And nine more months ahead…
Ah, it’s nice to be back. Not just updating SW19, but football as well. Actual, proper, in-the-flesh football that manages to matter even when it doesn’t.
Admittedly, I would have felt differently had we lost today, and it hadn’t finished National League 1 Football League 2, so I suppose I can be happy with quite a few things.
And yes, it’s pre-season, so in the words of a certain former manager of ours – it’s solely about fitness.
That certain former manager was Terry Brown, of course, trying to downplay the awful pre-season campaign that eventually cost him his job,
It’s very easy to ignore the warning signs this time of year can bring up, although today in 2026 there was enough to be getting on with.
There’s still enough to sort out, but since I last updated, Seddon has decided to re-sign, and Tilley is back too.
In the latter’s case, I think some players just seem to “fit” at a club, and I’m not surprised he’s got three years with us.
Not that today was all sweetness and light. Indeed, it got off to a shitty start without us even going behind.
Stevens was listed to start, warmed up fine, and he then either didn’t take to the field (despite featuring in the warm-up) or he did but lasted between 60 seconds and 6 minutes.
Apart from that setback (and a little bit more on that a bit later), we showed some nice moves. Hell, we even managed to have one cleared off the line.
Defence wise, we were OK, maybe a bit flat footed on occasion but Sweeney looks like a good upgrade.
He could be useful at either end of the pitch – indeed, you can well imagine him getting a last minute equaliser at Luton with a towering header from a corner.
The aforementioned Tilley hit the post, at other moments we decided to do the usual non-HAFSOG which is something I hope doesn’t carry on into the proper campaign.
The second half came and we got a penalty (the impressive youngster Hedges impressively got the foul which was impressive for somebody impressively young. And I’ll stop using “impressive” or its related adverb after the next paragraph).
Sadly, Browne’s penalty wasn’t so impressive. Indeed, it wouldn’t have looked out of place at the World Cup.
Even less impressively (sorry) we soon went 1-0 behind, after a cross which was headed off the bar and in.
It was then that there was a major personnel change, and I kind-of lost interest in the game. Well, almost – my traditional irritation at another shit performance at GGL reappeared far too early in the season.
Still, it ended on a high note. Zack Nelson finished to make it 1-1, and him and Nkeng were linking up quite well.
And low and behold, it was the latter who got us our second penalty. Up stepped Hippo, who had the radical idea of a straightforward run up and a no-nonsense strike, and we all went home happy.
Pre-season. Can’t beat it.
Is that enough for this section? Oh, you want to know about whether we looked OK or not.
To be fair, when it’s pre-season they’re not going at full pelt. I think some of the fitness slowed it down, especially around the time we went behind, and there’s always ring rustiness.
There’s some decent link up play, one or two decent moves, and while I can’t be bothered to wait around to find out JJ’s thoughts, I think we can be content with the afternoon.
Which leads us onto…
Plus points: We won. Good finish by Nelson. Hippo knowing how to score a penalty. Decent promise by Sweeney.
Minus points: Stevens’ injury. Browne’s spot kick. Their goal.
The referee’s a…: Look, it’s pre-season. Even he can’t be a total idiot at this time of the season. Which, to be fair, he wasn’t.
Them: I think I always say the same thing whenever we play them in this sort of fixture – they treat it more like a competitive game than we do.
Which might be one of the reasons why we arrange it in the first place. That and it’s about four miles from Plough Lane.
I didn’t realise Will Nightingale was with them nowadays, although I can’t say we’ve dipped out him departing. Even if he is one of our own.
They tried hard against us, although I think our superior fitness (and let’s be honest – skill level too) overcame them.
The other thing I always seem to say is that I still can’t believe they were ever an EFL club.
The away bit of GGL could come straight out of National League South, even down to the graffiti-ed up turnstile entrances.
I suppose it just reconfirmed my long-held view that Sutton are culturally a non-league club who got their big chance in the EFL.
We did take the opportunity to remind them that they fucked up their time in the 91 Club, although there is a little bit of a rivalry these days.
Hence their reply that they hated the bastards in yellow and blue (hint: they’re not talking about Shrewsbury) and that Omar Bugiel left us because we’re shit.
Perhaps not one of the better efforts considering the timeline of clubs he played for. Although to our (mis)credit, we did reply with “You have to live here, we get to go home”
Urm, guys…
Point to ponder: Are we already going to have to prepare for a season without relying on Matty Stevens?
It’s either bad luck or something more eyebrow raising that his cameo today hardly lasted.
Now, he could well be struggling with an injury, which isn’t a good sign for the campaign ahead. But the suggestion he could be off and we’re “resting” him sounds plausible too.
Every football player is at risk either in a game or on the training ground (or if you’re Lurch, dropping a salad cream bottle on your foot), but to go off after less than 10 minutes is… odd.
One wonders if this will force us to double down on our plans for the rest of this transfer window?
During SW19’s downtime, Craig Cope (PBUH) mentioned that we’ll be dipping into the loan market, and I won’t be surprised if a forward is now a top priority.
We’ve lost Bugiel, Stevens I’m not sure about right now, and you have to assume Browne and Hippo will go as soon as a chequebook is waved in front of us.
Plus Foyo seems to be missing as well. Injured? Out of favour? Suspended again for watching a Ladbrokes advert on telly while at home?
Today, although it ended well, you could tell we need somebody who has some idea where the goal is.
This performance doesn’t tell us anything up front we didn’t know already, and I expect Cope and JJ himself to be preparing for the usual presentations for lending players.
Not that a loan striker is necessarily a bad thing one bit – I’d rather have somebody who knows how to score than somebody who is “ours” and yet doesn’t…
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) We won at Sutton. Wonders will never cease. 2) The COVID-era social distancing signs still up. Insert quip about attendances here. 3) Anti-Steve Parish sticker outside ground. Yes, the CEO of that Crystal Palace FC who won the Europa Conference.
Anything else? I might have mentioned it in passing, but it is nice to be back again.
While I wasn’t upset at last season being consigned to history, it came off the back of quite an intense 24 months (don’t forget we barely had a pre-season this time last year).
So we’ve needed the break, which is why today had a bit of freshness about it – even if a lot of the squad are still here.
We’ve kept most of the players who did a decent job when they were fit, added at least one decent upgrade on first impressions, and we might be ready for the next months after all.
The staff in particular probably needed the break, have a bit of time to think things over, that kind of thing.
And the time is right to be back watching games again, World Cup notwithstanding.
Hell, we only had one hydration break, which was actually for hydration because it was hot. Presumably because they can’t sell adverts at that interval.
Granted, a lot of people are away, and many others just don’t bother with pre-season, but 400 or so of us in SM1 would have had a decent enough afternoon.
Even if one of our fans wasn’t too happy with the stewards when the closed off terrace was un-closed 30 minutes into the fixture…
So, was it worth it? It’s pre-season, what do you think?
In a nutshell: Champions by Christmas.