what do you think of The Toole this year bignose - still the same old talented attititude-ridden waster?
Actually not!! ...... JJ seems to have had the turn around to beat all turnarounds this season!!? Last year when he arrived at the Cobblers, you could see he obviously had some talent, as maybe once or twice in a game he would make some small positive contribution.....but he just didn't get around the pitch enough, wasn't mobile enough, and didn't run around enough!! (he reminded me style wise of Bayo Akinfenwa but without the first touch or the talent! hehe!! ) He kept getting played behind the striker or too far forward and he just doesn't have enough pace IMO for that role, but I always thought he looked better defensively than going forward.
Our manager (Sir Chris Wilder) got fed up with his lack of impact halfway through last season and transfer listed him and dropped him out of the squad. Over the summer he must have done a heck of a lot of fitness work, as he seemed to come back looking a lot leaner and more mobile and hasn't looked back since.
He plays in more of a defensive midfield role (as per Roy Keane) this year and pretty much bosses most games.
He has kept his head down, kept his mouth shut and is bang on course to be player of the year I would think by some distance. (Ricky Holmes has been fantastic since getting back from injury just before Xmas, and if he had played the whole season I would think he would get the gong, but I think JJ will edge it as he has been consistently good for almost every match this season. He doesn't come across as a "fancy Dan" or a big head in his brief sound bites I have heard online, so maybe being transfer listed for 6 months, and realising his career was hanging in the balance made him reassess his life/career/attitude, who knows?!
I guess you have to almost lose something before you can appreciate it, or however the saying goes?!
Our fans this season seem to sing for about 30 minutes per game .... "We've got O'Toole, John Joe O'Toole, I just don't think you understand...." etc to the tune of Achey Breaky Heart..... so please don't think they are doing it especially to annoy you, they sing it every week incessantly, to the extent that a lot of the home fans actually get fed up with it!!!
Our chances of stabilising or even progressing next year in League 1 depend to a large extent on keeping our manager, O'Toole, Holmes, Smith (our young goalkeeper sacked by Leicester for his appearance in home made saucy video) and 1 or 2 others I wont bore you with!!
Safe travelling and see you at the game tomorrow!!