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I'M DREAMING
OF A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS 07-12--06
Karl Watson and Tom Warnock
Watson says...
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. If you time how long it takes yourself to read this article you will probably find you can read this for longer than Boro can keep hold of a good result. If truth be told not many of us would have expected many points against Manchester United and Spurs but it was the manner in which we lost both games which really angered me.
O.K Manchester United had ten world class players on the pitch, one proverbial diver, and the referee on their side but they probably deserved the win. But after James Morrison had got us back on level terms the Boro of last season would probably have kicked on and led us to another great victory. Even if it was Manchester United, we should have been able to keep them out for longer than two minutes.
Tuesday night wasn't much better either. If anything it was worse. The performance wasn't particularly encouraging and Spurs really should have been home and dry before Robert Huth grabbed his first goal for the Teessiders with the thunderous shot he tries every game. Again we probably didn't deserve to take anything from the game but not being able to hold on to a good result must be worrying for Gareth Southgate. Good teams pick up points even when they haven't played well. So, does that make us a bad team?
With the Boro it always seems to be the case that we are struggling to get a goal to get us back in the game, or we are defending desperately trying not to concede and holding out for a draw. It is just that one goal that is eluding us this season. We have not lost many games by more than one goal, yet we haven't won many this season by more than one either. I just wondered if Gareth sent our troops out to attack, attack, attack from the word 'Go' whether we could really punish a side?
Captain fantastic George Boateng did himself no favours at all on Tuesday night. O.K it was never a sending off and he probably was just protecting himself but a small small part of me would like to see him missing for three games just to see how we cope without him. I'm pretty sure we would be no worse off in his absence, however if we were to get battered during those three games, I will eat my words. I may not be George's biggest fan right now but I have to be honest, I think we will need him for these games.
I was annoyed at George for Tottenham's winner on Tuesday. Was I the only one who saw George laughing when Huddlestone put the ball down for the free kick? Why wasn't he ordering our players about, making sure they were ready should the free kick be taken early? We slept in but I still feel Schwarz should have saved Keane's shot. It wasn't anything special and he was in a good position to save it.
It seems like we are heading down the same road of a few seasons back where we just couldn't buy a win away from home (maybe we should all look on eBay to see if anyone's selling one on the cheap?). I thought the players' confidence would have risen after a spell of three decent results but perhaps Gareth just hasn't got them to gel yet.
I still have a huge amount of faith in Gareth however even if he is 'naïve' (yeah right Fergie, stop trying to defend your soft, cry baby of a winger. Anyone would have thought he was playing on an ice rink on Saturday, not the hallowed pitch of the Riverside.)
Don't worry I am going to cheer up a little bit now because despite two defeats and the fact that we are still looking behind rather than in front, I think by the time everyone has realised they have had too many parmos over Christmas and need to take off some pounds around the waist, pounds of a different sort will have been spent in the transfer market and we may have had a good Christmas after all.
We do have a few tricky away fixtures during Christmas which I don't us expect to win. But then we can't win away from home anyway so to cheer ourselves up perhaps we should look at our next three home fixtures? Agreed? Well even if you don't I'm going to bang on about them anyway.
Our next home game is against Wigan and they are not the greatest of travellers themselves. We have Viduka debatably earning his money again (whilst hopefully not eating his chocolate money) so maybe we will be able to score a few goals especially because Yakubu can't score for the chocolate in his advent calendar right now.
Our depth isn't great when it comes to our forward line. Christie has just come back but it probably won't be long before his Twiglet of a leg breaks or he gets a bite taken out of it whilst Maccarone has probably got his mind on what present he's going to get whoever he drew for the Secret Santa. I am hoping we bring in another striker come January as I felt we were really exposed once Viduka got injured, particularly as the Yak went through his drought at the same time.
After that we will all think we have gone back to school when Charlton bring up their usual one man and their dog to the Riverside. Yes, the Boro are charging just one pound for children to try and get the place full which is what we need right now. If the ground had more people in it to generate more atmosphere I know we would play better football but I can't blame people for turning their backs. I mean who wants to step out their home in the cold to watch Boro v Charlton - it's not the most appetising game is it? But yes, it is a great idea letting kids in for a pound.
On New Years' Day it's Sheffield United at the Riverside and that is another game we should be looking to win. The next three home games are games we must get points from. Sheffield United and Charlton are below us right now, so if we can't beat them at home then who can we beat? Those three games will probably tell us what our season will be like and if we will be involved in a scrap come April and May (that is if we're not already in a scrap).
Boro fans always experience a Christmas of bad weather, rubbish T.V and even worse football but let's make it different this year. There is no reason why we can't win our next three home games and look forward to what we all hope will be a successful 2007. Apart from the UEFA Cup Final and some good results at home we haven't really had much to shout about this year and I hope everyone is just looking forward to putting things right and getting this club back in the right direction again.
Warnock Says...
A week has passed since my last contribution to the ComeOnBoro cause, and in that week there's been no contribution to the column reading 'Pts' next to the Boro. Two games played, two games lost, two comebacks immediately eradicated, and a red card and penalty controversy spattered all over the place. An eventful week certainly. An enjoyable one, not so much.
Where to start is the question. Realistically we probably expected to lose both games, which is what happened, so we shouldn't be too despondent. Or maybe the fact we expected to lose is reason enough to be so.
In truth we almost matched United on Saturday and perhaps we did enough to warrant a point. Both goals were dubious, the first was dubious on the part of the referee and the second on the part of our defence, who proceeded to do their impression of the kids party game 'statues' and allow United's world beating winger Darren Fletcher to score a goal which took skill and class. Yes I'm being sarcastic.
Despite what Sir Alex says, Ronaldo is a diver. Yet despite what Southgate says, he didn't dive for the penalty, nor was it a foul. Skippy dived the right way and was unlucky not to save the resulting Saha penalty. Credit to the team, after United's goal we played some decent football and were good value for our equaliser, which was sublimely finished by Morrison.
There's only one way of describing our momentary defensive freeze - frustrating. Ball watching is something a professional footballer should never be caught doing, let alone an entire back line at the same time. We deserved better but if you lapse like that in the top flight, against the team top of the league, you're going to be punished, it's simple.
It was a deflating defeat. We always build ourselves up for the visits of United and it was a bitter aftertaste to see them leave with three points. We had to bounce back against Tottenham or risk getting into a run of winless games. Having said that, a point would have been respectable despite it not doing much to enhance our league position.
We got neither, and it was the same as Saturday; drag ourselves back into the picture then let it slip with a needless lapse in concentration. It was a good strike by Keane but he should never have been given the chance to shoot.
Southgate changed the side again, leaving Morrison out despite him scoring against United. This was a mistake. We went into the fixture with a negative mindset, and we were pummelled in the first half. Spurs were far superior in terms of efforts on goal; Gareth must look seriously at our tactics away from home. We invited pressure and only got our goal from a set piece, which demonstrates our attacking fluidity, i.e. that there was none.
I'm bitterly disappointed with Yakubu thus far, with Jimmy leaving and Dukes injured he was the spearhead of our attack and our lack of options going forward means we rely on his talents. But we are yet to see them this season. He will no doubt point the finger at the lack of service, and the midfield may point the finger elsewhere. It does seem as if the team aren't playing with the unity of last season, in the cups especially. The players don't look as if they're enjoying themselves, and it comes across as there being some turbulence in the dressing room. This of course is mere speculation, but something's not right on the pitch.
The sad scenario is that we can't really expect more than this, meaning this was always going to be a season of difficulties and was always going to be a learning curve for the new manager. It's ludicrous to expect a rookie boss to step into the hot seat and fire us up the league with no managerial experience whatsoever. In truth, the most we were ever going to achieve was bottom half mediocrity.
Our next six games are mainly against teams around us and this will determine where we go. Traditionally, Christmas is a less than prosperous period for the Boro, which goes without saying. This year must be different. We cannot afford to lose to the likes of Charlton and Sheffield United, or we will soon find ourselves in a relegation battle, if we aren't in one already.
Last season we let Wigan score a last minute winner at the Riverside after a game we clawed back from 0-2 down to 2-2. A repeat outcome would be disastrous; we must win this fixture to keep our heads above the water, for a third consecutive defeat would be a serious hole in this already sinking ship.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE NEW HOLGATE MESSAGE BOARD
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