Source: Northern_Echo
A steely resolve to raise Teesside spiritsA steely resolve to raise Teesside spirits
DAVID WHEATER admitted it was a sad day for Teesside[LNB] after the loss of 1,600 steel jobs last night, but he has outlined an intention for Middlesbrough Football Club to do anything it can to help raise morale around the town.[LNB] The mothballing of the Corus Teesside Cast Products plant at Redcar started yesterday, seemingly bringing an end to 150 years of steel-making on Teesside.[LNB] Wheater, 23, spent much of his life living less than two minutes away from the plant in the Dormanstown area, with many of his family and friends among the thousands of people who have worked there.[LNB] Given the enormity of the situation, Wheater feels whatever he says is almost insignificant, but he has revealed a desire to help the fight to resurrect the steel jobs after Prime Minister Gordon Brown hinted that could happen.[LNB] It is a sad, sad day, said Wheater, who claimed working at Corus would have been a realistic alternative had he not made it as a professional footballer.[LNB] It is going to be a struggle for this town to emerge from this, but we will have to. It is going to be hard, with so many people losing their jobs.[LNB] As players, I do not really know what we can do. I am sure we will help somehow, but no one has approached us and I'm not sure what we could do. What we have to concentrate on is our game, our jobs, and try to make people happy by winning matches. If we do that, we can maybe help lift spirits a little bit.[LNB] In the middle of the Save Our Steel campaign, Boro chairman Steve Gibson was at the forefront, having accepted the closure of Corus will inevitably have an impact on attendances at the Riverside.[LNB] Crowds are bound to be affected because it is expensive to watch football these days and if you do not have a job, you are unlikely to pay £20 to watch 90 minutes of football when you can see it on TV,[LNB] said Wheater.[LNB] People won't buy shirts if they have lost their jobs because they are more expensive than watching football, it's understandable. Hopefully, a few good victories might boost everyone's morale a little.[LNB] I don't actually know anyone who is working at Corus now, but over the years, both granddads and my uncles have worked there.[LNB] Also a lot of people around the Redcar area and Boro have worked there.[LNB] Boro fans too. It's really sad, awful.[LNB] When Gordon Strachan, the Middlesbrough boss, was asked for his comments on the closure, he was quick to insist it would not be forming part of his teamtalk at Nottingham Forest today.[LNB] It is sad, depressing, but I would not take a cheap shot by saying to the players these people are going through hell so we should turn that into a performance for them,' said Strachan.[LNB] I would not use their agony to make my players perform better. I cannot imagine anything worse in life than not having a job.[LNB] There cannot be anything worse. I know people in Edinburgh who have lost their jobs, I can see it in their faces, but I cannot really feel their pain.[LNB] With such pain being felt around Middlesbrough after yesterday's developments, Wheater knows what sort of impact promotion back to the Premier League would have on the area.[LNB] The locally-produced centre- back has been one of the individual success stories to emerge from Redcar in recent years and he has expressed a desire to stay at the Riverside Stadium.[LNB] Having seen the likes of Stewart Downing and Adam Johnson depart in the last seven months, Middlesbrough supporters must fear Wheater will be next to go.[LNB] But, even if Championship football is still on the agenda next season, Wheater is keen to make sure his hometown boasts a top-flight team again.[LNB] Like everyone else, I want to get back in the Premier League with Boro, he said.[LNB] There is nowhere else I would rather be than with this club in the Premier League.[LNB] I want to be playing in the Premier League with my hometown club.[LNB] I like the new manager, I like his training methods and he has been great with me. I see no reason why I would want to move on just yet.[LNB] After this season, I have got another year on my contract.[LNB] If we do not go up this season, I would like that to be the season that we do win promotion.[LNB]
