Three Weeks To Go

The arrival of Mark McGhee followed by Mensing and Porter gave everyone a massive lift and after the depressing end to last season that was exactly what we needed. But, as happens so often football, there was a feeling of swinging from one extreme to the other and that is not always the best course of action. It is great to be positive but this season is likely to be another struggle. The vast majority of the players we had last season who weren't good enough are still here and while McGhee may turn out to be a decent manager it is highly unlikely he will be a miracle worker.

There will no doubt be work going on behind the scenes with regard to bringing more players in but we should not be counting our chickens. Mensing looks to be a solid signing and his brace on Saturday is pleasing, but we have picked up players before on the strength of good cup performances only to discover they can't handle the meat of the SPL week in week out. Similarly, while Porter looks to be a bit of a coup there is no doubt things could go wrong there too. Should he pick up a bad injury or fail to settle in the area we could be paying a fortune for little return while knowing he is counting down the days until he can move back to England.

We lost to Dynamo Bucharest and there is no disgrace in that. The win over Poznan hardly matters either as it is little more than a bounce game.

The matches against Millwall and Nottingham Forest will give us just an indication of what is to come but even they cannot be trusted to tell the whole story. Back in 2002 we won all of our pre-season games including decent triumphs over Cardiff and Birmingham. That was soon forgotten though as we slumped throughout the league campaign and finished 12^th.

The season is getting close again and for that we should all be grateful. It is a brilliant feeling to be excited and looking forward to games again but things are unlikely to change overnight. Despite the good vibes we have now McGhee and the squad must be given a fresh start and that means they need time to get things right.