Defenders prove more worthy than costly striking counterparts

WITH more than £38m worth of attacking talent on show at the Riverside Stadium, two signings of a more economical nature were responsible for delivering defensive displays that ensured the 120th Tees- Tyne derby ended goalless.

While the record buys of both Middlesbrough and Newcastle United struggled to find their feet in the freezing fog, David Wheater and Sebastien Bassong turned in the type of performance that will lead to first international caps.

Neither centre-back has turned 23, yet their displays at opposite ends of the pitch were contributing factors to an encounter that was unable to muster a single goal, although left both taking consolation from a point each.

And while the £16m internationally renowned figure of Michael Owen struggled to make an impression, and £12.7m man Afonso Alves once again looking incapable of finding the net, Wheater and Bassong’s value to their employers increased.

Both are Under-21 internationals for their England and France respectively and Messrs Gareth Southgate and Joe Kinnear would be happy to see regular repeats of Saturday’s showing in their attempts to keep Boro and Newcastle above the bottom three.

“It was good to see David play like that,” said Southgate.

“He showed what he is capable of and he has to show that week in, week out.

“He will learn from every session, every game. I am very conscious that, for someone of his age, I talk about him more than I should. I understand why, but there are a lot of good players who played well.

“He is doing fine and he still has a lot to work at.”

It is little w o n d e r Southgate is keen to keep Wheater out of the limelight.

A couple of disappointing displays earlier this season, coupled with him playing out of position at right-back, ended with him losing his place earlier this month.

And after returning short of his best in the defeat to Bolton, his d i s p l a y against Newcastle highlighted why the product of the c l u b ’ s A c a d e m y was so highly regarded last season – a pressure Bassong has not weighing heavily on his shoulders yet.

On the evidence of his last two outings, however, the July signing from FC Metz could soon become a household name in the Premier League; despite being dubbed ‘one for the future’ by Kevin Keegan not too long ago.

“We brought him in, in the summer, and he’s a very good centre-half,” said Magpies’ assistant manager Chris Hughton, knowing Steven Taylor will soon be back from injury to challenge Bassong for his shirt.

“When he came in we felt he was just underneath what we already had. We needed to lift the quality of what we had, but his progress has been a lot quicker than what we thought. You could say that he’s surprised us.

“There can be a risk throwing a young player into the kind of environment we’ve been faced with, but Sebastien has thrived. He has certainly risen to the challenge.”

Given how the performances of the two young centre- backs became such an integral part of the match, perhaps it was no surprise that the game ended without a goal.

Neither Shay Given nor Ross Turnbull had a save to make until the latter stages, when even the efforts of Justin Hoyte and Mark Viduka bordered on the routine.

It was not as if there weren’t chances. There were, but the forwards – namely Martins and, more regularly, Alves – wasted exceptional opportunities, while Tuncay Sanli and Owen were largely anonymous.

There could have been few complaints had Middlesbrough taken the lead, but w h e n G i v e n ’ s goal was seriously under threat it tended to be Alves’ lack of composure and confidence proved costly.

The Brazilian’s best first half effort ended with him heading over one of Stewart Downing’s many deliveries.

And, shortly after the restart, he looked like nodding another Downing centre in, only for Bassong to intervene.

Strangely the South American grew in confidence as the half developed.

Even when he created space for himself by bursting beyond Fabricio Coloccini and Habib Beye, though, he powered his effort from 20 yards off target.

Newcastle would have won their first away match of the season had Martins found the net instead of the bar from 12 yards, or Danny Guthrie’s stinging drive not arrowed inches the wrong side of the post.

But the mere fact Kinnear was able to celebrate being handed the manager’s job at St James’ Park until the end of the season by lifting Newcastle out of the bottom three is an indication of the transformation under him.

“It’s vital that we win next week at home to Stoke,” said Hughton, who played down suggestions there had been a run-in with a clearly annoyed Martins when he was substituted just after the hour.

“It’s very good news Joe is staying. With the instability we’ve had at the club this season, any sign of some stability has got to be good news, and also for the players.

“The most important thing is that this group of lads can see somebody who is their manager, not on an interim basis, but someone who is going to be there for a period of time. It’s not just about the manager, it’s about his coaches and the medical staff. We’re all working extremely hard to turn things around.”

Newcastle have drawn their last three matches and suffered just two defeats since Kinnear took charge of his first game at Everton on October 5 – form that has left them four points adrift of eighth place.

And Southgate, whose team are just a point shy of Bolton in eighth but just four ahead of third from bottom Sunderland, has been impressed by Kinnear’s work – although he is only concerned with ensuring Middlesbrough continue to progress.

“Newcastle have had enormous upheaval, two or three times since I have been here,”

said Southgate. “But we can focus only on what we are doing, we can’t compare it with them.

“Resource wise and the numbers of fans they have through the turnstiles are massive. For us to be ahead of them is phenomenal. We should enjoy it but we are not satisfied, we want to keep building.”