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!!

Win tickets to Boro v Sheff Utd with npower - Winners...

And the winners of the npower competition to win two tickets for the Boro v Sheff Utd are:

Chris Hughes
&
Darren Allon

I hope you and your guest have a great time at the game, and remember to take some pictures for the npower blog!

Remember... If you were not lucky enough to win this competition you can always enter npower's own Big Ticket Giveaway which will see a pair of tickets up for grabs for every single npower football league game and fan club members will also have the opportunity to win club player and manager appearances. All details can be found at http://www.npower.com/football-league website.

Thanks to everyone for entering. Keep a look out on Twitter (@MFCFacebook) and check the links section of this blog for the Facebook MFC Fanpage for all the latest Boro news, views and score updates!

Win tickets to Boro v Sheff Utd with npower

http://www.npower.com/football

Win Tickets To Boro v Sheff Utd With npower


We Shall Overcome Blog has teamed up with npower to give Boro fans the chance to win two pairs of tickets in the home end at the Riverside Stadium for the game against Sheffield United on Sunday 22nd August (ko 1:15pm)

All you have to do to enter is email us weshallovercomeblog@googlemail.com with the answer to the following question along with your name, email address and phone number (daytime contact as you will be contacted about collecting the tickets):

What was the score last season when Boro played Sheffield United at home in The Championship?

Winners will be picked by random and no entries will be accepted after 11:30pm on Thursday 19th August 2010. Multiple entries will not be accepted. Winners will be notified by email that they have won by 9am on Friday 20th August 2010 and posted on this page on Friday night.

If you are not lucky enough to win this competition you can always enter npower's own Big Ticket Giveaway which will see a pair of tickets up for grabs for every single npower football league game and fan club members will also have the opportunity to win club player and manager appearances. All details can be found at http://www.npower.com/football-league website.

Please note you will have to collect the tickets from the Middlesbrough Football Club ticket office at the Riverside Stadium prior to the game.

All we ask the winners in return is that you take plenty of photos of your matchday experience so npower can display them on their football league Facebook page and their flickr site. We might even post one of you on here!

As npower have been kind enough to offer the tickets to us please can you visit their website using the above links after you have entered, and it would be great if you follow this blog as well!! If you are thinking about changing your gas and electricity supply npower are currently offering a football saver tariff, with discounted gas and electricity until the start of the 2011/12 football season. You will also receive £45 worth of vouchers to spend at your football league club shop. For more details go to http://www.npower.com/football.


Many thanks and good luck!!

We shall overcome



Brought to you by weshallovercomeblog & big mouth media on behalf of npower.

Middlesbrough v Ipswich 7/8/2010

Middlesbrough 1 - 3 Ipswich
McDonald 22

There was hope amongst Boro fans this morning but this was short-lived after a dismal display at the Riverside this afternoon which produced Boro's first defeat at the Riverside since December 2009.

Boro went into the lead after 22 minutes with Scott McDonald opening his 2010/11 account with a composed finish but if anything the game was open with both sides looking like they could score, with Ipswich hitting the bar before half time.

Boro fell asleep in the second half which allowed Ipswich to score three goals which ensured the win for Roy Keane's side. The boos where clear for all to hear around the Riverside as the full time whistle was blown.

More to follow...

Boro Man of the Match - Danny Coyne (Despite conceding three goals)

Attendance - 21,882

Game Highlight - Scott McDonald scoring our only goal...

Thanks for reading, and as always comments (good or bad) are always appreciated. Keep a look out on Twitter (@MFCFacebook) and check the links section of this blog for the Facebook MFC Fanpage.

England And The FA - Hang Your Heads In Shame

You won't hear me say this often, but I admire the French, or at least the way the French FA handled their exit of the World Cup. The players weren't taken back to their five-star hotels and pampered for another day at the FA's expense, no they were transported via coach straight to the airport and flown back economy. We can look at where, how and why England have failed in South Africa but our problems do not stem from 'player fatigue' alone, they stem from the very top, from the English Football Association.

Firstly we have Lord Triesman proclaiming to his mistress that 'Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup', then we have the FA extending Fabio Capello's contract two weeks before the tournament starts. Two massive blunders made by the top brass at the FA. Are these people even on the same planet as us? The Chief of the FA, brought in by Gordon Brown to clean up the organisation from the past sex scandals has one of his own and puts England's World Cup bid in jeopardy, then having seen how much it cost Liverpool to get rid of Rafa Benitez after giving a massive contract extension decide to do the same with Capello. Unbelievable. This incompetence runs from the top, straight down through Capello and finishes off on the pitch.

Enough about the FA for now. I was concerned when I saw Capello announce his final squad of 23. The usual suspect were there, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Cole, Ferdinand, but there was no depth at all. There was nothing to change a game, no way to change the system. We have some promising young players, namely Adam Johnson, but even he was overlooked and the likes of Shaun Wright Phillips and Aaron Lennon were selected over the ex-Middlesbrough academy player. SWP and Lennon have has many chances at international level and haven't produced. Johnson can change a game. Then the strikers... Emile Heskey was chosen over Darren Bent. Heskey is not a goal scorer, he is unable to hold the ball up, does not contribute assists and has struggled at his club all season. Obviously a far better selection than Bent who has scored 24 goals in 38 Premier League appearances compared to Heskey's 3 goals in 16 appearances (15 of those as a substitute). What I would like to know is how is Heskey not good enough to start for Aston Villa, but good enough to start for England?

England's potent World Cup strike force

Peter Crouch has 5 more goals to his name for not many more starts, but Capello amazed England fans with his bizarre team selections in the group games. Neglecting Defoe and Crouch and starting with Rooney and Heskey was not what the England faithfull wanted to see - we wanted Rooney up front on his own, as he has played for Manchester United all season, scoring 26 goals in the league. The other shocking decisions were playing Carragher (whose legs have gone), Gerrard on the left, Upson instead of Dawson, King's inclusion having not been fit his entire life etc etc but as fans we have become all to familiar with England managers knowing better than us fans, then the team crashes out of the competition without even a whimper (or not qualifying at all).

To top all this off, after two miserable performances Wayne Rooney decides to insult the fans who have paid £1000's to go out and follow the three lions. We then paper over the cracks with an average performance against Slovenia, then bomb out against Germany. I'm not surprised that the team were booed, I have never seen such a gutless display from England.

So with the team knocked out it was nice to see Ashley Cole and Ledley King enjoying a laugh and a joke shortly after the Germany game, and it was nice to see that the FA had provided the England team with a private jet landing early in the morning at Heathrow to avoid angry fans. This again is more incompetence from the FA. Those England players should have been made to travel back economy, landed at Heathrow at lunchtime and if there was fans there to vent their anger so be it. The players obviously don't know what it means to support England, to follow your team all over the world, having maybe saved for years to afford it.

So what now? I think the likes of Heskey, King, Carragher, Barry, Upson, A Cole, Gerrard, James & SWP should never play for England again. Rooney will need to buck his ideas up to remain in for me, he has been woeful of late and looks unfit. We need to sack Capello as well. I would appoint a coach with a contract to the 2012 Euro's and no more. His job would be to build a capable young squad with a view to get to the quarter finals on the Euro's, and leave the team able to push on for the following World Cup. The selection policy should be clear - If you are too old to play in the 2014 World Cup you are too old for the England team now. We need to build a solid group of players, who don't take for granted their England call ups.

Well that's my thoughts / rant over with. No more England talk for me, I now can enjoy the rest of the World Cup without worrying about how England are doing. For the record I think it will be a Argentina v Brazil final, and Argentina will sneak it. Now to look forward to the start of the domestic football season, and seeing who Gordon Strachan signs in the next few weeks.

Slovenia v England - My Analysis

We played very well for the first 25 mins, but as soon as the goal went in we noticeably backed off and started firing up front from the back again, but despite this we controlled the first half and thoroughly deserved our lead.

In the second half there was more of this long ball hoopla, but England were fairly solid despite a few close calls that last ditch efforts from Terry and Upson managed to prevent turning into something more. Rooney still looks off, he needs a goal fast, but apart from that a decent performance all round.

I couldn't work out why Heskey was brought on as he proved against Algeria he is as capable of holding the ball up as a man with no arms, J Cole made little impact, and for both changes I would have preferred Crouch coming on - he may have caused more problems...

Positives were Terry and Upson (a solid partnership), Milner was excellent, Gerrard was disciplined, Defoe managed to convert, and the fullbacks looked good going forward in the first half.

I think though that we still don't have enough to get beyond Argentina (presuming they win), Germany will be close and could go either way, but despite winning I feel down heartened that we didn't push on for the second goal as when playing to our potential as we did for the first 25 mins as we were by far the better team.

We need to improve for Germany, and hope that we are able to substantially improve again against the Argies if we hope to get into the Semi's.

Team performance: 7/10
MoM: James Milner
Highlight: Terry's last ditch effort to stop a shot with his head 6 inches off the floor

Boro's Promotion Hopes - They think it's all over... It is now

I'm sick to death of reading how we need to keep the faith, that promotion is still possible, and how we need to back the team. The latter is true, but just because something is mathematically possible it doesn't mean it's going to happen, and it isn't.

Personally when the Boro spin machine churns out the 'we can do it' messages I feel insulted. It’s like they think they can dupe you into still believing. I think Middlesbrough Football Club need to be looking at how to get fans to renew and come to the games next season rather than trying to con the fans into thinking our promotion campaign is still on.

£370 to sit in the North Stand next season (the early bird price), another price freeze - but I'm sorry, I really think that Steve Gibson has dropped a clanger... There are only so many seasons that you can pay nearly £400 based on 'blind faith', and I think after 4 seasons of dross the Boro fans are finally realising this. I would personally have gone for a £50 drop in season tickets prices, making the early bird price in the North Stand £320 - an offer that I'm sure would have had many doubters renewing straight away. Maybe if that wasn't practical throw in a half price shirt, or £20 to spend in the club shop - something... but alas, no.

There will be people who have already renewed, but these would have renewed even if the price had gone up - it’s the middle grounders that Boro need to convince - the ones who haven't been entertained, with families, that maybe have lost their jobs or have low incomes. Why should they renew? £370 is a week’s holiday, which after the season we have endured would be much more preferable if you had to choose one or the other.

My prediction is we will finish around 10th in the league this season, and will be facing regular sub 15,000 crowds at the Riverside next season unless something is done fast, and that might be reducing the renewal prices, or signing someone that will bring the crowds back - but who would that? - I don't even think Juninho could bring the fans back now.

The next few months are the most important since 1986, correct guidance could see Boro flourish next season, with 25,000 fans at every game, but if even more mistakes are made I dread to think of the consequences - relegation, administration - they are all possibilities. I hope I'm wrong, I hope we could somehow manage to get promoted, I hope we sell more tickets next season, but I'm a realist, I just can't see it happening.