Foundations laid? - The Mighty vs Wycombe Wanderers

Here we go again.

Once more into the breach.

After the light aperitif of a tasty cup game in glamorous Grimsby, it's time for the stodgy main course - the slog, the route march, the steady and relentless uphill trek that is league football.

If Mick from Barnsley hadn't inadvertently spawned multiple million gifs to the contrary, I'd confidently state that "It (the start of the season), can't get any worse (than last year)" but we all know what Mick from Barnsley said about being positive.  

I AM cautiously optimistic though. I don't think we'll smash the league playing non stop champagne football but I just don't think we'll be adrift at the bottom playing football that tastes like a pint of drip tray slop with a few old fag butts floating round in it.

I just want to feel like we've gone forward in comparison to the backsliding of the past 4 years. I think there's some reasons for this optimism. We've signed more thoughtfully, we've certainly trained more professionally and preseason has shown glimpses of a potentially fitter, engaged Josh Bowler.

There are plenty of questions as always:

Is Dale Taylor just something you see out of the corner of your eye every now and again but can't be certain that he's real? 

Has Evo accidentally written a 352 formation on the whiteboard in the dressing room in permanent marker pen and doesn't want to have to own up to it if he picks a back 4?

Have we got a plan for when some League 1 teams scandalously and selfishly *don't* play like Barcelona?

Nothing will be decided today, but perhaps a tone will be set. Songs often starts with a solo melody or tempo. Last season was a dirge from the first note, each note that joined more out of key, further out of time, as the sound multiplied, I just hope this year we can start in tune with each other on and off the pitch - because if we do, it could grow into something special.

---

Then the team sheet is out. Up front we have a lad who hasn't played a league for us in more than 2 years and another lad who is more likely to play full back than centre forward. I don't really know what to do with this frankly comical information other than have an extra pint and grit my teeth in anticipation.

We play 'ok' in the first half - things I like include: Karoy Anderson's existence on earth, us getting Bowler into the game, Williams looking like he knows what he's doing, us passing it like we've actually practised passing and receiving and moving about a bit. I particularly liked the move at the end of the first half that ended with a rasping effort from Ashworth and the snapshot from Bowler that forced a sharp stop somewhere in the middle. Going forward we're a little bit laboured at times but generally, our use of the ball is a lot better and the players seem to understand how each of them relates to the next. I know that's the basics and Evatt has been here for a while now - but such things weren't a given last year and our season was basically ruined before autumn was over because we didn't do those basics. 

Things I don't like in the first half - George Honeyman runs about gamely but his touch in tight spaces isn't great, the Sunday league haveagohero frontline does indeed have a go, but it's not really very dangerous. CJ has some nice runs but the problem comes when he has do something at the end of it, Kylian mixes the odd silky touch on or pass with some decisions which aren't very good. I also obviously don't like the couple of half decent stops from the Wycombe keeper that deny Bowler and the ball in the face (I think that's what it was) that sees Jordan Brown go down and then totter unsteadily round until firmly pointed down the tunnel by Evo (it turns out Brown was ill and in retrospect he very much looked it.) I don't like that referee turns down a penalty appeal as Bowler surges into the box (I've no idea, it was miles away - but the ref was a bit of a random decision generator all game, so there's every chance it was)

Things I really don't like - The flimsy, piss weak goal we concede after dominating the opening however long it was. They get a corner and just score a goal like it's no effort at all. It's *that fucking goal we keep conceding yet again* - nor do I like the time, after we've just had a good 5 minute spell of dominating possession but not really doing anything with it, Wycombe get up the pitch and force a save with 2 or 3 passes.

---

If you won games on some kind of style sheet with a Strictly Come Tikitaka judging panel we'd be 3-1 up. That's not football though. We've held the ball and moved it about nicely but on chances it's probably even enough even though Wycombe have done very little and of course, by the actual scoreline, we're losing the game.

---

I'm slightly surprised we don't make further changes at half time. To use an analogy, if we were a missile, then it looks like we've done an ok job putting the rocket together but we've got no explosive in the nose cone. We do have two actual strikers on the bench but we carry on with what finished the first have for a good 15 minutes.

That said, we play well - we seem to be pressing higher and what we did well in the first half we do well this, but a little bit quicker. Our football is good, but chances aren't coming. For the first time in what seems like forever, we have control of a game - but I can hear the ghost of Neil Critchley in my ear saying 'quality in both boxes' and give a shudder. Control is fine and we're definitely nullifying Wycombe effectively and probing - but there's limited sense that we're actually going to *score a goal*

Eventually we get Bloxham and soon after that, Dion. The game definitely opens up at this point. Charles impresses me with the aggression of his running, he's always looking to unsettle, running hard into channels, disrupting the defenders rhythm by seeking contact as he drags them about but then also dropping off into space and tempting defenders to go with him creating the chance for others to run beyond.

Bloxham also impresses. His ability has never been in doubt, but there's been a share of games where his mindset or stamina have - today he looks really lively and hungry. He's also seeking to put himself about (and if he ever learns to really, properly do that with consistency, we've got a proper player) and pulling out to the right and again, creating space.

We're really aggressively pressing now which feels like it might bring rewards - but of course, it also creates greater risk - the higher up you commit to confronting the opposition, the worse it looks if they beat you - Once or twice in the initial period after the subs Wycombe do just that. I'm glad to see it though, because it is a willingness to make a game a bit more chaotic that will break down stubborn opponents and Wycombe are just about the epitome of a 'well organised' league 1 side - if you don't take risks, you'll never beat such teams. 

It goes back and forth for while but again, we gain control. Albie is on fine form, conducting from deep, spinning it this way and that, revelling in having adventurous wing backs, turning, checking, going back the other way, spreading it left, laying it right, driving up the middle, head up and scanning for space. It took him a little while to get to the speed of the game, but once he does, we look a much more serious proposition and I'm reminded how much a fit Morgan could bring to the season.

There's a chance from the right for Bloxham which is screwed across goal. There's a frankly gorgeous ball from CJ (now at wing back) which Charles puts wide. We look much more incisive, we're actually putting a period of pressure together. There's some belief in the way we're playing and that's transmitted to the stands. We take off Coulson and bring on Munroe. We withdraw Honeyman and put on Clarkson - We've committed everyone we can to going forward and that's what we do.

Karoy scoops it down the line. There's a bizarre moment where everyone stops and acts as if it's going to roll out of play but then Bloxham realises quickest that it isn't and races after it, he gets there, he's tight to the goal line, he thinks about driving into the box but then pushes it firmly across goal, Dion meets it and I've barely got time to bemoan the resulting block before I realise that Finlay Munroe is charging in and the loose ball is there to be hit and hit he does, he fairly takes the leather of the thing and it rockets, unstoppable, into the roof of the net...

It's a deserved goal and there's real joy in the moment. The question is, can we go and win this?

At moments, the answer seems to be yes - I'm ready to celebrate a goal for the ages as we explode from back to front and Clarkson finds Bowler who ghosts past the last defender like he's made of liquid flowing round a rock, and then crashes it towards the top corner. It flies just over and Josh lies prone on the turf on his back. It was beautiful even if it didn't go in, a teaser for what may yet be to come.

Another moment of lovely football sees Bloxham again pulled right out to the right and skillfully getting the ball across, Charles takes it first time, it's a difficult chance but I'm glad we're thinking like this. Teams that have success get the best out of each other and there's more ambitious attacking link play in this last 30 minutes than we saw over several games put together last season.

We run out of time in the end. The game ends with Williams crashing a shot well wide when, if he'd just taken a look, there was a simple ball to lay Bowler through with a direct run in on goal. He's a right back though and he's had a good game so lets not be too harsh on the lad.

---

Was a tone set? I'd say, yeah, up to a point - there was plenty of effort, there was a sense that we collectively knew what we were doing. In the latter part of the game there was some real attacking intent and some actual quality at times.

There's no question that starting your 5th and 6th choice strikers blunted us but once we introduced a cutting edge then we made quite a lot of sense. 

A draw at home to Wycombe certainly isn't something to be overjoyed with. There are better teams and there are teams that aren't better than them, but will bring a more extreme version of the pragmatic approach they brought. There was a reasonable amount to like though in the general approach and the formation wasn't the millstone I feared it could have been. 

On balance, though it's irritating to concede another shit goal, I did like that all of the new players have fitted in well, I like that we've found a way to get Bowler properly involved and that he looks fitter than he has done for a long time, including that rubbish loan spell when we got relegated. I like that he's tracking back (to the best of his ability) and that he's demanding the ball and linking play, not just standing there waiting to have a run. I like that each sub improved us and all of them looked sharp because that gives optimism that a) we might start something stronger next time and b) if we ever have something approaching a full compliment of players, we might be able to generate the relentless intensity you only get when you've got 18 or 19 players straining for a shirt.

We need a little bit more in.

I like both Ashworth and Casey - I thought Ashworth had a really good game today, being willing to get forward and gamble (which I want from my centre backs because this sort of football only really works if you will commit everyone forward when you need to) but the combination of them worries me against the most physical sides and there's no real back up. Today, we more or less moved to a back four as the game went on and Bowler got higher (in fact, as Munroe also went higher, we became an actual back 3) and it concerns me that Andy Lyons is all that is left should someone go down.

We're clearly at least one striker short for a while. CJ isn't a striker, Kylian is a plan B option for the last 15 minutes if we need to punt it forward (for the lack of anyone better) - that's not a forward line we can seriously imagine relying on until Taylor and Ennis return. We need to be able to rotate our forward options to maintain the kind of explosive movement and pressing intensity we managed in the latter part of the game and few players could play like that for 90 minutes twice a week so options are needed. If only we knew where there was an out of favour striker who has a reputation for running himself into the ground for the cause...

I think we *could* also upgrade a little on particular positions - but I think other business is probably predicated on someone going out to get someone in. There's a lot of ifs (when is there not?) but IF Morgan can get a proper run, we look a lot more composed and creative. IF Bowler can keep playing as he has for the first two games, we've got the most talented player in the division who should be approaching his prime years and absolutely motivated to prove he's not a one season flash in the pan. IF we can add at the front and the back then we get both more ability to take a risk and more rewards when we do.

All in all, I was more encouraged than discouraged. It wasn't a vintage performance, we need to get better, and we need players back/players in - but there was a team who played football, looked unified, (the players that weren't injured) appeared fit and as Evatt rightly pointed out, didn't crumble at going behind, but got back into the game and finished it very much on top. We all want to immediately jump to the top of the division and stay there and keep winning till the world is just tangerine - but ultimately, against how we've started the last two seasons (the aimless shambles of Steveball part 2 and the toothless and flimsy rigidity of Critch's final few games) then a broadly encouraging draw was progress - and that's what's written on our badge.

Onward!

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Fun on the Cleethorpes Riveria - Grimsby Town vs the Mighty

What are you doing this Saturday?

I'm going to Grimsby.

Why?

I don't know...

I like this unexpected promotion of the league cup to an exciting appetiser for the season ahead. I've never liked the league cup that much. It's always been an awkward thing, shoehorned into the season, increasingly unwanted.

I'd not object, to them sacking off the league season for the first 8 weeks and then playing through the whole League Cup, just for the novelty of it. I'm not ready for the league. It's like facing up to work again after a holiday. It's too fucking serious by half - where as, the league cup with its half strength teams and random opponents feels low stakes enough to be *fun* but high stakes enough to actually *mean something* - I love the idea that if you win, you get a play a game you don't know what it's going to be next week and if you lose, then that's it, it's off to Wickes or something instead for the rest of the cup run. We'd win it of course, so no issues there. 

Blundell Park is magnificent. I can't praise it enough. It is every vanished English ground embodied. Wooden stand? Yep. Stand with a vaulted roof full of old ironwork? fuck yes. Mismatched stands on all 4 sides? Hell yeah baby! It's like 1988 all over again... the Berlin Wall still stands behind the away end, breeze blocks and rolls and rolls of rusting barbed wire in the shadow of real fucking floodlights. Real actual floodlights and everything... I love this place without reserve. This is a football ground as they were before the game was remade. At one point, during the game the Blackpool players with their back to me are number 3, 4, 8 and 11. For a split second it's like Sky and all of that never happened.

---

There's a general glumness that we've shoehorned what we've got into a 352. It doesn't make sense, we can count multiple players out of position who, in another set up could be playing in position. Whether this is tactical insight or weary self protection against ill advised preseason optimism, I don't know - but it has to be said I didn't see these particular 11 players in this particular shape. 

It is though, the ever adaptable, ever dependable (in a way) CJ 'Captain Marvel' Hamilton, who is up front, reprising his joyous impression of a dog  who has been housebound for a while, chasing a ball on the beach, who provides the first, haring through, cutting back, the ball bounces around and Ennis, lurking deeper than you might imagine a striker to be, crashes it home into the very satisfyingly billowy net.

Fuck all the angst about formations and shit, we are the famous Blackpool FC and we're going to Wem-ber-ley. 

The atmosphere is great today. Have I mentioned that I love the cup? I love the sheer pointlessness of lower league teams trying to win it. The carefree nature of it all. We run through the song book, the pitch of the roof angling the sound back down onto us. I'm unusually close to the front and I observe Ennis's delight at scoring, it seems genuine and really disarming, I see CJ's attempts to put a couple of misses out of his mind, I see the way Bowler (as all professionals do) yelps and clutches his ankle and then quickly jumps up with little pat on the arse of the opponent when he hears the whistle. 

The game is quite good. After we score, Grimsby start to get the ball forward. It's slightly concerning the ease in which the can get the ball to their wide forwards and get a cross in. We're not a big team and they have some presence. They get the ball across the box, they get the ball into decent positions and they get some shots away. Bailey Peacock Farrell has brought his magic gloves today though as he plunges left and right, he leaps to tip. He might have his drawbacks but he does certainly have his positives when he's in this mood. 

We score again, a deep corner, Niskanen plants a really solid header back across goal, Ennis leaps spectacularly, I don't know if he actually touches it or not, but the ball is cushioned by the inside of the side netting only for a flag to go up. I assume it's because Ennis, whether he touched it or not, is in the keeper's eye-line. 

Then the curse strikes again. I mean, lets be honest, it has to be a curse. Someone, somewhere has pissed off a fortune teller, pissed on the wrong grave, smashed a mirror, removed a sacred item from a monestery or something else of that ilk. I'd suggest on Monday we get the whole club down the the training ground and ask them "Look, no ones in trouble lads, but, have you done ANYTHING which might have angered the gods in the last few years? - What's that Banksy? Your family line was cursed to suffer for the sins of your forefathers 500 years ago? That'll be it. Could you sit even further back in the stand in future?" 

Niskanen, who've I've literally just decided is good, purposeful, looks like he knows how to do what a wing back needs to do, is shoved in the back as he jumps, he goes down in a heap and it's all stretchers on the pitch and silence in the away end. This is a man who played every game for Exeter last year and pretty much all of them the year before. Dale Taylor's last football before signing for us was to play almost every game for Wigan on his own up front, running for two and getting through it. As soon as they put on tangerine their hamstrings turn into perished rubber bands or their shoulders fall off. Maybe we need to exorcise the club. "Banksy, could you just step into this giant Wickerman for me please? No, nothing bad is going to happen, there's a good lad, yes, you can take your blue folder with you, in you go..." 

*Anyone got a match?*

We rejig. CJ is back on a leash at wing back and (our great hope for the season/random bloke that surprised Evo on the first day of training because no one had told him we owned him because everyone had forgotten he existed,) Kylian Kouassi is on.  Bailey pulls out a double save that even the most cynical of Peacock Farrell critics can't help but describe as 'not bad' to keep us level.

--- 

We're a goal up but I don't think we've played massively well - Bowler looks too deep, he'll beat a man, but then there's two more to beat after that and he ends up then passing to a player who can't beat anyone so it seems a bit pointless. Coulson isn't a midfielder, Coulson isn't a midfielder, Coulson isn't a midfielder. I love the point made to me during the game that he gets picked because his hair bobbing up and down looks like lots of effort compared to someone with no hair. He's just not a midfielder. His distribution is edgy, rushed toe pokes or turn and pass sideways and he's not got the physicality to fight it out and make space for others. I don't understand why Theo Upton doesn't get a chance to do what Hayden is doing because both we and he might both learn from it. We're winning though and we've made a few chances, Karoy is tidy again, Ennis is definitely sharper, more svelte and more mobile

__

The second half is better I think. We don't concede as many chances, There's still a few scares, one point blank save from Peacock Farrell is a privilege to be up close to. Casey has a good game, he looks so much more happy in the centre, the little beard he's grown makes him both look a little bit taller and a little bit like an artist. Williams looks very calm and to be able to stroll a game, using a burst of pace when he needs to. I like what I see of him - He has the mobility to get across and cover wide, which, if we're playing a back 3, we need to have, especially if Josh Bowler is the wing back. It's not that Josh isn't willing to track and all of that, it's just the idea of massively relying on him to defend is like relying on Richard Keogh's pace or Martin Bullock's towering headers. 

What of the enigmatic no 11? He's outstanding in the second half, we've definitely pushed him further forward, he's now the player receiving the ball against the back line, instead of the player giving that pass and he's absolutely relishing it. He didn't do a lot wrong in the first half, he just was nowhere near goal and now, with the goal frame in his peripheral vision, he's in, head down, drifting, teasing, jinking shoulder dipping, sudden explosion and he's speed skating through and crashing the ball against the bar. The away end gasps, there's an electric pleasure in realising again, that we have a player this fucking good, that within all the kicking and tripping and misplaced passes and scuffed finishes and time wasting, that once in a while we get to see someone do that sort of thing wearing our kit. 

There's a defensive moment too. The midfield of Karoy, Brown and Coulson isn't a highly technical trio, we can't seem to get the ball down, it's just not the forte of any of them. In the midst of a Grimsby foray, the ball is in the air, Bowler cushions it on his thigh so deftly it appears to roll down his leg, as if he's dropping a yo yo on a string, a touch into space, a look and the perfectly weighted pass out. It's a moment to be lost in the melee of goals, injuries and saves - but it's a moment that shows me again, he's actually potentially a much better all round player than he was. 

For those moments of sublime skill, his goal is pretty routine, remarkable only for the fact it's a very un-Josh Bowler goal. He chases forward, he harries the backline, there's general comedy panic, he nicks the ball, he slots it calmly. If Jerry or Shayne or perhaps Anderson or Taylor score that, it's unremarkable, but it's the goal of a player who is doing more than might typically have been associated with him and it's celebrated with the relish of 20 yard arrow after leaving 3 players on their arses. He wants his career back. I want nothing more from this season than that to happen. 

Ennis squeezes one past the far post, Grimsby contrive to miss a very straightforward chance in the same place at the other end. Coulson is replaced by Morgan then, after a worrying moment where Ennis goes off with a knock, we refresh the whole midfield, Clarkson and Honeyman on, Lyons coming on too. CJ goes back up front. Again, I'm sad not to see Billy Whaite, Theo Upton or any of the other kids at this point but perhaps the cynical business of minutes in their legs wins over the romantic notions...  

There's good and bad remaining. There's a genuinely outstanding move, the one moment where we see something of the Barrowcelona Evoball rhetoric in action. We take possession in midfield, we go back down our left flank, all across our own box, we explode forward, the ball into midfield, then out to the right, then we're running, charging, flooding forward and it's only snuffed out at the very end, I honestly can't recall whether it was a scuffed shot or a block that ended, but it was 30 seconds of beautiful football that gives some hope - I don't think anyone could watch this game and say we smashed Grimsby into the dirt and we're set to get 120 points - but equally, that was a move we couldn't have dreamt of pulling off under Bruce - it spoke of a team who can do more than just knock it long. 

Then the bad, we lose the ball, a rash pass from Honeyman, that plays the reciever into trouble, the ball is robbed, Grimsby are in, this time BPF can't rescue us and for a minute, the talk around me is all about how Blackpool it would be to now lose this on a penalty shoot out. We brace ourselves for disaster. 

Instead of lightning, from the clouds of impending doom, the heavens surprisingly rain joy and all is sunshine again moments later. We produce a great move and, if not a finish for the ages, a goalscorer to relish. It's all about Bowler again, coming forward from a little bit deeper, exchanging passes with Honeyman (if -1 for earlier, +1 for his part in this), surging into the box, pulling it back, a shot from Morgan is spilled and there is Kylian of all people, on the spot to slip it home, the finish the simplest bit of play about the move, it's a lovely goal, a team goal, a footballing goal. 

--- 

At the end again, I observe the players. Bowler looks genuinely delighted that we're singing his name. Kylian is urged forward for fist pump action, he looks embarrassed, he twists away, Bowler executes three crisp and well timed punches, Evo, all suntan and teeth, puts his arms round Kylian and again, encourages him to take his moment, he does, like a big, awkward schoolkid collecting a certificate in assembly, the crowd respond and off he goes, relieved, he's survived, he's scored a goal. I can't not love that. I can't think of any better Kylians in world football - but I'm not convinced that a tap in against Grimsby makes him nailed on for 15 goals a season or that he's going to learn quickly how to make real use of his physique - but football has a way of throwing up the unlikely and the best thing is, you never know. Just as things can go wrong, players you think are going to be superb can be a shambles, players you never expect can turn up out of nowhere. Who knows? Right now, we've not got a huge amount of options... (Ennis at least appeared to be ok, appearing in the dugout quickly after he went off)

As I said above, this wasn't the game to get us dizzy with excitement - we did look quite open and easy to get at and it took us a while to find a really good rhythm.  Peacock Farrell can't make 5 or 6 saves like that every single game. We need to control the football in midfield better - we might not have a dominant midfielder, but we need to be able to retain possession better in those tight spaces - Clarkson and Morgan should definitely help there. The fact we both wanted to and were able to get Bowler into the game was encouraging and Williams ability to play right back and centre back with some assurance does suggest that talk of ' dynamic formational fluidity with in-game relational shape transitions' could have some evidence behind it rather than being merely technical buzzword salad. We clearly need 4,5,6 more players to seriously think about competing but I think we're working from a point where we at least know what we need as opposed to last season where, when we started, it pretty quickly became evident that nothing was right at all. 

Mainly though, it was sunny, loud, a half decent game and the Pool won. That's all you need isn't it? 

Onward

You can follow MCLF on facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Threads and Instagram or use Follow.it to get posts sent to your email If you appreciate the blog and judge it worth 1p or more, then a donation to one of the causes below which help kids and families in Blackpool would be grand.

Home-Start Blackpool Food Bank

Writing about football is possibly a bit pointless in an era when there's the telly and youtube and videos all over the shop. It's not my living this and it's just something I do because I do so there's no problem with reading it and then getting on with your life - but if you do want to chuck some money at the cause of some random fella writing shit no one ever asked him too, then Patreon. is a thing.

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Cumbrian collapse - Barrow AFC vs the Mighty

The World Cup over, the season ahead. No better place to wash away the taste of corporate polish and celebrity glamour than Barrow.

If the UK's average town centre speaks of urban decline then Barrow is the king of the hill.

Walking around you can see what once was but has long since departed. Like anywhere, but here, more so. Looming warehouses threaten to march over the horizon and swallow everything, a 3 letter logo an ever present reminder of the main employer out here on the edge of everything. 

It's easy to sneer at Barrow - but I like the place. It might have smashed windows and boarded up shops but it's got grand red brick buildings, Walney Island is a strange and windswept sliver of magic. Piel Island has a fucking castle on it for fucks sake. You don't get a castle on an island in Reading do you? From industry to wilderness in barely one move. I'd rather Barrow than some none-place southern satellite town. My soul is attuned to smashed brick and Buddlea, to the wild unkempt nature that springs from the accident of demolition and decay - fuck planning, fuck mown grass - give me a riot of anarchic weeds and the majesty of random selection over a clump of bushes planted by some developer. 

As ever, I digress. The football.

---

A couple of decent CJ crosses early on, Ennis drags one wide after being slipped in by Lyons and an ok ball in from the Finn that no one could get onto.

Barrow have a couple of chances from distance.  Lyons and their left winger, who looks like what you might get if you ordered a rubbish Zlatan figure from a Chinese import site, have some ridiculous handbags where Lyons throws himself to the floor as if they're half heartedly rehearsing a rubbish WWF fight. The referee is disinterested. For once I'm on the side of the man in whatever colour the ref was wearing today. 

Coulson, playing midfield is down in agony inside 20 minutes. Who'd have imagined such a thing? He's ok though. Mainly I've noticed that he's gone for more of a Midwest trucker mullet this season, which for me, is a step up from the soft wash perm of 2526. Please can we not play Hayden in midfield again? 

We have a slick move, but there's no finish. Perhaps scoring is beneath us. We're purists after all. 

Ashworth drops a back pass carelessly short basically at the exact moment I think "Ashworth is playing well." A slick move (of sorts) where we manage to pass it all the way back to our own goal for no reason. That's the the sort of thing purists like. 

A Karoy shot, taking it on the turn, driving a few strides, drawing a save. Coulson forcing a second save from the rebound. Seemingly we do want to score after all. How very uncultured of us. 

Nwankwo is caught out, but recovers well, they get the shot in anyway, BPF sticks out a leg and stops it in a rudimentary but effective manner. It's a moment with massive playground vibes. 

Lyons is beaten in the tackle, but then heads it out from under our bar, after the slickest Barrow move so far, stringing passes along the edge of the box from left to right and then a decent ball in.

We do a terrible corner routine, Coulson gets it short and is immediately tackled. One from Squires Gate. Give them all a bonus for the next level thinking. 

I'm not really concentrating when Barrow score. I think it's a suicide ball from BPF and someone (maybe Jordan Brown) is robbed, anyway, I've tuned back in in time to see the Bluebirds (playing today in black and white) waltzing right through and sliding the ball past the stranded keeper.

Probably the best remaining chance falls to CJ whose heavy touch makes his effort to control a diagonal into more of a neat back pass. The game drifts to half time.

---

We've made a bit, but we've not looked hugely like actually scoring. I was prepared that we might be a bit short at the back (and we are) but we've not really shown any particularly defined patterns of play going forward. Karoy, has, as you'd expect, been tidy and energetic but we've not really put it together around him.

---

It's a sluggish start before 3 quick fire chances, Niskannen gets in twice and pulls back, no one can reach the first, Taylor wastes the second by holding on too long, twisting to make the angle but only succeeding in getting tackled. CJ clipping in the third and Ennis turns on it and has it blocked over the bar.

Things briefly liven up a bit with subs. Bowler a genius pass (maybe genius is pushing things, but it's been a game devoid of silk and his little slip through is caressed, threaded, a moment of vision in a game of huffing straight lines) but the overlapping Lyons is unable to find anyone.

Bowler again, a mazy run and a toe poke creates a chance. Kylian misses a golden opportunity as he dithers, looking more like a centre back than a centre forward. Charles blasts the clearance back and then Brown slaps it wide.

Then Dion is limping and now he's sitting down. More changes and we're in the dreamland scenario of CJ up front with Kouassi.

I don't want to spoil the rest of the blog but you might be able to guess the outcome...

We make very little from this point. Upton has a good go in midfield, Jack Richardson gets wide and attacks quite well but it's fair to say Barrow end the game on top.

Their second goal is also difficult to see, watching through multiple stanchions from the British bake off tent of an away stand is like watching a glitchy video with bits of the narrative missing, but my impression of it is, that Barrow get down our right too easily and then a floating, drifting cross is completely missed by everyone and is either bundled home at the far post or drifts in - either way, it's that same goal we concede too often.

There's time for CJ to earn a rousing 'Ole' for a classic bit of air kicking mis-control as he darts down the touchline and runs the ball out of play in a way that only CJ has truly mastered... and then, we're done.

---

Of course, it's only preseason and of course, minutes and legs and all of that. Had we turned up and smashed Barrow out of site then I'd be writing about it not meaning much - that said, it's not so much that Ashworth, Nwankwo and Lyons isn't a serious prospect as a back three that concerns me as much as the lack of creativity evident. Granted, no Morgan, Clarkson (or indeed Honeyman) but we didn't really have a convincing effort at getting it down and controlling the game. We clipped it long quite a lot and ceded possession fairly easily as a result.

Of course, it's just a runabout - but we couldn't really impose a game on Barrow, ultimately, it was them who imposed their game on us - yes, rugged, yes, physical, yes 'limited' - but exactly what we've struggled against in the real stuff for what seems like far too long.

We're definitely short. As much as I'd love Kouassi to be the physical game changing forward we've not had for ages, he looked far from it today. The back 3 isn't an option for the actual games, we're a wing back short and looked lacking in imagination in midfield.

This game doesn't matter at all - but there's clearly still work to do. Had we had a solid defence then we'd likely have had a foundation to build on - but we didn't and even with Horsfall and Casey (and big Mike) there's questions about mobility and fluidity. 

Time will tell and all of that. Actually, I think time will probably eat away at us all and everything we know and the universe will collapse in upon itself - but in the short term hopefully we get a few more in because we definitely need it. 

Onward.

 
Tweet You can follow MCLF on facebook or Twitter or use Follow.it to get posts sent to your email If you appreciate the blog and judge it worth 1p or more, then a donation to one of the causes below which help kids and families in Blackpool would be grand. Home-Start Blackpool Food Bank

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Football is shit - long live football

It’s over.

I find myself sighing in relief, the tournament had some joy to it for sure, but it was too long and the final, a four hour process of [insert the name of the official hydration partner here] water torture, football rendered as a light entertainment nightmare, a peyote vision of corporate America, all weird twisting bodies in lurid colours has tested my patience beyond breaking point.

Someone belts out the national anthem covering four octaves in one phrase because this is the land of possibility and if it’s possibly to modulate your voice and have two key changes in quick succession, then fuck! Yeah! Freedom! To sing like you’ve never heard the phrase ‘less is more’ is your motherfuckin' birthright- it’s why they have guns, to protect that sort of thing. 

The crowd is barely noticeable, reduced to mere blurry pixels, squeezed between boards and screens shilling FIFA sanctioned brands. Even ‘those incredible Argentine fans’ (© all the broadcasters all the time) are but a distant hum, the passion dulled by variously, the inflated ticket prices changing the make-up of the fans and the thumping, insistent sound of the BIG EVENT.

It’s merely not a game, it’s a celebrity endorsed moment. A once in a lifetime billion pound choreography. A greying popstar in an alarming jumpsuit warbles an inane song that I can’t believe anyone could have written with a straight face. Something about kicking the ball to be who we are for love and unity. It’s worse than AI. Chat GPT would probably shut itself down if it had come up with that. 

Gianni beams. Today, I feel… like the centre of attention. The Donald tucked safely behind bulletproof glass glowers as he casts an Emperor's gaze across it all. Tom Cruise from off of Tom Cruise films lectures us all in the manner of a patronisingly positive primary school head giving a motivational speech about sports day being more than just the egg and spoon race. His face is locked in a kind of smirk that drips with self satisfaction.

That’s not even a bit of it. It goes on and on and on. It leaks into half time and infects it, like a spilt sugary drink that has dried in the sun, everything sticky, tacky, horrible. Stars, like ants, crowded round, milling, drawn by the scent, drunk on sucrose. Manicure, plastic surgery, far too much effort to ever be even remotely cool. This is shit.

The game. Football. So brilliantly un-mouldable. A glorious revenge on the glittering spectacle. It is fucking awful. Spain aren’t bad, knocking it about like any middle ranking club side can do these days but Argentina are evil, spoilers, barbarians. Nothing happens. The ref daren’t act because there’s too much at stake. Argentina can’t get the ball anywhere near Messi but Spain daren’t really let rip in case they do. It’s a cautious team versus a side so brutally conservative as to make Tony Pulis look positively carefree and Cruyfiann.

As it goes on, despite everything, I find myself fascinated by the sheer bloody-mindedness of the Argentines. Rooney tells everyone that the half time show is “crap” and a nation rejoices in Wazza’s frankness. Still nothing seems to happen. The pundits try to tell us the Argentine keeper is having an astonishing game but mainly he’s saved things straight at him. Spain keep patiently going sideways and backwards trying to create the perfect goal and not managing it.

Then finally, Argentinian brutality gets a well overdue punishment. Ironically, the foul that draws the red is clumsy, yes, mistimed, definitely but for once, not premeditatedly cynical. Spain score a goal which gets ruled out for no explicable reason and briefly, the world of Whatsapp chats and social media fizzes with conspiracy but then, very shortly afterwards, the inevitable Spain pressure tells. By then I’m almost (but not quite) hoping that Argentina win having had no shots on or off target, just because there’s something perversely interesting about that. The Spain goal kills that anti-hero narrative and that’s probably for the best.

As multiple times before in this tournament, going behind stings Argentina into action. They’re actually quite good when they play football and it’s a mystery as to why they didn’t try this earlier. Messi has a couple of sublime touches - (you might have heard of him, he’s quite good,) a cross is almost turned in. Thankfully it isn’t and we’re spared the dubious drama of penalties and the team that clearly deserves to win the match wins the match.

Trump wanders about in shot whilst the World Cup is lifted because of course he does. The TV cuts to various people who I have to suppose other people know who they are, many of whom are inexplicably celebrating despite not being Spanish as if just being near this moment of incredible magic is enough to send them into raptures. Raised as I was on the fag end of a decade of empty terraces and carcoated men bitterly finishing a rollie and declaring ‘Bloody awful, I’ve had enough, I’m not coming next week’ before marching out (to come again next week), the idea of neutrals clapping and dancing with a strangely pagan bliss after a game that bad is a bit of a culture clash.

It wasn’t a game where conventional wisdom would suggest football was the winner - and yet, in a strange way, football trounced pomp and circumstance. The universal and inescapable truth of football is, it’s often shite. The World Cup final was a game that ended up resembling not so much a crowning moment of a festival of elite sport but a bad tempered match that could really, aside from a few flicks and twists here and there, have been taking place in the Scottish third division or the English non-leagues.

Whilst it is a shame for the relatively few genuine fans who’d spent their life savings to be there, I can’t help smile to myself that all the corporate grifters, the politicians and a-list, influencing types, all of the moneyed sorts who bagged a 10,000 dollar ticket with their latest bonus payment in their bright and new replica soccer jerseys learned pretty much what it feels like to watch us play Crawley Town on Tuesday night. No money, no exclusive ticket, no amount of mega build up can guarantee a good game. You can imagine a tournament with infinite sponsors, a stadium made of solid gold, a prize fund so big you run out zeros when you try to type it out and yet the game on the local field between two pub teams might actually be a better watch.

That’s football.

It might have been a bit warmer and the PA a bit better - but frankly, I prefer my halftimes to have the sound of Tony Parr interviewing someone you can't hear and the unbeatable visual spectacle of our subs half heatedly knocking the ball between themselves whilst two blokes with forks prod the pitch in a knowing manner.

I think FIFA missed out by not having any adverts for Terry's Carpets. 

Onward

 You can follow MCLF on facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Threads and Instagram or use Follow.it to get posts sent to your email If you appreciate the blog and judge it worth 1p or more, then a donation to one of the causes below which help kids and families in Blackpool would be grand.

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Writing about football is possibly a bit pointless in an era when there's the telly and youtube and videos all over the shop. It's not my living this and it's just something I do because I do so there's no problem with reading it and then getting on with your life - but if you do want to chuck some money at the cause of some random fella writing shit no one ever asked him too, then Patreon. is a thing.

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Onwards, Upwards... Tangerine 🍊

Readers with decent memories may wish to point out that me writing an article dissecting the needs and actions required of the club over the summer is a self indulgent pile of shite that no one should take any notice of at all - because a) I'm not actually qualified in any way to do so and b) last season, I wrote a lengthy piece which boiled down to its core read "Dear Uncle Si, please give all your money to that nice Mr Bruce to spend because literally nothing can go wrong" 

Perhaps I should bin off the idea at the start and say something like 'what will be will be' or 'time will tell' - but that would be quite dull. It would make the blog easier to write (and probably read) but you don't get to hit the heights of 3rd best Blackpool FC related blog on the internet by saying such things so, in this era of idiots spouting shit for clicks, I'm going to clatter out my thoughts on what has been and what may be and hope that this season turns out better than the last. 

Last season: 

As mentioned above we spent all the money on all the players. Unfortunately most of the players came with bits hanging off them or weren't very good. We also forgot the bit of the season where you do such things as 'get fit' and 'sort out the tactics' so things didn't go very well. I don't wish to dwell on the start of the year but I can honestly say, the period up to late October was one of the most dispiriting, lacklustre periods I've ever experienced as a Blackpool fan. For whatever reason, Bruceball had gone from being quite an enjoyable, if slightly rough and ready thing, to every game being like that scene in one of the Lord of the Rings films where they walk through the bog of misery and despair* - I still am yet to figure out what we were actually trying to do, beyond 'sitting tight at the back lads and hope that one of the attackers scores' 

*I don't really like Lord of the Rings, so I'm not sure if that's what it's actually called but basically, the main blokes in the film go through a really miserable, dreary landscape for ages and it makes them depressed. It's quite an effective scene, so much so that I actually turned off the film at that point and didn't watch anymore. This was about 25 years ago, so I can't remember the finer details - I wish it was as easy as that with Blackpool FC. 

Evatt came in. He wasn't really my choice - I wanted a clean break with history and some kind of sexy foreign coach with mad ideas or a 32 year old hipster who would either be the best thing since Joe Smith or fired inside 6 weeks. Instead, we got Macho Critch replete with new hair and teeth. (Rumours that he got 10 free goes on Big Gaz's old sunbed as part of the signing can neither be confirmed or denied.) It only took some strangely lurid and weirdly slightly camp photos on his official reveal and a short interview to persuade me that it was worth giving Evo the time of day - this was clearly a man with a plan who wanted to be here and in a world of merry-go-round rent-a-manager that's worth backing. 

'Stephen, stop frowning, we look marvellous' 

We definitely picked up under Evo initially - we played some football that suggested some coaching sessions had taken place. That sounds like the kind of mild sarcasm that I write with normally to disguise a lack of any real insight, but it's literally the truth - we looked for the first time as if we'd been instructed as to what to do, how to move in relation to each other and essentially, vaguely resembled a professional football club in that it looked like we met up and did stuff midweek. A good run, a miraculously good Christmas, we giddily began to tell ourselves 'this is Blackpool, we come from the pack, we win promotion, this is what we do' and then everything fell apart against Port Vale and kept falling apart until sometime around late spring. James Husband's perfectly good tackle and the worst referee ever (I've not sworn in the rest of the blog, but Ed Duckworth is a cunt) were the footballing equivalent of the control rods being removed in the Chernobyl power plant, sparking an unstoppable chain reaction of horrendous events that went on for ages 

Whereas under Bruce, we looked under instructed, if anything, when we were in the trough under Evo we seemed the opposite - it's a curious thing how 'go and play lads' and 'lads, don't forget to read the 90 page dossier, remember the PDF on the quarter space tactics and also the positional line graph' can have similar results. An empty head and an over full head essentially amount to the same thing - poor performances and bad results. 

Things looked really bad as grim defeat after grim defeat stacked up. Then Big Si turned up. Now, it's obviously not the case that he picked the team, took the coaching sessions or gave the team talks - but it's undeniable that his call to arms had an impact. As the season progressed, the fan base got restless, Julian Winter gave an interview where he conceded that communication had been lacking but bristled at the suggestion the club was 'drifting' but, blown by the winds of League One towards the bleak, rocky coastline of League Two I'm not sure how we could really feel otherwise.

Sadler's intervention mattered in two key ways - firstly the decisive and well priced ticket offer helped give a sense of occasion to the remaining fixtures. His speaking out also showed us, that his interest remained and that he too, had been disappointed by the season. I think that gave something to us a fanbase that had been lacking - a sense that someone senior at the club might be willing to grasp hold of the under-performing mess and give it a good shake. Being told 'we're getting new floodlights' wasn't quite as galvanising and it's much easier to get behind something where it feels as if it's run with with some passion and care than on autopilot... 

I still don't know what being 'in receiving mode' actually means

Secondly - and perhaps decisively, he brought in Steve Thompson. At the time, I was again, slightly suspicious of the simple logic of 'if they're not dancing, play the greatest hits compilation' but equally, felt it was worth a shot - and it turned out to be a masterstroke. I don't know what precise part Thommo played, but it felt as if suddenly, we became a bit more flexible, a bit more pragmatic - the simplest way I can put it is, we seemed to start using players as what they actually are, instead of what we'd like them to become - Results are of course, the ultimate builders of confidence and as we picked up one or two, we played better and 3 became 4 and so on, until safety was ultimately comfortably attained. Whether Thommo was a sounding board for Evatt, whether he was a bridge to the players, whether he put his own ideas in or whatever else, he had a clear impact. Fans responded to greater fight and by the end of the season, we saw some reasonable football and some committed showings and the atmosphere had returned to what had, for most of the season, been a moribund and uncharacteristically flat Bloomfield Road. 

Where now? 

What we learn from last year is unclear. We learned that buying a load of players who are mostly around 30ish and giving them to an aging celebrity manager doesn't work. We learned, I think, that we still have no real sense of a 'through-line' between appointments - Evatt, I think did a decent job overall, he inherited a squad of players which really weren't designed to play the kind of technical, possession football he wants to play and whilst, he did get a bit stuck in the mid season mud trying to get them to do what he wanted, he also ended up finding a way to make it (sort of) work. From where we were to where we finished, it's impossible not to say 'job done' in regards to his work. 

The problem is, whilst Evatt ultimately should be applauded for turning round as an initially unfit, unmotivated, un-bonded and unsuccessful side as I've seen in tangerine, next season provides a different challenge. If you ask yourself two questions - 1) Who played well consistently? and 2) When did we play really well last season? then you're left with more or less the same answer - a few of them and a few times. We're left with quite a bit of work to do to put out a team that would convincingly challenge at the top of the league, not least because we've still got most of a squad that demonstrably struggled to convince playing 442 (despite having all the wingers) and also didn't look that special playing 532 either. 

The squad: 

This is the bit where I try to look at it objectively and work out what our priorities might be. I'm not making any assumptions about formation, not least because I think we're better when we show flexibility. I think there's a place for a 532, especially away from home against better sides, but there's also a place for a back 4, especially if you want to get at teams and utilise some of the attacking talent we may not have got the best of last year. 

Keepers: 

We've resigned Bailey Peacock Farrell - I'm a bit unsure about this. He's a great keeper and a terrible keeper at the same time. The hope has to be that with regular football, in the same team, over a period of time, he settles into being the former and not the latter. He's never really had that in his peripatetic career to date, so maybe it works. I have no qualms at all about his technical ability, he's as good a keeper in terms of his physical ability as anyone in the league - his concentration and sometime positioning is the issue and perhaps the communication that comes from being part of a unit with experience of playing together will address that. 

Franco is probably fine as back up - he looked calamitous initially, but had some good displays latterly - I don't really see a player who looks like an absolute top keeper, but equally, I don't see him as fatally flawed either as sometimes the reserve keeper obviously is, though he wisely cut out trying to fanny about at the back and kicked long in his better showings and I wonder if Evatt would possibly look to swap him out and bring in a keeper more confident in the short game if he wants to have a choice as opposed to a defined number one and a back up. 

Full backs/Wing backs: 

This is an area of urgent need. Zac Ashworth is fine, he's an able squad player, he's committed and can play a couple of roles. For me, he's one of the few this year who I rate more at the end of the season than I did at the start. 

Hayden Coulson hasn't really pushed on to be the player I'd hoped he'd be. He's likably energetic and can get forward, but he's not really got devastating skill or a demon cross and he's really lightweight. I don't particularly trust him at left back and I don't get overly excited about him as a left wing back. Coulson also is prone to injuries - it's a harsh way to judge a player, but like say, Shayne Lavery, his worth to us seems less than it could be as he seems unable to go more than 4 or 5 games without picking up a knock. 

Andy Lyons has similarly failed to be the player he looked he could be - In his case, personal and physical challenges have been genuinely massive and I think everyone would want Lyons to succeed - but as much as I hope he does, in my heart of hearts, I'd be very surprised if we started the season with him at right wing back - I think he probably needs a year of football somewhere to re find his mojo, as opposed to another season of stop/start gap filling and never really getting back to any kind of rhythm. 

That leaves us with CJ and astonishingly, CJ would come quite high on a list of players in answer to the question 'who played well last year' - that said, I wouldn't in a million years, build my team around the idea of CJ at wing back. For me, CJ's greatest strength at this point in his career is his utility. I enjoyed Evatt's impassioned explanation of CJ's hitherto uncredited football intelligence and ability to execute instructions in different positions - to me, that screams of a utility player - someone who can come off the bench and play 4 or 5 different roles, depending on the game situation (and equally, of course, fill gaps in starting line ups) - but we've done the 'going for promotion with CJ at wing back' story before - and it wasn't a happy one... 

Raul Walters was a good loan addition - his ability to play RCB, RB or RWB would fit nicely with the idea of flexibility and he wouldn't be a bad signing at all - he's also the right kind of age, a player with room to grow and seemingly a good level of fitness. James Husband leaves a big hole on the left - his ability to drive us out, his aptitude as an actual old style left back and ability to step in to LCB and cover the LWB effectively are all misses - but we probably do need a more dynamic, mobile player moving forward. 

Centre backs: 

If we play a back 3 we're definitely short. I really like Fraser Horsfall but a trio of Horsfall, Ihiekwe and Casey only needs a striker with even the slightest bit of guile and pace to run rings round them. It also is a horrible prospect in terms of fluid football, carrying the ball out of defence, creating overloads and so on. It's just not a viable back 3 in a sexy footballing team. It also possesses no left footers so is fatally imbalanced - something that matters both in facing up skilful forwards running at you (a good back three needs to cover advanced wing backs, so in essence, the wider centre backs need to be auxiliary fullbacks) and driving the ball forward. 

As a two, I think Horsfall and Casey isn't a bad pair - Casey is a much, much better player in a back four or at the centre of a five - I don't see him as a really top LCB or RCB though. In a five, Horsfall has the attributes to anchor the defence, Casey is a very able deputy - but there's only really Zac Ashworth and at a real push, Andy Lyons, I'd see as candidates to be the more mobile players either side that you need to make a back 3 or 5 something that is part of an attacking team as opposed to a defensive one - and I don't think Ashworth is quite ready to be a first pick every single week player and I don't think Lyons has shown enough form since injury to be that player either. 

Ihiekwe is a problem - he's not without heart and clearly played through injury and probably earned a worse reputation than he deserves doing so - but he's also really more at home in that central role than anywhere else and we've already got the Horse and Casey who are stronger there and he's probably the least equipped to play the wider role of anyone. He's also on a long contract so he's not easy to move on but in an ideal world, he's the player who would give way to allow space for a quality LCB which is the most sorely needed position 

Width (wingers or wide forwards)

Josh Bowler is the best footballer in the division. He just is. His touch is sublime, his ability to beat people at will remains. He's a better passer than he was when he left. He can shoot with almost no back lift and he absolutely terrifies oppositions, particular those teams who choose to sit in and therefore cede space for him to run into. He'll pull people out of shape and make space for others. Why then, does he seem almost as big an ill fit as Big Mike? He played so few times in his natural position (and the one time later in the season he did, he was absolutely brilliant) that it's hard to make a judgement. Is he capable of playing as a 10? I'd say, yes, but not if he's actually an 8 - which is what happens when you play a '10' but also play two strikers (so, by definition, you've already got one of them doing what a '10' would do) and have a defence (i.e. Ihiekwe, Horsfall, Casey) that isn't really able to regularly step up into midfield and free that attacking midfielder to make the forward, space finding runs. Bowler, for me, is the single biggest argument for playing a 433 and getting at teams - he's still superb in a wide position and, in the latter part of the season, he showed he was able to play with effort and tactical discipline. The temptation will come to believe that maybe he can be an 8 or a RWB - but he's a maverick and at this level, he's a ridiculous one to have on a 3 year deal and we should make use of what he is, not what would be most convenient for him to be. 

Tom Bloxham is similar - he's also best in that wide forward role. He's a gifted player and though he continues to frustrate me because he looks like he could smash people like Big Gaz but heads like he's the size of Martin Bullock, he absolutely ploughed a furrow last season and I hope this year, we see him rewarded for that effort by getting a bit more opportunity off the left or right of an attacking three as I think he looks more at home there than anywhere else. 

Surprisingly, as we collected wingers like they were going out of fashion at the start of the year, we don't have anyone else other than CJ. CJ's best position is definitely also in a front 3 - as I've already said, I'm not putting him down as a nailed on starter in any role - so, short of Niall Ennis (more on him in a moment) looking like the player of 18 months ago again, there's a space as an attacking left sided player in the squad. 

Central Midfielders: 

The dream is to sign Karoy Anderson. Of everyone who played for us last year, I think Karoy became my favourite. For the first time since Kenny Dougall inconveniently hopped for a life of Instagram bliss in Thailand, we possessed a real all round midfielder, someone who never tired, could do everything to a level, was equally able to defend and attack and could adapt to what was happening instead of trying to bend the the game to his style. He wasn't perfect, but at 21, he's got space to really grow as a player and in the short time he was with us, seemed to become less chaotic and more assured with games. Whether it's realistic, I don't know, but if we can't sign the actual Karoy, we need someone like him. He's never the star, but he's never half hearted. We need an engine room because far too often in the last few years, we've been overrun in midfield. 

We already possess Albie Morgan and it mystifies me that there's a section of fans who don't seem to rate Albie. If we get a consistently fit Morgan this season, that will be a huge boost. He's not quite as 'all round' as Karoy or Kenny - but he's tenacious, he runs very hard and his long range passing is something that no one else really has - he's got a degree of creativity that compensates for his slightness - and he's largely had to partner less dynamic players and therefore I wonder if there's a little bit more to come from Albie if someone like Anderson who would be equally willing to do the kind of midfield leg work that Albie has been stuck with alongside players like Evans and Norburn who seemed to largely point at where Albie needed to go in order to get the ball for them (to launch out of play) 

George Honeyman is a curious player. It's impossible not to warm to his work rate. He's obviously an able footballer. I'm just struggling to look back at the season and see many games where Honeyman felt like 'the difference' in either an attacking sense or as I felt Anderson was latterly (in breaking up play and carrying the ball) - it basically feels like Honeyman *should* be an real attribute but I'm not sure he definitively is. I read somewhere (apologies to whoever said it that I've nicked it) that he feels like 'the new Jay Spearing' and that struck a chord. Spearing too had undeniable qualities - I just never quite *got* him - I'm not quite sure what Honeyman actually is - he seems to be able to do a decent job at 6, 8 or 10 but never particularly excel at either - having come from the level he was at, perhaps I'm expecting miracles because of a perceived reputation, perhaps he needs the right partners - I'm not sure...

Jordan Brown divides opinion, but in my mind, was one of the best players in the run in. As much as he had some really poor games leading up to that, he was consistently ugly and awkward in midfield when we picked up form and I think found in those last 10 or so games we saw a good example of the idea of players being what they are and not what we'd like them to be. He's not going to run the game at 6 and spray backspin passes to the corners - but he will sweep and clean up and play simple but solid passes to start an attack - I think he's got a place in the mix and I'm more clear about his impact than I am Honeyman's - which is strange in a way given their relative abilities, but I can only say what I see... 

Leighton Clarkson has gorgeous feet, his ability to change the direction of play with a shimmy or a drag back in a crowded midfield is special. He's got vision too and for me, would definitely be ahead of Bowler if we're looking for that central attacking midfield role - Clarkson looks like he understands the middle role better - you've got split seconds to make the move - wide, Bowler's game is pause, feint, pause again, explode, which is difficult to do in the centre, Bowler is all about slowing the game down at times but Clarkson looks like he's already in the move when he receives the ball because you have to be in that role - he should be a real asset because he's got real quality and that quality seems to be aligned to effort. 

Ryan Finnegan remains at the club - I've never been totally convinced by him. He's dynamic and physical, but he's prone to a clumsy or careless touch. He pleases when he comes on as he gets stuck in, but he also gives the ball away a bit too often. In a different team, he'd probably shine (and clearly did at Walsall who played a very rugged and direct style) but if Evoball is to be in practice what it appears to be in theory, I'm not sure about his place in it. 

Strikers: 

If I was the manager, then without question Dale Taylor would be my first pick up front - it wouldn't matter whether I was playing 2,3 or 1 forwards, his name would go on the team sheet. Imagine Jerry Yates, but drinking isotonic sports drinks at a golf club bar rather than continental lagers in town. He's very good, he's a grafter, presses superbly, is technically  and positionally sharp and has an eye for goal. What's not to like (apart from the injuries, which we need to collectively pray to whoever or whatever we believe can influence the future, that he's free from next year) 

The above seems a bit harsh on Ash Fletcher - there's no question Fletch had a good season and no question he's a quality player - it's just that I'm not totally sure that Fletch quite fits into my vision of the perfect team - We've covered how we need to get the best out of some of the forwards by playing them wide and I'm not sure Fletch (whose real strength is his ability to drop off the front line into holes) is going to be great in the middle of a three. I've also eulogised Clarkson and the same problem I identified with Bowler at 10 applies to him - i.e. when you play two up front, you've already got a 10 - something that is even more true when Fletcher's best quality is that he can step off into that exact role. If he stays, he's clearly a good player and it would be remiss of me to not be really grateful for the fact that, without his goals, we'd have been in Division Two - but if he doesn't stay, then he might just create the space for attributes we don't have and possibly a shift in how we set up. Maybe!!

Niall Ennis is yet another difficult case - what became abundantly clear was that the Ennis who came back from an early season injury was far less mobile than the one we saw on loan and at the outset of his permanent spell. The exact nature of the injury is unclear, but Ennis looked like he needed something sorting out and a long spell of fitness work - my theory (and it's mere speculation) is that his physical shape was related to an inability to train - but that we needed him to be available, so that whatever rehabilitation or intervention was required couldn't happen. A fit Ennis would be a huge asset and like Morgan, almost like a new signing. 

Tom Bloxham, I've covered, he's able to do a job up front and deserves respect for properly sticking at the role and finding some performances and indeed, gaining some stamina, but I wouldn't put him there out of choice because I think his real strength is elsewhere. 

It won't surprise anyone that I think what we lack is a physical presence. At the lowest of ebbs last year, I half jokingly, half seriously proposed sticking the Horse up front and picking up the pieces that bounce off him. As the Horse can't be at both ends and as ultimately, in League One you sometimes need to resort to such things, I feel the real gap up front is in this type of player. Taylor can play with back to goal, Ennis isn't bad for a little lad, Fletcher isn't awful in the air but none of them are the kind of dominant physical threat who will change a game and allow us to hit direct balls on the occasions when football isn't the answer. 

The overall: 

There's without doubt quality in the squad and I think there's a few areas where we should have some healthy competition - there's gaps too and those gaps exist regardless of formation. There's players we could hope to get more out of and a few players it seems might not really fit. It's not going to be a summer of total change - and perhaps, given that last summer was, that's not a bad thing - but there really does need to be targeted recruitment of quality in full back roles, in some mobility for central defenders, especially if we're going to pick 3, a left sided attacker if we're going to play 3 up front (and we should do that sometimes,) someone to do what Karoy did (or in an ideal world, Karoy) and of course, if Fletch isn't staying, a nasty, physical striker for hold up play and flick ons... 

Off the pitch, we've seen changes that needed to happen. I've no real way of knowing how good Winter was at the minutiae of his job - but clearly, barely speaking for three years whilst the club performed worse year on year and (publicly at least) no real discernible sense of enthusiasm or great feeling of ownership of the backsliding drift left it difficult to defend him. It's also difficult to know whether David Downes is the right man to step into his shoes, especially given we've had a relatively poor time in the transfer market and 'Football Operations' haven't been a resounding success but like other key appointments (Nick Horne, Harry Lyons) Downes has a link with the town and the club and ultimately, Winter was the senior role so Downes may work differently without him - we'll see! 

The one question that remains in that respect is the role of Steve Thompson. Again, I don't pretend to be a journalist, I don't know if Thommo wants a full time role, I don't know what the finances involved in that would be, I don't know how Evo feels about it (beyond him seeming publicly positive about it when asked) but it does seem logical that we should try to keep him on as he clearly had a positive impact. 

We're going into the new season with more people in footballing and non-footballing roles who clearly care about the club than we've had of late -, in fact, we've got a manager who sometimes seems as if he cares a bit too much... The  owner has to some extent at least, reengaged and some of the business side appointments have had universal approval from people I've spoken too who are closer than I to their roles.

As ever, what how the season feels will be largely dictated by what happens on the pitch - but it does feel as if some of the concerns about a club run by numbers and by distant individuals applying generic strategies might have been understood and addressed. I can't even begin to understand what's going on in a Hong Kong legal case, I won't even pretend to understand what a hedge fund even is, let alone what the finer points of legal discourse about a topic I don't understand in a country I don't live in even means - but provided we get through that and recruit in a much more effective and targeted way, then we've got a chance next year of a much better season. It's impossible to believe that Evatt's preseason will be a lacklustre as Bruce's, there's some continuity within the squad, a core of some talented players who've had some time to gel with each other and understand their roles in relation to Evatt's ideas - add the right players to those and we might start to look like we're designed for something, rather than a random collection of people. 

As ever, optimism is the only option, belief is the only way, tangerine is the one true colour and the Pool are, as always, going up. 

Onwards. 

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Writing about football is possibly a bit pointless in an era when there's the telly and youtube and videos all over the shop. It's not my living this and it's just something I do because I do so there's no problem with reading it and then getting on with your life - but if you do want to chuck some money at the cause of some random fella writing shit no one ever asked him too, then Patreon. is a thing.

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