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DEEP IN MY HEART
CRYSTAL PALACE v MIDDLESBROUGH
James Keen, 7 Nov 2009
It wasn't quite the spectacular start we had hoped for from our new messiah. But then, not since Robson have we had one of those.
At least Gordon has had a chance to have a look at his players, bring in another new face and hopefully begin to inspire his team further.
His first away trip is to the capital as we take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. It is our first trip there since the 2004-05 season and the game provides a chance for the lads to play in their preferred venue - anywhere but the Riverside.
Column Continues Below...
It is yet to be seen whether Strachan will wield the axe on some of Southgate's less impressive playing choices.
It will be interesting to see if the perforated Brad Jones continues to get the nod over the experience of Danny Coyne, whether new boy Isaiah Osbourne gets the nod over Rhys Williams or Julio Arca, and if Marcus Bent ousts the 'prolific' Marvin Emnes.
Whatever happens, this week we will hopefully begin to see Strachan's team shaping up. And as long as we can see that changes are being made, I think the fans will react positively.
Away from home, we have been good. We are coping much better with teams on their own grounds, where the home fans pressure their side to push on.
We should get chances at Palace but we do have to start seeing goals from around the park. Much has been made this week of the lack of goals from anywhere other than Adam Johnson. And so, this weekend, I'm sure we'll see a few others trying to get involved in the goalscoring. The likes of Lita, Bent, O'Neil, Arca and Williams all need to show their worth in the attacking half.
As the weeks tick on, it appears more and more likely that we will be losing Johnson in January, or at the very latest in the summer. This means that we need others to begin taking on the load from Johnno, or else it will be too much of a shock to the system when he does leave.
The key to Johnno's goalscoring has been his attitude. He wants to score, he wants to take a chance and it is paying off.
If there is anything that last weekend's defeat showed us it's that when you get a chance to shoot, you must. You simply have to use your opportunities. Plymouth used theirs and we paid the price.
Again, the manner of the goal we conceded was disappointing. A smaller factor was the ease in which the ball beat Jones but most disappointing was the weakness and indecision of Wheater.
I don't like to speak ill of our local boy, but as the weeks pass, he is showing himself to be less and less the England International he was once thought to be.
Without a strong leader alongside him, he has been poor. His decision making is non-existent, his attacking forays have gone and his concentration seems to be wayward. With Woodgate and Huth alongside him, he was a hero. But with anyone else, he has been decidedly average.
To make things worse, having the mute Jones behind him won't be helping. He needs a talker and perhaps St Ledger will grow into this role. But as a relative new boy, it's hard to imagine he is able to pull rank over Wheats.
Wheater needs to have the captain's armband taken off him so he can concentrate on his own game and nobody else's!
If we are to push on and build this season, we need our backline to be solid. At present, it's hard to see us keeping too many clean sheets.
Then, of course, we have the goal scoring issue that I touched upon earlier.
In spite of all the negatives (which there will always be whilst we're in this League), I do think we will come back from the capital with three points in hand. It will be tough, but they will be ours.
Palace have had a very average start to the season. Admittedly, they are still only five points behind us, but we should be able to impose ourselves upon them this weekend.
This is something that we must do, having slipped six points off top and four points off the automatic promotion places. This is not to mention the fact that we are now outside the play-off zone on goal difference.
We can't really afford to lose any more points for a while.
Trying their hardest to make sure we do drop points will be former Premiership stars like Darren Ambrose, Stern John and Freddie Sears. So we won't be up against a team of mugs.
They are also led by an old favourite of mine, Neil Warnock. He is a man who is so full of his own self-importance that I'm fairly sure he doesn't even think he's good enough for himself!
A complete contrast of footballing characters in Warnock and Strachan should provide the TV folks with a bit of interesting viewing after the game at least.
There is, however, only one thing I'm interested in this weekend - a win.
Let's hope our leader brings it home for us!
C'mon Boro!
The Verdict: It will be a tight one. My heart says a 2-1 win but my head thinks a 1-0 will bring us the three points.
Probable Team: Jones, Hoyte, Grounds, Wheater, St Ledger, O'Neil, Williams, Arca, Johnson, Lita, Bent
Man to Watch: Freddie Sears
Look on the bright side:Erm, only two more trips to the capital this year?
Jim's Fact of the Week: Crystal Palace recently voted for their greatest ever Palace XI and caused controversy as virtually the entire team was picked from the recent past. It included Attilio Lombardo, Ian Wright, Chris Coleman, Andy Johnson, Nigel Martyn, Kenny Sansom, Geoff Thomas, Andy Gray and John Salako, with the lesser known Paul Hinselwood and Jim Cannon keeping our old Gaffer, Gareth Southgate, out of the team.
Ask Gordon: "It takes a wee while to get my message across, it's not instant. There's a lot of hard work needed and changes to the style I like to play football. You never know when it's going to click. It's another week gone and I think we've used the hours we've had wisely. The players have had to put a lot of work in and hopefully it will come to fruition at some time in the future. The future might be on Saturday or it might be in a couple of months, you never know.
"We've only got three married players in the squad, which I find unbelievable. Three married players! I don't think Fergie would have liked that, he liked us to get married young so we'd get responsibility. If I can get them all married next year, that would be great."
Boro's Form: LWLWDL
League Placingg
7th Middlesbrough 24 points
13th Crystal Palace 19 points
Head to Head - Last Six
30/11/05 Middlesbrough 2-1 Crystal Palace, League Cup
2/4/05 Crystal Palace 0-1 Middlesbrough, Premier League
28/8/04 Middlesbrough 2-1 Crystal Palace, Premier League
8/11/95 Middlesbrough 2-0 Crystal Palace, League Cup
25/10/95 Crystal Palace 2-2 Middlesbrough, League Cup
1/5/94 Middlesbrough 2-3 Crystal Palace, First Division
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