JULY 2018
One of the first things I tried to do is find a solution for my problem up front. And the solution was...there is no solution! At least not when you're broke and miserable. Nevertheless, I decided to give young Eddie Brown a chance to see if he could offer us anything at this stage of his career:
And as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures:
So, we're off to training camp.
Meanwhile, % of transfers I could actually used dropped even more, now to only 35%. We already had no money, but could spend about 250-300k of our wage budget, so I sent a couple of offers and all we can now do is wait. And celebrate as two aged and barely useful players were on their last 6 months of contract, so we were 6 months away from additional 600k in our wage budget. Well, suddenly I'm looking forward to January transfer loan window.
Enough chit-chat. Time to play our first game and it's Scunthorpe Utd. I decided to put my preferable line-up and see how'll they do and what I could hope for in the future. So, it's:
GK: Alnwick
DR: Olkowski
DL: Taylor
DC: Beevers
DC: Wheater (c)
DM: Lowe
MC: Vela
AMC: Oztumer
AMR: Noone
AML: Ameobi
ST: Bent
We started off nicely in the first 20 mins or so, with Vela under the spotlight for creating two great chances for Bent and Oztumer and also having a fantastic shot denied by their keeper. And just when it seemed our pressure wouldn't pay off, Oztumer took a corner kick and found Craig Noone who netted the ball with a bit of help from their defender. 1-0 to The Whites. Only 4 mins later, same players - different roles. A clever assist by Noone and a strong finish by Erhun Oztumer. We were flying high. George Thomas pulled one back for Utd before half-time, but a very good half overall.
No changes at HT but they were soon forced as Scunthorpe equalised from a 25-yards free kick. Brown and Buckley replaced Bent and Ameobi who really didn't do much and I was eager to see what we could do with some extra pace up front. But at the 66th minute the turnaround was complete, Thomas crossed the ball and Colclough brilliantly turned our defence like a fidget spinner and it was 3-2. Damn.
I subbed both my full-backs in order to freshen up the wings but it didn't do much. Eddie had a chance but couldn't go past the keeper and Vela had a good shot saved in the dying minutes before they scored again after a terrible mistake by Alnwick. FT 4-2. Let's take some positives, our midfield looked really good and 2 out of 4 goals we conceded were a bit unlucky. On to the next one.
On the very next day, we made our first signing, brining Diangana on a loan from West Ham.
2nd game of the pre-season, another L1 team, Peterborough United. Ireland and Williams were in for Oztumer and Vela.
And about 8 minutes into the game it became painfully obvious that Darren Bent just won't do. We really needed a striker who could bring something to the way we play but he was just past his best and only looking how to tap the ball. It was his terrible pass that opened their counter-attack and we were 1-0 down before the 10-minute mark. Bent made up for his error though, beating the keeper at near post after a great run and cross by Olkowski down the right flank. A minute later we were 2-1 down after another poor judgment by Ben Alnwick. Both Williams and Taylor missed some sitters and Noone had his free kick denied by the post. HT 2-1.
Brown for Bent and off we go. Another terrible, terrible mistake from Alnwick who gives away a free kick. What is going on with this guy? 12 minutes into the half, Williams gets his hands on the ball after a corner and blasts it into the net, 2-2! Brilliant stuff. We try to spice things up with Diangana on the right while Noone switches flank but not before they score their third after a lucky deflection off Beevers. Ireland had his shot denied by the post and Noone missed an easy chance. FT 3-2. 7 goals conceded in two games, yet 4 of them were extremely unlucky and we had a lot of possession at our feet. Oh, well.
3rd game and pretty much the whole line-up had to change. Vela and Oz were back, while Matthews, Hobbs, Grounds, Wilson, Little, Murphy, Buckley, Diangana and Donaldson made their first starts of the season.
But our lack of luck continued, we were 2-0 down after 25 mins and both goals were just ridiculous. Diangana pulled one back before the HT in a poor half overall. We had 64% poss but a real lack of effort in the final third. Poor marking from Wilson gave MK Dons a third goal before Donaldson flicked the ball towards Diangana who brilliantly served it to Oztumer, 3-2. Great attack, the stuff I really want to see. It kept going and 10 mins before the whistle Little crossed the ball from deep and Donaldson was the man to roll it into the net. Great stuff again and a well-deserved draw.
It was obvious from these games that we create a lot, but concede a lot as well. It's just the way I like to play. The defence needs the time to get sorted and it's one of the reasons why this is gonna be a tough season. It's an absolute key to the whole story. If we can stay up, it can only go better from there.
4th game, Bradford City and a huge signing made. Zelalem joined us from Arsenal on a season-long deal. We needed a creative AM to support Oztumer and I don't think we had any better option out there. This kid is good.
Now, I've decided to make three changes. First, Alnwick was benched for his horrendous errors in the previous games. Second, I put Williams on a DMC position as I felt he could pose a threat when lurking outside their area. And third, I pushed Grounds a little bit further up the pitch as the guy can cross the damn ball.
And it all paid off. We had a brilliant 1st half, not allowing them a single shot on goal in the process. Oz scored a stunner after cutting from the right and 20 mins later my man Pawel Olkowski blasted the ball after a fine cross by Grounds. We had some huge, huge chances, but their keeper was excellent. Many reasons for optimism at HT.
Vela picked up a knock so it was a chance for Zelalem to make a debut. I switched his role to AP hoping that he and Oz could create something up there, but 2 mins later we gave a stupid goal after a bad mistake by Matthews. Do I need a GK now?? We didn't lose our grip and kept attacking and it paid off when Noone cut inside, played the ball outside the box to Zelalem who placed it in the opposite corner. Brilliant way to introduce yourself! Game, set and match and we won our first game.
As most players were pretty tired, I was pissed off I couldn't cancel that last game against Sunderland, which came only two days after the match against Bradford. Nevertheless, I let my assistent go through it and we drew 2-2, with Bent and Ameobi on the scoresheet. As Bent got an assist as well (and it was his second one, along with two goals he scored in total) I actually thought about keeping him a little longer, but he broke his foot and got himself out for 5 months so that story was over.
That's it for the training camp. Here are some of my conclusions:
+ we are a lot more dangerous with Williams in the team but Lowe brings us aggresion and is good for last 25-30 mins in games we are winning
+ Diangana and Noone are our best wingers, with Ameobi coming off the bench
+ Oztumer is by far the best player we have
- both our GK had a shit phase 1 of pre-season
- our strikers are shit
So, three positives and two negatives. Not too bad.
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In the next post:
Final two weeks of pre-season
Start of the season (both CH and League Cup)
Finalizing the transfers
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