The Number Game

IS IT just me who gets excited when the new list of squad numbers is published? Perhaps a misspent youth playing on Championship Manager has something to do with it, or maybe the dreariness of pre-season friendlies encourages my mind to wander.

But a new number can reveal how the gaffer sees the make-up of his squad – Owen getting the sacred no.7 at Old Trafford is an indication that Sir Alex sees him as a pivotal figure, while Ronaldo’s no.9 jersey suggests he can forgot being “the winger who gets more than his fair share” and expect to start repaying the £80 million in goals as well as shirt sales.

It’s important to players, too. Stevie G bemoaned wearing no.9 for England when Sven was short on strikers in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup. But at least our players aren’t as fussy as the Italians – Serie A team-sheets look more like a Super Bowl than a football match nowadays.

The most notable alteration in the Boro list is Brad Jones’s elevation to no.1. I had hoped the capture of Danny Coyne would mean the end of the error-prone Aussie’s spell in between the sticks. But Southgate clearly sees something in the 27-year-old that nobody else can – whilst a good shot-stopper and quick off his line, Jones really struggles to deal with balls into his box.

Jones has a long way to go to justify the no.1 shirt

With the exception of utility man Matthew Bates – who suffered more injury heartache in the win at Carlisle – there has been little change in defensive numbers. Bates assumes the no.4 shirt from Gary O’Neil, who surprisingly looks as though he may be staying with Boro until at least January after interest from Stoke and Portsmouth petered out.

Summer signing Mark Yeates will wear no.7 and, given his promising pre-season displays, looks as though he could make a big impact on Teesside. His flexibility to play anywhere across the front line coupled with a good work ethic could make him a fans’ favourite in the ilk of Craig Hignett.

Meanwhile, want-away strikers Tuncay, Alves and Mido have all been allocated a squad number despite the boss stating they will play no part in the coming season. It seems as though at least one of these sulkers will have to be sold before the club can manoeuvre in the transfer market, with Derby target man Rob Hulse touted as a preferred replacement.

But if Southgate doesn’t manage to find suitors for the troublesome trio before the first Championship game at home to Sheff Utd next Friday, we will be looking very short on striking options. His self-imposed embargo on fielding Alves – who at the moment looks the least likely to be out the door by then – will be sorely tested, with only Jeremie Aliadiere, Marvin Emnes and youngster Jonathan Franks to choose from up front.

Quite a reality check for Boro fans like me who, when the club last played a season opener in the second tier of the football league, watched Paul Merson and Fabrizio Ravanelli combine to help sink Charlton Athletic 2-1.

Downing Has Been Boro's Best

STEWART DOWNING was always going to leave the Riverside this summer – even if Boro had stayed up. Nevertheless, his inevitable £12m move to Aston Villa last week was still tinged with sadness.

Downing is – by some margin – the finest player to have come through the academy ranks since I have followed the club. Until he broke into the first team squad in 2003, the best home-grown talents to emerge from Teesside in the post-Ayresome Park era were Andy Campbell and Jamie Pollock.

Boro’s youth set-up has of course taken a much-trumpeted turn for the better – Adam Johnson, Andrew Taylor and David Wheater have been regulars for the England-U21s under Stuart Pearce. (In fairness to Campbell and Pollock, both won U21 caps before their careers took a bit of a nosedive.)

But none of the current crop of academy graduates – including former players Lee Cattermole and Ross Turnbull – has shown anywhere near the sort of promise Downing did on his breakthrough. Plenty of the Riverside faithful will tell you the aforementioned Johnson will go on to greater things than his left-wing predecessor, but not from what I’ve seen.

Downing can go on to become an England regular

Downing has been Boro’s most important player for the last four seasons. His delivery of the ball – with both feet – is pin-point, while his striking from dead-ball situations is superb.

It is no coincidence that Downing’s dip in form last season clashed with the team’s demise. Without him firing, we were left devoid of attacking threat. However, I have little doubt that he will prosper when he returns from injury in October alongside quality players at Villa Park. And hopefully, he can finally prove himself at international level.

Downing has been a target of the England boo-boys but the 24-year-old – despite regular selection under three national managers – has never won an extended run in the first-team. Once he does, he will quickly silence his critics, just as former scapegoats Owen Hargreaves and Peter Crouch eventually did.

It is a good move for the Teessider and also good business for Boro, who are braced for a huge financial shortfall should they manage to find suitors for stroppy strikers Alves and Mido, who are both finally back in training. But while Downing’s sale boosts Gareth Southgate’s transfer kitty, it leaves us without another leader in the dressing room.

One of Southgate’s biggest mistakes of the relegation campaign was failing to replace the experience and influence of George Boateng, Mark Schwarzer and Luke Young. Downing’s departure – with club captain Emanuel Pogatetz likely to follow – leaves the squad seriously lacking in leadership.

His vacated left-wing berth, however, is less of a worry. Adam Johnson would have been a first-teamer much sooner had it not been for Downing’s presence and the 22-year-old should be too good for most Championship defenders. Meanwhile, Nathan Porritt is a promising left-footer who Chelsea allegedly tried to tap-up a few years ago.

I’d be ecstatic if either went on to make even half the impact Stewart Downing has.

Relegation Reality

AFTER ELEVEN consecutive seasons in the top flight – which yielded our first major trophy, highest-ever Premier League finish and an appearance in a showpiece Europen final – adjusting to life as a fan of a Championship club was always going to be hard to stomach.

First came the fixture list – believe me, Old Trafford, The Emirates and even Fratton Park couldn't seem much further away when you're handed a Tuesday evening trip to Scunthorpe's Glanford Park in the second week of the new season.

Then there was the inevitable round of transfer rumours linking our big names with moves away from Teesside: Pogatetz to Roma; Huth to the Bundesliga; Tuncay to Fulham; O'Neil to Stoke; Alaidiere to Birmingham; Mido to Sunderland (if we can find him, I’ll drive him there myself), and Alves to… well, we can pray.

Though worryingly, from a financial perspective, home-grown sub-stopper Ross Turnbull has been the only major departure of the pre-season on a free to Chelsea. It is a telling mark of our dour 2008/09 campaign that Stewart Downing – who is out of action until at least October – is the only star to have attracted a serious offer as yet.

New signings Mark Yeates and Danny Coyne with manager Gareth Southgate

However, the lack of movement away from the Riverside is nowhere near as concerning as the second-rate journeymen who are being touted as possible replacements. Though in fairness to Gareth Southgate, he has made two solid signings.

Young winger Mark Yeates looks like a good squad acquisition at Championship level and will finally give us a natural option on the right side of midfield – something we have lacked since James Morrison was sold to West Brom two years ago. Meanwhile, 35-year-old Danny Coyne will offer much-needed experience in the goalkeeping department and will hopefully impress enough to oust the calamitous Brad Jones from the number-one-spot.

But talk of Southgate tracking free agent Danny Webber along with Hull’s bit-part midfielder Bryan Hughes is a little more difficult to understand. Webber was in and out of the first team at Championship rivals Sheff Utd last season and netted only six times in 41 league and cup appearances. And while Hughes may offer a wise head in the middle of the park, he managed just one Premier League appearance for The Tigers as they narrowly escaped relegation.

Alas, for the season ahead, I have no idea what to expect. The boss told reporters earlier this week that we need to score two goals a game to win automatic promotion - an ambitious target for a side which only managed to do so in six of their 38 league games last time out. And with no takers for the shot-shy Alves and AWOL Mido, I'd probably settle for scraping a play-off place if it was offered to me now.