Season's Gone!

It's that time of year once more, the meaningful part of the season has gone and here we are no further forward than we were last season. Roy Walker was hinting at the end of last season that he had several possible signings in the pipe line, which would make us into a force to be reckoned with. The major target and the man to lead us out of the wilderness, was Phillip Carson and what a let down he proved to be. Here we are two seasons down the line under Roy's management and in my opinion we are going nowhere but backwards. Roy of course says he has possible signings in the pipeline and next season we'll be a force to be reckoned with, where have we heard that before, or should I say where or who haven't we heard that, from before.

Our wage bill is far too high for the standard of football we are receiving and will have to be trimmed dramatically for next season once more. The choice is simple, if we don't trim the wages, we could be the next club to go to the wall. Two of our players are receiving a wage of well in excess of £1,000 between them each week and good as they are, they're not worth that sort of wages. These two men I'm informed have both been offered new contracts, but are as yet to put pen to paper. Perhaps an ultimatum from our manager, telling them to sign before the close season or be considered free agents, would help them make their minds up.

Carson isn't the only piece of dead wood and Locky looks like a player well past his prime, while my favourite player, Gazza, seems to have lost his way completely. Neither of our two goalkeepers, Nelson and O'Neill are totally reliable and I believe we need to strengthen that position by releasing one of them and bringing in a new face. Cushley looks as if he will be gone (a big mistake in my book), while Nathan McConnell hasn't got a pups chance of getting in the team and I have this on good authority. I assume one of the players being released will also be Joe McDonnell, one of Tommy Wright's parting shots, who has been an expensive and useless signing if ever there was one.

Just saw on the back of the 'Times' that surprise! surprise! the stock cars are coming back to the Showgrounds, albeit on a temporary basis at first. I think it's a safe bet that they'll be back permanently next season and our ground with it's nice new stand, will not be eligible for European football as the pitch is too narrow. But there's no need to get excited as United will need at least a 200% improvement to have any chance of getting into European football in the foreseeable future and I can't see that happening overnight. I'm afraid there's no blinding light at the end of our tunnel, only darkness, I'd love to 'only believe', but I'm too much of a realist and money doesn't grow on trees nor do great players come to struggling teams like ours, maybe it's time to wake up and smell the coffee!