AS a subject for an emotional study, Stuart Pearce's side gave nothing away during this comfortable and possibly job-saving success.
Even when second half shots from Sylvain Distin and Emile Mpenza hit the back of the net there was barely a flicker on the City chief's game face as he patrolled the technical area.
On the outside, Pearce was calmness personified, on the inside he must have been the happiest man at the Riverside.
His rasping, almost whispered Press briefing at the end of the game was the only sign that the past week had taken any toll.
Only when the 1,000 or so Blues' followers chanted his name did Pearce allow his feelings show and a couple of hearty thumbs up hinted at his joy.
Pearce knows he is not out of the woods yet, he knows this season has been one of dis- appointment and underachievement tinged now and again with promise but he knows, too, that this fourth away win bought him valuable breathing space not necessarily with his chairman, who has shown faith, but from football's insatiable feeding frenzy that will now inevitably alight elsewhere.
Leapfrogged
Having leapfrogged Sheffield United and Wigan, temporarily moved level with Villa - who have spent countless millions and have a feted manager in Martin O'Neill - and within a draw of Fulham, the league table made kinder reading for City.
Winning matches is soccer's panacea and to see the same fans who were justifiably pouring scorn on their favourites a week ago, cavorting with ecstasy along with their heroes, just about summed up the consuming nature of following an inconsistent side.
Anyone believing the more lurid reports attached to the Blues this week might have expected the players to come out at the Riverside wearing tin helmets and boxing gloves.
The truth is a little less sensational. Of course, not all the City players are bosom buddies, that's the same in any work place, but neither are they at each other's throats all day, and when it comes to the job they are all professional.
That is why one of the more smile inducing moments of the contest for Blues supporters came after former skipper Distin had fired the visitors ahead.
Joey Barton's corner saw Andrew Davies unable to direct his attempted clearing header and the ball broke to Mpenza, who nodded into the six-yard box for Distin, almost in slow motion, to turn and crash it into the net.
Followers of the City soap opera at this point were intrigued to note the reactions of Barton and Distin, who have allegedly been at loggerheads since the England midfielder publicly backed Richard Dunne's theory that some of the recent imports were not pulling their weight.
Congratulations
Barton ran from one side of the pitch to the other to congratulate the scorer to be welcomed by Distin who, sense of humour to the fore, wiped the toe of his new white boots with his sleeve and suggested that Barton might like to kiss it - the midfielder gestured to oblige before a mutual high five.
The goal was just reward for City's dominance. They were in such control that Boro, who had lost just once in 17 previous games - were booed off at half-time.
City's dominance left the sparse home crowd less than happy with home boss Gareth Southgate who, with one eye on tonight's FA Cup tie at Old Trafford, consigned Mark Viduka to the bench and Jonathan Woodgate to the stands.
Pearce, by contrast, would have liked to have named the side that pushed Chelsea all the way but a turned ankle in training meant Stephen Ireland was replaced by Academy product Michael Johnson, just the second start of his fledgling career,
Teenager Johnson showed few nerves given the alleged significance of the occasion and signalled his arrival with the kind of threaded through ball that Ireland would have been proud to call his own. Barton raced through the inside right channel but as Mark Schwarzer narrowed the angle the newly demoted England midfielder dragged his shot inches wide.
There was more of the same as Mpenza found the side-netting from a tight angle and then there was a forced change of tactics as Micah Richards followed Gary Neville on to the England casualty list. He limped off midway through the first half, leaving Pearce to abandon his 4-1-4-1 formation and restructure in a 4-4-2.
The change seemed to unsettle City for a while, but having finally settled back down into a decent rhythm, the Blues fashioned the best chances. A neat passing move that twice involved Didi Hamann ended with Michael Ball curling in a wonderful cross from the left that Emile Mpenza read well, but then deposited nearer the corner flag than the goal.
As City retained possession, they always looked the winners. Schwarzer twice had to plunge low to deny Samaras and Barton before Distin struck and then the game and points were made safe in the 73rd minute.
Barton slid the ball through Xavier's legs for Mpenza to poke the ball past Schwarzer and in off the post. Cue pandemonium as the scorer leapt into the stands and then disappeared into a scrum of teammates.
Only in the Blues' technical area was there total calm!
What do you think? Have your say.
Boro 0 City 2: Verdict
March 19, 2007
Comments
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The defence looks more assured with Isaksson in goal and with a switch to a back four. Hamann is quietly starting to exert his experience on the team. We have a mobile striker up front in Mpenza who is also very experienced. And we now have 11 players on the pitch contributing instead of playing with 9.5 every week. Personally I wish there was not a two week break.
This is balanced by the fact Boro did not really turn up, and Sun looked shaky at right back a few times. I still believe we won in spite of Pearce rather than because of him. If that makes me sound a bit ungrateful then fine. All he has done is picked Isaksson and dropped Corradi and Dabo. Hardly rocket science. The team stick lacks any mobility or creativity.
Hopefully this result will keep the 'Pearce Out' brigade off his back for a while. Personally, I think City should stick with him even if we go down. City are probably the best example of why changing managers every time things get tough just doesn't work.
Total calm in the technical area? Stuart Pearce barks more than my old dog does when the door bell rings. I will not believe a corner is turned before SP sits calmly in a suit in the stands watching his side do another 3-1 on the Rags. But then again, that might never happen...
Jerry, would you really want Pearce to stay even if we go down? Could you forgive him for his previous transfer dealings and trust him to wheel and deal with what he has to bring us back out of the Championship? I find that really hard to believe!
Still, great win on Saturday albeit against an opposition who definitely had an eye on tonights game with the Rags. We could do with playing another nine matches against teams with FA cup replays coming up.
Fitness permitting Mpenza must start for the rest of the season, even allowing for his first half missed header he shows much more menace than Laurel and Hardy.
Considering the win and the pressure he has been under I would like to give Pearce a break, but he has a lot more work to do to win the fans over. Put simply, would you trust him with a transfer budget if the takeover goes through? We are still paying for Keegans mistakes in the transfer market and whoever gets the money cannot waste it.
DJ Charlton: you state that the win was'nt rocket science and that the team lacks creativity or mobility. Thats your opinion ok, then please suggest alternative team formations based solely on what players we have fit and ready to play at this moment in time.
You insist that your stance may be deemed 'ungrateful'. I would suggest 'unrealistic' to be a be a more appropriate word.
Barton and Distin at loggerheads since Dunne's comments? Funny that - Dunne specificically excluded Syl from his remarks.
Why would Distin have a problem with Barton and vice versa? It's not Distin who was the target of Barton or Dunne is it? Distin has been a good pro and gives his best - when he has a bad game, I don't believe it's down toa lack of effort.
There is a light.... I totally agree with your comments hence the reason we need to bring in a good, responsible Director of Football. He would then listen to the Head Coaches requirements for players, discussing the pro's and con's for a rake of players and he would then go away and do the best deal for the club. My thoughts for DoF would be Koeman, Hodgson, Graham, Wilkinson or Ranieri all of whom have the necessary experience and background to succeed in the areas that SP sometimes fails.
We should also look to get Ball and Mpenza on longer deals, maybe one year deals with certain targets named for a further season if these targets are acheived.
Keep the Faith. CTID
Jesper, DK - You have been a heavy poster lately, but you have made your point, u dont like SP. I haven't been happy with team performances either, but I don't think it's all down to SP. If you look at the teams around us in the table, you have many experienced managers who many would have liked to see come to City, but they haven't done much better, and some even worse than SP.
Remeber, it is his second year as a manager, and he is straight in at the deep - the EPL with limited funds at his disposal. It is much too early to say if he can make it as a top class manager, but sacking him to get in the likes of Jewell, O'Neil, Curbs etc. is not the answer. I just hope the takover goes ahead soon so we can loose this lame excuse for a board.
When Dunne had a pop at the foreign contingent, it was obviously the likes of Dabo, Trabelsi (or Trabelski, as Fred Eyre calls him), Hamann and Corradi he was referring to, not the longer-serving foreigners such as Sun and Distin.
I said on Friday for this lot to get anything out of a trip to the NE to play Middlesbrough a miracle had to happen. Well it did! The great gods of football were certainly travelling on City's coach. So be it! With this fortune I have got City in the Spring Double - The National and The Boat Race!Three more wins should do it Crystal ball anyone!
Henriksen, yes I am a passionate City fan and I want the best for the club in the future and that is why I dont like SP. I really did at first and thought he would become great but his dreadful style of football, endless negative streaks, ineffectual transfers, his non-stop touchline barking and helplesness in the dugout, taking the U21 job etc. has convinced me he is not the right solution for Manchester City.
I was staggered to read Stewart Downings Comments about the game which they lost 2-0.City looked a poor side,and you could see why they are in that position.This comment from a Boro player whose team is 3 points better off than City.Boro are one of the most dismal and boring teams I have ever watched over the last 70 years.You have to go back to the Wilf Mannion days,they had a good team in that period.All this talk about playing a weakened team,every team would have done the same,with a quarter final tie in two days time.I hope they get their true desserts when they play United.
I also was not best pleased with stuart downings comments.
Listen stuart - we beat you twice easy
You did not score past us in both games
You rested two players one of them not even your player-woodgate
We also had two players out.
I also just watched you miss a sitter at the swamp,which for the first time in my life I was happy about
P.S boro are rubbish and if you didn't have woodgate you would have gone down so shut it
Henriksen, Oslo, Norway:
The reason SP has fared
poorly at City is that he is
inept as a manager. Evidence
consists of his transfer
dealings, squad selection,
choice of tactics, sideline
demeanor, statements to the
media, man-management, etc.
He is clearly a disaster as
a "motivator" so what exactly
is he even barely competent
in doing as a manager?
Phil Geertsma: I do not agree with your veiws on SP, even if some of your points are questionable. However, I can't see anyone much better than SP. Without proper funding (takeover), we will not improve whoever is in charge. You cannot make a silk purse from a sows ear..