ABEL XAVIER will leave the club in the Summer after failing to agree a contract extension. That is probably the right decision as although he was among Boro's most consistent and committed performers this season, at 34 he was only ever a stop-gap. It is a priority that the right-back slot can be filled with permanent quality next season as Boro plan for the future.
Xavier was an enigmatic media presence who had a knack for saying the right things at the wrong time. His boat-rocking exercise in January - a veiled 'come and get me' hint to other clubs that he was available if they moved quickly - will not have done him any favours, especially after Boro salvaged his career after his drugs ban. Neither will his impromtu appearance on the Three Legends last month. Although much of what he said about the club's need for passion and direction and leadership had merit and a ring of truth, and he himself came across as a sincere individual, the freelance media operation aimed at putting pressure on to win a new deal and revealing he was the lowest paid players at the club -possibly true - will not have gone down well in certain quarters.
His farewell message though is delivered with good grace, humility and respect. It should become the template for departing players who want to tick all the right boxes and leave with a bit of self-respect and with the fans on side.
His message to the Boro web site mfc.co.uk said:
"I would like to say thank you to Middlesbrough Football Club and to the chairman Steve Gibson, who is a great person, enthusiastic and someone who wants to take the club forward. Thank you also to Keith Lamb and to Gareth Southgate for the support they gave me.
"Gareth has my respect as a person and as a coach. We have not reached agreement to extend my contact but I accept that decision. We move in different directions but with mutual respect.
"I would like to say thanks also to the players because they are the most important thing in football and when you realise we spend a lot of time together, we are a family. For that reason a special tribute because through good times and bad times the players always support each other. There are different but the most important thing is to all have the same objectives.
"Gareth Southgate is the correct person to take the club forward because he has respect as a person and as a coach. That is a great quality because most of the time this does not happen with players that become managers, as they lose respect towards the players. When this is missing the players do not show respect to the manager but this is not the case with Gareth.
"To the Middlesbrough fans, a special message that they must support the club and stick with Gareth. You have a good chairman who supports the manager. The supporters must be part of the same objective. I would like to say thanks for their support to me because the fans are very passionate about the club and are anxious for success and I hope the club achieves that."
The key things that leap out there are the repeated refrain that it is important for the team to have the same objectives - which is undoubtedly true - and that the fans must share in that vision. The sting in the tail is that they must lay off the boss and back Steve Gibson's project.
Xavier was always divisive figure, especially after his controversial return from a year long suspension for testing positive for a banned steroid. His mitigation that it was taken inadvertantly as part of a dietary supplement was accepted by UEFA who cut his original 18 month ban. The ingredient that set the chemical alarms off is in my asthma inhaler (it increases oxygen intake) but it doesn't noticeably improve my perfromance in five-a-side.
But he was also undoubtedly a committed performer, a battler, a leader and someone who adopteda professional winning attitude that will be missed. Realistically though he was no spring chicken and that he was even brought back after a year out - and made it into the first team - is an indictment of the rest of the squad's right backs. It has been a problem position and that problem must now be solved for the long term.
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