Warnock Weekly 29-8-07 || Middlesbrough F.C. news, reviews and comment

WARNOCK WEEKLY 29-8-07
Tom Warnock

So the Geordies thought they would come to the Riverside, maybe stay in second gear, give crock Owen a run-out and take away three points with minimal effort. The same assumption they make nearly every time they play us. How wrong they were.

After N'Zogbia's pearler of an opener, many a Boro team of the past would've given up the cause and shown little conviction to get back into the game. Not on Sunday though; the Boro, led by Mido who seems to have brought a new air of leadership and fight to the team, fought back to draw level on two occasions. The second equaliser in the last ten minutes, something of retribution for Lee Clarke's late, late equaliser two seasons ago.

Mido has done more in two games than all the other signings put together since they joined the club. The big man has really added to our game and looks as if he has the ability to play in a way which brings the best out of his new team-mates.

Viduka had been ducking and dodging any traitor related questions in the build up to the derby. His obvious attempt to avoid a torrent of abuse was to no avail and the man who claimed to be signing for Newcastle in search of trophies - which has been ongoing for half a century - was duly informed of the Boro fan's point of view. And just for the record; no Mark, the stripes don't make you look thinner.

It was a game in which real quality football was somewhat absent, yet it was entertaining nonetheless. Plus points for us were not losing a derby, and obviously the return of Woodgate, who besides his lapse for Viduka's goal was solid.

It was unusual to see Boateng starting wide right, and Tuncay sitting on the bench, and even more unusual to adopt such a bold tactic in such an important fixture. George was decent, but then again what did we expect? We probably expected backwards and sideways, and that's what we got.

Rochemback and Arca worked well together in spells, and if we can rely on the defence to keep concentration then we could really benefit from the attacking nature of the pair.

It's impossible to hide the fact that we need signings and the priority must be a right winger. How can we sell a natural right winger and sign a striker in his place? Tuncay wants to be up front and he can't possibly do any worse than Aliadiere. All credit to Jeremie, but he just isn't a natural goalscorer. I'd be surprised if he scored double figures this season.

I often wonder, if I were Gareth Southgate, what would I do? I would play Mido as a target man, Tuncay in the hole to pick up his knock downs and play him in then give Adam Johnson freedom of the right wing. He has the pace to beat men and the bottle to try it, and so what if he's a natural lefty? I'm sure he can do something with his right peg.

If Boateng wasn't captain he wouldn't have been on the pitch on Sunday. Tuncay suffered because GS clearly wanted to start Rocky and Arca, yet didn't have the nerve to drop the captain. There are still many issues to be resolved on the pitch and let's not mention the ones off the pitch.

All I can say is Mido's goal was karma at its finest - and if a player could ever mimic what every fan in the stand was doing - he did it to perfection.

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