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FROM CONFERENCE TO CONFIDENCE 22-1-06
Don't ask me why but I don't feel like we are in a relegation battle. Maybe it's because I am still in shock at the dire state we are in. Maybe it's because by slipping into it we have missed the first three months of apprehension that usually goes with struggling at the foot of the table.
Or maybe it's because after last season's heroic seventh place finish I just don't want to accept that we have taken a retrograde step and could possibly find ourselves in the Championship next season. But cut the psychoanalysis, at least on myself as that is not important. It is the psychological malaise in which the club now finds itself that is of paramount concern and it is to this that we must look to try and unearth the reasons behind our underperformance this season.
On Recent Performances and the Reduction of Confidence
There is no doubt in my mind that there is something rotten at the core of our club. I don't quite know what yet but the events of this month so far seem to bare this out. There are still huge question marks over some aspects of the day-to-day running of the club and the fans will not be satisfied unless either a) we start picking up points like a team of our apparent quality should or b) our questions are answered in a direct, honest and forthright manner by the powers that be behind the scenes.
On this score, Dave Allan has already made a good start - coming on to this website in particular to field a whole range of questions asked to him by the fans. But this level of accountability is already becoming insufficient when what the manager says and what the fans are seeing are developing into two separate entities entirely. Indeed many fans are starting to become suspicious of the club because they feel that they are not being kept informed of developments to the level that they believe they should be entitled.
This is enhanced by the increasing departure from reality that McClaren seems to be displaying in his dealings with the press. Many believe that far from our performances being 'magnificent' or 'excellent' (for example see the Newcastle away post-match comments), over the last few weeks we have nurtured weaknesses that have started to sap our confidence. After all it was patently evident as early as pre-season that we had a weak midfield and we did very little to rectify this.
Some may say we have been unlucky - Rochemback has not yet proved to be the player his potential may have suggested when he played against us last season. But then we were all aware that one player would not fix the problem and so it has proved. And yet we are now edging towards the end of January, and thus the end of the transfer window, and still we seem not to have not made any progress whatsoever in strengthening our squad, despite how badly needed this is.
But what about injuries I hear you cry? Yes we have been unlucky once again, in fact even more unlucky than last season, as this time the majority of injuries we have sustained have actually come about in competitive games rather than in training. Added to this I accept that our midfield will be greatly strengthened with the return of both Downing and Parlour, which should happen in the next two or three weeks. And from this we should be able to build and to at least finish mid-table, which, although disappointing with respect to our pre-season aspirations, may be all we can achieve in the League this season.
But I still maintain that injuries should not really be an excuse. Due to the vast number of fixtures in the modern day game, particularly when European games are considered, a good squad is vital in order to even achieve mid-table, let alone higher. Before this season began, Boro's aim should have been at least to finish seventh, if not better. We needed to consolidate our European participation and build on this. We also knew that because we were in the UEFA Cup once more we would need a bigger squad. Added to this we were also aware through bitter experience what injuries could do to the progress of the team. So the simple question must be WHY DID WE NOT LEARN OUR LESSON FROM LAST SEASON? Because it is evident that we quite clearly haven't.
Added to this injury situation is the length of time it seems to take for the players to recover from the injuries they sustain. For some reason we never seem to get players back earlier when their return is predicted, and quite often it is later than expected. Now this means that we either have a hopelessly optimistic physician or maybe something should be changed in the routine of the players in order to get them fitter quicker.
I accept that I don't want them to rush coming back to fitness early as I am aware of all of the long-term implications this could cause. But the length of an injury is strongly related to diet and fitness regime and I think both of these should be reviewed at the club. These two factors may also be the reasons why we obtained so many training ground injuries last season as a poor diet can lead to more brittle bones, weaker muscles and a reduction in a positive mindset - all of which have been proven to delay the recovery of the human body by a considerable length of time. And there have also been cases of players returning to training only for them to pick up another injury, putting them out for a longer duration of time. Indeed if diet (and what players are putting into their mouths) should not be investigated in the wake of the Xavier scandal then I don't know when it should be.
In the previous paragraph I mentioned a reduction in positive mental attitude and never does this seem to be more pertinent than it is now. The players generally look tired and lacking in self-belief, two factors that are a vital part of a team in the Premier League. And in this last sentence, the very clue to our malaise may be present - the use of the word 'team'. As although in terms of the players we have in our squad (whether fit or otherwise) we should be nowhere near the relegation zone I must confess that we are one of the three worst 'teams' in the League simply because we don't seem to play like one. Indeed we do not look like a solid unit, which is why we have only kept two clean sheets in the League all season. In fact teams seem to be able to cut through us with ease, as Arsenal so ruthlessly demonstrated at Highbury last week.
Part of the problem may be due to McClaren's playing of players out of position, playing them where they are not comfortable and thus where they have less confidence. Another problem arises in the deficiencies in our side that the opposition usually plays upon. It is evident for example that we have no presence in the air (four out of Arsenal's seven goals were scored from set-pieces) so when we concede a corner or a free-kick it is almost like our players expect to concede. McClaren is partly responsible for this by not playing or signing a defender with height - which made the Ugo Ehiogu transfer saga all the more baffling for me.
Granted he hasn't had a good season but he's the only player with height we have and this is why we must keep him. And either way he is not the only player who has made individual errors all campaign - many of our players are culpable and this demonstrates that there is something wrong at the core of the club. After all, individuals make mistakes because they have a lack of confidence and because they lack assurance. And never before has a lack of confidence affected a Boro side than it does now. These are the reasons why we are playing poorly and unfortunately the situation has the propensity to compound - one mistake leads to a reduction in confidence which leads to another mistake and so on. We need to dig ourselves out of this and quickly if we have any chance of even fighting for survival. Because at the moment, we don't even seem to have the desire to fight.
Now this is the point where a sports' psychologist comes in. This position is becoming increasingly more important in football today due to the high degree of both mental and physical pressure on the players. This has been enhanced by the importance of every game played from a financial point of view. However the lack of confidence in the club seems to show that our sports' psychologist is not being effective and should review his own methods in motivating the players.
This accusation can be furthered when it is considered that the number of goals the Boro have conceded in the last five minutes of games this season must be approaching double figures. This is simply due to a lack of concentration (and possibly a lack of fitness) and this is the very thing that a sports' psychologist should be addressing. Furthermore he should be addressing it far more quickly than he seems to be doing at the moment - the fans know about this particular problem so I guess he does too but as yet no change seems to be forthcoming as in the last three games we have conceded three late goals, two of which to the detriment of a positive confidence-boosting result. If we can get this sorted then the confidence will increase, the dressing room will be a happy place to be and players who signed contract extensions a year ago will no longer feel the necessity to put themselves on the transfer list for a couple of weeks.
Put simply, we need a break. We beat Nuneaton on Tuesday and we must build on this and take it into our League form. The fact that we should have beaten them the previous Saturday should be irrelevant. We finally have our first win in two long months and were just a minute away from going two hames unbeaten before disaster struck against Wigan in the dying moments yesterday.
And the fans can play such an important part in our regeneration. It was good to see over 26000 turn up on Tuesday and and even more yesterday. Concerning Tuesday, this is the benefit of reduced ticket prices. I hope the powers that be take notice because we need to fill the Riverside to the rafters if we are to survive. And if we are to survive we need to get behind the team, to shout, scream and instil the confidence and belief in them that has evaporated in previous weeks.
The players themselves said after the Nuneaton match how important the fans were to their self-belief and we MUST carry on our performances against Nuneaton and Wigan into the rest of the season. Because only by doing this will the players do the same. And soon enough we will be back on track.
We are only in a relegation battle if we want to be. If we get behind the lads we can pull away quickly and easily. The return from injury of many players will help but we must play an integral role in supporting our club. Because as Keith Lamb said a few weeks back, Middlesbrough will have the club that the fans can sustain. And we can sustain Premier League status. If that is what we want.
Until next time.
Packwolf.
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