TWO precious points dropped at Blackburn and another striking example of exactly why Boro are looking to splash out big on a ruthless no frills finisher that can just hammer them in.
Tuncay's inexplicable tangle two yards out ten minutes into the second half was the result of misjudgement and over-elaboration when a good old fashioned welly or Slavenesque side-foot would have done the job far more effectively. Two minutes before Aliadiere raced clear into the box and tried to slot it in at the far post but it rolled wide when if he had squared it to O'Neil arriving unmarked it would surely have been buried. Then goal machine Wheater smacked a powerful header against the bar. Then Downing had a header hoofed off the line. And Aliadiere should have Brad Friedl and the ball in the back of the net. Archie would have.
But Boro paid the price for squandering those chances when Rovers levelled, Matt Derbyshire again coming off the bench to swiftly score just as he had at the Riverside in August. It was a sickening blow. Boro had Rovers reeling but lacked the killer punch, a squeamish streak of genteel vegetarian pacifism when callous blood-spattered butchery was needed.
It was frustrating, and disappointing but wasn't a poor performance, whatever the press, the match stats (Blackburn had 14 "shots" to Boro's ten and six corners to our six) or the BBC highlights might suggest. Boro showed silk and steel, were robust in defence during Rovers' 15 minute first half scrappy spell of pressure, were confident in possession and looked crisp and confident as they broke forward fluidly and in numbers. This was a good team performance in every aspect bar one. Unfortunately it the one that counts.
Rovers did have a spell in which they bombarded Boro's box with the impressive David Bentley at the heart of everything but his shots flew over or wide and the nearest them came as was when Schwarzer spilled a free-kick then fumbled it wide. Apart from that Boro looked secure until the defence lost Darbyshire for the leveller. Some observations:
Reffing Hell! It's not often players go public and have a pop at the ref - that is usually the managers preprogative and besides, you can get fined for stuff like - but a distinctly dis-chuffed Luke Young did just that after the game. The in-form defender revealed after the game he "had a word" with the ref at half-time, said the inexperience of the new man in the middle showed (Keith Stroud of Hampshire is in his first season in the top flight) and that he felt the whistle-blower had favoured the home side. For convoluted reasons of post-match press-conference politics they are "not my quotes" so it would be unethical to use them but watch out for them because they will be all over the Monday papers.
He has a point. Twice in the first two minutes the ref got decisions on corners wrong at both ends of the pitch that went against Boro. And in a game in which tackles were flying in on both sides all over the pitch the foul count soared to a bruising new high of 26-7 in Rovers favour on the Infringement Index, a figure so high that Uncle Eric had to continue on a separate sheet.
Despite that though he managed to alienate the home fans too. He was booed off at half-time because they felt the Boro free-kick that led to the opening goal had been given the wrong way and I have some sympathy with that because tackling machine George Boateng, who appeared to be on a one man quest to personally bruise every single opposition player, certainly looked to snapping at Rovers ankles in a little melee that led to the whistle.
Armband Antics: Julio Arca started the match as Boro captain ahead of Boateng just as at Portsmouth he wore it ahead of the increasingly injury ravaged Jonathan Woodgate. After he retired hurt at half-time it was taken up not by General George but by blood-and-guts battlers Emanuel Pogatetz. Who knows who will wear it next week?
Elsewhere King Kev gave the Newcastle captaincy to Little Micky in a bridge building PR gesture after his ill-judged auto-biog assassination and Juande Ramos gave the Spurs prefects badge to Jermaine Defoe to massage his ego after touting him around. It seems the once permanent prestigious position that reflected innate qualities of leadership has become a moveable feast and a tool of dressing room politics. Maybe Stewie Downing should get it next as a demonstration that Southgate wants him to stay.
It is understandable that the gaffer has taken the armband off George. It is only a fortnight ago that he was "too emotional" to play at Bristol after the traumatic effects of a training ground toy scattering and his agent was scuttling around trying to drum up interest from other clubs. Having asserted his authority by dropping him Southgate has since brought him back into the fold hungry, fired up and with a point to prove and without the weight of responsibility Boateng has looked a livelier, more focussed and more effective player.
But it leaves a vacancy for an on-field leader. Woodgate seems to be out more than in of late so by default it has been passed down the line. Arca is a creative powerhouse but does not jump out as an iconic motivator in the Mowbray mould . Pogo will certainly be the first over the top but is not neccessarily the calm and collected type, looking out for the body language of other and delivering the timely quiet word. Huth could be a candidate...
Boss Bust Up: Get stuck in Gareth! Chin him Coops! With tempers threatening to bubble over on the pitch niggley Welshweight scrapper Mark Hughes sparked a toe-to-toe face off in the technical area too as frustration got the better of him and allowed the Boro boss to demonstrate that he had passion too.
Ryan Nelsen wiped out Aliadiere down on the touchline right in front of the dug-outs on 66 minutes leaving the ball to roll free towards Hughes. With Rovers chasing the game and increasingly frantic the Rovers boss was on the point of spontaneous human combustion at the Boro man staying down in pain and in frustration and eagerness to get play restarted he rolled the ball and it hit the prostrate Frenchman on the back. Not hard, but that's not the point.
In a flash Southgate rounded on Hughes, delivering some choice words and "lets be having you" body language. Never one to shirk a tear up Hughes stormed up over and the pair squared up with Colin Cooper quickly joining in. There was pointing and gesticulating before the fourth official and the various benches waded in to pull the bosses apart. "Oway, he's not worth it." It was reminiscent of Steve McClaren's barney with David Moyes: entertaining, ultimately harmless but excellent public relations with a fighting flash of passion. For a manager that is supposed to be "too nice", Southgate is showing a steely side of late and that can only be good for the team and his relationship with fans that demand an occasional snarl.
It's Not A Knockout: Wordy self-parody Stuart Hall was at the game. Having heard him spout cobblers in the press room beforehand I dread to think what spiel he came out on the radio. But his presence had me thinking that Boro had wasted their joker.
On a day when Derby, Fulham, Sunderland, Birmingham and Reading all lost and Bolton drew, victory would have felt like it counted double. We have missed a golden chance to carve out some breathing space. As it is we gained one point and one place but are still vulnerable. There are some big games coming up, starting with the six pointer against Wigan (who had boss Mrs Doubtfire taking notes at Ewood) and we must make those games count.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »