By Tim Sigsworth
After a calamitous performance in which his side had a grand
total of zero shots on target against a team who started the day second from
bottom and hadn’t kept a home clean sheet since the opening day, you’d have
expected Jonathan Woodgate to reel off the standard clichés in his post-match
press conference.
He could have blamed the tactical set-up, his players’ willingness
to win, missed opportunities or bad luck. In truth, he mentioned the second and
the fourth of those.
But what he also dwelled on, much to the ire of many a Middlesbrough
supporter, was the club’s young players.
This came after a distinctly Cloughian
response to a question on why he made changes from the team which lost 1-0 to
Luton the previous Saturday: “I thought that
team would win the game.” You have to wonder whether Woodgate realises that
he doesn’t have the wiliness or track record to justify such arrogance,
arrogance which he will no doubt think is witty, unique, funny, clever, smart.
His thoughts,
as reported by The Evening Gazette, read as follows.
“Listen, Djed’s been doing okay
but he needs to do more, he needs to do more.
“These are young lads and we are in a
relegation battle so sometimes you need people who have been there and done it
and really fought.
“You need experienced players at times. We are
in this situation and I have been playing young players and we are three points
off the relegation zone – even though I have been playing younger players.
“Djed [Spence]
played at the weekend, Hayden [Coulson] played at the weekend and we got beat
by Luton 1-0. You do need characters and sometimes playing younger players
isn’t always the right thing to do, you need to protect them at times, that’s
the key to it. I’ve got good experienced players in there.”
First, what on earth can Djed
Spence “do more”?
The lad has never played
professional football before this season yet has emerged as our best right-back
since Emilio Nsue. He drives the team forward and shows confidence when doing so
yet gets dropped from the matchday eighteen. Fearless and adventurous with
everything to prove, he is the exact type of player Boro need to get out of this
relegation scrap.
Second, how on earth can Woodgate
attribute the loss to Luton to him and Coulson?
They were pivotal to our only
good run of form this season, for heaven’s sake! Boro’s losses to Luton and
Barnsley, not to mention the tepid performance at Wigan, were down to a chronic
lack of creativity and willingness, and several shocking substitutions. Boro’s
spell over Christmas and the New Year were down to creative dynamism and a spirit
of belief which coursed through the entire team. I wonder what the common
denominators are? Hint: they play at left-back and right-back.
I’ve said all that without
mentioning Marcus Tavernier's absence once.
Third, why on earth can he think
that those “experienced” players who played in their places were A) “characters”
and B) deserving of their places?
The likes of Ryan Shotton,
Marvin Johnson and George Saville, for all their possession of the magical “experience” elixir, have done little more than flatter to deceive during
their time on Teesside. George Friend hasn’t stood out on the pitch since
2016/17 and appears woefully naïve about the prospect of relegation. Lewis Wing is still
living off his start to last season and his goal at Luton on the opening day.
The lack of criticism he gets surprises me. Britt Assombalonga is not a £15m
striker. Rudy Gestede is Rudy Gestede, nothing more needs to be said.
And although I don’t think it
would be fair to criticise Ravel Morrison given his lack of game time in a Boro
shirt, his signing should say all you need to know about Woodgate’s nous for
assessing characters.
Indeed, based on this season’s
performances, the “characters” Woodgate speaks of seem more worried about overpriced
luxury clothes, the alloys on their cars and having a haircut three times a
week. I don’t recall any of them ever having “really fought” with a red lion
rampant emblazoned on their chest, except for those who were here under
Karanka.
Is it Woodgate’s fault that they
are here? Not really. Is it his fault if he continues to depend on them? I don’t
have to answer that question. Does he need to take some responsibility instead
of blaming everyone and everything apart from the Boro’s finest thug-turned-manager?
The answer is on a postcard.
Boro reek of complacency. Their
displays are as devoid of effort and tactical sense as much as they are of the
attack- and youth-oriented stall that was set out at the start of the season.
Anyway, onto Leeds. What could
possibly go wrong?
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