Nobody has bossed us like that this season

Nobody has bossed us like that this season.”Shola Ameobi, playing because Alan Shearer’s comeback from a thigh injury was postponed due to a calf problem, gave Newcastle an early lead. The result was that Birmingham’s midfield was so outclassed that the normally industrious Robbie Savage was utterly ineffective. As their manager, Steve Bruce, admitted: “They tore us to pieces in the first half. While much attention has been focused on Newcastle United’s new signings, it could be the players already at their manager Graeme Souness’s disposal who can rescue their season.
It has been easy to forget during Souness’s lacklustre first four months in charge that the core of this squad is the same as the one which, not so long ago, was being talked about as potential title challengers.

Substitutes not used: Howard (gk), G Neville, Spector.Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).Booked: Middlesbrough Parlour.Man of the match: Giggs.Attendance: 34,199.. Stamford Bridge tomorrow is no place for an attack of the yips.Goals: Fletcher (9) 0-1; Giggs (80) 0-2.Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Reiziger, Cooper, Southgate, Queudrue; Parlour, Doriva (Morrison, 78), Zenden, Downing; Job (Nemeth, h-t), Hasselbaink. However, the suspicion is that both clubs resemble the amateur golfer who finds himself leading the Open after two rounds, spends the night contemplating the enormity of what he is about to do, and then sees his nerve and game go. The Brunei-based fund is expected to invest £12.8m for a return of 29.9 per cent of the club.The deadline for the fund’s exclusive rights to invest in Everton passed before Christmas, but the club are still confident that the money will be transferred in time for Moyes to spend some this month. With Everton fourth in the table and five points clear of Middlesbrough in fifth place but having suffered two consecutive defeats in the Premiership, the Scot desperately needs reinforcements to continue the challenge for a Champions’ League place.Even without the Fortress money, Moyes is understood to have close to £10m to spend in the transfer window and is in the market for a central midfield player as well.. As Joe Jordan admits, it might seem an unlikely combination: a Scot who had not worked in the top league of English football for some 18 years and a Croatian who was largely unknown to the British public.

However, for Sir Alex Ferguson it has always been a month that appeals to the Puritan in him. With no distractions, save for the odd Cup tie, it is a time when the harshness of the League season can be embraced.
It has always been an article of faith at Old Trafford that January is their month, the one in which they burn off the opposition. We’ve gone behind in some games at difficult places, but we’ve been able to recover and take something from those games.”Jordan has relished the extra responsibilities, particularly having spent the best part of two years out of full-time employment until he was asked to join Harry’s game last summer. When we’ve got the ball Velimir and I are on the same wavelength in that we try to play good football – and I think that’s something we’ve achieved.”It was quite an upheaval for the players to lose the manager, his assistant and one of the coaches, but they have proved a credit to the club and themselves in the way they’ve focused on the game They’ve shown great resilience. That’s in Velimir’s make-up as well.”I like my teams to be organised and so does he. I like my teams to have a shape, especially when the opposition have got the ball. As a player you want to know what’s expected of you, especially when you haven’t got the ball.