Bye-bye Boro

Stoke, 21 March, 2009

Off, yet again, to Stoke. Good. I'm getting to like it. Obviously not Stoke the place: that old smoothie Derick Alsop of the Telegraphy brought Mrs Alsop with him. The plan was for him to report on the game while she took in the sights of Stoke. Before half-time, she'd texted to say she was back in their car listening to the radio. In many ways, Mrs Alsop speaks for us all.
The pies are average at best; the video screens didn't work and the press room and press box is packed with non-journalists (I'm not being snobby, it's just that there isn't room), but the atmosphere makes up for almost everything. It's football in the raw, a cauldron of sound and even the most cynical hacks are stirred by it. Forget the away games where they're a shadow of themselves, if Stoke keep winning at home - especially against fellow relegation candidates - they'll be safe. The game against Middlesbrough is a humdinger. Stoke win it near the end when Middlesbrough fell asleep during the Rory Delap long-throw they'd trained all week to thwart and the crowd is beside themselves with a joy that doesn't always go with living in the Potteries.
And Middlesbrough? Oddly they weren't bad at all. A bench featuring Afonso Alves, Marvin Emnes, Justin Hoyte and Julio Arca was grisly testament to Gareth Southgate's transfer market acumen, but in truth, they deserved something from this game. There was even the novelty of genuine commitment, Marlon King and Afonso Alves excepted of course. At half-time the travelling support is well-pleased. At the end they're making wanker signs at Alves and Southgate, who couldn't be more out of his depth if he'd taken up deep-sea diving. They're a broken club and just as the Premier League has had enough of them, they've had enough of the Premier League. They won't come straight back. And yes, Steve Gibson is a terrific chairman, but he's no judge of a manager.
Afterwards, Tony Pulis is his usual quietly confident self and, aside from a trip to the Emirates, their run-in is hardly fearsome. They're going to survive aren't they?
In contrast, Southgate is almost tearful and I almost feel sorry for him. He seems to understand the game is up, even if before Ryan Shawcross scored, they were still pushing for a winner. He talked about pressure, about it being part of the job and about escaping from relegation being a "big ask". I didn't believe a word of it and, I suspect, neither did he.