Cod Almighty | Diary

Goals are the goal

11 September 2020

Thunderdiary writes: So, after a cup week that saw Town field 23 different players over 180 minutes that ultimately produced two draws settled by penalty kicks, it's time for the season proper to start.

46 games (we hope) crammed into less than eight months that will herald a bold new attacking philosophy in DN35. Certainly the signs of the past seven days have alluded to the buckle having some swash, with raw pace and a young, lean squad hoping to simply outscore the opponents. There have been some encouraging signs, some passages of play that whet the appetite - long passes to marauding full backs, flooding the box when forward - that will hopefully nullify what appears to be a hesitant defence. I'd take 3-2 wins every game.

That is certainly the view of the Not the Top 20 Pod, who have nominated Town as the team in the fourth division that will have most goals combined across all of their games. Crewe were last season's entertainers, with an average of 2.97 goals per game. Town's 45 goals in the truncated 2019-20 season will have to be bettered. That almost a quarter of that total were scored in August last season shows how patchy it got and three of those came against Walsall, whom we visit tomorrow.

Holloway has some fresh injury anguish with Max Wright out for up to six weeks with a thigh problem. He is again without his Yorkshire duo of Luke Hendrie and James Hanson. Having tried and changed formation across the two games a few times, it's anyone's guess on the line up tomorrow - I suppose the fluidity of the systems means that the players can adapt, but they certainly seem more comfortable with a back four.

That defence may see the return of Ludvig Öhman, who Holloway told Matt Dean was "magnificent" against Harrogate (one booking, naturally). He alluded to a seismic team meeting on Monday in which certain individuals were singled out and he saw a reaction from the Swede as he marshalled his young troops. If Ludvig does start, online bookmakers will be rubbing their hands in anticipation of Town fans thinking he'll add to his one goal in thirty games.

In contention for a place on the bench at the Bescot is Louis Boyd, who managed to achieve what all Town fans dream about - playing and scoring for your team. The fact that he did it before his 16th birthday made it all the more special, but somewhere deep inside me I still think I've got a chance of twatting one in the top corner in front of the Ponny. I'm 45.

Walsall, managed by everyone's favourite newspaper reviewer, have had a relatively quiet summer with four or five new recruits so will maybe benefit from a more settled squad as the season starts. Certainly it will take time for Town to impose Holloway's philosophy so expectations must be tempered as we bed in what amounts really to a brand new team without a proper pre-season.

Having said that, if Louis leaps off the bench to net a 96 minute winner then I'll be looking for the headline: Boyd bags a beauty at the Bescot.

Print that bastard.