THE WEEK ON THE TEES
IS McDONALD THE ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS?
Luke Raine, 4 Feb 2010
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis described the January transfer window as a "circus", while Sky Sports News claimed that there "was nothing like it in terms of entertainment". No matter what your opinion on the transfer window is, you would be hard pushed to argue that Middlesbrough F.C have not had a good one.
On the surface that opinion may seem a little far fetched, after the loss of the team's top scorer and most consistent performer. Last week this column said that Johnson would only leave if the club were offered "daft" money, and that is what happened.
But the sale of Johnson paved the way for potentially Boro's most important signing of the last few seasons in Scott McDonald. If the Australian international can continue his record of scoring in every other league game then the Johnson fee will look like money very well spent.
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Of course there are no guarantees with a player coming to the Riverside with stats to back up their career to date. Every Boro fan had heard the story about Afonso Alves scoring seven goals in one game when he rolled up to Rockliffe Park and we all know what happened there.
However, you get the feeling that this latest signing could be the answer to the prayers of so many Boro fans. He is another player that apparently possesses the right attitude to please the current boss and,after witnessing a couple of sweat-laden performances from the side after the introduction of the Celtic gang, that can only be a good thing.
The signing of Lee Miller was greeted with less enthusiasm, but like any new player at the club he needs to be given a chance. What these signings do, however, is place a huge question mark over the future of Leroy Lita. You would expect that the former Reading striker's first season on Teesside could also turn out to be his last.
Even though the last two home performances haven't yielded an important victory, there is a sense of a new era dawning on the fans. In typical Boro fashion, this feeling has come three months after a managerial change rather than three days.
Barry Robson may have seen red on his home debut, but there were certainly positive signs as far as leadership qualities go. Rumours were also circulating of a pre match war cry from Stephen McManus in the dressing room too, despite the fact that it was also the first time he had met his new team mates.
With leaders down the spine of the team, there is real hope that the side can start to gain some momentum and we can go on a good run from now until the end of the season. With 18 games and 54 points to play for, there is no reason a play-off place should be out of sight if the four new players gel into the side as well as the first three have.
A few weeks ago I would have been extremely pessimistic of our chances of being successful in the play-offs. For the first time in a long period, the club now have players who you would think possessed the right mentality to go into these sort of games and win. These were the characters who were missing during the Cardiff City quarter final and the drawn games against Fulham, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Blackburn and Wigan last season.
Of course, the new intake have to prove themselves on the pitch first, starting with a trip to Ipswich Town on Saturday.
It would be wrong to take the game against Roy Keane's men lightly, as they have improved since the 3-1 hammering we dished out to them at the Riverside Stadium earlier in the season. On the other hand, if we are going to start making progress then these really are the games that we have to start winning.
There will also be discussions amongst the fans about who will replace Johnson on the left side of the midfield, with Barry Robson and Willo Flood probably the two most likely candidates to fill the role.
I would like to see Joe Bennett given a chance to fill the boots of the £7 million man. In his handful of appearances for the first team, the player has looked comfortable on the ball and also possesses the natural pace to trouble most defences in the division.
After watching Championship football for a few months now, it is clear that if you have an extra yard of pace then you are going to trouble the majority of full backs, and Bennett could prove to be the unknown quantity in the side that Johnson was at the start of the season.
