NERVE settling news come from Hurworth that the Redcar Rock David Wheater is close to signing a new contract with Boro.
The man out straight out of the Tony Mowbray mould is the new idol of the crowd because he exhibits all the old attributes that were demanded from the Holgate - grit, bravery, commitment, physicality, a TS post-code, a willingness to take a knock and a burning pride in the shirt - but is completely comfortable doing the retro ruthless no-nonsense thing on the shiny sophisticated stage of the star-studded Premiership.
It is a very important signing for the club. After the departure of Woodgate - in itself made possible by the emergence of this fledgling talent - it was acutely pressing that Wheater did not somehow wriggle away, which was always possible. Out of contract and suddenly thrust into the spotlight by a string of steely performances and a name-check from the new England boss Fabio Capello he was suddenly hot property and wide open to an head-turning big money approach from one of the glamour boys.
Not that I think for a second he would go. Wheats is Boro through and through. If any Boro player was to be revealed as having the club crest tattooed on his heart it would be him. Whenever you talk to him he is genuinely chuffed to be playing for the club.
“We’re a long way down the line with that,� Gareth Southgate told the Gazette today . “We’ve actually got a couple of meetings with David and his dad lined up in the next few weeks.
“David wants to be here, he’s made that clear, and it’s just a case of finalising things. We’re obviously very, very happy with what he’s doing.�
Now we must get Stewy sorted too - out-fox his agent, come to a compromise, give him the dosh, whatever it takes to get it resolved - and then the major components are in place and we can turn to a summer of strengthening (a keeper, another frontman, cover at full-back) rather than fire-fighting and we can see exactly what this team is capable of next term.
**
I WAS '"building the brand" on Radio Tees last night, rambling at length to Bob Fischer on the chaotically entertaining Gobstopper show. In passing we talked about Stewy, Woody, Wheats, referees that look like Jasper Carrott, the emotional instability at the heart of the eighth biggest club in the world and the hysterical hyperbole and unsustainable expectations surrounding Sky's economically distorted version of football. Oh, and we swapped recipes and I span some cutting edge discs that I was gutted to find one listener liked to 'Chas and Dave'.
If you have nothing better to do you can check it out on Radio Tees 'listen again' feature. I start about an hour in and rant for an hour or so.
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