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AND SO IT ENDS... AGAIN 16-5-07
Toby Higgins
It doesn't seem a full year since the most glamorous match in Middlesbrough Football Club's history ended in a resounding, crushing defeat.
May 10th 2006 will always be looked back on with fondness, despite its painful outcome. Clubs around the country strive to qualify for European competition for just a chance of a 'great European night'. We, to that end, are spoiled, in that we were graced with two in the space of a matter of weeks.
And of course, it's not as though we were humbled by an average, middle of the road European side. Sevilla have this season reached the UEFA Cup final for a second year running, and are currently just two points behind Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid in the race for La Liga. The final last year was just one weight above our punching capacity - but we are just a small town in Europe, after all.
During the summer weeks, the winds of change howled viciously around the walls of the Riverside. Out went McClaren, Queudrue and Hasselbaink, and in came a man who few expected, and frankly, who few wanted, to take to the club into the future. Step forward, Gareth Southgate.
The early signs were far from promising. The coaching badge fiasco meant that, understandably, Southgate's focus wasn't entirely on the first team, and a record of just one win in his first eight, including a 4-0 thrashing at home to Portsmouth and an equally embarrassing 1-0 reverse to Notts County in the League Cup meant by the end of September, the sound of knives being sharpened could be heard right across Teesside.
However, the arrival of Jonathan Woodgate, now a permanent signing, lifted the mood considerablyand the results soon changed as Southgate began to make the side look like his own, rather than McClaren's.
The major turning point in the season though, has surely got to be the decision taken by Southgate in December to remove Steve Round and replace him with Boro legend Colin Cooper.
Cooper has always been a model professional, and clearly has the respect of every player in the dressing room, particularly the youngsters, with whom Cooper has spent much time during recent years as reserve team coach. That is not to say Southgate doesn't, but the transition from player to manager is often difficult for other players to accept, and Cooper's presence on the touchline has seen a marked difference in the results, and performances.
From January until mid March, Boro played fifteen games, losing only once, away to Chelsea, and from then until the season's end, Boro have never been serious contenders for relegation, though of course everything looks rosier under the influence of hindsight. There were some fairly nervy moments during April when we could have been dragged perilously close to fighting for our lives. But we weren't.
As always, some players have had better seasons than others. Emmanuel Pogatetz has been inspired alongside Jonathan Woodgate, Julio Arca has taken us a step closer to forgetting Bolo Zenden, Andrew Taylor did the same with regards to Frank Queudrue, while the form of Mark Viduka since the turn of the year has been phenomenal.
There are players who have struggled too this season. Yakubu didn't score again after February for the second season running, George Boateng looks to have struggled to find his form since being named Southgate's successor as captain, and Chris Riggot and Robert Huth have both failed to make any significant impact.
Another who has failed to impress is Lee Cattermole. After bursting onto the scene eighteen months ago, Cattermole has wracked up over sixty appearances for Boro, but a season on the right of midfield has resulted in some woeful displays, and for the final game of the season, Cattermole wasn't even on the bench.
Cattermole is not a right-winger; of that there is no dispute. But the midfielder has looked out of his depth too often this season, irrespective of his position. It could be that pressure placed upon his shoulders by the media and the fans (some of whom staggeringly labelled him the 'next England captain' after only a handful of games) might be affecting him, or alternatively, it could be that he's just not good enough.
It's worth looking at the progress made by Stewart Downing and Andrew Taylor, who despite being young, have firmly established themselves in the first team and have dislodged recognised first team players in the process. Cattermole has struggled to achieve this, so much so that Fabulous Rochemback has managed to win back his place in midfield next to Arca, with Boateng being shifted out to the wing.
Sixty games should be more than enough to determine whether or not a player has what it takes to compete at the top; but it would seem the jury are still out on Cattermole. Keeping faith with him simply because he's a 'local lad' would be a small-minded error. Next season will make or break his career.
The big pieces of business that need concluding quickly this summer are in attack. While rumours of a £15million bid for Yakubu might be just that. But if it is true, he's surely going to be sold, and of course Mark Viduka's contract has all but expired.
Two years ago, Bolo Zenden left the club on a free transfer and last season, George Boateng signed when he could have walked. However, since then, Boateng hasn't really been the same, and I suspect the same could happen with Viduka.
During his first season, Viduka was injured a lot, didn't score many goals and looked otherwise uninterested. Then last season, with the World Cup looming, he rolled out some displays of sheer brilliance, and has done the same this season as his contract neared its completion.
Whether or not Viduka's performances will dip after signing his contract is something I suspect we will never know. If he wanted to stay, and indeed, was going to stay, he would have signed a new contract by now. He knows how much the fans want him to stay, but so did Zenden. Viduka will have better options on the table than staying with us. I'm certainly not holding my breath.
Yakubu is, according to reports, set to depart this summer too. Finding two strikers for the start of next season will be tough, particularly when you consider that Julio Arca (3) is our next leading scorer.
Where to get a half decent striker from is a huge worry, but it can be done by sides outside of the top four. As proof, I'll point you in the direction of Carlos Tevez, Benni McCarthy and Dmitar Berbatov. Of course, if we don't fill the gap left by the pair, we are going to be in the most serious of relegation battles from day one, simply because we won't score enough to stay up.
But let's worry about that nearer the time. Given this has been Southgate's first season in charge, it's more than fair to say it's been a good one. For a young manager he has handled some very difficult situations very well, and has made as many good decisions as he has bad. A final position of 12th is respectable for a first year, and sets a good benchmark for next season.
Hopefully a summer without a major international tournament is just what the players and management need before we start all over again next August.
UP THE BORO!
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