It’s quite apt that our final scheduled fixture of 2020 has been called off/ postponed/suspended?

A few days early with this, but fuck it theres no footie to write about and it’s too cold to go outside. Thought I’d have a look at the year that is just limping to a conclusion, no point covering the news as it’ll be covered elsewhere. This Brexit malarkey seems to be sorted, hopefully by the time we start our UEFA Champions League Campaign in the 2023/24 season any arguments about passports and fishing will have been sorted. COVID has had a bit of airtime too, what a fucking carry on that has been eh? Anyone accurately predicting how this year would pan out, would have to have a level of visual acuity and clarity & sharpness of vision, measured at a distance of  20 feet, leading to the individual visualising the year in question, to be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 100 feet? 

Moving away from Current Affairs, let’s look at how SAFC fared…

Jan DWWWDW

Feb LWWWWD

Mar LDL

It’s been well publicised already, but in short, the EFL were faced with 2 options;

A Complete the season

B Void the season

They went with neither and decided it best to just guess the outcome, we’ll never know how last season would have panned out? We’d have probably made the play offs, Tranmere would probably have stayed up, Wycombe almost certainly wouldn’t have gone up…. the reality is, we don’t know, that’s the beauty of football, it’s gloriously unpredictable….. unless you have a Governing Body with the spine of a poorly slug? Anyway I’m not bitter.

Our form over the first 3 months of 2020 was really good, the away days at MK and Oxford were as good as I’ve had in years. We weren’t quite good enough away at Coventry and the Portsmouth game always felt one game too many. The defining moments were probably…..

Gillingham at Home

Bristol Rovers Away

April, May, June, July, August….. No football

Sept DWW

Oct DWWLDW

Nov WLDD

Dec DLWD

As always there’s key moments, if our strikers could hit a barn door we’d have been top of the league.  Back to back 1-1 draws at Fleetwood and Doncaster proved the end for Parkinson, hugely frustrating as we dominated both games.

Stability 0 vs Revolving Doors Rovers 1, (Donald, own goal)

I often say that football is a game of opinions, opinions will always differ, this is healthy. Most won’t agree with me, but that’s fine…..

Phil Parkinson

He was sacked last month, he gained 51 points from 28 games in 2020, we lost just 5 of those 28 games. He was sacked due to Social Media, whatever ones opinion of his dismissal is, the trial online and vitriol aimed at him was one of the few times I’ve questioned whether I’m 100% proud to be associated with SAFC. Differing opinions are fine, my opinion is that Parkinson was harshly treated, he’s a decent manager, he’s clearly a decent bloke and he was desperate to succeed here. New Years Day 2012 was the last time a manager started and finished a calendar year at SAFC – that’s 8 gaffers in 8 years, sometimes the problem is right under your nose? Things look brighter as regards the ownership of the club, things can only get better. I’m not the number 1 fan of Stewart Donald – Parkinson is a class act and will no doubt keep stum about how he was dismissed, just as Jack Ross was a decent bloke, who was promised by Donald that news of his sacking wouldn’t break til 5pm…. then It got leaked straight to the media and the young kids of Ross had to be ushered out of school so not to hear their dad had been sacked! These are real people…. decent people, let’s please finish 2021 with Lee in charge, even if we draw the odd game. As always, it’s all about opinions!

If on pitch matters were the only consideration, I’d have liked to have seen Joey Barton appointed, but that was never going to happen? In the event the candidates were strong, Lee Johnson is decent and I wish him well, let’s just remember how bad it’s been and for how long, let’s give him the chance that we perhaps didn’t afford Parkinson?

So, 2020 has been a bit shit, hopefully things will get better in 2021….. football is a great game and I can’t wait to have it back. I don’t like New Year as it’s a time of reflection and looking forward always beats looking back. Everyone of us will have a tale to tell….. but RIP & Fly High LP🔴⚪️⚫️⚽️💜 enjoy every fucking single minute of this precious life.

FTM