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REALITY HITS BORO IN THE FACE 17-8-07
Karl Watson
So reality has firmly struck Middlesbrough fans fully in the face. We are in this together - as a club we win and we lose together, but no one could have imagined such a poor beginning to what we knew would be a tough season.
The term déjà vu springs to mind. We all know the situation where we look at our watches and frown as we know time is running out to grab a last gasp equaliser and save a game. Blackburn summed this up. It always appears that as fans we are commenting on other teams doing a smash and grab on us, not the other way round.
Blackburn had two shots and two goals and, as clichéd as it sounds, we all know goals win games and if you don't take your chances then you don't win games. Points means prizes and currently the only thing we'll be picking up this year is a Blankety Blank cheque book and pen.
No one cares how we win football games. As fans we all go to games not to be entertained, not to get value for money, but to see our team win. Season ticket sales are at an all time low and it's plain to see why fans are currently turning their backs.
There is a distinct possibility that if we don't drastically improve on Wednesday's performance, we could have no points after our first four games and could be rooted to the foot of the table. Fulham are a decent side at home and will have gained confidence from a splendid performance at Arsenal, and their midweek victory.
On the other hand, we have lost two and scored just one goal. Can we ilft ourselves fro Fulham? Can we dig out our first three points of the season, even with a poor replacement back four that does not have a leader, nor stability?
Will the signing of Mido be enough to stop Healy and save us from a torrid August which ends with a home tie against Newcastle? I hope Mido's move rekindles his desire to play football. He seems a sulky character but he could well come here with a point to prove.
The promise of attacking and exciting football full of players with pace has not yet materialised. Yakubu and Mido do not possess genuine pace and if anything we will be going back to the tactics implemented when Yakubu was with Viduka. We were promised attacking football but our strike force at the end of the Wigan game consisted of Dong Gook and Wheater.
Aliadiere is an important piece in his chess board and he will come good, but we can't afford to wait too long for it to happen. The young Frenchman does possess pace and skill that maybe one day will set the Riverside on fire. Let's hope that happens this month.
The type of fixtures we have coming up are fixtures we would normally look to for security points (points that we know will keep us up), however we are already losing these games. Boro's season must start at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Gareth will be well aware of what the problems are and will be working on them right now. Let's get behind him and cheer Boro on to a great at Fulham.
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