Β Economic crisis, no cash, future looks bleak and little hope. Are we on about the economy or the Boro?

For both 2008 appears to be the year that the party came to a halt, when the fun, fun, fun, turned into bills, bills, bills. No economic boom and bust has turned into “FFS look at this credit card bill!!!” Perhaps the message hadn’t got through in the past, Keith lambs “Teesside will get the club it can afford” type comments now appear to be somewhat apocryphal.Β 

But for what ever reason we are now in the following simple situation

1) We have a paper thin squad

2) We have players who (if rumours have any sort of truth behind them) want to leave

3) We have no cash

4) We have lost players of undoubted quality and replaced them with players with “potential”

Perhaps the most worrying though is that we seem to be a rudderless ship. In Gareth Southgate we have a manger who looks, at the very least, out of his depth. Post match interviews have become more and more “interesting”. The refusal to criticize referee’s, despite some patently inept decisions, has left fans thinking that he lacks gumption. At the time we want a Churchill, Ian Duncan Smith is back in town and looking to pick up right where he left off.

What can 2009 bring?

Well a small tight squad may just think “it’s us against the world”, knuckle down and under some inspired leadership, steer us away from relegation. Alternatively a few players may go, the over draft come down, and perhaps, just perhaps, one or two players, may come in. However, based on the where we are looking in the market place, it would be doubtful if we will get either a like for like replacement in terms of quality or experience.

It’s a fairly safe bet that Southgate will NOT be sacked. Β Any change in management would have to be as a result of him resigning, and the chance of that happening is tiny.

The best we can hope for is that theres worse than us in the league, a minimum of three other “worse than us” teams, that some how one of our strikers hits form and that if we do lose the players that are rumoured to be going, some of the money will be spent and unearth a gem.

Personally, I’m looking forward to trips to Derby, Preston and Barnsley……………