09/08/07 - Pre-Season Musings from Pete G

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the trust.

So here we are again. Two days before the 2007/2008 season starts. Nervous? I certainly am. It does not seem very long ago that I was sat with my head in my hands pondering where it had all gone wrong following that fateful penalty shoot-out in May. That defeat actually felt worse than the League Two relegation. I was mentally prepared for the relegation; a week lying in hospital with a knackered appendix had given me time to mull it over. I knew that even if we were relegated, the future was bright with the Merry/Smith combination and that everything was in our favour for an immediate return to League football. It did not happen though and deep down it cut a nasty wound. You can point the finger anywhere you like - Smith's tactics and formations, Duffy's laziness, Turley's shouting - but it does not really matter. The reality is that we face a second season in the ridiculously named Blue Square Premier with a smaller playing budget and not even a ounce of the fear factor we seemed to possess in the first 3/4 months of last season.

Where to from here then? Above all else, the playing side is most important. With Burgess and Basham gone we have probably lost our two most technically gifted players. But will we notice? I'm thinking no. Burgess was too easily marked out of a game and never, ever looked likely to stick a foot in where he might get hurt and Basham, well, it's just a shame we never really got to see what he could do in this league. The new players coming in appear to fit with Smith's usual mixed bag of being able to do a good job (Jeanin), being able to do a job (Ledgister), and should get a different job (Gnohere). I do not think there is any doubt that this side will make a top 5 finish again but it will once more come down to the mental toughness of the players as to whether we push it that one stage further to actually take the title or win the play-offs. The problem now is that OUFC seems to be have become a breeding ground for the biggest bunch of bottlers outside of a brewery. Too many times in the new stadium era have we made promising starts to simply throw it away without a whimper in the post-Christmas period. Why? I do not know and I doubt even Sigmund Freud could tell you, although he would probably blame it on someone's fascination with their own mother. If we can avoid this (the mother thing and the bottling) then the sky is certainly the limit.

In off-field matters there are two issues which are currently getting my goat (not that I actually have one to be got mind). Setanta for a start. We are technically in non-league. I thought all the buggering around with fixtures for TV was reserved strictly for the likes of the Premiership big boys who millions of people want to watch. Not for the likes of OUFC, Torquay, and Histon, clubs for which only actual fans are vaguely interested (and that is sometimes debatable) in watching. The constant moving of games is causing confusion and will certainly hit attendances. Either people will be unable to make the game or will simply opt for staying at home to watch it from the comfort of their own living room. On a personal level, it now means that the first away game I can actually attend is Histon on 20 September which is unbelievably annoying particularly as I have a new flag (made by Long John Silver) which I wish to show off. Even more annoying, I will now probably be forced to subscribe to Setanta as despite the fact it would feel like selling my soul, I want to watch OUFC play and that will always come first over any sense of corporate hatred.

Second, the stadium sale drags on with little or no news as is always the case with these big, protracted deals. There is not anything further to say which has not been said before except is anyone else getting to the stage where you just feel that Ka$$am needs a little bit more 'persuasion' in this matter?! Perhaps a movie-style Mafia Protection racket could be in order……………………Of course, I jest but the sentiment is there. Why does this man persist in torturing us so?

Well, that's it. Rambling over. Here's to Saturday (not Thursdays or Sundays!). Another season of heart-wrenching awaits. I love it but I simply cannot understand why.

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!