What a week to start publishing again!
If anyone had said after the home defeat to Stoke City that we’d have new ownership, two wins on the bounce against second and third in the league, a change in managers and what feels like a new transfer rumour every five seconds, they’d be extremely rich by this point.
Its fair to say that last Wednesday was the most relieved any fan would’ve felt in a long long time after the fractious relationship with the Allam family was finally concluded, and the warmth which Acun Ilicali received inside the MKM was undoubtedly the greatest moment with fans in the stadium in the last five or six years. Anyone outside of a professional capacity would’ve been forgiven for being distracted, but my word those players put in a performance to cap off what was a historic day (barring the odd heart-in-mouth moment). You could make a case for all of the side being pivotal in that win but in particular Tom Eaves, George Honeyman and Ryan Longman were exceptional with their forward play, and its no shock that they have played a part in all three of our goals in the last week.
You can’t feel anything but pride especially for Tom Eaves based on his recent performances barring the Stoke game , and the way he’s been able to showcase a different side to his game than what we’ve become accustomed to seeing when he’s come on as a substitute in order to salvage matches. Hopefully the new manager, most likely Shota Arveladze will continue to get the best out of him.
So beating third place and a new owner, surely it couldn’t get any better? A few weeks ago most of us would’ve dreaded the arduous journey to Bournemouth, but this time there was some newfound optimism despite the contrasting league positions. Quite frankly, we rode our luck on numerous occasions, and everyone would’ve taken a 0-0 even in the early stages. However, the second half was quite refreshing as we did try and take the game to Bournemouth, which was similar to the 0-0 draw against them in August. Again, the three mentioned earlier all involved in the goal and what a superb finish it was, as we finally showed the composure needed to win matches in this fashion.
After these two shock results, it was an initial shock to see that McCann was reported to have been sacked, but then again it is also extremely understandable in the long term. Lets not forget that whilst McCann has done a remarkable job in the majority of the last two or three months after a difficult start to the season+ an instant return to the Championship, the man Acun is seemingly bringing through the door has been linked with the role since early November.
But to give McCann his credit, to manage the team in a professional way and keep them so tight-knitted throughout this extremely long and drawn out period, and has coincided with our upward surge in the table. Perhaps it was unfair to sack him now, and I do see both sides but as is the case with a new regime, they bring in their own men. Fingers crossed it ends up in a similar situation to Wolves and not end up spiralling like Birmingham or Reading.
This new era is one of excitement, and whilst Shota hasn’t managed at a high standard for a number of years he has been mentored by a handful of high profile names throughout his career e.g. Ronald Koeman and Louis Van Gaal. In my opinion, its easy to say that he has to earn our trust as, lets face it, he is an unknown quantity in English football. However, this process with Acun, Shota and Tan Kesler should be one of excitement instead of trepidation, and this is highlighted with the supposed transfer dealings/rumours of Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, DeAndre Yedlin, Ryan Babel and of course Regan Slater. With Slater I believe this highlights how much faith the new owner and director of football have in this squad, as some would most likely describe the move as a “Grant McCann signing” if he was still in charge, but this shows that Acun realises the potential and importance of signings which aren’t just high profile.
Lets just hope everything goes according to the script and this is the beginning of a journey which sees us at some stage reach the Premier League again!
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