Ah Christmas! Usually around the time when City fans begin to think about the coming season, and bemoan the fact that we have another two months and a bit to the start of the season. God what a wait! We’ve already suffered two months of post-season ignominy, and now we have another stretch until the spring for things to get going again.
Hang on a second though, no longer do we have to wait until March in order to get our football fix. In fact, with a February start, the pre-season football should be on the agenda fairly soon now! Dreams of frozen fingers and the hot, strangely perfumed concoction which those at Bishopstown claim to call ‘soup’, though this commentator isn’t entirely sure!
It doesn’t really matter though; yes there is live football around the city and county, some of which isn’t too shabby a standard at all, but nothing beats the feeling of seeing all the old faces after a long winter with the innocent feeling of hope ahead of a long season.
Mind you, it’s been a good off-season thus far! Sean has resigned along with Kevin O’Connor, we’ve made some handy acquisitions, too, in the form of Sligo’s Jimmy Keohane and striker Achille Campion (mind you, if we could add Kieran Sadlier from the Bit O’Red we’d really be flying!), Conor McCormack brings loads of experience to our squad, and I should imagine there will be a few more additions.
Meanwhile what we appear to have left behind are also good moves, for Gavan Holohan, Ian Turner, Danny Morrissey, and the club itself. The former had a few bites of the cherry in midfield and despite giving his all just hadn’t enough final quality to budge a City midfield massively improved under Greg Bolger’s leadership in 2016, meanwhile the bizarre signing of Turner, a player who Caulfield previously described as ‘not good enough’, finished as expected, with a one-way ticket back to Limerick.
The Morrissey move is one that’s a little more regrettable; not so much the move itself but how a striker that was touted as one of our biggest talents in his underage days, but a series of injuries have ruined him. In fairness to John he gave the Midleton youngster every chance, but Morrissey, like Kavanagh I fear, injuries will ruin what should have been a fruitful career. One would hope to see him to well with Finn Harps.
Expect more movement in-and-out of the club over the next few weeks before we begin to see the side take shape ahead of our latest attempt to pip Dundalk to the league.
At least we won’t have long to wait!