BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX © All written site content is copyright ComeOnBoro.com 2004-2007, unless otherwise stated, and is not to be used without prior permission.	MIDDLESBROUGH 0 BLACKBURN ROVERS 1 - MATCH REPORT, Premier League, Saturday 23rd September 2006 After the humiliation of Middlesbrough's mid-week League Cup exit against Notts County still fresh in the mind, the Boro were hoping to bounce back and build on their last two impressive results in the League. The fans' call for the return of Australian striker Mark Viduka was ignored by manager Gareth Southgate who only offered him a place on the bench. Out of form striker Yakubu started alone up-front in a 4-5-1 formation that brought back many of those who were rested on Wednesday. Stewart Parnaby was pushed forward into midfield whilst Andrew Davies reclaimed his right-back berth. Fabio Rochemback was set to play in the reverse-sweeper position in front of the defence, possibly making the formation 4-1-4-1. Captain Jonathan Woodgate made his home Boro debut whilst Germany international Robert Huth was nowhere to be seen. Schwarzer, Davies (Johnson 83), Woodgate, Pogatetz, Taylor, Parnaby, Morrison (Viduka 45), Euell, Rochemback, Mendieta (Cattermole 45), Yakubu, Turnbull, Bates THE FIRST HALF The game started with tempo, with Jonathan Woodgate winning an early challenge and releasing the Boro in attack. The ball however came right back at the Boro and a corner was conceded. From the corner the defensive frailties that we thought had been abolished since the signing of Jonathan Woodgate almost came back to haunt us as Kerimoglu Tugay was found on the edge of the area and completely in space. Fortunately for Boro he spooned his shot over the bar. The video of Boro's Carling Cup performance that Rovers watched in training was obviously having an adverse effect on the Blackburn man. A minute later a lovely one-two from Blackburn forced a save from Mark Schwarazer. The ball out resulted in a Gaizka Mendieta break and his weak shot needed a comfortable save from Brad Friedel. Eight minutes in Boro had their most promising opportunity when Yakubu had a shot from twenty yards despite having his back to go and two Blackburn men hassling him. It was easily saved by the Blackburn keeper. David Bentley and Benni McCarthy's movement was making it difficult for Emmanuel Pogatetz and they were getting considerable joy. Their pace was torturing the Austrian and underlining this another Bentley run resulted in another Bentley cross which forced another save from Schwarzer on twelve minutes. A Fabio Rochemback free-kick on fourteen was ineffective after the referee had suffered the harangues from the fans who believed he should have played advantage. Blackburn broke from this and got yet another cross in, this time from Brett Emerton. Schwarzer gathered. It was now the Boro's turn to break and Morrison led the charging before passing to Stewart Parnaby. His cross was deflected and Boro earned a corner but this was comfortably cleared by the Rovers defence. On nineteen Brett Emerton took a speculative shot from thirty-five yards which was charged down by Boro's captain fantastic Jonathan Woodgate. The game at this stage was being dominated by promising attacks from Boro that fizzled out due to passing to players who were out of position. The shape was suspect at this stage and no side, particularly Boro, could get the bit between their teeth and push up. The only excitement in the next five minutes was Tugay getting a booking for kicking the ball away. The Boro fans were hoping that he could repeat his performance against Boro at Ewood Park two years ago when the hapless midfielder got sent off. What Blackburn could do on the wings (like Notts County before them), the Boro were hopeless and were again attacking down the middle to no avail. Disjointed was the optimum word as the players descended into the malaise that cost them so dear three days ago. Defensively we had resorted to our lack of marking again and Tugay was once more free on twenty-seven. Thankfully the ball didn't break to him but our defensive performance was causing concern. And to underline this point, Blackburn took the lead a minute later and again it was David Bentley who was providing the threat. The Boro left failed to close Bentley down and he crossed in from the right. The defence was static, allowing Shabani Nonda to ghost in behind Woodgate and power a bullet header past Schwarzer from six yards. MIDDLESBROUGH 0 BLACKBURN 1 (Nonda 27) The Boro tried to break from this and almost scored after Mendieta fed in Jason Euell. His header was tame however and Friedel comfortably saved. And then came Boro's best chance of the match. Fabio Rochemback split the Rovers defence and fed in Jason Euell who was in line with the penalty spot. The former Charlton midfielder's shot beat the keeper but also beat the left hand post, failing to reach its target. The Boro came forward again but yet they tried to play it through the middle, despite having players out wide in good positions. This was frustrating the Boro fans who had become rather muted since Nonda's goal. On thirty-seven Boro's midfield collapsed and allowed Benni McCarthy to sneak in and launch a powerful shot towards goal. Schwarzer was at full-stretch but thankfully the ball went just the right side of the post from a Boro perspective. Two minutes later a Lucas Neill shot caused problems in the Boro defence as Schwarzer spilled it. It nearly fell to Robbie Savage but the goalkeeper recovered just in time. Blackburn were in the ascendancy now and they were coming at Boro from all angles. The key was Robbie Savage and Tugay who were winning every ball in the centre of midfield. Despite having five in there they were being made to look poor by only two opposition players. Yakubu meanwhile was being nullified as he was being man-marked by the whole of Blackburn defence. This sterilised Boro's attacking threat and was the reason why Boro's positive play was being broken down on the edge of the eighteen yard box. Determination and motivation were also the key as Boro were lacklustre compared to their vitalised opponents. If you want a reason as to why attendances are dwindling then look no further than this pedestrian performance that was lacking in ideas. The players were met with boos as the halftime whistle blew and quite frankly you couldn't blame the fans. Things would have to improve in the second half as the fans were starting to have enough. FAN REACTION "Here starts our winter of discontent" Jasboro "I'm beginning to think that Southgate and his backroom staff are not up to it" Peppery John THE SECOND HALF The fans prayers were finally answered as Mark Viduka replaced James Morrison and Lee Cattermole replaced Mendieta at half-time. The Boro switched to 4-4-2 with the hope of giving Yakubu some support after being marked out of the game throughout the first half. The hope was that Cattermole could provide a bit of tenacity in the centre of midfield as Blackburn had cut through our middle five all too easily in the opening forty-five. And that tenacity was demonstrated in the first minute as Lee Cattermole forced foul play from Benni McCarthy, who was booked as a result. The Boro had started out brighter this half and the fans could now see a passion that had been sadly lacking up to this point. A Davies, Schwarzer collision on fifty-one almost gifted Rovers a second goal but Schwarzer recovered just in time. Davies was injured in the process but this did not touch the Aussie's heart who gave the young right-back a right rollocking for getting in his way. Boro's first yellow card followed as Euell was booked for a late challenge. This was not the main talking point however as at this point Robbie Savage's hideously unfashionable underpants were exposed as he was forced to change kit due to the spilling of blood. Maybe the Boro were playing with more gusto this half after all. The referee had started to lose it and was giving away many niggly free-kicks. A Bentley run was thwarted by Andrew Davies as Boro's defence finally realised that this was from where Blackburn's main threat was coming. At the other end however the Boro weren't doing very much. Boos of frustration rang around the Riverside as the fans lambasted Graeme Poll for not giving an extremely soft penalty. It was more a case of Euell slipping but the fans were more conscious of the Boro slipping dangerously close to the bottom three. On sixty-two a Viduka run tried to release Euell when he should have released Yakubu. The move petered out but it was a move in the right direction. More boos of frustration followed, again aimed at the officials after a throw-in decision was incorrectly given. The atmosphere was electric at the Riverside albeit one tainted with poison as the Boro fans were becoming increasingly annoyed at a team who had not registered a shot in the second half. A Rochemback shot on sixty-seven earned the Boro a corner that Yakubu could only head over once it was delivered. Savage meanwhile decided to model a different pair of shorts again, obviously annoyed that he had not been asked to model the M&S selection at last week's London Fashion Week. On seventy a Viduka run resulted in the concession of a free-kick on the edge of the area after David Bentley handled it. Rochemback stepped up to take the dead ball and blasted it against the wall, much to the groans of the Boro crowd. The Boro faithful were becoming faithless as Boro were plugging away but not really forcing any saves out of Friedel. On seventy-three Yakubu bundled his way past the Blackburn defence but his shot was deflected, for a corner. The Boro were now starting to put some concerted pressure on the Blackburn back-line but Viduka climbed and headed wide from the resulting dead ball. Tugay was substituted for Aaron Mokoena in the seventy-fifth minute, with Mark Hughes aware that the Boro were now starting to force the issue. The aim was to shut up shop for the last fifteen and invite the Boro on to the attack, as they had done for the previous ten minutes. And now like hungry wolves determined to dispatch their pray the Boro started to tear their quarry apart. Yakubu launched a stinging shot that went just wide after being deflected for a corner. On eighty Yakubu flicked the ball into the air and nodded it into the path of Viduka. The Aussie however could not keep the ball down and he blasted it over the bar from around twelve yards - another one to add to Boro's forthcoming "100 Greatest Shots Over the Bar" DVD (with foreword by Nwanko Kanu). INTO THE RED ZONE Adam Johnson came on for Andrew Davies, the decision being booed by the fans. They gave Davies a standing ovation as he youngster departed as he had been one of the better players during the game. It was then Brett Emerton's turn to be the hungry wolf as he ripped the Boro's midfield to shreds and launched a strong shot towards the Boro goal. This forced a world-class save from Schwarzer who had kept the Boro in the game. There was only three minutes plus stoppage time for Boro to salvage something from the game. Cattermole's tenacity was winning many plaudits and his battling in midfield allowed the Boro to build an attack. The ball was eventually launched into the box and Euell snatched at the shot, again hitting it wide. Brad Friedel had still not had a save to make so far. A last minute free-kick offered the last vestige of help but Friedel comfortably gathered it. It summed up our game and as the whistle blew the meagre crowd booed once more. The passing was poor as was the motivation. There was no creativity nor was there any drive. It is no wonder that the fans are not willing to pay up to £32 a ticket to watch a group of players who don't appear to be trying. Players were playing out of position and the tactics treat Rovers with too much respect. But ultimately the performance was pedestrian. And if the players don't try then why should the fans pay to watch it? The attendance was below 25000 today and will dip lower if this is not addressed. The next five games are crucial (Sheffield Utd (a), Everton (h), Newcastle (h) Man City (a), Watford (a)). They will make or break our season. FAN REACTION "Feel let down again" BORO1876 SEND THIS TO A FRIEND BLACKBURN FANS WELCOME IN THE NEW HOLGATE MESSAGE BOARD BORO v BLACKBURN MATCH PROGRAMME INDEX
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