Blarney

Match Nineteen Two of your last three matches have been what can be described as defensive nightmares. Granted you only gave up 1 against Crawley but you were on your heels - your words - the entire match. In this encounter you actually only held Ebbsfleet to 8 shots but 3 of those went in... one on an own-goal. You've been trying out a new formation but it seems that maybe it's not exactly going to plan at the moment. Are changes needed? I don't want to jump to conclusions after only just a couple/few games but right now what we're trying definitely isn't working. We've been working on some other things in practice and you're probably going to see something different in our next match.

Match Eighteen

Match Seventeen Well I'll just come out and ask what went wrong? Succinct, I like it. Everything. There's your answer. Crawley was just better than us, at least for today. They outplayed us in pretty much every facet of the game. We were on our heels the whole match. We did a good job of not letting them score -- just the one time obviously -- but 16 shots, 10 on target... you can only hold a team off for so long before they're going to get past you. And on the offensive side of the ball we just didn't do our part. The only thing we did was hold a better possession rate but holding the ball doesn't mean much if you don't do anything with it.

FA Cup First Round

Match 14 (for real) **I'm really sorry, I've been working so much -- lack of updates -- and have been so tired that I just realized that I misnumbered my last month's matches and left one out. This is it.**

October in Review Schedule After a loss to start the month we got a draw then 3 straight wins where we scored 3 goals each match. The draw at the end of the month was hard fought and well deserved after going a man down early. We also won our FA Cup Fourth Found Qualifying match. So overall a good month. Table We're right in the thick of things for a playoff spot. Altrincham is sort of running away with the title but we've really come on strong the last couple of months. NL Team Stats NL Player Stats Finances A small gain is better than a small loss.

Match Sixteen Okay, so by now everyone knows you're famously against the idea of moral victories... but this has to be a moral victory, right? You went down a man one minute into this match. You're 10 v 11 for basically the whole game and somehow you manage a draw. Granted, it's not a win but that would make it an actual victory... and you have to be very satisfied with this result. Yes, very satisfied. Still not a moral victory. Well maybe something of a moral victory. I'm not going to take away from what the boys did out there. It was an outstanding contest under relentless pressure being a man down. We obviously couldn't get much going on the offensive end, 4 shots total... but they got off 18 and couldn't find the back of the net and that's due to a blockade that we just put up in front of goal. I couldn't have asked for more.

Match Fifteen

Match Thirteen Chesterfield is number 2 on the table, while you're number 3 and you just went to their home and gave them what can only be described as a beating. You must be feeling confident right now? It was a great match all around. We definitely had a game plan coming in and we played it to perfection. I'm very proud of my boys right now. We are definitely seeing the benefits of some hard work in training and I think confidence is very high right now.

FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying So you did what you said you were going to do and rested most of your first eleven but still managed to get the win and advance. A good day at the office? Yeah, definitely. Look it was an opportunity for us to allow some of our boys to catch their breath while giving other deserving players a start and they acquitted themselves nicely. But, hey, credit to Cheshunt, they played a heck of a match and gave us all we wanted.

Cup Preview You're playing Cheshunt in a FA Cup Qualifying Round match. Is this an opportunity to get some players some rest and give some others a start? Yeah, I think so. We've had a pretty good run of games here lately and I have some players that could use a day off and others that definitely could use a start. Cheshunt's manager, Phil Cope, has already said that he hopes to face you at full strength. But it sounds like you have other plans. I always felt the same when we were facing larger clubs, you want to test yourself with basically nothing on the table. Nobody expects them to win, and I don't mean that as a slight, there have been plenty of times that we've been the minnow and nobody gave us a chance. It's at times like that when you want the opposition at full strength because you want to go out there and battle. So I don't blame him for what he wants, but I have to run my club how I feel it's best for us and right now I think we have some guys that need a rest. Reports are that you're bringing up a new player from your U18 squad to start in this match. Yes we are. We have a young kid down there by the name of Paul Barlow... He is just 16 but we think he's just about done everything he can on the U18 squad and we're going to give him a shot in this match to see what he does. Depending on how he looks it's possible we might give him a longer look on the senior club.

Match Twelve

Match Eleven

September in Review Schedule That's the way to finish a month. 4 straight league victories and 2 or more goals scored in each one. Table A 4 win, 1 loss month vaults us right up the table and we're sitting in the #3 spot currently. NL Team Stats NL Player Stats Finances We're still losing money, but it's manageable.

Match Ten You went out and put on quite the show for the home supporters just a day after signing your new contract. Thoughts on the match? I didn't do anything, credit goes to the lads on the pitch. But yes, it was quite the performance. So yesterday you preached patience and said you thought the club was improving right before our eyes. Today you go out and put on a brilliant perofrmance for those supporters that may have questioned whether or not you deserved that new contract. You know where I'm going with this. No, it's not vindication and it doesn't matter in the scheme of things. We could go out and lose the next 3... not that that's the plan obviously. I do think we're improving and you can see that on the pitch daily. Our training has been excellent. Some of our new signings have really stepped up. After a year of being in the National League some of our younger players from last season have really grown and are much better players this season. So yes I think we're getting better but that doesn't mean we're just going to stop now. There is too much to do and to prove and the boys know that.

New Contract Are you happy you've got the new deal done and will be with the club for the next 2 seasons? Absolutely. This story isn't finished yet and we have much to do. I'm just glad we got this done and it's one thing I don't have to worry about going forward. Some supporters have expressed their doubts and have said that the club doesn't seem to be improving. They've said they think you've gone as far as you can and it's time for new leadership to take the club to the next level. How do you respond to that? I would respectfully disagree with that but at the same time respect the opinions of supporters who care for this club to have a passionate opinion one way or the other. That is what this club is about. When I came here it was for 2 reasons. One was to build this club up to a level I have always thought they should be at and the other reason was to increase support for the club through our fans. Without them we are nothing. So I am happy to listen to what they have to say but in this I think we have absolutely made progress and we are making progress this season as well. I would ask for a bit of patience, which I know has been a theme with this club through the past many years... but this is me asking. Give my boys a little time and we're going to make believers of everyone. This is a promise.

Match Nine

Match Eight That's 2 in a row now. You must be feeling more confident with each win. I'm not going to get ahead of myself. We won 2 at the start of the season and then all of a sudden couldn't get out of our own way. I think we've learned from that and our last 2 matches have been pretty dominant. There's definitely more joy in the changing room. But we can't just sit back and expect this to continue, we have to work hard each time out.

Match Seven You've just beaten a team that was previously unbeaten in a pretty dominating fashion. So is this the turning point for your club? It could be. Sometimes it just takes that little spark to start the fire. We definitely deserved this. We definitely put on a performance. Now it's just up to the boys to go out there and make it a streak rather than a one off thing.

Match Six If it's possible to go from bad - where you've not scored in 3 straight matches - to worse... you've done it by not even getting a shot on target in this game. When can the supporters expect to see some change? I think we're approaching a time where something is going to have to be done, whether that's drastic or just mixing something up. This certainly can't continue. We did just sign Rumarm Burrell to try and do something different up front but it's a lot of pressure bringing in someone and telling them they have to be the savior. Hopefully he'll provide just a small spark though going forward.

August in Review Schedule 2 good wins to start the month, followed by a loss against a good club, followed by 2 draws. We didn't score in the last 3 matches. Table Still we find ourselves in the 7th spot on the table, mostly due to our outstanding defensive play to start the year. NL Team Stats Possession and pass completition are excellent as always. Now we just need to find a way to put the ball in the net. NL Player Stats Finances Made a little cash. Finances are "okay" and the owners still won't spend anything to make things better.

Match Five That's 3 straight where your club has failed to score now. 4 in which your #1 forward, Euan Pollock, hasn't put one in as he remains goal-less on the season. What's gone wrong? Well, the flip side is that we're not allowing goals either. So while one side is trying to figure things out, the other has been spectacular. If that wasn't the case it would be much worse than it is right now. Obviously we have some things to figure out. That's not concern, it's just part of the job of... reconfiguring what we're doing and finding something that works. You absolutely dominated the stats in this match. More shots, more on target, a 70-30 possession advantage, over 90% of your passes were completed. You did everything right but put it in the net. I would imagine that's frustrating. I would imagine you're right, but that's how the game goes at times.

Match Four Euan Pollock has gone 3 straight matches without a goal scored. He came into this season as probably your number one choice at the forward position after coming off a good season last year. He's even commented on it in post-game when asked about it and has vowed that he will score in the next match. Has this become a distraction to the team? No and I'm not worried about it either. Euan is a good player going through a stretch that a lot of players go through. If he had scored 10 times in 15 matches and then went 3 where he didn't in the middle of the season nobody would care. It's just that he's started the season off slowly and as a club we've started off rather slowly in the goal scoring department so it's magnified. He'll come through it and nobody on this club is concerned about it.

Match Three

Match Two