Wednesday 25 August 2010

Give Strachan a chance!!

So we are three league games in and the typical moaning element of Middlesbrough fans are coming out in force as they have finally got a slight reason to start venting about Gordon Strachan as Middlesbrough were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Millwall last night. These 'fans' as they like to call themselves, are the staunch Southgate supporters who for the entire second half of last season criticised Steve Gibson and Gordon Strachan for every decision made at the club after their messiah was dismissed after ruining a team only the season prior his appointment featured in an UEFA Cup final.

You just have to look at the legacy of Southgate's Boro to see that these people are clueless. Only a week ago we still had Mido, Digard and Emnes still taking Premier League wages from us and no club wanted them. Mido, now on his 11th club has finally departed to Ajax and Boro haven't recouped any of the £6m Southgate paid for him. Project Emnes (£3.2m), Digard (£4.0), Mido (£6m) and Alves (£12m) are just four massive failures that come to mind, for a total of £25.2m, not to mention others than have come in and failed. How is this conducive to Southgate being considered better than Strachan? Southgate also managed a relegation in his three years at the club, and managed to shift out young talent such as Lee Cattermole and failed to play Adam Johnson preferring the other flop, Jeremie Aliadiere on the right wing (£2.5m).

Gordon Strachan on the other hand has come into the club and has had to totally rebuild the team and staff. He initially brought loanees into the side, some dubious, but was honest with the fans advising that they were the best on the market available at the time. In the January transfer window he brought in Scott McDonald, Stephen McManus, Willo Flood, Barry Robson and Chris Killen who improved the Boro squad dramatically (McDonald currently this season scoring 3 goals in 4 games). Summer additions have included Kris Boyd, Kevin Thomson and Matthew Kilgallon amongst others. All of these players, nowhere near £25.2m, and more importantly they all have the right attitude. There has been the odd failure, Lee Miller has failed to impress and Nicky Bailey has had a shaky few games but you can afford the odd one not working when you are not paying much for them.

Promotion

So Strachan's objective for the 2010/11 Championship season is simple - promotion. This is what he will be judged on, and if he fails it may well be the end of his time at Middlesbrough. Steve Gibson will be patient with him, and in January will probably make more funds available if our squad is in need of even further strengthening, so why are the fans getting on his back after three league games? It is farcical. I accept that the opening game against Ipswich was not good enough, he knows that, Gibson knows that, but we followed it up with a solid draw away from home, then a win on Sunday against Sheffield United. Anyone calling for Strachan's head at this stage in the season are fools.

Did these same fans not see that sacking a manager in the opening part of the season last year didn't work? So why would it be a good idea now? Do they not understand that a majority of the players are Strachan's? So do they give another manager a few million to rebuild the squad again? The problem is that there is a hardcore bunch of Boro fans who just like to moan. They will moan to anyone and everyone about anything. I thought being a fan was about getting behind the team, not relishing the fact that the team has struggled and that means they can slag the club of again... Yep, these fans have paid their money so they can have their say... fair enough... but if a monkey bought a car would you let it drive it on the roads? No. These fans have little football knowledge and are still obsessed with the Southgate era.

You may say we also lost in the Carling Cup. Good is what I say... There are enough games to contend with in the Championship without playing in the Carling Cup. We need to plough all our resources and efforts into the league. We, as Boro fans, need to unite, get behind the club, team and manager and stop this constant moaning. It is killing the club. If its not people of Fly Me To The Moon slagging of the good work of the Red Faction it's fans moaning that the ground is empty and then not going themselves. Lets get behind the team, get to the ground and support the lads on to promotion!!

Come on Boro!!

18 comments:

  1. Well said mate, these boro fans are starting to annoy me now, lets cut the whinging and get behind the team!!

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  2. What a load of nonsense! What about the "fans" (as you put them) who were neither happy with the appointment or Southgate or Strachan, your clearly missing that group.

    Ultimately the hierarchy tried to do things on the cheap and appointed Soutgate, and that is why we are in the mess we are now. I've still got be convinced by Strachan - are we in a better position than when he took over? Yes, however we are obviously lacking masses of pace in the side which any "clueless" person can see.

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  3. think some of these people only started supporting the club in the glory years and thats all they want. If we get back in the big league they will all come flooding back, and saying they never left. As you have said GS2 has had a lot of clearing out too do and slowly he is getting it right.

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  4. Here's Bernie Slaven's take on things -

    Our slow start to the season continues as we bowed out of the Carling Cup tonight, after only 2 rounds.

    Strachan cannot be accused of neglecting the competition as every player had first team experience.

    We had alot of possesion, but failed to turn it into goals.

    We grabbed a consilation goal when McDonald grabbed his 3rd goal of the season in the dying minutes, but it was much too late.

    The question I would ask the manager would be. Why was Kris Boyd on the bench?

    He grabbed his 1st goal for the club on Sunday against Sheffield United. He would have been looking to add to his tally and continue to form a partnership with McDonald.

    There is no doubt promotion is more important than cup competitions, but winning breeds confidence and goals breed confidence for the strikers and team in general.

    If Strachan had left me out of tonight’s game, I would have been knocking on his door in the morning.

    Managers live and die by their decisions, tonight Strachan has got it wrong, we are now on the cup scrap heap.

    As we are knocked out, people will now switch their mindsets to “Lets concentrate on the league.”

    If we don’t start to get our act together, our season could be over by Christmas.

    http://www.bernieslaven.co.uk/2010/08/carling-cup-millwall-2-middlesbrough-1/

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  5. Still time to bring some pace into the side... Like I said, too early in the season to judge him, even after being knocked out of the Carling Cup. Bernie is right, why did he leave Boyd out... but Bernie certainly isn't judging Gordon as the rest of the moaners are...

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  6. I am not a huge fan of gordon strachans tactical ability but he doesnt half know how to pick a player Boyd, mcdonald, mcmanus and robson just a few examples these players could have been playing european football this year/last year but strachan has got them here weve played 3 games once the team gels together and we pick out boyd more often the goals and points will follow just keep the faith. And hopefully we will welcome back all the stay aways and blue mooners back when we (hopefully) get promoted

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  7. I hate Strachan, me!

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  8. Soft Sid ( Saltburn )25 August 2010 at 21:54

    FANS , is short for FANATICS . Therefore ( according to the laws of probability ), the moaners / whingers CANNOT be FANS .The super intelligent WHINGERS were there in the 50`s ( my dad told me )They were there in the 60`s/70`s/80`s/90`s/2000 onwards ( I know this , because I have attended , through-out these decades ). I hear the expert moaners ( some of who have never been to the Riverside ),pontificating , and offering EDUCATED OPINION , on the problems with Strachan / Gibson / Miller / Hoyte to name a few . You only EARN the right to moan , when you GO to the game . You only EARN the right to be called a FAN , when you go to the match at the expense of the missus / holidays / kid`s / dog , and suffer the verbal abuse every Saturday night in the club , when some ex-FAN , informs you , " they wont get me there again till we win summat !"
    If they choose not to go to the matches , they LOSE the right to be called a FAN .

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  9. Get Martin O'Neill in!

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  10. A whinging Pom is one thing, A whinging Boro Pom is worse. The season has barely started, Which team in any division is going to win every game,enjoy the wins,live with the losses and be a good sport.

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  11. soft sid . Saltburn26 August 2010 at 09:17

    EXACTLY !

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  12. For anyone who wants to see the reason we are in this mess, look at the front page of yesterdays Northern Echo.
    Gibson has siphoned off more than 30mill in the last two years to broker the golf course and hotel revamp at Hurworth to support the North easts bid for the 2018 world cup!!
    'Hes one of our own'

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  13. your sweeping generalisations are amazing and your arrogance breathtaking. Who the hell do you think you are to codemn thousands of people you know nothing about. I have never read such garbage in all my life

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  15. What the hell is soft Sid on about, perhaps if he knew what the law of probability is he would think twice about his post. Stick to the single syllable words Sid. Meanwhile I am off to read something a bit more informed, a lot more articulate and with some basis in fact. Keep banging the drum and maybe you will get a few more followers from the sub 100 IQ brigade. By the way Sid I am as fanatic as it is healthy to be but honestly if you put a football team before your family you need help!!

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  16. Thanks for the articulate comments Garry, its far easy to abuse in a few lines than to write a piece on your thoughts. Maybe you are sub 100 IQ also. See, its easy to abuse you in a few lines as you have me :-)

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  17. The difference is i made a judgement on you based on what you have said; you made a judgement on thousands of people (who have every reason to be unhappy) based on what? I am not normally such a mean spirited person but honestly mate it is hardly fair to make such sweeping statements. Why must everything with Boro be black and white. Not everybody that expresses disappointment, sometimes in the heat of the moment, is a fool or "not a true fan". Sorry if I was a bit harsh; I guess you just pressed my buttons a wee bit with some of your statements. We agree on at least one thing anyway UTB

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  18. No worries Garry, I just vent off on here, I don't mean to offend! UTB :-)

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