The Dead Zone

The Dead Zone, just what is it and what has it got to do with football?

I once watched a Stephen King movie called the Dead Zone about a guy who had a near death experience and following on from it every time he touched someone he could see their future, quite a good movie, starred Christopher Walken, top actor but I digress, the Dead Zone, the title of the movie and the book but also that`s what we are in at the moment, the Dead Zone.

The period following on from the end of the season and before the players get back from their hol`s and preseason training, the period of nothingness where all that`s floating about are rumours, gossip and conjecture. Fair enough we have the World Cup to break it up but that only starts next week and at the rate we are going with players getting injured in warm-up games there just might be no one left fit enough to play come next Friday.

A gentle reminder from Ye Old Tree and Crown tells me not to forget that the new seasons fixtures are due to be published on the 17th June, they always cause a bit of a stir, I have to admit the first thing I look at is who our last five games of the season are against, lots of reasons for this, always nice to finish at home, also following on from the Sheffield United game in 2007 I always hope for a half decent run in against some of the Premier Leagues lesser teams, though on last season`s form that doesn`t seem to matter anymore.

The festive period games are also interesting fixtures, we have been lucky these past few seasons with local derby`s in and around the Christmas fixtures, long may it continue.

Anyway back to the Dead Zone, this is definitely a lull in my football focus, I drift to other areas of my life, the kids, are they doing ok? The dog, does he need a walk? Work, shall I go in for the craic? The wife, is she still here? No I do love you if you are reading this my sexy apples (pet name), if not she probably has left!

See what the Dead Zone does it makes you say strange things and behave in a very odd way, it`s like a stagnant pool of water, we are at the moment regurgitating our way through the same old gossip written in a slightly different way Mauro Boselli, I have heard his name mentioned so many times that I have added him to my Christmas card list and I am excited by his impending signing for the Latics, but to be honest three weeks ago I`d never heard of him and I certainly haven`t seen him play.

That`s another thing that the Dead Zone does, it gets you excited by the merest mention of potential, a player is being scouted, suddenly the imagination takes over not only will we sign him but he is also destined to be our record buy, top scorer, world player of the year etc, etc, etc.

The Dead Zone will be broken this year by the World Cup, thank the Lord, this time round I have lots of interest, obviously England, my mum is Australian, we have the connection to Honduras, Ghana, Serbia, Ivory Coast and South Korea, surely one of those will keep me occupied through to the quarter-final stages at least which are due to take place on the 2nd July and then the lads should be back for preseason training, limbering up their muscles in time for the new season, the Dead Zone shaken out for another year.

At the moment though I am stuck in the Dead Zone wondering what to do to shake myself out of this manic boredom, anyone any ideas?














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