The Perfect Chairman?

Following the recent departure of Gordon Strachan, a thread started on a Blades internet forum which debated the merits of Steve Gibson. "The type of chairman you want at your club". Now Gibson is clearly well thought of within football as well as by the town of Middlesbrough. From forming a consortium to save the club from liquidation in 1986, to his subsequent appointment as chairman in 1994, to overseeing the move to the Riverside, he is cited as a man who pulled Boro back from the brink and propelled them to significant success. But what makes him perceived to be better? What makes him different?

Like many "fan" chairmen he has put considerable sums into the club he loves. Via the Gibson O'Neill company (of which he owns 75%) he has taken on over £50m of football club debt (per 2009 accounts). Then again, many chairman put in considerable sums of their business wealth to support what are fundamentally loss making football clubs. In the 12 months to 31st December 2009, Boro made an operating loss of £12.6m. 

Whereas, macro-economic pressures and the recession have hit some hard, Gibson has been fortunate to continue to generate significant profits from his business ventures. Fortunate is probably too harsh, he should be given credit for it. This has enabled him to maintain the support required to stay in the Premiership and also provide significant sums (by Championship standards) to try and return. Something not all chairman have been able to maintain, as I know from following my club. This seemingly unconditional support is certainly one factor in his popularity.

So what has the investment achieved? A Carling Cup victory whilst twice finishing runners up, an FA Cup final appearance and a run to the final of the UEFA Cup Final in 2006. The cynical would say that for the amounts incurred one trophy is not a great return. The realistic would acknowledge it is a good return for a club the size of and with the infrastructure of Boro. Fans of many similar sized, "unfashionable" teams would kill for any element of that success, whatever they may claim.

The focus he has given to developing a quality academy has paid dividends. The Boro academy has developed and delivered a huge number of quality players to the first team and beyond, often compensating for the failure of many players acquired for significant fees who have flopped at the Riverside, Digard, Alves, Emnes....  The fees generated from selling on these players has helped subsidise the £60m Boro have spent since the Summer transfer window of 2006 and the many millions more expended before that.

He has also been given credit for the manner in which he deals with his managers. The manner in which the Strachan departure was handled being a case in point, where Strachan took no compensation from the club. Yet his unwavering support for his managers can be questioned. He probably let Bryan Robson out-stay his reign, leading to the need to bring in Terry Venables, albeit successfully, to support Robson. The same could be said of Southgate, whilst the eventual timing of both Strachan and Gareth Southgate's departures could be questioned.

In what is an extremely tight Championship table and with a team under performing, Strachan left after spending over £6m (£4m net of transfer income) during the Summer and with Boro 9 points off the play offs. Is this too soon to assess a team showing 8 players in and 8 out from the end of the last season? One of the contributory factors was the strength of feeling from what was left of the Riverside faithful. A vociferous 17,000 rattling around a half empty Riverside. Yet the numbers rather than the noise probably rang alarm bells for Gibson.

He is clearly a talented businessman and charismatic leader. He is by no means the perfect chairman, he has made mistakes, but don't they all. Boro fans couldn't imagine Boro without him and many fans of other clubs would want a chairman of his ilk.

His latest managerial appointment is an interesting one and probably the right one. The next couple of years are vital for the club. The last time the club fell into the Championship, at the end of the 1996-97 season, the club bounced back first time. This time around they are now in their second term in the second tier and with a £12m drop in parachute payments next season, the Director's Report for the 2009 accounts emphasises the precarious nature of the club's finances and raises questions regarding the extent to which Gibson can continue to plug the financial shortfalls.

"The company is determined that the team can achieve promotion no later than at the end of the second season in the Football League as a result of the restructuring carried out and with the help of the reduced financial benefit still being received from the Premier League."

In employing Tony Mowbray, a promotion winning manager with WBA, Gibson not only believes he has the right man for the job, but also he has an important ally if the performances don't turnaround sufficiently this season.   A fan, a former captain, a hero to the Riverside faithful. When things are tough, you need to dig in and pull together. Mowbray might well be the glue required and add some impetus at a time when supporter apathy has clearly set in.

It wont be easy. He will have to deal with players he was only too happy to get rid of during his disappointing reign at Celtic. The margins between success and failure in the Championship are tiny. A point or one goal can be the difference between automatic promotion and a play off lottery ticket. With QPR and Cardiff already establishing a gap between themselves and the rest at the top of the table, a play off place will be a good achievement.

The next 18 months will be a defining era for Middlesbrough Football Club and also for their chairman and manager. A prologed stay outside the Premiership has affected many clubs and the financial re-adjustment is tough. Some are unable to sustain a place in the Championship and a return from League One is not straightforward, as Southampton, Leeds and others will testify. The fans will always have fond memories of a cup final glory and European nights, but fans memories are notoriously short term. Those memories could well be tarnished if Boro find themselves 25 years on with further financial strife, dwindling crowds and playing football in the Championship or even League One. Time will tell.

The kids are alright

In the aftermath of another turgid England display against Montenegro midweek, I read a tweet that brought a brief flicker of happiness to my face. The England Under 21 team's success in qualifying for next year's European Championship finals in Denmark means that we are the only one of the "big" European nations to qualify for each of the last 3 European U21 Championships.  At a time when Germany are being held up as a prime example of an exciting youthful international side and everyone from Fabio Capello to Harry Redknapp, Dave Whelan to Sam Allardyce feel the need to bemoan the lack of good English talent coming through, it led me to look into the facts a little further.

England's relative success in the last 2 championships (Losing semi-finalists to the eventual winners the Netherlands in 2007 and Runners Up to Germany in 2009) followed two successive failures to reach the finals. This shows that, England are no different from the other larger nations who have all suffered spells where the quality and competitiveness of their young footballers is lacking.

Either side of their success in 2009, Germany failed to qualify in 2007 and have just missed out on 2011. The Netherlands failed to qualify in 2009 after winning the trophy in 2007. France has failed to qualify for the last three finals tournaments and have only made one of the last five. Italy, semi-finalists in 2009, lost their qualifying play-off to Belarus this week. Whilst Spain have failed to qualify for the finals next year and, despite their current senior success, have never reached the semi finals in any of the last 4 tournaments.

Some might suggest that victories in the last 2 tournaments might point towards the success of the Netherlands and Germany in recent major tournaments, but what did become of the players involved in those matches from both sides?

Back in 2007, the fourteen players involved in England's epic 13-12 penalty defeat to the Netherlands in Herenveen included five players who went on to gain full international recognition, with a combined total of over thirty caps to date. Of those David Nugent remains a one cap (one goal) wonder, Baines has played twice and Scott Carson three times. Only Ashley Young and James Milner have made any significant impact at international level.  

A look at the Dutch line-up paints a very similar picture. Four players have made the next step, but only two have gone on to ten or more caps, Babel and Maduro. They also, like England have players whose careers have not maintained their early heights. Three of the England team are currently playing Championship football; Lita, Hoyte and Nugent. A fourth, Liam Rosenior is currently without a club.

In the Dutch side, Daniel de Ridder looked an exciting wing prospect only to see his career falter at Birmingham and Wigan. Maceo Rigters joined Blackburn, but after only two appearances commenced unsuccessful loan spells with Norwich and Barnsley and started this season on loan at Willem II back in his homeland.

Even the player of the tournament, Royston Drenthe, subject to a subsequent 14m move to Real Madrid, finds himself viewed as a "problem" player, sent on loan to newly promoted La Liga club Hercules and still without a full cap.

Playing for the Under 21's was a never a guarantee of future success. In each two year spell you see a turnover of players which usually sees half remain for the next tournament, whilst the remainder move on and hopefully move up.  Looking at the German team that contested the 2009 final, it shows that it is possible to move up. Nine of the fourteen German players have now gained full caps and a tenth, Seb Boenisch has been capped by Poland after switching allegiance. Five players are in double figures, in terms of senior appearances (Neuer, Ozil, Khedira, Boateng and Schmelzer) although, as is often the case, several players had gained full caps prior to the U21 finals.

What happened to the England team from the final is slightly different. Five players (Richards, Gibbs, Johnson, Walcott and Milner) have made at least one senior appearance. Of these; only Richards, Walcott and Milner are in double figures in terms of appearances, however it is hard to believe that Johnson will not be there soon. Gibbs is clearly the long term replacement for Ashley Cole and it's likely that Jack Rodwell (a used sub in the final) would have had an opportunity by now, had it not been for injury. 

It is clear that with an ageing squad, Joachim Low was able to blood many of his young players in a relatively short spell of time. Post South Africa, several pundits and media voices called for a similar overhaul of the England team. Blood the young talent and, accept that Euro 2012 may not be a successful tournament, look to the future. Yet the response seems to be that many of the England team are not ready for the scrap heap just yet and the lack of big club/European experience goes against the young upstarts in terms of getting an opportunity.

Germany's situation was helped by the Bundesliga being a relatively open and competitive league. Five different winners in the last ten seasons and numerous clubs gaining Champions League experience gives young players at a wider range of clubs exposure to big competition at an earlier stage of their career.

Although it is good to see Capello being more willing to give players from outside the top 6 their chance (Cahill and Davies of Bolton as examples), they are not guaranteed to be the mainstays. Phil Jagielka performed well in his two games, but we can be pretty sure that he would have been dropped if both Ferdinand and Terry had been fit to face Montenegro. Yet, if England were looking forward, beyond the next tournament, there is a clear argument for not playing Ferdinand and giving his long term replacement time to bed in.

I don't think that at the moment we are worse off than any other major country in developing young talent and successful teams. It's what happens in the formative years, post  youth football, where it seems to go wrong. A lack of club opportunities as much as a lack of international ones. There may not be a never-ending supply of talented players that the coaches would wish to pick from, but if the best young players we have are not blossoming what chance have the late bloomers got.

With the Under 17 European Championship title under our belt and a strong squad available for Denmark 2011, things do look rosy. The kids are alright (in fact they are pretty good); they just need the chance to develop and the chance to show it.