Boreham Wood manager Ian Allinson has spoken about his disappointment at how the last few months of the season panned out. Why the changing room felt like a huge opportunity was missed to reach the play offs and what the lessons learned are.
As the Gaffer points out we spent 90% of the season in the top 5, before fading in the last month. He also spoke of his delight on agreeing deals with a number of the existing squad and what he feels the future holds..
He said “After being up there for the whole season, I’m obviously gutted we didn’t see it through. Though the eventual play off incumbents Eastleigh, Dover, Chelmsford and Salisbury, all had the resources, squads and a large fan base to sustain them and crank up their promotion ambitions in the run in”
“The backlog of fixtures didn’t help the smaller clubs like ourselves, Weston and Dorchester. As our squads were not big enough to handle 8 weeks of Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday and stay injury free and fresh. We also lacked finishing power in the final third and eventually you can’t keep relying on a defence to keep you in games, you need goals at times against the run of play to relieve pressure”
“Apart from Eastleigh away where we were outplayed, scored from a set piece against the run of play and nicked a point. That is the only game I can recollect where we took something we didn’t deserve. Our lack of a cutting edge cost us so many points, in games we deserved to win. Through those lack of goals we constantly drew and we must learn from that. We did though have an amazingly hard working changing room from front to back and we never, ever lacked in the commitment department. From day one where we beat Eastleigh at home 3-0 to the seasons end where we drew after dominating at Havant, we had a great spirit, got good performances and results against all the fancied teams”
“The Chairman has recognised our work ethic and has booked us all a mini break in Marbella as a reward for a hard season, for which we’re very grateful. He has also thanked us for establishing the club as a Conference South outfit and also thanked us for our FA Cup exploits that ended in a 2-0 defeat against Brentford”
Allinson went on “I have now tied down deals with James Russell, Ben Nunn, Luke Garrard, Charlie O’loughlin, Callum Reynolds, Greg Morgan and Graham Montgomery. All had good seasons, all are good ages and all will continue to improve us and know the work ethic and standards expected at the club”
“We have also offered re engagement terms to our younger players Chez Isaacs, Sam Doolan and Robert Hastings and with conversations still to be held with other members of our squad I’m happy with where I am as its only May”
I’ve met two or three of my targets for next season already and believe we are again not only going to be a difficult side to beat but with the lessons learnt, we will hope to add more goals, have a slightly bigger squad and will perhaps change our shape”
“I’m due to meet the Chairman this week to discuss both mine and the clubs plans, the new West Stand build which starts shortly. Our Pre Season programme and to finalise the budget for next season.. The Chairman has created a club, that is as well run and organised as any i’ve ever known in non league. When you see what he, his staff and the dressing room have achieved and built on average home gates of just 200 paying supporters it truly is amazing. He is a loyal character who has old fashioned values, he cares about his staff, the players, the community and he instills the right attitude, discipline and desire throughout the club. Whether thats the cleaners, the bookeepr or the day to day staff, whether its the clubs Academy Coaches and young players or with his part time staff most have been with him a long time”
Allinson concluded “Thankfully he is also a realist, he knows how tough the Conference South League is to compete in. Like me he knows some of the clubs we are competing against are full time, or pay full time money and we just can’t compete with clubs on that level. We have to build a club based on values, where players are looked after, a great pitch, players paid on time, great training facilities and we appeal to a player in that way”.
“When we play some clubs at this level, Its a bit like Wigan playing Man City in the FA Cup final. Yes occasionally the underdog does win but thats normally in the cup competitions. In a league campaign that is a very different story, but with good housekeeping and true football values we can hopefully compete and succeed at this level without ever bankrupting ourselves or losing sight of how well we’re actually doing”.
