Our opposition to date has been of a much lower standard than we will face this Saturday and with Hull et al going forward.
We should be expected to execute fluidly and successfully against such opposition. I am not overly impressed by the performance of some of our players. I expected to see more especially since they have the luxury to start with a clean slate and impress. McKay has looked to be one of our better players .... does that speak well for him, or badly for the rest of them.
We have added one middling LB. An improvement to the squad ... really, not so much. Meanwhile, we've been shedding players like a dog with fleas. Our inability to acquire any player of value is so lame that we actually gave Borja playing time and we know he'll be gone as soon as his agent finds a place for him to land. And, we still have the same two keepers ... please god ... vaccinate them against crosses, give them a back bone, and let's try to help out our two CBs. We are going into the season with 1 and only 1 experienced / seasoned CB - the others are still maturing (Roden) or brand new to senior football. McB has been reported listening to an interest and clubs have been reported as expressing an interest ... so who knows what will happen to him before the transfer window ends and his big buddy James is now in a position to report directly how much greener the grass can be. And, how much playing time has his back-up CBR seen ... basically next to nothing.
In other words, our squad is rife with risk. I don't hear of Cooper expressing any hope that his squad will be strengthened ... he's been praying that one of last season's U23 will magically blossom in front of his eyes.
The first acid test is against Atalanta. I'll opine further at the end of August. By then we'll see whether we've taken a step forward and have the grist for a promotion challenge or have another muddling, middling season in front of us. We'll also have a very good indication of whether Cooper has the chops to manage a senior level match, prepare his squad for it, and deal with the adversity that the opposition, match officials, money pinching executives and other acts of god can bring.
Is Cooper more like Sousa (produces a silk purse from a sows ear) or like Clement / BoBo / Monk ... talks the game but can't walk it.