THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

I will yes. I may be good and give them at least 10 minutes...

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Decided to come back.

Wow - thats terrible. But fully deserved by the club - they really cannot argue given everything on and off the pitch over the past 12 months.

I wonder if that is one reason PW has reneged on his latest video pledge to go "all out" in the market for promotion this season?

So glad I avoided missing out by renewing early.

Watched GA presser video for the Wrexham game, seemed very honest about the squad, that we’ve a competitive first eleven, but lack depth, it’s worth a watch even though it’s nearly twenty minutes long

GA seems pretty stoic about it all. He did a solid presser but I’m still not a huge fan of “we have the whole window”. The market is slow and that’s frustrating, but I do worry about loanees. Ideally they get loaned out to start, not to just “provide competition”.

Team for Saturday? LW could be any of Anker, Holland or Burns. Maybe also Robson in for Devoy.

Just finished watching GA's press conference. Have to say he comes across as one of the most assured coaches/managers we've ever had. Certainly inspires belief that he knows what he's talking about, and I expect the players will buy into it too.

Noticed he's quite honest when answering questions compared to his predecessors - was upfront about the need for more depth/players, about changing the mentality of the club etc. Only thing he diverted on a bit was when he was asked about whether promotion was the expectation this season.

He strikes me as a bloke who has already set a long term plan, because a short term one is unrealistic and will catch him out and be seen as failure if not achieved.

What I mean by that, is I think he's quietening chat about promotion. He can't be accused of not meeting a target if he publicly hasn't said the aim is "promotion" - he can come back later if we're 12th in January and say the comments made in this presser were about lack of squad depth, and the aim to build a foundation to grow on.

Smart from his side, even if it doesn't install much enthusiasm from fans.
Remember Russ's season in lockdown? Where we had an unrealistic late playoff push, but plenty of good moments? Can see a season similar to that setting the ground work for next year - though even that feels optimistic atm.

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"It's not about hoping this little moment will change our momentum, its about our daily actions and courage in everything we do.. We've got to stop believing in fairytales"

- Graham Alexander, October 2023

The one thing I really do hope from this season is that it doesn’t get toxic like last year. Unlike Manning and Jackson, GA had actually earned his stripes as a player and manager at this level and I think if he tells us the squad depth isn’t up to scratch then I think I would be inclined to believe him.

This increasingly feels like he plans for it to be a season in transition, especially as I watch all the pressers and interviews he does and have seen his tone change to revise expectations downwards. Now it’s all about setting winning processes in place and changing mentalities.

Didn’t see the last friendly but heard Robson did play. Devoy hasn’t shone much in pre season, perhaps Robson gets the nod. I reckon he will pick Holland over Anker and Burns, but I’m still not certain he won’t do something a bit mad like he did at Wealdstone and put Leko down the middle. (He was actually quite good playing there, would you believe)