Who's on first ?

Confirmation that times are hard as Ladbrokes are now operating out of Trap 2 in the East Stand

Who's on first, what's on second........it was something akin to that on Tuesday night as I tried to get my head round all the new signings. Kick off was delayed for 5 minutes as the crowd and in some cases the players were introduced to each other. The lack of names on shirts wasn't helping me either but I knew who Elliot was at least.

Most acquitted themselves quite well perhaps save for Mr Wiggins........have we signed Bradley ? If he doesn't perk up he too will be on his bike. Things didn't go well from the start for him.....number one son observed " he's got a good throw " only for him then to produce one the worst foul throws you'll ever see. Clean through in acres of space towards the end of the first half and Wiggy put in a cross that found Steward No. 258 by the corner flag.......oh dear ! Still give the lad time, he's not that bad.

BWP seemed quite lively and a tad more mobile allied to what seemed a better work ethic which bodes well and he took his goal with aplomb. Hayes showed some nice touches and held the ball up well, however, he needs to shot more when in good positions and be more direct. In addition, he seemed off the pace at times and reacted late when his instinct should have been to get into better positions.........had he done so he could have had 2 goals at least.

The bench was a personal nightmare containing as it did the remaining players I want to see out the door.....Benson, Francis, Doherty and Wagstaff. It seems we can't give or indeed pay someone to take Francis away !

There are genuine fears for the depth of the squad and getting rid of Llera is looking like a bad move and I'd rather see him there than Doherty. Hopefully that and the need for at least one more stirker will be addressed.

I got a sense of deja vu with Jackson playing on the left....reminders of Parky with Nicky Bailey. Jackson is so more suited to the middle and offered little width on the left. Powell must decide who's best in the middle and play them....it'll do my head in if we have to endure another season of playing players because they're ok but out of position where they're not effective. Mind you I'm not sure who else can play on the left save for Harriott now that Reidy has left the building.

It seemed as though we were trying to play football but the midfield dropped deep time and again to collect the ball and that wasn't good to see. Can't understand why you'd pass the ball to a team-mate who's standing next to you or why you wouldn't attack open space to at least draw a player in.

I know I sound I right miserable old ba**ard but I've high hopes and believe these players are capable of producing better. After all Brighton adopted a simple method playing with no greater calibre of players and they did ok.

So the team are off to the Toolbox on Saturday. Why we are playing them I've no idea. I'd have gone to almost any other ground and I dare say others will feel the same............I've no wish to go there. Our team and fans will get dogs abuse and why we opened ourselves upto that God knows. Not a very sensible decision.

Change Management

We won't need to worry about the relapse bit......will we ?

Early this morning the janitor made his way down to the bowels of ANEM towers, brushed aside some cobwebs, kicked a few rats and forcefully opened the door to room 101. There it was, the old PC ( not Dixon of Dock Green kids ) but the DELL. Gingerly, I fired it up........oh err ! Hey presto and we're off and running again......well blogging again anyway.

Glancing at a tear-stained copy of the last programme I note that there have been a few changes in personnel since then. Certainly the arrivals lounge has been busy but then again the departures lounge hasn't been a lonely place either. I wasn't sad to see McCormack go and he's probably one of the reasons behind Mick McCarthy's thinking in getting someone in to chat to his players about the perils of Twitter.

I'm not really disheartened or saddened by any of those that have left save for Semedo and Stewart but one never expected them to stay. I'd like to see Benson and Francis go too plus Wagstaff who never does it for me and may command a decent fee.

We were led to believe that there really wasn't much money to spend on new players, however, it seems that was a bit of kidology and further to that there has been significant investment in staff other than the playing variety. All good news and by and large pretty sound acquisitions I'd say.

We still need a couple more players and I hope that Euell will be one of them.....he would be good for us at this level.

I'm so excited by the prospect of this new season and will be there for tonight's game against the Dutch. I'll need to keep referring to the programme, assuming there is one, as I'm strugling to keep up with the new players. 

It seems from what I read that we are looking to " do a Brighton " to paraphrase the great Curbs ! They proved you can play decent football in this division and get promoted..........let's pray that we can do the same.

The baord have gien Powell his head and he will have to deliver and I'm sure he's aware of that. I guess that we'll hear and read a lot about the team needing time to gel.........hmm that's been the club's catchphrase for the last 3 or 4 seasons now it seems. They need to do it quickly.

I hope that renewed optimism results in a good attendance tonight and more importantly has a knock-on effect in season ticket sales.

As I said, well wrote anyway, I'm pretty excited by the prospect of the new season starting with toinght's game. Prior to that I'm visiting some old haunts....my parents grave not least amongst them ( not an intentional gag but I'm leaving it in anyway ). I'll go to my old schools in Bexleyheath and Erith, my childhood home and probably visit my mates's parents who never seem to get any older although I suspect they are. 

Living as I do in Milton Keynes I don't often get to do this as it's an early start for match days at the Valley especially when travelling by train. Having just started the 6 week school holidays allows me to do so today. I can visit the greengrocers where legend has it Keith Peacock or Billy Bonds used to live above or something. Happy days !

Can Sir Chris do the business this season ? I sure hope so because I really want him to succeed. It's all down to how he oversees the change management or there'll be a change in management. I'm really up for this and it should be good fun !