So far, so so......

A couple of months ago we expertly evaluated who we wouldn't have minded seeing being retained from last season's squad for the forthcoming run to play-off misery.  Our list was - 

White or Alexander

Andoh / Coyle / Mensah

Fatadjo / York / Williams (?)

Panter / Jeche

With yesterday's announcements of the departures of York and Andoh we are desperate to hear about Williams as we look to achieve a barely acceptable 50% correct guess rate.  I wouldn't be surprised to hear either Andoh or York (or both) signing for Alvechurch who seem to be building a bewilderingly good squad of players who are presumably stoked to play in front of 200 people on a sloping field in the middle of nowhere.  

Personally I'm going to miss Wes the most.  In his couple of seasons here he never really locked down his place in the team.  His two problems being that the various bosses always put their latest signings in front of him and his incredible versatility making him a perfect candidate for the bench, knowing he could fill in anywhere on the pitch.  But even more I'm going to miss his happy face and cheerful disposition - and have we ever had a player who knew literally every opposition player and official? 

Andoh is another big loss.  He is a young, strong, skilful player who is only going to get better.  Alas, not in Poppies red.

I can't really blame Jeche for looking for a game somewhere.  We had so many fixtures last season when we needed two up top only for Liam to bottle it, and timidly assume Panter would do it all.  So much so that even after two thirds of a season we still weren't sure about Jeche!

Mensah has plumped for a fat payday to slice clearances in front of 150 Peterborough Sports dickheads, so f*ck him.

Not sure about Alexander's plans, but as long as he doesn't stray too far from his telephone for when we need him, all will be good.

We've signed a couple of players to plug the gaps but I think the on-pitch news is going to trail a LONG WAY behind the potential off-field shenanigans.  So, nothing new there..... 

All the best in the future, Wes!

Just another psychodrama

Relax, it’s only June. Nothing to see here folks. Enjoy your summer.

Wouldn’t it be nice to imagine a world in which that was true? Just a few weeks ago we walked away from the last campaign feeling on the whole pretty good about the direction the club was heading, and maybe even daring to think that a nice quiet close season of planning and strengthening could be in store. Ah when will we ever learn? This is Kettering Town. We don’t do quiet close seasons. 

Instead we lose our collective shit almost from the day the last season ends. Who’s being retained? Why has player X moved to Y? Why no new signings yet – come on, it’s the 3rd of May! Then for extra spice add in a juicy leak about takeover talks that quickly goes public in a very orchestrated way, setting off what has felt like an election campaign - that like all good election campaigns quickly resulted in rival camps trading accusations, threats and even hints of dirty tricks. 

Meanwhile we have the little matter of our manager seemingly facing a lengthy FA ban yet serenely fronting up for a club interview full of very aspirational talk of the season ahead, one which he may well be viewing from a distance. Unlike most of his predecessors in living memory, no one but no one wants to see Liam go – but it’s rather hard to see how he escapes a heavy sanction for betting on his own team to lose, no matter how long ago. Either he can disprove it, or he’s toast. 

So it you were a player contemplating your next move, where would you go? Kettering? Great club at this level, passionate fans but so and so says he’s owed wages, the manager might be off, the chairman seems to have a lot of people on his back and anyway here’s Peterborough Sports offering me an extra £200 a week to ignore their mickey mouse set up. 

Oh and I’ve just seen on X that the club seems to be posting some barmy shit then claiming they’ve been hacked and don’t know how to reset a password. 

It’s only June, sure, but can we take much more of this? 

In an ideal world everyone would take a step back, chill a bit, remember that we ultimately all want the same thing which is a successful KTFC and take it from there. Maybe Brad and George meet halfway and there’s an amicable transition with George still involved. Liam somehow beats the rap and takes us to the next level. Fake Bedford’s crypto billions crash and whoever is sponsoring Peterborough Sports realises there are better ways to torch money. And maybe throw in world peace while we're at it. 

Meanwhile enjoy your summer. It’s a World Cup year, so what can go wrong. 

We'll keep running versions of this photograph
until someone laughs