Can we have Graham come out and give a little pep talk every game? It was especially pleasing that it didn't even seem to be completely 'on message'. Was the bit about shooting a very small dig at Malky and his team? GT's philosophy was always get the ball in the box as often as possible and shoot because you're more likely to score goals (sounds obvious really). This is why I was surprised at what seemed to be GT's whole hearted endorsement of the Rodgers regime when it involved taking free kicks backwards and the like.
Malky hasn't gone down quite the same road but we still pass the ball sideways far too much for my liking. So GT's request for us to yell 'Shoot' at any player nearing the box, not just Lloyd, was most welcome and even better, the players responded to it.
Eustace was the most effective with his long range lob going in. It was overly harsh when he tried a couple more of these sort of things in the second half that much abuse was shouted at him from the Rous (by people clearing not listening to GT). I don't mind a player occasionally shooting and hitting row Z if they also occasionally hit the back of the net.
Will Buckley made his debut and a storming one it was too. Okay, it was slightly difficult to judge just how good he was seeing as Middlesbrough only gave him a few seconds on the ball before hacking him over every time, but the fact they felt it necessary is encouraging.
Overall, it was a good team display and one that certainly wasn't that of a team who are one of the worst three in the division. So how do we find ourselves in a situation where we're still one of the major contenders in the dogfight? I think the answer was on the back of the programme. In place of the depressing league table they'd printed clubs in order of average points gained when taking the lead. We were 5th, just below Newcastle and West Brom. Possibly this was the only stat they could come up with that put us this high up the table but it also explains much about our current plight. The confidence of the team very much depends on who gets the first goal. If its us then we have the belief to get something out of the game. If it goes against us then that belief disappears, which explains the hammerings we got against West Brom and Cardiff as well our dreadful away form.
Had Boro scored, as it looked like they might have done a couple of times early on, I reckon we would've have come away very depressed. Luckily they looked like a team that is already preparing for another season in the Championship. Only Leroy Lita (who else) looked really bothered and as soon as he came on 5 minutes after half time it was clear he was the one we needed to worry about. Unfortunately our defence only woke up to this after he'd equalised, but at least they then marked him out of the game.
Palace now decreases ever so slightly in importance on Tuesday. If we can then come up against other teams who are already looking forward to the summer break we might still be able to finish somewhere slightly more respectable than 21st.
