When you have been as accursed with injuries as Malcolm Christie has and come back fighting, you are entitled to some privileges. Such as being in charge of the remote control when it comes to any awkward questions about the offside rule from your new wife. After all, Holly Christie is only just starting to believe that her husband is a professional footballer.
The Middlesbrough forward celebrated his first start since his summer wedding with a goal that owed as much to leniency from a referee’s assistant as it did to his speedy reactions when, a yard offside, the ball broke his way after Julio Arca and Yakubu Ayegbeni had weaved an opening shortly before half-time.
Christie, who has had eight operations and 24 starts in four years with the Teesside club, was as pleased for his family as for himself. “It’s a bit of a fairytale,” he said. “When you’ve been injured for so long, it’s not just about you. My family have missed the buzz of match days and my wife has, too. To be honest, I think she was having serious doubts about whether I was actually a footballer or not because she’s hardly ever seen me play. At least now I can show her a bit of proof.
“She wanted to be here, but at least she can watch it on the television and see that her husband actually does do a job. She’ll be pleased to see me get my goal and, hopefully, she won’t ask me to explain the offside rule. If the pundits start saying it was definitely offside, I’ll just switch off.”
Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager, said: “If anybody deserves that luck, it’s Malcolm Christie. I don’t think anyone in football has had as much bad luck as he has in the last couple of seasons.”
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Christie’s reward was a smacker on the chops from Jonathan Woodgate, who has managed as many starts since joining Middlesbrough on loan in August as he did in two years with Real Madrid. “I know better than anyone what Malcolm has been through,” the defender said. “I’m delighted for him because he’s a great lad who works his ‘gonads’ off.”
Villa Park appears to be a good venue for the resilient. Martin O’Neill’s team are proving this, retaining a European berth thanks to a solidity that has brought them eight draws. They deserved better on Saturday, dominating without excelling, but had to settle for the prompt equalising penalty scored by Gareth Barry after Mark Schwarzer, the Middlesbrough goalkeeper, had brought down Stiliyan Petrov.
Southgate, who left Villa five years ago citing a lack of ambition, is convinced that his former club can start fulfilling their potential. “I’m not surprised to see Villa fifth in the league because the man who has taken over has given them a huge impetus of energy and enthusiasm,” he said. “They are hard to beat. They’ve been tight and that’s the starting point for any team.”
The Middlesbrough manager, who is set to sign a long-term contract this week, is pleased that his defence, which conceded eight goals in their opening three matches, has smartened up — as has he, having taken to wearing a suit on match day. “The wife told me it looked a bit more as if I knew what I was doing,” he joked.