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SO LONG JIMMY 18-1-07
Toby Higgins
Problem, what problem? Regular Rockcliffe Reader's will know that last week's article, "How do you solve a problem like Yakubu?" suddenly looks horrifically outdated and frankly, a little stupid. Since last Tuesday, Yak has bagged two in two, one of which a goal of the month contender, and on Tuesday he increased his fine run of scoring to seven goals in eight games. It appears to be problem solved, for now.
Of course, while Yakubu's miraculous return to goal scoring may appear to have happened overnight, it hasn't. In fact, the same can be said of the team's equally as miraculous return to winning ways. It's happened because of the inspiration of one man; Mark Viduka.
Now, cynics will look at the Viduka currently plying his trade at the Riverside and will speculate that we're witnessing a man returning to what is his 'unplayable' best because the 'stereotypically - greedy - money - grabbing - footballer - with - an - equally - gluttonous - agent - sitting - behind - him - ready - to - take - his - 10% - 20% - of - any - future - signing - on - fee' syndrome has kicked in. There are plenty who support this view, that Viduka can turn it on when it counts, or rather, when he needs to.
His is a run of form which draws almost identical parallels to this time last year, when a Viduka-inspired side sauntered through to the latter rounds of both the F.A. and UEFA Cups. Incidentally, Viduka was absent from the F.A. Cup semi final defeat at Villa Park, and was desperately unlucky not to score what would have been an equaliser in the UEFA Cup final.
The same cynics pointed at Viduka's displays a year ago with similar scepticism as they do now. They argue that Viduka finding the best form of his career just months before the World Cup was no coincidence, and that he had his heart set on a move away from Teesside, having spent the summer in Germany fluttering his Australian eyelashes at potential suitors.
Despite a relatively poor showing for the Socceroos, there were still bids, most openly from Newcastle, and while the club were steadfast in their rejection of any deal, the rumours surrounding Viduka and a move away have failed to subside, particularly as he entered this season, the final year of his contract.
So rife is the speculation that the club's management feel the need to make almost daily announcements regarding their desire to keep the player, whom they value, appreciate; a player Southgate himself described as, "a class act".
However, the latest news is that contract talks won't begin until February, which rules out the possibility of a transfer during the transfer window, and puts the club into a position it seems to find itself in with monotonous regularity.
There can be little doubt that renewing a contract for a player over the age of 30 is much more ponderous than renewing that of a player in his mid-20's, particularly as club and player can rarely agree on the duration of said contract. For players in their mid-20's, the wage is the main stumbling block, for a player on the wrong side of 30, more often than not it's duration. It's easy to see why.
For example, Ugo Ehiogu, who made a rare substitute appearance against Hull on Tuesday night, Ray Parlour and Gaizka Mendieta were all offered contracts that were a year longer than they needed to be, and the club now faces the problem of having three players who are below the required playing standard and who are happy to sit out their contracts, while costing the club around 100k a week between them in wages.
It's a position the club are keen to avoid getting into again, and this was demonstrated last season. From January onwards, George Boateng, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Doriva were playing for what would probably turn out to be their final contracts in professional football, due to age.
While Doriva wasn't offered a contract at all, Hasselbaink was only offered a year, as opposed to the two he wanted, and so it was, in words of James Blunt, "So long, Jimmy", a decision that looks wise now, given Hasselbaink's poor season for Charlton thus far.
With Boateng however, the club buckled to the players demands, and offered him a three year deal, which, given some of his less than dynamic, and at times, woeful displays this season, might look like an error. But then go back twelve months, and every Boro fan would have probably agreed to the offer of a three year deal; anything to keep him here. It demonstrates wonderfully how difficult these decisions are.
The club face the same dilemma with Viduka. Assuming the player wants to stay (which is a huge assumption to make, given what happened with Bolo Zenden in 2005, when he told the fans he wanted to stay, but actually had no intention of doing so) he's going to want a minimum of a three year contract, on a slightly better wage than he's on now.
It's a huge financial commitment for the club to make, especially because, as the cynics will again undoubtedly point out, he could well sign this contract, sit back and count his money in the same vein as Parlour and Mendieta have done.
The decision is a far from easy one, and whatever happens, as a writer and a fan, it'll be all too easy to criticize if it goes wrong. Ultimately though, there are people at the club who get paid handsomely to get these decisions right. We have to trust them, and hope that this is one of those decisions, like the decision to let Jimmy go, that turns out to be a good one.
Speaking of Jimmy, it's a true sign of the character of the man that, after scoring the opener against us at the Valley last Saturday, he celebrated, as you would expect, before holding his hands up apologetically to the Boro faithful. Anyone who booed him, or hurled abuse, is no Boro fan. Jimmy was superb while he was at Boro, and we'll all do well to remember that.
The 4-3 thriller against Hull means that we'll have to overcome Bristol City in round four if we want to be the first club ever to win the F.A. Cup in the new Wembley stadium. Believe it. The Cup is coming to Teesside. We're notorious for producing the unexpected, so why can't we do it again?
And finally, while I didn't write this myself (so don't sue, Blunt), it seems to sum up the end of Hasselbaink's career at Boro quite nicely.
So long, Jimmy, so long.
Though you only stayed a moment,
We all know that you're the one.
So long, Jimmy, so long.
Sure we're glad for the experience,
We miss you now you've gone.
We're just swimming in your soul 'cause,
We all wish we wrote this song.
Life goes on.
Thanks for the memories, Jimmy.
Same time next week.
Up the Boro
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