Let’s all just calm down.
I’ll get to the football in a minute, but first…
This week, I wrote a blog post about how the changing seasons impact us all—how autumn marks the start of a steady decline in our mood and temperament as we approach darker days and the looming expense and pressure of Christmas.
The point of the article was to help my customers (driving instructors) recognise that people may act out in ways they might not during the lighter months of spring and summer. By being mindful of this, perhaps we can pause, think twice, and take a breath before reacting hastily, laying into others, or doing silly things ourselves…
…like writing an angry comment to another person online, behind a mask of anonymity.
[Pause while that sinks in…]
Now, I get that we’re all missing Hugh and the unique insight he brought to this website. I also understand that Martin, Gonzo, and others, in their efforts to keep the site going, may not always write things to our liking.
But consider this: if they don’t spend their time writing articles—which we have the ‘choice’ to read—so advertisers can reach our eyeballs and people can get paid, then the site fades and dies.
Like our dreams, perhaps, but I’ll leave that for another article.
If you’d like to contribute your time to write free articles, I’m sure the team would love to hear from you.
There’s nothing wrong with commenting on an article to suggest it could be better—it’s a free world—but PLEASE consider how you go about it because, contrary to some belief, there are real people behind the screens on both ends.
Now, to football…
We also need to calm down about our club. The noise is loud and unnecessary. We have a new manager, a raft of new players, and we’re only 23% into the season.
So far, we’ve played high-flying Villa, Man City, Chelsea, and Spurs, and lost to all of them. Not unexpected results, really, are they?
We’ve beaten a wasteful Man Utd team, as well as Palace and Ipswich, and gained respectable points against useful Fulham and Brentford teams.
Sure, it’s not been a pretty watch (to say the least), and some decisions have left us scratching our heads. But with so much change, can we not afford the team and coaching staff a little more time before we destroy them all with our superior insight and knowledge?
Next up are Forest and Everton—games where I’d expect at least four points—before tough fixtures against Newcastle and Arsenal, from which I’d be happy with a combative, competitive performance.
In December, we have five winnable games against Leicester, Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton, and Southampton. I’d expect us to pick up at least eight points from these and be around 10th by the time we face Liverpool on the 29th.
So, let’s just calm down. Recognise that autumn and winter are challenging months for everyone, gain some perspective, and reflect a little before we act. Let’s aim to be a slightly kinder, more balanced human.
Both in real life and online; it’s more real than you think.
COYI & much love.
Author: Dan Hill
