THE POST SCOTT BLUES

Okay, I admit it. When Scott was sold during the summer, I thought it was a shrewd bit of business. A few hundred thousand for a Second Division winger who wasn’t going to get any quicker and was pushing 30 seemed a reasonable fee in this day and age. After all, Scott may have scored 26 goals, but the vast majority were before Christmas and, once defences were aware of his threat, he was often snuffed out through teams doubling up on him. All things considered, it was a good deal… or so I thought.

Seventeen games into the new season and the hole left by Scott’s departure has become brutally clear for all to see. Yes, we miss his goals and his pace but, more than that, we miss his dynamism, his flair, his cockiness and his general chirpy character around the ground.

From a playing point of view, I’d always thought that Chris Roberts would be able to fill Scott’s boots but, from what I’ve seen, I’m not sure he’s quite ready. Maybe he is, but with Danny constantly chopping and changing, Roberts will never get the run of games he needs to become comfortable with the position.

The other option, bought by our manager for a quarter of a million pounds, is Luke Wilkshire. Only our Danny could announce the arrival of a pacy Premiership winger to replace Scott, and then unveil a central midfielder who likes to feed in wingers with his passing and vision. Can it really be that our manager thought he was buying a winger when, in fact, the player he bought was nothing of the sort? If so, then that is simply not good enough.

So, where do we go from here? Do we really expect the board to dip their hands in their pockets again, simply because Danny Wilson didn’t spend the large sum he was given over the summer wisely? Their attitude must surely be ‘Why should we?’ and rightly so. But, without supply, we simply aren’t going to get the goals we need for promotion and I’m sure Steve Lansdown must be weighing up the cost of bringing in the player Wilson told him he was using his money to buy three months ago, against the cost of another season of failure.

I really don’t know what I’d do in Steve’s position (retire, probably). His manager has let him down by spending a massive amount of money on a player we did not need (nothing against Luke, he seems an honest lad with a bright future) and now he has to consider bailing him out again. Will it be good money after bad, or will it be money well spent? A tough call and one I’m happy to leave to someone else.

Anyway, back to Scott. Playing matters aside, it feels like more than that is missing since his departure. I don’t profess to know the inner machinations of the dressing room but it feels like the spark has gone and the players aren’t buzzing anymore. There’s a flat feel to the players when they come out onto the pitch, a sense that they aren’t full of themselves and raring to go. Now maybe ‘m reading too much into it, but I suspect Scott was a dressing room character who strode around cockily before a game, convincing his teammates they were better than the opposition. With that now gone, the players are a little lost and unsure and that is reflected in the dull, lethargic performances we have witnessed of late.

As I say, I don’t know what the answer is. All I do know is we need to find that spark and we need to find it fast. Just as much as the fans have had to, the players also have to accept that Scott has gone, regroup and move onwards and upwards. If we continue to mope around in a post-Scott haze, then another season may pass us by. All I ask is that the players play their football with a bit of enjoyment again, the way that Scott did, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll bring a bit of enjoyment to us too.