Reflections

As it's (hooray) a rainy day, I thought I'd take the opportunity to have a cathertic muse on the season gone, and what's to come.

The season gone is best consigned to the dustbin. Not in any way an original thought, but true. Worthington should have gone in the close season and a new man appointed with a clear mandate to sort out the rubbish in the squad and build a platform at least for next season, if not a play-off place this season. Instead, Worthy is sacked after the transfer window is shut, and we appoint Peter Grant who, although a fairly experienced coach, has no managerial record. We have to wait til February, or whenever it was, to bring in some help in the shape of Jim Duffy, who I think knows what a good player is like, but whose own managerial experience is not overwhelmingly glittering.

It's not a glowing assessment of the Board, is it? The football, at best, has been patchy, and the season's successes amount to consistent performances from a 38 year old and from Hux, something promising from the ever promising Shackell, who at 24 should be realising the promise by now, and some hopeful performances by the likes of Martin and Spillane. Of the manager's signings, Lappin is well worth the £100k and I thought Marshall looked very good, and I hope he signs for next year, even if it's on a year's loan.

My own view is that Grant is talking up Etuhu's transfer value with all this pish about pro-zone statistics. Who was it who said "there are lies, damned lies and statistics" So what, if he runs 11 kilometres per game, it's the outcome that matters, and for me, 7 or 8 good games out of 40-odd doesn't add up to much. I also think they'll sell Earnshaw, because that would be almost like a parachute payment, but the key will be whether or not money raised is re-invested in the team, or not.

I agree with Grant that we need 6 new players, minimum, for next season. I would certainly hope that one of them is Marshall, or if not, then Camp or Alexander would be good. A good centre half is an absolute must, and there is a lot of talk that Russell Anderson may not re-sign for Aberdeen. One would hope that Gunny has enough pull in Sheep land to persuade the boy to give it a go here. Other talk has centred around Julien Brellier, and if Duffy ever actually got to meet the players in his 4 weeks at Hearts, he may be able to persuade him here. He's a holding midfielder par excellence, and along with a new creative midfielder (who, I don't know) the engine of our team could get going again. I am assuming, although it may not be so, That Ostembor is a done deal. From then on I think we need a good winger as I don't think Croft is good enough as a first pick, and I'm worried about how injury prone Chadwick might be. Derby are apparently ready to let Gary Teale go, so maybe he'd be worth a shout. If we sell Earnshaw, then we need a good centre forward, who can do some hold up play and score goals. Again, I'm struggling to think of anyone (I doubt that Chris Brown is the answer). Pray God, not Dele Adebole. Add in a back up left back and maybe another keeper to help Lewis stake a place (Danny Coyne?) and we might just have a squad capable of competing. I'd want to see the back of Gallacher, Hughes and Colin and hope we might get some decent money for Etuhu and Earnshaw. Hopefully, Donkerty will be loaned out in the autumn with a view to a permanent move to wherever would be daft enough.

Finally, investment. It would be good if we could find an investor who actually cares about the club and the game. When I saw proprty speculator on another post, I though, "Oh s**t, not Chase", but clearly that's not a worry. I might be a dinasaur, but I really hate the idea of all these American pop corn magnates taking over our game. Before you know if there'll be a European "Super League" and we'll be playing our football on Friday nights in the summer. Witness Murdoch's rape of Rugby League and remember that that bastard has a huge say in what happens to football through Sky.

Right, back to sleep.

Posted By: Jambocanary, May 7, 12:12:31