|
|
GEORDIE HATERS 3-1-06
The problem with having games on Monday's is that I write this very article just hours after the game, and emotions tend to be running fairly high. I inevitably end up basing the entire article on what I've just seen or heard. So I think we all know what's coming in the next 105 lines of writing.
The best thing that has happened to us since I last commented was the postponement of our game at Bolton on the 28th. A blessing in disguise if ever I saw one. We were going there having been hammered by Blackburn and with a crippling injury list, with Bolton flying high, and having rested key players on Boxing Day.
So having had a rest, and prepared for our fourth home game in a row, we went into the match with Manchester City knowing we needed to get something. Fabio Rochemback's name had been added to the injury list to the relief of most fans, but we still only managed a goalless draw, our first clean sheet in sixteen league outings.
That put even more pressure on us going into our game at Newcastle. It started well, with Mendieta going close twice, before Albert Luque missed a sitter when he hit the post. It wasn't long before Newcastle were ahead, Nobby Solano's curling free-kick putting the Geordies 1-0 up.
Early in the second half we were level, when James Morrison's cross allowed Yakubu Aiyegbeni to smash home. 1-1, with everything to play for.
The game looked destined for a draw, until Jimmy Flloyd Hasselbaink raced onto Mark Viduka's through ball to score what looked like a momentous goal in our season so far.
But in the third minute of injury time, Lee Clark was able to drive a low shot through a crowded penalty area to break the heart of the travelling supporters, who must have thought that this was the moment our season had turned around.
I'm sick of saying it but things have got to change at the back. Again, Gareth Southgate didn't clear his lines properly, and from the corner that followed Newcastle netted. Solano's free-kick was the third we have conceded so far this season, and Mark Schwarzer seems to feel that he now has to charge out of his six-yard box at every opportunity. It was his punch that fell to Clark in the 93rd minute.
A draw was a fair result over the duration of the game, but when you take the lead in a game with three minutes to go, you have got to win it. Before kick-off I would have taken 2-2, but by full time 2-2 was not good enough.
And it's not like this is the first time we have conceded a last minute goal this season. Charlton, Villa, Arsenal, Man Utd and now Newcastle have all scored past us in the last minute of league games, not to mention our Carling Cup exit that came about thanks to a last minute Dickov winner for Blackburn.
A remarkable statistic it must be said, and one which hasn't been addressed until now, because in all of those games excluding Newcastle, the last minute goal didn't change the number of points we picked up.
It's quite a contrast to last season, where scoring and preventing last minute goals proved our trademark. It was the last minute of the game at the City of Manchester Stadium when Mark Schwarzer saved Robbie Fowler's penalty and took us into Europe.
Kanu missed a sitter in the last minute at West Brom with the score at 2-1, and last minute goals against Southampton, Bolton, Charlton, Fulham and, ironically Newcastle, when Hasselbaink's last minute 'header' produced a 2-2 draw, saw us finish in our highest ever league position. They say that the luck evens itself out over the season. For us, it would appear to be spreading itself over two.
But is it luck? Or is it just carelessness and players thinking that the game is over when it clearly is not? One or two last minute goals are bad luck, but six in the first half of the season is disgraceful.
The transfer window is now open, and with the club revealing that players must leave before new ones can arrive, rumours are flying about players on their way out. Ehiogu, Viduka and Hasselbaink are the latest names put forward, and of course, French Franck.
It would appear now that Queudrue will be leaving the club in the near future, be it this window or the next. I think it's a huge shame for the fans that Franck appears to be getting forced out in the same way that Juninho was. There are not many players in the Boro line-up who most fans adore, but Queudrue is definitely one of them. I hope he stays.
Last summer, the club were seeking 24-28 year old players to bridge the gap between youth and experience. It is a gap that would appear to be increasing by the game. In the current squad we have too many players the wrong side of 30 and the young side of 23. Having said that, if you're good enough, you're old enough.
James Morrison and Lee Cattermole both had great games against Newcastle, but our starting midfield four demonstrates my point perfectly. Morrison (18), Cattermole (17), Doriva (33) and Mendieta (almost 32) give our midfield an average age of 25 yet not one of them is even in their 20's. We have too many players past their best, or too young to have reached it yet.
This window should be one of opportunity. It's time to lose some of the dead wood at the club and bring in some fresh, young players in their prime. When players like Downing, Parlour, Boateng and Rochemback (cough) return, they too will be like new signings.
I'm all for trying to look on the positive side of things, I don't think that Mourinho or Ferguson would describe their sides' performance as "magnificent", had they let in a last second goal. Steve McClaren said after the game that it "wasn't to be our day" and that we "showed great character but failed to see it through".
He should have given them the biggest bollocking they have ever received. We've let too many goals in at the death and it has got to stop now. We played well enough to beat them but didn't. That's not magnificent.
2006 hasn't started much better than 2005 finished. Let's hope we don't make the headlines next week for the wrong reasons. An F.A. Cup giant killing is something we could really do without. Happy New Year, Folks!
Same time next week. UP THE BORO!
BACK TO ROCKLIFFE FILES INDEX
|
|
|
|
