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THE WEEK ON THE TEES 9-4-08
Luke Raine
First and foremost, credit must be given to Gareth Southgate and the team for their great performance on Sunday.
Opinion columns like this one are quick to criticise the team after poor performances, so it is only right that praise is given for a performance that oozed quality and character.
The only down side for Boro fans was that they left the Riverside on Sunday wondering if they would have been on snowy Teesside had this performance been put in against Cardiff City exactly four weeks earlier.
As for the FA Cup semi-finals, they failed to live up to the pre-match hype. This is so often the case at this stage of the competition.
Neutrals were hoping for more open affairs after the failure of any of the “Big Four” to reach the penultimate round but the games ended up being cagey and both were decided by a single goal.
As for the Cardiff City UEFA Cup issue, I personally disagree that they should be allowed to enter the competition should they collect the trophy in May.
Every season when Cardiff, or any of the Welsh clubs for that matter, start their Cup run they are fully aware that they won’t be able to enter European competition should they win the trophy.
The only thing that has changed this year is that a Welsh side has been successful. The issue hadn’t even been raised in the past as far as I am aware and I don’t see why the rules should be changed just because a Welsh side has been a surprise in the competition.
I am not taking anything away from Cardiff - they have played some decent football during this season’s competition. There are also comparisons to be drawn with our club too as they have an equally impressive youth system.
It is just a shame that their club finds themselves in so much debt, which has meant the sale of so many promising youngsters over the past few seasons.
Seventeen year old Aaron Ramsey is another who will surely be plying his trade in England’s top division soon.
Back to the Premier League and despite dropping two points against Boro on Sunday, I am still confident that Manchester United will be retaining their crown in a month’s time.
I think most Boro fans will agree with me when I say that their football in the first twenty minutes on Sunday was frightening.
It is credit to Gareth Southgate’s team that they stayed in the game, largely due to a change in formation. This surely shows that Southgate is maturing as a manager.
A football story that almost slipped through the net last week was the decision by the Premier League to force Chelsea to play two games in the space of three days next week.
Instead of playing on back to back weekends which Manchester United will be doing, they will instead be playing against Wigan on the Monday night, then scandalously, away to Everton on the Thursday.
I accept that television money makes up a huge proportion of a football club’s income but to be shuffling the fixture list at such an important time in the season is unbelievable.
I challenge anyone to imagine what Sir Alex Ferguson’s reaction would have been if his United side had been forced to play two games in seventy-two hours at this stage of the season. In fact there isn’t any point because he would never have been asked to.
It could also be argued that Avram Grant’s predecessor at Chelsea wouldn’t have been asked either as it seems the football authorities don’t like to clash with the big personalities.
It is approaching that time of the season when speculation starts to grow about potential signings. For me, the only area where the Boro need to strengthen is the centre of midfield and maybe on the right.
After the outlay of £12million on Afonso Alves, I would also be very surprised to see any big money investment from the club over the summer. This is understandable.
I would, however, be very disappointed if Mark Schwarzer was to leave the club at the end of his current contract.
The Australian has had his critics over the years but in my view there aren’t many goalkeepers in the division who have been so consistent for such a long period of time.
He has been the number one goalkeeper at the club for over ten years now and I feel the club should be fighting tooth and nail to keep him. He rarely makes a big mistake and is undoubtedly a great shot stopper. I also feel that he has at least a couple more seasons to offer at the top level.
Schwarzer would also be very expensive to replace in my opinion too.
There has been talk of the club being linked with Paul Robinson over the past few weeks. The Spurs stopper is English (which would only inflate his price) and is surely not as consistent or as good as what we have now.
In my view tying Schwarzer down should be the club’s priority in the coming weeks.
Luke Raine
RETURN TO THE WEEK ON THE TEES INDEX HERE
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