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Nice guy, keepers, cost-cutting & kids; where it all went wrong for Middlesbrough FC!
As we sit and ponder life in the Championship next season, many fans will no doubt sift through the wreckage of the 2008-09 campaign and try to put their finger on where it all went wrong for the Boro?
In trying to do just that I have deduced that circumstances which culminated in our demise and loss of Premier League status for the first time in 11 years, probably started in summer 2006 when Steve Gibson appointed Gareth Southgate in the first place.
The former skipper had no experience or qualifications to manage any team, let alone one which had just played in a Uefa Cup final just two months earlier. However Gibson was happy to let him cut his teeth at the Riverside regardless of the fact!
The first two seasons of Southgate’s tenure saw a gradual slide as the Boro’s better players – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka, Yakubu and Jonathan Woodgate all departed.
He was guilty of ‘putting square pegs in round holes’ to coin a phrase as players were continually played out of position in his line-ups to try and keep the more big-name members of the squad happy.
There were also signs that the manager could not motivate his players before this past season – the 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final home defeat against Cardiff City still sticks in the throat given that we will probably never have a better chance to win the trophy again!
However last summer’s significant off-the-field actions put the wheels in motion with regards to our slippery slide into the Championship – and that is where Steve Gibson and Keith Lamb must take their share of the responsibility!
Several years ago Lamb revealed that if dwindling attendances continued then the Middlesbrough fans would get a team the club could afford – a major hint that the days of splashing mega-money on super-star players were over and done with. Fair enough many fans thought at the time!
However things went further the other way 12 months ago when cost-cutting measures to slim down the wage bill resulted in veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, combative midfield duo George Boateng and Lee Cattermole, experienced right-back Luke Young and creative midfielder Fabio Rochemback all allowed to leave an already small squad.
Instead of replacing like-for-like Southgate brought in French Under-21 midfielder Didier Digard and Dutch striker Marvin Emnes for a combined fee of around £6million. Both players were totally unproven in the Premier League and represented a huge gamble which did not pay off given that Emnes only broke into the first team in the final three games, while Digard spent more time in the treatment room.
The younger and cheaper option of Justin Hoyte arrived to replace Young, but he has not been fit to lace his boots, while Southgate insisted Brad Jones and Ross Turnbull were both good enough replacements for Schwarzer. Both young keepers have had a stab at holding down the number one spot, but neither have lived up to the standards set by the Australian during his 11 years on Teesside.
Another gamble which failed to pay off for Southgate was putting all of his eggs in one basket when he smashed the club’s transfer record by signing Brazilian striker Afonso Alves for almost £13million in January 2008. He was supposed to be the main man who would get into double figures, but in truth he has never looked like getting 10 goals.
Following a bright start what we were left with after injuries to key players on numerous occasions throughout the campaign was a wafer-thin squad totally lacking in necessary experience, guidance and battling spirit.
It was no surprise as the matches wore on that Boro were incapable of holding onto slender leads given that the side lacked the firepower to kill matches off and the know-how to close games down in the final minutes when opposition sides threw caution to the wind.
On eight occasions Boro managed to squander winning positions in games before going on to either lose or draw!
The slide to oblivion started in late November when Boro crashed to a 3-1 home defeat to Bolton and then went on a 13-game winless run, which included a 3-0 battering at bottom club West Brom in mid-January! The shock victory over Liverpool was nothing more than a slight breather as the constant away defeats and inability to turn home draws into wins proved costly in the end.
Throughout the entire campaign there were rumblings of discontent as players spoke of leaving for pastures new, while Stewart Downing stunned the club with a January transfer request, which was subsequently turned down.
Striker Mido was bundled out of the club to Wigan on loan at the first opportunity in the New Year transfer window amid suggestions he was upsetting the changing room harmony. Marlon King arrived in exchange, despite facing a huge court case outside of football and accused of being a disruptive influence at former loan club Hull City.
All the while Mr Nice Guy Gareth seemed clueless how to deal with his playing staff, let alone motivate them into actually winning football matches!
In the final weeks of the season Southgate and his players continued to talk a good game off the field, but failed miserably to back up their claims with hard results as the pressure clearly got to them all.
Until the very end the manager’s inexperience shone through with some head-scratching team formations and fielding a glut of players operating out of their natural positions, despite having viable options to fill those gaps sat watching from the bench.
Hoyte was played at left-back, despite Andrew Taylor watching on, Matthew Bates was played in central midfield, despite Josh Walker waiting in the wings, Bates was then moved to central defence and right-back when Rhys Williams and Tony McMahon were champing at the bit to join the survival fight! This is just the tip of the ice-berg!
Alves was left out for long periods before being called upon out of the blue to fire us to safety at Newcastle on May 11 alongside Emnes – who had not started a Premier League game until that night – while Julio Arca vanished into thin air for three months before reappearing in the final home game against Aston Villa!
By May 24 at West Ham the myriad of factors which contributed to our downfall – cost-cutting in terms of the manager’s appointment and investment in players, a loss of valuable experienced squad members and an over-reliance on youth to keep the wage bill down, squandering funds on unproven foreign players not cut out for English football, injuries to key players and, most of all, Gareth Southgate’s lack of tactical, man-management and motivational skills came together like one big jigsaw!
It spelt out the words ‘Championship Football’!
Written exclusively for oneBoro.co.uk by Craig Smithson
Written for oneBoro.co.uk, a leading Middlesbrough FC website.
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