‘So here we are again in the playground of the broken hearts’ is the start of a song by a band called Marillion, back in the day.
So it is with so many of our fans on Twitter (I refuse to call it ‘X’), spouting negativity pre-season when a club that isn’t us buys a potentially talented player who they’d never heard of the day before. Of course Leny Yoro (I had to look his name up) is a ‘generational talent’ etc, etc.
I quite like the way our club works. Of course I want new blood in the team. I’d like big money signings. There is a big ‘BUT’ though. We can’t have it all ways. We can’t bemoan state-owned clubs spending billions of pounds of sports washing ‘blood’ money and then complain that we’re not competing.
Our club tends to do things sensibly; given that possibly too sensibly at times. I actually think we’ve recruited pretty well so far in this pre-season. I’m not talking Arne Slot. I remain optimistic but it will take some considerable time to draw conclusions. I’m talking Michael Edwards, and then Julian Ward. Remember Edwards? Produced Fabinho from under the cloak of darkness and then. like a magician. turned a Philippe Coutinho who was having a tantrum wanting to leave into Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk with a few quid to spare. He also brought in Mo Salah for around £37 million, Andy Robbo for £8m and somehow managed to get £23.5m for Rhian Brewster, whom I never rated, based on the very brief times he actually came onto the pitch.
We also have a wage structure. Bringing in this kid (I’ve forgotten his name again) on £150k a week would upset too many of our squad. Keeping the squad happy and valued is so important.
So let United waste their millions. Let City pay their ill-gotten gains on inflated contracts. Hopefully they’ll get some kind of comeuppance, though I wouldn’t count on it.
So what about the Euros? I enjoyed it. Spain won it on merit, England had a few decent players (mainly left sat on the bench) but were never the ‘generational’ team many enthused about. They were also managed by a very, very nice bloke who from what I saw repeatedly told Jordan Pickford to ‘kick it as far as you can’, or maybe it was simply Pickford’s muscle memory from playing at Everton. Gareth Southgate seems to have broken down some barriers, which is to his credit, but is no tactical genius.
Did I support them? Sorry folks, I did. A bit. If the England team is good enough for the likes of Trent, Stevie, Emlyn, it’ll do for me. Supporting without any residual pain is such an easy pastime compared to our games.
So, a mere four weeks to go until ‘real’ footy starts again. I hope I can survive. The Open (golf) is doing it for me this weekend, then the Olympics. I’ve always got LFC TV to go back to old goals, friendlies (no they DON’T matter) and I’ll probably watch the Barca game again.
Good luck surviving, folks. You’re all doing well.
If you like Dr Andy Hershon’s writing, check out his book – 15 Minutes With You: Tips on Medical Consulation and Other Musings
