THE OUTSIDER
SUPPORTING THE STRIP
Lachlan Sadler, 2 Feb 2010
It has been an interesting few weeks for my beloved Celtic.Oops I mean Boro. Easy mistake to
make. Strachan has finally left his heavy-handed mark on the club, and it has
come in the form of five former Celtic players joining Middlesbrough.
It may of course prove to be a masterstroke, but it certainly will not be proven as such this season.
It is inconceivable to imagine an onfield team knit together from half of one
club and half of another and function perfectly straight away.
However there is no doubting the quality of the players Strachan has bought in, so over time they
may make their mark as part of Boro.
Column Continues Below...
This is one of the many cases where Jerry Seinfeld's words ring true: "Loyalty to any one sports
team is pretty hard to justify, because the players are always changing. you're
actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it".
Or at least this is the case for me, given that I obviously don't actually live in Middlesbrough.
And hell, our strip is changing so often, I don't even know if I'm rooting for
our clothes.
This is probably a peril of supporting a sports team from a city that I do not live in, which is
clearly the only option for someone living in Australia when it comes to the
Premier League.
My favourite player was transferred yesterday. It was probably inevitable, but we still left
transferring Adam Johnson to the last minute, giving me some small false hope.
Not only was he my favourite player, but to me he was our best chance of promotion. I certainly
understand the transfer, because he was far too good for the Championship, however
I can only hope that Strachan did absolutely everything within his power to keep him.
Thankfully, I have a new favourite player in Scott McDonald, a fellow Aussie, and an excellent
football player.
He is taking a huge personal risk in transferring to Boro, as he is struggling for a spot in the
Australian national team, which may not come if he is playing in a second tier
competition.
In many ways I believe that his transfer to Boro shows that he believes we can get promoted in the very near future, which fills me with some hope.
Too bad hope and belief haven't got us anywhere so far.
Only time will tell how Strachan's drastic transfers will work, but there is already something that
can be said - at least he did something.
There can be no doubt that Middlesbrough needed changes, and, whether his were the right or the wrong ones, Strachan had the guts to make changes. This bodes well for the future
of our football club.
