It’s good to be back, and I mean really good. It seems a long while since I’ve taken fingers to keyboard for a missive but, just like the atmosphere yesterday at the SCL, it feels very, very different.
Dai Yongge was always a bit of a spectre, lurking in the background, causing mayhem at every stroke, but now we’re in the spectre of the Dai era as a whole. Barring any last-minute hiccups we’re (cautiously) on the verge of a new era.
With prospective owners Rob Couhig and Todd Trosclair in attendance, supported by their new appointment, Joe Jacobson as the new “CEO” – we’re not quite sure what his title will be as yet – all three would have been very impressed with what was on show. The happiness, pride and relief, however, were a preserve purely for us fans.
Seeing the (hopeful) new owners pitch-side before the game was something that many of us had never dreamt of us seeing. But there they were, showing themselves off like a resplendent set of peacocks basking in the glorious summer sun.
And, just like the tweets that proceeded their appearance, they didn’t care who knew it. Already they have been more visible, more vocal and more supportive than the previous owner ever did during his tenure – and the ink is barely dry on the deal.
If this is anything to go by, we’re due for an onslaught of communication from the new board, the likes of which we’ve never experienced in recent years. It’s going to be a strange thing to get used to, but in the same breath exactly what we need.
But anyway, that’s off the field. On the field, matters were just as pleasing. A 2-0 win that really should, and could, have been much more. Certainly, in the first half we could have scored three or four and there wouldn’t have been many complaints.
We simply dazzled in the summer sun. Our pressing was on point despite the loss of the prime presser, Harvey Knibbs (out with a groin strain for the best part of a month). We caused Wigan no end of problems with our intensity and tempo. They just couldn’t handle us.
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