1. Go for it . . . you’re a long time retired.
2. Give yourself time to get over injuries, because they will come, and hang around if you rush your return.
Football is a contact sport and injuries are possible all over the field. It’s just that the body of the veteran finds new ways to get hurt as it ages.
With Batarrita still weeks away in his recovery from a medial cruciate ligament tear, the centreback cover is decidedly thin. And if McAuley gets injured and Spurr goes in alongside Smith . . . well, nobody will outsmart them.
Thinking aloud, Blair — with an eye to player management and damage control — said: “We need to use all three (Smith, Batarrita and Spurr) in rotation.”
That’s all very well for Pep Guardiola. My guess is that Blair will stick with the tried-and-true formula of picking the best available team at any given time.
Nevertheless, he’d breathe easier with a fit Batarrita and another promising young centreback at his disposal.
And that’s not to discount Daniel Venema, who makes a good fist of whatever role he’s given. He has the attributes of a capable defensive midfielder, including the often-overlooked 30-metre ball that closely marked strikers can lay off. But the Jags are already well served in this department.
Cai Maclean, who played centreback alongside McAuley for the first four competitive games of the season, has gone to Britain on his OE.
Tomorrow Thistle will be in Hawke’s Bay to play Central Federation League leaders Napier City Rovers Reserves, who are top of the table on goal difference from Palmerston North Marist.
When ALH Gisborne Thistle played City Rovers in Napier on April 22, strikers Jimmy Somerton and Oska Smith tormented the Napier defence. Smith scored once and had a hand in each goal of Somerton’s hat-trick in the Jags’ 7-6 win.
Last weekend Oska Smith was ill with a flu-like illness that also affected teammate and fellow Gisborne Boys’ High School student Cory Thomson.
Blair is hoping both will be back for tomorrow’s match.
“We saw the impact Oska made in this game last time round,” he said. “Whether they have a plan for him, I don’t know, but if they do, it might open up space for Jimmy (Somerton).”
Blair is also considering using twin threats down the flanks. If Smith is well enough to play, the speedy Sam Royston could be used as a rightback moving forward in support of winger Campbell Hall.
On the other side, leftback Andre Baple could be a formidable threat backing up left-winger Smith.
Blair doesn’t want to bank on his side scoring seven goals to win, so he wants to get rid of mistakes — the silly fouls in silly areas, and failure to clear their lines well enough.
“We want to get the basics right, from the back to the front,” he said.
“It’s also getting our back four to push our midfield on, to control the game higher up the field. If we do that, we can get more chances to score.”
The game, at Bluewater Stadium, Napier, starts at 3pm.
