|
 |
RETURN OF THE MAC 27-11-07
Toby Higgins
Life is full of moments and feelings that can make you feel really, really bad. These range from things that are entirely your fault, to things that you have no control over whatsoever. One of the worst of all (excluding all that 'love' rubbish) is the feeling of being under-prepared.
There you are, standing in front of the board of directors. You know that your presentation could make or break your business and indeed make or break your career.
You go to switch on a slideshow. You know that you've not put the hours in and you also know that after your feeble attempt of a demonstration, the people in front of you are going to try and pick holes in everything you've said and done.
You also know that you just don't know what to say and that you don't have the answers.
And it feels awful.
Board meetings are one thing but the worst place to be when things are going wrong and you don't know what to say is when you're in charge with 25,000 fans criticising you in a slightly different way.
Step forward, Gareth Southgate.
Speechlessness was more or less what Gareth Southgate greeted the media with after yet another home mauling by Villa.
In true Southgate style, he said nothing bold or controversial. He chose to mumble through the interview instead.
He used phrases like "the players know what I expect" and "we know we've got to start performing". Funny isn't it, how someone who on the surface seems to know nothing, believes himself to know a lot.
Having stood by Southgate for the majority of this season, even the most patient and committed of Boro fans are beginning to look at the former England man with some disdain.
They are also looking at the news that Billy Davies has been somewhat sensationally axed by Derby County as a portent. Boro are now one of only two teams in the bottom seven to have the same manager now as they did at the start of the season.
Clichés at times like this are ten a penny (there you go) so maybe I'll word it, the league table is a fair reflection of the poor performances of our football team thus far.
Yep, the league table doesn't lie (couldn't help it), and the saving grace of being seventeenth is only because of Sunderland's (superb) hammering, and ironically, Yakubu's goals.
"Somehow we managed to stay out of the bottom three, which is beyond me", were Southgate's words. You and me both, brother.
Sunderland, in fairness, are probably to blame for everything that has gone wrong with us so far this season. That is until Saturday.
If games have turning points, then it's probably fair to say the same about seasons. This one had started in fairly mediocre fashion but the emphatic dismissal of Birmingham and then the performance, if not the result, at West Ham showed promise.
It was the injuries sustained by Julio Arca, and then Mido, coupled with a soul destroying last minute Liam Miller belter, that we simply haven't recovered from.
The performance against Villa was fairly reasonable until they scored. That goal a minute before half time, as well as the one three minutes after, ended it as a contest although defensively we were hardly blameless for all of Villa's goals.
David Wheater's lack of strength, Lee Cattermole's rash clearance, and Jonathan Woodgate's absence of power and frankly, determination, all combined with some fairly uninspiring goalkeeping to see us go ten games without a win. We have conceded first in eleven of the last fourteen home games, and teams with stats like these are going in only one direction.
It's been said countless times but our defence is what will determine if we play in this division next season. So far Schwarzer has been ghastly by his own very high standards, and Woodgate too has looked very out of sorts. As was hinted at a moment ago, he may even be disinterested.
Wheater also, despite the early season accolades, is beginning to look like a player who has no long term future at this level. Is it really just a coincidence that our shocking defensive record has occurred in the same year he took a position at the heart of defence?
Cattermole is another player running out of time. It's all well and good having a youth academy good enough to win at reserve team level, but how many of them are actually good enough to be playing in a decent Premiership side? Taylor and Downing probably, with the rest holding huge question marks over their heads.
Steve McClaren's approach to the young players was fairly effective: give them a game, normally a big one like Manchester United, Arsenal or Newcastle (I'm thinking here of Morrison, Johnson and Cattermole - none of whom lost on their Premiership debuts against the aforementioned sides), and then bring them out of the first team.
This meant players had a chance without having too much pressure placed upon them. McClaren clearly felt young players responded better in these circumstances.
He was probably right. While with Southgate the pressure is on the youngsters because there are few alternatives, with McClaren there was always a Doriva, or a Parlour, for the young players, and indeed the manager, to turn to. Not the greatest players but squad players who, in both cases, had very respectable Boro careers and played very important roles.
The big question is, despite it being outrageously hypothetical, would you have McClaren back now?
He boasts a more than adequate record at club level and is a guy who had just signed a very large contract extension with us before England came calling (Gibson didn't sack him, remember).
Compare this with Southgate's record - no wins in ten and no sign of where and when the next one is coming.
Southgate has four games to save his job. Reading away, Arsenal at home, Derby away and West Ham at home. Anything less than two wins and some sign that the good times are on the horizon again, and Gibson will surely act. Even Sunderland won't be able to keep us out of the bottom three by then.
Whether McClaren is still available if, and when, Gibson decides to act, is unknown. But Steve Gibson is not the kind of man to be under-prepared and while it might not be an option he's considering, the 'Return of the Mac' will certainly have crept through his mind on Saturday afternoon, even if it did so very, very quietly.
Same time next week.
UpTheBoro
RETURN TO THE ROCKLIFFE FILES INDEX HERE
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.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Extrabet
 .
This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts.
Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
Deposit £84.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £20.00 on Cardiff at 5.00 (4/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Cardiff as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Cardiff.
Back Portsmouth with £84.00 at 1.78 (4/5) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on the draw at 3.44 (12/5) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on the draw.
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.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
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.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
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.
|
|
|
|
