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SOUTHGATE, EHIOGU AND BOATENG IN PROFILE
Andrew Morgan
In recent seasons the Boro have done a lot of transfer activity with Aston Villa, transfer activity that normally involved players leaving the Birmingham club and heading north. Gareth Southgate followed Ugo Ehiogu to resurrect the defensive partnership that had been destroyed through the latter's departure and even George Boateng joined in the fun a few seasons later. So let's take a more in-depth profile of these three former Villa stalwarts.
Gareth Southgate had been on the Villa Park transfer list for over a year before becoming Steve McClaren's first major signing when he moved to the Riverside in the summer of 2001. This was surprising at the time because Southgate had stated his desire to play for a club that had regular Champions League aspirations. This may have had something to do with his desire to further his England career as from the end of 1998 he had been continuously overlooked for a birth in the England set-up, despite his scoring his first England goal against Luxembourg in the October of that year. Southgate obviously believed that regular Champions League football would further his England chances and enable him to claw back the pivotal role he had played in England's defence in Euro 96.
However the reason why he joined the Boro may have been partly due to the insistence of former Villa Park team mate Ugo Ehiogu who had been signed by Bryan Robson in the November of 2000 (before the days of this January transfer window nonsense) for a then record fee of £8m. Before then Ehigou had had a career centred around the Midlands, which was a far cry from his Hackney roots. Indeed Ron Atkinson had signed the defender for £40000 from West Brom in 1989, probably completely unaware of the profit he was going to make on him some eleven years later.
His quality however started to shine through almost immediately, particularly in the partnership that he formed with Southgate under the stewardship of Brian Little. Indeed it was Little who decided that Southgate should be played in defence rather than in the midfield, which had been his position up until that point. And it was from here that his partnership with Ugo started to develop. With a side based on such a solid unit, the Villains not only managed to attain their most consistent and most impressive League finishes in recent times but they also managed to win the League Cup in 1996, beating Leeds United in the final. In 2000 both players helped Villa reach the FA Cup final, where they were beaten by Chelsea.
This alerted the England manager Terry Venables and both players were invited to form part of his squads. Southgate however was often more in favour than his Villa team-mate, probably because of the strong partnership he managed to set up with Arsenal centre-back Tony Adams. Southgate made his England debut against Poland in 1996, just prior to the European Championships. He was also an integral part of the team that made it to the semi-finals in England that year, before missing that penalty against the Germans. Ehiogu meanwhile had been recruited into the England squad for the tour of China before Euro 96 but failed to make the cut for the Championships.
Upon reforming his partnership with Ehiogu in 2001 it initially seemed that Southgate made the right career choice, at least in terms of his England prospects. He was a part of the 2002 World Cup squad in Japan and Korea but unfortunately did not start. He also has managed to take advantage of injuries to Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell to gain some more caps for England (including his 50th - in the 1-1 draw against Portugal at his old stomping ground Villa Park) but what with a new generation of centre-backs appearing to be favoured, it looks like his England days have long gone. Ehigou meanwhile has managed to attain a few caps under Sven, including scoring in the match against Spain, again at Villa Park but he has always been second-fiddle to his ex-Villa team mate.
Southgate became captain at Villa in 1996 but upon his move to the Boro found himself subjugated by midfielder Paul Ince in his first two seasons. However leadership qualities shine through and he was given the captain's armband in 2002, a role that he has frequently enjoyed at the club for the past three and a half seasons.
Southgate and Ehiogu's injury records could not be more different, at least at the Boro. In the previous four seasons Southgate has made 37, 36, 27 and 36 League appearances for the club respectively, whilst Ehiogu has only managed 29, 31, 16 and 9. This season Southgate has made 20 League appearances to Ehiogu's 8. In recent seasons Ehiogu has been prone to injuries and is far more inconsistent than he once was. It was this that partly precipitated his proposed move to West Brom last month, a move that would have seen Bryan Robson once more signing the defender. It would also have seen him return to one of his former clubs. However that move fell flat due to Boro's mounting injury crisis at that time, which was partly a good thing as he is the only competent aerial presence in the side. Personal terms at West Brom could also not be agreed and Ehiogu was recalled to replace Southgate, who had been incapacitated through an ankle injury.
The third player to join the Boro from Villa in recent times was Dutch international George Boateng, who was a £5m signing signed by McClaren in the August of 2002. Like Ehiogu, he had played out his English football career exclusively in the Midlands (he had started off at Feyenoord), starting off at Coventry City before moving to Villa in July 1999 for £4.5m. 131 appearances in a fiercely competitive side saw Boateng move to the Boro and make his debut during the 0-0 draw against Southampton. McClaren had seen that Boateng was unsettled at Villa and, with the caret of being reunited with his two defensive colleagues, decided the time was right to make a move for the impressive defensive midfielder.
He has made 35, 25 and this season, 17 League appearances for the Boro but is also, like Ehiogu starting to be blighted by injury. Indeed last season, during his absence between Boxing Day and 2 April, the Boro only managed to win one League match (at home to Blackburn, 1-0 in February) thus demonstrating his pivotal role to the team. This has been further demonstrated by his receipt of the captaincy on certain occasions. It also does not auger well for our survival chances as he is injured once more, but may make his return in less than a fortnight.
All three of these former Villa stalwarts have added to the quality of the Boro side and indeed have helped us to build the foundations of our regular European competing side, as well as the side that won the Carling Cup. However all three are in their thirties and are starting to become more injury prone, and maybe this is one of the reasons for our poorer performance this season. How many will play against Villa is uncertain but their absence is weakening the team and it is partly because of this that we are where we are in the League. However all three players have given excellent service to the club and are doubtless desperate to play against their former team mates.
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