Post by notsorecentconvert on Aug 6, 2015 19:19:41 GMT
I haven't seen any of the Saints' pre-season games but I've followed the results closely, not that I've managed to gain much of a clue about how the season is going to pan out. But it does seem to have been a busy summer, with a lot of talking points.
1. Expectations
I have no idea what's in store. A good season would be to make progress on last season, so anywhere in the top half would be good. I am feeling optimistic, so I'll say 8th, with an outside chance of the play-offs still alive until the final part of the season.
Talking of expectations, I was very surprised to see the chairman talking about setting a target of 20 points from the first 10 games in the Herts Ad. This would be title-challenging / title-winning form. Maybe that's what we should be aiming for but if I were the manager (of any football club), I wouldn't want my chairman talking about points targets in the press!
2. New signings
Lots to be positive about. I liked the look of Louie Theophanous when I saw him playing for Staines. I think that's a potential upgrade on Frendo. I don't know much about Medlock, Scott Thomas or Allen but they come with good reports. Hilliard I thought was a good player at St Neots a couple of seasons ago, if I'm thinking of the same bloke. All in all, a very good summer and hats off to the Boost the Budget initiative for their assistance. I was slightly surprised to see Ben Martin come back. When he left for Boreham Wood, it brought to mind Bill Shankly's advice to young managers about making sure your player's legs go on another manager's pitch. But I'll watch with an open mind. He definitely adds strength and experience.
3. Chappell as captain
No complaints about that at all but what does it mean for Comley, who looked like he might be next in line?
4. The website etc
In many ways the new website is a big improvement on the old one, although there are quite a few glitches here and there – it's not as easy to find out the historical info like past results either. Also, Jimmy Gray's post-match interview didn't play properly on either laptop, iPad or phone. It kept going back to the beginning and there's no way to scroll through to pick up where it had left off. I hope this gets sorted out because the post-match interviews are really good. Twitter activity has improved too – I like the 'goal flash' picture they used on Twitter for updates on the Ware game on Tuesday. That'll help when trying to keep up to date on matchdays when I can't make it.
1. Expectations
I have no idea what's in store. A good season would be to make progress on last season, so anywhere in the top half would be good. I am feeling optimistic, so I'll say 8th, with an outside chance of the play-offs still alive until the final part of the season.
Talking of expectations, I was very surprised to see the chairman talking about setting a target of 20 points from the first 10 games in the Herts Ad. This would be title-challenging / title-winning form. Maybe that's what we should be aiming for but if I were the manager (of any football club), I wouldn't want my chairman talking about points targets in the press!
2. New signings
Lots to be positive about. I liked the look of Louie Theophanous when I saw him playing for Staines. I think that's a potential upgrade on Frendo. I don't know much about Medlock, Scott Thomas or Allen but they come with good reports. Hilliard I thought was a good player at St Neots a couple of seasons ago, if I'm thinking of the same bloke. All in all, a very good summer and hats off to the Boost the Budget initiative for their assistance. I was slightly surprised to see Ben Martin come back. When he left for Boreham Wood, it brought to mind Bill Shankly's advice to young managers about making sure your player's legs go on another manager's pitch. But I'll watch with an open mind. He definitely adds strength and experience.
3. Chappell as captain
No complaints about that at all but what does it mean for Comley, who looked like he might be next in line?
4. The website etc
In many ways the new website is a big improvement on the old one, although there are quite a few glitches here and there – it's not as easy to find out the historical info like past results either. Also, Jimmy Gray's post-match interview didn't play properly on either laptop, iPad or phone. It kept going back to the beginning and there's no way to scroll through to pick up where it had left off. I hope this gets sorted out because the post-match interviews are really good. Twitter activity has improved too – I like the 'goal flash' picture they used on Twitter for updates on the Ware game on Tuesday. That'll help when trying to keep up to date on matchdays when I can't make it.