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TROUBLE IS A LONESOME TOWN 26-10-07
Toby Higgins
Whether it was the Russian's lead by a Dutchman or the Italian's lead by a Finn, the last ten days of sport haven't been great if you go by the name of McClaren.
But while Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and co will live to race another day, judgment day is on the horizon for Steve. Barring a minor miracle somewhere deep in the bowels of Eastern Europe, he'll probably be told to clear his desk and seek employment elsewhere in the coming weeks.
Those who sought (almost desperately) to justify the decision to appoint McClaren ahead of Sam Allardyce, Stuart Pearce and anyone else with a drop of English blood in their system did so by flicking through McClaren's record in cup competitions at club level. "One League Cup win, one UEFA Cup final and two F.A. Cup semis with some team called Middlesbrough. What's that? He was Sir Alex's number two? We'll take him".
While we prospered in competitions of the knockout format under McClaren, it was always at the expense of league form.
From the giddy highs of thrashing Man United 4-1, to the crushing 4-0 and 5-2 home defeats to Aston Villa, in only one season did McClaren really achieve in the League. Even then it was only Mark Schwarzer's stoppage time save from Robbie Fowler's penalty that allowed consecutive European qualification and seventh place.
So surely McClaren was the right man to lead England's over paid, over hyped and overweight (if Frank Lampard is fat then God help the rest of us) "superstars" to European glory next summer in Austria and Switzerland? He ticks all of the boxes, right?
Ah. The thing about McClaren is his inability to lift the players enough to see off lesser opponents. As Boro fans we saw this plenty of times, particularly at home. And now England too have suffered because of it.
England aren't staying on this island next summer because we lost in Russia, or Croatia, or even because we drew in Israel.
It's because over a year ago, on October 7th 2006, Robinson, Neville, Cole, King, Terry, Carrick, Downing, Lampard, Gerrard, Crouch and Rooney could only draw at home to Macedonia. The significance of two points dropped that day typifies Steve McClaren as a manager.
It has also been said that McClaren should start more games with his 'Plan B' as more often than not 'Plan A' would be failing miserably, only to be rescued by its alphabetical cousin after about sixty minutes and a couple of substitutions. While he sometimes struggled to get it right first time, at least he had a 'Plan B' and at least, more often than not, it worked.
Gareth Southgate on the other hand is struggling massively. Plan A is proving toothless in attack and sloppy in defence and Plan B seems to involve David Wheater standing alongside Lee Dong Gook for the rest of the team to launch raking balls at the young defender's head. The label 'Plan B' is probably paying this 'tactic' a huge compliment.
Injuries to key players at key times are beyond any manager's control yet they are something that every manager has to deal with. Southgate hasn't blamed anyone, or anything, for what is becoming a disastrous season. His acceptance that the season has 'gone flat' this week is something any Boro fan could have told you several weeks ago.
Southgate's honesty and likeableness made him a favourite with the fans in his early months. He would be honest when we played badly and realistic when we were good. Unlike with McClaren, Southgate would never use words like 'rub of the green' and 'magnificent' and this won him admiration for his handling of post match affairs.
But those who welcomed him so warmly are beginning to go cold on the former England defender.
For the first time since his arrival, the spotlight is firmly fixed on Southgate. How he reacts to being the manager of a side who could be in the bottom three by the end of the weekened will be crucial.
He doesn't seem to be able to motivate the players, and comes across as being far, far too nice. If there was one word that could never be used to describe Southgate then 'ruthless' would certainly be a frontrunner.
A brief glance at the sides around us in the League would suggest that Southgate could be on borrowed time.
Bolton have dispensed with Sammy Lee after just ten games and Spurs have also dismissed their manager Martin Jol for a poor start to the season.
Steve Gibson's loyalty to managers means that Southgate won't be expecting to clear his desk anytime in the next few days, no matter what happens at Old Trafford on Saturday.
If the points tally hasn't seen some significant improvement by the end of November however, then maybe his days will be numbered. By then we would have played against the aforementioned Bolton and Spurs, as well as Villa, and we really should be looking to pick up points from these games.
Maybe Southgate needs to do something drastic. Maybe he should drop Woodgate, Schwarzer, or Downing, players he might feel are coasting through matches a little, players who he needs to stand up and show they want to fight to keep this club in this very competitive League. He needs to ruffle a few feathers and kick a few arses but he needs to do it quickly, for all of our sakes.
He cannot do it alone though. The mood around Boro fans at the moment is one of resignation. Fans appear to have no belief in the team and it has got to be said that this is a complete embarrassment.
Since when did we become the kind of fans who gave up without anything close to a fight? And since when did we stop caring?
We lost to one of the best teams in the world on Saturday and suddenly we're dead certs for relegation. It's remarkable.
Too many seem quite happy to play the blame game with the players and the staff. But they need our support at times like this more than any other, and without it, we will be relegated.
It would be nothing more than we deserve.
Boro will go to Old Trafford on Saturday and will get something. It will be the spark that re-ignites our season, and hopefully, it will bring back some belief.
We'll have to, because otherwise, we're in trouble. And in the words of Lee Hazelwood; trouble, is a lonesome town.
Same time next week
UpTheBoro
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A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.00 ON THE FA CUP FINAL
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Saturday afternoon's FA Cup Final clash between Portsmouth and Cardiff, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.00, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time (ninety minutes), you will be at least £41.00 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £129.00 on the FA Cup Final and we will collect £175.00 if Cardiff win, £171.24 if Portsmouth win and £170.00 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 31%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
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Open an account with Extrabet
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This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
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Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
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Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet account.
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Place £20.00 on Cardiff at 5.00 (4/1) with Coral.
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The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £129.00 on the FA Cup Final. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game. All winnings are paid out on the ninety minute result.
If Cardiff win, you collect £175.00. That's £150.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £171.24. That's £146.24 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw you collect £170.00. That's £145.00 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Cardiff match is a draw and you make £41.00 profit. However, if Cardiff win you make £46.00 and if Portsmouth win you make £42.24. That's a minimum profit of 31%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
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Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
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The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
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