As for being safe, this will be a decade of League Two football. Quite an achievement and one we should be proud of. We'll no doubt be seeing big changes again this closed season and be hoping Jim can revive some playing careers again. With the likes of Devitt & Miller rumoured to be going, I hope they recognise that Jim has given them a fresh start.
We need to re-define 'success'. Pre-season, as other pre-seasons, 'success' was felt to be survival. Third from bottom or higher. Anything else is a bonus. So in simple terms, this was another successful season.
Many, including me, wanted more "entertainment". We're the fifth highest scoring team in League Two. If you've watched every game this season, you've seen 144 goals already, with four games left to go, so probably more than 150 goals in a season. A Wycombe fan has seen 82 goals so far, for & against. That's only four more than our leaky defence has shipped on their own! If it's goals you wan't, then Morecambe are the team to watch.
Personally, I felt it was not actually 'entertainment' that failed, but expectations after the season started. I felt we were playing well, breaking with vigour & skill. But because we were conceding, Jim concentrated too much on 'sorting' the defence and in doing so, we began lumping the ball forward. It then came straight back to the defence, who eventually would crumble under pressure. We became our own worst enemies. Jim has felt performances have been good since January. It's been 'fine lines'. Poor decisions here & there. Deflections that were kind to 'them' & cruel to 'us'. To an extent there is some truth in that, but I still believe that if we concentrated more upon what we can do and spent less time worrying about the opposition, we'd have been more successful. Dagenham the other day was a great example. A team almost already doomed. Having won only one game at home all season and that was against fellow relegation strugglers. They were totally devoid of confidence. But we set up not to concede, which allowed them to pressure us and, most importantly, that gave them confidence. We need to be able to go to some places (including The Globe Arena!) and set up with two strikers, pushing forward to win the game from the front, not from the defence.
Talking of Dagenham, that FA Cup disaster. What a difference a game at Goodison Park would have made to everyone's spirits, not to mention Jim's playing budget. The biggest wasted opportunity ever.
Which brings me on to my biggest bug-bear. Why can't we play to the conditions at The Globe? This isn't a new ground for us anymore. We all know that the winter wind is a vortex, blowing in from the sea. You can sit in the PMG stand and look at all four corner flags simultaneously blowing (or not) in different directions. This should be our weapon. Dagenham, in that FA Cup match played the conditions perfectly. If you watch their goals again, there was one goal where they hit it 'long' from inside our half. The wind stopped the ball and dropped it almost straight down on to the penalty spot, it was cleared, then hoofed forwards again, in exactly the same manner, again from inside the half they were attacking. Cleared once more, they repeated the bombardment, this time without the clearing header and they scored. When it was our turn to play in to the gale, we hoofed it from the defence, struggling to get past the half way line, losing possession and D&R 'breezed' through to the second round.
The other issue with conditions is the winter sun. There are periods where it shines directly in to the goalkeeper's eyes. We should know this. We should know when it is happening. And we should shoot from distance every opportunity we get! If the keeper is blinded by the sun, it will be a lot more difficult to stop the shot! The odd conditions at The Globe really should offer us 'home advantage'.
So now we start to look to next season in League Two:
I kind of hope Accrington go up, so that we become the longest serving League Two side. That would be quite an achievement in itself.
I definitely still back Jim as the manager, but I hope that next season, he again creates a side capable of delivering decent football but he then allows them to do so. All season. I also hope he stops being so bloody stubborn and recognises when things need to change! Also, that the fans need to enjoy the game. And that he lets the opposition worry about us, more than us worry about them.
And that he again unearths some diamonds, or revives some stalling careers.
And that he has a smile on his face again!
I hope that ownership of club is resolved soon. Uncertainty breeds unrest.
I thank Peter McGuigan, without him, we'd probably be playing Conference North, in front of four hundred fans on a good day. With Portacabins for changing rooms and a condemned main stand due to asbestos.
I hope the new owners have some cash for investment, some of which can be spent on the infrastructure of the club. Every season, fans feedback to the club that they aren't enjoying the 'match day experience' at The Globe. Instead of 'can't they eat cake?' the board (& new owners) need to listen to the dwindling customer base and invest, so that we get people back down, supporting the club.
Now we start to look forward to another season of League Two football. Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of the company we keep? We may well be playing ex-Premiership Blackpool next season, as a peer. Who'd ever have dreamed that we'd possibly be in the same league as them next season? How many FA Cup winning sides, or ex-top flight teams will we be playing? Again.
2016/17? Can't wait!
