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McCLAREN FOR ENGLAND 27-9-05
Many have been calling for McClaren's head to roll for a long time now, and after Sunday's embarrassment I am in agreement with them. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon - I'm driving it.
I honestly believed in my heart of hearts that on Sunday 28th of August 2005, I had seen the worst display I was ever going to see from players representing Middlesbrough Football Club. How wrong I was.
This Sunday's game made the Charlton game look good. It is as simple as that.
It wasn't even a case of just being a bad result. That performance was the worst I have ever seen in my life, and I'm certainly not alone in that.
That was a home derby against a side that hadn't won in the Premier League since 2002, a run of twenty-seven games. Where was the passion and commitment? As Sunderland showed, you don't necessarily need ability or gifted players to win a derby match.
People are saying that we had too many foreigners in the side, none of whom feel the passion of the derby like the fans do. I say that's bollocks. How many of the Sunderland team were born in Sunderland? My research suggests nil.
Every player on that pitch has played in a derby match before. Believe it or not, they do exist abroad. They know what it means to the fans, and to play like that suggests that most of them just don't care.
There are those who do care though. George Boateng, Franck Queudrue and Gareth Southgate are fan's favourites because every week they give it their all. None of them from Teesside, yet all of them play every week for the club and it's supporters.
The fact that we have scored in only one of our four home league games says that something isn't right. The players were awful on Sunday, but the root of the problem lies at the top.
After the Arsenal game, I talked at length about how McClaren had got the tactics spot on. Away at Wigan the tactics were questionable, but against Sunderland he got them completely wrong.
Franck Queudrue is the best left back in the club's recent history, one of the best in the league. So why play him in a midfield diamond? If playing Franck at left back means leaving Pogatetz on the bench, then so be it. Playing people out of position is a Sven trait, is it not?
Yakubu and Viduka don't look compatible at all. Yakubu likes to play alone up front and Viduka needs someone to do his running. They don't appear to be on the same wavelength at all.
Where was Rochemback playing? His roaming around the pitch meant we frequently had gaps in midfield. To give a player a free role demands huge responsibility and equal amounts of talent. A license to roam the pitch is a luxury we can't afford to give to a player whose touch is poor and who can't shoot.
The midfield looks unorganised at the moment, and the responsibility for starting the attacks always seems to fall to Boateng. For destroying attacks and winning the ball, there are few better. But being honest, with the ball at his feet he looks a bit lost.
Something I find remarkable is that the weekend that we beat Arsenal, McClaren had been away with England the week before and had consequently not trained the Boro squad. The preparation was left to others. In the games sice then when he has spnet time with the squad, we have lost emphatically. Coincidence? Maybe.
But this England fiasco has gone on long enough now. It's time to choose club or country, and choose quick. To declare your interest in the England job and then criticise the Boro fans for not going to matches is a bit rich.
Just a quick word on the UEFA Cup tie against Xanthi. I was one of the thousands who didn't go. Instead I chose to go to work. In my eyes, it's about value for money. If I thought that I would have seen a game worth £25 at the expense of a night's wage, then I would have gone.
To pay that kind of money to sit in a half empty stadium and watch a depleted Boro team against a side I can't pretend I've ever even heard of, sadly just doesn't appeal. I'm not surprised the flights to Greece have been cancelled. People haven't got that kind of money to watch a boring game.
The knives are out for McClaren, and while it is too early in the season to genuinely consider sacking him, the cracks are beginning to appear. In football, once you lose your supporters, you tend to lose your job.
The next seven league games are crucial to McClaren's future and Boro's season:
Villa (a)
Portsmouth (h)
West Ham (a)
Man Utd (h)
Everton (a)
Fulham (h)
WBA (h)
An unbeaten run during these games will put the season back on track. It's optimistic given the current patchy form, but not beyond us.
McClaren out? Ok, so maybe I'm not driving the bandwagon. But it won't take many more pushes for me to fall on board.
It may be time for Lord Gibson to consider putting McClaren's new four-year contract on ice until the up coming run of crucial games is behind us. We might not want him getting a nice juicy contract that the club would have to pay off should he be sacked...
Same time next week. UP THE BORO!
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