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THE ROCKLIFFE FILES - IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK 8-8-06
Toby Higgins
For Boro, a new season, a new manager and new players. For ComeOnBoro.com, a new message board, new writers, and of course a new compilation of Rockcliffe Files. Undeniably, we are about to embark upon a new era for Middlesbrough Football Club: a new beginning.
Yet, I feel compelled to look back. New beginnings leave behind memories of former glories, the highs, the lows, and the euphoria of what once was. It is certainly worth taking time to reflect, albeit briefly, on one of the biggest moments in this club's history, and one which most will simply never forget.
Middlesbrough F.C. 0 - 4 Sevilla F.C.
It still hurts.
And so it should. Following the heroics of every player who took part in the UEFA Cup last season, to lose in such a resounding manner was more than painful. It was embarrassing. After Schwarzer's penalty save at Manchester City a full year early to get us into the competition, after Hasselbaink's header in Rome, after Maccarone's famous last minute goals against Basel and Bucharest, there we were fluffing our lines, not quietly in the back streets of Greece or Switzerland but in Eindhoven with the whole world watching.
Teesside was crushed, but like a phoenix, we must rise from the ashes of disappointment and fly once more away from this small island back into Europe. But this time with a new leader.
Gareth Southgate, a man who is irrefutably one of the greatest Boro captains of all time, has been 'promoted from within' to lead not just the first team, but Middlesbrough Football Club in it's entirety. A bold decision from our saviour Steve Gibson if ever there was one.
And one which, least we forget, was not a particularly popular one with the majority of Boro fans just two short months ago. While each individual will have their own, changing opinion, an Evening Gazette poll claimed that 39% of Boro fans wanted to see a foreign coach appointed as Steve McClaren's predecessor. Even Boro's new captain George Boateng revealed to the press that he too thought Southgate should stick to playing rather than managing. Only 14% of Boro fans wanted a Southgate/Steve Round combination.
Southgate was far from first choice with anyone and the flurry of press releases and statements of pro-Southgate propaganda effectively hid the fact that Martin O'Neill and Terry Venables were both approached before Southgate. Tony Mowbray, Alan Curbishley and Sam Allardyce were all more popular choices than the former England star too.
It's easy to see why. Southgate's record as a manager of any team, at any level, is non-existent. While many will chose to liken this appointment with that of Bryan Robson and Steve McClaren, it is a weak comparison given the substantial change in circumstances and the club's profile.
Neither Robson, nor McClaren, arrived at a club which was firmly established in the Premiership, let alone competing in major European Finals. The task facing Southgate is a daunting one for a manager with no experience as expectancy means the bar has been raised and Southgate will be required to produce the goods from the off.
However, whether it be the Southgate propaganda or the fact that with the World Cup over the new football season is imminent, the idea of Southgate as manager is one that I'm starting to come around to.
After all, he's not on his own, and with most of McClaren's coaching staff still in place, the 'smooth transition' phrase, courted so frequently in justification of Southgate's appointment, will certainly be beneficial to him and the club.
True, as well, is the fact that Southgate is fully aware of the club's hugely talented youth academy, and will presumably be as willing as McClaren to use the next generation of young English potential. Given the side that played the final game of last season at Craven Cottage, as well as the fact that Gibson was insistent on appointing an English manager, the youth players have every hope of featuring frequently this term.
Southgate knows the players and he knows the club as well as any. Behind him he has one of the most able teams in the country and with Teesside behind Boro's new articulate manager Gareth could become as popular a manager as he was a player.
Southgate has already started to make crucial decisions, the first being to name his long time colleague and friend George Boateng as new captain. While Boateng has become a firm favourite with the fans, it remains to be seen whether he possess the skills to lead the players on the pitch with the same, great success that Southgate enjoyed as captain. The fact that Chris Riggott was overlooked allows him to focus on his own game, especially considering the increased pressure on him to firm up a weakened defence.
Southgate is not the only popular defender to move to pastures new this summer as French full-back Franck Queudrue has moved to Fulham. After five years at the club replacing Queudrue will be far from easy and he is sure to get a good reception when he returns with his new club. And the same can be said for striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
At this moment in time, despite the arrival of Julio Arca, we are still struggling to find new signings and our pre-season form to date has been fairly poor. That said a week is a very long time in football so who knows what I'll have to talk about next week. Something good, hopefully.
There you have it. The first Rockcliffe File of the new season, and after weeks of Big Brother gossip, World Cup drama and boring Saturday afternoons with the girlfriend - and let me be the first to say, it's good to be back.
Same time next week...
Up The Boro
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