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AND JUSTICE FOR ALL 2-2-05
From out of the battleship HMS Victory stepped a cloaked figure with a smile adorned across his boned features. And he mounted his trusty black stallion and raised his scythe high into the air as he charged towards the place known as Fratton Park. It was there that his victim would be waiting in a dugout signed 'visitors'...
Some of the few loyal Boro fans who made the journey to Portsmouth last night would have liked to have seen that scenario take place. Another defeat and more calls for the manager's head. Maybe we are just going to have to accept that it will always be that way, just as certain other things will never change.
Keith Lamb has worked his guts out trying to bring in the players on the manager's wanted list but sometimes, it just isn't meant to be. Especially in these days of deflated football economy. But it's all Steve McClaren's fault, apparently.
A reminder for the moaners
He's also been knocked in the crudest way for playing negative tactics. Yet with ten minutes to go last night at Portsmouth, he withdrew Tony McMahon and brought on Danny Graham leaving us with just three at the back. A very dangerous move with Yakubu in sizzling form but The Gaffer 'went for it' and in the end, we were unlucky not to get a point. That's not negative in my book.
But perhaps some things will never change. Despite Arsenal's reformation under Arsene Wenger, the spirit of the club remains and I am referring to Jermaine Pennant facing a possible prison sentence for drink driving. Didn't the same thing happen to an Arsenal player a few years ago?
Despite the shift in personnel from season to season at Old Trafford, Manchester United always seem to perform better in the second half of the season. Most people had written them off by October of this season but look at them now. Just eight points behind Chelsea and who is to say that they can't take it all the way to the wire? It's not unusual for United to stage a second half of the season comeback and it might even be said that it is a regular occurrence.
You can't change the nature of some things and maybe we will always have a negative element in our support. Maybe that's just the nature of the club? Perhaps some of our 'supporters' only go to the matches to have a good old whinge and moan, because that's how they are and that's what makes them happy.
If that really is the case, then I would like to think that someone, somewhere has got a magic formula to change it but in reality, however many journalists embark upon campaigns to cut the negative element from the support, they all face an uphill task because some things just cannot be changed, however strong the good intention is.
The last hurrah? Hopefully not...
Boro must battle on regardless of these factors and last night's performance gave plenty of reason to be cheerful. We fought hard and the signs were there that we will start picking up points again soon.
It is difficult to believe that we are still sixth in the Premier League after the awful run of results that we have had since late December but we are and we are there on merit. The league table still doesn't lie...
With some of our best players still to return from injury, we are still looking good for a top six finish and anybody who has written off our chances of being in Europe again next season should really think again. Play like we did last night and the points will start to roll in again. It's as simple as that.
However, there is a very nasty rumour doing the rounds at the moment that Mark Viduka is finished and will not play again. I don't know who started this rumour and there is no hard evidence to back it up but the silence from the club concerning the situation has got me worried.
We have been regularly updated on the injuries to George Boateng and others but there is no word on Mark's condition. And he was supposed to be due back this month. It will be an absolute tragedy for the player and for Boro if this awful rumour is true and I have all fingers crossed that it is no more than a rumour with no foundation.
Andy Wain
Finally, justice does prevail in some situations, even when the judge is also the jury and executioner.
Andy Wain, the referee in the Sunday league match between Peterborough North End and a Royal Mail side sent himself off for eyeballing a player who disagreed with a decision.
In the 63rd minute, Wain threw down his whistle and marched up to confront North End's keeper.
"It was totally unprofessional. If a player did that I would send him off, so I had to go," Wain, 39, was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"I heard the keeper say 'It's always the bloody same with you, ref. We never get anything'. It was the last straw, but fortunately I came to my senses."
Northamptonshire Football Association refused to comment.
Until next week.
Steve
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