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ALL CHANGE FOR TOP TEN 3-4-07
Karl Watson
For the last couple of weeks, relegation seemed to have slipped our minds as the optimistic gave us a chance of qualifying for Europe and getting to another FA Cup final. However, with the results on Saturday we have all been made aware that we are far from safe.
The performance against West Ham was simply diabolical. This is a West Ham side who cannot keep clean sheets and cannot win games regardless, and on Saturday they simply brushed aside a team who two weeks previous had 'realistic' chances of qualifying for Europe.
But realistically, who were we really kidding? Did we ever have a chance of qualifying for Europe when we have only won one of our last twenty four games away from home?
Our priorities lay in other fields; this year it was the FA Cup and league performances faltered as a result. However against West Ham there had been no midweek game. In fact the players had just come back from a week off and it seems like half of them felt they wanted two.
West Ham boast an unwanted record along with Watford as having the worst defence in the league and by quite some margin. Most sides have gone to Upton Park this year and won. Even Watford went there, scored and won. The fact that we couldn't do neither was simply embarrassing. If we had changed anyone's opinion over our status as a better than mediocre side then their opinions had certainly changed again after Saturday's pathetic attempts.
Branded 'Unacceptable' by manger Gareth Southgate, I just wonder what will be done about it. Under Steve McClaren we had many 'Unacceptable' performances yet it didn't stop us from turning out more unacceptable performances week in week out away from home.
The fact that we boast a good home record and have gone on a very nice cup run again this season has simply pulled the wool over our eyes and disguised what has been another shambolic display in this season's Premiership.
If anything really is done, we will see the effects at Wigan on the penultimate game and in away games against mediocre sides next season. The fact that we have only beaten Charlton away this season does not stand us in good stead for visits away from home, and until this problem is sufficiently addressed we are always going to be a mediocre side battling for thirteenth place.
Would finishing in the top half really be a success this season? Would it really bring a smile to our faces? Yes, everyone may look back at our cup run, but let's be brutally honest; we would have mocked a side that couldn't have beaten Hull City, Bristol City, and West Bromwich Albion to set up a quarter final clash with Manchester United.
Things have got to change drastically if we are to become a good top ten side.
Our home record has saved us this season. Without all those wins against good sides like Chelsea and Bolton, we would be starring down the barrel of the Championship.
What does concern me is how much press coverage our big four players have got, and whether or not they will get lured away from us in the summer. There is no question in my eyes that Jonathan Woodgate, Stewart Downing, Yakubu, and Mark Viduka would do very well at a top six side.
These top six sides have much more to offer in ambition than we do and they will look at these players and think they can lure them away from Boro with great ease.
Since the defeat in last years UEFA Cup final, we were promised a great season with entertaining football and at last, a real good go at the league. And let's face it, it just hasn't happened.
Our season has petered out to nothing and the only thing left we have to play for is to make sure we will be playing in the Premiership next year. I have no doubts that we will be in the Premiership next year because our home record will help us out and we will probably win three out of the last four remaining at the Riverside.
But next year has got to be better than this. Yes, we all want to see silverware in the cabinet, but players aren't lured to clubs because of a lucky one off run in the cup. They go to teams that can offer the chance of European football, that can fill grounds and that realistically can win many games, home and away.
For the second successive season there will be no European football, and from the last nine seasons in the top flight, we have only ever secured a top half finish twice. That is not good enough, and that is why we will find it very difficult to sign top quality players in the summer.
Middlesbrough are in serious danger of getting left behind. The gulf between the top four and the top six is huge. But then again the difference between a side in the top six like Tottenham and Middlesbrough is huge. If we do not break the top ten next year then we could get left behind and face a huge challenge to break the mould.
The game against Watford will be another battle but with Watford almost resigned to relegation, Boro should we looking to pick up another three points. What we need on Saturday is a performance that will raise our players' confidence for what will be two very difficult away games next up.
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