Fly Me Over the Pond: A Shift in Focus for Middlesbrough Fans?

There are many things that Boro need to work on.  We are being overran in midfielder week after week, falling to defeats consistently and shipping goals at an alarming rate.  Things are so bad that even when we take a lead there is little faith it will last.  The home games against Portsmouth and Bristol City are examples of that.

We as fans may also have some things to work on.  It could take a shift in focus to allow the time needed for the Tony Mowbray era to be a success.  We sit here against Palace with the overused cliché of “must win” being thrown at this game.  There is however a flaw to that train of thought.

It goes like this, last week’s game against Bristol was also a “must-win,” but we lost.  Is the season now over?  Do we now throw the towel in?  Obviously not, because here we are with the eternal hope of victory we always have.

On the other side of the coin what if we do win today?  Does that mean we are out of trouble and all is right again?  No, the reality is we just move on to next week, label that a must win and get caught in a never ending and boring cycle of reacting over-emotionally to the results of the a game.

What Boro need as a team and fan base is to let go of the Premiership years temporarily.  If the players, like many fans perceive Boro as a Premier League club in temporary exile then that brings with it complacency.  We go week after week asking “how did we lose to that lot,” without ever acknowledging these teams we are facing have as much quality as we do in many cases and thoroughly deserve their win.

Many fans will respond to such talk by stating the financial implications of not going back up, and how we must try as hard as we can.  However, things do not happen in life just because you repeatedly say you want them to.  Our team will not get better just because we act impatiently after poor performances.

What Boro need is a level of acceptance right now.  We must accept that we are a Championship team, we must accept that we are struggling right now and we must also realize the level of achievement in achieving positive results.  If every win is expected, yet every loss is a crisis then not only does that create a no win situation, how much do you enjoy supporting your team?  Further to that, if you do not enjoy it then why do you do it?

If we do get promoted back up again it will not be our rightful return to the Premier League.  It will be a mutually exclusive achievement that deserves to be celebrated without a negative slant coming from previous achievement or future expectations.

If the Boro fan base can find some joy in the journey, and take pleasure from positive results then the Riverside will be a more uplifting and enjoyable place for it.  If we kid ourselves that everything will be fine when results turn around then ask yourself; did we have a happy crowd when Steve McLaren won major trophies and made a European final?

The truth is no, because Boro fans want something deeper, we want an emotional connection, to enjoy the games and to get behind our team.  The thing is, maybe we have more control over that than we think, regardless of results.

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