Don't look back in anger
Richard Kosmala, Podcaster, Writer & Casual Crooner.
Twitter: @Richardkosmala
It was hard not to cast an envious eye to my left in the South Stand on Saturday at 2.25pm as the Leeds United players celebrated with the travelling support, everyone on the same page as the pace and quality saw them open an 8 point gap between themselves and Fulham and meant that we extended our run without a win to 5 games.
But enough about them, what about us? Was it really just over 3 years ago since we were doing the exactly the same to them at their place with such a superior and clinical performance capped by Mooy’s low drive? It seems 33 years ago and as I was walking away after the game back towards Town scrolling on my phone at our substitutes bench, I gave an. extra hard stare at it with a shake of the head. How can a club with 2 seasons in the Premier League be lining up with so many kids and so little quality!? How has it come to this!? How did you personally feel at 11.30am when you got the team news on your phone?! Yeah we had injuries and Chalobah banned - but even so!!!
No blame can be attached to Phil Hodgkinson and the Cowley brothers that’s for sure. What a mess they’ve inherited. But should we be surprised? This is the modern game. The place where players call the shots. If footballers can’t be arsed to put in a shift during the week or on a Saturday then not a problem for a lot of them. They still pick up good cash. Imagine a nurse at your local hospital in the casualty ward on a Saturday night not being bothered about looking after a patient!? ‘Nah not tonight, i’m not in the mood’ - imagine them saying that as you stagger in looking for help? Makes you sick doesn’t it!?
It makes you realise what a top job DC has done to have us with 18 points and still out of the bottom 3 as I type. And finally his patience snapped after Bristol. He went public with what many of us have been feeling for a while. Today pre Charlton came news from his presser that Mbenza, Brown and Bockhorn are training with a view to moving elsewhere in January. And there’ll be plenty of others in the same boat i’m sure.
But it’s not just us. Stoke City below us in the table are in a similar mess as they still pick up the pieces from a relegation the season before us. My dad told me about when we were in the old first division in the 70s and crashed out of it. Boom and bust - Huddersfield Town! It’s what we are about it seems!? It’s in our history! I don’t fancy the basement division again though!
But this is where the anger stops and the violin goes away. There’s always people worse off than yourself in life. Bradford 1 Newport 0 anyone on Saturday!? You may think I’m 1 can short of a six pack, but I honestly believe the good times are back again waiting around the corner. But it’s going to take more patience and probably 2 more windows as we wave goodbye to the wasters and we truly see a Cowley team. The hit that we will have to take on some of them though!? Doesn’t bear thinking about!? Isaac Mbenza £11.25m!! - Jesus H!!
I believe we have the right men at the helm. From PH, David Webb to the Cowleys. The foundations are there to build on and move forward. Look at the young ones that did us proud Saturday as the likes of Kongolo and Mbenza went shopping. There will be a gem or 2 there amongst that lot i’d hope?
And we still have 2 more parachute payments to come I believe, we have a fanbase who get the mess that has to be sorted out and have been superb in my eyes in the last two seasons with the support and understanding. A few journalists outside the area have questioned whether Danny Cowley is taking the right approach calling out a lot of this in his media appointments!? But I for one and i’d like to think the majority of fans are 100% behind this.
I genuinely believe he’s been shocked at what he has inherited and wherever he’s been he’s been a winner. The same with Phil Hodgkinson in business. They aint here to p**s around! They are going to do whatever it takes to turn this oil tanker around.
So as I close another ramble. It is so easy to let your mind wander to where we were and how much more a better position we should be in as a club . Especially on days like Saturday when our nearest and dearest have done a job on us and i’m sure if PH had his time again Siewert would not have seen this season. But it is what it is as they say. I think once DC has his own men in, we will rise again. Don’t look back in anger. I heard you say!
Kosi
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