In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
And so it is in the world of football. As one season ends and our attention turns firstly to trades and then to drafting. And now, as the clock ticks over into Christmas, and the days until the new season start numbering in double digits, we each have a narrative in our heads about our teams. Things are going to be okay, aren’t they?
Surely, our teams will rectify what went wrong in 2022 and hit 2023 with renewed vigour, right?
Sometimes it takes just a couple of weeks into the new season for our hopes and expectations to be dashed. What we thought was the problem, and what our club did to fix it was really only wallpapering over other issues. Like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound, we fail to address the actual problems and just stop the bleeding. Even if we genuinely know what the issue is, we can be guilty of convincing ourselves that it’s not really there.
We suspend disbelief. We look for the beautiful lie and ignore the ugly truth.
Until now.
I’m sorry, football fans, but in this column, I have the dose of reality you were trying to avoid. This is where we look at each club and discover one of the lies they’ve been telling themselves and hoping that you’re readily believing it.
Make sure you’re seated. Go to your safe place and grab a blanky if you need to, but be ready – this isn’t playing into your little fantasy land where everything is going to be fine. This is the harsh truth slapping you in the face like a wet trout.
Here are the lies we tell ourselves.
This article is for our members. But its off-season – where’s the value? Glad you asked – each week at The Mongrel, we offer get standalone articles such as this, full pre-season game reviews and complete access to the season previews. Want to join us?
