SOMETIMES the urgent, primitive demands of a crowd can short-circuit the professional finesse of a tactical team talk and transmit a spasm of passion that can turn a game. Sometimes there are rare transcendental moments of unity between fans and players that channel every emotion towards a common goal.
That special synergy, those powerful moments of tangible harmony and collective will, surface - if we are lucky - in must win games when petty divisions are dissolved in a powerful desire for a result and the emotions of the entire crowd are channeled into uncompromised support.
It happened in the ZDS semi-final against Villa in 1990 and again at home that season to Newcastle in that tense final day survival shoot-out when news from Bournemouth electrified Ayresome and jump-started the team. It happened in the second half against Chesterfield, again at Old Trafford in the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal and it happened last season against Basel, Bucharest and Charlton as the crowd's will was reflected on the pitch. And for a few moments there, I think it happened against Sheffield United.
Boro were suddenly galvanised in the second half of the must-win relegation six-pointer against a direct Blades side that bossed long spells of the first period and could so easily have been ahead at the interval. The visitors were first to every second ball, were closing down quickly and forced a brillinat save from Mark Schwarzer, had a point-blank effort blocked by a flying tackle from Andrew Taylor then after they had levelled with a contentious penalty Julio Arca scooped one of the line while another goalbound effort was inadvertently blocked by Webber.
But it was the scandelous spotkick just before the break that lit the fuse. Rob Hulse crumpled as Manu Pogatetz went up for a routine aerial challenge - identical to a second half challenge that was ignored - and Jagielka drilled home. It wouldn't be so bad but after 'controversial' penalties conceded in quick succession to Villa, Man United and Fulham the crowd's patience snapped. Worst still, Chris Foy had given Man United the softest penalty of the season in his last visit to the Riverside as Ronaldo fell over a challenge that never came.
That gave the Boro crowd a cause. And a villain. Two villains in fact. Foy and Hulse were booed off at half-time, slagged mercilessly for 15 minutes then booed back on after the break. And the booing did not fade into defeatist chuntering as has been the case of late. far from it, it spread, intensified and mutated into a constant background roar of righteous anger that was was directed at Hulse and by association all his team-mates.
Within three minutes of the restart Stewy Downing was nudged as he turned on the ball in the box and there was a huge roar for a penalty that was dismissed nonchalently by Foy, indifferen to the growing sense of injustice. Then Yakubu was sent sprawling with a hip throw as he tussled with Claude Davies on the touchline leaving him stomping furiously back into play and suddenly the players seemed infected with the same incandescent rage as the supporters.
The crowd sparked off this anger and around the ground echoed an aggressive 80s retro demand for an simplistic back to basics response: "Get Into Them, **** Them Up; Get Into Them, **** Then Up". Boro obliged instantly as Yakubu sought retribution and flew into a lunging tackle on Davies for a ball that had long gone. The temperature rose as the ref gave a handball against Pogatetz - correctly - then there were sarcastic cheers as Boro got a free kick when Jagielka wiped out Downing as he shepherded the ball out for throw.
The chant was taken up with renewed urgency. "Get Into Them **** Then Up". Lee Cattermole didn't need any encouragement. He is robust at the best of times but with the crowd baying for blood he was unleashed and for a ten minute spell he crunched around the pitch criss-crossing the line of legality irreverently and leaving carnage in his wake. He charged 30 yards back to put in a perfect thundering tackle on the edge of the box that skittled Hulse and clicked the crowd volume up another notch then soon after the totemic teenage terrier swatted dozing Robert Kozluk aside as he waited to receive a throw then thudded into a bone-juddering tackle on Michael Tonge as he dawdled on the ball.
Boro's recent slump has been as much down to a lack of physical presence as bad luck or poor finishing. They have been muscled out and roughed up too often and the crowd had lost patience. You need a primeval streetfighting aggression to claw away from the dropzone streetfight and in a ten minute spell against the Blades they responded to the no-nonsense demands of a blood-thirsty bareknuckle crowd and started to fight.
Even before the killer goals came there was only going to be one winner. Once Boro trumped Sheffield's robust approach they looked a cut above and the added bite in midfield gave rejuvenated Mark Viduka and Yak the chance to carve out a class gap. The performances of favourite boo-boy targets like George Boateng, Stuart Parnaby and Julio Arca immediately improved beyond range - not that there were any snipers in action.
The players deserve praise for their second half display - but so do the crowd. It is impossible to quantify the effect an atmosphere generated by supporters can have on the pitch. There are no Opta stats to show if sustained chanting is on or off target. But there can be no doubt that the wave of passion at the start of the second half perfectly reflected that of the players, the desire and anger dovetailed on and off the park and the succintly if crudely put demands of the crowd exactly matched the mood of the team.
It was fitting that such a reaffirming display of unity on and off the pitch came on the day when the Twe12th Man made their support visible with another set-piece ultra action, the unveiling of a Steve Gibson 'One of Us' banner in the East Stand. At times it is easy to dismiss the actions of fans as an irrelevance to how a game unfolds. At others, as with this game, it is impossible to ignore the power they can have if harnessed and working in concert with the team.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »