Last year turned to this year with barely a breath in between. The Euros were a bridge between the two seasons. It was less than 2 weeks between King Kenny left foot/right footing us to cloud nine and the start of the Euros. We kicked off pre season two days before England's usual penalty shambles at Wembley brought (most of) us back down to earth a bit. It feels like we're starting to lean into autumn and yet May is still in the air. It always does to an extent. Time marches on. I'm still slightly reeling from the news David Eyres has gone to Burnley. All we can do is stand still sometimes and notice a moment as we hurtle through time. Blink and we've missed it. Woosh. That was your life.
Here we are then. On the verge. Standing on the edge of tomorrow. It must be relentless being a football manager. Living the ecstasy of promotion, but having to start again on zero. A new season. Having spent all that time getting it right, perfecting the blend, tweaking, coaching, coaxing, cajoling the best from what you have. Achieving what you aimed for, then having to start over and do it all again.
The sundrenched, technicolour Skybet sponsored dreamscape of Wembley triumph is now just a memory. The reality is more long journeys, more hard yards. More muddy pitches and freezing days. Bruising challenges and damaged egos. Battles. Shuttle runs. Elbows to the face. Mistimed challenges. Switching off for just a second and the man getting in behind. Blazing the chance over the top and wanting the ground to swallow you up. It's going to be the same as it was last year. We're at the bottom of the mountain again, but the mountain is higher, steeper, tougher terrain. There will be glory too. Joy, delight, relief, luck. Heroes made.
Are we ready? Steady Eddie, dependable Ollie, so often the man to turn to is gone. No one saw that he would leave a gap that would take so long to fill. We barely noticed he was there until he wasn't. The enigma of Sullay will no longer divide the fans. Jordan Thorniley, forgotten until the most desperate of situations forced his rehabilitation will wear yellow, not tangerine. The loan stars shone so brightly, but now are dimmed. Ballard at Millwall, Simms on the treatment table, Embleton and Gabriel back (for now at least) with their clubs and looking liklier to stay there as each day passes..
In have come new players and new questions. Will Keogh be the brain upon which we can build a new defence or the strangest signing of recent times. Is Bowler going to run through defences or into blind alleys. Is Carey ready? Is Connolly really going to play right back? Can Lavery fight his way through championship defences. Will John-Jules be the next Ellis Simms or the new Ben Woodburn? Why has Ollie Sarkic played so much pre-season. What is Ollie Sarkic? Does he even know?
 |
| Sarkic. Not so much an enigma as a complete mystery. |
A new season is always a time for both optimism and trepidation. Some approach it bullishly, making predictions with the air of people who share memes about "the only thing between you and greatness is.... you" or "banish negative people from your life, it's too short!" whereas others wrap themselves in a protective layer of pessimism, knowing the maths suggests that success is reserved for a small percentage of clubs and preferring to be surprised if it comes, rather than disappointed when it probably doesn't.
 |
| Feel free to print out and keep in your wallet or purse. |
How do I feel? Somewhere in between. I think we'll do ok. The basics for doing ok are ingrained in enough players and we kept the best ones who were ours to keep (with one exception.) Dougall and Stewart are a platform to play from. We've got shit loads of pace, a good keeper, a good set piece taker and whilst the defence seems a bit of a concern, if we can build the kind of brick wall we built last year, we can do it again. Marvin in form is outstanding, the Viking is brilliant, we've got 3 quality left backs.
I think Lavery will come good, he just looks too determined not to have an impact and I love how he seems to have the knack of hitting the target. He'll be a thorn in a side with a sting in his tail. If Jerry is a sniper, Lavery is a wasp. CJ and Demi have pace and pace works at any level. CJ in particular knows this might be his chance. He's 26 and if he doesn't grasp it, there probably won't be many other opportunities to prove he's more than a lower league pace merchant. Anderson has possibly the hardest job of anyone. We've lost creativity and the burden likely falls to him. Carey looks promising for sure, but he's played his football in the National league and the National League South to date. Keshi is 170 games more experienced in league football and like CJ, will be desperate to show he's not just the lower league player his record to date would label him as. Can he find the end product to match his likable flair and combative nature?
There's one man, I think we've all overlooked a bit. He might be on his sunbed with a four pack of tinnies right now but whilst Lavery and Yates look cut from the same cloth and TJJ seems a skillful type, maybe more of a link man than an out and out forward, one man stands out a mile as different. Critch didn't give Madine a contract to be some kind of mascot. He's not a man of sentiment. He dealt swiftly with players like Feeney, Delfouenso and Spearing. He took a decision on Kaikai that some wouldn't have. He knows what he wants and what he wants is Gary for one (plus one) year at least.
 |
| Who needs XG when you've got such cutting edge graphics as this? |
If Madine can get on the pitch, he could have a big influence. It's a big 'if' in terms of his fitness, but you'd imagine the club had reasons to be optimistic. Why give a player a contract if not?
He's played this level before, with success. He's played this level before and proved himself to Sheffield United fans who were outraged when they signed him. He's done more than just be a target man for a lower end side, at Sheffield Utd, he fitted into the innovative, hard running style of Chris Wilder well. He's hit goals for Bolton. He bossed a Premier League defence in the FA Cup this season. He has a good relationship with Yates and I think Lavery would be ecstatic at sniffing about around Madine. He's got something that few of our players have, in total confidence that he can play at this level and succeed but he's now 30 and he comes with a record that is best described as 'mixed' in more ways than one. If he doesn't make something of this chance, then there almost certainly isn't another one at this level for the Goal Machine and whilst most seem to have him written off as a last resort sub, I for one, think Gary Goals, cured of his niggly groin and determined to prove what level he really can play at is potentially something that terrifies opposition defences.
What's more, he injects a degree of uncertainty into how the opposition prepare. Are they in for a containing game, with us working lots of little triangles and slipping through nippy little forwards or are they in for a classic English centre forward, back to goal, creating the chances for others to run onto or running onto Garbutt's crosses himself?
Clearly, the squad isn't finished and we'll sign more players. If the past is anything to go by, we'll never have heard of them and they'll come out of the blue. Ultimately, I haven't got a clue what this season will bring. It will bring football though, and that's good enough. We'll give it our best and whilst a we're a right back short, we'll have more than two subs, the club isn't at war and Bloomfield should be shaking at it's foundations this year with the noise. Whether we're top, middle or bottom, it's football, we're tangerine and we're in the Championship.
What fucking shite timing for me to go on holiday though.
In a bit.
utmp
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment