Middlesbrough Football Club just cannot seem to shake it's reputation as a club where a drinking and gambling culture continues to flourish, and this week's expose by ex striker Gaizka Mendieta has done nothing to help the club's dissipated image.
The former Boro star has been venting his anger towards MFC and Gareth Southgate in a Madrid newspaper.
He said: "At Middlesbrough the beer used to flow in the dressing-room the moment matches were over.
'The following day the players were supposed to work on their recovery but instead they'd just have a coffee and then get back on the booze once more.
'They used to eat Mars bars and chocolates, and when I said something about it they'd fire back, claiming it was to give them energy."
To be fair, a Mars a day helps you work, rest and play!
I don't think many fans would begrudge the players a couple of drinks after a match (particularly if they were winning) but Mendieta is painting a picture of round the clock drinking, poor dietary consideration and ill discipline.
I have interviewed Mendieta (last Summer) and he struck me as a quiet man and not one who was prone to exaggeration. However, the former Boro star was understandably angry to learn he was not part of Southgate's youth revolution.
As he still lives in Yarm and keeps up to date with the football he will no doubt also be very aware of Boro's recent slide out of the pole positions in the Championship.
It is also worth pointing out that very few of the players Mendieta is probably alluding to are still at the club.
The Boro squad line-up on the day of Southgate's departure, for better or worse, bore little resemblance to the one he inherited in 2006.
But Mendieta is not the only former Boro player to express anger towards his old employers.
Ex- Boro midfielder George Boateng has been openly critical of the club since his own departure, using his appearance on Soccer Am last season to complain about the predictability of life at Boro.
Boateng, like Mendieta, was one of a number of older players who did not fit in with Southgate's plans for a youthful, attacking side.
Mendieta was unhappy at what he felt was the dishonest manner of Southgate's dealings with him.
He continued: "You could say that there was a clash of attitudes between me and them.
My first two or three years at the club were very good. We won a trophy and got to the UEFA Cup final. But everything went wrong once Steve McClaren left and Gareth Southgate replaced him as manager.
'We had played together and got on well, but suddenly he told me I was not part of his plans.
'The one thing I reproach him for is the fact that he was never honest with me. The club wanted to go in the direction of using youngsters, and get rid of a handful of players.
'I had offers to join clubs in Spain and England on loan. But I did not want to go away for six months, only to find myself in the same situation once more."
It seems fair to say that the older players felt that Southgate struggled with the transition from friend and colleague to boss, but there will always be casualties of a new regime and at MFC, the budget busting experienced players were the first to go.
Mendieta is clearly unhappy with the treatment he received at Boro after he fell out of favour and decided to stay and fight for a place. His attitude and contribution to the reserves was unswerving and he may be entirely justified in his opinions of both Southgate and the club.
But the club he is criticising is trying to rebuild. We have a new manager, an even younger squad and a Chairman who is desperately trying to make a little money go a long way by investing in the loan market.
It goes without saying that MFC do not this kind of bad publicity, but it has got nothing to do with Gordon Strachan and the outspoken Scot will hopefully not get caught up in the reputation of his new club.
What Strachan must do is improve the team. He has already set about loaning every half decent attacker who is currently available in a try before you buy striker scramble. And a man who implements double training on his first day in charge does not strike me as a man who would happily let his players booze it up before training.
If the damning picture Mendieta painted was accurate then it was surely a vision of the past?
Gibson has decided that Strachan is the present and it is our present position, as well as our training regime, which the club must focus on.
Swap the chocolates for bananas, the beers for smoothies and the lack of discipline for respect tinged with fear and let's beat Nottingham Forest, please?
First published on www.ComeOnBoro.com on 18/11/2009
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