Whilst I have been caught up in the “World Cup Bug” that is
still sweeping the globe, I now also have thoughts turned towards the start of
the new season in August. As soon as the winning team lifts the World Cup
Trophy in the Maracana on July 13th, attention then turns
immediately to club teams going through their run of pre-season fixtures before
the competitive games kick-off next month.
Already I am excited about what the new season has in store
for everyone. Regardless of how well a team is predicted to do over the course
of the campaign, most supporters seem to have a sense of optimism at this time
of the year and believe that their team can go on to accomplish great things. I
too am no different, last season my club Southend United came ever so close to
achieving promotion to League One, but just ended up missing out in the end
after a League Two Play-Off Semi-Final defeat to Burton Albion. At the time the
defeat was frustrating and a little hard to stomach, but now over a month on
from the result I have confidence that we can bounce back from it even stronger
this season and make another challenge for promotion.
The club have already cleared out the players that manager
Phil Brown deemed surplus to requirements at the end of the last campaign and
the remainder of squad returned to training this week after their summer break.
So far we have made one new addition to the team, winger Myles Weston joined
after his contract with Gillingham expired and he gives us a new option on the
left-hand side of the pitch after Anthony Straker’s departure to York City.
Weston is a former England Under-19 international and a player I do rate after
seeing him put in some good displays for Notts County and Brentford in previous
years. At only 26, I think he is capable of great things at this level and
hopefully he can turn out to be one of our key performers this season.
The addition of Weston is promising, but we do of course
need more new players if we are to really challenge again. The club did try and
sign defenders John Egan and Jakub Sokolik on permanent deals after impressive
spells on loan last season, but Sokolik recently joined Yeovil Town and Egan
has just signed a deal with Gillingham, so that means we now need to look
elsewhere in that department. We were also linked with midfielder John-Joe
O’Toole but he has just completed a move to Northampton Town. With any luck, we
will have more players on our radar that we do not know about yet that will
hopefully be signed up as soon as possible so we can incorporate them into our
current setup quickly and efficiently so that they are all ready and raring to
go for the first game of the season against Accrington Stanley on August 9th.
As well as adding, it is also important to retain. Many
supporters feared that missing out on promotion would mean players such as
Daniel Bentley, Kevan Hurst and Ryan Leonard would likely leave the club if
good enough offers came in for them. So far all three have returned to
pre-season training with the rest of the team and no known offers have come in
for any of them. It is worth noting that Hurst and Leonard both signed new
contracts during the second half of last season and I firmly believe that all
three men are committed to us and our cause for the coming season, but
ultimately given the level the club is playing at, income is generally very
low, and if a good enough offer comes in then we may have to grudgingly accept
that they have to move on as that helps ensure that the club itself still
continues to maintain financial stability and ensures that it has a future in
the game.
The way we play will also be key in knowing whether or not
we stand a better chance of getting promotion this time around. Last season
Phil Brown often had us playing with a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 system which allowed us
to pack the midfield area but required our wingers to work even harder to
ensure that our lone striker had enough support going forward. It’s a system
that works for teams that play at a higher level, but when I watched us play
Bury back in March it did not seem as effective for us. It may have been that
we just were not able to use it as well because we were in the middle of a
winless run at the time and confidence would have been low, and that is
something else we need to ensure does not happen this time around if we are to
have a successful campaign. So ultimately, it is up to the manager and his
coaching staff to work hard and ensure that we come up with a playing style and
system that will work successfully throughout the course of the whole season,
and any problems that we encounter are solved as quickly as possible to ensure
they don’t leave us struggling to gain enough points to see us over the line
towards the end of the season.
To conclude, whilst there is still a lot of work to do, I am
hopeful for the new season and believe that with a few more quality additions
to the side, we will definitely be near the top of the table again by the time
May rolls around. I am also hopeful that despite living over 400 miles away in
Edinburgh, I will possibly be able to take in our first home games against
Stevenage and Wimbledon in August, and fingers crossed regardless of whether I
am there or not, we pick up 6 points from the two games and help get the season
off to the best possible start.
