Middlesbrough 0 Fulham 0: Southgate has no time for regrets...yet

20 April 2009 11:04
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate clutched a shoulder bag as he left the Riverside on Saturday. He also carried with him hope coupled with the burden of leading a club and a community to safety. About the only thing he did not take home was a commodity for which neither he nor his side have any use in their remaining five fixtures - regret. Reasons and recriminations will have to wait until the close season. Apleasing game which would have made for enjoyable November fare for the Boro faithful was instead viewed through the lens of April angst. In the final seconds of a match that either side might have won, encouragement roared down on to the field. When the final whistle blew, the roars turned to boos. There are no half-measures with relegation. Manof his club that he is, Southgate is in tune with such frustrations,yet he insists the only option is to look forward if Boro are to becomethis season's unlikely escapees. Southgate said: 'There are things I would have done differently a couple of months back and things that were outside our control, but the time for the real inquest into that is later. The next five weeks, we still have the chance to get through. 'I haven't changed since I became a manager because I used to go home and worry or think about things when I was captain of the team. 'I am driven to try and turn it around. If you want to be successful at anything, youdedicate your life to it. That's what we're doing as a group. 'I switch off very rarely. When I do my mind wanders back to what we're going to do intraining over the next few days and how we'll prepare for matches.' Specifically over the next fortnight, that means preparing to face Arsenal at the Emirates and to host Manchester United. It is why a goalless draw against a mid-table side, albeit one as well-drilled and playing with as much belief as Fulham, has to be viewed as a chance lost. For that, the blame must lie with former goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Three times in five minutes just after half-time he denied Boro, most thrillingly when he clawed Tuncay's header away when it looked a certain goal.

Source: Daily_Mail