Mr January: Southgate In Rare Boss Accolade Shock
GARETH Southgate probably won't get the Manager of the Month award. Liverpool and Arsenal have both won all their league games - and Arsene can claim two convincing cup wins over Rafa to boot - plus if the LMA have any imput at all they certainly won't be voting for a badgeless boss that has dented their self-proclaimed standard of excellence. And besides, given the curse that traditionally comes with the bottle of Bells maybe he won't want it anyway.
But Southgate can lay claim to a more elusive accolade this month. He has laid to rest the ghosts of Christmas past and shattered one of the pillars of the "typical Boro" menatlity by steering Boro unbeaten through the entire month of January - incredibly only the third manager since World War II to pull off the feat in the top flight.
Since the turn of the year Boro have beaten Sheffield United, Charlton and Bolton in the Premiership and ground out a decent draw away at Portsmouth, traditionally the venue of a trouncing. Boro have also drawn with Hull and Bristol City in the FA Cup and seen off the Tigers in a replay. Played seven, won four, drawn three, lost none, goals for 18, goals against nine.
That's not too shabby is it? Doesn't he understand what is expected of a Boro boss in the month following Christmas, our long history of allergic reactions to turkey and the tradition that Boro go down with the decorations? Breaking that particular mould is very welcome and has put Boro well ahead of most seasoned observers' points projections.
Southgate is the member of a very exclusive Middlesbrough managerial club. The previous "boss" to achieve the feat was Terry Venables. Teesside Tel's functional remix of Bryan Robson's flops ground out draws away at Leeds, Liverpool, Everton and tonked Derby 4-0 at home plus beat Bradford in the FA Cup for a far less exciting record of P5 W2 D3 L0 F8 A 3 that turned that season around and more of less sealed safety.
And Big Jack Charlton achieved the feat in 1976-77, his final season, as Boro beat Derby and drew with Stoke and Coventry then in the FA Cup edged past non-league Wimbledon in a reply and then beat Hereford. That run went on as Boro followed up with league victories over Arsenal and Spurs then beat the Gunners 4-1 in the cup.
Bruce Rioch came close back in 1988/89, at the height of the football fairytale he carved out at born again Boro. After successive promotion his young side was just starting to establish itself and January saw them edge into the top half with wins over Manchester United and Southampton and draws with Spurs and Coventry but the record was besmirched by an 2-1 FA Cup defeat at home to Grismby.
A few managers have done it in other divisions. Malcolm Allison pulled it off in 1983-84, just as the club were about to plummet towards disaster, with a win over Chelsea and draws against Portsmouth and Grimsby in the league and FA Cup wins over Arsenal (again) and Bournemouth while Stan Anderson did it in the same division in 1969-70 with wins over Oxford, Blackburn and Carlisle and a draw with QPR in the league plus FA Cup wins over West Ham and York.
And Bob Dennison could claim the feat too in 1962-63 but it would take some front. Boro did not lose a game in January, or the first half of February either - it was the Big Freeze and football was suspended for six weeks.
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LIVELY local web-zine ComeOnBoro.Com has picked a prestigious 'Site of the Week' award from The Football Paper/Non League Paper. And it is well deserved.
The fast maturing site has a broad stable of regular writers with different styles and diverse positions on the traditional Boro rara-chickenrunner spectrum so it always has a diverse range of opinion on the issues of the day, all well written and forcefully argued. And there is a fast turnover of comment an opinion pieces so the site always feels fresh. In terms of content it is a far more comprehensive package than older sibling Fly Me To The Moon and there is always something new that is provocative and passionate.
I admit I'm not a massive fan of the New Holgate Message Board ("the sweary board") on the site, but that is more because of the format, all bells and whistles with too many moving avatars, gifs and embedded graphics that make it far too busy on the eye rather than the content. I still dip in now and again though. Just to check they are not slagging me off.
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Anthony Vickers
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AV - too many stats!!!
Still good point, excellent performance from GS and the team which has taken the pressure off and hopefully means the rest of the season is an enjoyable affair.
IG we obviously use a different type of calculator, I get 14 points from the last seven games, which projected forward gives a further 26 points from 13 games. Giving 57 points I think? God, I've broken out in a cold sweat, just had a flash back to maths 'o' level.
JP A no show in the January transfer window isn't a bad thing for a team in a relatively safe position is it? On the plus side GS has done well to move out a lot of dead wood which puts him in a healthy position for the Summer sales.
Nigel
My apologies, I looked at 14 out of 21 and made it a point and a half a game. Oh dear, it is a bit like my wife and daughter coming in with Wallis, Next, Debenhams, M&S and sundry other store bags telling me how much money we have saved.
Or how Huth returning will be like a 'brand new signing'
IG I know exactly how you feel. My wife recently argued that the fact that she had bought two pairs of boots was financially sound because each pair would last twice as long!
On Huth, my view is that him returning fit may be a small consolation against loosing Woodie in May. Hope I'm wrong.
" AV - too many stats!!!
Still good point, excellent performance from GS and the team which has taken the pressure off and hopefully means the rest of the season is an enjoyable affair. "
I totally agree.
I am starting to feel optimistic about us sneaking that last European place. Long way to go I know and a few tough games coming, but why not ? We are playing better and the defence looks solid.
Can't go to the game today as I have too much on at the moment and can't get out of it - blast !
Come on Boro. A draw would be truly excellent today.
TB
Fingers crossed.
TB we got the draw, good result, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disapointed we didn't get the win. Still thats a reflection on how much we have improved recently.
Now we need to turn up at Chelsea and win! Not impossible but a tough ask, although Chelsea aren't in top top form so you never know....
Is it my imagination or have some bloggs gome missing?
Look AV, this has happened before, are you sure you are not part of the MFC secret police? Are you part of banana republic or is it just banana fingers?
**AV writes: Yes, something has happened over the weekend but I'm not technical and I don't know what.
" TB we got the draw, good result, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disapointed we didn't get the win. Still thats a reflection on how much we have improved recently.
Now we need to turn up at Chelsea and win! Not impossible but a tough ask, although Chelsea aren't in top top form so you never know.... "
GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TB
AV
OK, I will take that at face value but if I see any 'Magnificients' or 'on another day' appearing in your postings then we will know the truth.
Anyway, a good point against Arsenal. Obviously disappointed not to get all three but 5 points from our run of games 'that will show us how far we have progressed' is not a bad return. Following by dismal maths last week I will leave Nigel to calculate the possible points tally.