Sadly for Boro fans, we are entering 2009 in a spell of comprehensive doom and gloom. Seven games without a win. Question marks over Afonso Alves. Question marks over Mido. Question marks over Tuncay, Downing and O’Neil. Oh, and yet more question marks over Afonso Alves.

Even the staunchest optimist – an almost extinct breed amongst Boro fans – must admit that the team is free-falling in to a relegation battle. As one of the last surviving optimists, I would like to offer a few positives.

The league is very tight. Two wins could see us bounce back up in to the top half.

We have some very winnable games coming up, including Sunderland at home, West Brom away and Blackburn at home before the end of January.

And, well, that’s about it.

Alves still can’t buy a goal, although the team has to take some of the blame.

Glenn Hoddle famously said that Andy Cole, one of the Premierships best ever strikers, needed five to ten chances for every goal he scored. Alves’ ratio is probably not too dissimilar. What Alves and Cole have in common is the instinct to get in to goal-scoring positions. The difference is that Alves is largely restricted to feeding on scraps, on average getting perhaps one or two chances a game. Perhaps a winger who can deliver quality from the by-line, like Adam Johnson, or a target man to play alongside, like Mido, would help.

Mido is still injured every other week, and who knows where his heart is (Wigan boss Steve Bruce, perhaps)? Having said that, when he makes it on to the pitch, he is one of our best players – against Everton he looked so fired up he would have taken the Toffees on by himself.

Gary O’Neil, Tuncay and Stewart Downing are still major players on the January rumour mill, despite Gareth Southgate’s protestations. Southgate is justifiably reluctant to sell O’Neil, who is arguably our best central midfielder. The same goes for Tuncay, who is arguably our best player. Stewart Downing is our local talisman and, if nothing else, it would be a PR disaster to sell him.

However, of all our assets, Downing is the best one to let go. We would get the most money for him with Tottenham reportedly willing to pay £15million for him. We have a ready-made replacement and potentially better player in Adam ‘Jinky’ Johnson. Downing’s head has clearly been turned by the lure of the big clubs, again, and his form has suffered, again.

With a £15million transfer kitty, Southgate could bring in reinforcements for the areas we are struggling in, particularly central midfield.

Jimmy Bullard has been strongly-linked with a £5million move to Boro, although his relatively advanced years and inflated price would go against Southgate’s usual transfer policy. Southgate might favour Crystal Palace’s Ben Watson, who has been touted for as little as £1.5million. The MFK Kosice youngster Nemanja Matic is another possibility, although recent reports have suggested that this deal is now dead as the clubs can’t agree on a fee.

Cash-strapped West Ham will be in the selling market in January, and Southgate could do worse than to put in an offer for Mark Noble. £5million would probably be enough to tempt the Hammers to sell.

Any of these players could add drive and creativity to our midfield, but Bullard or Noble would be ideal because they are ready made Premiership players. A new holding midfielder would perhaps be more difficult to come by.

Olivier Dacourt is interested in coming back to England, having fallen out of favour at Inter Milan. Again, it would go against the grain for Southgate to bring in Dacourt, as he is well in to his thirties, but perhaps he could add some short-term stability to the team. Whether we would meet his wage-demands is another matter.

Buying a couple of these midfielders would still leave funds to go for a new striker, perhaps Hibernians £3million-rated Steven Fletcher, who Southgate is said to be monitoring.

The January transfer window seldom produces magic solutions to a side’s problems. However, some fresh faces and subtle tweaking could help us arrest our slump and climb back up the league.

As for coping with the loss of Downing, the thought actually raises some exciting prospects. All Boro fans would like to see an extended run for Adam Johnson on his preferred left-wing. Also, Tuncay used to play on the wing for Fenerbache. Moving the Turk to the wing would allow us to play a more conventional 4-4-2 formation, with Mido and Alves as a traditional front pair. Would they score goals with Tuncay and Jinky on the wings and, barring any potential new recruits, O’Neil and Digard in central midfield?

Even if Downing stays, I would like to find that out.

Post from BoroMania: Middlesbrough Football

Doom and Gloom

Keane’s is a different story to what might have happened to any other manager in his situation. The speculation on Wearside was never about Keane being sacked. Instead, there was an air of impending dread that he might leave.

The appointment of Keane at Sunderland, combined with the influx of cash from Niall Quinn, brought optimism to the Mackems like Kevin Keegan twice did to the Geordies.

Quinn gave Keane the means to sign a galaxy of ‘stars.’ Sir John Hall allowed Keegan the funds to bring in Andy Cole, David Ginola and, definitively, Alan Shearer. But money does not always buy success.

Until recently, management had been a bed of roses for Keane – promotion and Premiership safety in his first 18 months. A relegation scrap this season obviously wasn’t to his taste.

Keane walked out on Sunderland

We shouldn’t be too surprised, though. Keane is the latest in a long list of great players to fall short of greatness in management. Bryan Robson features prominently with Keegan on that list. Paul Ince might be the next in line. Gianfranco Zola may not be far behind him.

Zola is too new to management to judge. The others have experienced some success, but each of them is running the risk of being defined by their low points. Keane and Robson took Sunderland and Middlesbrough respectively in to bold new eras, but each hit a ceiling and had to go. Keegan nearly won the league, but spectacularly lost it. Ince has succeeded in the lower leagues, but is so far failing amongst the elite.

In contrast to the failure of the top players to transfer their talent to management, it is well-known that none of the ‘Big Four’ Premier League managers made it as top-class players.

Each of them began their coaching careers – a long time ago – in low profile jobs. Arsene Wenger was at French club Nancy. Rafael Benitez started as a rank and file coach at Real Madrid. Luis Felipe Scolari was a nomadic manager in the Brazilian leagues. Sir Alex Ferguson’s first job was at East Stirlingshire. They made their marks by bringing success to teams who had been starved of it - AS Monaco, Valencia, Gremio and Aberdeen respectively.

They have each suffered failings as players. They have each taken on managerial challenges head on. They have used their experiences, good and bad, to learn and grow stronger. They will go down in history for their successes. They will always be heralded as great managers.

Roy Keane has backed away from his first failure before it has even happened. It isn’t even Christmas, and he has decided he isn’t the man to take Sunderland forward, or even keep them up. Perhaps because he was unstoppable as a player, he couldn’t face the prospect of failing as a manager.

Perhaps the great players, used to the exceptional highs of winning, are unaccustomed to the heart-ache of defeat. Perhaps players who could single-handedly snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat can’t adjust to watching idly from the touchline as their team falls by the way-side. Perhaps the sheer will to win of a truly great player simply cannot be transferred to management.

In the North-East, Newcastle and Sunderland have put their clubs in the hands of ‘Messiah’ figures. Keegan and Keane captured the imagination of the fans, with little actual merit as managers. Middlesbrough did the same with Robson.

But Boro have learnt their lesson. Steve Gibson has two decades more experience as a chairman than Niall Quinn, and Mike Ashley bears no resemblance whatsoever to the dignified, committed and intelligent football man that Gibson has become.

When Keane was appointed at Sunderland, the ripples of expectation spread across the country. When Keegan returned to Newcastle, there were tremors of excitement. When Gibson appointed Gareth Southgate, the media and the all-knowing public dismissed Southgate immediately. He was too nice to be a manager. He didn’t have the charisma to be a manager. He just didn’t look like a manager.

Gareth Southgate is taking Boro forward

But Gibson and Southgate shared a vision, and three years down the line Gibson is being proven right. With the other North-East clubs floundering, Southgate’s Boro are on the up. They are the top team in the North-East in league terms. They are the most sustainable in terms of wage structure and transfer policy. They have the youngest and most promising playing squad.

As a player Southgate had many highs; winning 57 caps for his country, captaining Boro to their first trophy and then in to the unchartered territory of the UEFA Cup. But he also had lows, most-famously his penalty miss for England.

Southgate is a progressive thinker, intelligent enough to have learnt from his flaws as much as his strengths. He probably looks back on his playing career and thinks he could have achieved more.

Perhaps his managerial ambitions are fuelled by the desire Roy Keane could never have - a desire to achieve what he didn’t in his playing career – to win more trophies, to win the league, to compete among Europe’s elite. To achieve greatness.

It’s easy to imagine Wenger, Benitez, Scolari and Ferguson feeling the same at his age. Let’s hope he can go on to achieve even half of what they have done.

Post from BoroMania: Middlesbrough Football

The pursuit of greatness: Why the game’s most gifted players fail as managers

The Stockton-born full-back must have noticed that a sizeable proportion of Boro fans have decided that he is not good enough to wear the shirt of the club he loves. Simmering tensions exploded in to an angry exchange with supporters when he was subbed against Bolton.

Taylor explained afterwards that he had simply told the fans to get behind the team, although he hadn’t chosen his words too carefully.

You can understand his frustration. The lad is Boro through and through and his reaction to being subbed showed how much he cares. He was disappointed and angry with himself, and to have a fan hurl abuse at him at that moment must have been heart-breaking.

No less so than David Wheater and Stewart Downing, Taylor is one of our own and he deserves to be treated as such. There is no doubt that he has the commitment, determination and sheer desire to play for Middlesbrough.

Moving on from questions of passion and loyalty, the key question is whether Taylor is good enough to be a Premiership left-back. The sub-text is whether we have anyone better to play there and, if not, who we could get in to replace him.

Unlike Wheater and Downing, he does not have stand-out abilities. You couldn’t say he has great aerial presence or a sweet left foot. On the other hand, he doesn’t have any stand-out weaknesses.

Taylor is a resolute defender and he gets forward when he can.

Defensively he isn’t anywhere near as imposing as someone like Wheater, but he sticks to his task and he tends to get the job done one way or another. Taylor’s sheer commitment comes through in the last ditch tackles and blocks he makes, and he usually sticks to the basic principles of defending – get in the way and get rid.

Not blessed with great ability on the ball, Taylor’s attacking play is as no-nonsense as his defending. Taylor’s floated crosses may not be as effective as the ones Downing whips in, but at least his willingness to overlap gives Downing an option.

Justin Hoyte is a more athletic and cavalier full-back, and a more natural fans’ favourite. But teams need balance. To have two marauding full-backs would risk leaving the centre-backs exposed too often, and only the best sides can afford such a luxury.

Our other options at left-back include Jonathan Grounds, Seb Hines and Joe Bennett, all of whom are behind Taylor in their development. Emanuel Pogatetz and Hoyte can both play there as required, but neither is best suited to that position.

Replacing Taylor from outside the club is an option. Recent history would suggest that this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be though. Leighton Baines and Nicky Shorey have both made high profile moves, but have failed to live up to the transfer fees and wages they commanded.

In reality, Southgate would be reluctant to splash the cash on a left-back and block the progress of not only Taylor but Grounds, Hines and Bennett. There is no point bringing in another ‘prospect’ and with our current transfer policy and wage structure, we would struggle to attract an established Premiership player.

We could bring in an experienced pro to act as stop-gap until one of the kids, like Bennett, is ready to kick on. Someone like Franck Queudrue would be a popular choice, but Southgate is unlikely to be interested in going down this route. He would probably argue that if anyone is going to hold the position until Bennett is ready, Andrew Taylor is.

Amid the speculation it is easy to forget that Taylor is only 22. Southgate once said that Lee Cattermole suffered after breaking in to the first-team too soon. Taylor has played almost a hundred games for Boro and as a result maybe people’s expectations are higher than they should be.

He wouldn’t be the first local boy to face doubters at a young age, but go on to prove them wrong. Jamie Carragher struggled to nail down a position at Anfield – forced to try his hand at right-back, left-back and in midfield. Now Mr Liverpool is one of the best centre-halves in the business.

Nor would he be the first left-back to succeed without great god-given talent. Nigel Winterburn was a fixture of the world-renowned Arsenal back-line for a decade.

In the short-term Andrew Taylor does a decent job for Boro. In the long-term he could be a great servant to the club, as a squad player at worst.

Sticking with him makes sense. Booing him makes no sense whatsoever. Let’s get behind Tayls and let’s get behind the team.

Post from BoroMania: Middlesbrough Football

Taylor made for the boo-boys

Electric atmosphere and atrocious weather – it must be derby day on Teesside!

Boro went in to the Tyne-Tees derby today without Gary O’Neil, who had picked up an injury. His replacement Julio Arca made a welcome return to the starting line-up, and Boro were also boosted by the return to fitness of Mido. The Egyptian had to make do with a spot on the bench as Gareth Southgate kept faith with record-signing Afonso Alves up front.

Newcastle’s team-sheet had included a familiar name on the bench - the stage was ominously set for Mark Viduka to return to haunt his old club.

There was a lively start to the game, with Boro setting off on the offensive. Arca knows all about North East derbies and he didn’t wait long before making his mark with a strong challenge on Jonas Guttierez. Boro’s Argentine playmaker then showed the more cultured side of his game playing a fine through-ball for Downing, although the chance was snuffed out by Fabricio Collocini.

Newcastle were trying to hit Boro on the break, but didn’t really pose any sort of threat early on.

Boro carried on pressing, but struggled to create any clear cut chances. An Aliadiere cross came to nothing after good play from Tuncay. The Turk had started the game brightly and looked like he was going to be Boro’s biggest threat.

The game soon settled down and while there were spells of patient built up, there was precious little action in either final third.

Alves was muscled out of contention on the couple of occasions he was involved and the closest Boro came in the first half was a curling right-footed effort from Arca.

Obafemi Martins looked a threat for Newcastle, and only a clumsy challenge from David Wheater prevented him from going clean through mid-way through the first half.

With half-time approaching Alves had his best chance of the afternoon, but headed over from Stewart Downing’s cross.

Despite remaining goalless neither manager made changes at the break and the game continued in a similar fashion after the restart.

Danny Guthrie wasted a chance for Newcastle before Alves had a decent effort deflected wide for a corner. The Brazilian was clearly frustrated, but the home crowd would have been encouraged by the desire he was starting to show.

Boro pressed for most of the second half and as the game went on we started to create more chances.

A threatening cross from Downing had Jose Enrique scrambling in the Newcastle box, but the Newcastle full-back managed to clear in the end.

Alves was becoming an increasing threat, getting the ball in to his feet and running in from the channels. On the hour mark, Didier Digard played Alves in and he forced a good block from Habib Beye. The resulting corner was whipped in dangerously by Downing, but cleared.

At the other end, Martins was still Newcastle’s biggest threat and his long range effort was deflected agonisingly wide with Ross Turnbull scrambling.

Boro responded in kind, with a good break from Downing down the left. It looked like Tuncay might score but he failed to connect with the winger’s ball in.

Joe Kinnear decided to make a change after 65 minutes, and the chorus of boos confirmed that Mark Viduka was the man coming on. On the plus side Martins, who had been Newcastle’s best player, was taken off. The Nigerian forward was clearly not impressed and sulked straight down the tunnel.

The game was a bit more open now and Alves had a great chance after ghosting past Collocini. Unfortunately he blazed the ball over the bar.

Viduka didn’t take long to get involved and some indecisive defending gave him his chance. Emanuel Pogatetz recovered well to block his shot.

Newcastle’s brief spell in the ascendancy soon passed, and Boro redoubled their efforts to win the game.

Alves again was involved, winning a corner which Downing then wasted. Andrew Taylor had a long-range effort blocked, which led to a scramble in the box and a great chance that Justin Hoyte couldn’t convert.

Downing gave the game one outstanding moment of class, playing a gorgeous ball in from deep with the outside of his left foot. Tuncay and Alves got in each-other’s way and wasted the chance.

Gareth Southgate signalled his intent by bringing Mido on for the last 15 minutes, with Aliadiere making way.

Mido’s biggest involvement was to scuff a free-kick straight in to the wall from a promising position, after great interplay between Tuncay and Alves. Alves was upset for insisting on taking it, although he wasted a similar opportunity a few minutes later.

Alves’ performance was an improvement on recent displays and he had a goal ruled out in the 82nd minute for an offside in the build up. It was a well taken finish from outside the area, and Alves will have been gutted to see the flag up.

It’s rare for Alves to last 90 minutes and he showed a good appetite, chasing every ball, lost cause or not.

Newcastle could have nicked the 3 points late on, with chances falling to Charles N’Zogbia and Mark Viduka. Fortunately for Boro, N’Zogbia made a mess of his opportunity and Turnbull saved Viduka’s effort.

This wasn’t a great spectacle of football and one point each was probably just about fair.

Middlesbrough Player ratings

Ross Turnbull – 7 – Not involved for long periods, but did everything asked of him.

Justin Hoyte – 7 – Solid defensively and looked to get forward as always. Had our best chance.

Emanuel Pogatetz – 6 – Solid performance, good block late on against Viduka.

David Wheater – 6 – Clumsy challenge on Martins early on, but recovered to put in a solid day’s work.

Andrew Taylor – 6 – Got forward well but gave the ball away a couple of times.

Jeremie Aliadiere – 5 – Looked good running with the ball, but absolutely no end product. Rightly subbed.

Didier Digard – 6 – A workmanlike performance and some attractive passing. Still not quite up to the pace of the Premiership yet, but plenty of promise.

Julio Arca – 6 – Ran the midfield early on but faded a bit in the second half. Lacking match fitness.

Stewart Downing – 7 – Played one sumptuous through-ball which Alves and Tuncay didn’t take advantage of. Crossing was dangerous as always.

Afonso Alves – 6 – This was a better performance from Alves. He showed good desire and running, and his disallowed ‘goal’ was well taken. He just needs a goal.

Tuncay Sanli – 6 – Was excellent in patches but faded out of the game in the second half.

Sub

Mido (for Aliadiere, 77) – 5 – Wasted a good chance from a free-kick and didn’t have time to do much else.

Post from BoroMania: Middlesbrough Football

Stalemate in Tyne-Tees derby

It’s all too easy to slate the team for losing at home to Bolton. It’s all too easy to forget the progress made in the previous five games. But regardless of any frivolous doom and gloom mongering (we are still tenth in the table) there is one real stand-out problem for Boro. Afonso Alves is not scoring goals.

Three goals so far this season, including a penalty and a free-kick, is not a good enough return and, unsurprisingly, the £12m man is starting to come in for criticism.

Some fans, and some managers, would have written Alves off by now.

Gareth Southgate, still a novice manager, is facing new challenges week after week. The Alves situation is the newest and probably the most difficult. Managers live and die by their signings and in Southgate’s case Alves is by far the most high-profile.

There are two paths open to the manager: drop him or play him.

Dropping him is straight forward if Mido is fit. If not, it would be a test of Southgate’s faith in his Dutch youngster, Marvin Emnes.

Playing him is a more complex proposition because, at the moment, it isn’t working. Southgate would have to work out why it isn’t working and find a way of fixing it.

The Brazilian’s strengths are less tangible than those of Mido or Aliadiere. Mido is big and powerful, Aliadiere is lightning-fast.

Alves is neither of these. He is not great in the air, he is not that strong and he is not particularly quick. What he does have, more so than the others, is the striker’s instinct of getting in to the right positions and sticking to ball away.

This description of Alves could be applied equally to one player who certainly was a success on Teesside: Bernie Slaven. It could even be stretched to fit another striker who was outstanding at Boro: Fabrizio Ravanelli.

However, the game has changed since these players were in their heyday.

It is more physical, it is quicker, and it is tighter. Without great pace or physical power it is difficult for centre-forwards to break free of the defensive shackles, particularly against teams like Bolton, who defend in numbers.

If Alves is going to breach well-organised back-lines regularly, he will need quality service from the midfield.

From central areas, we have Digard and O’Neil, plus Tuncay, looking to thread Alves through. This is a difficult art to master though, and one which good defending makes even harder. Arca’s return to fitness should help Alves’ cause, but one cultured central midfielder is not a complete solution.

In fact, the wide areas are more of a problem. Our first-choice wingers don’t do anything for Alves. Downing’s natural game is to whip crosses in, often from deep. Alves isn’t cut out to get in and attack these. Aliadiere has impressed on the right, picking the ball up in midfield and running with it. This can cause pandemonium in defences, but often results in the ball scrambling loose. Alves isn’t physically competitive enough to profit from this.

If the John Barnes School of Wing-Play has taught us anything it is that “You can be slow or fast, but you must get to the line.” There’s only one winger in our squad who plays to this mantra, and that’s Adam Johnson. Where Downing’s first thought on receipt of the ball is how to get a cross in, and Aliadiere’s is how far and fast he can run, Johnson’s is how to beat his man.

When he gets the ball in an advanced position, Johnson will turn his marker inside out and get to the by-line, or in to the box. It is much easier to create a chance from behind a back four than from in front of it. And Alves is the kind of striker who you would expect to be on hand every time.

Downing and Aliadiere are good players, and their respective styles suit Mido down to the ground, but they are no good for Alves. Johnson, on the other hand, could be the answer to his prayers.

Johnson’s own future is in doubt if he can’t get regular first-team action and it could be that these two both share the same destiny. If AJ can break in to the team, he and Alves could both be successes. If not, their respective futures may lie elsewhere.

Post from BoroMania: Middlesbrough Football

AJ could spell Happy Days for the Fons

Last season, Wheater was a revelation. He made a seamless transition from academy prospect to Premier League star. He quickly became established as a centre-half who will run through brick walls for the team, who is a cultured footballer and who provides a serious aerial threat at set-pieces.

He took every challenge in his stride, and his magnificent breakthrough season culminated in an England call-up.

This season Wheater is being given new challenges. Following the surprise departure of Luke Young, he had to fill in at right back while Justin Hoyte found his form and fitness. Now he finds that the resurgence of Chris Riggott has left him out of the side all together.

Naturally, fans are concerned. Davey Wheater is not only a promising player. He is one of our own and as such is held in especially high regard. It would be a tragedy if he were to leave us. It’s a small tragedy if he isn’t on the pitch. In a very short space of time he has became a talisman for the fans.

It is interesting to note the contrast in fan-opinion over Wheater and Stewart Downing, the player he has probably succeeded as our most-prized academy product. Amid clamour for Downing to be dropped, the omission of Wheater has been met with disbelief and, in some cases, anger.

Downing is a player who has become a regular in the England squad, but not been able to win over the boo-boys, or secure a regular starting birth. If Downing’s England credentials are slipping, then Wheater’s, in contrast, are rising. Perhaps, long-term, Wheater has a better chance of representing Boro regularly in the England team. But to do that, he must first be playing for us. Otherwise, it is clear that to fulfil his potential, he must leave.

So, benching Wheater has not gone down well with the Teesside public.

On the other hand, there are not too many left on Teesside who would not endorse Gareth Southgate’s work at the club so far. A growing proportion of Boro fans have signed up to Southgate’s philosophy of developing a young vibrant squad, picking the team on form and having faith in his players regardless of reputation.

This creates a conundrum for the fans. Do they keep faith in the methods of the man who is carefully and methodically revolutionising the club, or do they throw their toys out of the pram?

David Wheater faces the same question. Every scrap of evidence we have on the boy suggests he will take the first option. Wheater is a modest, composed young man with wide-eyed ambition. The way he talks about the club gives a strong sense that his ambitions centre on playing for Boro. I’m not suggesting that he would put England second, but I think Wheater sees both in his future. Gareth Southgate, I’m sure, thinks the same.

There really is no doubting the talent of Wheater, but it is easy to forget that he is only 21 (particularly as he looks about 40). In the words of Gareth Southgate:

David is progressing well. He has an enormous amount still to learn and he hasn’t made it yet but he has a terrific attitude and works incredibly hard in training. He’s promising. It’s a long road ahead but he’s doing well now.

Young players will experience highs and lows, they will suffer dips in form and they will have to battle for their place. It is these things that, ultimately, make them experienced players. Right now Chris Riggott is our oldest and one of our most experienced players, and his reintroduction to the heart of the defence seems to have had a settling effect on the side. This has been reflected in results.

You can’t keep a good man down, and no doubt David Wheater will play plenty of first-team football this season. Hopefully in time he will grow in to the England centre-back he should become.

For now though he, and we, must be patient.

Post from BoroMania: Middlesbrough Football

What does the future hold for Wheater?

He is recognised by Boro fans as one of our best players, and yet he is also the hottest topic of debate in the stands. Should he be dropped? Should he be sold? Is his heart still in it?

After coming through the ranks, Downing’s rise to stardom was rapid. When he was catapulted in to the England set-up, Teesside rejoiced. Not since Stuart Ripley’s call up had one of our own done us so proud, and Rippers wasn’t even playing for us at the time.

Downing became our prized asset. He was touted as the answer to England’s problem position for the next ten years. From a selfish Boro point of view, we thought he could help propel us in to Europe and help to win us trophies, if only we could keep hold of him. The growing interest in the player led to rumours of interest from the likes of Liverpool and Spurs.

But the big-money move hasn’t come. Recently, his England credentials have slipped. Now even his domestic form has suffered and everyone, Downing included, seem bewildered as to how this could have happened.

And yet, if you strip away the hype and look at Stewart Downing’s career to date, his form actually hasn’t nosedived as much as people might think.

Downing is, was, and most likely always will be, a good left-winger. Downing does, did and most likely will continue to do, what wingers are supposed to do – he supplies crosses in to the box.

A common misconception is that his form has dipped to the point where he no longer ‘goes past anyone.’ The fact is that he never did. That’s not Downing’s game. He gets the ball, creates half a yard of space and puts a cross in. That’s what he has always done, and he does it well.

Since breaking in to the team as a raw youngster who could cross with his left foot, he has developed other areas of his game: he can cut inside and shoot with his right foot, and he tracks back and defends.

Nevertheless, he remains more in the mould of Allan Johnston than Ryan Giggs. His contribution to the side doesn’t require great natural talent, but discipline, technique and persistence. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, we should be proud of our academy for producing him – all of the things that make Downing a good player are taught skills rather than natural gifts.

Losing Downing in January, or any other time for that matter, would be a shame. Even if he isn’t a great player, he is a great asset to our squad and he would definitely be missed.

Perhaps he would also lose the chance to become a true Boro legend. If he were to stay with the club, he would doubtlessly remain a local hero. Helping us back in to Europe, or to another trophy, would cement his legend status.

If he were to leave, on the other hand, he would be remembered fondly as one of our own. A legend though? No, probably not.

A big move would be supposed to enhance his career, but that might not actually be the case. If a club like Spurs buy him on the hype, and then realise that he is just a winger, his career could fall well short of legend. A club like Spurs can always go and spend another £15m on a great left-winger.

Leaving the club he has been brought up at for the bright lights of a big club, Downing could find the same problems that Shaun Wright-Phillips had at Chelsea. That of course could work out very nicely for Boro.

We could buy him back, making a tidy profit in the process. He could see out his career being successful with his hometown club, playing in Europe, winning trophies and playing for his country. And that indeed would be the stuff of legends.

Post from BoroMania: Middlesbrough Football

Stewart Downing: the hype, the winger, the legend?

Arca has just returned to the first team fold, along with fellow senior citizens Tuncay, 26, and Emmanuel Pogatetz, 25.

The returning ‘veterans’ have a mix of experience and leadership qualities. Arca is an experienced Premiership player, while Tuncay and Pogatetz add international and European experience. On top of that the Tuncay’s work-rate and Pogatetz’s sheer determination set a great example to those around them.

Julio Arca the Elder Statesman

With a young team Boro have struggled for anything like consistency, and the kids were unceremoniously drubbed 5-0 at home to Chelsea just a couple of weeks ago.

Arca, Tuncay and Pogatetz are the most natural leaders in the Boro squad, and it is no coincidence that all three were missing from the Chelsea debacle.

In the absence of these three, Stewart Downing, 24, was left to lead the troops. Good player and talisman he may be, but Stewie is no leader of men and his selection was probably more due to a lack of alternatives than anything else.

The youngsters have harsh lessons to learn from games like that, and those that want to make it at this level must learn from the experience.

The senior players might not have changed the result – let’s face it Chelsea were different class – but they would have probably helped us put in a more respectable performance.

With so many youngsters, we will make mistakes. We won’t always be consistent. The job that the more experienced players, and the manager, have is to keep the squad’s heads up when things go wrong. It must be drummed in to the kids that if we keep approaching games in the right way, we will get results.

It is not just their leadership qualities that have been missed, though.

Arca’s guile in midfield was the key factor in the fight-back against West Ham this weekend. He was able to put his foot on the ball and keep possession, and he played some terrific passes. This is something we have lacked without him. Gary O’Neil isn’t as composed in possession. Shawky doesn’t have the range of passing. Didier Digard could be everything all our other midfielders are and more, but he isn’t – yet.

Tuncay is our link between midfield and attack. Without him in the side, Mido has tried valiantly to do it. Jeremie Aliadiere has tried in the past. Neither has been able to pull it off, and that makes Tuncay the one player in our squad we genuinely can’t live without. It’s similar to the role that Steven Gerrard plays for Liverpool, and it’s the same reason that they are a different team without him.

In Pogatetz we have a beast of a defender – one Gareth Southgate has worked hard to tame. Giving him the captaincy might be the final lesson in maturity for him. Barring that tackle on Rodrigo Possebon, Poggy’s conduct since his appointment has been exemplary. He is a classic defender in that he loves defending. He wants to win every ball and knows no fear. Pogatetz galvanises our defence, and we invariably look weaker without him.

We have done very well to stay mid-table and above in the absence of these players. That our senior players can come back in to the team with us in the top half gives us a great platform to build on.

It would be a big achievement to get back in to Europe this season but, whether we do that or not, the future looks bright.

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Experience is the key for young Boro side