Summer Dreaming

Is it just me? We have reached that time of year when rumours and innuendo, which I thought was an Italian suppository, abound, and all fans fret over the comings and goings of their club’s playing staff.

I’ll show my age a bit when I say that no used envelope or fag packet is safe if I have a pen in my hand. And to show I can be up with the times, no e-mail correspondent escapes the rants.

Yes, it’s the summer pastime of squad analysis.

You list all your team’s players by position. Then work out your ideal starting eleven. Next it is the squad players to support them. You are left with the few you would not mind leaving to find gainful employment elsewhere, and a feeling of sheer panic when you realise that you have no cover if your centre-forward gets injured.

At some clubs, this is a time for fans to cherry pick whichever star names they have seen on Sky TV or at the Euros and expect their American/Arabian/Russian (delete as appropriate) owners to stump up the cash. For those of us in the real world, we have to balance out the desire for fresh players with the knowledge that the club is broke and we are not dining at the same table.

Reading the comments on the various Blues websites, I notice that realism is not high on the list of talents possessed by many footie fans. I read one response to an article linking Baines with a move up the East Lancs Road that said “…all we need to do is keep Baines, re-sign Pienaar, then add a quality right back and centre forward and we’ll be fine”. Well yes that would be nice. Bill Kenwright is a lovely fella and a True Blue, but he is not Father Christmas.

So I did my list in a mood of resignation. The results were not bad. We have no worries at goalkeeper. In defence, we can cover everywhere except left back, but Luke Garbutt looked promising for England U-19s. We have talent, real talent, in central midfield and players coming through who will push for places this year. We lack some pace and width and after Jelavic, the strike force is unproven.

So what, you ask, is the point of this? Well for me, it stops me worrying over every rumour I hear about players coming or going and puts into context the problems David Moyes has when he looks at his squad.

If we hear that several clubs are chasing Tim Cahill or Jack Rodwell, don’t panic. We have seven central midfield players before we have to revert to Neville or Heitinga. If we are linked with a midfield player, don’t get excited. See above.

But if we do need to buy a player, and the sales of Yobo (yes he is still on the books), Anichibe and Cahill won’t do much more than fund Pienaar’s return, then someone has to go. If we must cash in on an asset, as we did with Lescott and Rooney, then let us be happy to see the money used to plug the gaps we know we have and strengthen the team as a whole.

For what its worth, my envelope ended up with a team of:

Howard,
Hibbert, Heitinga, Distin, Baines;
Fellaini, Rodwell, Gibson, Osman, Pienaar;
Jelavic.

So I’m probably dreaming as much as the next fan!

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