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THE AWAY END - THE STADIUM OF LIGHT 28-4-08
John Powls
The Build Up To The Game
The Websites This Week have unsurprisingly been dominated by the aftermath of the disaster against Notlob. It was like the Reading game but worse because there was less time to put things right.
All the usual problems were to the fore again – a microcosm of Boro’s season. My mate, Ian, who went to that game summed it up.
“The problems at the moment are examples of contradictions between perceptions and hard facts and where two facts don’t match. ‘Typical Boro’ isn’t said ironically!
Instead of The Ten Commandments, how about The Ten Paradoxes:
1. Perception: Boro are trying to play more attacking, attractive football. Fact: Boro are not scoring goals.
2. Perception: Boro brought in pacy, attacking players and ‘goalscorers’. Fact: Viduka and Yak have not been replaced and the team are missing their goals.
3. Perception: Boro’s defence has a very good group of players including Young Player of the Season, The Redcar Rock. They are coached by, almost exclusively, ex-defenders. Fact: They mark ‘Zones’ at corners and set pieces – ‘Zones’ has never scored against Boro but many others do, regularly, from those situations.
4. Perception: Gate seems not to know his best central midfield. Fact: the centre of midfield hasn’t been effective, defending or attacking. Boro’s soft centre matches Gate’s.
5. Perception: The squad and most of the team are consistently the same players, match to match. They have to be because the squad is small. Fact: No-one knows which Boro will get off the coach at any given game and substitutions seem to be simply about fitness deficiencies rather than changing a game.
6. Perception: Boro are playing better and are less boring than last season. Fact: Boro are going to finish with fewer points and a lower league placing in a poorer League.
7. Perception and fact: Gate says he is learning and gets praised by pundits, other managers and some players. He seems a decent, honest, refreshingly spin-free chap whose analysis after games shows he sees what we see and has consistently referred to the attitude issue the team has. Fact: The same problems keep re-appearing on the field with monotonous and awful regularity.
8. Perception and fact: MFC are trying to improve the match day experience and other ways of doing business with fans. Fact: Fans are still not attending.
9. Fact: fans pay out for attractive football and a full match of effort. Fact: Fans get half a match - at the very best - for ninety minutes plus pricing.
10. Perception and fact: MFC and Boro are trying to progress. Fact: results, performances and supporters’ experiences are not showing it.
At home, the onus is on Boro breaking sides down. If they don’t score, the opposition – like Notlob did - soon suss out the fact that if they score one they will get at least a point, hang on and Boro will run out of ideas and steam.”
The irony of the Notlob result and the performance – both widely predicted and feared before the game, especially when Lawro predicted a Boro win – was that it followed hard on the heels of the ra-ra about season ticket renewals and the new offers for kids. Neil Bausor couldn’t have believed it. It’s his first season, he’ll learn.
So, which Boro will get off the coach at The Stadium of S***e? One thing has gone in Boro’s favour – Lawro has had a return to form and backed them to lose two nil.
Gate has always resisted describing games as ‘must win’ but he got as close to it as he ever will for this game. What was for certain was that it was ‘must not lose’. A draw might suit both teams but Boro must not settle for it . The Mackems won’t – and to get done with another of their late goals would be unforgivable.
The Away End, for this last trip of the season, was long ago sold out and they’re going to give it their best. The team needed to respond.
The Game
I wrote ‘The Build Up to The Game’, as I most often do, the day before the game. I could just as easily have written it as the account of the game.
‘Zones’ rises, he scores!! Well actually, ‘Zones’ failed again but Higginbotham and Murphy didn’t.
And when did Murphy score and under what circumstances? For the answer to that, see almost the last thing I wrote in preparation, just three paragraphs above this one.
If we all know that Boro have a habit of conceding late and Sunderland of scoring late (the graphic in the morning papers had shown that The Mackems have garnered nine points this season from goals in the last five minutes of games) wouldn’t one definition of ‘professional’ or ‘learning from mistakes’ be ‘stop them doing it’?
So why was it, as I listened to the commentary that "the fourth official’s board has gone up showing a minimum of five minutes added time", I knew what was going to happen and wasn’t surprised when a text appeared from a mate at the game saying the same thing. And, surprise, surprise…
On occasions like this, when I can’t get to an Away End, I rely on commentary from as many sources as I can get it – from the broadcast media and from mates who are at the game.
Just like when I’m at The Away End in person, I generally make copious notes to refer to later. I wasn’t conscious of it at the time but when I looked at my note book later, I had written nothing down – nada, nil, zilch, zip.
When I reflected about that, it was a result of the groaning inevitability of what was played out. Look at ‘The Ten Paradoxes’ above. They say it all and I’m not going to repeat it with specific reference to this game. But just some observations.
I began to worry when I saw the side that Gate had picked. Injuries made Brad Jones in goal inevitable but he scares me – and evidently he scares Boro’s defence too. Since they’re floppy enough from crosses anyway that’s the last thing they needed.
With nothing said in advance, it was a surprise not to see Aliadiere. But what logic had him replaced by Catts? Aside from his propensity to ‘do a Clattermole’ and get sent off in games like this, he lacks quality. He’s a Championship central midfielder at best.
When he was replaced on fifty-seven with Rocky – whose future we know lies away from Boro – why didn't Johnno come on instead? It was at a time when what Boro were doing wasn’t working and they needed width.
I have it on good authority that even the hardened Boro hacks in the press gallery resorted to swearing and expressions of disbelief when that happened.
Also, why was Arca in the side? Nothing about his form since he was injured against The Mackems earlier in the season supported his selection yet he keeps appearing. Was it just on the basis of the old saying that players always do well returning to their former club? It couldn’t be anything else.
In the week, I had posted to a blog: “The centre of the midfield has to be solid and controlled. The Shawkster has become the forgotten man again recently. If fit, I'd let him do the holding and continuity passing role and partner him with The Boat to do the foraging, breaking up and pass it simple to the nearest red shirt role. Both should be aiming to feed the wings and help keep the width.”
The Shawkster was an unused sub, as was Johnno.
But it would be churlish not to recognise the Alves lobbed pass that set Tuncay free and the assured way the Turk finished. Later, he also had a flashing header that scraped a post.
Also Alves' slow motion ‘striker’s goal’ was a plus – even given the doubts about offside. Just so long as no-one tries to tell me that the Arca ‘pass’ was anything other than a miss-hit attempt at goal.
And though it wasn’t enough – and on its own it never is – there was some effort made and blood shed for the cause.
Later…
Gate’s post-match interviews are becoming as turgid, repetitive and as divorced from reality as The Ex’s used to be.
One of the gems was: “When you go through these sorts of experiences you emerge stronger for it.” If that were true, Boro would be individually and collectively super-human by now!
Then we got: “The players have given me everything.” If that’s true, on the evidence of this game, Boro are a very poor side indeed who have just lost to two other very poor sides, one after the other. Oh, that is true, isn’t it?
And what about: “We’ve been around this position all season and handled it well.” Isn’t that what could be an oxymoron, or is it a form of masochism? Well maybe the latter as he then spoke about using “The unbelievable pain to galvanise the players.” The image that comes to mind is various squad ‘members’ being attached to the National Grid!
I could have also done without him publicly congratulating Kean-o and The Mackems on staying up. You can take being Mr. Nice Guy too far and Gate might have done well to have thought about the Boro fans in The Away End and elsewhere first and what they may be thinking and feeling.
On MotD, despite the five goals in the game, Boro were relegated to the last segment of the programme – again. Lineker explained that this may be because they put the games to the end where they felt that there were no title, qualification or relegation issues. Sadly, they then correctly contradicted that by showing the table and the outstanding fixtures.
Although some results yesterday were not as bad as they could have been Boro are, shamefully, still in reach of everyone except Derby.
The Sundays ran the same lines. If you look at the fixtures left I believe that Boro have the hardest bar Wigan who are a point better off. The fact that both are at home cannot be prayed in aid, as Gate tried to. Just look at our home record this season. The players’ confidence must be pretty well shot too.
Pompey have showed the first signs of retreating into cotton wool to protect themselves for the Cup Final. But they won’t want to lose three in a row and Boro don’t react well if they think they’re favourites. We may see the likes of Mendes and Davies get places next week and Defoe, who has been a Boro nemesis before, can’t even play at Wembley.
Citeh stumbled in ‘typical Boro’ fashion against Fulham but will want to come back strongly as I don’t believe that Mr. Shinawatra is a forgiving sort of person.
So, I can easily see Boro not getting another point and worsening our goal difference that is the worst in the League already, except for Fulham and Derby. But a couple of wins for The Cottagers will soon reduce what is not a big gap.
So, what we’re down to is can we rely on other sides not picking up the three to six points it would take to overhaul Boro?
Many folks seem to be putting their faith in their view that it takes a pretty unlikely sequence of results to come up with that scenario. About the only thing you can say about that is that this time of the season is well known for exactly these sorts of unlikelinesses.
In the darker moments – and reminded by an interview with him this week on the club website – I see the image of Juni weeping on the Elland Road turf as Boro dropped out of the Premiership. If you’re interested, and are not of a nervous disposition, look up the sequence of events and results that preceded that fateful day.
‘Yerjokin’aren’ya’ - NOT! Quote of the Week
“I think Middlesbrough need to get back to the stage it was at a few years go, fighting to get into Europe. They need to be in a group with teams like Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Manchester City. I hope to see them getting the chance to play in Europe every year.” Juninho.
Bang, on Juni! But maybe it’s a good job he wasn’t asked when he thought that would happen.
It was interesting that Stewie echoed these sentiments too this week. He has spoken of the absolute need to have a bigger, better squad with competition for places throughout. Bang on Stewie!
The newspaper rumour mills have linked us with Sidwell and Robinson but they’re not going to drop a division to The Championship.
The Away End will be back next season. Will The Away Ends be The Emirates or The Valley, Stamford Bridge or Loftus Road?
John will post an End Of Season Review after the torture finally ends.
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John Powls is a published poet with five books of his work in print. He is a regular performer of his work at major literary festivals and exhibitions in the UK and America, often working with musicians, painters with photographer Carol Ballenger.
Check out Red Shoes 250 for more of John Powls, right here.
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