Old dogs let Monk use new tricks for a Riverside revival
SALUTE Boro’s ageless whizz-kings!
Garry Monk must be delighted to have discovered that you can’t keep an old dog down – especially on Teesside.
It’s the men who Boro boss Monk was prepared to discard who have sparked the team’s much-needed re-awakening.
Stewart Downing, 33, was offered a free transfer shortly after Monk’s arrival at the Riverside but has been a beacon during Boro’s dramatic revival in the Championship.
And so, too, has 31-year-old skipper Grant Leadbitter, who did not figure greatly in Monk’s plans in the early part of the season.
Downing and Leadbitter have both stuck to their task admirably and indicated they can be leading lights after all in a promotion push.
Their attitude throughout the difficult period has been impeccable – a great example to the rest of the squad.
And another experienced man who is beginning to make a big impact is Jonny Howson, who reaches the big 30 at the end of the season.
The summer signing from Norwich City gave a little cause for concern because he needed time to settle into the Boro side.
Now Howson is beginning to make a major impact – and has formed a solid and workmanlike midfield partnership with Leadbitter.
It means that 28-year-old Adam Clayton, one of the mainstays of the side in recent seasons, is battling to try to regain his place.
Clayton’s chance will come again. He’s another with a positive all-round approach to the job.
However Downing has been the biggest bonus. It would have been
easy to write off the Middles- brough-born summer.
He was told he could find another club and talks took place with Birmingham City.
Then-Blues boss Harry Redknapp stressed he would loved to sign Downing but was unable to put together a suitable package.
Birmingham’s loss has been Boro’s gain. Like Leadbitter, Downing had to wait until September to make his first start of the Championship campaign, but he has not looked back since.
He knows how to work the flank, which has helped to give the side better balance, while he is always capable of putting through defence splitting passes.
One such ball led to the matchwinner against Sunderland when he winger during the released Martin Braithwaite, whose low cross was converted by teenager Marcus Tavernier.
The dramatic emergence of Tavernier, who operates in a left-sided role, means Downing potentially faces a run on the right flank.
That’s no problem for the former England international, who has played a lot of football for Boro on the right, especially when the club had Adam Johnson on the other flank.
Leadbitter has played a double role in Boro’s revival, both in controlling the centre of the park and scoring a couple of useful goals.
He is an extremely reliable penalty taker. His spot kicks against Reading and Hull City ensured Boro stayed in the driving seat in both games.
Ironically Monk fielded four 30-year-olds against Sunderland. It’s possibly not something which he planned at the start of the season, but the manager has played fair by the squad and selected the men in form.
Naturally Darren Randolph has become a permanent fixture in the side, while fellow 30-year-old George Friend was called up against Sunderland because of an injury to Fabio.
One of Monk’s toughest decisions comes in choosing between Fabio and Friend at left-back.
It will be interesting to see if Friend’s effort against the Black Cats secures him a place at Leeds United next Sunday.
Monk’s starting 11 against Sunderland had an average age of exactly 27 years. It may sound high but it would have put Boro 11th in the list of Championship teams last season based on average age.
Only four teams had an average of more than 28, with the highest being that of Brighton with 28 years and six months – and they finished runners-up in the table behind Newcastle United.
And, while Downing already has a lot of football under his belt, he doesn’t even figure in the top 25 oldest players to have played in the Championship this season.
The oldest so far is Birmingham centre-back Paul Robinson, who is 39 next birthday, while Bolton striker Aaron Wilbraham has just turned 38.
Aston Villa’s former England defender John Terry is approaching his 37th birthday.
So, while Monk deserves praise for giving lads like Tavernier their opportunities, he can rest easy in the knowledge that it’s fine to pick the older heads – as long as they continue to produce the goods.