Malky's relief while Barry keeps on scoring

Watford bounced back from Saturday's worrying home defeat from Peterboro to beat Ipswich 2-1 tonight.

The third of three home games brought relief for Malky Mackay as his side collected their first win since February 9.

While most clubs in the Championship chase a play-off place the battle to avoid relegation usually requires 50 points from the 46 game programme.

Tonight's win takes Watford onto 45 points and a point ahead of Ipswich.

Mackay hasn't been able to deal in the realistic end of the transfer market as the club flirted with administration at Christmas before being taken over.

Henri Lansbury and Will Hoskins got the goals that mattered.

Elsewhere in the division Barry Robson kept up his impressive scoring record in Middlesbrough's 2-2 draw at Derby.

A play-off position remains within reach of Gordon Strachan's side but the former hoops manager could do with some more of his players matching Robsons form.

Five goals in ten league games is a useful return from any midfielder with Leroy Lita scoring a last minute equaliser for 'Boro after replacing Chris Killen.

In the Premiership Gary Caldwell scored his first goal for Wigan but it wasn't enough to prevent them from going down 2-1 to Aston Villa.

Robson promises that Boro will improve

Stand-in Middlesbrough captain Barry Robson has promised the 'Boro support that his performances will only improve.

Robson has made the biggest impact at the Riverside Stadium of the five players that left Celtic in January and has a red card, a goal and the captaincy to show for his efforts.

Boro must win at Nottingham Forest today to retain any outside hopes of an automatic promotion place although a play-off spot looks much more realistic.

Forest are battling it out with West Brom and Newcastle for a promotion place with Robson aware that Gordon Strachan's side will need to improve on their midweek defeat from Blackpool if they are to take anything from today's match.

Discussing his goal in last weeks win over Peterbroug he said: "I don't think my overall performance was one of my better ones and as for the team, it won't do.

"We're better footballers than that. That wasn't us, I think we can all do a lot better. That's the disappointing thing, we want to do much better for the fans.

"I suppose it was a good thing that we could win when not playing well. Winning is the most important thing, but we're good footballers and we want to show that.

"The manager sets the standards very, very high at this football club and if you don't reach those standards he lets you know.
 
"We need to stay strong and work hard. The manager wasn't happy with the performances and the players weren't either. We can play and we can penetrate, but we can play a lot better."

Middlesbrough go into today's game trailing Forest by 14 points with Gordon Strachan having won five, lost five and drawn nine matches since replacing Gareth Southgate.

Robson and Flood texted McDonald to Middlesbrough

Scott McDonald has revealed how Barry Robson and Willo Flood knew that he would be joining them at Middlesbrough.

Flood and Robson joined up with Gordon Strachan earlier in the month along with Chris Killen and expected to be reunited with McDonald.

Stephen McManus joined the Celtic colony at 'Boro on loan last week before Skippy arrived on transfer deadline day as Tony Mowbray brought in Robbie Keane and Diomansy Kamara on loan.

McDonald admitted: "Barry and Willo just wouldn't leave me alone.

"They were saying that I would be the next one to join Middlesbrough in the transfer window. We had a bit of banter about it.

"They told me all about the club and how much I would fit in and enjoy it but I had to wait and see what happened.

"I didn't know which way it was going to go, it was not until Monday that I was told that the move was on."

McDonald will miss out on Saturday's trip to face former Celt Roy Keane's Ipswich as he recovers from a hernia operation while Strachan tries to drag Middlesbrough back into contention for a play-off spot.

Newcastle, West Brom and Nottingham Forest look like deciding the two automatic promotion places with more than half of the division carrying play-off hopes.

Thirteen teams are within ten points of a play-off place with Strachan hoping that his new bhoys can hit the ground running and get 'Boro back into contention for a play-off slot.

Getting McDonald fit and scoring would be a major boost for Middlesbrough's promotion hopes and justify the £3.5m spent on the striker.

Robson to miss Riverside debut

Barry Robson will miss out on his home debut for Middlesbrough after picking up a hamstring injury in training during the week.

Gordon Strachan's side face an important home match with on-form Swansea with just 11 fit outfield players available for selection.

Robson played in last week's defeat away to Sheffield United but will miss out on appearing at the Riverside Stadium as his new side attempt to push their way back into play-off contention.

'Boro have lost five of their last six matches with Strachan admitting that the injury crisis couldn't have come at a worst time.

The former Celtic boss said: "You get periods like this, it's a tough spell that's for sure.

"But it's not the first time this year that we've suffered from injuries and we'll deal with it.

"We are looking forward to a time when we have everyone available, then we'll see what we are made of..

"Injuries are part and parcel of the game, we have prepared well all week and are looking forward to the game."

Willo Flood and Chris Killen will make their home debut's for Boro against a Swansea side that has moved into fourth place in the league.

Strachan scouting for married men, and bhoys?

Gordon Strachan is deadly serious about his persuit of married men with married Bhoys at the top of his wanted list.

Middlesbrough scouts are out in force looking to bring in new recruits to the Riverside with matrimonial status a key factor.

Despite the troubles that Tiger Woods is engulfed in the former Celtic boss seems to be a subscriber to the old fashioned view that married footballers are more stable, settled and reliable than batchelors and singletons.

The WAG generation doesn't seem to have altered Strachan's thoughts despite many current players being under instructions from their other half with no self respecting WAG likely to see a move to Teeside as a sensible step in their career.

Despite his due diligence before taking the Riverside job Strachan was dismayed to find just three married men in his Middlesbrough squad with one of them the reserve 'keeper!

Speaking to The Times he said: "There are only three people married here. You need a bit of responsibility in life. Three people married and one of them is the reserve goalkeeper, Danny Coyne.

"You need a certain amount of men in your team. When I say to the scouts I need men, they think somebody clattering into tackles, and I say, ‘no, calm down’, I mean ‘men’ who take responsibility and play when the pressure is on."

A number of the players that Strachan brought to Celtic are married, with two of them also out of contract at the end of the season.

Will Mrs Caldwell and Mrs Robson feature in transfer negotiations in the new year? Can married players expect to be paid more at 'Boro?

Strachan has plenty to get involved in during the transfer window on the back of home defeats from Blackpool and Cardiff City that sees the club lying in 11th place, nine points behind West Brom in the second automatic promotion place.

One win in seven since taking over from Gareth Southgate probably wasn't what chairman Steve Gibson was anticipating when he changed manager.

Middlesbrough require a quick return to the Premiership, not an overhaul of the club, if promotion isn't achieved this season they could join the long list of former Premiership clubs marooned outwith the top flight and cast adrift without the lifeboat of parachute payments.

Most managers return to their former clubs when the transfer window opens with Strachan quiet honest about his likely dealings with Celtic.

He admitted, again referring to men (ie married players) : "As long as you are honest, that’s all Dermot (Desmond) and Peter (Lawwell) ask.

"They know that fine well, they trust me implicitly, they know I would never be dishonest. I wouldn’t feel good about myself. Can I see myself going back (for players)? I am after men and if Celtic have men...”

Strachan's emphasis on men points towards the married types, scrappers and battlers- categories that Caldwell and Robson both score highly in.

TIMES interview with Gordon Strachan

EVENING HERALD report on Motherwell match

Bobby Robson, the man that Fergus McCann always wanted

By Joe McHugh

There can be little doubt that Bobby Robson was greatly admired by Fergus McCann and could have had any job that he liked during McCann's time at Celtic.

The summer of 1997 would appear to have been the closest that Celtic got to Robson but despite the offer from McCann the former England manager decided to take on a General Manager role at Barcelona to Louis van Gaal while Celtic eventually turned their attention to Jock Brown...

McCann, after two decades in North America, appeared to pick up on Robson during the 1993/94 season when he eventually ousted the Celtic dynasties of the Kelly's and Whites.

LOU MACARI

During that season Celtic played Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup with Frank Connor guiding the team to a 1-0 win in the first leg before new manager Lou Macari lost the return match 2-0 to a side featuring Jorge Cadete who would go on to feature heavily in McCann's five years at Celtic.

Macari's part-time confrontational management style was never going to last under McCann. Tommy Burns was chosen as Macari's successor but from his North American background McCann was never comfortable with the managerial set up favoured in the UK where one man, the manager seemed to be the decision maker for every area of the club.

McCann and Burns both had their ambitions for Celtic but the route to get there was never shared. Paying out large sums of money for footballers, and to agents, made McCann uncomfortable with the fee and the terms of the deals for Phil O'Donnell and Tommy Johnson particularly irksome.

By the time of the Johnson deal in 1997 McCann was already looking at a new managerial model for Celtic with Robson's success noted as manager of Barcelona after a similarly successful spell in charge of Porto.

BARCELONA

The interest in Robson was highlighted by the friendly that Celtic played with Barcelona in November 1996 although in typical McCann fashion there was threats to sue Barcelona for not sending their strongest team and Robson admitted that he was mystified as to why the game had taken place!

Despite winning three trophies including the Cup Winners Cup in 96/97 Robson was getting booted up stairs by Barca as they brought in the Ajax approach of Louis van Gaal who had made the Dutch side a Champions League force for the first time in twenty years.

As Burns was sacked by Celtic a new blueprint for management was unveiled featuring bold ambitious job titles leaning heavily towards the continental model, at the launch the names of Wim Jansen, Jock Brown and Eric Black seemed to be miles away.

Robson seemed unsure of his future but was popular at Barcelona. He knew all about Celtic's interest but was perhaps unsure of McCann who had vowed to sell up and move on at the end of his five year Celtic plan.

In those days every summer seemed like a lifetime at Celtic, determined not to make mistakes and wary of media interest, McCann was in charge of everything from stadium redevelopment and managerial appointments while battling away against his detested agents and players who he clearly believed were working their ticket.

TEN-IN-A-ROW

As an outsider looking in Celtic, despite it's potential and attractions wasn't the most appealing of jobs as the club struggled to contain the then free-spending Rangers on their way to an inevitable ten-in-a-row as they brought in Jonas Thern, Sergio Porrini, Lorenzo Amoruso, Marco Negri and Rino Gatusso from Seria A plus other not so super superstars like Stale Stensaas, Tony Vidmar and Anti Niemi to help out Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup with the focus set of European domination with Scotland virtually assured...

The General Manager role didn't really appeal to Robson, he was a tracksuit man rather than figurehead but without doubt he could have had whatever role he wanted at Celtic.

Robson opted for the General Manager's job at Barcelona but was back in management a year later at PSV Eindhoven before his homecoming to St James Park and Newcastle United after a lifetime in the game spent away from his native North East.

With Robson out of contention McCann found time running against him as a new season approached without a manager, with Paul McStay retired through injury and various issues going on with the supporters golden boys.

JOCK BROWN

Pierre van Hooijdonk had already left for Nottingham Forest, Jorge Cadete was having a breakdown while Paolo di Canio was discovering little problems in his contract.

Throwing Jock Brown in as trouble-shooter/General Manager poured petrol on the flames but one way or another Wim Jansen fashioned a team out of it all to take the title from Rangers before slipping off into the horizon.

Who knows what Robson would have made of Celtic if he had taken up the offer to come to the club?

NEWCASTLE

In his final management job he took Newcastle United into the Champions League which in this day seems an incredible achievement. Finishing third, fourth and fifth in the Premiership wasn't good enough for the Newcastle directors who decided to sack Robson and replace him with Graeme Souness.

Since sacking Robson in 2004 Newcastle have had ten different managers including Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton and Alan Shearer last season.

One of Robson's last actions as Newcastle manager was to savage the Rangers support during a pre-season tournament at Newcastle.

Alan Shearer was the target for a Rangers team including Fernando Ricksen and Boab Malcolm with the travelling support upto their usual hostilities.

Robson said: "I also don't like filthy chants and there were a lot of unclean mouths making filthy chants. Alan Shearer doesn't have to put up with that situation. I wasn't having that, having them screaming unpleasantries at him, so I got him out of that muck."

Ahead of his time as ever.