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Preview - Middlesbrough v Derby County
Preview - Middlesbrough v Derby County
Friday, 21st Mar 2008 10:41

Anyone want to venture a guess as to how long the highlights of this game will get on the BBC’s Match of the Day?

Middlesbrough v Derby County
Premier League
22nd March, 2008, 3:00 pm
The Riverside, Middlesbrough

Two teams at the wrong end of the Premiership. One almost certainly relegated the other just about surviving to fight another season.

Middlesbrough can be an odd team. On their day they can compete with anyone. Recently they lost by the odd goal in five in a tough game at Anfield and came within a whisker of beating Arsenal at the Emirates.

They also got played off the park by Cardiff in the FA Cup and lost at home in a dire game against Reading.

Maybe one thing the MOTD camera’s will find interesting is the form of Boro Defender David Wheater. Wheater, a product of the Middlesbrough Youth Policy has just been named in Fabio Capello’s full England squad for the friendly with France.  Giles Barnes should sit up and take notice of Wheater. He’s come through the youth team, spent time out on loan, and come back a stronger and better player. He’s not angling for moves to a bigger club and has signed a new 5 year contract with Middlesbrough.

Wheater can’t believe his luck and in his typical humble fashion says; “It won't change me at all. I know the squad gets cut down from 30. I might take my autograph book."

Boro Boss Gareth Southgate describes it as “fantastic news” and sees it as a vindication of the clubs youth policy. In an interview on the BBC, Southgate couldn’t hide his pride in the players inclusion and joked “here we are trying to keep the lads feet on the ground and he gets selected for the England squad!”

Current Boro Squad

1 Keeper  Mark Schwarzer
21 Keeper  Ross Turnbull
22 Keeper  Bradley Jones
32 Keeper  Jason Steele
2 Defender Luke Young
6 Defender Emanuel Pogatetz
14 Defender Robert Huth
26 Defender Matthew Bates
29 Defender Anthony McMahon
31 Defender David Wheater
33 Defender Andrew Taylor
38 Defender Seb Hines
40 Defender Jonathan Grounds
3 Midfield Julio Arca (captain)
4 Midfield Gary O'Neil
7 Midfield George Boateng
10 Midfield Fábio Rochemback
15 Midfield Mohamed Shawky
19 Midfield Stewart Downing
27 Midfield Lee Cattermole
28 Midfield Adam Johnson
35 Midfield Graeme Owens
9 Striker  Mido
11 Striker  Jérémie Aliadière
12 Striker  Afonso Alves
17 Striker  Tuncay Åžanlı
18 Striker  Lee Dong-Gook
42 Striker  Tom Craddock

Last 5 games

Liverpool 3–2 Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough 0–1 Reading
Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff
Aston Villa 1–1 Middlesbrough
Arsenal 1–1 Middlesbrough

Danger Men

David Wheater isn’t the only Boro player in the England squad. Top scorer Stewart Downing is now something of an England regular.  Another product of the Middlesbrough Youth set up, Downing has been less than popular with England supporters because of his perceived lack of effort and skill at international level. There were even accusations that he was only in the squad because of his friendship with Steve McClaren.

He has put in several man of the match performances this season for Boro and the fact that a no nonsense coach like Fabio Capello has selected him for England suggests that he’s probably maturing as a player. Either that or he’s taking advantage of England’s lack of left footed players!

Popular Turkish player Tuncay Åžanlı has five goals to his name. He scored a spectacular winner at Pride Park. That was his third goal in 3 games so it would seem he’s having difficulty finding the net since then.

Jérémie Aliadière has four goals. After a slow start to his Boro career, he  was very pleased with his near winning goal against his former club Arsenal; “It was the first time I was back at the Emirates Stadium and it was nice to get on the scoresheet.”

Another threat is David Wheater who specialises in scoring from set pieces and has something of the Roy McFarland about him when he bursts forward from the back with the ball.

At the time of writing there are no injury reports however Mido and Fabio Rochemback are suspended.

The Rams

“Even a dead cat bounces once”; So said Steve Tickle in his column and it’s probably true – though it has to be said I’ve never experimented with expired felines.

Was last weeks performance against Manchester United just a bounce of a dead cat or was it the players finally waking up and realising they are playing for their careers?

It’s not an exaggeration to say that. Is there going to be a big queue if managers wanting to take players from the ‘worst ever Premiership side’? Would those same players have much future under a manager they had so singularly let down?

Robbie Savage finally put in the kind of performance he’s been promising since he arrived in the transfer window. It cannot have escaped his attention that his name got booed as the team was read out.

Some of those boo boys were chanting “there’s only one Robbie Savage” before the end.

Savage wasn’t the only one to up his game. Eddie Lewis finally turned in a performance. For many of his games this season he’s looked like someone who has won a “be a footballer for a year” contest. Some of my friends have taken to referring to him as Leona.  He was unrecognisable against United.

Paul Jewell’s job this week will have been to maintain the momentum. At the moment we are on course to become the lowest scoring team ever in the top flight and the worst Premiership club ever. Those are realistic targets for the remainder of the season and it’s not beyond us to even get up off the foot of the table. It would be a miracle to stay up of course … but stranger things have happened*

Mick’s team: Carroll; Edworthy, McEveley; Moore; Sterjovski; Robert; Jones; Earnshaw; Miller; Leacock; Savage.

Note*: Other than a reported rain of fish in medieval France, I can’t think of much stranger.

What the bookies think

Boro are at 4/9 to win while you can get 5/1 on the Rams. That’s probably as low as our away odds are going to be this season. The draw is at 11/4, which is probably worth a flutter.

Information for travelling fans

Where to Drink: Like Pride Park, the Riverside has a dearth of pubs in its immediate environment. Footballgroundguides.co.uk recommends drinking in the City centre and particularly at Doctor Browns on Corporation Rd. Apparently a 10 minute walk from the stadium.

Driving: It’s about 130 miles to Middlesbrough from Derby and about a 3 hour drive. Take the M1 North to the M18 then follow that to the junction with the A1. At Junction 49, take the A168 to the A19 to Middlesbrough. Pick up the A66. Carry on up the A66, through the centre of Middlesbrough and follow the signs for the Riverside.

Parking:  Footballgroundguides.co.uk say that there are plenty of Private car parks alongside the river or failing that, parking in the Town Centre. They do warn that the traffic congestion may mean waits of up to 45 minutes after the game.

Mick’s Prediction

This is a fixture that screams out 0-0. I doubt anybody outside of the Boro or Derby camps will give it even a second look or even put any thought into a possible outcome.  Given the fact that Middlesbrough fans are notorious for picking and choosing their games, many of them may not care enough to even attend.

Having said that I have a good feeling for once about this game and am inclined to be positive. I think we might snatch it.

Have I got the Midas touch? Let's find out – 1-0 to the Rams!

Photo: Action Images



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