As August approaches, it's time for a quick reflection on what's been going on in the mad mad mad world of Ray, Chris and the SISU corporation over the last 10 weeks.
We've seen Homer depart for Huddersfield for more money than we paid for him. That makes some sense, he never quite made the breakthrough he needed to, but it was always going to be tough for him when he was played out wide, or used as a substitute. He did give his all though, and we will remember him fondly for that.
Boozy realised that he really wasn't cut out for this level of football, and passed himself sideways out of the Ricoh, and Marshall's contract wasn't renewed allowing us to give youth a chance. As of right now, Duke is out of contract, and fighting his way back to fitness, but hasn't been given a squad number, we will see whether the Coalman will bring him back on board again or not.
We also had the Super Kevin forget to mention a series of driving indiscretions to the management, who took offence at finding out second, or maybe third hand, leading to a less than dignified exit. No real surprise given several years of lifestyle issues, Super Kev, you had the talent, you just couldn't knuckle down and deliver on it.
If we rewind momentarily to February, with Chelsea coming to the Ricoh, and a back four including Dann and the mighty Fox, optimism and positive thinking were at an all time high. Coming back to reality now, with Dann going up the M6 to the Blues, and Fox hopping on a plane to join Celtic, our role as a selling club couldn't be clearer. No quibbles with both players wishing to better themselves, and Premier League and Champions League football having a much greater attraction than Newcastle at home this season, but it does seem a shame that we couldn't hold onto them. Are we building for the future, or cashing in on the now? The harsh reality of the current recession and its undoubted impact on season ticket sales, and projected gates over the next season, must have weighed heavily on SISU's minds when the offers came a-knocking. Take the money now and insure against an average gate of 14,000 to come? I can see where they are coming from.
So, with two weeks to go, we await a deluge of new signings. If not a deluge, maybe a torrent. If not a torrent, then we'll settle for a trickle. And if we're all out of trickles, then just the one signing will do. Chin up, it could be worse, we could be Newcastle fans reflecting on a 6-1 pre-season defeat at Leyton Orient
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