Image:Katie throws her hat into the Southgate corner
Ladies Day means everything to Katie Medd and Boro - they simply have points to win against Arsenal!
Loyalty is the key to Boro beauty
Ladies Day means everything to Katie Medd and Middlesbrough, they simply have points to win!
After the 4-1 defeat to Bolton on the 4th April even the most optimistic Boro fan sounded deflated.
Many had resigned themselves to watching Championship football next season and couldn't see a way out. It was after this game that I was given the opportunity to represent the club on the first ever Ladies Day on FanZone.
I was asked on numerous occasions whether I was in the 'Southgate In' camp, and I most certainly am. Until Steve Gibson says otherwise, he will be the manager of this club, and therefore he will have my support.
When we lose, I can see how much it hurts Gareth and the players. Not a single Boro fan could ever forget his passion on the pitch along with his trademark air punches after each victory. I so hope to see those air punches at Upton Park on the last day of the season after we avoid relegation.
Revival
After the Bolton game, it effectively became a 7-game season, starting with Hull at home.
The fans rallied around the team, and the ground was jumping with one of our highest home attendances of the season. A third minute goal from Tuncay ensured that the atmosphere remained lively from the outset, and we came away with all three points.
Against Fulham, the story was slightly different. Fulham were a lot harder to break down and we just didn't take our chances. That, coupled with Mark Schwarzer ruining the party, meant that we had to settle for a point.
But it wasn't for the want of trying. Every player on the pitch gave 100% effort to try and earn all three points, but it just wasn't to be.
Two games into our 7-game season and we've managed 4 points out of 6. If someone had offered me that after the Bolton game, I would most certainly have taken it!
So, on Sunday, it's Boro's two game unbeaten record against Arsenal's eighteen game unbeaten record!! But we're not scared. We're not scared because no one expects us to win. No one even expects us to get a point.
However, Southgate will have been working very hard with his players all week to ensure that they understand the threats that Arsenal will pose. We will have to fight and dig really deep for 90+ minutes to get something from this game, but the players really want this.
None of them want to see relegation on their CV, and they know how much it would hurt the fans too. To go from UEFA Cup finalists to a real relegation dogfight in 3 short years is more than I can bear.
Loyalty
This club deserves to be in the Premier League; Steve Gibson deserves his club to be in the Premier League, and Middlesbrough as a town needs this club to stay up.
The whole of Middlesbrough is behind the team, and no one wants Southgate to prove the doubters wrong more than me. When I heard Steve Gibson talk so passionately about how hard Southgate has worked, and how one man alone cannot be blamed for the situation we are in, it really made me realise how lucky we are.
We have a Chairman who is not in it for the money, who will not make decisions on a whim to paper over the cracks, but will try to build for the future -not run the club in to the ground and change the manager every three months.
Southgate has been given time by our loyal Chairman and is fighting hard to repay his faith. With 5 games left, every minute on that pitch is vital. We can't have any silly mistakes or lapses in concentration, and cannot afford to miss any goal-scoring chances when they come our way.
One thing is sure; I'll be living every moment of it in the FanZone booth on Sunday, because I know that we certainly aren't going to go down without a fight.
C'MON BORO!