by a bloody minded prickly parochialism. It is the standard we rally around in every battle. There is fierce and easily triggered defensive pride in an area shaped by adversity and struggle through depressions and dislocations.
The club is a cypher for that. Like the town it has been battered, overlooked, run down and almost gone under but come back, reinvented and invigourated and fighting again to snatch at fleeting moments of glory that we can celebrate collectively. Every success for the team has the whole town buzzing, even non-fans.
And we are at our strongest when under attack: it suits our mentality. It is an habitual position we slip into easily. We have had plenty of practice. Look at the righteous anger and fiery collective strength that fired the club after the Three Points and helped drive us straight back. A seige mentality is a potent energy.
Steve Gibson understands that part of the Boro psyche acutely and has pressed those buttons many times over the years, admittedly angering some people in the process, as he has circled the wagons and talked about a small club punching above its weight and about the tight geographic and economic confines we are working within as a club and the deprivation in the area.
We are very much a local club. With a fan in the boardroom and another in the dug-out and the team populated increasingly by locally produced talent, Boro is a clear reflection of the town and of Teesside.
The Academy is a source of pride, players and ultimately labour to be exported to generate income. This is a club - and town - that relies on its own devices, its own talent, its own people.
If the decline from the global recruitment horizons of the Premiership halcyon days has an upside - discuss - it is that it has allowed Boro to get back in touch with its roots, to regroup culturally and spiritually and to get back to those basics. Despite the financial woes and lost ground we have a real chance to recharge our emotional batteries and reconnect with the heart and soul of the club. And that can be a decisive strength.
We have had our own managerial aberrations that has dented that: Steve McClaren for all his success alienated many with his disregard for the relationship with supporters while Gordon Strachan was a disaster. He had no time for the traditions of the club, did not understand or care for its cultural nuances and was on course to wreck the delicate psychological bonds that hold us together.
But Boro are now far stronger. Financially maybe not; we are clearly still struggling with the millstone legacy of a Premier League wage structure and it may yet hamper recovery.
In Tony Mowbray we have a manager of honesty and integrity and who crucially recognises and revels in the central role the club plays in the life of the area. That comes through in every public statement he makes. He "understands" the club.
We may just have our soul back.
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Anthony Vickers
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Totally agree. I've said many times that '86 was our Munich and generated an unprecedented togetherness and commitment. This spirit was largely lost in the loads-a-money days of Robson and, to a lesser extent, McClaren.
In the impatience to buy success, Boro lost its way. The club betrayed its tried-and-tested values and its identity. Despite having some great players, it led to very little great football, in contrast to the club's heritage. Even the surge of new support quickly evaporated.
Quarter of a century after liquidation, we've pretty much come full circle. This time building from a much more substantial base (Riverside and Rockcliffe), there is the opportunity to get it right this time. By tradition, Boro are not flash. The 'small town in Europe' motto ironically echoed this sentiment. When successful, we do play football the right way.
Historically we have usually been based on home-grown youngsters and the academy has shown outstanding ability at this. Mogga has previously demonstrated astuteness in picking up nuggets in the tranfer market. Greatly helped by local lads ain charge, this is the secret to a sustainable future that honours our ethos and reinforces our identity.
I had a god laugh when Villa appointed McLiesh having previously heard that McClaren had been rejected on th basis the Villa fans didn't want him, Lerner must have lost his marbles!
As for West Ham, we may have mocked our own 'unholy trinity' not so long ago, but they were nothing comapred to the triumvirate of Brady, Gold & Sullivan who have clearly picked a man they think will be best suited to getting them promotion without any thought for the importance of the relationship between manager and fans.
We are so lucky at Boro to have a manager who is the essence of Boro personified and who happens to be damned good at what he does.
Absolutely brilliant, AV. Thank you very much for expressing so eloquently and precisely what so many of us feel about our club and our town. I'm going to save this article for posterity. If that's not a piece that will win you the national award then there is no justice.
Just to pick you up on one point, though. In the short term, if West Ham are promoted at the end of the season, will their fans be too bothered about the Allardyce style of football? This might just be a question of grin and bear it - priority number 1 is promtion back to the Prem, so let's be pragmatic about it, might be their view? Of course, if it looks like they're struggling, then Big Sam will certainly get it in the neck! Personally, I do hope so!
**AV writes: I think any success Fat Sam delivers that is seen to be against the ethos will be accepted begrudgingly but the antipathy will fester and be visited on him at the first set-back or stutter. He's been through it all before at Newcastle when his style was seen as being anti-Keeganesque to the point of treachery and although he arguably was on course to repair the post-Robson damage done by Souness and Roeder he lost the battle for hearts and minds before it began. He lasted just over six months because of a cultural guerilla resistance campaign.
I think that cultural resentment was also simmering at Boro during the McClaren years. Even though the club were delivering, Mac was seen as dismissive of the traditions of the club and hostile to the role of the fans. He should have been lauded as a legend in the last two years but was in fact just tolerated by the majority and openly detested by a sizeable and vocal minority.
A nice piece that sums up Boro supporters.
While agreeing though about the moaner Alladyce, the reaction to Mcleish because of his Birmingham connection isn't so palatable? What if Mowbray had managed Sunderland instead of Ipswich?
Fat Sam's agrarian approach to football will see them promoted from what has always been (primarily) a kicking division. Probably as champions. McClaren, being an arch pragmatist will probably take Forest up in second place.
Fat Sam's tenure won't last more than a season in the Prem as a fans revolt will turf him out, Mac will jump ship in the Prem as soon as a bigger Club (in his eyes) ask him to.
That leaves us in the Play offs.. Offer that scenario to me now and I'll rip your arm off at the socket..
Oh, Big Heck (damn and blast) will be the first Prem managerial casualty of the new season. You heard it here first.. (Not that I'm putting my own money on it of course)
Great piece (again) AV. Kudos to your picture research department for sourcing that picture of Mogga at the fence. A sublime harmony of image and words. How many other managers can claim that relationship with their fans?
Was trying to think of other bands where the line up makes no difference to the Brand. Atomic kitten was the only one I could think of. Initially I thought The Fall or Simply Red, but both of those have one constant who is far more the Brand than the name is.
**AV writes: The Ramones probably qualify. And by "picture research department" I presume you mean the big pile of priceless old Ayresome black and white snaps under my desk.
We have our soul back, yes, and we have our voice - through the AV plug! First-class again, Vic!
If Mogga has given us back our Soul then its up to the Populus of the Republic of Teesside to now restore the Heart to full health.
This dawning era will once again see a divisive class of support emerging, those who were there at the start of the Mogganaut (reminiscent of '86 perhaps or later on the Red Books etc.) and those who abandoned their red plastic seats in the clubs hour of need and continued their inane protest at whatever cause it was at the time they were boycotting (insert Lamb Bashing/Stricken with Gordon/Gullible Gareth/Mac the Knife/Premiership Prima's).
Lets hope there are more and more who reunite with their Teesside heritage and defiantly display it at the Riverside week in, week out to put the wind beneath the wings and see the majestic rise of the Boro Phoenix.
To complete it we should ditch "Chelsea Dagger" once and for all and play Chris Rea's "Lets Dance" as the goal celebration music aligning with our "Born of Teesside" stand.
Good one Vic, I had to check WIKI as I was worried there would be no transporter to visit with my new lad when we visit in September, . . . don't do that again!!
Class again AV and a joy to read, power to the pen and hopefully the prize.
Without doubt, this has to be the turning point from the nadir of Boro's fortunes since the day that the men in suits came to call in 86. As you've indicated AV, we have one of our own in both boxes, upstairs and downstairs and there's a string of our own waiting in the wings to be given their wings. We will survive and we will return, because everything feels just right.
But, Steve Gibson and Lord Mowbray aren't going to be here forever, neither am I come to that, and who's to say that the conveyor belt of talent might not drop a cog for a while to compound the issue.
So, if circumstances prevail and the Premiership Pied Piper whistles his way down Linthorpe Road again, and the Sirens of the cups start attracting us towards South Gare Rocks and wreckage, what checks and balances are in place, or should be put in place to prevent it happening again?
Let's all be honest here, we all sniffed long and hard on the glue fumes of success then woke up almost too late to find ourselves back on the streets in a sleeping bag. I fear it would happen again if not controlled.
**AV writes: The Ramones probably qualify. And by "picture research department" I presume you mean the big pile of priceless old Ayresome black and white snaps under my desk."
Is that picture not the Away end at Stamford Bridge AV?
**AV writes: Yes, it is from the day of the Battle of Stamford Bridge. We have some brilliant pictures from on the pitch after the whistle. I'll look for an excuse to use them.
AV -
McClaren?
On the plus side he got us our first trophy and some great nights in europe.
I was no lover of him as manager of our club, I thought he was economical with the truth - not a fault in it's own right but he went down in my estimation when he was exposed for lying over the Downing non selection for England.
As blogged during his final year at the club we were in a parlous state in the league with an overaged and overpaid squad that had to be rebuilt.
When he left it was clear that a major restructuring needed to take place, I dont know if he would have been happy to do that, he is ambitious and the England job came along. That probably saved Gibson some soul searching.
McClaren certainly split opinions at Boro, I became more baffled by him as time went on but subsequent events have shown that as coaching badges are gained common sense goes out of the window so what do I know.
Culturally he was not Boro, nor are MFC but Mogga is. MFC disenfranchised the fans.
One of the fundamentals of a service is that it is intangible, you cannot feel it or own it. That makes the physical evidence hugely important.
When we go to the solicitors we place great credence on the offices and appearance of the appearance of the staff and professionals working there. Same with Doctors, Dentists etc. We are not qualified to judge their technical ability but have to rely on the tangible clues.
Changing the badge was a minor event but it was a physical clue of the Boro coming back from the brink. It linked us together young and old, it is part of our history and was taken away with it appears scant regard for us.
It doesnt help that the new badge is an absolute shocker but at least someone got paid for 'designing' it, goodness knows what the failed designs looked like!
Some are not bothered about the badge, some got very worked up about it. The football on the pitch is more important. But what it does show is a separation from the fans, a vital clue that MFC had lost touch with Boro.
I know it all sounds rather petty but it is only one of a number of items that attacked the links between club and fans.
Mogga is rebuilding those links, bringing Boro to the forefront again.
PS
Does John Mayall qualify as a musical brand?
All so true AV; It's a delicate combination that is culture/identity/image. Can't believe that some on this blog in the past have stated that if the Boro had gone out of business they would of supported the likes of Leeds.
West Ham (their youth team came to Ayresome some time ago and a member of their team had the temerity to use foul and abusive language towards myself and other Boro supporters- lucky for him we were behind a great steel fence) Birmingham and the Villa are all struggling and trying to find ways back to footballing paradise.
We by contrast have suffered the trials and tribulations of poor management choices but have eventually prevailed by appointing one of the very best of our own.
So to be honest and not a little cruel - if they (West Ham et al ) disappeared into the black hole of Division 2 or worse, I can't say I'd shed a tear or lose one second of sleep. They're not one of us nor would they care if we ever existed. I have to say I might even enjoy a little 'schadenfreude' at their expense.
My only real hope and delight will come if our lads and Mogga stuff em well and truly this coming season.
I wonder if your article has anything to do with what Plato said about a chair being a chair because we see it as a chair otherwise it's not- ooh best not go there me heads going all dizzy. UTB
**AV writes: Plato? Pah! I'm an Aristotle man. No, seriously. Dialectic all the way.
Plato said it wasn't a chair, it was merely a imperfect temporal reflection of the abstract fixed ideal of the perfect chair. That's daft. It's a chair. It's not just an abstract idea.You can sit on it. It has an objective existence and function.
Aristotle saw things as existing objectively and materially and a certain point in their cycle of dialectical development. He would say it was a chair, and he would add that it had been a piece of timber and would at some point be firewood.
You can apply that philosophical divide to football. But that's for another time....
Greek Philosphers eh!
One day the great Greek philosopher Socrates (469 - 399 BC) came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"
"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."
"Three?", exclaimed the student.
"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"Oh no," the man said, "actually I just heard about it."
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates interrupted, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"
"Well it....no, not really..."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"
The man was defeated and ashamed. This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.
It also explains why he never found out that Plato was having an affair with his wife.
I'm not a traditionalist - I'm in favour of something that offers improvement rather than sticking to what has always been done.
It always makes me laugh that we say that some clubs have a tradition of attacking and entertaining football - does that mean that fans from other clubs don't want it too? I guess what we mean is that some fans have been lucky enough to enjoy entertaining football for a prolonged period of time and wouldn't put up with the functional stuff.
That's been the problem with Boro over recent years - The Robson era gave the fans thrills and spills not seen for many a year - McClaren may have finally brought home the silverware but it was not always entertaining bar a few unbelievable games here and there.
At least Mowbray favours football that is easy on the eye - OK so did Southgate but he didn't find the magic formula to make it happen. As for Strachan... well nothing to add to that particular train crash.
Since it's been a long time since I lived in the area, I can't really pin an identity on the Boro - OK we may have risen from the ashes back in 86 but it's the expectation of Boro fans that they were now a club that could win things that brought 30,000+ to the Riverside.
Lose that ambition and the club will continue to meander along with crowds of 15,000 or less - The truth is that life outside the PL is having to live with being a second class football citizen where just the so called hard core supporters remain and the rest just wait.
Good writing AV. I think this is important stuff. Identity and local pride is what it is about. But I don't think it is just about Boro. It is the same if you come from (plucks names out the air) Barnsley or Hull or Burnley or Portsmouth or wherever. You have to be from those towns to support them and that makes the loyalty and pride real.
It is what makes us different as fans from all those plastic second hand glory-hunters from those same towns who attach themselves to Liverpool and Man U or Arsenal and refer to teams they never see as "we." They can never understand what support is about.
What would Aristotle say about square pegs? Obviously it started as wooden, could be used in its proper position then ended up as a useless stick.
Would Plato play Rolls Rhys at centre mid or centre back? Plato has the edge here because centre back would be the imperfect temporal reflection of the abstract fixed ideal of the perfect position. Stepping into midfield would fall in neatly with that interpretation.
I tend towards the Aristotle view because I dont understand imperfect temporal reflection.
**AV writes: Plato would see formations as reflections of an ideal shape and would strive to set his team out in pursuit of that ideal. He would be wedded to 442 with a Strachanovite zeal. He wouldn't want to stray from the ideal. Aristotle would see formation as being in a state of flux. He would play total football.
I prefer Bobby Robson's 444 formation....
The Badge........like to see the pre 1986 make a come back, still got mine on my denim jacket somewhere...
Songs.... "Lets' Dance" a good effort and even "Down by the Riverside" must be worth a try...
ut I will say again that the atmosphere at 1 Ayresome Park Tuesday night game was worth a dozen Premier atmospheres at the Riverside...and finally....I hated McClaren's style of football, I stopped going when he put Juninho to the sword.
ERIMUS!!!!
Excellent wordage young scribe, being a Boro fan isnt a choice.
In my younger years I was an Alan Ball fan, purely on an interview of him that I saw after the 66 World Cup. I just identified with him, supported the clubs he was at, but a chance squeeze into Ayresome when I really should have been "somewhere else" changed all that.
To a certain extent your club chooses, nay infects you, like that herpes thing you cant get rid of but wont kill you, its in your blood, we are nearly there
Bring back the 86 badge, it means more to many than the white band, and the both look great together. I started in Jack Charltons days, but I gained real affinity from 86, I would guess I am not alone, liquidation, Thatcher, Leg warmers, where are you now eh?
I have never lived in the area. Fame hunter? Perhaps not as I started supporting the Boro in 1970's and paid my first visit to Ayresome in 1980.
What I have always liked about the club is the chance given to local lads. I enjoyed the Juninho era but still think we are closer to core of the club now.
My favourite players have seldom been boughtin player. My favourites have varied from Stan Cummins to R Smallwood with only few exceptions like Terry Cochrane.
A good article again, AV. I think there is some similarities with the Teesside mentality as in my home country. Northern pessimism but above all not giving up. But then again there is the Viking connection ...
Up the Boro!
AV, the first picture on this blog - is it Maxi Haas on the left there? UTB!
For once we approach a new season without there being any rancour, suspicion and discontent between the supporters and the management/ club.
There is trust in Mowbray as well as a recognition that he is not infallible. He speaks in that gruff Teesside accent which denotes footballing experience, an empathy on how the game should be played, with style, grace and integrity.
Fair enough there will be changes ,none of his doing and we will get by and improve. I look around at other clubs like Aston Villa, West Ham and see the corrosive power of money. Even Downing is on the money bandwagon and could be seen as chasing a move to a 'bigger club'.
The likes of Big Sam, McLeish, McClaren are self seeking and shallow, quick to pick up the baton of the club they are managing and proclaiming their ambition to feed their insatiable egos.
Plato? Aristotle?
Humbug! At least Albert Camus was a goalie!
Hi AV - Great article!
I'm sure I'm not alone when I have to say "no art, no icons"? What about the Bottle, Temenos or MIMA? Yes they are new, but so is the team every 10 years or so! (Sometimes quicker than that.) What about the Arc or the newly refurbished Forum? The Little Theatre or Albert Park?
We have icons and it is up to us as denizens of the conurbation to improve and use these sites.
For those who can afford it, get yourselves down to the Riverside and support Mowbray's Army. UTB
**AV writes: I'm not dissing public art or attempts to create a space for culture to flourish. We should do more. But has anyone outside of Gazetteshire heard of the Bottle of Notes or the Temenos? If Joe Public in Nottingham or Leeds or LIverpool or Bristol was asked what they knew about Middlesbrough, what was the first or main thing they associated with the town there is only one conceivable answer: Boro. You would get the same answer if you asked on Linthorpe Road.
So this is a football blog, is it? Well, if you are going down a philosphical road with a Boro bent:
As regards Socrates, the "pot-bellied" small statue of him in the British Museum is said to show him as being short, fat and ugly. (Choose your pet Boro player to whom that description might apply). Without putting forward his own view, he asked questions of those he discussed matters with, in order to test whether they could justify their position. He rubbed a lot of powerful people up the wrong way, and as a result ended up condemned to drink a fatal hemlock cocktail.
Plato was Socrates' most famous pupil. People will tell you he set out a system of philosophy based on rational argument. He is close to Vic's heart because his most famous work is "The Republic".
In "The Inferno", Dante names Plato, Socrates and others but refers to the later and greater Aristotle simply as "The Master". He returned to Macedonia after Plato's death and became tutor to Alexander the Great.
It is said Plato invented formal logic. Forget American politicians with their "things we know and things we don't know, and things we don't know we don't know...", because he came up with "Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities." Raise that with a well-oiled philosophy student at 9pm and come back five hours later....
Did I say this would have a Boro bent? Well, our old friend Socrates founded a school where students could come together to study philosophy. He called it The Academy. Something Ancient Greece had in common with The Boro.
I can hear it now. Dave Parnaby: "Was Juninho a talented footballer because he was loved by the gods, or was he loved by the gods because he was a talented footballer?" Discuss in not more than 5,000 words.
I think there are probably more Hedonists in the North Stand and Epicureans in the West Stand Upper, but I could be wrong.
**AV writes: ".... and Marx is claiming it was offside!" At this point all I can do is refer students to the intellectual tour de force that is the Monty Python "Philosophy Football" sketch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8
....and tomorrow on the Open University we have a module starting at 01.30 hours on "The morphology of rocks in the Scottish Highlands", followed at 02.30 hours by the historical sources module "Tacitus and Bede - reliable historians or propagandists on behalf of his father-in-law Agricola and the Roman Church respectively?"
At 03.30 hours we return to "The distance between Einstein ('God does not play dice") and Stephen Hawking ('Not only does God play dice but...he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen')"
It could take over from football phone-ins.
**AV writes: I'm doing the 4-30am shift .... "Martin Luther, Liberation Theology and Total Football: how the Protestant work ethic helped shaped the tactical revolution in Dutch Football."
. . .I'm impressed!!
Pot bellied? I remember Socrates as lean, with a beard, silky skills, a decent engine and a thunderous shot in the Brazil midfield!
As for M. Camus - as a goalie the fact that he was an 'absurdist' probably helped. Likely made him a natural Boro fan too!
**AV writes: Plato would see formations as reflections of an ideal shape and would strive to set his team out in pursuit of that ideal. He would be wedded to 442 with a Strachanovite zeal. He wouldn't want to stray from the ideal. Aristotle would see formation as being in a state of flux. He would play total football. "
That is all very well... but would he play a left footed player on the left and right footed on the right? Would he class square peggism as an ideal shape because midfielders tucking in on the wrong planks provides symmetry?
Alright, enough of the philosophers for heavens sake - yer all doing my head in!
Come to think about it AV et al, you may or may not know about the man who thought his wife was a hat (see link)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat
This is particularly useful for club chairman and CEO's who believe they can spot a good manager in a bar in Birmingham or elsewhere when they see him.
It is of course no good whatsoever acting like a Cassandra in hysterics shouting from the terraces that he is in fact not a manager but an Emperor with no clothes on because those who must be worshipped and obeyed will have nothin to do with the common plebs (are all plebs common?) and refuse to listen to them because they would then abdicate both responsibility and subsequently power; and we can't be avin that now can we?
Einstein, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates eat your hearts out.
Jack Warner is sent a damning report about his involvement in corruption and resigns three days later with FIFA declaring he 'leaves with the presumption of innocence'.
Square that circle if you can!
I reckon if you are not wanted to start with you will never get the merit you deserve. You are always going to have bad runs and the boo boys are all waiting in the wings for that to happen so Sam and Alex beware.
I read Jimmy Floyd was training some youngsters in town,good on yer. Yes we had some highly paid has beens but we got our money's worth from Jimmy.
Is Jimmy not the striking coach we are looking for? He already believes in what TM is doing with the squad.
Hope Steve Mac does us a favour and takes Boyd on. There, I think I covered everything.
**AV writes: But where do you stand on the Plato/Aristotle question?
Ah. The Ancients as appllied to modern football tactics.... where does Pythagoras come in with his sum of two squares on the wings being equal to the square on the penalty spot? ... which is better for ball movement on the pitch, moving the ball around in equilateral triangles or are isosceles triangles a better option?
Nice piece AV.
The important Marxist question is whether the Boro's identity is a form of idealism or has any kind of material basis.
There were a number of reasons why we had the reputation of being a good footballing side from the 40s to the 60s, not the least important of which was the quality of the Ayresome Park pitch. It helped of course that we had some players of real quality during that period, but the playing surface itself actively encouraged good football.
Contrast that with a surface like that of Stoke City's Victoria Ground, a regular quagmire, and you can see why, to this day, the Stoke public seem happy to go along with a quite different footballing tradition.
In the 70s Jack Charlton put the emphasis on a more pragmatic approach, producing a team that owed more to Anglo-Saxon literature than Greek philosophy. This was the Beowulf team of Craggs, Spraggon, Boam, Foggon, Platt and the like.
Charlton's team and the football they played also had a material basis in the culture of the town, in the importance of putting in a decent shift, and of hard graft combined with a pride in craftsmanship. It's probably this- the dialectic of skill and graft- that goes to the heart of the town's and the team's identity.
Steve McLaren's idea that football is not about entertainment, his obsession with clean sheets ( what grief he must have given Mrs McClaren), and his failure to appreciate the qualities of Juninio that were self -evident to the fans were all indicative of the gap between what the club was providing and what the fans wanted. Hence the generally luke warm response to what was, on paper, a period of unprecedented success.
Mogga's grasp of the club-town, skill-graft dialectics , and the immediate improvement in performances have been impressive. And they have elicited an equally impressive response from the fans.
The challenge for Mogga is to ensure that the conflicting pulls of creativity and industry, flair and pragmatism are kept in proper balance.
For myself, I concur with the consensus that, after too long a gap, there is once again a feeling of considerable pride in being a Boro fan.
**AV writes: That's a great Marxist through ball down the inside left channel.
I think you are right about the town/club, skill/graft dialectics and the need for Mogga (and Gibson) to to grasp them. The key to next season could be wider supporters' consciousness of the situation and their willingness to take an active part in the process.
Watched the Monty Python football sketch and it brought back happy memories, I had forgotten how funny it was.
I must admit that Socrates was well offside though it is always good to see the Germans beaten.
Ian Gill, refering to your Jack Warner comment, it would take more than the combined brilliance of Socrates, Einstein Plato et al to square the FIFA circle....
Socrates was a fantastic player his football philosophy was pure genius, never saw Einstein play although I understand he had great spacial awareness......
To briefly shoot off on a tangent, anyone get Olympics tickets?
**AV writes: That's a great Marxist through ball down the inside left channel.
I think you are right about the town/club, skill/graft dialectics and the need for Mogga (and Gibson) to to grasp them. The key to next season could be wider supporters' consciousness of the situation and their willingness to take an active part in the process.''
Lets hope Gibbo takes an active part in the process
Len -
The team that Jack built was much underated in terms of skill. We tend to dwell on the granite escarpment of the back four but in front of them we basically had six attacking players.
Murdoch, Sounness and Armstrong in midfield and a front three of Mills, Foggon and Hickton is not set up to be defensive but the work ethic of big Jack meant they attacked when they had the ball and defended when they didnt.
One of the problems the team had was that if they lost the ball they didnt give in and roll over so the memory is of a side that scrapped rather than a good football side.
The great Liverpool side of that era took to not allowing their full backs to go forward when we played at Anfield such was the risk if we had the ball.
What we lacked was depth in the squad and it was never strengthened.
len masterman at 1.22pm - 10 out of 10 for that!
Mogga has so much credit with Boro fans that he could perform moderately and still be hailed a hero, whereas others with less credit would be booed off very early. It is no surprise.
We like Mogga. We respect him. He performed heroics on the field for us when we were younger, and had the heart of a lion. Grit and courage writ large on a face his mother no doubt loved nearly as much as we did. He was the player we would all have wanted to be. (OK - if you disagree, hands up all who would have prefered to be Bernie! No! I thought not! Back into your cage...). And he has managed clubs quite well, thank you very much!
He talks sense. It appears he sees what we see. He has improved the performances of the team and has selected teams that seem a little more "balanced" than we have seen recently at this club. The odd square peg has found itself in a square hole, for a change. He has roots in the area and he obviously cares for the club.
Settle for what we have got. It's better than most have. And ignore the siren voices: "He has a massive downside. If he bought the club and had the funds of an Abramovic and could afford to put the money down for the world's best players, he could step aside for a couple of former managers of Porto." Fight it!
If this goes right...it could be as good as after 1986....
I hope so. Where's Frank and his Factory Carpets? "I love Boro, me!!
Boro isn't the DNA of the community is a meme. A thought virus. A parasite that has ruined our lives with false hope.
Still I know we can do it, next year under mogga the promised land awaits.
NURSE!
**AV writes: The #mogganaut is a meme.
AV - I would always go for Aristotle in the perfect world and total football.
But sometimes you have to go Plato if thats what you have or what you are good at.
So maybe I will have to go for on the fence depending on situation.
**AV writes: I think that probably makes you a Lockean empiricist. Empiricists reject any preconceived theory of knowledge and instead hold that only evidence from the sensory perception of the current situation should be considered when formulating ideas.
Lockean empiricist it is then. Can i put this behind my name then like MD i can be Tim LE.
**AV writes: Get "Empiricist" on the back of your Boro top. That would be cool. Then everyone could derive through the evidence of their own sensation exactly what kind of guy you are.
Maybe I should get "Rabble Rouser" or "Untypical." What name do other posters think they should have on their shirts to sum up their Boro philosophy?
Some would say the former triuvate displayed Machiavellian traits in the darker days.
Deist was on the back of my Boro shirt until the turn around that Mogga achieved last year. That was indeed miraculous!
It's all very well contemplating a time when the Greeks seemed to be good at maths - though I guess we are indebted to them for introducing us to such important concepts such as logical reasoning (a debt which they are now looking likely to finally collect on I gather).
Anyway, the modern day Greek legislators may have a more profound effect on football if a new banking crisis stems from their lack of ability with mathematical calculating and failure to understanding the consequence of their actions.
So any football club carrying massive debt is probably feeling a little nervous about a call from the bank manager in the coming weeks.
Incidently, I' wouldn't confess to being a conscious student of Plato, Aristotle or any other philosopher, Greek or otherwise - though I would say I'm a pragmatic logical man with a liking of aesthetics, which certainly sounds like it would sit well with Mogga's footballing philosphy.
Left-Right on my mine or Peggism
On the back of my shirt....
Ohhhhh Not Again!!!!!!
You don’t need any “isms” to know that Mogga understands what makes the club and Teesside tick.
He grew up watching the team with his dad, played for the club and was one of the main men in holding the squad together in 1986. He went to Wembley, Cardiff and Eindhoven as a fan. Mogga gets it. He really is one of our own.
His personal credit helped saved the club from the disaster of Strachanism (there’s one for you). If the ginger one had stayed in charge we would be playing in League One next season with divided and demoralised crowds of 8,000 and the club would be goosed.
He took over a poor, poor side that was demoralised and somehow turned it around without spending a penny to finish with some of the best form in the division.
As it is, even with no money to bring in players this summer and having to slash the wage bill (off the pitch as well as on it from what I hear) I still feel upbeat because I believe Mogga will get whatever team he has at his disposal playing good football with spirit plus that skill and graft combo that was mentioned.
I suppose that means I should get “Optimist” on my shirt.
Should I feel philosophical about the disappearance of my longish post around midday? Is there any logic in the workings of the blog? - I think it's more Monty Pythagorus than Aristotle.
**AV writes: It's there ^^^^ look. This time-lag happened withone of your posts yesterday too. I'm blaming German cyber-border control. Obviously still dischuffed about the Greeks' offside goal.
Ruffled Feathers - for what it's worth - on my away shirt, and the more of other people's feathers I ruffle the better I feel. Particularly those pants at the FA HQ. Urrah! UTB
'Faith' on the back of my home shirt,'Hope' on the back of my away shirt....
"Boro isn't the DNA of the community is a meme. A thought virus. A parasite that has ruined our lives with false hope."
. . . . and what do we do? We take our kids to the match, buy them boro kits and the virus prevails.
Like I have said many times... my ex wife cited this as a form of child abuse.
On the back of the shirt? Bacchus on the home shirt, and Dionysus on the away one. Witn an embroidered corkscrew image on the side of the socks.
If Arca and Taylor dither over signing the contracts just let them go, tell them to sign or leave. If as, seems likely, they are on two or three times Barry Robson's salary just get rid.
Believe it or not I have a lot of time for both players but would the squad be terribly damaged by the loss of either? Of course that depends on players being fit, anecdotally that is, a sort of virtual availability that certain parties believe is a virtual untruth.
Having a full team unavailable who can play in their normal positions is routine so some journalists tell us. Or is that one in particlar who loves North Korean tractor factories?
I'm swelling up reading this, and living in London. Spot on.
Arca and Taylor, chase them with big bricks! they are both useless!!!
How was Steven Gerrard at the Chelsea promotion match. Is he some sort of time traveller? Look at the picture and tell me its not him
**AV writes: Yes, it makes me laugh every time I see it. Does anyone know him?
Arca and Taylor are just doing what the uncommitted do: weighing up the options.
If they're uncommitted to the Boro, show them the door irrespective of their other qualities.
I hope it's us.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13854851.stm
GHw -
But we have the all time Scottish record goaltaker already! "Our" Boydy...
Up the Boro!
Arca during his priod with us has not been very good, giving him land crab status.
But last season was definatly his best for us by far. He was one of our best players, set things up for us and if he could be kept I would keep him on.
As for Taylor, he also played well when he came back from Watford but i think probarbly replaceable.
The problem with the comings and goings will effect us because we finished so well.
We need to move on first the players who were not realy involved ie Boyd, Flood,etc then if we still dont balance the books Taylor and Arca but I feel the latter two would need to be replaced.
I believe Digard is on £ 30,000 a week and Boyd on £ 28000. So you know where our problems lie.
I think we have plenty of central midfielders (Thomson, Smallwood, Robson, Bayley just to name a few) so the Digard problem is more difficult to solve. We just cannot afford to keep him even he could be an excellent player if fit.
If Mogga makes Boyd a player he was at Rangers (no arguments that it's a Mickey Mouse league, please) and bang in 20 goals for us next season, then he will be fine by me.
But the safer bet is to sell him and keep Lita and McDonald. And use 1/6 of his wages for a Championship target man.
Up the Boro!
Andrew Taylor and agent spotted on flight to Bristol Mon. 27th June. Destination Bristol City, Cardiff or Swansea anyone?
Goodwillie of Dundee Utd? 175 cm "short" and record of controversies.
In June 2008, Goodwillie was arrested after assaulting a man in a Stirling nightclub, which resulted in a £250 fine. Goodwillie was involved in a similar incident in September 2009 when he was arrested after a nightclub doorman was knocked unconscious. Two months later, Goodwillie received a £200 fine for his part in the incident.
Goodwillie was questioned by police in relation with an alleged sexual assault of a woman at a New Year house party in Armadale. Goodwillie was charged with rape on 17 January 2011 and will appear in court at a later date.
Sounds even worse than Mido but is better on the field, though. Up the Boro!
Jarkko, perhaps he should be renamed Badwillie given the rape charge.
BTW AV, my post from yesterday morning seems to be still stuck in border contol.
**AV writes: I can't see anything in the holding pen. Unless it that one trying to sell me viagra.
JMc -
Maybe Talys and his agent are on a driving holiday involving Cheddar Gorge, Cardiff Castle and the Gower Peninsula.
Very pleasant it will be as well. The Mendips are very pretty this time of year, Cardiff is a nice city and was the site of our trophy win. Smashing beaches to the west of Swansea, a great place to catch bass in the surf I believe.
Hope they have a nice trip.
Not to worry AV the system probably just needs a few friendly blogs to sharpen up before the season begins - anyway it was only a throwaway remark about campbellini probably needing to take anti-inflammatory tablets before reading the blog.
Dont seem to be able to get into the messages on the other blog. Just the actual reports.
It appears uncle Eric is calling it a day. 26 years is a long time a lot of memories well worth looking back on. Maybe a book.
Anyway good luck Eric on whatever you do next. Glad you are not giving up on the Boro good man.
I'm not sure Taylor would be a major loss would he? And lets face it, he may be a Boro boy but if Cardiff or whoever else offer him more a week that's where he'll go. He's a future to think of and another few seasons of professional football to secure it.
Sad to read Uncle Eric is retiring, give him my best wishes AV, he's been a part of the Boro fabric for a long long time.
I can remember Cliff Mitchell retiring, dont remember the bloke in the middle (George Lazenbyesque?) but even though I've never met him, when you read someones thoughts and opinions on a subject you're passionate about they become a small part of your life without you even realisisng!
Gordon's comments on the Boro player buying the Ferrari was a juicy bit of gossip, who is going to be the first to 'out' the player in question?!!
So, it's farewell, then Uncle Eric - and all change at Gazette Towers.
I sincerely hope that Eric enjoys his retirement - though things have to move on, of course, you can't help but get used to certain things and certain people 'just being around' a part of the warp and weft of life.
For the Boro part of my life, Eric has been one such and in my fifty years plus of the collective madness of following Boro there haven't been too many of his ilk - the fingers of one hand would be more than enough to count the ones you could count on in the local media in the same way.
Now we can have the second installment of his biography where he tells us exactly what he really thought - though I suspect he's really as nice as he has appeared the few times I've met him and just too nice to do the 'shock revelations' thing if he was to actually upset any of those who he has built relationships with over the years.
It's not goodbye for Eric and Boro, though - so, see ya Eric.
Sorry to see Eric's calling it a day. Naturally I didn't always agree with him, but a really good journo and I'm sure the fans will miss him.
Can't wait for the autobiograpy, especially if it's warts and all.
Good luck uncle Eric.
AV, can you pass on my thanks to Eric for his coverage of Boro please? I have always enjoyed his comments, and much like yourself, has always remained honest in his assessments.
He used a letter I wrote a long time ago for the closing piece in his book "Paylor Stripped Bare" and I was happy to contribute.
Happy retirement Eric, we will miss you.
I am one who has read a few articles by Cliff Mitchell. So Eric had huge boots to fill. Likewise Eric's successor will also have big boots to fill.
So all the best for Eric. And thank you for all the articles during the years.
But now it's no more call midnight from Gibbo if a manager is fired nor free tickets. Time to buy a season ticket now!
So welcome to Philip Tallentire. Shall we call him Son Phil', then?
AV, you could also run a blog remembering the dark night driving back from Soton or Pompey with Eric when the windscreen was blocked by vaporized bovril...
Up the Boro!
**AV writes: We've had a few scrapes. Maybe I will do that in the next week or so.
Uncle Eric will be missed by all of us, his nickmame says it all. Much respected by one and all.
I know he wasnt well a while back and hope he enjoys his retirement. One suspects we havent heard the last of Eric and he will reappear in some guise. Will he still be travelling with you and Phil to away matches? Will he be doing work on Radio Brownlee?
What style will we we get from Phil, one suspects he will be more feisty than Eric and how will he fit in with your role Vic?
**AV writes: I think Eric will still do a column for us, go to matches (certainly home matches) and pop up here and there. I wouldn't be surprised to see him doing stuff for the programme for instance. Old habits die hard.
**AV writes: "I think Eric will still do a column for us, go to matches (certainly home matches) and pop up here and there. I wouldn't be surprised to see him doing stuff for the programme for instance. Old habits die hard."
Perhaps he will join the blog (if he not GHw in disguise - remember the timing of all the 100th posts!).
Up the Boro!
So long, and thanks for all the fish, Uncle Eric (as Douglas Adams almost said). You will be remembered fondly.
And maybe hello to Nephew Phil? Or Phil the nipper/sprog/ankle biter?
Well, I feel quite chuffed that The Boro can inspire such a polished philosophical piece in the Evening Gazette, matched by such an erudite follow-up discussion from football supporters!
It demonstrates that we're more than just a bunch of ex-metal melters and ex-chemical polluters.
Well done AV - you bring the best out of us!