It's All About The End Product

Afternoon, readers.

As we come towards the end of 2011, the self-titled year of the "Moggalution", I realise that it would be futile of me to dedicate another post to the miracles that Tony Mowbray has performed at our club. After all, Anthony Vickers, Mike Baker and Andrew Glover have already done so very effectively in their own blogs, and my "Magnificent Seven" post from back in May summed it all up pretty well too. (Okay, we didn't sign Paul Smith permanently, but you can't have everything...)

Rather, I'm going to conclude the year with a word of caution for three of our best players...

For once a new year begins, a new transfer window opens. Most of the paper talk has revolved around Rhys Williams, Marvin Emnes and Matthew Bates. No surprise, since they've all been key players in our promotion campaign.

What is surprising is that Bates's contract on the verge of running out while he, as yet, has shown no inclination to sign a new one. Why on earth is this the case? Especially considering that the Moggalution is, at this moment in time anyway, leading towards a successful conclusion?

To me, it's all about the end product.

What's become of the likes of Ross Turnbull, Tuncay and David Wheater should be a lesson to anyone who contemplated deserting a momentous revolution in favour of an instantaneous Premiership dream. Yes, there is quick and easy satisfaction to be gained from a far comfier pay packet at a "bigger" club. But to what end? And at what price? Less adulation from fans, less games, and above all, lower morale.

It worked out for Rob Huth and Stewart Downing but they are clearly exceptions to the rule. At both Stoke City and Bolton, Tuncay has found himself warming the bench more often than not. Ditto Wheats, who is too often seen as a last resort by Owen Coyle these days - at a team near the bottom of the league.

Meanwhile, Leroy Lita hardly gets a game for Swansea. And Andy Taylor, who could have been a great left-wing option for us this season, now finds himself looking up the table at his old club. Wondering what might have been, perhaps?

I am aware how tricky it is for any club to hold on to key players, especially with the growing influence of agents. But in my opinion, if Bates, Williams and Emnes have seen what's happened to so many ex-Boro men in the past, they will know what's best for them. In short, resist the call of the vultures, lads. Because you're on to something very good here. 

(As I type, Rolls Rhys has just made an exceptional goal saving tackle against Peterborough. All the more reason for him to stay, then...)

* * * * *

Of course, it's not just about the players, it's about the club. To me, having the likes of Juninho, Ravanelli and Emerson in the squad brought both the best and worst out of Boro - their skills were ridiculously out of this world, but they created an imbalance within the team that took the best part of two years to repair. And at another price, too - Boro were never the same club again. Which is why I'm delighted with almost all of Mogga's signings to date (yes, I haven't forgotten that Haas been) - they have gelled into the side and helped to bring the team's performances to another level altogether.

So, when either players or a club's board start dreaming of "bigger" and "better" things, it's always best for them to consider three little words first: "To what end?"

Happy New Year, everyone!

(ADDENDUM: A postscript to this particular blog post has been written following the Peterborough match. Visit the "Comments" section to read my thoughts...)

Football's Not Logical - But That's The Beauty Of It

Not too long before Malaury Martin gave us a reason to believe again more than three weeks ago, I had a brief chat over Twitter with Boro PR man Dave Allan. He wasn't convinced by my claim that this 'Boro side were like a Championship version of the 1995/96 Boro squad, during the first half of the season anyway. And while he's probably right when he says that Juninho, Higgy, Big Nige and especially poor Nick Barmby - robbed of the chance to do one over his old club today - wouldn't agree, the similarities are there.

Okay, so we're not getting crowds of nearly 30,000 every game (well, apart from today, but more on that later). But think about it - until we imploded after Christmas (and here's hoping that doesn't happen this time) we were treated to attractive, attacking football by a blend of youth and experience, with a solid defence marshalled by Nigel Pearson. Yet we scored so few goals back then, and we haven't been renowned for our goalscoring prowess this season either. By Boxing Day '95, we'd scored 23... by Boxing Day '11, we've scored 29.

The Hammers have outscored us by ten goals, the Saints by eighteen. And we have yet to score more than three goals in a single match, be it league or cup.

All this makes us David in the battle of the Goliaths of the Championship, without a doubt. To me, it is absolutely miraculous that a small squad like ours is still in touch with the top two in this league. I can't think of many, or any members of our squad who are proven in the English Premiership (even Mogga has never kept a team there for more than one season), whereas with West Ham, the seasoned Premiership pros - Allardyce, Nolan, Carew, Piquionne, Green, Carlton Cole, Diop, Noble, Joey O'Brien, Sears - trip off your tongue. And I haven't even mentioned Gary O'Neil yet.

It's the same with Manchester United and Manchester City, really. Supposedly, City reign supreme in all areas of the park. And, as Gary Fowler pointed out in a Stretford End Arising blog, United were forced to play a 19-year old defender and 38-year old ex-winger in centre midfield against Basle, while Gareth Barry and Adam Johnson can't even get in the City starting XI! Yet, thanks to Dimitar Berbatov's hat-trick in today's 5-0 rout of Wigan, United are level on points with City, with only a slightly inferior goal difference separating the two! But for that terrible day at the office on October 23, United would be top of the league. Had we beaten West Ham, we'd be in the automatic promotion places instead. It's not logical.

But whoever said football was logical? That's the beauty of the "beautiful game". And, so far anyway, it appears to be working in our favour. After all, logically, we should have lost today. We were under the cosh for most of the match, with Hull having more possession, shots and corners, plus a viable penalty claim. I felt that once again, we were set to disappoint when burdened with high expectations - 27,794 had turned up for the match, and we haven't seen that kind of attendance in a long time! - but then, Barry Robson produced a Christmas miracle.

Actually, if anyone's defying logic in football at the moment, it's Robbo. 33 years of age, and yet he seems ageless. He just keeps getting better. He's arguably been our best player this season, a powerful, tireless runner in the centre of the park capable of equally important moments of creativity. Thanks to players like him, Bailey, Rhys Williams, Bates, Marvellous Marvin, Scott McDonald... strike that, everybody in the squad, we've been able to punch above our weight to make promotion a realistic possibility.


Sometimes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And let's hope it remains so until next May.

A Matter Of Time

Time really is everything, isn't it? And to be brutally honest, I haven't had a lot of it since my last post, which was written before this whirlwind of a month kicked off (and that's more than three weeks ago!). Assignment after assignment has flooded in, the holiday season is well and truly underway, and I've found myself thinking all about friends and family and not at all about Boro.

Okay, that's not true. The Twitter account, for those of you that follow it, has been as active as can be from my last blog at the end of November. That was written just prior to the rude awakening we got at home to West Ham, which led me to conclude that our "automatic promotion pretense" had been shattered by a team much stronger and classier than us.

I then proceeded to list some sobering stats. Enough to make Boro fans reach for the bottle...

Record against Promoted Teams in 2009-10: Won 0, Drawn 1, Lost 5, For: 2, Against: 16. 

Record against Promoted Teams in 2010-11: Won 0, Drawn 1, Lost 5, For: 4, Against: 13.

Toss in our record against Southampton and West Ham this season (two games, two defeats, no goals scored, five conceded), and it all makes for pretty uncomfortable reading.

As Andrew Glover rightly went on to point out in his blog on December 2, Tony Mowbray was becoming a victim of his own success. But, as Glover also said, that wasn't a bad thing, as it helped to put our dreams of automatic promotion in perspective. Still, at the time I felt we needed an implausible series of events to get our hopes up again.

Curiously, they were forthcoming.

Three straight wins, coupled with conveniently-timed wobbles for the Saints and Hammers, have reduced the gap between us and "them" to just two points. Yes, we've had our share of lucky breaks in those games. The Bristol City win was a real smash-and-grab, and Cardiff's penalty claim looked legitimate. But how good does it feel to hit a fine spell of form again and have some new memories to talk about? Like Martin's free-kick, Haroun's delightful control for the winner against Cardiff, and the Bartman's first goal? (Deflected, schmeflected.) Even mostly unhelpful refereeing, Andy Taylor's rough challenges (you know, you had the opportunity to stay with us, Tayls) and the absence of Marvin Emnes didn't stop us against the Bluebirds. It certainly seems like the players saw my Alternative Boro Badge and took its message on board.

Just in time for Christmas too. It's really all a matter of time, isn't it?

But what I've also learnt over the years is that it's not just about the time, but the tim-ing. We've waxed lyrical about Mogga a lot this year, and his recent North East Sport Award is well deserved. But... but... in the midst of all this acclaim, a thought has occurred to me recently. Would Tony Mowbray be receiving as much praise as he has done this year if Gordon Strachan hadn't left us in such a mess to begin with? There's no doubt that Mogga has done a magnificent job, but he has had the added bonus of following a manager who had, in the words of my colleague Mike Baker, been "awful". Strach had taken "a tremendous management opportunity, spent our money and sent us spiralling off in reverse", and at the time, I'm sure a lot of fans must have been thinking, "Whoever we get next, he can't possibly be worse than Gordon, can he?" Now, I'm not about to turn this blog into an apologia for Gareth Southgate or anything like that, but you have to admit he wasn't dealt the fairest hand of cards when he took over. Replacing himself in defence, following a manager who had both won a cup and taken 'Boro into Europe, and rebuilding an ageing side with not quite the same amount of cash his two predecessors had to themselves... all in his first managerial role.

Of course, it's not just the case with modern day 'Boro bosses.

Let's take a look at another 'Boro managerial legend, Jack Charlton. Big Jack will always be admired for being the first manager to take Ireland to international finals. He'll also be much appreciated for the way he raised the profile of "the beautiful game" on this side of the Atlantic. But what if Ireland had managed to qualify for a major tournament before he took over? And furthermore, what if they had done so by playing a more attractive passing game? Would he have been as much of a "celebrity" in Ireland during the late '80's and early '90's? (Would Eamon Dunphy, for that matter?)

Would Michael Carrick have been regarded in a better light when he signed for Manchester United if he wasn't replacing Roy Keane? Antonio Valencia's done a terrific job in a United team that remains a pleasure to watch for the most part, but he'll always suffer the burden of not being Cristiano Ronaldo. Ironically the same burden that Ronaldo had to shake off when he put on the shirt that once belonged to David Beckham.

And would Nigel Worthington be viewed so negatively by NI football fans today if he hadn't had to step into Lawrie Sanchez's shoes? This was, after all, the same Lawrie Sanchez that had taken Northern Ireland to the top of the Euro 2008 qualifying group by the halfway mark, beating Spain and Sweden in the process! And he'd arrived in the job with the much simpler brief of getting the team to score a goal! It's easy to be harsh on Worthy now, but what if he had followed Sammy McIlroy instead?

Plenty of food for thought there, methinks. For now, I'll leave you all to think of real food as the 25th gets nearer. I'll be back to blog after the Hull game.

Until then, I'll leave you with this Christmas cracker...