Today we welcome Aveley to the Mangata Pay UK Stadium. May I wish their Directors, Manager, players and supporters an enjoyable stay with us and a safe journey home.
Well, after a productive if slightly unrewarding two match, five-day training camp at my very good friend John Brend’s ‘Carlyon Bay’ Hotel down in the South West of England. I believe my professional investment made in our staff, manager and players regarding their stay in Cornwall was money well spent.
After four defeats in six games in February, I felt Luke and the dressing room were tired. As such I felt they needed my backing, they needed a boost and I felt them just knowing that i would invest in the dressing room and associate staff by staying at a top hotel and allowing them to prepare properly and professionally for both the Torquay and Truro games, would give Luke, the players and staff the boost they needed to go again in the league….
I say that because In the 14 days prior to the Cornwall trip, the dressing room had rallied, they had turned around the 4 defeats in 6. They had come together and worked their socks off In a 10 period prior to Cornwall, where they recorded three very big wins against Eastbourne Borough, St Albans City and Chelmsford City to re-ignite our promotion challenge.
As a Chairman I believe that people on occasion do need gentle reminders about what’s expected of them. On occasion they might also need a good kick up the back side, but equally when you have honest people, good players and honest staff they also need backing at the right time and for me this was a ‘right time’ moment….
Unfortunately, the dressing room has not followed up those three big wins up or managed a decent points return on my financial outlay in Cornwall but that’s football I’m afraid. So after a hard fought late draw at Torquay United, we were disappointing in the 2-1 defeat at Truro City. As such Luke and the boys now have to show the character, and resilience needed to see our promotion campaign through to the very end.
To get ourselves back in the title race we must beat Aveley this afternoon and begin another unbeaten run, and we must be brutally honest with each other as the 1 point in 6 at Torquay and Truro is not good enough and has affected things, as I feel we must now remain unbeaten in our last 10 games if we want a chance of the title.
If we can begin another unbeaten starting this afternoon. I feel we can at least regain some momentum and show the characteristics of a promotion team. Our recent resilience is a Luke Garrard trait and that had perhaps put us back in the title race, but very importantly our long-term injured players are now thankfully fit and available today.
Those injuries obviously had an adverse effect on our February form, after we had previously been unbeaten in 14, but to have senior players back for the run in is a huge bonus. Having Chris Bush, Josh Hare, Jack Payne, Callum Reynolds and Erico Sousa now available and all ready to play their part is a massive boost to our promotion chances.
We all know we cannot afford any more of those unfathomable defeats that we’ve witnessed all season, especially away at places like Salisbury, Aveley, Hornchurch and even at home to Chippenham to name but four. Not with this squad who for me are arguably better than last year’s National League squad. So, I don’t want to hear anymore lame excuses, as we really do have quality, leadership, strength and depth.
Our recent player recruitment also means we have incredible quality in most areas and that is something we can take into next season. As I’ve said before, our staff and players now need to look at themselves, re-focus, be confident in their ability, while some need to look a lot closer at their game management in those tough in- game moments.
Throughout my long tenure here, I’ve always tried to be a ‘rainy day’ type of Chairman who knows himself, this town and this football club. As such I will try to be pragmatic, supportive where possible, tough when required and always straight forward in my business dealings.
That disposition coupled with honesty must equally apply when I’m dealing with our staff, players, manager, supporters, sponsors, town and community but also with myself, my club and business partners. As such with the run-in upon us, we do not have time for any more self-doubt, any more of the weak mentalities nor anymore “what ifs” and “if only’s.”
Negativity and self-doubt within the dressing room must now be kept in check, as only wins and picturing the finishing line are the orders of the day if we want to win this title. That said after February wobble, I thought we had quietly addressed performances, attitudes, discipline, hopes, fears and ambitions, which was done with calmness, experience, nous, sensibility and intelligence – perhaps I was wrong?
In recent weeks we continued to address all manner of things and I had hoped we’d turned a corner by grinding out a few recent wins and I was thrilled when we nicked a late point with a late 98th minute equaliser down at Torquay Utd (thanks to Abdul and Junior)…. Unfortunately, we returned to being mediocre at Truro on Tuesday night and we got what we deserved.
I do feel lessons were learnt last season by me, our staff and our players, and thankfully most have stopped feeling like me, the world and this football club owes them a living. As such if they want employment, they know they must work their socks off, embrace both the highs and lows of a season and embrace the pressures that only they can control if we are to enjoy a promotion winning season.
Hopefully after those three recent wins, we can shrug off the disappointment of 1 point in 6 in Cornwall and embark on another unbeaten run? I know Luke loves to grind out wins, but as I keep reminding him, he also has great options, great players and great quality within his dressing room to find other pathways to promotion and I still have faith that Luke and the squad can deliver on our promotion ambitions.
Today though we sit fifth in the table, still just four points adrift of league leaders Dorking Wanderers who have to come Meadow Park. So along with perhaps four or five other clubs, we are amazingly still very much in the promotion mix. However, as I’ve said before we now have no excuses and have the added bonus of having our senior players back which means our squad depth is immense.
In my experience when you’re in pressure situations over a period of time, you must enjoy the theatre of it all, enjoy the big moments as they might not ever come again. You must feed off your own ambitions, your supporters energy, your own experience and feed off your own expectations.
You must NEVER go into yourself or become insular, and you can NEVER fear match-days just because they become must-win games at this time of year. Pressure at the bottom for me is where the real pressure sits, as it’s very different, and if you allow it, it will consume and strangle you.
Pressure at the top though is very different, because it’s a pressure that is much easier to control and once controlled, it’s to be enjoyed. Remember promotion campaigns and the play off’s are only for the better clubs, only for the better teams and only for the better players as your performances and success is judged over a whole season.
I believe our club, our players and supporters because of the strength of this club and it’s investment, will get to enjoy themselves at the back end of this season. We are still very much in the promotion conversation and our manager and players now get to experience a shot at the title or enjoy the lottery of the play offs….
Trust me with my continued investment, we are always going to be one of the clubs at this level who’s ambition is only ever promotion. promotion, promotion. I know we let ourselves down by wasting our pre-season and the first eight games of the season. That is why I changed track very quickly, why i changed managers quickly and why I re-opened the purse strings yet again to allow Luke and Charlie Hunter to strengthen this squad in key areas.
As such It’s probable that up to 40% of our outfield starting Xl today, will be players that we’ve have needed to sign in mid-season. That type of investment is not cheap and shows everyone that my ambition, my staffs ambition and this clubs ambition is still to get promoted this season and all I ask is, that WE DO NOT fear pressure and WE DO NOT make excuses if we fail.
If we fail then we fail together, but let’s not concentrate on the negatives or waste our time on people with negative energy, as trust me they will drain the life out of both me and you…. I’d rather shrug off the doubters and look forward to the next six weeks with hope, faith and optimism. I’d rather we trust in our club investment, trust
in each other, trust in our squad and trust in our quality.
Let’s just be thankful that after a very mediocre start, we were brave enough to start our season again and because we were brave after just eight games, we still have everything to play for and every chance of success in the weeks ahead.
Today defender Callum Reynolds is back from his concussion protocol lay off. As you know we recently re-signed Callum from Bromley who now ply their trade in the EFL. For me Cal is a fantastic addition to our squad, he is money well spent and is a top, top bloke, defender and winner. Callum will add great experience, game management and leadership to our ranks going into the business end of the season and the last time we won the play offs it was Cal who lifted the trophy….
As such I continue to remind myself that our work ethic and squad strength will make a difference in March, April and I believe it will make a big difference if as looks likely, we need to go deep into the Play Offs in May.
We have already seen at Torquay United and Truro, that Bushy, Josh Hare, Jack Payne and Erico are back and ready to play their part. On top of those lads, the in-season signings of Jayden Richardson, Jon Benton, Matt Rush, Callum Reynolds and Josef Yarney will make us stronger as the pressure builds. These are all quality additions who I believe will step up in those pressure moments, as we look to finish the season like potential champions or play off winners.
I repeat again, “If any team or teams are better than us come the season’s end, then there will no complaints or excuses from me”, That said, I want us to scrap for every point, scrap for every goal, scrap for every clean sheet, scrap for every point, and scrap for every win…. As I still believe 88 points with our goal difference could well win this crazy league.
Finally, can I thank our very loyal supporters who travelled down to Torquay United and Truro. Trust me your financial sacrifice, energy, loyalty and voices never go unnoticed and deserved better. On behalf of myself, Luke Garrard, the staff and the dressing room, your football club and town salutes you and we’ll be doing everything we can until the seasons end to give you, our town and our wider community the promotion we all crave.
Lastly, whoever you support, let’s hope for an open, attacking game and may the best team win.
Take care,
Danny.
