Our Red Devils and the crews of the Spitfires and other veteran WWII aircraft provided a great spectacle yesterday to wind up the Diamond Jubilee, and a fitting encore to the show we had at the Valley against Hartlepool..
We set off yesterday to London with great hopes to savour as much as posssible and absorb the celebaratory atmosphere. However, the record-breaking crowds (and slightly over the top closures of roads) all but overwhelmed central London.
St James and Green Parks were closed at various times and we could get nowhere near the Mall.
The spirit of the occassion cannot be denied and everybody seemed to be in good spirits despite the typical Bank Holiday weather. There was little evidence of over-indulgence in the pubs (at least during the day) as everyone seemed to grasp the occassion without the need to become legless.
The event and the fly-through at the end brought a bit of a lump in the throat and the 'Proud to be British' feeling back, to top up the already 'Proud to be CAFC' euphoria.It was all a good brief interlude before we get back to sorting out the financial problems of the nation and the woes elsewhere else in the world (which I trust we will not directly aim to interfere with).
Us die hard 'addicted' have not had too much to talk about with little solid transfer speculation and the club seemingly keeping everything close to their chest.
I note that the CAFCPICKS site is giving pundits the opportunity to identify various rumours; at last count there were over 20 'Ins and Outs' identified.
I am not that familar with most of the players identified apart from their pen pictures, though a couple have put ion good performances against us this season.
It seems that we are not interested in signing Dany N'Guessan, whom I assume we have decided may not be up to the Championship, even though he put in some good performances for us.
Martin Waghorn is on the list: I was impressed with his attitude when he was on loan. At the time he was a bit fragile but has probably matured physically since then and also gained valuable experience so perhaps he could be a serious option now.
Another loanee, Greg Halford, is on the list. He was not that popular with us but showed that he was a good attacking full back so he could provide, at least, cover for Chris Solly (and even permit us to experiment with Solly in midfield). However, if the option existed the return of Richardson from Southampton would be ideal.
The club's apparent strong interest in bolstering midfield is in line with most of my immediate fellow fans who pinpointed the lack of an incisive attacking midfielder as a weakness. Whether Stephens can fulfill that role, if he can now stay clear of injury, is anyone's guess. However, on the basis that club will probably wish to balance the books it seems likely that if they get one or more of the midfielders they are rumoured to be interested in then some existing players may be on the brink of leaving.
At most risk would seem to be Wagstaffe and Green, and it has even been speculated that Stephens may not figure though I think he could come into his own in the Championship.
Of greater concern to me is that Hollands is rewarded and retained for his 100% effort and grit.
Up front, I hope that Haynes and Kermit get the opportunity to forge a striking partnership with BWP in there fighting for a place.
I imagine things will start hotting up as we approach July. The quality of players that we move for will indicate the ambition, bravery and realism of the management who have served us well so far.
