I suppose if there’s a good time to go three hundred and twenty five minutes without scoring a goal, it is during your pre season programme, but when the team concerned averaged some way short of a goal a game and were the second lowest scorers in a twenty four team Championship during the previous campaign, then it cannot just be dismissed with claims that “it’s only pre season, it doesn’t matter”.
It’s four weeks since our very early start to pre season fixtures with that 2-0 win overPen y Bont and I can remember saying on here that, although a win by such a score over a team from the Cymru Premier didn’t look great, the plan would surely be to see a gradual improvement game by game during the build up to the game at Leeds next weekend..
I would say that in a pre season which could probably be summed up by words like “modest”, “average” and “low key”, there has been that slow, but discernible, progress – until today.
The 0-0 draw at Wycombe Wanderers in a Testimonial game for the home team’s ex City full back Joe Jacobson got the score line it deserved – this was not one of the occasional goalless draws that kept you entertained throughout. This was poor fare which I reckon the home side came closest to winning late on as they were denied by a remarkable goal line clearance by Dimitrios Goutas (possibly our best player apart from a cheap concession of possession in a dangerous position in the first half).
Ex Wycombe keeper Ryan Allsop left the field in the second half as what looked like a precaution after a very quiet hour or so, but his replacement Jak Alnwick was called on to make a good save from defender Jack Grimmer’s twenty five yard effort and that was more or less it from the home team as an attacking force.
Up the other end, Aaron Ramsey, looking bright and inventive despite the lack of a tangible reward in his hour on the pitch, came as close as anyone for City with an audacious backhealed volley that dropped just wide and then in the second half, Karlan Grant forced goalkeeper Max Strijek into his most difficult save of the afternoon with a stinging shot from twenty yards. Sheyi Ojo also nodded into the side netting from a Grant cross, but, for all of the talk of us having more and better attacking options, this was like watching last season’s team attacking play on a bad day – that saId, Ramsey’s first two appearances in his third coming have been encouraging.
City were missing Mark McGuinness, Joe Ralls, Yakou Meite andRubin Colwill with injuries that were not too serious according to Erol Bulut’s post match comments , while an injury picked up on international duty is delaying Romaine Sawyers’ return to serious training, but their absence did rather gave the opportunity for the lack of depth in the squad to be shown in these days of nine subs – we need those three or four new signings that have been talked about recently sooner rather than later.
As to who they might be, Keiffer Moore was at the Vale training centre in midweek apparently and the word is that he is keen to come back, but, although the talk is that he will not feature for Bournemouth during the coming season, he has come on in their last two games and you’d have thought they would prefer to sell him rather than loan him out – Bulut seemed to want to play down the Moore rumours after today’s game as well.
A surprising name which has cropped up is former England midfielder Ross Barkley who it’s reported has been offered a contract by us and is considering whether to accept it or an offer from Saudi Arabia. Given the sort of figures that have been bandied about regarding some of the high profile moves to that country over the summer, it might be said that there is no contest between his two suitors, but Barkley is a former Nice team mate of Ramsey’s, so I suppose another high profile signing isn’t entirely out of the question.
Barkley is still only twenty nine and has great natural ability, but, for whatever reason, his career has been in decline for about four years now. Even so, it’s hard to believe that he will end up with us – putting it bluntly, has his standing within the game dropped so much that he is going to sign for a team which would be playing in League One this season were it not for a points deduction for one of its rivals?
Also being pursued by us is a young centreback from outside the UK who will be cover for what looks to be the first choice pairing of McGuinness and Goutas.
Two transfers that have taken place are season long loan moves for Tom Davies and Eli King to Kilmarnock and Morecambe respectively- these, together with Ollie Denham’s temporary move to Dundee United, look to be the sort of transfers that will be of benefit to both player and his parent team.
Tom Davies spent some time on loan at Pontypridd United last season and our under 21s were in action against them last night for their latest pre season match which they lost by 1=0.
Finally, one thing I should have mentioned last week was that City paid Nantes the outstanding two instalments of the Emiliano Sala transfer fee about ten days ago – this means that we will be able to pay transfer and loan fees again in the January transfer window.