Blues News

Opinion: A season for optimism?

|
Image for Opinion: A season for optimism?

Most Blues fans will know that being optimistic heading into a new season very rarely ends well. However, this season has a different feel about it.

To start with, Gary Rowett has openly said throughout his preseason regime that even though he was looking to implant the winning mentality on the team, it has all been about fitness.

By going on a hot weather training camp, it is clear that the former Burton Albion boss means business. Ex-manager Lee Clark seemed to have all the passion and none of the tactics in my opinion but with Rowett it is all different.

The camp seems a happier place and by going away on the training camp, not only do the players get to where Gary and his team want them to be, but they also get to gel a lot quicker because they have to spend a lot of time together.

Despite not having the best results in the games that we have played throughout preseason, I can’t fault the performances, apart from the Burton game.

The determination in each of the games was something that wasn’t there when Clark was in charge! This grit to dig in in games has to be one of the main reasons as to why we as fans can be slightly more hopeful that our optimism will last longer than it usually does.

Another reason as to why we can hope our expectations will last longer this season is because of the signings that Rowett has made. Yes, granted there aren’t as many as we would have liked but the players that have been brought in are of a higher quality.

For example, look at Maikel Kieftenbeld. On Saturday he was superb against Leicester. He played like a rock in midfield and even though he probably won’t be the goal scoring midfielder that we were all hoping for, he will be a player who can step in should our defense get in trouble.

I believe he, Kieftenbeld, will be the person who will bring the best out of Stephen Gleeson. If the pair can play well together then who knows where we could end up in the league!

A final reason to be extra optimistic this season is the fact that we have a manager who knows how to handle tactics! With previous managers, when something has gone wrong, for an example, when we kept conceding three or four goals in the first half under Clark, he would complain and make excuses that we never started well enough.

However, Rowett comes out with his chin up and often comments on how he will go back to the training ground with his staff and review what happened. Then he will go from there and combat the situation with the squad.

This sort of thing very rarely happened under Clark. We as fans can notice a difference when something actually happens in training because it reflects in the players performances on the pitch.

Blues fans, what do you make of my arguments for an optimistic season? Do you think I am right? Do you think we have other things to be optimistic about? If so, what do you think we should be optimistic about? Let us know down in the comment section!

Share this article

Currently, I've never felt more like singing the B