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IT'S UP TO THE CURRENT SQUAD 27-11-06
Udayan Mukherjee
Last week's match was boring wasn't it? Having my Boro based viewing limited to Match of the Day and Football First recently, I was positively buzzing at the prospect of a Boro victory in a pub where I was the only Boro fan, and the rest it seemed were pretty die-hard Scousers.
Entering the pub, regaled in my Boro shirt (which incidentally is a bit shite - when are we going to get rid of Errea?), the first thing heard was "'Ere mate, yer in the wrong pub aren't yer". Responding by saying, "Er, Nor like" may not, in hindsight, have been a clever move.
But still, despite the hostility, I settled down and began to get excited about a fixture that historically (recently, anyway) has thrown up some good results. Armed with a pint and flanked by a Chelsea fan (who looks like a tramp that drinks sherry out of a paper bag, and shouts random things like "Arr, Cheese makes yer smell nice". Or something), and a Welshman who kept shouting bizarre things like "you suck" (and no doubt something about Pot Noodle), I was ready for a ding dong battle (© someone whose name I can't be bothered to look up) between two famous old clubs, despite something called a "Jason Euell".
With the club finally doing something approaching business sense, and charging only(!) 24-28 quid to get in, we got an attendance that wasn't embarrassing, and indeed pretty impressive. Early on it looked as though, despite the lack of key players Downing, Viduka and erm Ray Parlour, we had enough grit and determination to cause this Liverpool team a problem or two.
In the event, we shut up shop and defended admirably, especially Johnny Woodgate.
Although allegedly being a party animal of epic proportions, he keeps playing amazingly well, with an assuredness that means that he is surely a candidate for player of the season. Hopefully we can improve our form and increase the chances of Woody staying beyond the current campaign. His cool head, tackling ability and awareness of danger (see that goal line clearance v the Scousers) remind me of our manager, a certain Mr Southgate, a man whose fashion sense is starting to get so astonishingly poor that he makes my dad look like David Beckham. For the record a 5"10' Indian gadgie with white hair, glasses and a huge belly does NOT look like Beckham. At least he doesn't wear fucking sarongs though.
Pogatetz has also continued to play like a man possessed. Possessed by a good player that is, as opposed to being possessed by a slightly drunk Andy Campell, like he seemed at times last year. At centre back he seems at home, and incredibly is still displacing Robert Huth, who by all accounts has been amazing in the few games that he has played. Indeed the position which I decreed to be the major worry at the beginning of this season has turned out to be the part of the team which many would kill for.
Unfortunately, as it always is with Boro, the rest of our team has gone to shit. Hopefully however with the clouds hanging over Southgate in terms of whether he will actually be allowed to keep the job have finally lifted.
Like it or not, and I personally am not sure either way, The Gate is here to stay. Hopefully it has been the uncertainty over his future that caused the players to not fulfil their potential, rather than simply not having the ability or, God forbid, being lazy or unmotivated.
Simply put, the time has come for Southgate to shine. He is now definitely manager and can start to fully put his stamp on things without players questioning whether he will still be here in a couple of weeks time.
I still feel GS will be a good if not great manager, but it is up to the current squad to show some grit, and increasingly, prove that they have the quality to not only cut it in the Premiership, but to make us a force to be reckoned with.
The January transfer window is an opportunity we must not miss. Creativity in this side and previous Middlesbrough sides has been a long term problem. It seems that year in year out we only have a few people who turn it on regularly enough to make us an efficient and, dare I say it, exciting attacking unit.
At present the only one who looks like he has something about him is Stewart Downing, even though his threat seems to have diminished since that brilliant first season. This is surely due to the fact that opposition managers have become wise to the fact that week in week out, he is the only one who delivers.
Left wingers by their very nature, however, are inconsistent meaning that the other creative players ie Rochemback, Viduka (injured at present), Yakubu and James Morrison have to create their fair share. There are problems with all four of these players, in terms of how they play compared to their potential.
Rochemback is the nearest thing we have to a playmaker, and the way he has been deployed is ineffective to say the least. Considering that he is the only one who can pass a ball out of our midfielders, he is played too deep. He is, admittedly a defensive midfielder (so says Football manager), but has shown effectiveness, especially at the tail end of last year when getting forward. Let's face it, if he isn't creating, then he is as much use as a cock flavoured lollypop.
Viduka and Yakubu seem like shadows of what they were at times last year, but the upside is that with the correct instruction and intensive training, they have more than enough talent to be quality. The fact that both of them look like they are carrying something under their shirts mean one of two things.
a) They're suicide bombers and hence shouldn't be allowed anywhere never mind near multi million pound football and 30,000 fans or b) They're too fat.
Getting them on top of their game again may be dependant on whether we can get a third striker to challenge, be it Massimo, Malcolm "He's like a new signing! Honest!" Christie or one bought during the transfer window. Possible options include Nugent or Keane from Spurs. Watch us sign Ricketts for twelve million.
Hopefully the following games, starting with Manchester United will start to show something of the real Boro, as we saw in glimpses at Villa Park on Saturday. Away form has been a problem all season, and indeed throughout the tail-end of last season. It is something we need to rectify. It is surely not a case of less support, as when we go away we take large and vocal numbers, who often out-sing the home crowd, and indeed are much louder, more often, than the often embarrassing levels of sound made at the Riverside.
The idea of the Twelfth Man is admirable, but it really shouldn't have to had come to this.
We, as Teessiders are vilified across the country, for living in the so called sixth worst place to live in the country. As such we have developed a siege mentality as well the well aired Teesside cynicism. That siege mentality must be transferred to the terraces in a show of pride for the People's Republic of Teesside.
After finally getting dispensation to carry on as manager, Gareth Southgate's Red and White Army will hopefully get a sense of that Tees pride and give their all for the furthering of the Boro cause.
Up the Boro!
That's all folks.
P.S. The mooted development of Middlehaven is clearly a step forward for this town, and I for one am happy. Although the design pictures do look slightly tacky, anything is better than the impression visitors get of our fine town from the wastelands by the docks.
NOW HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE NEW HOLGATE FORUM
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