The false modesty from this Boro guy is growing tedious. He’s no doubt buzzing beneath it all.
False modesty my arse. Like I've already said previously, I'm over the moon with how we're doing. I'd be a complete plantpot not to be, especially when weighed up against how our last decade has gone overall. And I'm certainly not hiding it.
But I've had over 40 years of supporting Boro now and whilst that's long enough to have remembered some truly exhilarating times (mainly from the mid-90s for about a dozen years) I, like most of my contemporaries, have learned that nothing is cut and dried until it's mathematically possible. Middlesbrough FC found many ways to kick you in the nuts when things appear home and dry over the rest of the time, so through experience we've learned the hard way not to get carried away, remain understated with any signs of triumph until it actually occurs, otherwise the more likely kick in the pods will hurt all the harder when it comes, as it often does.
But that goes both ways. When it comes to absolute doom and gloom mongers, of which we have a contingent on our board (prime example, some whopper stating we'd miss out on the top 6 and that appointing Hellberg was a mistake a fortnight ago mid-game just because West Brom had equalised during the match at theirs FFS) equally it's important to not let it consume you as rarely are things THAT much of a lost cause as some think.
Oh and another thing. We take hoodoos VERY SERIOUSLY. For an age in the 90s and 00s we had a chalk and cheese home and away thing with Sunderland. Didn't matter what form either of us were in, the home team would win. Our two Hoodoos now are yourselves and Bristol City and have been for a few years. We've learned through bitter experience that form goes out the window in such games.
Could we win at the CBS? It's possible. And I'm sure pundits, experts, bookies, whichever supposed "football oracle" you wish to consult would give us good odds of doing so, giving the usual arguments of "recent form", "players coming back from injury", blah,blah,blah, you know, all the stuff that usually actually means something in the overwhelming majority of games where normal rules apply.
But we fans know better. We'd give ourselves about a 10% chance of actually winning there, a figure reached by all the experience we have of supporting our club. The Hoodoo MUST be respected, and only a complete idiot, who doesn't value his mental state would do otherwise.
Conversely in our game against Ipswich I'd give us a 50/50 chance of turning them over at their place, obviously with only the relative talent and performances of our respective sides right now as a guide which has it's flaws. They are wobbling right now and at the start of a run of away games. Even if you keep up your hit and miss form of late, you could well extend your lead over them during this period, as could we. Even with a loss at your place.
As I'm not just referring to any chance Boro and Cov have in relation to each other in that game, I'm talking about the other sides in the mix, which you should be far more focussed on than our results. Hull are riding a huge wave right now which is understandable, a side who escaped relegation on GD in May, slammed with a transfer embargo, storming up into the playoffs and getting talked about finally in the autos picture. However they have less squad depth than any side in the top 4 right now though which could be their undoing.
Now if they beat a recently crap Watford at home midweek, there's a half decent chance that at some point during next weekend's fixtures they could take the lead against Bristol City (or Barcelona to us) and actually go top during the match at some point and I can imagine the holy hell and meltdown that will occur on both our boards if they do so.
But I'd say the same as I am right now if that happens, to both our sets of fans. It's a case of holding your nerves. Hull too will get injuries in the remainder of the season, injuries that hurt them more than ours would hurt us. Form is temporary, it always is. And any easier run they have right now, means they have a harder one around the corner. They have their limitations, which is plainer to see. They managed to smash and grab a 1 nil against us during our slump, we on the other hand battered 4 goals past them in the first half in front of their own stunned fans whilst they won every other of the 5 game period around it. They have a defence that is far weaker than yours which means they can be and will be got at.
Aside from us two, a needing to be respected as a contender but IMHO long-term limited Hull (though they could just end up winning the playoffs) and an on paper strong, but pretty travel-sick Ipswich, who else is going to emerge as an autos contender? Wrexham?
So whilst you're right to be concerned about your club's form drop-off of late it's hardly worthy just yet of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
