JimtheBlue
Player Valuation: Free Transfer
Three points. Happy days. But it left me feeling a bit underwhelmed and unfulfilled. Like being a child watching your Dad coming out of the sweet shop with a bag of jelly babies; slightly drooling and full of anticipation for the sugary delights ahead - only to see him devour the whole bag and you ending up with only the lower torso of one which had fallen onto the pavement. Is that it? I’ve waited over a week, built my hopes up, for that?
We appeared for much of the game to be almost devoid of attacking ideas. The only time we truly looked to be pushing forward was when Pickford would launch the ball up field. Ah, thinks I, that’s what their end looks like.
All the more disappointing as I thought the early Richy goal would cast the shackles of inertia off and see us give a Flashman like hiding to the south coast version of Tom Brown.
We increasingly look content to play the ‘Ray Wilkins crab’, which is sadly not a song, more a dance craze with plenty of repetitive moves. Goalkeeper to defender. Onto the dance floor with your mate feeling confident due to the ten Stellas you’ve had. Defender to defensive midfielder. Loosen up and throw a few shapes out there, letting the ladies know what’s in store. Defensive midfielder back to defender. Er, no one of the opposite gender is even remotely interested in what increasingly appears to be some form of mild epilepsy. Defender back to goalkeeper. The girls think I’m gay coz I’ve been dancing with my mate for so long, so I’ll shuffle off and confidently nod at my mates as if I’ve had the eye and she’ll be over soon. Goalkeeper to defender, ad nauseam. I’ll have another beer, that’ll be the game changer.
By this stage I’m looking at the awnings over the seats in the stadia wondering if I’d just seen my face on one of them. Nah, they want to attract viewers.
Ok, maybe I’m a little too critical, but it does seem like this at times. The spark of creativity is missing. It’s like the cartoon guy where his light bulb comes on and he then makes his great idea come to fruition; except when we’re flicking the switch to ‘on’ the filament is dead. We seem confidence free when it comes to attempting to be creative. When James plays he has no such qualms, being inventive and expansive, but then also sadly disappearing for equal parts of the game like a Victorian stage magician. Currently, if James is out, then only Digne seems to offer us attacking outlets.
Worryingly our midfield lacks any real pace. Allan looks like he’s pulling an anvil behind him and Gomes would be hard pushed to out sprint Thora Hird.
We need to drop the ‘safety at all costs’ mode for an evolving style that’s more positive and progressive. We started the season playing attractively, what happened? I know Carlo will be working on it, and with wins, come confidence, and that makes me hope we’ll be a bit easier on the eye soon.
I no longer have to defend our defence. Whatever combination takes the field, they look solid. I still don’t feel comfortable with the deep line we play for free kicks and corners; it looks so haphazard, congested and chaotic. But the other side of the coin was seen in the vulnerabilities of Southampton playing a high line offside trap, which looks as porous as the post iceberg Titanic.
Great to see Jordan making critical saves again. His confidence seems to be seeping back and he’s exuding an aura of much needed calmness. I am now no longer cringing with fear every time the opposition is on the edge of our box, just slightly cowering with a semi grimace. By this time next month I may be fully upright and neutral in facial expression when a cross is delivered. Is his change in fortunes weirdly linked to him letting his hair grow a bit? Like Samson, he appears to be getting (mentally) stronger the longer it gets. The mistakes are hopefully evaporating and the key saves returning. As much as I detest man buns and pony tails I’ll happily endure them on our keeper if he ends up as a hirsute version of Big Nev.
The solid game plan we had against Liverpool, and in a lot of our superb away results, seems to fly out the changing room window once we get to within L4. It’s as if we’ve been transported to Azkaban rather than Goodison, and the dementors are feasting on our positivity. Up until last night I feared an exorcism was called for.
The recent defeats against poor Newcastle and Fulham sides are almost inexplicable blights on our terrific away form. Confident and assertive away, shy and reserved at an empty Goodison. Explain that to me please Dr Freud?
Like an ardent adulterer we seem to be up for it away from home, actively looking forward to the challenge and the excitement of conquering new pastures, but at home we appear reluctant, disinterested, devoid of passion, excitement and ideas. The dull familiarity of home seems to encroach on our more imaginative and uninhibited style of our wanderings.
Maybe with this 1-0 result we have turned a crucial corner at Goodison. We can begin to reacquaint ourselves with our ‘Old Lady’ whilst still being ‘jack the lad’ on our travels. (In the unlikely case of Mrs Jim reading this – I am using an analogy here and am in no way advocating such a life style. Plus, you also run the risk of a acquiring a different style of crab to that of doing the Ray Wilkins shuffle).
But the win is hopefully the kick start to our home schedule that we desperately needed. A new positivity for our forthcoming games and hopefully a much needed step towards airports and foreign fields for the next campaign.
The ins and outs of the coming summer will be crucial. It will allow Carlo to hopefully change the squad more into his vision rather than that of previous incumbents. And with him stating that he wanted to not just see out his present contract but to go on to a next, then surely he feels he can move us to being a force to be reckoned with.
So, as I said at the beginning, 3 points and happy days. But if I could make 3 points of my own to Carlo they would be:-
1 Thank you so much for coming and doing what you’re doing.
2 Get some better security at your gaff – those red burglars will be back.
3 When you’re ready, if it’s ok I mean, can we, if it suits you like, be a tad more … er … positive in our approach? But I totally get it if you’re happy for now like. Sorry Mr A, I’m not having a go. Honest. I just want to get a bit more excited. Right then, I’ll get me coat.
3a Confiscate those scissors from Jordan’s wife (Delilah Pickford)?
Anyway, I’ve droned on too long and the wife has just told me we need Andrex Quilts so I need to get to the shops. Maybe I’ll treat myself to some jelly babies.
We appeared for much of the game to be almost devoid of attacking ideas. The only time we truly looked to be pushing forward was when Pickford would launch the ball up field. Ah, thinks I, that’s what their end looks like.
All the more disappointing as I thought the early Richy goal would cast the shackles of inertia off and see us give a Flashman like hiding to the south coast version of Tom Brown.
We increasingly look content to play the ‘Ray Wilkins crab’, which is sadly not a song, more a dance craze with plenty of repetitive moves. Goalkeeper to defender. Onto the dance floor with your mate feeling confident due to the ten Stellas you’ve had. Defender to defensive midfielder. Loosen up and throw a few shapes out there, letting the ladies know what’s in store. Defensive midfielder back to defender. Er, no one of the opposite gender is even remotely interested in what increasingly appears to be some form of mild epilepsy. Defender back to goalkeeper. The girls think I’m gay coz I’ve been dancing with my mate for so long, so I’ll shuffle off and confidently nod at my mates as if I’ve had the eye and she’ll be over soon. Goalkeeper to defender, ad nauseam. I’ll have another beer, that’ll be the game changer.
By this stage I’m looking at the awnings over the seats in the stadia wondering if I’d just seen my face on one of them. Nah, they want to attract viewers.
Ok, maybe I’m a little too critical, but it does seem like this at times. The spark of creativity is missing. It’s like the cartoon guy where his light bulb comes on and he then makes his great idea come to fruition; except when we’re flicking the switch to ‘on’ the filament is dead. We seem confidence free when it comes to attempting to be creative. When James plays he has no such qualms, being inventive and expansive, but then also sadly disappearing for equal parts of the game like a Victorian stage magician. Currently, if James is out, then only Digne seems to offer us attacking outlets.
Worryingly our midfield lacks any real pace. Allan looks like he’s pulling an anvil behind him and Gomes would be hard pushed to out sprint Thora Hird.
We need to drop the ‘safety at all costs’ mode for an evolving style that’s more positive and progressive. We started the season playing attractively, what happened? I know Carlo will be working on it, and with wins, come confidence, and that makes me hope we’ll be a bit easier on the eye soon.
I no longer have to defend our defence. Whatever combination takes the field, they look solid. I still don’t feel comfortable with the deep line we play for free kicks and corners; it looks so haphazard, congested and chaotic. But the other side of the coin was seen in the vulnerabilities of Southampton playing a high line offside trap, which looks as porous as the post iceberg Titanic.
Great to see Jordan making critical saves again. His confidence seems to be seeping back and he’s exuding an aura of much needed calmness. I am now no longer cringing with fear every time the opposition is on the edge of our box, just slightly cowering with a semi grimace. By this time next month I may be fully upright and neutral in facial expression when a cross is delivered. Is his change in fortunes weirdly linked to him letting his hair grow a bit? Like Samson, he appears to be getting (mentally) stronger the longer it gets. The mistakes are hopefully evaporating and the key saves returning. As much as I detest man buns and pony tails I’ll happily endure them on our keeper if he ends up as a hirsute version of Big Nev.
The solid game plan we had against Liverpool, and in a lot of our superb away results, seems to fly out the changing room window once we get to within L4. It’s as if we’ve been transported to Azkaban rather than Goodison, and the dementors are feasting on our positivity. Up until last night I feared an exorcism was called for.
The recent defeats against poor Newcastle and Fulham sides are almost inexplicable blights on our terrific away form. Confident and assertive away, shy and reserved at an empty Goodison. Explain that to me please Dr Freud?
Like an ardent adulterer we seem to be up for it away from home, actively looking forward to the challenge and the excitement of conquering new pastures, but at home we appear reluctant, disinterested, devoid of passion, excitement and ideas. The dull familiarity of home seems to encroach on our more imaginative and uninhibited style of our wanderings.
Maybe with this 1-0 result we have turned a crucial corner at Goodison. We can begin to reacquaint ourselves with our ‘Old Lady’ whilst still being ‘jack the lad’ on our travels. (In the unlikely case of Mrs Jim reading this – I am using an analogy here and am in no way advocating such a life style. Plus, you also run the risk of a acquiring a different style of crab to that of doing the Ray Wilkins shuffle).
But the win is hopefully the kick start to our home schedule that we desperately needed. A new positivity for our forthcoming games and hopefully a much needed step towards airports and foreign fields for the next campaign.
The ins and outs of the coming summer will be crucial. It will allow Carlo to hopefully change the squad more into his vision rather than that of previous incumbents. And with him stating that he wanted to not just see out his present contract but to go on to a next, then surely he feels he can move us to being a force to be reckoned with.
So, as I said at the beginning, 3 points and happy days. But if I could make 3 points of my own to Carlo they would be:-
1 Thank you so much for coming and doing what you’re doing.
2 Get some better security at your gaff – those red burglars will be back.
3 When you’re ready, if it’s ok I mean, can we, if it suits you like, be a tad more … er … positive in our approach? But I totally get it if you’re happy for now like. Sorry Mr A, I’m not having a go. Honest. I just want to get a bit more excited. Right then, I’ll get me coat.
3a Confiscate those scissors from Jordan’s wife (Delilah Pickford)?
Anyway, I’ve droned on too long and the wife has just told me we need Andrex Quilts so I need to get to the shops. Maybe I’ll treat myself to some jelly babies.
