Warnock Weekly 6-2-08 || Middlesbrough F.C. news, reviews and comment

WARNOCK WEEKLY - FULHAM UP WITH SORROW - 6-2-08
Tom Warnock

Offside controversy, disallowed goals, plenty of bookings and a score-draw. It can only mean one thing - a Tyne-Tees derby.

This is a fixture that in recent years has been dull and uneventful, with barely enough material to fill the twenty seconds of highlights which the BBC reluctantly airs at 11.55pm.

Not this time.

The game got off to a mysterious start when Schwarzer, clutching the ball, crumpled to the floor in a fashion indicative of a footballer approaching his forties due to the slightest brush of the tiny Michael Owen's arm. He then put the ball in the net but the ref got us off that one. The Toon will have felt hard done by, but quite frankly, who cares?

The second half was certainly entertaining. We were organised, we passed the ball well and some of Arca's through passes should have been buried by the likes of O'Neil and Lee.

Aliadiere's endeavour and commitment was ever present and we looked by far the more dangerous of the two sides.

Newcastle had the ball in our half often enough but they rarely got in behind our back line until the dying minutes and much like us, they squandered any chances they created.

Despite us drawing level, we aren't notorious for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat - only once this season have we overcome a deficit to go on and win the game.

There was one main problem with the otherwised polished display - our finishing. And if you didn't find yourself muttering: "Alves would've buried that one" or "If only we had Alves today" then you must be Dong Gook Lee's biggest fan.

Even with Tuncay on the pitch, I believe we would have won the game. Newcastle's defence was rigid to the onslaught of pace from Downing, O'Neil and Aliadiere. With Tuncay on the pitch, it would have been one pair of legs too many for them.

It just shows that the gap in quality between the two sides has narrowed over recent years. Sadly, that's probably more to do with the Toon getting worse rather than an improvement on our part, but we have managed to exceed Newcastle in recent years.

This now seems to be the only realistic aim for the season - along with securing our Premiership status once more.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing Alves perform for the Boro. Just looking at his clips on the internet, he scores all kinds of goals and in many of these, the defending can't be faulted. He's simply too good.

His pace is alarming for a big man. He has no problem sprinting on to diagonal passes, his touch is neat and close, he can strike the ball with power and he can also place it with accuracy.

As we all know however, new signings take time to settle. Let's just hope he can get his first goal soon and his confidence begins to flow.

It looks like he's relishing the challenge and he certainly won't be lacking the service, with the quality provided by Stewie, O'Neil, Tuncay and Aliadiere. If Gareth can get it just right, we could have a formidable attacking line-up with a variety of options.

Aliadiere was quoted this week as saying he believes a win over Fulham will secure our Premiership status. Obviously he can't mean in a mathematical sense. At least I hope he doesn't because that would imply he's planning an early holiday if we beat the Cottagers.

If we can win five to six of our remaining games we will be safe and should finish in the top half. A few months ago, this looked completely out of the question.

With the run we're on, we have a chance to salvage something from the season, particularly as the FA Cup also provides us with something to play for. We have a nice draw and we need to capitalise on it and seize the opportunity.

For now though, the focus remains Fulham on Saturday. A second consecutive home win in the league would go down very nicely.

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