Fighting spirit is big plus for Boro

Feb 4 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

MIDDLESBROUGH manager Gareth Southgate was adamant his side deserved at least a point from the Tyne-Tees derby as he praised the character of his players after they fought back to level the game.

Boro rarely threatened Newcastle’s goal in the first half, but they were a different proposition after half time and might have snatched victory in injury time when Stewart Downing’s free-kick hit the post and Jeremie Aliadiere’s effort was ruled out by a linesman’s flag.

“We were good value for at least a point,” said Southgate, who believes Afonso Alves will receive his work visa from the British Embassy in Amsterdam today which will enable him to start his Premier League career following a £12m move from Heerenveen on transfer deadline day.

“First half we thought we might be able to frustrate them a bit. With the run they’ve been having we felt, if we kept it tight, we could break on them quickly and cause some problems. Defensively that worked well in the first half, but we didn’t use the ball well and we weren’t as positive as we could have been going forward.

“After half time we were prepared to take a few more chances and caused them problems. We had some cracking chances to go into the lead, but conceded a disappointing goal from a set-piece. Michael Owen is a fantastic player, but he shouldn’t be getting headers at the near post.

“The character we showed to bounce back from that was very pleasing. We created a number of chances and got the goal we deserved. After that, it was playground stuff. We thought we’d scored the winner (when Jeremie Aliadiere’s effort was ruled out for offside) and they were hitting us on the break at the other end trying to score a winner themselves.”

Southgate was also adamant that, although Owen’s scrambled effort in the first half should have stood after Mark Schwarzer had dropped a corner at his feet, the decisions evened themselves out over the course of the 90 minutes.

He said: “I couldn’t really see in normal time but I’ve been told there wasn’t much contact between Michael and Mark. But you talk about these things evening themselves out and I didn’t think it was a foul by Luke Young in the build up to their goal.

“I still think, they way that we played and the way that we attacked them in the second half, we deserved at least what we have got from the game.”

Southgate was also quick to praise Aliadiere for his role in the team’s recent resurgence after he admitted the young Frenchman is not ideally suited to a lone striker’s role. He said: “Jeremie is a very unselfish player and he doesn’t get all the praise he deserves. He hasn’t scored as many goals for us as he would like, but he has made a major contribution to the team.

“His pace gives us another dimension and you can tell he was taught well at Arsenal because he is always looking to bring other people into the game. He just needs a full season in the Premiership, get the feel for it and the goals will come.”

The Boro manager also refused to be drawn into a public row with former defender Jonathan Woodgate after the centre-back suggested over the weekend that he had moved to Tottenham because they showed proper ambition.

Southgate said: “Jonathan is entitled to say what he likes and I have absolutely no problem with him. I think he was frustrated that the improvements at the club were not happening as quickly as he would like, but we are getting gradually stronger. I hope the move is a successful one for him on a personal level. I feel he needed a fresh start down there.’’