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WRITER'S AWARDS 2005/06
A season that balanced a 4-1 win over Manchester United, a 3-0 thrashing of Chelsea, two of the most remarkable comebacks in football history and a Uefa Cup final appearance with losses to Sunderland, Portsmouth, a draw with a non-league side, a 4-0 defeat by Aston Villa and a 7-0 hammering by Arsenal might sound like the stuff of fiction and Middlesbrough's 2005-2006 season was certainly the most baffling in recent memory.
So, for the second time, the staff at ComeOnBoro.com highlight the players and events that shaped the season. Unlike other websites, we actually wait for the season to finish before considering whom to grant our accolades.
See you in August!
Goal of the Season
Massimo Maccarone vs. FC Basel, 6th April 2006
In a season when Mark Viduka has sought to claim a monopoly on the year's greatest goals - with a 35-yard strike against Charlton the pick of a sublime bunch - it would seem implausible that a scuffed, 7-yard, side-foot effort be the best goal. This, however, has not been an ordinary season.
Should you believe that Mark Viduka's stunning turn and volley against Birmingham was better, or his virtuoso individual effort in the FA Cup quarter final against Charlton, or indeed, Yakubu's opener against Preston, remind yourself how you felt when you realised that Maccarone's shot had somehow evaded Pascal Zuberbuehler's grasp. Jubilation? Relief? Shock? Whatever it was, it was a feeling that is rarely felt at football. And even more rarely felt at The Riverside.
Maccarone's goal against Steaua may have cemented Boro's place in the Uefa Cup final, but everyone knew a Boro win was on the cards when Chris Riggott made it 3-3; Maccarone's goal against Basel was a complete and utter surprise.
Technically, it may have been far from the best goal of the season, but to understand why it's the best goal of the season, have a listen to Alistair Brownlee's commentary. It's guaranteed to stop you in your tracks. Every. Single. Time.
Performance of the Season
Middlesbrough 3 vs. 0 Chelsea, 11th February 2006
Sure, the FC Basel and Steaua Bucharest comebacks felt better, but it must be remembered that the team had played poorly to get themselves into the respective messes to begin with. Against Chelsea, Steve McClaren's side were rampant from first whistle to last.
Boro's last league game had been the 4-0 trouncing by Aston Villa, so it was with no small amount of trepidation that the fans approached this game. We needn't have worried.
Within two minutes, Boro had the lead. Fabio Rochemback and Yakubu exchanged passes and the Brazilian's mis-hit effort wriggled under Petr Cech. It was Rochemback's first goal for Middlesbrough and the relief on his face was palpable. Chelsea nearly equalised after Mark Schwarzer failed to hold a swerving Michael Essien drive, but the Australian followed it up with one of the saves of the season to deny the on-coming Hernan Crespo.
Boro doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time. Yakubu's shot was blocked by Ricardo Carvalho, the rebound landing at the feet of Stewart Downing. Dancing past former Riverside alumni, Geremi, and switching the ball to his less effective right foot, Downing's weak effort eluded everyone and ended up in the corner of Cech's net. The Riverside was in raptures. But, Boro weren't finished and scored their third midway through the second-half. Yakubu - playing in his favoured lone striker's role - embarrassed Carvalho and John Terry before firing the ball past Cech at his near post.
Trying to heap further misery of the champions, Rochemback fired off a dipping right-foot effort from the inside right channel. Only a fantastic save from Cech denied the Brazilian his second. Given that the Brazilian had failed to fire a shot within six metres of the goal previously, it was an indication of the confidence that Boro had suddenly attained.
Even Jose Mourinho admitted that Boro had been the better team. Praise doesn't come much higher.
Worst Performance
Middlesbrough 0 Aston Villa 4, 4th February 2006
To fully appreciate how bad this performance was, you must bear in mind one pertinent and unalterable fact: Aston Villa are rubbish.
Having dispatched a 3-0 defeat to fellow relegation strugglers Sunderland five days earlier, there was a feeling on Teesside that matters might be about to improve. Not so.
It took only eighteen minutes for Luke Moore to open the scoring, firing past Schwarzer with a right-foot effort. Five minutes later, James Milner scampered down the left-flank, chipped in a cross and Kevin Philips' header doubled Villa's lead. The atmosphere at half-time was acerbic.
Within twenty-minutes of the restart Villa deservedly had their third, with Luke Moore grabbing his second of the afternoon. Just three minutes later, Lee Cattermole lost the ball in midfield and Steven Davis picked out Moore, who completed his hat trick and ensured a four goal rout for the visitors.
In the aftermath of the fourth goal, Lee Cattermole burst into tears and a fan threw his season ticket at McClaren. Later in the evening, and with Mark Viduka having had a confrontation with a group of fans, Steve Gibson spoke to concerned supporters in the car park and told them to keep the faith.
With hindsight it was the game that changed the season, but it should never have come to that.
Most Disappointing Player
Gaizka Mendieta
Awarding this to a man suffering another career threatening injury might seem like rubbing salt in the wound, but it's an unavoidable fact of another season where Gaizka Mendieta has failed to play to his considerable potential.
After playing in Boro's tepid opening fixtures, Mendieta missed a month through injury and returned to the team for Boro's 3-2 win over Villa. Having worked his way back to full fitness, Mendieta was instrumental in Boro's 3-0 win over FC Dnipro and, more spectacularly, the 4-1 thrashing of Manchester United. Scoring in the second minute with a 25-yard strike, Mendieta dominated the game against United and rounded off a fine display with a second goal in the 78th minute. It will probably prove to be the Spaniard's finest game at The Riverside.
Mendieta then appeared to go into hibernation for the winter, only popping up in early January to score an excellent freekick against Nuneaton Borough, but otherwise failing to impose himself on a series of games against predominately inferior opposition. Mendieta did, however, stir himself for a pair of industrious performances against AS Roma. However, Mendieta, perhaps too desperate to prove to Italian football that it never saw the best of the former Lazio player, didn't manage to get the goal that his efforts merited.
Mendieta's final game this season was the 2-0 defeat in Switzerland to FC Basel, as he sustained a fractured metatarsal in training the following Monday. It has been rumoured that the former European Midfielder of the Year has played his last game for Middlesbrough, but this will be determined by whether the new manager is prepared to take a chance on getting the best out of a player who, while mercurially talented, too rarely exhibits his very best form.
Young Player of the Season
Lee Cattermole
His performances in the youth team and while on loan at Sunderland told us that Stewart Downing would excel, and James Morrison and Adam Johnson had both been muttered about on Teesside for months before they broke into the senior squad. Tales of Nathan Porrit and Johnathan Franks' prowess suggest that they'll be the next pair to receive call-ups, but Lee Cattermole's sudden ascension to the first-team was a complete surprise.
His first appearance in the starting line-up came at St. James' Park against Newcastle. That he was one of the most impressive players on the pitch says everything about his proclivity for hardwork and dynamism. Cattermole also played in Boro's disappointing 1-1 draw with Nuneaton Borough, while his third performance was in Arsenal's 7-0 victory at Highbury.
Nobody would have been surprised if the adversity had proved too much for a young man who was only 17-years-old at the time, and were it not for Massimo Maccarone's goals against FC Basel and Steaua Bucharest, Lee Cattermole's tears during the 4-0 defeat by Aston Villa would have been the season's iconic image.
Following that defeat, McClaren allowed the Stockborn-born teenager some time away from the limelight, but Fabio Rochemback's injury necessitated a return to the first-team. Cattermole excelled in Boro's season-altering wins against West Brom and Birmingham. His coup de grāce, however, was to come in the Uefa Cup clash against AS Roma. Cattermole was assured and composed as Middlesbrough won the first-leg 1-0. However, in the intimidating atmosphere on the Stadio Olimpico, an unfazed Cattermole came of age. A week away from his 18th Birthday, Cattermole thundered into tackles against decorated, internationally-capped players like Oliver Dacourt, Rodrigo Taddei and Daniele De Rossi and, but for the irrepressible Mancini, was the outstanding player on the pitch.
Cattermole has received a great deal of positive press despite only making fourteen league starts. It might be dangerous to get carried away while a player is very much in the formative years of his career, but somehow you don't think it will make a difference to Cattermole. So, with that in mind, let us declare that if his debut season is any indication, Lee Cattermole will captain England.
Player of the Season
Chris Riggott
It was inevitable that after five seasons of combined defensive excellence at The Riverside, the twin towers of Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu would begin to crumble. It was imperative, therefore, that a new colossus arrived to alleviate the burden on the former Villa pairing's creaking limbs. Enter Chris Riggott.
It would appear from Steve McClaren's initial team selections that his intention was to continue with Ehiogu and Southgate for one more season. However, with Ehiogu's limitations devastatingly exposed by Darren Bent, Jose Reyes and Tommy Miller, Riggott was drafted in for Boro's 0-0 draw with Greek outfit, FC Xanthi.
While Riggott has been Middlesbrough's most consistent performer this term, there are still a few chinks that need to be worked out. That he ducked Matias Delgado's opener against FC Basel became irrelevant once Middlesbrough had staged their second-leg comeback, but it could have proved more costly than it did. Additionally, though his sending-off against Liverpool was harsh, a more experienced centre-half would know not to commit two fouls in such quick succession.
Second only to Franck Queudrue in terms of his heading ability, under Gareth Southgate's tutelage Riggott has learned that lightning pace and immense physical strength are less useful tools to a centre-back than an ability to read the game. Furthermore, his finish against Steaua Bucharest was more indicative of his predatory instincts than his injury-time miss in the FA Cup semi-final against West Ham.
With Gareth Southgate a year or two away from retirement and Mark Schwarzer, George Boateng and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink similarly approaching the ends of their careers, Chris Riggott will surely be Middlesbrough's next captain and at just £1.5million from Derby County, is proving himself to be McClaren's shrewdest purchase.
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