State of Teessiders frustrates Barry Robson
Dec 4 2010 by Steve Brown, The Journal
WHEN temperatures plummeted to -19C at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park training complex on Thursday night, Barry Robson was unmoved. The guy is Scottish remember, he has seen it all before.
However, what he remains utterly unaccustomed to – and upset about – is the Teessiders’ current predicament, second bottom of the Championship after just five wins from 19 games.
Today they travel to sixth-top Coventry City, but as frustrated as Robson is by his side’s form, he is confident Boro boast players capable of escaping the relegation zone.
The problem is getting them all on the pitch, an unsettled side having struggled to gel under both Gordon Strachan and Tony Mowbray, though he adds that – the Millwall defeat apart – luck and just reward has deserted them of late.
Time then, Robson says, for “big players to stand up and be counted”, to fight the fight. At the very least, it is all one of the best set of fans he has encountered deserve.
“It’s a position I find very strange for a club of this stature,” said Robson.
“It’s frustrating for everyone, including all of the players. A lot of it is down to the fact that we have not been able to get a settled side out this season.
“I think me, Gary O’Neil and Kevin Thomson have managed less than an hour on the pitch together at the same time.
“It’s been the same the whole season, it’s been mix and match all the time. We’ve rarely played in the same positions, or had the same players.
“I’ve missed five or six games and when you’re back you try to catch up. That’s the same for all the players who are out and it doesn’t help. It’s not an excuse but it’s hard to get a fixed team with play and a pattern.
“That’s what I think Gordon Strachan found frustrating as well.
“We still have good players here and we’re confident we’re going to get up this league. There are players with plenty of experience but we’re also up for the scrap.
“If we can win a good few games before Christmas that will help, but we know what lies ahead and we’re up for the battle.
“We’re big players and we just have to get on with it and find performances. It’s up to us to stand up and be counted. In the Millwall game we were poor, in other games we have been a lot better and maybe we haven’t had the luck.
“But we are where we are and we need to sort this out.
“Since I came here I have been getting stopped in shops, everyone wants to talk. They are one of the best set of fans I’ve ever worked for. I had a great relationship with Celtic and that’s carried on here. It upsets me when we haven’t won a football match and it upsets me when I look at the league table. The fans here deserve better than that and we’re going to strive to make sure they get it.”
Meanwhile, Mowbray has followed chief executive Keith Lamb’s lead by insisting that – contrary to reports claiming Arsenal are interested – goalkeeper Jason Steele is going nowhere.
“He has intimated to me that he sees his future here,” Mowbray said.
“He knows this is the right place for his development. There are a lot of instances of goalkeepers making big moves before they’re ready. Why should they move at 20 when they could be playing until they’re 40?
“Jason needs to get games under his belt and become the best goalkeeper he can be. He’s at the right place to get better and better.
“He sees his future here. I’m delighted he’s recognised that I have faith in him and see what a good goalkeeper he is.”
