Lillibet M's Monthly Outlook
By Lillibet M
January 18 2005
A New Year brings new perspectives. Last year at this time Boro were optimistically looking forward to success in the Carling Cup and aiming to finish in the top half of the table - in other words pretty much business as usual.
This year Champions League qualification is a real possibility and
there is no reason to think that our current successful Euro run
is likely to end any time soon. This is a significant change in
just twelve months, and whilst the Boro faithful are rejoicing,
there is also uncertainty.
After so many years of stability in mid-table mediocrity, the club’s
ambitions are now being realised and adjustment to this deserved
status is not immediate. How much of the confidence and exuberance
demonstrated by the fans this season to date is just for show?
One abysmal performance at Birmingham sees hand-wringing and the
thought that the bubble will burst and it was all a horrible dream
after all. Teesside negativity or harsh reality? Hard to say but
one thing is sure - the fans are yet to be convinced on a large
scale and no-one is feeling safe.
Recent media reports of the Premier League conducting an inquiry
into issues such as ticket pricing, TV rights and hence the dominance
of rich clubs is also adding to the tacit thought that this may
be as good as it gets. However, the latter point has been around
since before the introduction of The Premiership and this story
will run and run.
There has been much talk recently of the power of positive thinking
and everyone has to bear this in mind - this is not a sudden fluke
coming out of nowhere, but the realisation of Steve McClaren’s foundation
building over the last four years. By the end of this season we
will definitely be ready to take on the world! In the words of a
popular TV show “I want to believe”...
Staying in the top six for the whole season to date is undoubtedly
a strange position to get used to. For all previous seasons since
God was a boy, we have been the underdogs and potential giantkillers
in cup competitions. Success brings a different kind of pressure,
and the magic of cup competitions means that this pressure is greatly
increased as any lower teams we meet will be going all out for our
blood, and if we are beaten by a better side on the day there will
no doubt be all sorts of whispering about how we are above our station,
impostors etc. Bollocks to them I say.
Anyone still wondering how we have come to be in this position should
listen to Century Radio’s live match commentary and hear Steve McClaren
screaming at the top of his lungs at the players. It’s also slightly
surreal to hear him being interviewed after matches when we have
secured a decent win, such as Villa, when he sounded disappointed
and we were all dancing around the room! We should be thankful that
our manager is such a perfectionist and so driven, but I do feel
for him on a personal level, if only for his vocal cords.
We expect many more years service out of him yet, so I recommend
this honey and ginger throat drink which really does work. This
is what Tori Amos drinks on stage, prepared by her personal chef
Duncan Pickford. It may also help the rest of us when we have shouted
ourselves hoarse at Boro’s thrilling performances in the rest of
the season.
6-8 slices of fresh ginger root
Slice of lemon
1/4 teaspoon slippery elm
3 drops each of peppermint, eucalyptus, and fennel oil
2 dessert spoons honey
Hot water
If you can’t be bothered with that, then try Vocalzone tablets -
available from Boots. Unfortunately I have no such helpful advice
for the recent crop of injuries suffered by the squad. I really
feel for poor old George though - I broke my toe 8 weeks ago and
it has only just healed. It is absolute agony and you really are
incapacitated.
It’s the looking like a fool limping around and not being able to
get up stairs that is worse than the pain in some ways - having
blind old ladies overtaking you at high speed and that sort of thing.
Please heal quickly George - we desperately need you! And I miss
hearing the “You are BOA-teng!” chant.
AOL, like most of the media, was on the bandwagon of end of year
retrospectives. There was a vote for player of the year - and the
choice was Steve Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes or Thierry
Henry. The marketing of sport continues to be dominated by the so-called
premium brands.
Here in exile there are shops around selling football memorabilia
and prints etc - if you want Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea.
Marketing of clubs as a brand is nothing new, I know, but it is
a shame that the charisma and magnetism of the wider game, of which
fan experiences are a major part, are lost in the great leviathan
of the institution and got-us-over-a-barrel-with-those-prices merchandise
- so noticeable when living in an area like this. Talking of merchandise,
if anyone knows where to get a decent poster of Man of the Year
and sexiest squad member Bolo Zenden in Boro kit, please let me
know - it’s just what I need for my office.
So onwards into 2005 after a - let’s face it - not as bad as all
that Christmas period when put into perspective. I didn’t get an
i-Pod but got a fabulous red cashmere jumper instead and we are
still in the top 6 - and Schwarzer may be with us until the end
of the season. We should be back on an upwards roll again (is that
physically possible?) with the Norwich game next week.
Steve McClaren says that what’s good about Norwich is that they
play football. That’s a relief as if they were playing water polo
then it would all get a bit surreal and if they were playing chess
then it would be very boring for the crowd. I wouldn’t be impressed
with banjo playing either I have to say.
Apparently Delia was going home to braised venison with bacon, chestnuts
and wild mushrooms in a rich madeira sauce after losing at The Riverside
in December. If anyone sees her this week ask what she’s planning
for dinner on Saturday night - it will have to be something equally
as comforting after we have done the double on Norwich and thoroughly
trounced them!
Until next month...