Brighton Breezy: Battling Boro Resist Seagulls Storm
SOMETIMES you just have to dig in and defend. Sometimes you have to surrender the ball and initiative and soak up the pressure.Sometimes you have to block and tackle and hustle and harry, chase and close down quickly and head away a barrage of crosses and corners; sometimes you have to drop back in numbers, charge down the shots and scramble away dangerous balls into the box.
And if you can nick a goal and plunder the points, preferably with a spawny slice of sarcastic fortune, all the better. It was a perfect away day mugging by a battling Boro side that showed they have the silk and steel to flourish in this league.
Grinding out vital victories in game when you are under the cosh for long spells is an important ingredient for any team with aspirations to success. Especially in this attritional division.
And Boro did just that. The 1-0 win away at Brighton wasn't always pretty and it made for a tortuous experience for the fantastic 1,200 travelling Tees army watching an absorbing if uncomfortable game through their fingers at the Amex.
Brighton were good. The played a polished and patient passing game, picking and probing to try to find space behind the defence. They played an unhurried game with confidence and backed by a full house of fans on a high after two excellent years.
There was a very tense finale as an hysterical home crowd screamed angrily (but quite politely) at the referee - a few strange decisions had gone Boro's way and they felt they should have had a penalty and seen Jason Steele pedalled for handball... good old Andy D'Urso - and they urged on a Brighton side pressing forward. Edgy Boro fans meanwhile wrestled between the need for vocal endorsement of our heroes spirited and dogged rearguard action and the icy fear of an imminent equaliser.
But there were no nerves out on the pitch. A determined and focussed Boro team never wavered, not even during the relentless Brighton onslaught towards the end. The defence deserve plaudits for a steely show.
Most Boro fans will have finished the game soaked with sweat and minus their finger-nails but silky skipper Jonathan Woodgate insisted after the game that for all their possession he never felt that Brighton would score. That's easy for him to say. He was the calmest person not only out on the pitch but in the entire stadium.
Cultured Woodgate and man mountain central defensive partner Andre Bikey played a blinder at the heart of a Boro defence that was tested to the limit by an inventive Seagulls side that stretched play, passed it patiently and looked and put the ball into the box.
The pair complement each other well. Woodgate has an innate spatial awareness, a positional sense that gives him an edge in the box and allows him to react almost before a ball is played to intercept and snuff out danger.
That natural ability combined with a deft touch and an intelligent reading of the game gives him confidence and composure and buys him the luxury of time to play the ball out calmly no matter how crowded and chaotic the box. He does not readily resort to the Championship default of Row Z.
No surprise then that he has brought the best out of his partners at the back in his spells at Boro. It is no coincidence that Chris Riggott and Emmanuel Pogatetz enjoyed their best and most error free spells alongside Woody.
Brickwork Bikey has an imposing physical presence, patrolling the penalty area with a sense of purpose and power, brushing aside the most solid of challenges with contempt and powering away headers for fun.
Bikey can play a bit too. He did a Cruyff turn to lose a marker on his debut and has showed some sublime touches at times.
But he also has an all too obvious self-destruct button and a low boiling point. He has been lucky to escape a string of penalty shouts in recent outings and his suicidal languid back pass to set up Watford's opener after 26 seconds was repeated at Brighton but went unpunished because Seagulls striker Craig Mackail-Smith was sluggish to react.
But alongside Woodgate, Bikey looks a far more solid and composed player and barely put a foot wrong. It was his best game for Boro so far. It was probably Woodgate's best too. Especially considering he has been out for three weeks and has hardly trained.
It is hard now to say exactly who Boro's first choice central defensive pairing would be when everyone is fit. On this showing Rhys Williams may struggle to get back in at the back, Seb Hines heart must sink as yet another chance to establish himself goes begging and poor Matty Bates will feel sick as his bargaining position is undermined by the thought of being fourth choice if he can fight his way back and earn a contract.
But it wasn't just that pair that excelled in the pressure cooker of a Brighton barrage. Stuart Parnaby came in for his first league start for over 18 months and played superbly.
Out with a dislocated jaw he was drafted in because of an injury to Justin Hoyte and confessed beforehand he was a bit wary of aerial clashes but he got stuck in with a series of crunching tackles, sliding blocks and brave headers, including one stooping one that blocked a goal-bound shot.
And I have the phrase "Steele saved superbly" on a hot key ready to cut and paste into match reports. The superlative shot-stopper, who incredibly was being booed by the hard-of-thinking during the warm-up a year ago for the crime of not being Carl Ikeme, has been in awesome form all season.
On the rare occasions the defence was breached he was there to go full-length to save, get down to parry, quickly block at his post or come out and punch away in a crowd. He has been Boro's player of the season so far.
There was one scare when he had to rush out to beat Mackail-Smith and collect a chip over the defence and his momentum took him outside the box but he was alive to the danger and dropped the ball quickly and hoofed it away with the home fans screaming for a red card for hand-ball.
Of course it wasn't all about the back-line. It was a solid if far from spectacular team performance. The engine room did their share too, tracking back and closing down and working hard to disrupt Brighton's slow and patient passing while up front Marvin Emnes always offered an out-ball and his pace and trickery kept Brighton occupied all day.
But the defence deserved the plaudits. They showed steel, composure, athleticism and concentration under relentless pressure. They take the brunt of the flak when hard-fought games slip away - especially when it happens late on - so it is only fair they get some hard-earned recognition when they hold out to earn the points.
It was a great result in Mogga's 100th game. And a good day out: a fantastic and friendly stadium and a great atmosphere - the Boro fans were fantastic again - and the local press corps were very complimentary about the way Boro had approached the game and stuck to football. They gave the thumbs up to the 1,200 plus away fans too, the Amex's biggest ever travelling contingent . And they added that we were the best team there last year as well. Nice. Especially when you leave with the points.
The results nudges Boro quietly up the table to joint fifth (and up the Football League Show running order to just before midnight) and puts us in a great position with back-to-back home games coming up. What could possibly go wrong?
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Anthony Vickers
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Delighted for Mogga and the team join me in a celebration 100plus for Mogga.
Mogga is incredible, because of the strictures imposed by Mr. Gibson he is operating with no cash and it appears no boardroom support and yet he still sends out a team with the spirit and the will to pull off a great result.
Notice the Brighton crowd of 26,000, probably half that for Hul on Tuesday, due.to the inexplicable policies of the club, no wonder our away form is better than the home form Mr. Gibson as the Boro's saviour is a long time ago, my concern is now he will preside over another meltdown.
Mogga however is probably one of the best things that happened to MFC?
Three paragraphs just because you have been out for the best of a day. I suppose you were a tad tired.
Mr Miller did what he has been doing for most of his career, it is his trademark just like Ronaldoes stepovers and dives. Remember when we lost at home to the Baggies 1-0, whilest we battered their goal he had four or five breakaways when he missed one on ones or made a poor pass.
Still another away win.
Coming up back to back 'away at home' games. Unbeaten wouldnt go amiss. More than that is too difficult to predict, lets see the damage from Brighton first.
A very good away performance in my opinion, we took the opportunity when it came (with a bit of luck) and then defended well as a team, we always looked solid. Although with Brighton having so much possession it was stressful at times!
With two home games coming up its time for the team to put their foot on the gas and bag some points. I hope Woody is up to playing Tuesday and Saturday, he's still a class act.
Brighton have a great stadium and friendly fans, they were still smiling after they'd lost and the atmosphere in the away end was terrific as always.
What could possibly go wrong, asks AV at the end of his piece. This could be a long list ....
But, first what a good result. And it sounded like a good day out for those who could travel so far - it is as near as we will get to a European games for some time!
Hull at home, on what might well be a cold and damp late October Tuesday evening. They are good going forward, not necessarily brilliant at the back. They should bring some decent support with them so it might be a good atmosphere for a game. Might be entertaining, then. It's just a pity it isn't on a Saturday when the crowd might have been several thousand more.
And if we could edge that result, too, then suddenly expectations are raised again (and not without some reason as we would then be at, or very near, the top). Football: as Chiles says, "It's the hope that gets you down eventually".
Well, let me explain:born and bred in Boro, lived dahn sarf for a long time, over 20 years in Brighton&Hove, season ticket at the AMEX, (look, i like football and can't afford to travel up North like I used to) so there I was in my East stand seat looking over to the South stand with pride at the 1200 supporters who travelled the 320 miles to watch a battling game(didn't match last seasons best game at AMEX..)
OK WICKED DEFLECTION, but hey, Boro hung on with a strong defence, Jason Steele earned the three points, and I survived a few digs, sat among the soft southerners. see you can't take it out of the boy. And I will be up for the return game in March.....
Great Result and I agree that Mogga is doing a great job whilst being strapped for cash.
As a Season Ticket holder I would not be too upset if the club let fans in for a fiver and said current season ticket holders can have a bigger discount next year (in the Prem?)
Or let season ticket holders buy three matchday tickets for twenty quid as long as they are produced at the gate with the season ticket to show they are not sold on. I am now like Billy no mates sat on my own and no, its not my personal hygiene, it's just all my mates and family have stopped going to the Boro, although they still read the match reports and follow on the radio.
Big negative thing about the seats are the cost of them and two home games in a week comes hard for folk in this area, also people don't understand how many of the Boro faithful work away during the week and can't get to midweek games and that is why sometimes our away support is swollen due to the lads who work away and travel to see their Boro.
One thing I do know is something has to be done quick to encourage the next generation of fans or we could end up like Darlo!
Bright-Ton For Mowbray
Can't argue with three points, imperative that the home form is sorted out.
Could Huddersfield really offer Beckford a better deal than us? The goals for column is already showing how important it could be, come season end.
mohammad abdullah - of course he is.
I'm almost as pleased with the clean sheet as I am with the three points.
A quarter of the season gone and three points of top (off TOP! It doesn't matter if we're outside the play offs) despite experiencing a fairly horrific (tho' typical) spate of injuries. And we're still in every competition. I would happily have accepted that at the beginning of the season.
Mogga's team selection and tactics are puzzling at times and I believe his 'see how the opposition are playing before attacking them' is costing us points and possibly home support.
Steele and Hoyte seem to be in a personal battle for Player of the Season which must be upsetting for a few fans but not for me.
Hull is a derby game in my household and I can't wait for my next game away at Charlton.
Not exactly scintillating but effective and 3 points is 3 points! Another fine display from Steele and Woody playing possibly his best game. Parns did well considering he is ring rusty and overall with at least six first choice players out injured it has to be hailed as a huge success.
The Goals For column is the big worry though. Clearly our inability to create and take enough chances is our Achilles Heel. Watching the telly highlights of both the Prem and Championship last night what struck me was the number of goals scored through fast, pacy interplay and of course taking chances.
Contrasting that with Boro, we at times seem to try and precision pass our way to victory. In fairness to Mogga, injuries to Juke, Reach, Main, Emnes, Carayol and others haven't helped to establish settled game plans and attacking tactics but what can't speak can't lie and despite being three points from the top we have a zero goal difference.
We have spoke at length recently about attendances and without doubt a few more in the Goals For column would help on all counts. The predictable absence of Tommo allied to the resurgence of Hoyte and Steele has seemingly shifted attention towards Miller in the stakes to become this years "Typical Boro" object of our frustration.
Yesterday of course he played to the crowd and yet again failed in a one on one attempt to score. For me though I think that lying deep within is the potential for him to become a huge hit once the net bulges. He has a physical presence and when I first saw him in a Boro shirt against Palace he looked a handful and also looked something different from our usual lightweight Strikeforce.
Having now come out and supported him, his ability to become a favourite I believe is conditional upon him playing with a partner picking up his knockdowns and his ability to bulldoze paths clear on goal. Scotty I think would be the best partner as his low centre of gravity allowing him to twist and turn defenders who like as not are physically occupied with Ishmael's strength and threat will struggle with Mac's natural buzz and activity under their feet. Split Striker tactics of course negates this and I also think its the main reason Miller hasn't shown his true worth to date.
Juke on the other hand has shown that he may be about to repay Mogga's investment in him so long as his fitness doesn't become Tommoesque and Emnes it appears is the other preferred choice both of which are fine by me but I have this inkling that Ishmael is about to come good and aginst Hull I would like to see him and Scotty up front from the off with Marvelous Marvin out wide cutting in using his pace where it hurts. Dare I predict a sweet 3-1 on Tuesday with our M&M's (Miller and Mac) getting in on the act?
I didn't see this one coming, typical Boro I guess!
I'm really chuffed we got the three points today and hope we can build up a bit of momentum to sustain a challenge. Winning one week then losing the next on a frequent basis will lead us nowhere. Maybe many would think i'm pessimistic but I think the team are still more than likely to go the next three games without winning: I would say I was more of a realist based on years of being a Boro fan.
I'm not back on the Mogganaut yet but my heart wants the team to do well. Great result today, I'm happy :-)
Continuing on from the last blog but relevant to this one, may I suggest people (especially those at the Club) read this interesting piece.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19977215
It certainly chimes with my experience of Brighton last season. I would make the proviso that Brighton is a far wealthier town than Boro but the Seagulls's attitude is certainly to be admired.
Read my take on the Bighton game here.
http://www.twe12thman.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1443
(Hope you don't mind me putting the link up Vic)
**AV writes: No problem. Tweet me it and I'll give it a plug too.
Croydon Boro -
It is why I call them 'away at home' games. Mogga's management is what it is.
Cant second guess him, the problem is getting the home crowd lifted when his teams tend to start so cautiously. A couple of good results at home wouldnt go amiss but some early doors entertainment may help get fans back.
Not just second half fightbacks but a good old riproaring performance. Mogga rightly said after the match he wants some engagement with the fans.
It isnt easy with the work being done on the wage bill and current availability of players. Being seventh is a top performance and better than I predicted.
Chatting to my lad and he said we have been getting a bit of luck and the worry is we stop etting it. I reminded him that when Toon ran away with the division they had the devils own luck first half of the season. Take it when you can.
Now why didn’t I see that coming, “Typical Boro”. Still a well earned three points and onward and upward. In the words of TM: “it is what it is”. After Saturday’s result, can anyone tell me what the “it” is?
On another note, it’s really heartening to hear the reports of the great day out enjoyed by the Boro fans at a welcoming Brighton, when reflected against the scum that travelled to Hillsborough accompanying “Dirty Leeds United”. Well done once again the Boro lads and lasses, and thank you Brighton and your supporters for being such generous hosts. Very refreshing.
BBC stats Boro 32% posession, 2 corners, 4 shots on goal 2 on target = 3 points.Who cares how we get them roll on Hull
Xcellent result for the Boro warriors (You heard that phrase here first folks) at Brighton and from a three point win, two points come to mind -
1. The young warrior Steele - in my humble opinion that lad cost us a place in the play-offs last season or rather his inclusion in the team by Mogga and his management did.
I had a sneaky feelin that they saw great things in the future for him, so much so that they see him as a potential England keeper for the long term. The effect on the then defence was a certain lack of organisation and confidence (anyone for last minute goals?) Still, it appears the sacrifice then is bearing fruit now and with Woody and Bailey in front of him, he's going from strength to strength (Hurrah!).
A promotion to the Premiership last season would perhaps have been much too early and his confidence could have been wrecked by having to pick the ball out of the net too many times during a relegation battle.
2. The Boro are now three points from the top. We've been here before and the phrase after blowing our opportunities that I remember most is 'We simply didn't turn up!' Well on Tuesday night against Hull we need to turn up and win then it's game on and Mogga's transfer/loan machinations can bear fruit and we can at least for a while sit on top of the league and then go to Mackem land and give them a run for their money.
Finally 'If you don't know me by now' I can guarantee that I'll go to bed with a smile if we beat Hull and are able to look down on the remainder of teams in the Championship.
UTB
Ian -
I think out luck is already balancing out this season, we arguably had bad luck against Derby and Leicester which cost us three points and with the deflected goal against Brighton we maybe gained two points.
Although I'm a firm believer in making your own luck, Emnes got himself into a good position got a good shot off and created a situation where 'luck' came into play. I'm hoping that we are 'lucky' in our next two games and stick another six points on the board.
Mogga's 'mysterious' subsitution strategy certainly caused some mirth in the away end on Saturday, it was widely agreed that Scottie needed to come off because he wasn't getting involved, closely followed by Haroun. If my memory serves me McEachran came off firt (probably because he'd picked up a knock earlier) and Miller came on! Then Emnes was repalced by Smallwood and finally Scotie came off, so we got there in the end!
As for Miller, once he was through on the keeper it was inevitable he would miss, despite the fact that even my Granny could have hit the target and she's been dead forty years!
Spartak Boro -
Steele didn't cost us a place in the play offs last season.
It was our home form that did for us, starting matches sitting back, letting the opposition settle in to games, dropping back to the 18 yard box to hold on to 1-0 leads, mysterious substitutions, obsession with retread midfielders, ignoring products of the academy, bizarre formations.
Don't blame Jason Steele. I have never criticised him. He isn't prone to the gaffes that Brad Jones was subject to. He made the odd mistake but keepers mistakes tend to be terminal and we forget the howlers from outfield players that led to the chance for him to make the mistake.
Steele is a good un, well done to Stricken for making him no 1.
Towards the end of last week I was reading the odd comment on Gazette stories about the Boro. I was struck by how many of them were critical of Tony Mowbray (one which stated "Tony's lost the plot"). It seems strange to me that this should start to happen so quickly, and it really emphasizes what a ridiculously short time managers are given to do their jobs...at least by the fans.
I write as someone who wasn't in favour of Mowbray's appointment, at the time I thought there were better alternatives. However, I've been very pleasantly surprised at how well he has done and how quickly he's got things going in the right direction. He's done much better than I expected, and I would have been pleased with any manager that had achieved this much in such a short period of time. More power to his elbow, he's certainly winning me around.
I still reckon top 10 this year but no play-offs...but then that would have been my highest expectation from an alternative manager as well. I guess I must have lower (or perhaps more realistic) expectations than some others.
Another great win on the road.
Three points off top spot and all this with a lot of good players still to come back.
Will be happy to maintain our position for the time being as long as the results continue to be up and down every week for the teams around us.
Would like a fully fit squad and i think with that we can beat anybody in this league.
So far it looks like nobody is going to run away with this league or second place.
So the next two home games would be a very good add on to points we thought we were not going to get.
Personally I believe we didnt get promoted last year because the players weren't good enough. Managers can only work with the squad they have. Everything else is irrelevent detail and highly subjective.
Unbelivable, that Boro are just three points from the top after 11 games in Championshipo season. Well done Mogga and the team. Much better than I expected after the summer of change and low budget. And after all the injuries we have had.
Interesting to see that McManus was released. We all knew he was down the pecking order at the club but it was a bit of surprise as we have Rhys W out until Christmas. But perhaps Mogga has received nice reports on the young Gibson who is out on loan. Perhaps he is soon ready for the championship when he will be returning in January. Also we might be signing Matty Bates on a pay-as-you-play deal next month - who knows?
I think we need to be there or thereabouts when January comes. We will have Rolls Rhys and Carayol back by then. So the 12th match of the season coming against Hull tomorrow. Win or a draw and I'll be happy.
Up the Boro!
Nigel
I agree that managers can only work with the squad they have. It was good enough away from home, so use the squad available and start on the front foot at home. Neither of those happened.
Given that my wife is a lifelong Brighton supporter, and their website was flogging tickets before I could get one for the away end via Boro, I had to watch from the west stand, at the opposite corner to that occupied by the excellent Boro away support.
My view was that for all their possession, BHA were pretty woeful for the first 60 minutes, and Boro were firmly in control. I didn't think they really created many clear cut chances for that first hour.
But after they finally woke up, the last 30 mins were pretty torrid from my perspective. I don't have many nails left intact. However, despite the pressure we did defend pretty well, and I thought Woody was superb in marshalling the defence, and Steele was great.
I'd have liked to see a bit more attacking ambition from Boro while we were on top - we just didn't seem able to get it together around their box. I didn't think McDonald and Emnes worked very well as a partnership - they didn't seem to be on the same wavelength at all. But we were together as a team, and they really worked for one another - all in all, a great result given our injuries.
So, I left the ground feeling pretty smug while my wife threw a bit of a teenage strop for a few hours - makes a change from the rest of this season.
One thing I will say is that I really like what Brighton have done with the stadium concourses. We went on a tour of the stadium on Thursday, and an impressive place it is too. They have filled the place with team related artworks and fan memorabilia, and I think Boro could learn from that at the Riverside. Our place looks a bit dour by comparison. And the big screen's work well in terms of helping build a bit of atmosphere before the game.
As a final point - they serve a fine pint of real ale in the form of Harveys Best Bitter - Boro please take note - get rid of the fizzy crap we have to put up with. As for the attendance - its a re-run of the boost we got when we first moved to the Riverside. If they are to sustain it (and they probably will, given the money behind the club) they will need to go up in the next couple of seasons.
Historically they have always been a small club, with only 4 seasons in the top flight ever. We have a much stronger tradition (as I keep reminding my other half, and our poor suffering youngster who currently has a foot in both camps).
Up the Boro - we need to build on this lads.
Keep up the missionary work (or is it indoctrination?), Andy at 4.18pm. The youngster should know the rich heritage that comes with supporting a "massive club" *ahem*.
That was scary at times but any away win is good enough - and that's four away wins on the bounce in all competitions for us.
Performances haven't been as convincing as we'd like so far but we're getting it done often enough.
Brighton, Blackburn, Palace and Burnley will all fancy their chances of a play-off spot come the end of the season and we've beaten them all. Hull and Bolton are also in that category.
Two points this week won't be a disaster. Three will be good, more excellent.
Following a difficult week for football I watched the new BBC2 programme about our ancestors. Apparently Northern Europeans have between 2% and 4% of Neanderthal genes in our make up.
Thinking of Serbia and Leeds clearly this is only an average.
I listened to Radio Five and a Sunderland fan was quoted as saying a couple of fans near him were doing monkey chants. The view was that he should have reported it to the stewards but Steve Claridge came up with the best comment. How can he go and tell the steward, he would probably get a good hiding. I was in the car so am only summarising.
We have all stood or sat near knuckleheads. All clubs have them. They go to matches and dont watch the football. If they wanted to shout abuse at a Knucklehead, save the money and shout at a mirror.
My rant is not aimed at fans with humour. ManU and Liverpool fans have a sense of humour but after calls for a truce fans behaved well at Anfield until two Liverpool fans walking out close to ManU fans did the airplane signs, to no great surprise out came the always the victims never their fault chant.
Small town in Yorkshire and Trophy Virgins are fair shouts.
What brought this on? Personally I do not know and cannot comment on Jason Roberts, the Ferdinand brothers et al and what caused the non wearing of shirts because I dont know. I am not black or asian so have no experience of what they go through
The problem I have is that the people who care, like us who care, dont know why. We have brought up our kids to be aware of differences and respect colour, creed and religion.
Others have obviously put a huge effort in to the kick it out campaign and may feel a bit put out. I can't but feel that the people who are the problem are so thick skinned that it wont matter. Maybe it will reinforce their anti social behaviours.
AV I will leave it up to your views on the suitability of my comments, there is no offence meant or support of appalling behaviour.
**AV writes: The protest is that the t-shirts is just tokenism and lip service and that when it counts no action is taken. The Terry situation has brought it to a head because the FA had evidence that he was guilty of racially abusing a fellow professional but took no action and no position on the case for months.
The belief among many black palyers is that it was an opportunist move to free him up to be available for the Euros. It is hard to convince people you are serious on racism when you can take such a short sighted and pragmatic action.
There is a widening gulf between what the authoritieds say and do. FIFA say they are against racism but gave a World Cup to a country - Russia - where black players are routinely abused and repeatedly take no action on obvious, widespread and co-ordinated racist chanting. In Serbia for instance.
FIFA will claim moral authortity this week when they have their official week of action and think they are doing their bit when they get the captains in the Champions League to wear 'Respect' armbands - including in Terry a player banned in England for a racist offence. Surely if they were serious they would extend his ban into European football?
The t-shirts have been cheapened because they are pushed by an organisation that think such symbolism makes up for a lack of concrete action elsewhere. Liverpool wore the Kick It Out t-shirts... but last season they championed Luis Suarez, defending his racist language to the hilt and openly refused to accept the FA judgement on his behaviour with impunity.
Kick It Out has done good work in the past - especially outside football and in schools and community groups - but the campaign has now hit a fundamental contradiction. A new tack needs to be taken and it can't come from white men, like Sir Alex, in positions of authority lecturing black players how to tackle ther problem.
It was noticable over the weekend that Football Focus and Match of the Day both discussed "the problem" with exclusively white panels and that the tedious 606 opted not to include the usually banal Jason Roberts on the show on the one week when he may actually have had something to say. Poor news judgement.
Racism is a massive subject - more worthy of a doctoral thesis than a T-shirt slogan or a 140 character tweet. So I won't even attempt to do it justice in a short reply to a football blog.
To make just a few short points:
I suspect there are people who will behave in a racist manner in many (maybe most) countries in the world: in Russia, in the Balkans, in the UK, the USA, in Asia and in many African countries.
I suspect there are people in all of those places who, when not being racist, will be offensive to other people on other grounds - hair colour, baldness/hairiness, stupidity or intelligence, perceived beauty or ugliness etc. It isn't just a UK or a European issue. Nor only a white versus black issue (eg Hutus wiping out Tutsis in Rwanda, or the killings between the Ossetians and the Ingushetians in Georgia and the Caucasus at about the same time - in each case in the early 1990's).
Taller, more "attractive" people are said to earn more than shorter less attractive colleagues. Notice how few short, bald, candidates are chosen to run for US President. Is that prejudice?
Is it wrong to discriminate on grounds of race or religion but not, for example, on the basis of class? Is it wrong to decry someone for being a pleb, but OK to decry someone else for being a toff? Or to deny them a job for that reason?
There may be many explanations for people behaving in a prejudiced way against others: ignorance, misunderstanding, fear, settling old "scores" for example. Those explanations may not be an excuse for the behaviour but may show us where the roots of that behaviour lie.
We might possibly realise that racism, maybe like other "isms", isn't a simple issue. In a drama, a TV soap or a film, a racist is nearly always shown as a cardboard cut-out character, entirely unsympathetic and bad, but that is to over-simplify matters. In reality the man who expresses racist views that might have been more commonly expressed in England 50 years ago may very well care lovingly for his aged mother, work hard and raise money for a charity close to his heart. Racists are not likely to have horns on their heads, but may very well look just like you or me.
Racism is unlikely to be resolved simply by wearing slogans on a T-shirt, but I suppose the wearing of them may very well bring the issue to the attention of more people. Making a noise specifically about NOT wearing the T-shirt brings the issue to the attention of still more. But is could also give others a motivation for not wearing the shirt - and maybe from a not-so-worthy standpoint.
Human rights (to wear, or not to wear a slogan-bearing shirt) are not exclusive to the "right-on" Guardian reading liberati. Even people with whose views the Guardian reader might strongly disagree have human rights. Freedom and free speech have no meaning unless people have the freedom to say things others disagree with. Or the freedom not to join in when other people say (or wear) their piece.
Racism is not a football problem but a mankind problem. That doesn't mean that football should be absolved from a responsibility to do its best to deal with the issue, but it does mean that it is unrealistic to expect football fans, much less every person in every country, suddenly to change behaviour that may have been ingrained over millennia. We still have slavery in some parts of the world in 2012, though people argued against it in Ancient Greece and in Rome and it was held to be unlawful and unenforceable in England in 1772.
Even making certain behaviour illegal won't stop it. For how long has theft been illegal, or murder? No sign of these things being eradicated so it would be a major surprise if prejudice suddenly came to an end and everyone started to be polite to one another.
Racial abuse is very unpleasant and damaging. Many people are unpleasant to one another. Football is not supported by a cross-section of society that is markedly more congenial, clean-mouthed and well-behaved than society at large. Neither are its players drawn exclusively from a group of people who are honest, unprejudiced, well-spoken etc...
It's Mankind that is the problem, not football. The laws of football were codifed less than 150 years ago. It is a recent invention. So it is unrealistic to expect football to solve a problem that has blighted Mankind for thousands of years.
AV
We know all that but maybe airing their views rather just not wearing the shirts may have gained more understanding.
Recent article from Mogga: "I tell my Chairman,its good players that win you games, hence the cost of them"
Someone should of told Gareth Southgate that, because according to him, in order to win games, you first of all sack all of your experienced coaches, get rid of some of your young up and coming Boro bred youngsters, don't play two of the best wingers in the league at the same time, buy unknown players from inferior leagues,
and forget about using tactics,
However make sure you can talk the talk,
Still FUMING MAD
**AV writes: I think it may be time to let it go now.
**AV writes: I think it may be time to let it go now.
You are probably right but the problem is where do you draw the line? The danger is unless you know where you have come from it is difficult to have balance and understanding.
We could blame it all on Stricken but that would airbrush the part the Unholy Trinity played in the relegation. It would leave the glory of the Carling Cup and Europe isolated from the damage to the finances that set in train our demise.
But how far do we go back? Its all Raich Carters fault!
Tricky. On to tonight and the visit of the Tigers. I hope it is a cracker. Lets give them a hard time and play our game.
**AV writes: Three points! Three points! Three points!
Some good post that Forever Dormo.
While football or the actions of those in football will not be able to eradicate any "ism" from our society, it is entirely right that we should expect football to exert whatever positive influence it can on the sub-set of society for whom football is important.
So, re Serbia U21 v England U21. It is in the gift of UEFA and FIFA to take strong action and bar Serbia and Serbian clubs from participation in any official international fixture.
It is in the gift of the FA to ban John Terry from football for three months, or more, for using foul-mouthed and racially offensive language not only at his place of work, but in a public place.
Look at the impact the ban on European football had on England. Hooliganism certainly not eradicated (as you pointed out you can’t eradicate all the "isms"), but it certainly contained it and led to appropriate actions being taken to make it all less likely to happen on that scale again. The behaviour of those involved in hooliganism was modified. Individuals themselves are still likely to have all those antagonistic and aggressive tendencies, but they have (collectively) learned that a football ground is not the place to lose control to those tendencies.
A ban on Serbia after their repeated offences would at least exert a control over such overtly racist behaviour. It won’t stop individuals from being racist, but it would certainly help them to learn some self-control. If they want to keep their international football (after a five year ban) then the crowd will know that racial abuse is not acceptable and the only result of such behaviour is that you and all your compatriots will be denied the one thing you actually want – international football.
A long ban on Terry won’t stop all individuals having abusive thoughts on the pitch but it would certainly deter more from expressing them openly than not.
Same with all things that are undesirable, (like diving or haranguing the officials or whatever), the gift is with the authorities to apply meaningful sanctions. If the authorities choose not to do so, then all those with whichever “ism” they are afflicted by (racism, hooliganism, simulationism … whatever) will continue to lack the self-restraint required in any society.
On the other hand, if they did apply meaningful sanctions, then although the tendency itself is not eradicated, the self-restraint essential to ensure a peaceful society (or sub-set of society) is properly fostered.
In response to Ian Gill 11.02
My comment wasn't made as a character assassination or to attribute all the blame on the young man's head/shoulders (hence mention of the Mogga management team's decisions). And yes, I am not too blind to see that the dynamics of any football team are complex and multifarious and many issues can contribute to the winning or losing of a game.
Still I'm happy to stick my neck out and call a spade a spade (am I allowed to still say that without having to define my terms?)The lad was closeted in my opinion. When we had Ikeme it seemed to me there was more confidence in the team and the results were better for it.
I read somewhere that to be successful in football you have to have a top quality spine to a team (goalkeeper, mid-fielder and striker). If there is a weak link in that spine then you pay for it with bad results. I really consider a quality keeper to be essential. may I mention, G Banks, S Pears, E Van Der Sar, M Schwartzer etc, etc. A giant, in terms of goalkeeping ability between the sticks gives a team an added sense of confidence and that is where it was lacking last season - so much so that I believe it had a particularly unbalancing effect.
It's like trying to balance ten plates on one of the spindly sticks you see in the circus. If it loses its momentum or is too weak then all the plates fall off.
Ultimately, the decision to stick with Steele and coach him onto becoming a better keeper was and is a Mogga management decision and I have to accept it (as I'm not the manager). That is where I am happy to leave it.
Regarding racism - fundamentally I don't like it, I think it stinks as a form of human behaviour. I recall teaching in Libya and mentioning to the training manager that one student was struggling. He asked me if I knew why that was? I replied with a number of thoughts. He said 'No, no! It's because he's black.' I nearly fell out of the car (60 mph). The training manager was an Arab.
So I have to agree with Forever Dormo (btw I lived in Dormo for 17 years)that racism is a mankind problem, just as slavery was and still is, along with many other forms of appalling things humans do to each other.
I don't believe wearing a t-shirt for or against is going to change human behaviour. the only thing you can do is make it totally unacceptable within your own culture and show people by actions and attitudes that all are equally valued. Hence calling someone a pleb or not letting them sit round a table because 'they're not one of us' is quite simply wrong.
Call me naive but I firmly believe everyone should be judged ( if judgement is required) on their ability and everyone should be given the same chance to realise their potential. By investing in the individual you invest in your society. I could go on but I'll stop now otherwise I may move into rant mode!!
UTB
AV -
My therapist tells me I must confront my demaos and talk about the mental abuse I suffered 4/5 years ago
But I will try and put it to the back of my mind,at least this week anyway.
COB.....COB......COB
Best of luck to Lennie and Curtis at Palace, I like to see ex Boro Boys doing well.
Spartak Boro -
I agree with most of that. Jason Steele has learnt as he has gone along and I would find it hard to pin too much blame on him for our non playoff performance.
I do agree that the shirt wont make much difference to the racism issue. My concern was and is the fact people were working together and showing a united front - forget Suarez and Terry who were guilty of the wrong language in the wrong place and that doesn't make them racists.
Now it looks like we may have a schism with a separate black players union. I don't have any understanding of black players positions. I use understanding in its correct sense because I cant say I know how they feel. 60+, English, protestant and white doesn't give me the right to make any judgement other than a loss to understand racist comments.
A separate union may be counter productive with a reaction from boneheaded supporters. It could be construed as saying all you well meaning people don't matter, it could be the type of thing that has certain sections being reinforced in their views.
I don't know and it is a genuine concern.