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After arriving at work at 8am, I sat down in my office and began to evaluate yesterday’s game.
What had gone wrong I asked myself? Certainly we was completely outplayed and outclassed. At the back, the fullbacks and Gary Elliott had given the ball away far too much. Only Hooper came away with any credit. Hamsher was ineffective for the short time he was on the pitch. He didn’t make one pass. His replacement, Saunders was OK, but didn’t see enough of the ball. Likewise Le Bihan. That leads me to believe we didn’t get it out wide on enough occasions. Carroll had a solid game, but got little support from Murdoch, who seemed to be a bit swamped. Nic McDonnell was useless. He was hardly in the game and if it weren’t a friendly game I’d have a good mind to discipline him for such a poor performance. Cooper played all right up front, but didn’t get enough shots in. Mind you that was probably down to the lack of service from midfield. Of the subs, Wood and Marvel done well when they come on for the last 20 minutes, and I will probably start with them in the next game.
My conclusion is that a 4-5-1 formation might be a better option with the current crop of players we have. This will hopefully give the defence more passing options. I’ll get them to pass it shorter than they have been. I’ll also instruct the ML and MR to bomb on, to provide some support to the loan front man. I’ll get one of the MC’s to drop back, there by providing a link between the defence and midfield. If I’m going to experiment I guess this is the time to do it.
Nick called me about a couple of players he had spotted. Phil Dicker was a 36-year-old Central Defender plying his trade at Staines. He had decent tackling, marking, and positioning, but was lacking in pace and didn’t appeal in other areas. As such I didn’t follow up with any offers. The other player was an interesting case. Heybridge’s Mick Stockwell. His, was a name I recognised. He was 39 years old so something of a veteran. His stamina was still in tact, and possessed a superb pass along with a strong tackle. He was brave, worked like a horse, and was a team player. Heybridge weren’t looking for any money for him and was currently only on £35 a week. As a right or centre midfielder, he didn’t cover any position where I was short, but I decided to shortlist him for now, and maybe follow up with an offer if I managed to offload a few more of my current squad.
As a parting remark Nick happened to mention that Cheltenham were also interested in loaning Buxton. Great, another higher league team looks to scupper my plans!
After speaking with Nick I head off to the training ground. Overall, things seem to be going reasonably well. I note that the GK training isn’t firing on all cylinders so I make a few adjustments to the weekly schedule. I also tell Hamsher to go home and put his feet up till he is fit enough to resume training.
After training, I head back to the office where I pick up a message left on the phone by Jim Smith at Portsmouth. He says that Buxton has agreed to come and join us for the season on loan. He requests that I call him back to confirm the deal is still on, which I do immediately. I put the phone down, and immediately punch the air. Yes!
No sooner had I made myself a celebratory cup of tea, when the phone rang again. This time it is Roy Aitken, the assistant manager at Villa. He explains that Henderson had decided to join Bournemouth on loan for 3 months. Damn!
Driving home from the office, it get a call on my mobile. Pat rice was on the phone. Birchall had decided to join us for the season. Great news to end the day. Two out of three ain’t bad I guess!
When I got in the wife told me that Cirencester boss, Brian Hughes had been on the phone. He had said he would take Bell off my hands, but wouldn’t pay anything, and wasn’t willing to give me anything if they sold him on. I rang back and left a message saying thanks, but no thanks.
At training I got a pleasant surprise. Adam Birchall and Lewis Buxton were both there. I welcomed them both to the club and instructed them to join the others with some pre season training.
Nick called me about a player called Matt Elverson who was at Hampton and Richmond. He was 30 years old and apart from decent pace and acceleration, there was not a lot to get excited about.
21st July 2004
After training, Ricky Bell heads off to Redbridge Borough for contract talks. I get a call from Craig Edwards late in the evening saying he would like to buy Ricky. I agreed the deal, and then phoned the player to wish him all the best.
I get to hear that Bognor’s deal to sign Crawley’s ML Michael Johnson on loan has fallen through. I hear he has good crossing and dribbling abilities so I instruct Nick Bryan to take a look at him and report back with his findings.
24th July 2004
In the morning a call comes through from the job centre. They say that no one has responded re my vacancy for a Physio, but they have had 3 applicants for the position of coach. I told them to keep both adverts running for the time being, and to fax through the C.V.’s for each of the three coach applicants. Within 15 minutes I was sitting down reading the details on each applicant.
Simon Morgan, Age 37 years
Excellent at motivating, very determined, and adapts well. Also a reasonable goalkeeping coach. Definitely a possible candidate.
David Farrell, Age 34 Years
Very determined and quite adaptable. Lacking in discipline and doesn’t work well with youngster. Still plays as a D/DM centre. Think I’ll pass on him.
Vicky Roby, Age 38 Years
Quite adaptable and good at judging abilities. Other than that not very good. Another pass.
I decided to approach Simon Morgan to see what he was after. He stated he wanted £400 per week with a contract till June 2005. I offered him £300 per week up until June 2006. He said he would get back to me.
After this I met up with the players outside the ground, and we all boarded the coach for our away friendly at Hinckley. I still hadn’t decided on my starting team for the game and contemplated my selections on the way up the M1.
I decided to try out the 4-5-1 formation and selected the following personnel:
When we got to the ground, and inside the changing room, I read out the team list. I told the lads that we would play a 4-5-1 formation and that I expected them to be a lot more attacking than in our first match. Carroll was retained as the skipper, and with Hamsher out injured I told Hooper he could take any penalties we got.
With kick-off time approaching I took my seat in the dugout and barked out a final instruction to the lads to liven up and compete from the off!
The game started brightly with a number of chances falling to us within the first ten minutes. All were missed though without troubling the opposition goalkeeper. The game then settled down with each team having equal possession. The scoring was opened by Hinckley in the 33rd minute when Hartburn committed a foul just outside our penalty area. The resulting free kick flew into the net and Searle didn’t have a hope. Just like in the last game, we suffered an injury when Hartburn collided with an opposition player and had to leave the pitch. I had no replacement DR on the bench and had to instruct our DC Elliott to take his place. Half time score was 1-0 to Hinckley.
In the dressing room at half time I encouraged the lads to keep going. I felt that Saunders and Patterson were not getting into the game as much as they should so asked them to pull back a little to assist in midfield.
For the first 15 minutes of the second half we were put under constant pressure. Hinckley went close a couple of times. After 67 minutes I decided to change things around and give Birchall some support upfront. As such I took off Patterson and replaced him with Cooper. I gave orders for the team to play a 4-4-2 formation. The lads seemed to take a while to settle into the new set-up, and Hinckley had a good couple of chances to increase their lead. The boys eventually got to grips with things and began to create a few chances. It didn’t look good for us though and with the final whistle approaching we were heading for our second defeat in a row.
Deep into stoppage time we had a corner on the left. Sam Saunders went across to take it and floated a ball into the middle of the Hinckley 6 yard box. Lewis Buxton got up above everyone and powered a header into the left side of the goal. I leapt to my feet, and began to run onto the pitch Bobby Stokoe style. Realising my overreaction I stopped and sheepishly began to clap whilst backtracking to the dugout.
Hinckley 1 Carshalton 1
Back in the dressing room I congratulated the lads on a great fight back and a much-improved performance.
On the way home we stopped off at the local hospital where Colin Hartburn had been taken. The news wasn’t good. Colin would be out for around two months as he had broken his jaw. That left me with no one to fill the right back role, and although Elliott had performed well as a cover, I was desperately in need of a replacement. I called Nick and told him to have a list of DR’s available on a free and on loan, on my desk, for first thing the next day. He mentioned something about a striker from Farsley called Ian Blackstone. Didn’t sound too hot so I told him I wasn’t interested. “Just get that list for me” I said.
When I wake in the morning I pick up a message left on my mobile by Simon Morgan. He has agreed to my terms and will join us as coach. I called him back and asked him to join us as soon as possible. He said he would try to make it for tomorrow.
Later in the day, I surveyed the list left for me by Nick. It was a bit short to say the least. Only about 30 players in total. Most were utter rubbish. There were a couple of possibilities on the “for loan” list, but none of them stood out. Surveying the list of free transfers, I noticed Dave Timothy. Currently plying his trade at Kingstonian, he appeared quick, could tackle, and as well as playing right back he could also play as an attacking right sided midfielder. Northwood, Bedford, Tonbridge, and Wealdstone had already submitted bids for him. As such I decided to put a bid in of 0k with 20% of the next sale as a tempter.
Looking at yesterday’s game, there were a lot more positives than negatives. Lewis Buxton done really well in his first game, the centre of midfield performed admirably, and Adam Birchall used the ball really effectively.
The downside was that the wide players didn’t get into the game much again, and Hartburn had an awful day by conceding the free kick, which led to the goal, and then getting injured.
Al in all I come to the conclusion that one man up front doesn’t work. So I ponder the thought of possibly trying 3-5-2 for my final friendly.
Nick called just before I left the office with info on Dean Samuels, a 31-year-old Slough forward. Good finishing and crossing but quite slow. Decline to make any move.
In the evening I get a call from Scott Steele, manager at Kingstonian. He says he will accept my offer for Timothy, and allows me to talk to the player. I call Dave at home and asked him what he was looking for. He said he would be happy with a two-year deal at £60 per week with a £20 bonus per assist. I tell him the £20 per assist and two-year deal was fine, but would only offer £50 per week.
Simon Morgan arrived first thing in the morning. I introduced him to the squad, and immediately set him to work with the players.
Back in the office after training, I received a call from the job centre. They had a list of candidates for both the Assistant Manager and Scout positions, and said they would fax over the relevant info. When the info cam through, I began by looking at the scouting candidates.
They all look reasonably good, but decided to discuss terms with just two of the five. The first was Simon Clifford, who had excellent tactical knowledge. I was looking to use him for scouting forth-coming opponents. Simon wanted £200 per week until June 2005. I offered him £150 a week until June 2006. He told me he would think about it. The other guy was Rob Campkin.
Rob had good judgement skill both in ability and potential. He was also quite determined, worked well with youngsters, and was motivated. He also wanted £200 per week until June 2005. I offered him the same as I had Simon. Rob said he would get back to me.
After that I picked up the list of Assistant Manager contenders. I was amazed to see the name of the first Candidate. Paul Gascoigne! Never! Not Paul, surely not. He could still play a bit as well, but was now 37, and his legs had gone. Not ideal for a CM in a competitive league like the Conference South I thought. Might draw the crowds in yes, but for how long? In addition, I wasn’t to impressed with his coaching abilities. With a heavy heart I decided to pass on Paul, but personally called him to let him down gently…that’s the least I could do for such an amazing talent that is Mr Gascoigne.
The next name on the list also rang a bell. 41-year-old Chic Charnley. Scottish player/coach. Previously at Bolton plus numerous Scottish clubs. I was looking for someone who had good tactical and motivational skills. Chic didn’t really fit the bill.
One man who did of the other 3 candidates was Allen Blakeley. 47 years old, he had an eye for tactics, and was above average in motivational skills. In addition, he was very determined, and something of a disciplinarian. I called him up and he told me he wanted £400 per week up until June of next year. Again, as money was tight I offered a reduce rate of £300 per week until June 2006. Let me think on it said Allen.
I phoned the job centre back and thanked them for the info. I asked them to keep both adds running for the time being, just in case I was unable to agree any deals. They cheekily asked if I had employed Mr Gascoigne. I said, “you will have to wait and see. I can't possibly divulge any confidential information”.
Nick called me about a couple of players that were not suitable…since they would cost me money. “I told you nick, we are skint,” I said.
Later in the day I got a call back from Rob Campkin. He said he would like to accept my offer, and I congratulated him on making the right choice, and said I looked forward to seeing him soon.
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