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Pauly's Page |
Paul Nicholas is a bank manager who is best known on this site for his frequent missives to the press - usually pulling them up on one point or another.
Like many Swans fans, Paul caught the fever in the First Division 70's and after a prolonged spell with no symptoms, thought he was cured.
But then along came Molby and the disease resurfaced.
In his own words ... "and now I got it bad again doctor."
Tuesday 6th August 2002So here we are, the final week of the close season, and the final week of the pre season matches with a trip to Woking on Monday wrapping up Nick Cusack and Alan Curtis' preparations for the coming eight months. We are all assured that the team or rather the squad will be ready for the Division Three campaign, and that the results in the friendlies over the past couple of weeks should not be taken too seriously in measuring our readiness. No one would disagree that the squad had a tough round of pre season matches, but whilst the fans that were in Holland to witness the tour came back, or reported in, with positive comments, the performances of the team in the last two home friendlies have been far from convincing. Whether Nick Cusack has truly shown his prowess in the transfer market as some have suggested, will be revealed as we march through the season, and I am certain that everyone hopes that his selections in the close season will prove to be excellent acquisitions. By the end of September, we will have a reasonable idea of how we are matched against a variety of opposition from within our own division. On two Vetch Field showings to date, when it is accepted that the opposition in both cases was far superior to us, only James Thomas has displayed any skills that will make him a force in the 2002/2003 campaign. He will cause defences all sorts of problems, if he gets the ball, and if he has support, and unfortunately, these two elements have been lacking from our performance in the last two games. There are certain aspects of play, which should be fairly sound irrespective of the stature, or ability of the opposition, and the basic passing of the ball between the team is one of them. This was a shortcoming throughout last year, which resulted in us giving the ball away on far too many occasions, and the pattern seems to be repeating itself already. There were occasions when a series of passes were strung together on Thursday, but if there is no purpose to the movement, then this will continue to denude us of creative build up play, which will then make the scoring of goals as difficult as we have found it in the last 3 seasons at least. The midfield on latest showings is not as strong as we would have hoped, but again, let's all be proved wrong as the season unfolds. Friendlies against good opposition are fine, but there must also be an argument for the first choice team playing weaker sides, and getting into the habit of scoring goals from good forward movement. A large number of passes last Thursday that found their way back to Roger Freestone seemed to be totally due to a lack of vision as to where we should be going. Is that going to be so different against Rushden and Diamonds next Saturday? Some would suggest that we may not want straight promotion this season, due to all the contractual difficulties that may be encountered through the financial restraints of the ongoing CVA arrangement, but we certainly want a 'successful' season, which will bring in the crowds and drive up income streams to prepare ourselves for the hope of possible promotion in 2003/2004. Crowds at the Vetch this past two weeks have been good, no doubt boosted by the attraction of the opposition, but goals will get good crowds through the gate each week, as goals will inevitably bring results. As for the summer signings, most have yet to convince the Vetch faithful that they are the people to turn this club around on the field. They don't just need to be better than the players we had last year (and Howard and Watkin both reminded us only too well on Thursday that they, too, may well have faced eviction on June 30th had they not been in possession of two year contracts), as in some cases that is not too challenging a task. They need to adapt to a style of play that will win us games, and win us games well and in an attractive manner. If they can do that, then the fans will be fairly happy. The reality is that most player moves this summer have resulted from players being discarded and/or out of contract, i.e. no longer required by their previous clubs, and someone, somewhere is probably as excited at picking up some of our dearly departed as some fans here have been in Nick Cusack and the Board securing the services of the Magnificent 7,8,9 or 10. There is certainly competition for places within the squad now, and Nick Cusack deserves a lot of credit in how he has approached the re-build, but let's hope that the competition remains through the season, and is not eliminated by needless suspensions through unnecessary aggression when frustration sets in. This has been clearly evident in the last two games, and collecting bookings early in the season will just increase the pressure when we least need it. It will all start to take shape next Saturday, and hopefully a big crowd will be there to see it. I'm sure that the fans' views will be well vented through Swanmail, the Guest book and the columns in the coming weeks, and let's face it, we just can't wait can we. If anyone has any feedback to give me, I'd love to hear from you at pauly@scfc.co.uk You can comment on this article by visiting the guestbook Previous articles: #16 #15 #14 #13 #12 #11 #10 #9 #8 #7 #6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1 Click here to go back to main page
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