When I started writing this column, it was all about how Boro fans should stop moaning and enjoy our great start to the season.
The irony is not lost on me.
Are we naturally pessimistic on Teesside? Looking at the messageboards, we seem to revel in our misery.
Also, while I'm at it, booing after the first game of the season resulted in a draw was frankly ridiculous. I wasn't entirely happy with the performance because my overwhelming impression was that we needed to toughen up and we still couldn't score.
In the games which followed, Johnson addressed the goal issue and the whole team looked like a solid unit.
It was inevitable that at some point, Boro would lose a game. The problem is that the defeat came when we had just got knocked out of the Carling Cup and we had lost two of our best players.
And a lot of Boro fans are more comfortable with failure.
A kind of calm acceptance has now permeated the Gibson/Southgate aimed vitriol.
Last season, the majority of fans were certain that one man was responsible for Boro's downfall and that man was Gareth Southgate. Now, suspicion is falling on our Chairman.
I don't want to get into a discussion regarding Gibson's finances - Come on, I need material for a season's worth of column here!- but I will say for the record I think Southgate is, was, and pretty much always has been, in a very difficult position regarding the hierarchy of MFC.
But aren't the alarm bells and death knells a wee bit premature?
The transfer window has closed and whilst we lost pretty much who we expected (we knew Downing was going and the rest were the big earners), we also managed to sign some rough diamonds, starting with Danny Coyne.
Neither Turnbull nor Jones commanded the respect of their defenders. This, as most fans know, lead to absolutely everyone in a Boro shirt trying to shore up the defence and forgetting that at least two of them should have been in the opposition's half.
While Coyne's relatively small stature is a slight (pardon the pun) concern, his record in the Football League is impressive. He is an elder statesman in a team built on youth and, so far, he looks solid and unflappable.
Then there's Mark Yeates. Anyone (me) who was worried we might lack bite in the dog-eat-dog Championship will have been thrilled to witness Yeates's impassioned displays so far in a Boro shirt. He's faster than expected, as tough as we need and is a better footballer than his price tag may have suggested.
Last but not least, we have Leroy Lita. He is a striker for the division we are in, with a proven record and a forward thinking mentality. He is not yet fully fit and we haven't seen the best from him, but the early signs are good.
Boro's squad, barring any loan signings coming or going, is final and we now know who we have, and who Southgate has to work with.
Strikers: Leroy Lita, Marvin Emnes, Jeremie Aliadiere, Jonathan Franks.
Midfield: Julio Arca, Didier Digard, Rhys Williams, Mark Yeates, Adam Johnson, Mohammed Shawky, Josh Walker.
Defence: David Wheater, Emanuel Pogatetz, Chris Riggott, Andrew Taylor, Tony McMahon, Justin Hoyte, Jonathan Grounds, Seb Hines.
Goal: Danny Coyne, Brad Jones, Jason Steele.
But while we have a break, courtesy of the International break, why don't we take a break (and a Kit Kat if you like) and try to look at Boro's situation objectively?
At the time of writing, we are fourth in the Championship.
We have a team that is made up of Internationals, Premier League players and academy graduates, most of whom have Championship experience.
And we have players returning to fitness too.
We have now arrived in September, and Pogatetz's return date is coming ever closer.
David Wheater and Robert Huth had the makings of a truly great central defensive partnership - watching opposition strikers and midfielders try to navigate the 'Berlin Wall' and the 'Redcar Rock' reminded me of those hopelessly inept contestants trying to run through the gauntlet on Gladiators.
But Huth has gone and we need to look to the future. Whether Jonathan Grounds or Seb Hines can form a solid unit with Wheater, or if we need to pull Rhys Williams out of midfield to strengthen the defence, is a question for Southgate. The point is though, that we do have options.
All through pre-season, one player was attracting the headlines and scoring the goals: Rhys Williams was described as 'the new John Hickton'.
Well, probably not but Australian-Indian-Welsh-English Rhys has enough of an identity crisis so just let him be himself, the midfielder turned defender turned midfielder!
If you ignore all the 'square pegs in round holes' purists, he is a developing talent who likes to shoot, can tackle cleanly but will go in hard, is used to Championship football and is bang in form after an impressive pre-season. What's not to like?
Josh Walker has returned, at least to the bench, so perhaps his unexplained wilderness is over. The young midfielder looked confident in his few appearances last season and he is another player we should look to utilise in this division, particularly with the injuries to Gary O'Neil and Didier Digard.
And then there's Adam Johnson. He is another player who has always frustrated me because he has never had a run in the team, yet in the past, he has wasted many opportunities to remind Southgate and Co of his talents.
Having said that, playing second fiddle to fellow academy graduate Stewart Downing must have been wearing. Freed from Downing's shadow, Johnson looks like a new man/boy.
Adam Johnson has scored five in five, although they were all away from home and Boro fans would no doubt appreciate a couple in front of the home crowd. He has also declared himself our new penalty taker having scored two and as the saying goes, two outta three ain't bad.
A goal is clearly coming for Rhys Williams.
David Wheater will be determined to get off the mark having hit the post against Swansea and the crossbar against Bristol City.
Marvin Emnes has, or at least had, his internal sat nav set to 'goal' and Yeates, O'Neil, Lita and maybe even Jeremie 'hamstrings' Aliadiere are all capable of popping up with a goal when the confidence in the Boro camp is this high.
And because it is my nature to end on a high I'll leave you with this thought; Southgate always promised us goals from all over the pitch, and this season we may just do it.
First published on www.ComeOnBoro.com on 4/9/2009
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