Gibbo Deserves Backing

WE'RE ENTERING an unprecedented phase in the Riverside chapter of Middlesbrough Football Club. One of the most popular men in the club's history may be feeling a tad uncomfortable as his previously untouchable veil loosens its grip.

I commented recently on the growingly strained love affair between Steve Gibson and the disgruntled Boro faithful. But the outcry of hostility towards the legendary chairman and Chief Exec Keith Lamb over the past week comes a little sooner than expected.

At the beginning of the summer, Gibson went on BBC Radio and hinted that the club was under no pressure to sell players to balance the books. He also suggested if big players left, reinforcements would be identified and brought in quickly.

So after the £11m double sale of Huth and Tuncay, much was expected of Boro’s bolstered transfer infantry. However, come 5pm Tuesday, only a last-ditch attempt to secure long-term target Rob Hulse had filtered into the public domain via busy journalists.

Steven Gibson celebrating the 2-1 win over Bolton in the 2004 League Cup final

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Lamb says other deals were on the cards but time ran out. Unfortunately for him, many fans’ patience also ran out. “Gibbo’s lies” and “Lamb’s ineptitude” have been common topics of debate in some fiery fans forums. It appears Gibson is now harshly uncovering the pitfalls of his own success. And the fans who have long lauded him for his limelight-shy stewardship are now calling for answers.

Despite it being Gibson who single-handedly bankrolled the dream in which our small town club lived for so long. He dared to dream of the all-seated stadium; to envisage the Juninho years; to pioneer the cup finals; to deliver a major trophy; and to keep us from watching The Bill on Thursday nights.

It was the anti-climactic 4-0 UEFA Cup final defeat to Sevilla which signalled a drastic alteration in the club’s financial structure. Rightly or wrongly, Gibbo moved to prevent the club from terminal decline at the end of the McClaren era.

Despite the memorable journey to Eindhoven, we had failed to qualify for the competition for the upcoming season. Boro struggled to a 14th place finish in the PL – one below Charlton Athletic but above Man City and Aston Villa. (Three years is a markedly long time in football.)

The foreign ownership fad was gathering momentum (Randy Lerner had completed his takeover of Villa) and making top seven finishes was becoming even more competitive.

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Chief Executive Keith Lamb has also come under criticism from fans

Meanwhile, Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Ugo Ehiogu, Ray Parlour and Gaizka Mendieta were earning a packet while on the wrong side of 30. So the big names were progressively filtered out of the club in an overhaul of playing staff which was labelled by some as a “lack of ambition”.

But how much more ambitious could Steve Gibson have been? And at what cost? Declines like Leeds United and Southampton are testament to how rapid they can occur with the aid of financial mismanagement.

Of course, the idea wasn’t to get relegated during this period of transition. The gamble in flushing the first-team squad of experienced campaigners went too far. Allowing both Schwarzer and Boateng to leave without seeking replacements left two very important berths empty – both on the field and in the dressing room.

Though while there may have been some supporter angst at a club whose first-team squad boasted no player over the age of 30, the early signs were good. “Southgate’s Babes” were tipped as last season’s potential surprise packages after a promising start to the campaign.

Ultimately, the switch to youthful exuberance didn’t pay off. Inevitably, after large-scale criticism of Southgate failed to unseat him from the gaffer’s chair, the shift in vilification has reached board room level.

Success simply can’t be sustained at a club on our budget in modern top-flight football. The only way we could have pushed on from the platform of McClaren’s legacy was if the club was passed into the hands of foreign owners.

How many Teessiders can say they’d prefer that to a genuine fan who has left himself millions of pounds out of pocket through overseeing the most successful and exciting years Middlesbrough FC has ever witnessed?

After all, overseas investment isn’t always a fairy story, as West Ham and Portsmouth very nearly found to their cost.