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THE BEGINNING OF CHANGE 17-1-07
Udayan Mukherjee
The year 2007 has well and truly arrived with a bang, with Middlesbrough almost banishing the gloominess of yester-month (not a word, but bear with me) with a very respectable haul of points over the Christmas period and progression in the FA Cup.
Indeed, for the first time in ages (possibly the Jurassic or such like) we have actually won away from home with a very good performance at Charlton. No doubt the retractors will point to the fact that we have been playing some of the poorer teams in this league, and we have got a very hard time in terms of the teams we have to play in future weeks.
The important thing however is that the times have changed and Boro can now go into games without a hoodoo to break, and with a little bit of breathing space between us and the bottom three.
It's no secret that confidence counts for a lot in football matches and during the dark days of this season, when decisions and goals went against us, heads tended to drop. With the groundbreaking victory in Sarf Lahndahn, not only was the first away win achieved, but also a victory in which we went behind.
The last few months have brought with it the beginnings of change, in terms of the playing style that Gareth Southgate wants to achieve, rather than the 'football-by-numbers' approach that was the legacy of the previous regime.
The key to success at this level is not, however, the gung-ho approach that a sizable proportion of fans would want. Losing or drawing high scoring games quickly loses its fun. See the 3-3 draw against Spurs at the Riverside last year: upon leaving the ground all I heard was chuntering about how we let the lead slip three times.
Crucially, Southgate seems to have grasped this important point: a club like Middlesbrough, with current personnel is not geared to simply just attacking football, and will endure periods in every game where the opposition are in the ascendancy.
His long term vision is beginning to show dividends however, with Yakubu and Viduka starting to link up in a promising, if not totally spectacular manner.
To push Middlesbrough forward however, this transfer window must see some new blood in, and all the news we have seen, barring the possible capture of a little known Korean and West Bromwich Albion's Zoltan Gera, has been about the players we are attempting to offload.
One player that we certainly cannot afford to offload is Viduka, for throughout the majority of 2006 and 2007 his performances have been outstanding, and the difference between us and the other teams deep in the relegation quagmire. His holding up of the ball and ability to bring others into play is surely invaluable for the relegation battle that we are still in.
One thing has become clear this season, and that is that our team is simply not good enough compared to what we expect, especially given the relative success of the previous two or three years. Unfortunately our spending power to rectify the situation seems to have diminished rapidly in the last year or two, a situation Keith Lamb has attributed to the club getting the team that it would get the team that it can afford.
Although this was aimed as a dig at the fans primarily, the statement surely rings true to a certain extent, in terms of potential outgoing revenue from players that we could sell to fund transfers into the club. In terms of actual transfer value the likes of Mendieta, Parlour, Rochemback and even record signing Maccarone, we would receive in return a maximum of three to four million pounds, and even that is a wildly optimistic total.
Unfortunately, with the exception of the centre backs and left midield in no position does there seem to be depth or quality, at least in the long term. Viduka will most certainly leave at the end of the season. Xavier, Boateng and Schwarzer are getting a bit long in the tooth (I believe the common term is "coffin dodgers") and in the case of Boateng, performances have suffered.
Cattermole is surely the long term successor to George Boateng, and is certainly capable of filling the gap. Indeed the potential is there for Catts to be better than the Boat, but the crucial aspect as with several of our youngsters is consistently putting those performances in.
The assumption is that Keith Lamb's comments last year were given as a warning to fans for not showing up. This is quite blatantly political spin, and another case of fans being thought of as a bit thick. Less than 30% of income comes through the gates, and this figure is set to rapidly diminish as more and more money is pumped into clubs by Sky television.
If the club acknowledge this and dramatically reduce prices, thus setting a precedent, then fans will surely flock back to la Riv and the overall image of the football club will be improved. Improved crowds surely will go some way to balancing the revenue lost by decreased prices, and are invaluable in terms of vocal and visual backing. The extra few thousand people may be the difference between Middlesbrough finishing up by narrowly avoiding relegation or finishing more near mid table.
The perception of a club's standing in the pecking order is hugely dependant on league positions, especially among the teams that are middle order Premier League teams, i.e. us, Blackburn, Bolton, Fulham etc. Added to the financial benefit of improving league position, it is imperative that not only we avoid relegation, but finish in a respectable position, if we are not to be in the same position of hoping to avoid relegation instead of looking to reach Europe next season.
It seems these days that Middlesbrough is derided as even more inconsequential than usual. This may well be due to the lack of atmosphere and fans attending games. Playing in front of a passionate crowd is one of the many carrots that a club can dangle in front of players (admittedly a lot less of an incentive than bags of cash), and improves the perception of a club. Players see the empty seats around them on visits to the stadium and perhaps feel that it is not somewhere that they would like to play.
At present, with the instability at the club, signing players with pedigree will prove to be difficult. Indeed, any that do come will come for the money, and this is why we may need to go abroad to lesser known players like Gate has attempted with Lee Gook. Hopefully, before the end of the window, we can get rid of some of the deadwood and bring in some talent, who actually want to play for the club.
Even without investment, I still believe we can stay away from the bottom three, having shown some degree of ability and consistency over the last month.
That's all folks.
Up the Boro
Udayan Mukherjee
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