Woodgate – a good time to buy (& another new arrival) - 01/02/2003

Links:  Players:    Jonathan Woodgate    Ugochuku Ehiogu    Gareth Southgate  Clubs:    Leeds United    Middlesbrough

This is good business for the club, we’ve brought a player who should have his best years in front of him, and who’s an outstanding player. Who knows what’s happening at Leeds, but if they manage to secure some investment, their need to sell may not be so intense. It’s a move that maybe couldn’t have waited until the summer. The way I see it is that the chairman has taken advantage of the market place and Newcastle United will benefit.

We play with two centre-backs, and that means four will miss out. No doubt they’ll always be one on the bench, but that’s still a few players not featuring. It’s quite ironic that he comes to the club on the back of three consecutive clean sheets. Watching last night’s game from the bench, I saw what I consider to be one of our best performances of the season. Losing both Aaron and Stevie ensured that we had to put out an unusual back four, but it went very, very well. OB playing at right back was not a gamble, he's versatile and good enough for the job. He wasn’t up against a winger and as Poyet likes to come inside, it helped. He’s missed a few games and although he struggled a bit with a touch of cramp in the last few minutes, he’ll be better for the game and ready for Boro. A great performance by OB.

Looking at the Boro game, we go into it with confidence. We know it’ll be tough, but they’re without Ehiogu and his partnership with Gareth Southgate is a big part of Middlesbrough’s game. Alan Shearer has a good record at their place and I’m sure he’ll be looking to build on that. IF we can win it, it puts us in a tremendous position and sets us up very nicely for Arsenal. The thing is, it’s in our own hands, we can win this league – however unlikely it’s seemed earlier in the season. I’m not saying we’re going to do it, but I bet the odds have come down over the last couple of weeks.

Perhaps it's as well that the Boro game has been postponed. At 4.00am this morning (Saturday, 1st Feb), my wife gave birth to our third child, and first daughter; Sukie. Weighing in at 6lbs 13, both mother and daughter are doing well.

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