TALKING TACTICS
MIDDLESBROUGH v PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
Ian Gill, 30 Oct 2009
A week that started with a manager with GS on his tracksuit ended with another manager with GS on his tracksuit.
Luckily, it finished with a fiery Scotsman but not of the Souness variety.
In between, we played Preston North End and it was a return to old friends for Sean St Ledger.
Column Continues Below...
We set out in much the way we wanted to. We played some super football and got mixed results:
Minuses
* Another late goal conceded.
* Not applying foot on throat, especially through a lack of goals from the strikers.
* Points lost are like unsold airline seats, you never get them back.
Pluses
* Played well against a 'top' team.
* Came back from 1-1 to take the lead again.
* Johnno playing as left winger.
At 2.59pm a draw was a good result, especially after Gate leaving.
At 4.59pm a draw was like quinine - a bitter pill to swallow.
It reminded me of a Match of the Day programme after we had scored against Liverpool. I think it was Lawro who opined that Liverpool had considered zonal and man to man marking but had come up with no marking at all.
I wondered whether Jones the full-back (sounds Welsh) had a body odour problem when I saw how much space he was awarded.
My other thought was that it was my belief that the attacker should make a run to lose the marker, not the other way round. Clearly I need to re-acquaint myself with coaching norms.
For all the talk of players being sad, they didn't show it.
The mutterings from the press and the football world about Gate's sacking being wrong are from people who are not really involved with the Boro.
The local journalists appear to believe that he was lucky to be still in the job and can understand Steve Gibson's reasoning. The timing and subsequent PR are different matters, however.
The vast majority of fans wanted him to succeed; a large number just didn't think it was going to happen.
Gordon Strachan will have an immediate test at the Riverside with the visit of Plymouth Argyle. They are again being managed by Paul Sturrock. He did a sterling job first time round but they are struggling at the moment, lying second bottom with only nine points.
Their two victories this season were in successive matches away at Peterborough and at home to Scunthorpe.
They are beset by injuries. David Gray, Rory Fallon and Jim Patterson all limped out of last weekend's draw with Ipswich and are all receiving treatment. They are hoping to be fit for the visit to the Riverside.
Another player who is fighting to be fit is Shane Lowry, whilst Reda Johnson, Bradley Wright-Philips and Chris Barker look to be a week or two away yet.
Their last match was a 1-1 draw with Ipswich, which both teams dared not lose but were desperate to win.
Plymouth looked to be on the way to three points at 1-0 up until an horrendous back pass let in Jon Stead to score for the Tractor Boys just after the hour.
This was closely followed by, according to Plymouth's reports, an even more horrendous sending off for a perfectly clean tackle. Having seen the refereeing in this league, one is inclined to accept their view.
Overall, they only average a goal a game, with no one hitting more than four in total. So better than our strikers then.
You would expect them to come and try to park the bus and frustrate us.
It is up to Gordon to get the team fired up for the weekend. He has been putting them through double training sessions, with fitness in the morning and skills in the afternoon. He wants his squad to be ultra-fit and many of us have wondered whether the late lapses occur because we run out of steam.
It should also be borne in mind that many new coaches play the 'must get the players fit' card as soon as they arrive.
The good news is that he is a tracksuit manager. This is no slight on Gate but you wonder whether it would have helped had he had someone to guide him.
The fact that Strachan is happy with the rest of the backroom team will ease him into the Crockcliffe regime. It will also help to take the club forward by improving the coaching as well as the players.
I would be surprised if there were any major changes, although you never know who has impressed in training.
The natural workaholics will have an advantage. The players who spring to mind are Digard, O'Neil and McMahon, to name but a few. I am not being disparaging to any of the others because we don't see training but Strachan does like hard working players.
What potential changes may he be thinking about? I don't have a crystal ball or the ability to do a Vulcan mind meld so the following are my attempts to second-guess Gordon's thoughts.
He will have made judgements on how the players reacted to two sessions a day - who stood up to the increased physical intensity and who came out for the afternoon raring to go.
In goal, I think he may leave well alone, although many of us feel happier with Coyne organising the defence. He was quickly relegated to the bench as soon as Jones was fit and he copped the flak when we played badly.
There may be a change or two in defence. I have a sneaking suspicion that Pogo will return and that it will be at the expense of the Redcar Rock. The last gasp equaliser against Preston may well be playing on Gordon's mind.
The other change may be at left-back, with the introduction of the more physical Grounds for Bennett.
In midfield, O'Neil, Digard and Johnno will be certainties.
The last position could revolve around where he plays O'Neil. If he is in the middle then it has to be Yeates with instructions that he swaps wings at his own peril.
If O'Neil plays right side, we may have a three way tussle between Josh 'who?' Walker, Williams and the Land Crab. The new manager could be a big opportunity for Walker because he had rave reviews playing in the SPL. Against weak and injury ravaged opponents, he may be tempted to bring in the experience of Arca.
I think we should play O'Neil in the middle with Digard and Yeates on the right.
Up front it will be perming any two out of two. Folan is turning into a disaster made worse by the suspicion that he is here permanently.
Aliadiere seems to have a Crockcliffe special - six weeks off will go down a bomb with the manager who was not overly fussed with him whilst on loan to Celtic. He will be back in time for the transfer window!
Not surprisingly, I am going for Lita and Emnes as our strikers!
There is every chance it will be the same again with the above discussion being a piece of virtual padding.
I expect a good performance with a few goals thrown in. We will be solid and a clean sheet will be demanded. He will want to start with a win, he will want to send the fans away buzzing.
