Saturday’s final pre-season friendly against Real Vallecano not only saw Steve Lomas have a final check of his squad before the start of the season but also the return of Dany N’Guessan.
It was the first time he played at The Den after THAT night against Palace, where he strolled around for ten minutes, and as the sub was then subbed, walked off in the slowest manner possible, a massive middle finger to the fans – we needed fight and passion battling relegation and you do that!
This game was the chance for fans to express their opinion on the way N’Guessan acted, he certainly knew the reaction, with a large percentage of fans booing. Even Lomas trying to incise the crowd to clap fell on deaf ears.
But are fans judging the winger a bit too harshly?
N’Guessan was injured leading up to the game against Palace, he told the manager he was not fit for selection but he picked him anyway.
By this point, DNG had not been involved in the last five games, and in the three games before that, an unused substitute.
The manager had other options on the bench that night.
At this point we needed someone who would basically bust a gut for 20 minutes, a Shaun Batt character. With the likes of Marquis on the bench it does not take much management experience to know which will work best.
Yes he may take the abuse, but if what DNG said is true and that he was injured, should he solely be blamed for what happened?
At the time, I truly hated DNG for what he did, I’ll leave out the language but it was recommended he went away, or moved down to the Valley…
He may have been injured but he did himself no favours by having a gentle stroll off the pitch.
We move on to the new season with a new manager, new ideas, and a fresh start, and not just within management. He has given all playing staff a fresh start and whether fans like it or not, Lomas must have seen something he liked, otherwise he would’ve been long gone by now.
Who knows, maybe with a manger actually praising DNG rather than throwing him to the Lions (excuse the pun) we could actually have a decent player. Lomas has already said if he plays, DNG will play in his natural left wing position rather then switching from wing to striker.
If Lomas can get the best out of N’guessan he may be worth keeping, but if not, we move him on.
Maybe he will have to make a big gesture to appease some of the fans. Maybe do a “Terry Hurlock” return classic. Getting sent off after a punch up, after all, getting in a brawl for the cause would appease at-least some of the fans.
Just a thought…
COYL
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