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DEEP IN MY HEART
Aston Villa vs. Middlesbrough, 12th March 2008, Villa Park, Premier League
James Keen
A shroud of black has settled over the town, thoughts of relegation hover all around. And the pain of the boys in red put to the sword will remain with us all for a long time to come.
If it was World War Two, we were the French. If it was a Heavyweight Boxing bout the towel would've been thrown in round two. And if we were a football team, then we'd still be in the FA Cup.
The enormity of our underachievement has not yet hit home.
It feels like bereavement, like we've lost something we can never get back. We have: our pride.
A town like Middlesbrough is an immensely proud place, a place where the people believe in the football team, a place where the football team is the crowning glory of all we can be as a culture and as a people.
On Sunday that culture and that potential had its face rubbed in the mud, had its heart shattered and had its dreams laughed at.
And who is it that did this to our town?
Cardiff City? The referee?
No. It was Middlesbrough Football Club.
Those players that we idolise, that we spend our hard earned cash on supporting and those who we defend more than our own kin didn't bother to turn up to the game with the Bluebirds of Wales.
We missed out on our Wembley dream, on our greatest chance of FA Cup success and on our only chance of Europe.
I have no sympathy for Southgate or for the players because they let themselves down. It is the fans who have been left shattered by someone else's actions.
And to make things worse only Southgate has come out to the national press to apologise for the actions of our beloved team.
Passionless; clueless; remorseless; hopeless; gutless and trophyless once again.
If we could stop the clocks and turn back time, we'd put the local lads on this time. At least that way we would have seen passion and not fear.
I cannot sympathise with the players - they were the best players on the pitch, yet they put the eleven worst performances in.
Cardiff City were better than us but not unbeatable. We were simply incapable of winning.
Their penance comes in the form of an away day at Aston Villa just three days later.
I will not review the opponents and I will not predict our tactics. I will simply state, sharply and precisely. This is the last chance to win the fans back.
Defeat at Villa Park and the Boro will lose the faith of their fans completely. If the Boro win then at least we will believe that we can survive.
We continually dream of glory, yet our players simply don't deliver.
I will never stop supporting them, however hard my belief is tested. And at the moment it is being tested.
This is their chance to show us they care.
Gareth Southgate, Mark Schwarzer, Luke Young, Emmanuel Pogatetz, Robert Huth, David Wheater, Fabio Rochemback, Julio Arca, Stewart Downing, Gary O'Neil, Afonso Alves, Tuncay Sanli, Adam Johnson and Mido: Please lift this black cloud of pain and make your fans smile again.
You owe us.
The Outcome: My heart has nothing to say, my head cannot see beyond a 3-0 defeat, or worse if they play with as little heart as they did on Sunday.
Last Season: Aston Villa 1-1 Middlesbrough, Christie 43, Barry 45 (pen) (25/11/06)
Boro Form (most recent result first): LLWLDW
Villa Form: DWWLDD
Probable Teams:
Boro: Schwarzer, Young, Grounds, Pogatetz, Wheater, O'Neil, Arca, Rochemback, Downing, Tuncay, Alves
Villa: Carson, Mellberg, Bouma, Laursen, Knight, Reo-Coker, Barry, Petrov, Young, Carew, Agbonlahor
Man to Watch: Gabby Agbonlahor
RETURN TO DEEP IN MY HEART INDEX HERE
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