ALMOST THERE

 

With only three weeks to go until the big kick off, the pre-season build up has been somewhat subdued. The lack of games and transfer activity has left things feeling a little flat for now. But that will all change shortly with a glut of games on the horizon for the Blues. A friendly in Germany v Hamburg, a EUFA cup 2nd leg tie at Barnsley against AB Steymar closely followed by trips to Stockport, Celtic and a Thomas Cook Trophy game v A C Milan to conclude the build up to the new season. Once these games have been played we may have a better picture of what lies ahead for us long suffering Blues. Friendlies are in the main no more than that and are not a true barometer of things to come. Getting carried away or even despondent over such results is pretty pointless but football fans being what they are milk it when they win but dismiss them as meaningless fixtures when the resuls go the other way.

 

The Premiership transfer markey is pretty low key for now. Newspaper speculation has this and that player moving here there and everywhere but for now it really is a case of wait and see. City were recently involved in the race to secure the services of Barca and Brazilian ace Ronaldihno and though it is refreshing to see City competing at this level of transfer activity i breathed a sigh of relief at our failure to secure his signature. At 28 years of age and a recent record of poor form I'm not convinced that in footballing terms he would have had the desired impact on the team. There was also the danger that the fee and reported wages could have created discord amongst the other players. The transfer of the said Brazilian may have raised questions as to who was actually signing the player. Was it Shinawatra or Hughes? If it was the former then I don't believe that is the way forward and such a precedent could have eventually undermined the authority of the manager.

 

On the transfer front, most fans I've spoke to recently have a sense of disappointment that transfer activity has been relatively non existent except for Jo. My response to peoples concerns are that we have until the end of August to sign or sell players. By this time the manager will have a better picture of the situation.Hopefully backed with a series of good results in the EUFA qualifiers and definite qualification this all adds to the clubs profile and yet another asset when trying to sell the club to any potential new comer. So don't despair just yet. Let's see how things go and let's pass judgement as August nears it's end.

Geoff Stevenson

 

                     

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