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LILLIBET M'S MONTHLY OUTLOOK FEB. 05
I thought that the silly season was traditionally in August, but evidence is showing that for football at least this year it is January/February. First of all we had the will he/won't he drama of the transfer window - Schwarzer's story in particular being like a photo story in the girls mags I used to read in the 70s/80s.
Then alliteration went mad as lazy journalists re-hashed predictable headlines such as "brave battling Boro" in response to our injuries.
The only original and funny headlines came from the Balde transfer rumours - I was tempted to use some of the Bolo Bobo Boro lines here, but The James Bassett Column got there first - it's survival of the fittest on this website!
The silliness continued when we had a bad run of games and incredibly still hung on to sixth place! Not that I'm complaining of course. Unbelievably - although depressingly typical when you think about it - the anti McClaren backlash started and has continued to gain momentum.
There have been calls for him to go because we are no longer top four and have suffered defeats this year. But exactly what is he supposed to do when so many key players are injured and the squad is so thin?
There has even been some backlash against Steve Gibson. What the fuck? This is fickleness taken to the extreme, usually from bad fans with short memories who have been spoilt for a short period of time but cannot keep their eyes on the bigger picture.
This attitude is perhaps slightly more understandable from those who have not supported Boro for long or came to the team converted from neutrals. Actually, no it's not. It is unacceptable from any fan but more not so from those who claim to have stood by Boro through countless lean years. If we had got these results with the full first team then yes, the situation would be pretty grim, but blaming the management or the players is futile - the foundation is there and the problems are circumstantial.
Talking of grim, I still have to wince when I think of the Norwich match. We were on the receiving end of what we did earlier in the season at Southampton - and it hurt. Throwing away two points and having Franck Queudrue's goals totally eclipsed was harsh. That night I dreamt that the last three goals in the match were scored by Graham, Morrison and Zenden, and it was the Norwich team that got sent to bed with no pudding.
This silly season extended to the England camp this week for the friendly against Holland. Initially it was going to be Steven Downing - Stewie's evil twin - who was going to get his first chance to play for England. Thankfully in the end it was young Stewie who came on after an hour and got to play thirty minutes, but failed to make the impact that he should have due to Sven's bizarre decision to play a strange formation with several players out of position.
Things may be looking fairly dodgy for the England team, but Sven really does need to stay in position until at least the end of his contract as we need to keep Steve McClaren with us to continue what he's started.
And so keep hold of the eternally optimistic view that we will do a lot better. Really we will, but we need the squad. Resources are the perpetual problem. This silly season will continue for a bit longer - just as the injury list starts to show signs of easing, Bolo and Parlour get suspended!
It's enough to make you want to drop out completely, it really is- just like the dotcom billionaire in Al Stewart's 'The Night That The Band Got The Wine.' But I'm not a dotcom billionaire, and in any case I'd miss the Boro far too much to consider such a drastic step.
Take heart that it's not just football. A new IKEA store in North London opened this week - at midnight. By 0015 the doors had to be closed and the car park was in gridlock. Six people were taken to hospital in the crush and the store is closed until further notice. This is an IKEA store for God's sake, not the queue for tickets to see Boro lift the UEFA Cup. Some people have no sense of perspective!
Elsewhere, Daily Mail readers are up in arms at the prospect of two middle-aged people getting married even though they are both free to do so and are clearly well suited for each other and their union will not make a scrap of difference to the lives of the general public. Yes, the silly season has been brought forward this year.
Roll on spring - and God knows what's going to happen in August!
Until next month...
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