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THE ROCKLIFFE
FILES - YOU'RE HAVIN' A LAUGH 23-9-08
Toby Higgins
As starts to seasons go, this one has been sung to pretty much the same tune as every other.
It’s my fullest intention to keep things short, but maybe not so sweet. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do”.
The difference with this season, compared to the previous seven or eight, is that we won on the opening day, at home, to a side that was tipped to finish in the top six. If that doesn’t raise the bar of expectation, not much will.
The side on that day definitely looked a little short of being its best though. Aliadiere playing in midfield looked like a short time solution rather than a long term plan, as did Wheater’s appearance at right back, particularly as Justin Hoyte was unveiled prior to kick off.
In the middle of midfield, Shawky and O’Neil looked compact and energetic but without the craft or vision of an Arca or a Zenden. It looked like a very promising work in progress.
Progress and development are some of the buzz words being spouted by those involved at senior level within the club. Maybe it’s a psychological thing; progress and development are much more forward thinking than transition, which is by comparison motionless and dull.
It’s hard to tell yet if Boro have made much progress – not just since the first game at Spurs, but since last season and even since Southgate took control. There was always going to be a lull after the UEFA Cup Final but Southgate did well in making sure that what could have been a free-fall through the leagues was limited to a slight dip of the nose cone.
Mid-table is our benchmark – it’s what we do. Every pre-season we look at the League, take a little time to convince ourselves we’re too good to go down (quite rightly, too), and then build hope of moving away from the bottom half.
Maybe it’s a sign of the strength, or indeed weakness, of the Premier League, that we know before a shirt or a Setanta season ticket has even been sold, that we won’t be Champions come May. We won’t even be in the top four.
Unrealistic targets are pointless though and I still can’t quite fathom why three weeks ago, Keith Lamb claimed the club were aiming to qualify for the Champions League this season.
These claims followed Southgate’s in July when he said it was time for the club to ‘push on’ and try to break into the top four. Ambition is fantastic, although these ideas seemed untypically over excitable.
Whilst the win against Spurs demonstrated our attacking strengths and the advantages of having a youthful, adventurous side, the defeat at Sunderland exposed the weaknesses. These include the lack of composure, the inability to stick the game out for the full ninety plus minutes, not being able to deal with a setback and the lack of experience that helps calm the younger players when things go badly.
Gary O’Neil said post match, “It came as a bolt out of the blue. We didn't really know what had hit us. Maybe we just go under a little bit too easy when the going gets tough, like it did when Stewart missed the penalty. Maybe there was a little bit of naivety”.
There’s no maybe about it and previously having let a one goal lead slip twice away from home this season, it’s not like it’s the first time it’s happened. Sadly, it won’t be the last.
But we knew this would happen with a young squad, which is frustrating because nothing seems to have been done to prepare the team for these instances. Five games in and six of the eight goals conceded have been in the last ten minutes. We’ve kept three clean sheets in the last twenty games, which almost as bad as one clean sheet every seven games.
Maybe now we’re calling transition by a different name. When you lose a derby 2-0, having had a penalty on seventy-four minutes with the score at 0-0, it’s hard to see progress. We have nobody to blame but ourselves - not each other, not Downing, but as a team, together.
A win against Manchester United on Tuesday will put the memory of Sunderland behind us. But it shouldn’t be forgotten. If you learn from your mistakes, then we’ve got plenty to get our teeth stuck into before West Brom on Saturday.
Champions League? We’re havin’ a laugh.
Up the Boro.
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.
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