SILLY SEASON - THE NEW BOARD GAME
Ok so its not yet a proper board game, but it might as well be.
Its that time of year football fans hate, the long wait between the end of one season & the start of another.
In years gone by this was normally a subdued period for foxes fans. A time to think what might have been& sometimes what nearly was.
There would be a few bright lights in the dark years.
For those of us old enough to remember the Bloomfield era there was the excitement of which new exciting player would be arriving at Filbert Street. The party was well & truly pissed on by a certain Frank McClintock.
We then endured some dark close seasons with only the odd glimmer of a bright summer singing in the guise of Mark Draper the £1m midfielder signed by Brian Little.
But this was to prove a 'Candle In The Wind' which was soon blown out until the arrival of the God like figure of Martin O'Neill.
Close seasons during the O'Neill reign became very predictable. At the end of the season you could pack your bags and go off on your summer holiday in the safe knowledge that you wouldn't miss any transfer dealings as long as you were back about 10 days before the new season kicked off.
The you would look at your PC or TV screen in total disbelief. OK Martin had made some signings but who the hell were they?
Even when he signed a 'name' it was some guy called 'Cottee' who had been plying his trade in the exciting world of Malaysian football.
Oh but how we were always wrong. Yes we were paying upwards of £1m for the likes of a guy called Elliott from Oxford United but that was the going rate for a lower league player when you were in the premiership yourself.
As history has shown, in O'Neil we learnt to trust & he rarely let us down.
The same could not be said of the next incumbent of the managers chair. A certain Mr Peter Taylor.
In fairness a great coach when he had someone else's team & players but a shite manager when it came to buying players.
This is one close season that should be closed and never reopened.
If spotting talent from lower leagues is a managerial requirement then Taylor should have gone to specsavers.
It all went a bot dull and boring after that. Most managers didn't even last long enough to enjoy a close season and the Levein buys are something else best consigned to the memory waste bin.
Ah butt hen Milan Mandaric came a riding into town in his Group 4 security van full of money. Ah oh did Martin Allen go and spend it. He was like the proverbial cat dazzled in the car headlights.
During that particular close season we were on Sky Sports News more than some adverts.
Hardly a day when by when I didn't come home from work to find us being linked with another player or with actually buying another player.
But thats where it all went wrong.
Firstly players prices went up by at least a 1/3rd when Milan knocked on their door & secondly all the so called 'big' names who's Premiership playing days were drawing to an end saw Leicester City as their one last big payday.
As i said at the time we became the retirement home for ex Premiership players.
Players who liked i said, were after one last pay day, had no pride for the club they were actually playing for and felt they had nothing to prove.
Sound familiar?
We now have MORE money behind us with the Thai's & the fact that we have a manager of Eriksson's standing I feel the price & players we get may take us back to the Allen era.
Its that time of year football fans hate, the long wait between the end of one season & the start of another.
In years gone by this was normally a subdued period for foxes fans. A time to think what might have been& sometimes what nearly was.
There would be a few bright lights in the dark years.
For those of us old enough to remember the Bloomfield era there was the excitement of which new exciting player would be arriving at Filbert Street. The party was well & truly pissed on by a certain Frank McClintock.
We then endured some dark close seasons with only the odd glimmer of a bright summer singing in the guise of Mark Draper the £1m midfielder signed by Brian Little.
But this was to prove a 'Candle In The Wind' which was soon blown out until the arrival of the God like figure of Martin O'Neill.
Close seasons during the O'Neill reign became very predictable. At the end of the season you could pack your bags and go off on your summer holiday in the safe knowledge that you wouldn't miss any transfer dealings as long as you were back about 10 days before the new season kicked off.
The you would look at your PC or TV screen in total disbelief. OK Martin had made some signings but who the hell were they?
Even when he signed a 'name' it was some guy called 'Cottee' who had been plying his trade in the exciting world of Malaysian football.
Oh but how we were always wrong. Yes we were paying upwards of £1m for the likes of a guy called Elliott from Oxford United but that was the going rate for a lower league player when you were in the premiership yourself.
As history has shown, in O'Neil we learnt to trust & he rarely let us down.
The same could not be said of the next incumbent of the managers chair. A certain Mr Peter Taylor.
In fairness a great coach when he had someone else's team & players but a shite manager when it came to buying players.
This is one close season that should be closed and never reopened.
If spotting talent from lower leagues is a managerial requirement then Taylor should have gone to specsavers.
It all went a bot dull and boring after that. Most managers didn't even last long enough to enjoy a close season and the Levein buys are something else best consigned to the memory waste bin.
Ah butt hen Milan Mandaric came a riding into town in his Group 4 security van full of money. Ah oh did Martin Allen go and spend it. He was like the proverbial cat dazzled in the car headlights.
During that particular close season we were on Sky Sports News more than some adverts.
Hardly a day when by when I didn't come home from work to find us being linked with another player or with actually buying another player.
But thats where it all went wrong.
Firstly players prices went up by at least a 1/3rd when Milan knocked on their door & secondly all the so called 'big' names who's Premiership playing days were drawing to an end saw Leicester City as their one last big payday.
As i said at the time we became the retirement home for ex Premiership players.
Players who liked i said, were after one last pay day, had no pride for the club they were actually playing for and felt they had nothing to prove.
Sound familiar?
We now have MORE money behind us with the Thai's & the fact that we have a manager of Eriksson's standing I feel the price & players we get may take us back to the Allen era.
But wait.....
Here is not the place to go into individual signings. Leicester & Sven are being linked with just about every available player & some that are supposedly not available. I would be hear all day discussing the merits of individual buys.
We have been linked on more than one occasion with Michael Owen, but this could be a bit like the David Beckham story of mid season. Heskey is another ex England player linked. But again here we go being linked with ex this & ex them...
But wait again....
Sven has stated he would like to buy or re loan most of the loanees he ended the season with.
These were young players who might not get a chance with their parent club (ala a certain Muzzy Izzet) & he has also been linked with Paul Bignot from err... Newport County!!
So yes it appears Sven has almost an open chequebook, and whatever we think Sven is he is certainly no Martin Allen.
I met Martin Allen & he was a truly nice guy to me & especially to my young son, but he was way out of his depth when it came to his one close season with City & Milan's cheque book. Despite his standing his ground re the reported Milan backed signing of
Hasselbank, he did sign virtually a whole new team of players in a mad few months spending spree.
Sven is used to handling big signings & having money to spend, so I honestly believe he WILL spend it wisely.
He may not get it 100% right but then even a certain Sir Alex has got it wrong on 1 or 2 occasions, but he will NOT go mad a al SPEND SPEND SPEND pools winner Viv Nicholson (ask your dad) & will spend carefully & shrewdly.
Now the players that may leave.... well thats a whole different blog....
IN SVEN WE TRUST
FOZZA1 / LTID EDITOR
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