There are two types of football fan, the romantics and those who don’t live in cloud cuckoo land. Yes I too still hope to see my beloved Town rubbing shoulders at the top of the Premier League, but what are the chances with the current state of the squad? I have been told by many I am pessimistic, I prefer to call myself a realist.
Football has evolved in the last 10 years and the chances of any team returning to the Premiership and establishing themselves is an incredibly difficult task. Getting out of the Championship is tough in itself, let alone playing in the top flight week in week out. Keane for all his critics has spent some money, but it must be remembered that he knows what it takes to get out of this division and more significantly as champions. We have started this season well, although the play-offs for me is the more realistic target.
The reason I have felt inclined to write this article is about Connor Wickham and the transfer dilemma currently facing the football club. The romantic supporters keep telling me that we should keep Wickham because when we get in the Premier League he is the goalscorer we need. That is all well and good but the argument is that even if fired us into the Premier League the chances of us keeping him is extremely remote giving what a fantastic young talent he is. My view is that the chairman should be biting the arm off Tottenham especially if they will loan him back to us for a season or maybe more to continue his development. I mean surely this deal gives us the best of both worlds; being able to keep Connor for the foreseeable, whilst adding a huge boost to Keane’s transfer kitty to bring in three or four players that can improve our chances of promotion. I for one have been extremely impressed with Andros Townsend and if we can retain his services and that of Jake Livermore’s for the rest of the season, then it is surely like to be a win, win all round. Although Keane has come out yesterday and suggested that they wouldn’t consider any offers for Wickham; the fact remains that a decent bid will surely prove too tempting, especially when we can use the funds to strengthen elsewhere.
I have been accused on the forums of being negative, but surely we should be thinking short term and not long at this moment. Even if Wickham stayed then we will only get a couple of seasons at the most from him before he looks to move on to bigger things; this way we get him for at least one more season and have the cash to enhance the current squad. It is a no brainer as far as I am concerned; although I am sure many supporters at Portman Rd will beg to differ.
Written By Joe Preston