Gordon Strachan admitted he was way past anger – join the club. Recycle all the pejoratives from past barren spells and failed opportunities…then multiply them by 18 months of seething anger. The valve on the pressure cooker was finally released…the sludge of an end product unleashed a fierce torrent. Of course that sort of emotion is natural…and to be expected – here’s hoping for the soon-to-be moment of clarity where we accept it and prepare to move forward. And speaking of…coming later: documenting the wreckage of a failed season…

The trifecta of live blog/Ali and Gilly/widely available streaming telecast of the 515p fixture emulsified into a creamy and rich coverage overload – he are the ranch-stained notes:

Jones; Hoyte, McManus, Grounds, Naughton; Robson, O’Neil, Williams, Arca; McDonald, Killen

• WBA – every outfield player has scored this season
• No Wheats – ankle ligament damage suffered in late-week training
• GON back – agreement reached w/ Pompey administrator – Vic reckons pay as you go for the last 3 games this year and the escalator kicks in come August
• Swansea/Pool/Leicester all win in earlier kickoffs – 7 pts down before the opening whistle
• Ref: Grant Hegley – Hertfordshire
• That’s a conservative jumper/suit combo from their gaffer – grey on grey w/ a pale blue tie
• 18 mins – not much in it – both sides probing for an opening
• Hoyte – 50^th Boro appearance
• Free kick in a good position on the left – GON delivers – Killen the target at the far post – goal kick
• WBA – only lost back to back once this season – 8 wins on the spin @ The Hawthorns
• Bednar hits the crossbar – poor from Naughton to lose is cheaply deep on the left – 27/28 mins
• Best Boro chance so far – Robbo finds space at the top centre of the box – can’t shape to shoot w/ pace – comfortable save Carson
• ‘Do you have the sat-nav?’ she’s a bit lost, Mrs. Ali is
• Would Arca be removed from the pitch on a stretcher or in a net? Deep thoughts from the live blog…
• Not making the best use of the ball – no incision
• Jonesey keeps us level – a few decent saves of note
• WBA – scored in every league match this season
• Mac goes wide! Ball from the left – laid off by Killen – beat Carson but couldn’t keep it on target – 39 mins
• 3 mins added
• Simon Cox puts WBA on top – smashes it into the top of the net after creating space – lovely knock down after the long raking pass from the back – WBA 1-0 Boro – 45 +
• HT WBA 1-0 Boro
• GG: goal was a hammer blow – couple of decent chances for us – fell asleep a bit on the build up to the goal – Mick got skinned by Cox – WBA looked a threat on set pieces w/ their size – Dorrans has been decent
• MD: Cox really turned Mick inside out – how many goals can we concede in the last 5/stoppage time of halves/matches?
• Whatever the final result, we won’t get tonked – Gordo won’t allow it – part of us being tougher and mentally stronger
• Carson off – Kiely on – Carson suffering after effects of the crash in the 1^st half
• Opening up in the first 8 mins of 2^nd half – Mulumbu and Bednar attacking well – Mick keeping things organised – Naughton has been alright at left back
• Killen on – Lita on
• Awful defending – WBA ping it about the box with ease – Bednar gets free and pokes home – WBA 2-0 – 55 mins
• Olsson and Mac tussle – some shoving and kicking there – summoned by the ref…
• YC GON
• This was the doomsday GON scenario…now the renegotiated fee to pay Pompey seems like a total waste
• YC Mick
• Grounds off – Riggott on – 70 mins – Grounds injured? Audition for Riggott?
• Totally disagree w/ this nonsense that the earlier results are affecting this rubbish performance…we must be stronger than that
• Jonesey preserves the 2 goal deficit – Koren/Bednar? – good save either way
• Cox off – Morrison on – what odds he scores?
• Williams off – Franks on – presumably Arca tucks inside
• 80 mins to earn first corner of the match
• Bednar off – to a standing ovation – I Miller on
• GG MOM – B Jones
• 86 mins – Lita shakes his marker and bears down on goal – a heavy touch and lack of vision doom the move
• Mac hits the bar! 90 mins
• 2 mins added
• FT WBA 2-0 Boro – Baggies celebrate their cemented promotion at home – Boro eliminated from playoffs
• 11-0 the last 4 matches v Baggies
• Players didn’t acknowledge fans after the match?
• Almost like being invited to someone else’s party? MD
• Riggott/Pogi/Grounds/JA – out of contract
• Killen/Naughton/Mick – on loan
• Gordo: embarrassed – not angry – you can deal w/ anger, way past that – not taking positives at all – not interested if earlier results affected us – he was really cross

2 goals in the first 23 minutes deflated the Riverside and the paradigm of phantom entitlement was born. Fans were too fucked off to even stay the full 90 minutes as the ignominy became almost insurmountable. We managed to stay up, avoiding the further notoriety of being relegated on the back of a crushing cup defeat, but it was a sea change nevertheless. 21 months later we languish out of the top flight, and the direction of the club, or absence of it, has become emblematic of the current plight. Gordon Strachan didn’t just inherit a depleted squad, or severe financial restrictions, or an enormous task to get us back up. Bequeathed to the gaffer was a fan base so morose at the cumulative impact of those 21 months – indifferent to cash constraints and fiscal restructuring. We found the year zero – the big bang, as it were – the moment that the mood changed on Teesside, for the detriment of club and community.

Much like how fortunes changed that fateful Sunday morning (here anyway), Cardiff come to town hot off a 2-0 pasting at the Hawthornes to second place West Brom. The latest Boro home blunder rendered a 3-0 tonking from Blackpool. Divergent paths. The Riverside riddle needs to be solved – a result on Sunday can tell the televised world that we do have the bottle, the balls, the resolve, to make a fight of it and remain in contention, w/ clubs like Cardiff, for the escape hatch marked UP.

Gordo is surely cogitating squad permutations as we type. Will there be an early start to the enforced gardening leave for Sean St Ledger that will see him miss the rest of December? Do Chris Riggott and Emanuel Pogatetz reunite in the centre of defence? How about a recall for Danny Coyne? Too many questions – which is troubling at this stage. We’re witnessing first hand how clubs can stutter and vacillate at this level. The quest for a winning formula leading to a rich vein of form is still elusive. Winning Sunday may not catalyse that, but it certainly can help exorcise those old demons.