January Credibility Crunch Looms
JANUARY will decide.
It will decide where we are going as a club, whether the small town cloth cutting, getting the team we can afford model of prudence can provide us with a team that can survive and flourish in the Premiership; it will decide whether the management team have the nouse to jiggle the assets and reshuffle the squad to fill the gaps and make it stronger on a credit crunched budget; and, crucially, it will decide whether Gareth Southgate can retain the support of a Riverside crowd now very close to pressing the panic button.
Boro were out-fought and out-thought by Everton in a woeful and limp display. The Blue Scousers are a very good side, well organised and hard-working and with an excellent away record but Boro more than matched them at Goodison five weeks ago and since then Everton have suffered a string of injuries that have left them striker light. Boro, in theory, should have been galvanised into scrapping for survival as the sands shift beneath them and should have set out to take advantage of their structural imbalance.
In fact Boro got it wrong on almost every count: the team was disjointed, lightweight and lacked bite. The sluggish midfield duo was over-run by Everton's high-tempo three. Boro lacked penetration down both flanks. There were poor performances by some key players: Stewart Downing and Mido were ineffective, Julio Arca a spectator and Gary O'Neil very rusty . The defence - a unit that seemed almost perverse given that Wheater and Huth were sat dejected on the bench - failed miserably to cope with a string of dangerous dead balls. And up front Boro remain blunt and unconvincing.
The substitutions worked to an extent as Adam Johnson injected pace, creativity and willingness to get into the box but that fizzled out before Boro could take advantage while Afonso Alves managed to get into the danger zone a few times but still hesitates and looks shorn of confidence when he gets into a shooting position. And in truth the game was long gone well before they were introduced.
It was a poor performance and it was not a one off, and that is what has left legions of Boro fans now deeply worried. Seven without a win, bottom of the form table and looking laboured, low on confidence and incapable of hurting teams. Out of the drop spots on goal difference alone and with a full programme on Sunday that features Blackburn v Man City, West Brom v Spurs and West Ham v Stoke and which could plunge Boro into the bottom three before they go to Old Trafford.
Meanwhile other teams - teams who at the start of the season who may well have written off as more limited but who have a bit of bottle - have started to pick up wins and one by one have clawed above a Boro side that look increasingly fragile. West Ham and Portsmouth may have fire sales in January - but so could Boro. It is squeaky bum time.
Supporters are starting to worry that this could be the year that Boro's annual bout of trapdoor dancing comes unstuck and that the high-risk strategy of going into the season with a thin inexperienced squad is now coming back to bite our bum with avengeance.
That unease has been reflected in the now overt and strident expressions of anti-Southgate sentiment bubbling through the cracks of what had been a solid platform laid down in the sunny early months of the season. The buzz in the underpass, in the pubs and clubs and on the angry message board suggests the knives are out and that even the loyalists now have growing doubts.
Now January looms and with it the bigger than ever threat of key players leaving. The smoke signals from Hurworth suggest that every player has their price as the new reality of club belt tightening continues and a willingness to wheel and deal asserts itself. If you were to believe the tabloid tittle tattle then any of Downing, Mido, Tuncay and O'Neil are on the verge of leaving and it is far from certain that any departures in January can be replaced with sufficient quality to improve the team, that the players we want will be sold on a relegation battle or that any new arrivals will have time to bed in.
So January will be massive politically for Southgate and strategically for Steve Gibson and the whole strategy of careful husbandry and a low cost base at Boro. The laudable and logical ethos of prudent house-keeping depends on the supporters buying into it, sharing the vision and - most importantly - seeing results on the pitch. If the team is losing and playing badly then the whole thing could unravel. Sensible budgeting will be hard to sell - as will season tickets - if Boro are playing in the Championship next term.
Boro now face a massive month. Putting the trip to Old Trafford aside for a minute, Barrow in the FA Cup is a massive banana skin in waiting. Boro will be expected to win but the pyramid part-timers will be bring 7,000 fans and could well outnumber the home supporters and will be fired up for it. Defeat in that will be a huge blow to public confidence and could also send the team into crunch basement battles at home to Sunderland then away at West Brom under a cloud and mounting pressure. Then after a trip to Chelsea it is Blackburn at home. Three six pointers in a watershed month.
Ideally Boro need to win the two home games to buy breathing space and strengthen their hand in the transfer window. At the very least they can't afford to lose them. And they must also go to West Brom and make amends for the costly 1-0 home defeat back in September when we were still bubbling with optimism, playing enterprising if sometimes naively open football and creating chances by the lorryload.
Many have already made up their mind on Southgate but we have not yet reached critical mass in the crowd. We are used to bleak runs, especially over Christmas and most realise that the boss can only play with the hand he has been dealt with and that the slimline squad is not his choice but part of a wider strategy - but patience and confidence is evaporating quickly to be replaced with an icy fear.
For my part I think Boro will survive, but only just. I'd take 17th now if I was offered it. The past two seasons we have stayed up on the penultimate day and the squad has been filleted of expereince since then so there is little reason to expect anything other than a lower half scrap and there are other clubs out there looking every bit as vulnerable.
Given the budget, the squad size and profile and the parameters the gaffer is working too that may represent success. The danger is that fans will not see it that way and once the boss loses the fans it is almost impossible to turn the tide.
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Anthony Vickers
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After playing some Arsenal style give and go passing football early in the season and not getting the results overall we are now playing don't care football.
The confidence has totally evaporated from the squad, and without the bite of Digard in midfield the defence is constantly under pressure and badly marshalled. Riggot can't stop teams single-handedly and the other jokers all have the positional sense of a headless chook!
Arca is slow and gives the ball away all the time in key areas, Downing is very poor by his standards, Mido looks like he's back on the pies, nobody is on Tuncay's wave-length and sorry Pogo BUT we haven't got a captain on the pitch. A vocal follow me over the cliff leader of men. Follow me over the cliff to the Championship at this rate with their attitude and lack of belief.
Forgot to mention, refereeing this season has been appalling not just in our game's but in most game's I have watched. Mike Riley was rubbish, but then he usually is, and every bit of physical contact was punished and in truth Everton suffered more than we did.
Is there an unwritten bit of agenda driven dogma dribbling into the game from the Woolyheads at HQ telling these yes men to outlaw the slide tackle? That game was poor enough without Riley's usual disjointed out of touch input to the game.
Ticket to the 2009 roller-coaster anyone?
Who decided to replace Tuncay with the totally inadequate Alves, Tuncay is our shining star in a lack lustre team, he is miles ahead of any other player in the club yet we replace him with an out of form out, of confidence player who is looking more like a poor imitation of Macaroni who at least tried his guts out and did score a few important goals. The time has come Mr Southgate to stand up and be counted, some of your selections are totally baffling when you can have England's outstanding young central defender and Germany's outstanding young defender on the bench taking no part in a terrible defence display by a team playing without conviction or confidence. Get both these player back in to the team, and start to play Johnson in your starting line up, this goes for Tuncay as well.I do not know how you will have affected Tuncays Confidence or commitment with this sort of treatment but you can only hope he is big enough to forgive you and get stuck in to the future games for Boro,s sake.
What a shambles. Arca couldn't trap a bag of cement, is too slow and always getting caught on the ball. Downing has already got the bright lights of London in his vision and as for Mido... only good for moaning. At least alves got into a couple of scoring positions. Aliadiare looks out of form give the lad Emmes a run in the team, play Johnson on the left and Tuncay and Alves up front, bring back wheater and put Pogi at left back. The signs are not good. I think we're doomed
Utter rubbish.... its not only Southgate to blame but the players. The players don't have the drive or heart for a battle and only too quickly roll over and play dead.
What was Wheater and Huth on the bench for? at least those two wear their heart on their sleeves and are ready for the physical and mental fight.
Let's not kid ourselves, we are in a relegation fight even now in December. I really fear the worst unless things are dramatically turned around and I don't see how that is going to happen. Sack Southgate? well Spurs, Newcastle and Sunderland did that with managers to good effect but I don't think it is the answer just yet for Southgate.
Answers on a postcard to Mr Steve Gibson, MFC, Riverside Stadium.
What is it with Southgate? Is he a slow learner or what? Can't he see the impact Johnson has on a game when he comes on? Not afraid to wield the axe he says - then why is our best winger constantly left on the bench when the oft disinterested Downing plays every minute of the season? Even though those two pens of his put us on the road to where we are now.
We must be the only team playing the HC PLAN and Tuncay cant work out how to play that style. It must be the reason he was taken off. I never thought I would have to say this but we are on the trapdoor now and next week we will be right in the firing line.
If we do go down Southgate has to go if only for his inabillity to select a winning side but above all his woeful substitutions. I mean, Alves on for Tuncay when Arca was having a bummer of a game. And Jinky on when it was all but too late. And what mirracle does he expect from Emnes in FIVE miutes when he doesnt rate him good enough to start or even give him some time on to at least show what he can do?
Oh yeah H C PLAN Headless chooks. Not looking foward to Old Trafford
A Very Merry Xmas Everyone. Thank you for all the comments and thank you for putting up with me. I hope you all had a very merry and holy Xmas and that all your hopes and dreams came true.
Thank you AV for all your time and effort which is really appreciated, even if we don't see eye to eye some of the time. AV, you are a true fan. But sometimes, in my opinion and I could be wrong, being a true fan means that you just don't see what's staring you in the face.
For this club to move forwards it needs a new and fresh approach. It needs new people with new ideas and new motivations based upon the fact that these people have done it before and done it well and truly relish the chance to do it here with us.
It needs people, like you, motivated by the desire to attain absolute excellence. The time for jobs for the boys, friends of friends, and a Chairman who thinks he knows best just because he puts the money in need to end.
When I stated from day one that GS, Coops and the rest of the team were just not up to it I was virtually alone in here. When I stated from day one that to put our great club in the hands of a novice who could only learn on the job and make mistakes along the way people had a right royal pop at me.
When I dared mention that Gibsons time was over I may as well have been thrown to the lions. But here we are again. Just above the relegation zone with a manager who says that he has achieved his targets and that the relegation battle only starts 6 weeks from the end of the season.
Gibson put him here and so Gibson must take the blame. He is an absolute fan to his core but that does not mean he knows anything about training, coaching or managing footballers and he certainly would not have put a rookie like GS or his team in charge of Bulkhaul.
When you look at the where our coach's have played their football and where they have coached it just shows that they are simply not good enough. If people look back into this years archive I said that the Fulham manager was the sort of guy we needed as his CV speaks for itself, and yet again endless people had a pop at me.
It's time for a big change and a big clearout at this club. It's time to end the drinking, smoking and partying pie and pea mentality and to bring in a bit of Capello style authority so that we train these players twice as a day as they do on the continent and that we expect them to be as true athletes.
We have a great club. We have a great stadium. We have a great set of fans. It's time to put in a great management, coaching and pysiotherapy team as well. That's how I see it anyway. TB
Well in the bottom 3 apart from goal difference ...it seems we have found our level. Nice to see Mido changing shirts. Was that a 'Buy me u have no strikers'?
Mido, Tuncay, Downing and O'Neill on the verge of leaving you say? Well if the display yesterday was anything to go by, then anything over 30 bob and a big orange would be good business.
At the end of the season the three worst teams will be relegated. Current form has Boro at rock bottom, we are relying on West Brom, Stoke and Blackburn to save our skins. We certainly don't appear to be able to do so.
May be so Mr Southgate but alot of us a growing number wish Mr Gibson was 'Not afraid to wield the axe' as well!!!!
The only crumb of comfort today is when I read that Cattermole had crocked another Newcastle player and that Viduka was booed off the pitch by the Toon Army with the chant" You're not fit to wear the shirt " ringing in his ears. Injured again.
It is however only a crumb after a shocker yesterday.I would describe myself as a hard core fan but the only emotion I felt after leaving the ground was utter disillusion. It turned to seething anger when I heard Southgate's interview on the radio. He stated " we know they are very strong on set plays and we are not the biggest of teams" or words to that effect. The interviewer did not ask him why in that case our two tallest and physically strong defenders were benched.
That performance had relegation written all over it. At the very least Steve Gibson must see we need a couple of battlers in the middle of the pitch and must at least authorise a couple of loan signings to shore up that area . Out of the 4 playing yesterday can anybody recall any of them winning a single challenge?. I cant.
I suppose O'Neill had the mitigation of being rushed back from injury and Aliadiere is a forward being played out of position but this lack of battling quality is the one thing certain to get a team relegated. Very very disheartening.
Some interesting quotes from the press, the first one from Moyes "We muck in at Everton, the boys all know that. They have got that bit between their teeth."
The Second from Sbragia after his confirmed appointment as the Mackems boss "My main priority is moving up the Premier League table and ensuring we have unity and stability at the club. I've been extremely pleased by the commitment shown by the players and the support from fans."
Then we have Gareth's latest: "There is a lot of doom around the place but there is only us who can lift that. We need everyone who wants to be here to dig in for the cause, dig in for the shirt, dig in for he club. We have got to make sure that we have got people who are prepared to do that with us."
Very indicative was the Boro players trudging off the pitch with little or no acknowledgement to Gareth after the game. His constant woe inducing hand wringing comments and his players' body language tell a much bigger story in terms of what is going on behind the scenes. Clearly Gareth is losing not only on the pitch and on the terraces but in the dressing room and more importantly in himself.
We need leadership of the highest level right now, Poggi isn't doing it on the pitch and Gareth certainly isn't off it!
Travelled up from S.Yorkshire hoping to see them win for the second time, note second time, this season. Well the same old story- beaten by a team that was well coached, disciplined, organised, no strikers like us but boy did they work hard for each other.
As for us, weak, limp, tippy -tappy football, that lacks coherence and a cutting edge. There's something fundamentally wrong with this club masked by Southgate's niceness and rational approach to explaining why we are where we in the table, usually, because we are young team, inexperienced and a thin squad. All of his and Gibson's making.
Where is the progress and development on the field? I am profoundly disappointed with Southgate - he does not appear to have that managerial nous to turn and change matches.
We cannot win back to back, we cannot come from behind in games, Arsenal being a singular exception.We cannot keep clean sheets. What an inditement after two and half years of his management. I have shown faith and loyalty and no little expense, not living in Middlesbrough.
Gibson needs to do some serious thinking and quickly, because I believe we have reached the tipping point with Southgate.
Finally its depressing to note that in addition to our problems, the standard of refereeing has deteriorated, as if it could. 46 fouls in yesterday's match, 27 attributed to us by Riley.
We are now reaping the reward for many flawed decisions.
Buys.
Huth - Flop - was injured when we bought him! £6m for a crock, a desperation buy.
Mido - Flop - injured for almost entire first season, was only a sub for Tottenham has had numerous clubs. He moves somewhere then just moans that he wants to be somewhere else. £6m! What mugs we are.
O,Neil - Neutral - known to have serious injury problems when we bought him, works hard but doesnt score or create enough scoring chances. £5m. Any better than Morrison? If given a run in the team he would have been more creative and scored some goals.
Alves - Flop - easily brushed aside, little presence and too often static. £12m. Kevin Philips would have been a better buy even at 35 and would have cost £1m. Stop gap yes, but what's Alves? Maybe we can appeal to the Dutch FA to reverse there decision. That other Dutch club can have Alves and we get our £12m back !
Tuncay - Hit! - But GS cant decide what is his best position, often the whipping boy ie.subbed when he has been our best player. £0. probably meaty contract.
Alladiere - Neutral - either very good or just disappears. Needs to be more involved and score more goals. £2m probably the going rate.
Arca - Hit, then Miss - potentially our new Juninho, crisp incisive passing, THEN that injury against Sunderland. He has never recovered his form, often caught in possession, gives cheap free kicks away and is easily brushed aside. £1.5m a reasonable buy but must rediscover his form.
Hoyte - Neutral - too early to tellbut guess what, he is already injured and out for a month! £3m. Is he any better than some of our youngsters?
Shawky - Neutral - appears slow at times. doesnt score and does he create anything ?
Laps of Honour.
Every time we have a minor success, plaudits are dished out like gold medals, top eight is a mere formality. Sorry but if we avoid relegation this season that will be success
A Settled Team.
GS cannot decide what his best team is. Yes,injuries and suspensions are disruptive but we need a settled team and people should be playing on merit, not on how much they cost.
Nurturing our Young Players.
We have a Number of young players who have done well to break into the team but then haven't improved or are being played out of position. If Johnson or Wheater depart this would be ridiculous!
We are talking ourselves to relegation! The Wrong message!
All we hear about is that we have to cut our cloth according to our resources but there has only ever been two profitable clubs - ie.Arsenal and Man.Utd - and just look at our buys over recent years, hardly great successes!
The Future.
Youth plus four Prem.seasoned pros, one to marshall the defence, two physical players in midfield who can pass a ball accurately over 30 yards and a wily striker who doesnt miss a tap in.
GS.
Needs to toughen up, throw a few hair dryers and show whos boss. This guy has got it but don't be loyal to players who are being disloyal to the club and supporters. Get rid of them or they will drag us all down.
Come on Boro! Time for Action.
What a moron! It just goes to show the type of mentality prevailing with Boro supporters when Stockton Red rejoices that Cattermole has crippled another Newcastle player. What gives with you people? Are you jealous of the support Newcastle has? Talk about an inferiority complex!
Cattermole and several other 'academy' so-called stars are the product of a culture, not only in your club, which fosters thuggery. The first time I ever saw a 'bovver boy' was at a Boro match 38 years ago and it seems times have not changed.
I am not sure who it is on this blog but somebody is really good with the statistics, or maybe you can AV.
What I would like to know is the proportion of games that we have lost when Andrew Taylor gets a start. He is hopeless.
Any two from three in the centre of Riggott, Huth and Wheater and Poggy at left back, or maybe put Tony Mc at left and Wheater at right, but everytime young Taylor plays we seem to lose hopelessly. Is he Gareth's love child?
Meanwhile back in the Eric McMordie memorial ward…………….
“How is he doing today”?
“Not good, apparently he had Mido for the first goal in a 2-1 Boro win”
“Mido!!! What did he think? It would be deflected in off his Newboulds Saveloy?
“You know how it is with these Fans bets, he really thought it would come in, 20-1 as well”
“What does the Doctor think”?
“Said, it was a really bad case of Foamhanditis. To make matters worse we found a Boro to beat Man Utd slip with Emnes’ as the first scorer”
“Bloody Hell! I didn’t think it was that bad”
“Yep, I’m afraid so”
“Don’t you think we should loosen the restraints”?
“The Consultant seems to think it may be best to humour him, and tell him the bottom three lost”
“But after Man U, it’s The Mackems”
“Yes, I think we should get the big syringe ready…….”
“Not the big syringe, surely they have a chance at Old Trafford, I mean, it has happened before”
“Alistair, if you are going to make it as a volunteer nurse you have to take it seriously”
“Okay, sorry”
January will decide? I've already decided. GS hasn't got what it takes to push the club forward. He has had his leeway learning the ropes and treading water but now we are starting to go under.
We all know he has had his hands tied with money and had to cut the wage bill but his buys have been poor. The Alves money would have been better spent on a cheap proven PL stopgap striker (King, Phillips etc) and a really good CM. He talks about cutting cloth but he has had £20m plus to juggle with and made the team worst.
His team - and it is his team now - lack organisation and motivation which are the very basics no matter what level.
I don't expect Boro to compete with Villa and Everton because they have money but I do expect to compete with Hull and Bolton and Fulham, teams who have embarrassed us and out-battled us.
How long can we afford to wait to get it right? By the end of January we could be deep in it, with our best players gone and staring at the Championship. Time to act.
CCTV Live feed from the Eric McMordie memorial ward…………..
“Okay, I want 24 hr surveillance”
“But Mr Mallon, his wife said he is a good husband and father”
“That’s what they all say. You saw the Emnes’ first goal scorer slip”
“But Boss, you can’t judge someone by circumstantial evidence”
“I’ll be the best judge of that; this is obviously a very sick person”
“You don’t think he is involved in the sudden influx of Boroine do you”?
“I’m not ruling anything out at this point, the streets of Doggie have been flooded with this new designer drug, and I’m the man to stop it”
“Do you really think it is a problem, I mean who could possibly take this seriously”?
“Talk of beating Man U goes completely against the grain, you have a short memory, are the people of Boro really ready for the sight of Slaven’s nether regions again”?
The sudden thunk of the anaesthetic darts hitting Mr Mallon in the neck could be tracked back to the John O’Rourke wing.
“Quick! If you want to see the Boro beat Man U follow me”
“But I only put the bet on as part of a Super Yankee”!
“Good God man, this goes further than a simple flutter. The whole season is at stake”
“Our Lass is going to be really annoyed when she finds out I’m not here”
“We will tell her you’ve been transferred to North Tees”
The dirty white transit van pulled away from the ambulance bay………..
Unfortunately the outside CCTV could clearly see the Alves Goal Machine banner visible in the rear window………………..
Earlier today I typed what turned out to be a very long post. Sadly it was lost in the ether the second I pressed the “send” button. Apparently due to very high traffic the message could not be accepted. This leads to the following:
1. We can all make mistakes - I should have saved the piece as a document then if, for some reason, I couldn’t send it at that time I could recover it and send it later. This is something we should perhaps remember when criticising others, including players and management at the Boro.
2. The BIG mistake though is not to learn from our mistakes. If, in the future, you were to hear from me that I had lost another lengthy intended post, through lack of saving it first, that should receive as little sympathy as (let’s say) management or players saying they were surprised that a team consisting of tall players might specialise in set-play pieces, or that “they were more up for it than us”.
3. Many of the points I had intended to make in my post were, unknown to me, also covered by John Stone at 2.52pm so I will not repeat my earlier piece. But we can remind ourselves
a). We cannot compete with the “top clubs” in terms of finance, to buy the very best players or pay the (obscene) salaries they command. However we should be able to compete with Stoke, Hull, WBA, Fulham, Bolton, Blackburn, Fulham etc. Even some of the clubs that might have considered themselves well-backed, like West Ham, are having their own problems in the funding stakes, so it would be wrong to say our club is much smaller in financial terms that the rest of the division.
b). A very fit, well organised and committed team, prepared as well as possible for the game ahead by the backroom staff, can at least give itself the best chance of success, and should beat a team of identical ability which is not so fit, so organised, well prepared etc.
c). Those factors mentioned in the last paragraph cost little, if any, money. Team spirit and never-say-die attitude are not the preserve of the rich clubs.
d). Older more experienced players (for example, Riggott or Arca) may help bind together a team consisting of younger players (let’s use as an example, David Wheater or Josh Walker). But the older players are not going to improve. With another year under his belt I guess most of us would say we expect Wheater will be a better player. Yet how can he get better without the experience of playing, when we know he is fit? For all we know, Josh Walker might turn out to be a real star, but until we get to see him, and he has a few starts under his belt…..and it isn’t as if the current midfield incumbents are covering themselves in glory, is it?
e) Can we please not hear any more players in the Press saying that, with a couple of wins, we could be on the fringes of a European place. Or that they realise they are vulnerable just after scoring a goal and that they must concentrate until the final whistle (because if a schoolboy knows it, surely a professional footballer must have a vague suspicion)?
On the bright side, we have 20 points from the first part of the season and the same total in the second half of the season should do it. Other teams are taking points off each other, and a spot of good luck must surely come our way. Surely.....?
I can't believe my luck. Have just spent a couple of hours (after getting son and heir's X-Box disentangled from the TV/DVD combo) watching Mamma Mia with the wife - well, it is Christmas!
When I get back to the laptop, as if by miracle, access is afforded to the Hallowed Turf of the Untypical Boro site. I am able to post the piece (this time saved - no mug here, after past failures) typed hours ago. As they say in football circles - a "Result".
Grove Hill Wallah at 10.54pm. Thanks for a good laugh. That says it all! I don't doubt that Eric would get into today's team. Well, until about 10 years ago, he would, despite the expanding waistline and giving everyone else the odd decade or two. Bobby Murdoch..... No let's not taunt ourselves.
I can hear it in my sleep. "1. Left back (not a centre back filling in), 2. ball-winner in midfield, 3. skillful ball-playing midfield provider, 4. right winger and 5. a striker. Please, God...." Being greedy? How about 1, 3 and 5? Did anyone here ask Father Christmas, or were we all very naughty this year?
“Mnfffffff Gnnfffff”
“What’s that noise”?
“Don’t worry yourself, everything is in hand”
“Who’s that with the bag over their head”?
“That’s our lass”
“No, the one with the Boro strip on”
“Aahh, you mean the one with No 11 on his back. That’s Malcolm Smith”
“Shouldn’t that be Marvin Emnes?”
“Horses for courses my friend, just need to make sure we kick towards the Scoreboard End first”
“But he is overweight and not good enough for the Premiership and … err …. Not quite the right colour.
“Lighting can always strike twice, League Cup and all that”
“Paddy Power? First Goal Scorer, 3 Mins Emnes’ please”
“You know it makes sense”
Bravo Fergie! Knowing quite well Gareth cannot motivate the team he has opted for a softly softly lets be friends type pre match statement ...one which i have never ever heard come out of his mouth before....mind games and bye god he's good at it! Pick the weakness and play to it...lol
Whats to bet this is combined with the ref getting his orders pre match and Boro down to 10 men by half time if any strong 50/50 ball challenge comes in?
I have never posted sack the manager even during the darkest days of Robbo or MacBlackadder. What I have done is look at what can be gained and have tended to adopt the view why should the b****** get away with it, let them stay and suffer like the rest of us.
Whilst it may seem odd to say bearing in mind Eindhoven etc, our league form has been dragging its bum just above the railings since Xmas 04. The last 18 matches brought 20 points and we have bumbled along ever since.
Then Gate, Lamb and Gibbo were on phone ins telling us it wasn’t good enough. It was obvious Mac would be going England or not and that the squad needed redrafting.
What is concerning me now is the apparent acceptance of our lot. Are the club being guilty of being too downbeat. I don’t want foam hands but the chicken runners should be in the stands not the coaching staff.
After Saturdays match Gate said they expected that performance, that they would be low on confidence. So not a reaction, but a low tempo, insipid performance. That is what they expected and that is what we all got.
The club sending out signals about player availability has sent out another downbeat message. The fact Pogo has come out and said don’t sell the best players shows the message has got through to the squad. No phone calls yet is not a rallying call.
I look at the league table and see teams around us who look to be on the up such as Blackburn, Toon, Spurs, Sunderland, Citeh, even west ham seem to be playing better. Going the other way are Pompey, Stoke, possibly Hull and of course us. Very concerning.
Harking back to the Tuncay substitution , if I remember right Southgate took his time recognising Tuncay's talents when he first arrived at the Riverside, failing to have him as a first choice in his early days with the Boro. Does that signify Southgate does not rate this player as highly as most fans seem to do?
Now for the other bench warmers. How can the powers that be justify having the best young Central Defender in England and the best young Central Defender from Germany sitting on the bench for the whole game when our defence was so outplayed especially with high balls into the penalty area?
Both these players and Tuncay must be fixtures in the remaining games if we are to survive the big drop. Digard when fit will help give us some much needed steel and enthusiasm, Johnson must also be given starting a starting place as he has the ability to take on defences and panic them with his very strong running at players and his beautiful ball control.
Alves can not be given a starting place purely on the recommendation of how much he cost us, he does not seem to understand the basics of Premier League football. Mido should be persevered with as he tries all the time and will score goals given the opportunity.
just seen Blackburn kept to a draw by last minute against Man City. Is a draw unthinkable against Man United? We will have to see.
Maybe Tuncay was taken off to rest him for the Man U game but I would have thought Everton at home and only 1-0l down was more winnable.
Arca was overrun and maybe Tuncay should have dropped back into midfield [ where he plays for his country] and Alves brought on.
If we are gonna stay up we are gonna need O'Neil ,Mido , Tuncay and Downing.
We need to loan a left back, striker and central midfielder too!
O'Neils wife is gonna have to shop in Hartlepool a bit longer I am afraid as he and Digard are the only players who can cut it in the middle.
Forgot to say, what about playin Wheater in front of Riggot and Huth\ Pogger in a defensive role if we are short in quality?
I shouldnt be making this type of suggestion as we should of had the squad sorted before the first ball was kicked this season.
Readings Harper is now looking not a bad idea but would he want to leave Reading who look like they are coming back up for the mighty Boro with three points out of 20 odd ?
NUTS!
Calm down AV, calm down posters. This is my 40th Christmas watching Boro and let me tell you this, it is entirely normal.
Where is the crisis? We lost to Hull who are sixth. We lost at Fulham, the best home record in the league. We lost at home to Everton, the best away form in the league. All those were predictable and to form.
We all know we are a limited team with a small squad that has a few injuries. Yes, we have people on the bench who could be starting and would improve the team. That is good. The problem would be if we didn't.
We are in a rut and morale is low - among the fans as much as in the team... just read the fatalism and resignation on here. You would think we were already down.
But there is a long way to go. This is our bad run and other teams will have theirs. We know we have some good players and can play good football and with our best team available we are easily mid-table.
We just need a spark. Relax.
Tony Black said:
When I stated from day one that GS, Coops and the rest of the team were just not up to it I was virtually alone in here. When I stated from day one that to put our great club in the hands of a novice who could only learn on the job and make mistakes along the way people had a right royal pop at me.
"NO, I'M SPARTACUS"
"We just need a spark. Relax. "
And were is this spark going to come from when Gareths lost his flint?
I despair of Boro fans. As soon as there is a bit of turbulance or pressure so many
panic and start to squeal. How would you all have coped with liquidation, the pre-Prem era of mediocrity or the yo-yo years?
So many queue up to to slag the players, the manager and the chairman on message boards and on the radio and in the ground. I don't mind constructive criticism when needed but all I hear is hysterical scapegoating, hindsight and eternal stopped clock pessimists glee at being "proved right."
Times like this are exactly when we are supposed to SUPPORT the team. It is easy to go along and cheer for a winning side but what gets teams like Boro through is fans rallying round when they are losing.
I'd say get behind the team except there are so many people with knives waiting to stick them into Southgate its probably best not.
Yes, let's support the team now. This is nothing compared to year 1986!
Please put Tuncay and Alves to the starting eleven against Man Utd. Alves was superior to Mido against Everton. We need a goal scorer now!
And yes, we need Digard back a.s.a.p.
I have decided on our team for the Manchester United match as follows: Turnbull, Wheater, Riggot Huth Pogateze, O Neill Digard, Tuncay, Downing , Johnson, Mido.
We may lose but we may also score goals with this sort of line up. We may not need 40 points this season to stay up as all the bottom teams are beating each other but how we will get 38 points is beyond me after the Fulham and Everton debacles.
I have noticed a long ball mentality creeping into the game lately, is this in desperation? Particularly at the kick off a couple of passes then the boot up the field in hope that Boro can maintain possession which they never do only give possession to our opponents.
7am kick off Tuesday morning for me, so come on Boro give me a lovely breakfast treat and come up trumps against Fergie's little brats, as we have done on so many occasions in the past.
We are lucky enough to get all Premiership games live here in Abu Dhabi. Having watched all recent Boro games and a fair number of others involving many of the teams in the lower half of the table I think we are the poorest team in the league in all departments, excepting the Goalie.
Others all seem to have a couple of big lads up front that look dangerous and a mid field player or three that can win balls and distribute consistently. How many have we given away at corners, set pieces and in the last 5mins? When did we last score from a corner? Probably when Wheater was a regular?
As many have said recently in the blog looks like a nailbiting few months ahead.
I cannot see Gibbo ditching Gate. It isnt his style and as Gate himself said he is party to the model for the club that Gibbo and the Count have put in place.
That model includes continuity throughout the club, balancing the books and the academy helping subsidise the club. I suspect potential relegation will already have been factored in as should be as part of any sensible business plan.
If Gibbo disposed of Gate because results continue to go badly he would then be faced with huge dilemmas:
1 He would have to admit that he got things wrong with his choice of mananger
2 To bring in a new manager he would have to provide funds for new players, again an admission that the model was flawed. Who would come in late January when maybe the silver has been sold and a short while to turn things round before the window closes or has possibly closed already?
3 He would have to admit the League Managers Association were right even if only by his actions.
4 He would have to recruit an experienced manager which would be a huge blow to his vision of internal growth and the fact he cocked a snook at the establishment
5 The pre season gamble on the squad looked fraught with perils at the time. There are plenty of spaces for birds to roost at the Riverside.
The die is set. We have what we have and will just have to get on with it. We wont see any new faces settled into the squad until Feb/March. If we do I will be delighted.
Lets hope for 'points from unusual sources' tonight. I have conned my son into driving so I will be on a knife edge for multiple reasons.
Come on Boro. All aboard the roller coaster. It wouldnt be the same without the drama.
Tees Exile:
I agree with your sentiments but the reality is harsher. A lot of us posting on here like myself go back to Stan Anderson's era but that doesn't make us any better informed to judge on the current state of affairs.
In any business you need fresh impetus and ideas from the young bucks. You maybe don't quite understand their thinking or logic (still can't figure out what was wrong with 45's or see the need for I-pod thingys when we have CD's!) but they are the future custodians and the fact they take that responsibility seriously is to be applauded. I don't remember the 1939-45 war but I know enough about it from my parents and films that I don't want to go back there, similarly with the Yo-Yo years.
On Saturday I sat in furious frustration, anger and indignation at a limp, lily livered embarrasment of a collective group of 11 men imitating their so called art. Despite this spiritless showing and being £70 lighter for the privilege along with my two sons I and some twenty odd thousand other Boro fans didn't boo or barrack them during the game. We stayed behind them as best we could and they certainly didn't deserve it.
We are MFC, not the players or coaches who are transient and hang around for three or four years at best. Their loyalty is to their agents and their next move with some exceptions but sadly not many. This is the norm for the Prem and not just a Boro malaise and perhaps goes part way in helping us understand Gibbo's almost seemingly perverse loyalty to his Managers.
Nobody on this blog wants Gareth to fail. We simply want him to wake up to what most of us on here have been constantly repeating for over 18 months. Things like zonal marking, selection, no bite in midfield, no spirit or fight from the off, rabbits in headlamps etc. and learn from Fergie/Wenger on how to "respect" officials - for instance Fergie's already in print about tonights Ref so we start with a match official under immediate pressure with a global TV audience.
Ultimately we just want to play follow the leader, all we need collectively right now is a Leader to follow! Nobody would be more delighted than me to see Gareth become that leader but as things stand I just don't see it happening and like yourself think he needs support and help but that has to come from from the inside now as well as outside.
We're in a nightmare run of form caused by an inability to score and possibly one or two players being distracted by the prospect of a move in January.
When I read Av's article my first thought was I'd take 17th come May also, but on reflection I wont, we're still capable of finishing mid-table. The problem is a lack of confidence not ability so we're about to find out just how good GS is at motivating his squad. I think he can do it. He has also got some key decisions to make, for example we need Wheater and Huth at centre backs and pogi at left back. Digard in central midfield as soon as he is fit. Alves at centre forward as he's the best we've got.
A point tonight would be a fantastic result and would set us up for January where we're playing those in and around us, who said the Prem was boring!!
Tonights game holds the key to the rest of our season. Get hammered three, four, five and confidence will be non existant and with a home derby next up against the maccams we will be struggling to get any momentum going.
Get a result or a plucky 1-0 defeat then it might rouse the troops and install some beleif. We have got to beleive that we can go to old trafford and get a result. I would get a video on on the team bus showing all the great results over the years - Dean Gordon's super strike, Junos silky finish, the awesome 3-3 in 97.
As boro fans it should get these kids excited, bring a smile and show it can be done. Forget the silky attacking football. Get the points on the board, win ugly, stay up and go again next season when we have the right players to play that type of football. Right now lets get a few shots in early, attack teams from the off and get them back in there half rather than the other way round.
It can be done, believe it can be done - and go and do it!!!
Come On Boro!!!!!!!!!!
I see Gareth is at it again in his latest speech for the Gazette, going on about how they must learn from their experiences. When does he EVER learn? All he does is repeat the same mistakes in personnel and tactics.
Ian,
If Gibson sacked Southgate now, it would not be a recognition that he was wrong, and Gareth was a bad choice of manager - it would be a recognition that he has done a very good job for two and a half years and now is time for a change.
Boxing Day was abysmal, but when do Boro ever do well on Boxing Day?
I echo Tees Exile and Jarkko's thoughts - now is when we need to get behind the team more than ever.
Southgate needs to go...
Coops needs to go...
And so does virtually everyone else and the sooner the better.
We need a clean sweep and a fresh start with a proper manager with a proper knowledge of coaching and a proper footballing brain that knows about formations and tactics and how to make substitutions.
Southgate and Co are simply not good enough.
" Judge me this season " were his words.
Hmmm. I see he has attained his usual league table position and we haven't even been through our infamous Xmas period yet.
It was a very bad appointment as it did not further the club or our ambitions and for me it has only been another backward step.
We could have had O Neil and yet for some truly bizarre reason God Gibson in his divine right to rule his way no matter what chose to go with continuity.
Southgate and Co simply must get the Spanish fiddle before we end up in the Championship saying " if only we had sacked him ".
No more novices please. No more great x pro's who simply haven't got a clue and are forced to learn on the job.
TB
TB - you will have started an avalanche with the 5.09pm post.
My own belief is that the situation is not terminal. It can be put right, but we will need to start without delay. We need to instill some passion and confidence into the players, organise the best formation and get them playing as a team.
If we lost at Old Trafford tonight, but then won at home against Sunderland (and, without being greedy, assume we scrape home against Barrow in the FA Cup), things would look a little more rosy. It would be a start. And it isn't unrealistic - it is possible.
Incidentally, AV, are you at Old Trafford or will you be in front of the TV (at home or in the pub) for the match in a couple of hours?
**AV writes: No, not at the match. Night off.
"Too many comments have been submitted by you in too short a time...."
They're getting at me again, AV!
In the pub or at home this evening to watch the game, or have the Powers that Be sent you to Old Trafford for the game?
Like the rest of these good supporters I only want to see Boro succeed.
So many mistakes from a young manager with no managment or coaching experience, our golden generation sold for a pittance or given away, money wasted on players with no heart, and on Teesside you have to play with heart.
Yet I say PLEASE hold on we have to trust Steve Gibson no matter what because without Steve we would have nothing. He makes mistakes but never ever lets us down, he will turn things around. Watch him.
COME ON MY BONNIE BORO
Given the circumstances I still believe the Gate is the right man for the job.
We as supporters need to realise we can no longer splash the cash a la Robson days and our ambition has been somewhat curtailed by the credit crunch. Southgate has cut the wage bill drastically but the price has been losing experienced players like Boetang and Schwarzer (who Lampard said was probably the best gk in premiership at mo) and much needed bite like Cattermole.
Our midfield is woeful at the moment - Arca is short of match fitness (though I am not sure it would matter if he was the fittest player on the pitch), O'Neil is only just back from injury and clearly not 100 percent. It speaks volumes that comments on this page claim we miss Digard when at the start of the season he was really struggling.
Although there is a lot of talk about our misfiring forwards at the end of the day if they get no service they get no goals. Clearly our midfield is the problem at the moment and if we don't get players in to help solve the problems in this area we will not stay up.
Arca, Shawky are just not up to the task and whilst you cant fault O'Neil's enthusiasm he is not a creative central midfielder and for me performed better out on the right adding balance and work rate to our right hand side.
I do wonder if any other Boro play was playing as badly as Downing is at the moment if they would retain their place in the first team ?
People who want shot of Southgate because Boro are down in the bottom half miss two points, and sometimes deliberately I think.
Firstly, they miss the point that far from under-performing, Southgate has pretty much got the team where every just about Boro manager bar Charlton since the war has got them: lower mid-table, which is where we are historically and financially as a club.
So far Southgate has finished 12th and 13th which is more or less where Mac and Robbo finished every season bar one each and better than Rioch and Lawrence managed in the top flight and Robbo and Mac had far greater resources in terms of cash to spend on transfers and wages.
Secondly they miss the point that he is more or less on target for where the club have budgeted for. It might hurt to accept it but the club have shelved ambition and only planned this season JUST TO SURVIVE.
Finishing 17th or just above is not a target Southgate has set, it is one that Gibson, Lamb and Bauser have set as a corporate strategic aim. They have adjusted the spending to that end, cut the staffing levels and reduced investment to suit.
So calling on Mr Gibson to sack Southgate for his 'failure' is just plain daft - Southgate is ticking all the boxes as a middle manager in a big firm and up to now achieving the targets he has been set.
Football is a business. Boro is relatively well run company that has adjusted its spending plans and projected targets downwards in light of difficult trading conditions. It is sensible management.
A 1-0 loss away to the no 1 Club team in the World is not the end of the World for the Boro. We played well and if we had had a finisher may be we could have secured at least a draw.Manchester United were there for he taking as they were not at their very best.
Bates played well and the back four were solid, we are still missing out in the mid field and Digard will sort this problem out when fit, so do not be to despondent Boro fans, we will survive if only by the skin of our teeth.
A must win situation against Sunderland next week, but I am sure we will win this one. Alves still continues to be a spectator in most of the game and is not fulfilling his U -Tube Video. Did we sign him on this Video evidence and who watched him over a period of time before we decided to splurge out our biggest transfer fee ever. Is Johnson and Huth injured?.
Realist:
Should the fans reajust their spending plans on whether to go to games and watch an inferior product, one that embarrasingly ,just tries to keep games close enough that we might pick up the odd win?
Hull, Fulham, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Wigan, W.Ham, Stoke, Bolton, - clubs who have now caught up or passed us ,with a better product on the field.
Yes, we can applaud some of he success the last 12 years Gibson helped to bring, but hey Newcastle are still talking about Jackie Milburn 50 years later. If you can show me where the future is going let me know.
A.V.
Ian Gill 29/12/08. 11:26.
You have got it 100% correct. right on the button.
Gibson/Lamb and co. have already factored in relegation and are adequately preparing the fans for it by sticking with that nice Mr. Southgate, would it be too nasty to call him the "fall guy"?
Tony Black you are 100% correct but Southgate is not going to get fired, he fits in perfectly with the club's requirements as presciently put by Mr. Gill.
Happy New year everybody
Boro Phil
Gibbo wont sack Gate. If he did he would be seen to be admitting that his plan for a long term model for the club was in trouble. Time may show Gibson is entirely correct in his analysis of where the club needs to go.
Onto last night. A brave performance that came up short.
Man U had too much quality for us, being able to bring on Scholes, Giggs and Neville is a complement in itself. Despite the result and personal disappointment it was a pleasure to watch Scholes at work. Where we struggled manfully to get moves going he was all instant control and quick passing. It is no disadvantage having top quality players around him.
What was great was watching Ronaldo getting more and more frustrated after missing several sitters. Pogo give his best performance at left back for some time.
A spirited performamce that will have lifted all involved. There is a fine line between success and failure, if Man U had taken one of their many chances in the first half then a declaration may have been in order. As it was they didnt and we hung in to gain some pride.
Man U deserved the points, you cannot argue with 34 shots to 9, but we made them work for it.
Up front we are in a mess.
I agree with many of the comments that Boro are performing pretty much to our norm as we are only 2 points behind our average league position of 14th.
Which has all been achieved whilst cutting the wage bill and being more conservative in the transfer market (excluding balding Brazilians of the non-prolific variety of course)
Plus given a few better refereeing decisions and better last minute defending we should be comfortably sitting in the top half of the table - So no need to panic and sack Southgate just yet.
Having said all that the reason to replace Southgate will come if Boro continue to underperform against the lesser teams.
It's all very well saying we played well against the big 4 but if we can't play our 'A Game' against everyone else then you have to question the ability of management to motivate the team and keep them focused.
Though our main problem is putting the ball in the net - it appears Alves is playing like a £1.27m forward and Lawro accused him of being lazy against Man Utd and out of his depth - also where was Mido? - it may be time to ditch the pair of them!
Sadly I think Realist is right. Boro is being run as a business and is cutting costs every where it can to manage the debt. NO big wages, small squad, reliance on kids.
Fingers crossed it works and we stay up to reassess next season because it is a VERY RISKY path to take. If we go down the club could soon be a Charlton/Sheff Wed/Leicester.
I thought we did really well last night.
Pogger has proved he is the best left back we have got as he subdued Ronaldo, even if a bit of strangulation was necessary.
If Riggot was not pushed from heading the clearance Berba would never have scored.
Tuncay looked the most like scoring as many of our lads didnt want to risk a shot.
If you dont shoot you wont score and we could have followed up if the keeper parried it.
Sothgate says nobodies leavin and hopefully now Downing can concentrate on his footy.
Johnson was injured and we need him.
When Aliadiere ran at Man U with the ball they looked scared , why didnt he do that more.
Southgates firm / aggressive post match was good to hear.
Get the lads to shoot a bit more please Gareth.
Finally and MOST important of all - We were man marking and what a difference.
It worked ! No more Zonal
Looking forward to the match against Barrow now.
It will be interesting to see what team Southgate fields. I'm hoping that Nathan Porritt and Emnes will play. The coaches seem to rate Porritt highly so this is the perfect opportunity to give him a game, even it is against a conference side. If he does well, he might get a few sub appearances in the first team.
I wonder if Alves will be playing, it would be good for him to play, to get some goals, and most importantly to get a lot more confidence in himself. He did well last night, but he just needs to get more shots on target and put himself about more.
...it was the "Alves Goal Machine" banner in the back of the dirty white transit that first caught his attention. As it pulled away from the Hertshead services on the M62, the passenger window was wound down and a crumpled Paddy Power betting slip was thrown to the ground.
Putting up his Brolly to ward off the slight drizzle, a ghostly figure emerged from the shadows and Gingerly picked it up.
Hmmm, so there are some who still believe in a future in the Premiership, Hang about! Emnes! first goalscorer! I didn't realise they were as desperate as that. It should be easy to tip them over the edge.
He took out his mobile and scrolled through to the R's, Hello, is that you 'arry..........
Well now that Zonal looks to be put to the sword (after umpteen months of collective electronic screaming to that effect on this blog) lets hope that Gareth starts to take up the numerous other "issues" that we have been highlighting routinely.
Unlike most of the others on here I wasn't impressed by what I saw last night. Yes it was a great improvement on the last half dozen outings but lets face it a team of Girl Guides couldn't have done any worse.
On a positive Turnbull was superb, Bates a surprise, didn't shirk tackles despite his crippling previous injuries and overall the lad done good.
The negatives; up front was woeful, the midfield weak and overrun for the most part (Digard may be showing some potential but historically his fitness record is on a par with Huth's). But for poor finishing and Turnbull it could have been 5 or 6.
The most annoying thing was why when we got possession did we turn into statues? There was zero movement off the ball, nobody ran into space dragging defenders wide creating space and openings. Tuncay tried his best but finding himself immediately closed down by three red shirts meantime the rest of our Midfield and Alves simply stood and watched.
This was classic playground football which is fine with 8 year olds all chasing the same ball but at Prem level? At times we were literally tripping over one another in the middle of the park, it was quite frankly embarrassing!
That said I accept it was an improvement in spirit at least. Defensively there were some positives but overall I'm scared at what I saw and am far from convinced especially with Barrow and Sunderland coming up.
Finally how on earth when our next game was Man U away did we manage to "Crockliffe" both Mido and Jinky, same old same old!
There must have been a fab press conference at MFC recently - today's nationals full of Boro stories.
Interesting to note from The Guardian that we have been 'deconstructing' Gareth on here and other MBs. And there was I thinking that he'd been deconstructing the team - at least, those that haven't already been demolished at Crockliffe.
Typically, The Grauniad can't get its copy correct. It alleges that we all refer to Gareth as 'The Gate'. Definite article too many, chaps.
George Caulkin in The Times (long time apparatchik of the current regime) is full of how, all of a sudden, no-one (except for, maybe, the execrable Mido) is for sale.
Stability is the new speculation, apparently.
All this has been sanctioned - it says - by Gibbo.
This is presumably the same Gibbo that had sanctioned Gate (are you watching, Grauniad!) banging on about being a selling club and effectively putting a price tag on every player for the last month. Has someone woken up (albeit late in the day) to the fact that this may have had some distracting effect on the players?
I've also discovered the real reason for Boro's current malaise - or at least my good lady has. She was looking for the washing instructions on the replica Boro shirt that my lad got from Santa. (Sorry for the gender stereotyping if you're reading Mr. Grauniad) If you or yours got one too, dig out the labels and have a look. My missus was incredulous and so was I. Talk about Emperor's new replica shirt!
The shirt is - according to the translation from the original Mandarin (or similar) - suffused with the miracle of nano-technology and contains nano-particles of silver and titanium.
This fabric technology (and here I condense many paragraphs of hyperbole) confers super powers on the wearer. Not only that but when the wearer gets a little knackered - even with those powers - the fabric helps with tiredness on the field.
So magic is it that - even when you've exchanged it with the opposition or thrown it into the crowd or, in temper and frustration, into the corner of the dressing room - it goes on working and aids recovery from exertion.
You think I'm kidding? If you don't have the product to hand nip into the club shop next time you're near.
But then comes the killer. The effectiveness of the fabric is very much reduced if it gets damp!
So, there you have it - the problem is Boro have been letting their shirts get damp.
It can't be with sweat - some would argue that certain players don't raise sweat but the nano-technology deals with it anyway.
But it was a wet Autumn!
All good things for 2009, guys!
C'Mon Boro!
If Gate sometimes does read this blog he might do well to take note of some of what it says earlier.
I see that he's finally got round to the notion of bringing Stewie inside one - the evidence has been seen on the pitch in parts of the last three games and now he's owned up to The Gazette.
You won't have time AV - but it would be instructive to research just how long some of us have been mooting that possibility on here.
I can certainly reference it myself back to late last season, possibly earlier - but ageing memory doesn't serve that well! Better late than never, though.
Just as long as he ditches the notion of Arca as ball winner just as soon as Digard is fit!!
For the club Stewy in centre midfield would give Johnson a chance but as I said many moons ago i dont think Downing will hang around playing there regularly.
Reasons: he is only sellable as an out and out winger. Also England have Lampard and Gerrard in midfield so he does not need to compete there.
Guys have a great new year and lets hope we get it together in 2009
Happy New Year Everybody!
Lang may yer lums reek, fellow Smoggies!!
Yes another fine improvement once again against one of the top four... we've proved we can play a bit, so now we can all go back to sleep for another six weeks or so but be aware when we wake up next time it will be too late to recover.
What we must do now is fully concentrate on WINNING. Don't go to sleep for even a minute' cos if we dont win v WBA,THE MACKEMS or the MAGPIES we are as good as dead meat.
On the plus side of things Bates was A1 as was Turnbull. Moving Downing inside might be a good move I personally would like to see him as a striker as he has a shot in both feet and he often has a go from distance, something the others seem to be afraid of.
i understand that Mr Downing is to hand in a transfer request tommorrow . Well, good riddance, for all of his undoubted quality he only shows it once in a while, and his ego clearly has him beliving that he is bigger than the club!
Rumour has it Gary O'Neil is on the verge of handing a request in too, again let him go, we bought him as a goal scoring midfielder and he clearly hasnt done it. I think we will be lucky to recoup the fee though as he is not a £5m plus player.
The only player who is being linked with a move who I would do everything to keep is Tuncay.
As for the crowd turning against southgate, think of all the dodgy decisions that have gone against us (more than your average) and think where we could have been if it wasnt for them, mid-table I think. Under the circumstances Southgate is not doing a bad job.