Well, I went to the friendly yesterday........

......with an open mind. As Piglet will tell you I’m usually a fence-sitter, it’s my position of choice, so I thought I’d get some evidence of where we are. The senior squad played 70 minutes, and for the first 25 of those they looked OK but apart from the goal, rarely dangerous. There were signs of speed and passing ability, but the whole thing was a bit lightweight with too many players easily knocked off the ball or caught out of position, especially Mellish. The trialist striker Thomas got no support but when he had the ball it was apparent that he isn’t what we’re looking for in terms of ability. McKirdy, Bridge and Galloway showed flashes of speed and skill but dropped off badly as the game wore on. The high tempo start took it’s toll - none of this squad are physically ready for a new season only two weeks away. Maybe the next fortnight can fix that.

Starting the second half with a defender, Hayden, up front was waving a white flag really. He made a chance which he missed, put himself about a bit but had the turning ability of an oil-tanker and too often played away from any support. We were well out of the game by this time and shipped another couple of goals through dodgy defending. Sound familiar?

At the risk off being called a bed-wetter it’s obvious that we needed more bodies through the door a fortnight ago. This waiting game is dangerous, and it isn’t just the obvious and main problem - strikers. This squad is poor from the back to the front. Can it be fixed in a fortnight? Absolutely not if we’re to hit the ground running against Crawley, it’s far too late. Another half-dozen through the door with proven talent in the next week will help, but we won’t have more than an average side on the pitch until September. A squad takes time to blend and spark, and a fortnight isn’t enough time.

Holdsworth is an enigma; he talks a good job, but is he doing one? Not in my book. There’s a budget there waiting to be spent and he should have been getting himself out there instead of waiting for players to fall into his lap. If Pressley has a list it should be easy to follow up on those players and if he needs to be a nuisance he should be one. If I were Pressley I’d feel extremely let down by now.

So where will we finish this season? Not going there yet, but I can’t see us being in the top half by Christmas - more likely the bottom eight. It’s lucky that there are other sides in our league that are in similar positions.

Who was it that said “it’s not in mortals to command success, but we’ll do more; deserve it”? Well right now we haven’t done anywhere near enough and we won’t deserve anything more than crumbs.

Cambridge won 3-2 at Hearts, lost to Rangers, and beat another prem team whom i cant remember, as they are on tour in scotland. United will be below Carlisle, i can guarantee it. My prayers are with you Griff, its about time a trooper like you had some success. That will not happen though, this side of the half millenium.