Seen this image on Twitter. Nothing sums up my optimism for this season than this image. I think this low-res picture of nothing exciting in particular will be one of my favourite pics of the season.
On a Wednesday night in July, we had finished our beers and were headed to Glenavon to see this new mighty Leeds team that was assembled play a friendly. We were hopeful of capturing glimpses of some of the latest signings brought in by the new chairman and to see the new manager. It became quite clear early on that we weren't going to get to see the Leeds team we wanted. Instead it was a glorified reserves, or U21's, game we were witnessing. Still nevermind, we got to see some of the main team; Smith and Poleon were there, Paddy Kenny too, and at least we got to see one foreign signing: Berardi. And we didn't get an insight in to the new manager, we got Neil Redfearn. Whilst I felt a bit cheated, I felt more sorry for those Yorkshire folk who travelled over for a reserves game against a relatively poor Northern Irish opponent. Their dedication; foolish.
Looking back in hindsight, all these guys, bar Berardi, were on the outskirts of the team. We saw guys like Dawson, Cook, Phillips, Taylor and thought, "well the future is bright" as we watched a decent game of football. To expand: it wasn't high intensity, it wasn't technically brilliant or in any way amazing, but these guys were passing the ball. They were doing it the right way. We were disappointed, yet got to see something we probably wouldn't have otherwise seen: the reserves, the youth.
In much the same way Byram pushed his way in to the first team, ousting an actual monetary signing brought in for the right back position, Mowatt and Cook battled their way in to a team in positions which were already crowded and for which new signings had already been made to improve. Like Poleon and Kenny in hindsight, Mowatt and certainly Cook weren't in the plans this season. Perhaps the future?
Taylor is slightly different, in that his senior competition for the left back role was sold leaving Taylor as the only option. M feelings on the Warnock sale aside, as this is not the topic for past arguments, I don't think the management would have been happy selling a player if they didn't have faith in his replacement. Thanks to the other youth players, Taylor wasn't just labelled as back up or one for the future... no, the management had every faith that, like the others, Taylor could replicate his form in the big leagues.
And in some sort of poetic justice, the man who helped these guys develop through the ranks, and the guy who stood in as the second rate manager for that reserve game in Glenavon, Neil Redfearn, would - within just a handful of months - become the Head Coach of the first team.
As we go on a bit of a run of form, whilst we maintain some healthy debates on the decisions surrounding the club, let's not lose sight of how great it is to see how far these guys have come. Hopefully some other players like Dawson get their break at some point, and perhaps others who I am currently unaware of.
