Howsit folks. So, at the time of writing we’ve got 44 sleeps (not that I’m counting) until our first season back in The Championship begins with an away game against Derby County. And frankly, I can’t wait.
However, along with the excitement that comes with having a new season on the horizon, is the lingering dread that comes as part and parcel of being a Wednesdayite. That lingering dread that, for some inexplicable reason, we’re going to balls things up somehow.
Now listen, I was very happy with the boys last season, I listened from my Cape Town apartment, watched the highlights and followed all the news as it happened and can frankly say that I was impressed with some of the football that our boys played.
As far as I’m concerned we deserved to go up and, credit to Milan Mandaric and Dave Jones, we’ve bought well up to now as they try and prepare us for next season.
But, and it’s a big but, what sort of chance do we really stand?
I mean I can sit here and harp on about our good signings, about our performances last season and how, as Wednesday fans, we’ll always stay optimistic no matter what the odds. However, we need to remember that we’re going up a weight class, we’re going to be playing a different standard of player next season and, truth be told, it’s going to be tough.
The question I’m asking is… how unrealistic am I being in thinking that we have a genuine chance of pushing for the playoffs? I know the bookies seem to think we can do it, as do a large number of our loyal fans, however we know what it’s like to support The Owls and we know that, in the recent past at least, despair is rearing it’s ugly head just around the corner.
Like I say, we’ve signed very well in my opinion. Personally I think we have a side that is definitely worthy of a respectable league position in next year’s Championship bout, I even think that there’s a chance that we could sneak into the top six. However, in general terms, this rarely happens to a newly promoted club.
Yet there are glimmers of hope. Norwich City and Southampton have shown it’s possible, they’ve completed dream runs in English league football and now have Premier League credentials to match their fine achievements.
Can we be next? Can we fathom enough quality, enough goals and, most importantly, enough luck to make our stay in England’s second tier nothing but a stepping-stone to the Premier League? I’m not too sure, but do you know what, you never know.
I’m going to sound like a broken record, actually a damaged MP3 in this day and age, but there’s no doubt that our fans deserve Premier League football. To get the amount of backing that we had last year in the third division is crazy and we all know that there’s going to be even more blue and white shirts cram into Hillsborough this time around.
However, good fans and a strong heritage is not enough to build a top tier outfit. For that we need a structure, we need a strong, knowledgeable manager and a team that features a nice mix of youth, experience and sheer hard workers. Sound familiar?
You know what, I started this piece of writing genuinely trying to play down our chances next year in an attempt to not get away ahead of a season that, for all we know, end in relegation. Yet I can’t seem to let go of the glimmer of hope that idles in the back of my mind like the memory of a penalty kick missed by a Manchester United player, and do you know what, maybe we can do this.
Before you roll your eyes and sigh at this stupidly optimistic Owl, I’m not saying that we’re going to steamroller the league or achieve automatic promotion. All I’m saying is that with a bit of luck on our side, we could take this one to the wire.
And guess what, I’ll continue believing just that until a few weeks into the season when things naturally take a turn for the worst and we end up battling our arses off in a relegation fight. Sigh.
Can We Kick It? @YesWeCrann
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