In the aftermath of the first game of the season against the Royals, there was a reaction of surprise, or in some cases shock, from a portion of the Blues fanbase to the opening day draw.
This led to boos at halftime and early criticism of individual players. It also gave us a taste of what may be to come from other fanbases in the EFL. Everybody is entitled to their opinion of course, but it begs the question: do we need to adjust our expectations during the early stages of the season?
Certainly, this is not a reactionary piece intending to review our objectives for the season. Promotion at all costs is a must. However, I do think we need to be more patient and understanding as a fanbase when we inevitably aren’t rolling opponents over each week with ease.
Social media is always a hotbed for hyperbole, and this summer has been no different.
Rivals have been repeating that Blues fans will be in for a shock once we play on pitches resembling the Somme against 11 brutes that will simply look to out-muscle our tippy-tappy technical players every game.
Blues fans have been responding with “100 points, 100 goals” and claims of boarding Her Majesty’s Ship and taking the league by storm. Although it started as a joke, I wonder if it was repeated often enough that a small part of us thought it might be smooth sailing from the start, despite our pessimistic traits as a fanbase.
The Opening Day
I fully expected to beat Reading. Throughout pre-season, I thought I’d seen enough quality and positive patterns of play, combined with our infamous record at home in front of sell-out crowds last season, to assume the result was almost a given. I admit I was surprised at how strong our opponents were for the first sixty minutes, but should I have been?
Ruben Selles’ side have had a season together in League One already and, owing to their well-documented troubles off the pitch, have been unable to make any additions to their squad in almost 12 months. Importantly for Reading, they’ve kept most of that squad together over the summer. They’re a small, tightly knit group who know exactly what the manager wants from them following a season of building their identity in a competitive environment. They were ready to claim an early scalp, and very nearly did.
Many people have said that this is a good time to play Blues. I’ve seen numerous Reading fans online making this suggestion and yet coming away satisfied with the result despite the late setback. However, it’s also worth noting that this might be the worst time to face a settled side like Reading, especially with their small group of first-team players. The dip in quality when their substitutes came on was noticeable. As was the significant drop in energy, and increased occurrences of cramp past the 60th minute. A couple of injuries or signs of fatigue in their starting XI means we may well see a different outcome in the reverse fixture later in the season.
Why we don’t need to worry
Shifting focus back to our boys in Royal Blue, I truly believe there is no need to be overly critical of the opening day. It was a big occasion for the new-look squad, a sellout crowd of almost 28,000 fans and expectation of a winning start to the season. Despite evidence of nerves, from indecision on the ball to over-hit diagonals which were hit consistently in friendlies, importantly, we came out of the test with a point on our tally for the season.
Our fellow promotion rivals Rotherham fell short with a 1-0 away defeat to Exeter. Play-off hopefuls Barnsley came unstuck and lost 2-1 against an impressive newly promoted side in Mansfield. And in the Championship, title favourites Leeds escaped a huge upset with a last minute goal to draw 3-3 with newcomers Portsmouth.
Last season, two of the three teams that eventually earned promotion from League One lost on the opening day. Only Pompey managed to salvage a 1-1 draw against lower mid-table opposition Bristol Rovers with a 92nd-minute equaliser. Sounds somewhat familiar, doesn’t it?
Importance of fitness and quality in depth
I’m confident that we have the quality in our starting XI and depth to achieve our goals this season. Alfons Sampsted has joined to continue a theme of recruiting two players per position, by signing on a loan-to-buy to compete with Ethan Laird. I’m sure more signings will follow to fill our remaining gaps.
A perfect example of our quality in depth and how important this will be throughout the season comes with the news that Willum Willumsson may not feature in the coming games due to an injury he aggravated on the opening day, forcing Luke Harris to replace him shortly after half time. The latter followed with a solid debut, and yet we still have both Tyler Roberts and Romelle Donovan who didn’t even make the 18 man squad for the season’s opener. Thor looks to be a solid technical player, yet I’m confident we have more than enough to cover his potential absence.
It’s this quality, and the fitness of the squad which showed as we dominated the latter stages against a tiring Reading side, which gives me the belief that this result is nothing but a bump in a long, long road.
Looking ahead
We’re going to face more tests and setbacks, particularly early on. It’s a cliché to see where you are after 10-15 games, but we might need to push that back further still. In this time, we face Wigan, Wrexham, Rotherham, Peterborough, Huddersfield, Charlton, Lincoln and Bolton, all of which will fancy themselves to be at least in the play-off race come April next year.
We may not come out of this run (which also includes potentially tricky away fixtures at Wycombe, Leyton Orient, Exeter and Mansfield) with as many points as we’d like. It’s important that we recognise the challenges ahead with both confidence and humility, and be patient with a side that’s still coming together under a man we all have huge faith in to succeed.
Our backing could be the difference maker in a season of such high pressure for the players. We are used to supporting the team through both the joys and the sorrows of a season. Let’s not lose sight of what makes us such a fantastic fanbase.
Keep Right On.