Hmm, an SW19 update from the blue? How odd…
Actually, it isn’t. I’m away until the 15th June now, and updates will be rarer than an Aaron Sasu goal in the league.
This might be a good time to take stock of the close season so far, the post-whirlwind calm after the 25/26 storm.
Well, er, the PL pitch has hosted some charity games and some American Football. Along with the London Broncos.
And, um, we’re playing Sutton in a PSF on the 18th July, a fixture that even AFCW can’t be bothered to announce.
Mind you, I’m amused at the sponsor that the photo on the Sutton website has highlighted.
That’s kind of it at the moment. It’s properly close season and we haven’t had but a sniff of anything tangible.
No news on new signings, or anyone else leaving the club. Or even news on whether the players we’ve offered deals to want to come back next season.
At this time of year though, you’ve just got to be patient and don’t expect anything to happen any time soon.
The transfer window opens when I get back, so that’s two more weeks for you to enjoy the cricket/World Cup/not having to bother about the football.
Players and managerial staff will know that when deals can be done again, it’s lots of hard work phoning around and getting players to decide wearing blue-with-yellow-trim is a good career move.
If they’ve got any sense, they’re all on holiday right now.
That applies to the players we’ve offered deals to as well, although some may find it unsettling they haven’t rushed to sign up with us again.
I don’t know if they can re-sign before the transfer window opens, but if I’m being honest I half-expect all of them to be seeing who else comes in for them.
It will suck if that happens, but that’s something I think we should prepare for in the upcoming few weeks.
Whether they’re all likely to drop down a division I don’t know, but we might have got the best season out of them last campaign anyway.
Our current shirt sponsors had an advert many years ago that went something like – “The crowd love him, the board want to give him a new deal – you know he’s finished”.
If we’ve offered lower value contracts to some of them, that’s possibly why. Although I would ask if we don’t want to keep them why offer them new deals to begin with?
After all, there’s a danger they might actually sign them…
There’s the usual transfer rumour mill swirling about, though these days it’s not nearly as much fun now we’ve tightened up the leaks.
Is it true a certain podcast got their info from somebody who was on the coaching staff at the time?
There’s this, which I expect not to happen, and I’m struggling to find too many more speculative bits of bullshit.
The only other one was somebody suggesting JJ himself is on the St Mirren shortlist.
While it wouldn’t entirely surprise me to see our current manager in somebody else’s dugout for the start of next season, I do wonder if that particular window is closing rapidly.
A decent offer elsewhere will turn his head, of course, but the way he was speaking at the end of last season he’s already lining up next season with us.
Interesting times ahead in a couple of weeks time, and it’s a good time to say that I’ll be back from the 15th June onwards.
It’s worth just chilling out right now and switch off. Because by the time the pre-season starts again, you’ll be wishing for more non-AFCW time off…