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THE ROCKLIFFE FILES - THE 'CATT' AMONGST THE PIGEONS 29-8-06
Toby Higgins
There will be no bush beating or issue skirting in this week's Rockcliffe Files, just good, old-fashioned honesty. Monday night has set alarm bells ringing, bells that will no doubt awaken us all to the fact that we are a side in real trouble.
Last Wednesday's win over Chelsea can be summed up in one five lettered word; fluke. The champions were a very, very long way from their imperious best, and have only themselves to blame for their defeat. For the opening fourty-five minutes, we were lucky to be just one behind, and we didn't look like even coming close to scoring.
The game changed when Frank Lampard hit the bar. If he had scored, it was game over, but we got lucky. The mood in the Stadium changed when Southgate finally set 'the Catt' amongst the pigeons, which lifted the team and the crowd, and forced some fairly basic errors from a Chelsea side which had, until then, been coasting.
For fifteen minutes against Chelsea we looked like a good side; to suggest it was a good overall performance is ludicrous. Still, banished were the memories of the opening day loss at Reading, and confidence was returning.
But last night Southgate demonstrated what many fans, this writer included, have said from day one of his career as manager - that his appointment is a mistake, and that we are taking huge steps, but in the wrong direction.
Monday night was a gutless, spineless and frankly pathetic performance from a group of players not fit to call themselves professionals.
But the thing that pisses me off the most is that we can see what's going wrong.
Cattermole and Boateng in centre midfield, at home, to Portsmouth. Explain that? Two defensively minded, hard tackling players who rarely see the attacking side of the half way line were NEVER IN A MILLION FUCKING YEARS going to create enough to break down a side who had come to sit deep and counter attack. I would love to know the thinking behind leaving one of our only attacking threats, Fabio Rochemback, on the bench.
Combine that with Mendieta on the right, who, as every single Boro fan knows, cannot cut it at this level anymore, and it's fairly obvious that we are going to struggle. How can Southgate have not seen in the last two years that Mendieta isn't good enough?
At the back we look about as composed, commanding and reassuring as Bambi on ice. Riggot needs Southgate next to him or he looks lost, and Pogatetz is proving to be as much a liability in the middle as he did on the left. We need a centre back and everyone knows it. So. where is he?
Should we have appointed a manager who had, before joining, had no contribution or input into the team at all, then mistakes like playing Yakubu and Viduka together could almost be explained away. But the fact that Southgate played with them both last season, and yet still doesn't seem to realise they are incompatible when played alongside one another asks serious question marks about his judgement. For a man who is obviously quite intelligent, he appears to making some stupid decisions at times.
These aren't even criticisms levelled with the use of hindsight. As the team was announced, these errors could be pointed out by probably 90% of the people in the ground.
The 4-0 thrashing wasn't entirely Southgate's fault though. The players need to take responsibility for their performances, and quite simply there were few to come out with even a glimpse of credit. Riggot and Parnaby were shockingly bad, and Cattermole too was poor as he struggled to make an impact in the final third. Re-arrange the words "pegs", "in", "square", "holes" and "round" and you get a phrase that we were promised wouldn't come to pass this season. Clearly, that was wrong.
Yakubu couldn't get involved, nor did Boateng. He's never been the greatest passer, and never will be, but he needs to get amongst the players when the chips are down. His lung-bursting sprint back in a desperate attempt to stop Kanu making it three shows that he cares, but his qualities as a leader leave a lot to be desired.
Downing and Taylor looked fine along the left hand side, but with these two came our only attacking threat, and it look Portsmouth all of ten minutes to work out how to stop us, which they did with the greatest of ease.
We looked unorganised, uninspiring and for long periods, uninterested, and if this kind of dire performance is repeated again, you don't need me to tell you that we can look forward to Championship football next season, it's as simple as that.
What the players need is a good night out so they can get to know each other, because on that performance, they look like they'd only met for the first time in the tunnel on the way out to the pitch.
Should the arrival of Johnny Woodgate actually go ahead, he will be a huge asset, providing of course he stays fit, of which there is no guarantee. He could be a great acquisition, or join the list of washed up, overpaid 'stars' to have graced the Riverside in the last ten years.
And should the Woodgate deal not materialise, Southgate should do the obvious thing, and play the best defender the club has got, himself. It's either that, or a long relegation battle.
Either way, with two 4-0 hammerings in our last four competitive games, we need something to close the gate in our back four that's letting so many goals through. Woodgate or Southgate, I don't mind which.
Same time next week. (when hopefully I'll have calmed down a little bit)
Up the Boro
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