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THE CASE FOR THE DEFENCE 26-1-05
I was an avid reader of Roy of the Rovers when I was a kid but when they ran a story about Melchester Rovers coming back in the last ten minutes from three goals down to earn a draw, I decided that the whole thing was way too far fetched and changed my allegiance to real football glossies like Shoot!
It took me until this morning to get over Saturday's farcical show at Carrow Road and only now has the goading chant of "Four One - and you fucked it up" stopped reverberating around my head. Sometimes, the truth hurts.
Steve McClaren was brutally honest in his post match summary of events and instead of trying to make any excuses about the disaster that had just taken place, he was analytical and straightforward. In my book, he deserves respect for that.
There are not many excuses that you can make after a showing of that nature but at least you can walk away with your dignity intact and build on it. That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Allegedly.
We are lucky to have the manager that we have got. Arsene Wenger would not have seen the last three goals, Sam Allardyce would have blamed the referee and Kevin Keegan would have bumbled about before admitting that they are 'a bit short for this level'.
Graeme Souness would have simply beaten the shit out of his back four. Literally. Rafael Benitez would have taken a long siesta and Harry Redknapp would have claimed that he was 'down to the bare bones'.
Bryan Robson would have stated that 'the opposition were class' and that 'the lads were unlucky' whilst most of the rest of the Premier League managers would have just kept saying 'at the end of the day' and 'sick as a parrot' during their interviews until none of us were really sure whether we were stuck in a perpetual time warp or not. Fergie would have just had a pop at Wenger.
At Middlesbrough, we are very lucky that we do not have a manager who is threatening to become a caricature of himself by over-utilising well-worn soundbites and cliches.
However the fans that decided to air their views on the after match phone-ins were not so philosophical. Some were even suggesting that this was the end for Steve McClaren and one even dared to challenge Sir Steve Gibson to 'produce a team worth watching and one worth cheering for if you still want to continue with the rallying calls for sell out crowds'.
Now I can totally understand people getting upset and spouting off in anger after a result like Saturday's but there are limits and that particular caller went way beyond them.
It is really coming to something when Steve Gibson himself is criticised and I would even go so far as to say that with supporters like that, do Boro really deserve to have a man like Steve Gibson in charge of the club?
There is a very strong case for the defence and it is totally about what is going on in the long term at Middlesbrough Football Club. I believe that there is a plan in place that if seen through, will turn us into one of the top ten clubs in Europe.
A plan of this magnitude can never come to fruition in one season and it might just be that it was never meant to happen within a decade. Only the deluded would think that such a massive transformation in fortunes could occur in a short space of time and without several mishaps along the way.
Yes, we are currently having one of those mishaps but when you stop and look at the big picture, there are still many, many reasons to be cheerful and optimistic about what the future holds for Boro.
We can never use injuries as an excuse for a poor run of results because over the course of a season, things usually even out amongst the twenty teams. Having said that, as soon as Mark Viduka and George Boateng return to the side, we will see a totally different Middlesbrough side and will almost certainly start winning again. In the meantime, we need to keep believing that the decisions made by the people in change are the right ones for the long term future of the club.
Many supporters are feeling frustrated that the transfer window is about to close with no new arrivals on the horizon but I think that this says a lot about the club's longer term ambition. We need the right players in at the right price and it seems that we are no longer prepared to lavish outlandish sums on people who do not fit the bill or are just a temporary stop gap measure.
And it should not be forgotten that the transfer market is currently in a lull and that there has been little movement this January compared to two or three years ago. Throughout the Premiership, a meagre twenty-four transfers have taken place and only eleven of those have involved a player moving from one Premiership club to another. Seven Premiership clubs have recruited nobody and only six have acquired more than one new signing. So maybe we should all keep it in perspective...
We should be applauding the club's transfer policy because we have created the best squad that we have had for many a long season and a team spirit that should be the envy of the division. I am aware that we have seen some transfer failures during Steve McClaren's time in charge but that has happened to every manager who ever lived and SMc's transfer successes far outweigh his failures.
Even so, it is a little disappointing that we have pulled out of the deal to sign Bobo Balde this January because the case for a new defence is becoming overwhelming. I am really sorry to say this but I believe that Gareth Southgate is now past his best. He's been turned over too many times this season and it may well be that a catalogue of knee injuries has caught up with him. What a fantastic captain he has been but sadly all good things come to an end.
Unfortunately, Colin Cooper now seems to be close to the end of his career and there is a chance that it could be all over for Ugo Ehiogu. I keep my fingers crossed that it is not. Because central defence is currently our big weakness, Balde would have been a great signing for us but if it is not to be, then it is not to be.
Reading between the lines of what has been publicly said by the men at the centre of this deal, money is obviously the issue but hopefully the obstacles can be cleared and he will move to Teesside during the summer. Failing that, a new central defender of similar stature will hopefully arrive.
With the transfer market so deflated, it is possible that we may have to wait until more of the youth team are ready for first team action before we take the leap to the next level. If it is the case that the market remains deflated and purchasing players continues to be a headache, then in time, Boro will gain the upper hand over our rivals, due to our outstanding youth policy.
Should that turn out to be an accurate reflection of how things will pan out in the next two or three seasons, I hope that the man who issued the challenge to Steve Gibson on Saturday comes back on air and offers him an apology.
Football managers and chairmen are always judged on results and rightly so. But it is slightly different at Middlesbrough as we are not just working towards this weekend's results but towards results in the long-term future. We will probably have to suffer a few more demoralising blows along the way, like Carrow Road on Saturday. Nothing that is really worth having comes easy.
Finally, I noted yesterday that new subscribers to Boro World are to receive a free Football Manager 2005. I feel sorry for the poor sod that gets Sam Allardyce turning up at his front door after he has paid his subscription...
Until next week.
Steve
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