When the draw for the fourth round of the Carling Cup was drawn, I may surprise everyone here and say that there was only one team that I wanted Manchester United to draw.
It wasn’t Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea or Spurs nor was it a strong Championship side. It was none of them!
The side I wanted United to draw was League 2 side Aldershot Town. Yep you’ve read that right and No, I am not on some form of drugs, I wanted us to draw Aldershot Town, a side that on paper you’d expect our reserves to beat (no offence ‘Shot fans).
Now why would I want United to draw Aldershot. It’s not as if the two teams have any history is there, having only played each other once in a League Cup tie back in 1970.
The reason why I wanted United to draw Aldershot is down to one reason, or should I say one person.
Dean Holdsworth (Aldershot’s manager) is somebody who I have immense respect for not just as a football manager but as a person. I wouldn’t say that I know him well, but I got to know him back in the 2007/08 season when he managed my local Non-League side Redbridge FC. So when I found out that we’d been drawn away to Aldershot I was delighted!
I have mentioned Redbridge briefly before on this site, but I have been involved with them since December 2006 when I started reporting on their games for my local radio station and have been involved with them in an official role since the summer of 2007 when I was approached by the club to be their press secretary, writing their match reports and conducting post-match interviews on a regular basis.
I am not ashamed to admit that despite being a United fan, that I am a big Redbridge fan as well and my heart will always be split between the two teams. Redbridge are nowhere near as good as United but we are a proud little club and watching us (even when we’ve been crap) has always been somewhat interesting and captivating to watch.
When I found out that Holdsworth – who of course played under Sam Allarydce at Bolton and Joe Kinnear at Wimbledon – had been announced as our manager in the summer of 2007, I was shocked but equally intrigued as to how he’d get on managing our players and who would he be able to bring in. We knew of his experiences as a player but he had also done some coaching beforehand, being Phil Brown’s assistant at Derby as well as a similar role at Havant & Waterlooville during the end of his playing career.
There were rumours that ex-pro’s including Rob Lee would join us, but these were just rumours sadly. One thing which was not a rumour was that Dean from my understanding had offers to manage clubs higher than us. But perhaps, with managers now getting less time and with the pressure his increased profile would have, he thought against joining a higher non league club or even league 2 club to ensure that he would make the most out of his taste of management.
The season started slowly though as the team had to wait until their 10th league game to record their third win. However after that everything seemed to click into place and with Holdsworth becoming more confident in his ability as a manager, the team started playing the attacking and exciting football that was promised at the start of the season. Two Manager of the month awards went Dean’s way as well.
Not only that but the team could defend as well, having the fourth best defence in the division with star goalkeeper Tony Tucker keeping 23 clean sheets. After Christmas statistically Redbridge were the best team in the division and with the season drawing to a close, had a habit keeping clean sheet after clean sheet.
In the end the team just missed out on promotion, which was still a fantastic achievement for all involved as the way the team had played that year it was a pleasure to watch them. Deep down though we knew that Dean would not be at the Oakside for very long, as he was always destined for bigger things.
In a way Redbridge were his feeder-step into Management and what he did with little money was nothing but spectacular. Even had we got promoted that year, the odds were that Dean would not have stayed with us anyway as bigger clubs were always going to take a chance on him and give him a bigger platform to direct on. And in a way, had he stayed on at us it would have hurt him possibly by not moving on.
So when a week after that agonising play-off final defeat, it was announced that Dean was leaving the club to go and manage one of his former playing-sides Newport County it was not a surprise. County, then in the Blue Square South were an attractive side to go and manage and are still now a sleeping giant in English (as after all the Welsh side play in the English football league system) football having been after a Football League team for many years.
At Newport Dean to the pleasure of those that knew him at Redbridge, has done tremendously well leading the club back into the Conference. It did not start too well for him though, as the team struggled at the start winning only 3 of their first 20 games of the league season. There were calls for Dean to be sacked from some sceptical Newport fans as the team didn’t gel at the start of the season.
However it all changed after that as Newport defeated Worcester City and then league leaders Chelmsford City at home, to get their season back on track. Results went well as Newport ended the year well finishing the season 10th with Holdsworth even scooping a Manager of the month award for April in 2009 as the league took note of Newport’s turnaround.
The rest, they say is history. In his second full season at Newport romped to the Blue Square South title winning 32 games on their way to 103 points. They had the best attack, the best defence and were the runaway leaders of the division as they kept hold of the lead for the final 30 games of the season. It was a tremendous achievement for the club, their fans and for Holdsworth who aside from getting the manager of the season award for the division, scooped 3 manager of the months awards as well.
Dean’s success as expected saw the bigger clubs looking at him and after leading the team into the Playoff Positions in the Blue Square Premier this season, a chance to move on was always going to occur this year. A chance to manage in the Football League was and has always been Dean’s dream and the chance to manage Aldershot Town was in the end too good a chance to turn down.
Aldershot are from the looks of it a good stable club and one that have aspirations of growing their impact in their local community and becoming perhaps a League 1 club. Promotion to that level may be a stretch too far for Dean, but there’s no reason why he can’t do a good job at Aldershot. His teams play the right way and there’s no reason why he can’t now be a success as a manager in the football league. Aldershot may I hope only be a stepping stone for him, as who knows he could one day be a Premier League manager
For his sake, I hope he continues to do well as he has lots of experience to offer players. Not only that but Dean took a gamble by managing Redbridge and had it gone wrong he might have had to wait a while before getting another chance. By taking the job at us, it proved that he could work wonders with no real budget and showed hands-down that he could get the best out of his players.
So when United face Aldershot tomorrow for me it will be a great moment seeing my former Non-League club’s manager squaring of against Sir Alex Ferguson who as we know is one of the greatest manager that football has ever seen. Holdsworth’s a top bloke and always was great to speak to around Redbridge and never gave me any problems as a young reporter interviewing and speaking to him at our club. He’s a top bloke who I hope to see go far in management.
You may recall in my previous article that I gave my review of Redbridge’s start to the season saying that we needed to improve in 5 key areas, if the boys’ results were going to continue to improve.
Well since my last update what a couple month it’s been for us. We’ve played 8 games (which includes a friendly arranged at short notice against Billericay Town) and won 6, drawing one and losing one! That’s not a bad form at all.
Cockfosters 1 Redbridge 2 (FA Cup) – 03/09/2011
The month started for us with a tricky looking encounter to Spartan South Midlands Division One Cockfosters away in the extra-preliminary round (that sounds miles away from Wembley!) of the FA Cup. Needless to say this was one game I was very confident that we’d win.
After all there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have beaten a side who are 2 divisions below us. Surely it would have been an easy game for us? But this is the FA Cup, Adam, you should know that no game in the world’s greatest club competition is ever easy – well expect when Manchester City played Notts County in a replay at Eastlands last year (not that’s relevant of course).
Fixture Board At Cockfosters
Anyway before the game, I went along with my mates Adam and Dan to a cracking cafe about 10mins drive from Cockfosters’ ground Cockfosters Sport. The cafe (which in all honesty is more like a restaurant in my opinon) was well worth going to and we all enjoyed an excellent pre-game lunch. I opted for a seafood tortilla wrap whilst Adam had some form of burger whilst Dan (or Needles as we call him) had a Shish Kebab with rice.
As for getting to Cockfosters’ ground, that proved quite easy but it wasn’t easy finding a place for my mate Adam to park. We might’ve parked in a church car-park before he went and moved it? I cannot confirm that or deny it even with God as my witness!
Anyway prior to the game starting one of our physio’s Tony thought it would be funny (and it was as It made me laugh) to trip me up before the game as I was kicking a ball about with his stepson, Needles and Shane Stamp’s dad on the pitch 40-50 minutes before the game. Needless to say Tony, I will get my own back trust me.
As for the game itself Cockfosters to their credit went a goal up, but thanks to a fantastic free-kick from Vinnie Durrant we went into half-time level. Despite the hosts pushing to get a winner, a brave run from Stamp into the area won a penalty which Ben Bradbury converted and we were through to the next round to face Wingate & Finchley. It was a great result for us and meant that we had avoided doing what the likes of Enfield Town had did and lost to a minnow, not that we’re a big fish by any means!
Here are the very brief highlights from the game that I got, which basically shows our goals. I did say it was going to be brief:
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here.
After the game I caught up with our manager Terry Spillane and got the chance to quiz him on the result and his take on our second half comeback. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here.
Redbridge 2 Leiston 2 – 13/09/2011
After missing our 3-2 victory at Great Wakering Rovers (when we were 2-0 down partly due to the England/Argentina match in the Rugby World Cup and the fact I had ‘house-work’ to do, honest!) the next game I saw us play was a thrilling 2-2 home draw with Suffolk-side Lowestoft, sorry Needham, sorry Leiston (that’s the one).
Floodlight Shining Over Players
We didn’t play badly for the first 60 minutes, but found ourselves 2-0 down after 28 minutes to two sloppy goals, but after half-time we came out and battled hard. One of the amusing aspects many people tell me about my personality is that whatever the circumstances (well aside from funerals, etc) is that I always try and enjoy myself. That’s the same when I’m at football, after all why shouldn’t I enjoy myself when I’m out watching my local team.
Anyway much to the amusement of my mate Adam, Needles and Adam’s work colleagues at BDC Travel (think a smaller tourist company version of Thomas Cook) who had travelled down to the game, even at 2-0 with Leiston looking in complete control I refused to admit that we were out of the game and kept saying to those around me:
‘C’mon guys we’re not this bad, we can do it’
‘We’ve come back from 2-0 down before lads, we’re do it again’
‘You watch we’re score one and we’re score another one’
Those around me were looking at me like I was some kind of tit, but after we scored our first goal through Ben Bradbury after our sub (and grandson of Jimmy Greaves) James Robinson headed on a long throw by our skipper Glen Golby (for our 5th goal from a throw-in this season) things started to change and my ‘deluded’ comments that we were ‘going to get an equaliser in a minute’ somehow had more meaning to them.
With 5 minutes or so to go, I left my seat in the stands to go and stand behind the goal as I got a feeling (honestly!) that we’d get an equaliser and that I would be best-placed to film it (honest!) if I was standing behind the goal. Needless to say deep into injury time, we won a free-kick just outside the box. Dan Trenkel took it and it was blocked out for a throw-in. Cue Golby hurling it in the area, the ball being flicked on by Ryan ‘Rhino’ Murray and the ball breaking to Trenkel into the area to hammer home much to my delight (as you’re hear on video), the boys and the fans we do have situated behind the goal and in the stands.That’s our 6th goal from throw-ins if you’ve keeping up to date.
Adam, Needles and the people from BDC Travel in the stand apparently couldn’t believe the goal either and 20 minutes after laughing at one of my jokes – which was ‘you’re probably thinking that you’ve been had paying £5 to watch us play football when at the moment we’re doing anything but do that, you must be thinking that we should get done for false advertising here, but I kid you not we will get something from this game’ – were stunned that we’d somehow got a point from the game.
Our manager Terry was delighted with the point as we all were and in the excitement of talking to the lads after the game and watching the Champions League highlights in the clubhouse that night, I didn’t stroll back home until 10.45pm which for some reason pissed my mum off, as she’d been worrying sick where I was, Mothers Hey?
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here .
After the game I caught up with our manager Terry Spillane and got the chance to quiz him on the result and his take on our second half comeback. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here
Despite the late-late show against Leiston, none of us saw THAT result coming for us at Wingate, who went into the game in 5th place in the Ryman Premier Division, the division above us. We were very much the underdogs for the game and rightly so. Wingate had beaten the likes of Lowestoft at home so we shouldn’t have gone there expecting a result.
That didn’t stop our Chief Executive Officer John Taylor telling me that he thought we would win the game and he was convinced that we would. I wasn’t so sure though and thought (and I’ve told the players this) that we would lose 3-1.
How wrong I was? As we came out and started brilliantly showing our attacking-intent from the word go and were unlucky not be 1 or 2-0 down up inside the opening 20 minutes. Then Wingate attacked and we had to rely on our newly signed keeper Adam Raifs (who by his own admission had been at fault for Leiston’s second in our previous game) to make some fantastic saves to keep us level.
My View From The Stand At Wingate
Six minutes before half-time though we went ahead. Good play in midfield by Lewis Dark (who reminds me abit of a tall version of Scotty Parker) and Dan Trenkel helped spread the ball out wide to Nathan Gordon who did brilliantly to sprint away from his marker and put in an undependable low ball that just said ‘hit me’ (I thought of James Brown there never mind!) which James Robinson tucked away brilliantly to send us into half-time with a 1-0 lead.
After chatting to the guys and girls inside Wingate’s terrific boardroom, I thought I’d go and stand with Mike Bayly and a few of Wingate’s fans who I knew from our home game with them last season for the first 20 minutes of the second half. What a great decision that was, as early into the half we doubled our lead thanks to Dan Trenkel firing home from 3-4 yards out after Robinson had seen a header saved from a Jamie Haywood cross.
I yelped out a scream of delight that must’ve pissed of Bayly’s chums and the ones around the goal who must’ve been thinking ‘what’s this t**t doing behind OUR goal cheering for Redbridge.’ Anyway I didn’t stay there that long and went and stood behind our dugout talking to our coaches. Our passing game was by now brilliant and in my delight I shouted ‘fucking quality passing’ guys which got a few laughs from our manager Terry and the dugout.
Anyway we won a penalty towards the end thanks to the work of our sub Joe Gardner which Ben Bradbury tucked away (which I got on camera) and when the full-time whistle we were all delighted. The underdogs had come to a good team and beaten them. Yes we rode our luck in the first half when Rafis made saves, but by golly we had deserved to win the game and move through to the next round where we are due to play Bury Town this coming Saturday.
Here are the very brief highlights from the game that my mate Adam Silver and I got:
Wingate were great to us afterwards and wished us well and I have to say a big-shout out to their committee, hospitality staff, Bayly and Wingate’s press-girl Siobhan McCall who all made us feel even more pleased with our result and wished us good luck for the season as we tucked into their quite brilliant spread that had been laid out on the table.
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here.
To see Martin Addison’s photos of the game click here and if you want to read his report of the game click here.
After the game I caught up with our first team coach Jody Brown and got the chance to quiz him on the result and our terrific performance. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here.
Heybridge Swifts 0 Redbridge 3 – 24/09/2011
After the fantastic win at Wingate, we moved onto Heybridge a team who we’ve had mixed results with, in the past. I travelled to the game with our match-day secretary Len Cordell (who has 45+ years of service in football) and our committee member ‘Car-Park’ Paul Slemmings.
On the way down on the A12 and A414 we spoke in-depth about the game (well what else were we going to chat about?) and we were all confident about us picking up at least a point against Heybridge who went into the game unbeaten in the league.
Again our Chief Executive Officer John Taylor was confident that we’d win today and said that if we got rid of the small errors that had been creeping into our game that we’d easily get a win. How right he was as after a scrappy first half, we dominated the second half and scored three times thanks a wonder strike from Ben Bradbury, a neat shot from the edge of the area by Dan Trenkel after the hosts failed to deal with a Glen Golby throw-in (that’s our 7th goal from a throw-in this season) and a finish from Ryan ‘Rhino’ Murray inside the area following great play by James Robinson.
James Robinson Being Praised After Being Subbed
Having not been to Heybridge beforehand, even if we had lost the game, I enjoyed my time there and it was good chatting to Dave Buckingham (their media manager) and Elliott Taylor (their official match-day photographer) before, during and after the game. The hospitality at Heybridge was excellent and it made a great win for us be even better what with the terrific bit of grub we had in their clubhouse at the end of the game.
Here are the highlights that I got in the second-half of the game which includes Trenkel’s strike that put us 2-0 up:
Here are the full highlights done by Heybridge’s Media Department which includes Bradbury’s wonder-goal and Murray’s neat finish:
Mark Wright from TOWIE (which is a show I don’t watch, as it’s not really my kind of thing, I’m more into the Kardashians if I have to choose a slightly irrelevant reality show to watch. No guesses as to why I watch that!) was there and played ok. I know some of our players were desperate not to let him get the best of us and whilst I know f/all about the show, it was clear to see that Heybridge haven’t got a bad player on their hands.
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here .
To see Heybridge’s Elliott Taylor’s brilliant photos from the game click here.
After the game I caught up with our manager Terry Spillane and got the chance to quiz him on the result and our terrific performance. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here.
Redbridge 2 Grays Athletic 3 – 27/09/2011
After disposing of the previously unbeaten Heybridge at the weekend we faced the league favourites and unbeaten Grays Athletic at home. This was a game that I’d been looking forward to since getting back from Heybridge and what a game it was.
Running Out With The Players Versus Grays
Grays are a club who I respect alot who I’d like for them to do well this season after the problems they’ve had in the last couple of years. It’s funny that I’ve used the word ‘problems’ there as we had a problem of our own on the match-day as our printer that prints our programmes had abit of a strop and only 22-25 programmes were printed. It’s fair to say the club lost out on abit of money as there were lots of Grays fans who didn’t get programmes who would have wanted one!
The game itself started with a bang with former Brentwood winger Joao Carlos firing a stunning shot in from around 20-25 yards out that beat our keeper Adam Rafis at his near post. Despite our forwards linking up well, we failed to convert any of our chances through Nathan Gordon and Ben Bradbury and a stunning move by Grays doubled their lead.
Danny Bunce picked up the ball 30 yards from goal, but in the space of 5 seconds he had interchanged passes with Carlos and Harry Agdomar, who in turn had played the ball into the box for former Maldon forward Joe Sweeney to fire past Rafis It was a goal that even had our fans applauding it and came seconds after my mate Needles had said ‘we’ve got this covered’ as the move started.
Predictably we fought back and for the 1000th billion time this season got back on level terms. We got a goal before half-time thanks to the persistence of James Robinson (who at this rate might be better than his grandpa Jimmy Greaves) who worked hard down the byline setting up Gordon with an easy chance to tuck home inside the six-yard box.
We equalised 20 minutes from time. A great ball into the area by Ben Bradbury was brilliantly headed on by Ryan ‘Rhino’ Murray and all of a sudden the league leaders were well and truly on the ropes. Shortly after we had a glorious chance to take the lead but Gordon (who had hit the bar before Murray’s goal) after scarily outsprinting his marker shot wide past our ex-keeper Andy Hall’s far post and the chance was gone.
It would prove to be a costly miss for us as on their next attack Grays broke and the ball fell to Louis Dennis (on loan from Dagenham & Redbridge) who fired home with ease. It was a deserved goal for Dennis who had led the line well for Grays and must’ve surley impressed his parent club-manager John Still who was in attendance at the Oakside along with his assistant.
Despite Billy Sendall coming on to whip in some of his customary long-throws we couldn’t muster a chance to get an equaliser and fell to a defeat. Grays though knew they’d been in a game and their management, fans and committee all told us after the game how well we had played and how relieved they were that they’d won.
Here are the very brief highlights from the game that I got of the game, annoyingly I didn’t get any goals:
Here’s some highlights taped by Your Thurrock Films which ends with an interview with Hakan Hayrettin (Grays Manager) giving his take on the game.
One highlight of the night for me was telling our new match-day official club photographer David Horn to watch out for Murray – who was a substitute on the night – and that if a ball came in the area for the powerful forward that he would instantly cause Grays problems.
I have taken photos for the club over the last season, but they are nowhere near to a professional standard so having David on board (when he can get to our games) will be great for us and from the quality of his photos so far it’s safe to say that our website, facebook group and club programmes will be better-off with his photos included in/on them.
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here.
To see the best of David Horn’s photos on our website click here.
After the game I caught up with our first team coach Jody Brown and got the chance to quiz him on the result. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here.
Redbridge 1 Bury Town 0 (FA Cup) – 1/10/2011
After the disappointment of losing to Grays in midweek, everyone was motivated to go and beat Bury Town in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round yesterday. Everyone was confident of us beating Bury as despite us being the underdogs, the facts were that if we could go and win at Wingate & Finchley then surley we could beat another Ryman Premier side at home.
Before the game we had our customary player and team-photos done on the hallowed Oakside turf. David was there to take his pictures and everyone (including Adam Rafis who was last out of the changing room) of the players and staff was there to have their picture taken. The only thing we were lacking was a couple of Page 3 girls to complete the photo-shoot.
The weather on Saturday was ‘something else’ and despite it being the first day of October it seemed like it was the first day of June/July. The sun was out in full and some of our players were not happy and who could blame them. It’s far from easy playing in conditions that were at least 25°C hot (how do the boys in Brazil cope?). I can’t say to be honest I was that happy with the sweltering conditions either. I had arrived at the Oakside with my long Cargo jeans on and opted not to wear my shorts because of the fact that when I normally wear shorts in hot conditions it can mean only one thing – that I get bitten by whatever pesky little flying insect there is about.
Our Reserves Watching On From Dugout
As for the game itself, it wasn’t a classic by any means but after taking the lead through a Ben Bradbury penalty (his 5th goal of the season) after Ryan Murray had forced Bury defender Roscoe Hipperson into handling into the area early on, we held out to move into the next round. That was Ben’s third penalty in the Cup this season meaning that he had scored a spot-kick in each of the rounds. It might be a club record that? I just don’t know?
Bury as expected put alot of pressure on us in the remaining period of the game but to a man we worked hard and everyone contributed to us holding on and winning the game as we got through to the Third Qualifying Round of the competition for the first time incredibly since:
I have been involved with the club since December 2006.
The 2003/04 competition when we ended up reaching the First Round proper only to be defeated in a replay to Port Vale.
Here’s my highlights of the game starting with Bradbury’s penalty:
Here’s Bury Town’s official videographer (youtube guy) highlights of the game:
Before, after and during the game I spoke quite in-depth with our players and coaches asking them whether or not they would prefer to have a home or away tie and whether or not what we would to play an easier team (having the pressure as the favourites in the match) or face another team higher than us (which would mean we’d be the underdogs in the game).
The general consensus that I got back from our players and coaches was that we’d want a home tie and whilst some (Ryan ‘Rhino’ Murray to name a name) wanted us to have an easier team on paper who we’d be more than likely to beat others were not afraid to say that they’d want us to face another stern challenge which would make sure the players would raise their games again and put another good test for us to have early into the season.
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here.
To see the best of David Horn’s photos on our website click here.
After the game I caught up with our manager Terry Spillane and got the chance to quiz him on what was a great result for the club as well as Carlos Tevez’s much-criticised behaviour for Manchester City. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here.
Conclusion
In Conclusion, I think that the boys have been playing brilliantly and they derserve every bit of praise that they have got over the last month or so. From speaking to our coaching staff and players, what’s been clear to see this year for the first time really since the year we had under Dean Holdsworth (back in 2007/08) that we have got one heck of a team spirit at the club.
It really does seem like we are a team this year and not just 11 individuals on a pitch. The boys who have come up from the Essex Senior League have by now fully adjusted to the challenge that is Ryman League football and certainly have the ability to move further up the table than I think most of us at the club predicted at the start of the season.
Last night we won 3-1 away at Waltham Abbey making it our 6th away win in a row (which must be a club record over the last 7-8 years at least). We have got two good keepers, good defenders, midfielders and forwards and unlike in previous years where we have relied on 2-3 players to win us games, there is nobody in our team that we are carrying and the sub’s and reserves are pushing the starting line-up. In other words everyone in the squad’s playing their part.
What we have to do is continue to make it more difficult for teams. Although I am entertained by our fightbacks in games, we have to cut them out and make sure we play as well as we can because if we can beat Wingate & Finchley and Heybridge Swifts 3-0 away from home, we should be beating most of the teams around us in the division. I really do believe that!
Next up for us this weekend is a huge local derby against Ilford in the FA Trophy and it’s fair to say that we are long overdue a win against Colin Walton’s side as since he took over in 2009, we haven’t beaten them once! Ilford for me are the team that I want us to beat more than anybody and I would be very surprised if we slip up against them this weekend. Despite the Foxes being bottom of the division at the moment, Colin will demand that they make it as tough for us as possible so we may have to settle for a 1-0 or 2-1 win, which of course I and the team would greatfully take!
It’s worth mentioning who we drew in the FA Cup in the Third Qualifying Round. We are all fairly pleased with drawing Dunstable Town (who play in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division – a step below us) at home and fancy our chances. Being the Cup though as we’ve learnt after beating Heybridge and Bury the Underdog can have it’s day, so Dunstable will be treated with respect.
After a summer that left me hot, bothered and moody (and I didn’t go on holiday), you can only imagine how delighted I was when the football season started last month.
After all there’s nothing better I like most than seeing Redbridge FC play down at the Oakside Stadium, which for those of you know who know me has really become my second home over the last 5 years or so.
Anyway Redbridge – under our new management team led by Terry Spillane – needed a good start to this season and whilst we won all but one of our 9 pre-season games, it would be fair to say (and even our coaches have admitted this) that we would only have a good idea of how our team would get on this season, after watching how we got on until the end of August.
Well what would you know, it’s September and with that in mind, I thought it’d be a perfect time to look back on how my beloved Redbridge got on in our first four league games ahead of our FA Cup prelimary-round tie away to Cockfosters tomorrow, which is a game that we badly want to win as the winners get to face Ryman Premier League side Wingate & Finchley away in the first qualifying round.
Wingate are a team that I have got alot of time for and via the wonder of Twitter, have got to know a couple of individuals involved with them. They’re also a team who I like as my late Grandpa apparently used to play for them and signed for them instead of high-flying Wimbledon in the 1940′s after the Second World War.
Redbridge 2 AFC Sudbury 2 – 20/08/2011
Anyway getting back on topic, our first Ryman League Division 1 North game saw us face much-fancied AFC Sudbury at home. The funny thing about this fixture was that we played the Yellows on the first day of last season. Back then I missed the game via illness, but even if I had been throwing up all night, this was one game that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
Before the game I thought that we would at best lose by the odd goal. Most of our fans would have been happy with that when we went 2-0 down after 28 minutes. The first goal we conceded on 14 minutes was somehwat poor as a throw-in from the right caught out our defence and Sudbury’s David Wareham controlled before brilliantly shooting the ball past our keeper James May at his near post from outside the area.
Sudbury’s second was an even poorer one to concede as May failed to collect the ball from a corner and Tom Deveaux was on hand to lash the ball in. After half time the lads came out better, but could have been 3-0 down within 10 minutes of the half but somehow Richard Howell, Sudbury’s skipper blasted over from about 4-5 yards out and that turned to be the pivotal moment in the game.
Billy's Throw-In That Set Up Dark's Goal
Billy had been on the pitch barley 6 minutes and we had got a goal back. Not long after that, our gaffer Spillane decided to bring on Billy Sendall.
One of our new fans Harry (whose step-dad is part of our coaching team) within seconds told me “watch out for him, he’s got a good throw on him” and warned me that “you’re see what I’m on about, he’ll cause them some problems.”
A monster throw from the left was not dealt with by Sudbury’s keeper who could only palm the ball onto Lewis Dark at the back post who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the net to get us back into the game on 67 minutes.
‘See I told you his throw-ins were good’ said Harry much to my amusement. After that we had several spells of pressure but aside from a couple of penalty appeals didn’t really test Sudbury that much and as we went into injury-time, looked to be falling for a defeat on opening-day..
..However (as you’re see in the video above) we fought back and deep into injury time (at least the 3rd minute of stoppage time) got an equaliser when Vinnie Durrant’s brilliant corner was headed in by ‘Throw-In’ Billy to the delight of the Oakside supporters. As you’re hear by my ‘yelp’ in the video I was delighted that we’d got a point and to fight back from 2-0 down againgst Sudbury who Sky Bet had made 2nd favourites for the league, was a great result for us.
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here .
After the game I caught up with our manager Terry Spillane and got the chance to quiz him on the result and got his take on our second half comeback. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here
Romford 1 Redbridge 0 – 23/08/2011
Three days after the AFC Sudbury game, we went to local rivals Romford who play at Aveley’s ground Mill Field for our second game of the season. It was by no means a ‘classic’ local derby and as our first team coach Jody Brown said to me and the players after the game that: “it was a typical Ryman League game.” By that of course (as is the case in all football) the team that took their chances would be the one that would win the game.
Against Romford, our passing game was quite poor to be honest and most of our play was kept in the middle, as we didn’t use our wide-men Vinnie Durrant, Ben Bradbury or second-half sub Shane Stamp well enough to trouble the hosts and put them under pressure.
That’s because as our assistant manager Dave Bricknell said to the boys at the end of the game that: “there were no passes at an angle in behind their defences, they were all straight and square passes and that’s something defenders at this level can deal with.”
Dave was 100% spot-on with that as Romford’s defence were not troubled enough, despite their goalkeeper Lamar Joseph-Johnson having a blinder as the ex-Concord Rangers goalie impressed making several good saves in the area to deny us much to the frustration of our coaching staff and yours truly in the stands. Saying that though Bradbury, Mitchell Das and Billy Hunt all had 1-on-1 chances which they would expect to score.
My View From The Stands Against Romford
In the end though Romford’s first-half goal from Kurt Smith proved the difference, with the forward’s shot from 25 yards creeping in past May in goal.
Romford had our ex-South Korean midfielder Hyun-Jin Lee playing for them and as talented as he is, there was a view that he wasn’t much of a ‘team-player’ when he was at us last year.
As you’ve guessed it, he had a great game and was easily Paul Martin’s most dangerous player on the night and was unlucky not to double his team’s lead when he thundered a shot againgst the bar from outside of the area late on. We didn’t play that well to be honest and at best derserved a point out of the game, which was exactly what our coaching staff had to say after the game to the lads.
Here are the very brief highlights from the game that I got, including the moment when Romford defended a late corner that they saw out to win the game, much to our frustration!:
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here .
After the game I caught up with our first-team coach Jody Brown and got the chance to quiz him on the result. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here
Ware 0 Redbridge 1 – 27/08/2011
So after the disappointment of our defeat to Romford still fresh in our minds, we went to Ware’s Wodson Park for our third game of the season hoping to win the game. In the way to the game, our match-day secretary Len Cordell (who btw has 45+ years of service to football) guaranteed that we would win the game. Never wanting to jinx us, I just said that I’d be optimistic of us scoring against Ware, who had gone into the game after losing their first 2 games.
We started the game like a house on fire and went ahead after only 10 minutes when Vinnie Durrant lashed home after one of Billy Sendall’s long throw-in’s caused troubles for the home defence. It was a good finish by Durrant who had spoken to me before the game telling me that he would get ’10-15 goals easily’ when I asked him whether he had a goal-target in mind for the season. That was our second goal from a throw-in for the season.
Amazingly seven minutes after going down, Ware were sent down to 10 men when their skipper Joe Stevenson stamped on our defender Jamie Haywood’s legs giving the ref no option. It was nothing but stupidity from Ware’s skipper and after 17 minutes gone, I’ll be brutally honest and say that I expected us to go and score 1-2 further goals before half-time.
Due to a mixture of luck and good goalkeeping from Ware’s keeper Obey Murefu, we didn’t do that. Incredibly the hosts blew a chance to equalise from the spot, but after Durrant had unluckily handled in the area, Ben Andreos shot wide of James May’s right-hand post with the keeper (as you’re see in the highlights video below) going the right way anyway, so if had’ve been on target he’d have probably saved it anyway.
Ware's Danny Johnson Getting Sent Off
On 43 minutes, Ware stupidly went down to 9 men when Bradley Wilkinson headbutted our Lewis Dark right in front of the referee. Ware’s no.8 was angry (as you’re see in the highlights below) with Dark’s high-foot when going to head the ball and lashed out before his team-mates could even stop him! It was a blatant sending-off and Dark had to be sent to hospital for stitches as the cut was quite deep to say the least.
Frustratingly for us after half-time, we could not take our chances that we created and gave Ware licence to pressure us late on. Thankfully our centre-backs Billy Sendall and Jonathan Wheatstone held out and we secured our first win of the season, much to the relief of our coaching staff and committee members!
Here are the very brief highlights from the game that my mate Adam Silver and I got, including the moment when Ware were sent down to 9 men – which as you’re see was stupid to say the least:
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here .
After the game I caught up with our manager Terry Spillane and got the chance to quiz him on the result. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here
Redbridge 3 Enfield Town 5 – 29/08/2011
After beating Ware, we knew that our next game was going to be tough and that’s exactly what it was. Enfield Town are one of the strongest teams in our division and have (and I’ll stand by this) some of, if not the best supporters in the division. Come be it rain, sleet or shine their supporters are behind the goals or in the stands chanting and giving their team great support.
Going into this game, I’ll be honest here and thought that Enfield would beat us 3-1. They were to leave the Oakside with the three points in this game, but by golly, did we make them fight for it. We started the game well, but after about 10-15minutes Enfield put pressure on us and went ahead after 25 minutes when Stuart Blackburne finished from the spot after being fouled on the edge of the area by Dan Trenkel.
To say we were lucky not to concede a second before the break was an understatement as Enfield’s wide-men Adam Wallace and Emmanuel Osei caused our full-backs lots of problems and put in some great balls into the area which on another day would have been headed in. After half-time we got off to a shocker and conceded 2 goals inside the first four minutes of the half to be trailing by 3-0 after 49 minutes.
Those of us in the stands thought that we would go onto lose the game 4/5-0, which in all honesty was a fair view to have given the fact that Enfield looked dangerous and we hadn’t tested their keeper Rob Blackburne once at all in the first half. How wrong we were as two goals from Nathan Gordon (who I rate quite highly having seen him play against us for Ilford) in 2 minutes got us back to 3-2 down.
Nathan Gordon Celebrating His Second Goal
The first one came from a Billy Sendall throw-in on the right which was flicked into the forward’s path who lashed home at the far-post – that’s three goals from throw-in’s this season. The forward’s second came when he latched onto a misplaced back-pass by Craig McKay and slotted in under Blackburne with a cool finish to the shock of both sets of supporters!
We were shocked in the stands and suddenly Enfield and their loud supporters looked shocked and a team who looked increasingly like conceding again. Shortly after Osei had seen shots blocked on the line by Sendall and Jonathan Wheatstone, Redbridge went down the other end and won a throw-in on the left.
By now I had moved from the stands and was standing behind the goal, and got a great view as a Sendall throw-in from the left was flicked on by Ryan Murray to the back post where Gordon headed it back across goal for Trenkel to head home. It was a great goal (as you’re see in the video below) and our fourth from a Sendall throw-in already this season, who says that only Stoke City can benefit from throw-ins!
On almost our very-next attack we went close from another Sendall throw-in (which you’re see after Trenkel’s goal in the video above) to taking the lead. Not long after that though Enfield’s skipper Mark Kirby put the visitors back into the lead and they wrapped the game up with three minutes left when Wallace deservingly got on the score-sheet. Even after that we could’ve made it 5-4 but Ben Bradbury and sub Kieran Bishop saw chances go over.
To read a full report on the game click here and to see my match photos on flickr from the game click here. You can also see other clips of the game on flickr by clicking here.
After the game I caught up with our manager Terry Spillane and got the chance to quiz him on the result. You can hear what he had to say by downloading my interview here
Conclusion
In Conclusion, I think that we don’t have a bad team after seeing us play on each of our four occasions this season. Our manager Terry, I know is looking to build a good team early on in the season and will bring in players if he feels he needs to. From speaking to Terry and our coaching staff, I know that they are not foolish enough to realise that the majority of our squad (who have played for Terry previously at Stansted FC) will take time to adjust to the demands of Ryman League football – as there’s no doubt that it is a major step-up from Essex Senior League football.
Despite that though, I have been impressed by our start and although I know Terry and the rest of our coaching staff would have wanted us to have more than 4 points so far this season, I am happy with that points tally, as it’s something to build on and we certainly could have easily had 1 point, had AFC Sudbury held on to beat us and if Ware’s late pressure would have resulted in them converting a chance, which in all fairness their second-half display had deserved.
Clearly there are not many sides in the division who could fight back from 2-0 down to draw against AFC Sudbury and very few teams who have the ability to fight back from 3-0 down to get back on level terms against Enfield Town. According to many fans and coaches that I have spoken to in and around the Ryman League we are fancied to have a good season. Of course it’s easy saying that at the start of the season, but the signs are that we will have a good season if we can:
Convert more of our chances.
Be more organised defensively.
Score from other areas of the pitch (not just throw-ins).
Have our senior players continue to improve their performances.
Have a settled side, which is so vital at this level of football.
Those points there are all ‘basic’ points of football, but sometimes going back to basics doesn’t hurt anybody and certainly once our set of players get used to playing as a team together, there’s no doubt we will improve.
Do I have a prediction for our game tomorrow against Cockfosters? In all honesty I think that we should win the game by at least two goals and I fancy Nathan Gordon to bag our opener. It’s a game that we need to win to build momentum to our squad and will be one that our coaching staff will not want to see us lose!
Well the Ryman League Div One North – my favourite Non-League division for obvious reasons – is due to start tomorrow at exactly 3.00pm.
I have to say I’ve spent the whole day thinking about it, well that and watching the cricket but that’s another story.
Anyway I’m not much of a betting-man, but it’s worth having a look at the odds for the division up on Sky Bet.
Here’s their latest odds:
Needham Market: 5/1
AFC Sudbury: 6/1
Maldon: 6/1
Harlow: 7/1
Leiston 8/1
Grays 10/1
Enfield Town: 14/1
Brentwood: 14/1
Heybridge: 16/1
Redbridge: 20/1
Ware: 20/1
Great Wakering: 25/1
Soham Town: 33/1
Romford: 33/1
Waltham Abbey: 33/1
Cheshunt: 33/1
Chatham: 33/1
Thamsmead: 33/1
Tilbury: 33/1
Ilford: 40/1
Waltham Forest: 40/1
On first glance it’s hard to disagree with the odds there for the teams at the top and bottom of the division. Needham Market should win this division and but for a fixture pile-up due to cup games last year would have won the division despite East Thurrock’s brilliant run that saw them win the title.
AFC Sudbury who we are due to play tomorrow are also tipped to have a good season. With a good ground and good fan-base they have everything set to be a sucessful Ryman Premier club. Intresinglty enough they are due to face Needham on August 29th and that could be a fiery game, I can gurantee you that.
Both Harlow and Heybridge I feel will have good seasons and I expect them to come close or reach the play-off spots come the end of the season. Grays for me are the dark-team to watch in the division and after Julian Dicks’ season last year, from speaking to their owners at the game at the Oakside last season, they will no doubt be challenging for promotion this season.
I had to laugh at our odds of 20/1 and that we are along with Ware the joint-10th favourite for the league title. Whilst I’d love to see us challenge for promotion this season, as I’ve said to friends and fellow #nonleaguefans on twitter I think that we’re going to be finishing around 12-14th this season. That would be an improvement on last year when we finished 16th but I would love to be proved wrong and for us to get a top-half finish which I know would delight our chairman Dan greatly.
I think Romford’s odds of 33/1 are far too low and I think they will finish in the top-half this coming season. Paul Martin’s been building a good squad this summer and they’ll do well. As for Ilford and Waltham Forest, I’ll be kind to them and say that those odds represent their chances for the season, as sadly they will both struggle this year.
Right then, as I said yesterday I will be updating this blog alot more this season so with that in mind, I really should predict what I think the table will look come April.
Needham Market (champions
AFC Sudbury
Harlow (play-off winners)
Leiston
Grays
Heybridge
Maldon
Enfield Town
Brentwood
Ware
Romford
Redbridge
Waltham Abbey
Great Wakering
Soham Town
Potters Bar
Tilbury
Cheshunt
Thamesmead
Chatham
Ilford
Waltham Forest (relegated)
So there we have it people, that’s my prediction for what the table will look come the end of the season. Needham will win the Championship, Harlow will win the Play-Offs and Waltham Forest will get relegated, dropping down to the Essex Senior League making it the first time in at least 3-4 seasons that someone will get relegated from the division.
Will I be right with those predictions? Have I ranked your team lower than you think they’re get on? If so feel free to rant at me in the comments box below. Whatever you think, I wish everyone in the division best of luck for the coming season..
On the face of it I am an impatient person, so you can imagine how irritated I have been over the off-season.
After all getting my fix of Non-League football at the Oakside has become part of my routine over the last five seasons.
As long as I am living in London, I will always want to remain a part of the club, which has become a ‘second home’ for me of sorts.
I cannot wait to see how my beloved club Redbridge FC will do this season, as after the drama of last season – which had as many back stories right out of an EastEnders episode – this coming season really does feel like one of real ‘change’ at the club.
Firstly we’ve got a new manager in Terry Spillane, who joins us after two successful years managing Stansted FC in the Essex Senior League. It was rumoured way back in February that Terry would be our new manager as word not only got around the various grounds but also on a couple of non-league forums.
I was therefore not surprised when Terry was appointed a couple of weeks after the season ended and whilst I would’ve been keen on keeping Jody Brown – who did a brilliant job for us in his role as caretaker manager – I respect and understand our chairman Dan’s decision.
Sometimes in order to move a club forward, sometimes you do have to make changes and there’s no doubting that Terry after his success at Stansted – which has won praise from alot of people amongst the local Non League-Scene, deserves the chance to manage in the Ryman League.
Only time will tell if it’s the right appointment for the club, but hopefully it will be and Terry can bring some stability to our club, which is something we’ve lacked for several years now. So with that in mind, we need Terry to do well for us.
Looking back on last season at Redbridge, it was thought quite a memorable season. We had 3 managers, used 57 players and finished in the end a respectable 16th. We also had some good players, some crap ones (if I’m being honest) and had to wait until our 10th league game to finally secure our first win of the season.
But for our pitch which has to be said is not one of the best in the division and some silly late goals conceded away from home, we would have actually finished a few positions higher in the table. However considering how bad we were at the start of the season, 16th was a good finish for us in the end.
So what can the Redbridge fans realistically expect this season? An improvement on last year’s finish would be great and I know that our chairman Dan and everyone at the club badly want that. From speaking to our manager Terry and one of our first-team coaches Darran George they both feel that’s achievable and it would be great if we could get a good Cup Run as aside from that bringing in money into the club, good cup form can help build up confidence and momentum to the side.
Pre-season has gone well for us with the boys winning 8 out of 9 games. Terry’s brought in some of his players from Stansted with him. Having seen our games at Barking and Broxbourne the side looks to have a good look to it. It’ll take us time to get used to the side but already I have been very impressed with Ryan ‘Rhyno’ Murray and Andy Oxby in particular.
Murray (which oddly enough used to be a nickname of mine, don’t ask why!) really does look sharp for us and his height and physical presence looks to be something that will really benefit the side this season. For such a tall guy, he’s good on his feet too and unlike some strikers we’ve had down the years (whose names I won’t mention out of respect!) he has the ability to shoot from outside the box as you’re see in this video here, so I’m intrigued to see how he’ll get on for us this season.
Dan Trenkel who is somewhat of a legend at Great Wakering Rovers and Concord Rangers has joined us recently after leaving Brentwood Town who he joined in the summer after leaving Wakering. Dan’s an excellent player (and I’m not just saying this because he might be reading this) who I am delighted that we’ve signed.
He will bring needed experience, strength, heart and hunger to our midfield and he can be relied to get a few goals for the team. After losing Jonny Glowacki for the best part of at least 3-4 months with a broken leg, Trenks is exactly the kind of player that we need and I have to say I am very surprised that Steve Witherspoon at Brentwood discarded him so quickly after signing him – but that’s football I guess.
Up front the one thing we’ve lacked really since the 08/09 season is a 20-goal man up. Back in the second half of that season Hakeem Araba was brilliant for us and played like a man-mountain up front. He’s now at Bromley after leaving East Thurrock who he played for last season and is a player I will always respect and hope to see do well higher up the divisions
Back to the present, as I was saying the one thing we lacked last season was a 20-goal man up top and whilst that’s hard to come by at this level, the signings of Ben Bradbury and Nathaniel Gordon I think are really good additions to the team.
I can’t say I remember seeing Bradbury play last year against us for Tilbury but from my connections in the game, I’ve heard good things about him. Gordon I feel could be a real ‘impact’ player for us and there’s no doubt after a good year at Ilford he has the potential to really develop at the Oakside. He reminds me abit of Jeff Hammond who used to play for us and Enfield Town who was always good at finishing inside the box always had a good work-rate about him.
This coming Saturday see’s the start of the Ryman League season and we’ve got a tough opener at home to heavy spending AFC Sudbury, which ironically is a repeat of our opening fixture from last season. Back then I missed the game due to illness and felt even more under the weather when I found out we’d lost to a goal deep into second-half injury time from my mate Adam Silver who works on our programme and website after the game.
I would like to predict a home win for us but even with my clubman hat on, I think we’re have to work hard to get a point this weekend. Sudbury will be up there challenging for the play-off places this season and will be favourites for the game but if Terry can get our defence and midfield organised I really do think we can pick up a point and get off to a good start this season.
Here’s to a good season for us and the Ryman League in general. I will try and update this blog more often this season and as I will be regularly going to away games this year, so naturally I will have alot more to say about the club than I’ve ever done before, which can only be a good thing really.
It is just over a year to go until Olympic-fever kicks fully into action in London – well 383 days to be precise – and the London Borough of Redbridge will be taking it very first few steps of an ‘Olympic Journey’ as it looks to make the most of Olympic-fever so to speak.
The London 2012 Games is due to start on 27 July next year, but on the 24 July 2011 – Redbridge will be kick-starting it’s Olympic celebrations with a big Olympic festival that’s being hosted at a large number of locations down Forest Road.
The ‘Inspiration Festival’ is aiming to attract around 6-10,000 people to the event, in the hope of inspiring them and getting local people passionate about our borough’s plans and events leading up to the Games.
The Poster For Redbridge's Inspiration Festival
The Borough’s Olympic Development Team (ODT) is hoping to attract about 10,000 local people to the festival which has a whole heap of events and activities planned for all ages to have fun and enjoy the day out. For a full list of details surrounding the ‘Inspiration’ festival click here to see more.
So, why am I telling you all this. After all I am just a regular 23 year old from Barkingside who has lived in Gants Hill all my life. Why would I be an important person to listen to with regards to the Borough’s upcoming Olympic events?
Well, for starters I am directly involved with the Borough’s ODT with regards to Olympic-related events and plans.
I have been an ‘Olympic Ambassador’ for the Borough for about 2-3 months now, which in essence is a ‘voluntary’ role in which local people assist and help out the Borough’s ODT at events promoting the Borough’s cultural events relating to the Olympics.
Without telling you all about myself as:
1) I am not a person who likes in fact to talk about myself.
+ 2) there are far more interesting people than me in and around Redbridge…
..I am somebody who has an interest in the London Olympics, having spent virtually my last year at University finding out all I could about it as my dissertation looked at the London 2012’s legacies, so working in/around the Olympics is something that interests me.
Having failed to get a job since graduating last year, I thought it would be good for me to give something back to my local community (not that I’ve been a burden for them in the past) and see what they were doing with regards to the Olympics.
An initial meeting with the Borough’s ODT manager Julie Creffield led to me being appointed an ‘Olympic Ambassador ‘and through my contacts in local sport (which I’ll get onto in a moment) and local media, I thought it’d be good for me to get as involved as possible so I can add something to my CV and gain experience.
Me Volunteering At Fairlop
I have helped out at a couple of events so far for the Borough, serving as a volunteer for an event at Fairlop Waters 2 months ago where I was part of a small team of ‘Ambassadors’ helping steward/ organise the event.
Obviously the Borough’s ODT want the ‘Inspiration Festival’ to be as big as possible and over the next two weeks you may see more and more posters promoting the event across the area.
The event can only be a success if people turn up and support it and I support the borough’s plans in trying to create a ‘buzz’ to the event as it’s about time local people had something good to look forward to which would make them ‘proud’ to be living in the borough.
Another reason why I am looking forward to the event is that Redbridge FC – the Ryman League club based at the Oakside Stadium down Station Road behind Barkingside Tube Station – will also be having a presence at the ‘Inspiration Festival.’
Many of you reading this may not know about Redbridge FC or their tenants Barkingside FC and many of you probably won’t know about the local Non League clubs in and around the borough. Well I have been involved with both Redbridge FC and Barkingisde FC since November 2006 when I first started out as a freelance sports reporter for Time 107.5 FM based in Romford.
Over the last four and a half years, I have become very passionate about both teams. Since August 2007, I have been Redbridge FC’s Press Secretary and had a similar spell with Barkingisde FC which ended around a year ago.
Anyway cutting a long story short, both clubs for a number of reasons (which I wouldn’t like to mention) have struggled to attract local attention in the last couple of years – despite being warm and friendly clubs – and are not barley known locally at all.
When I found out about the ‘Inspiration Festival’ after my initial meeting with Julie Creffield, I wanted to try and get Redbridge FC to have some form of involvement at the festival as it would be a great ‘free’ chance for us as a club to gain more publicity.
Aside from that it would be the perfect chance for us as a club to show local people that we want to move forward and ‘build bridges’ with people and show that we want to become an important part of the local community.
I told our chairman Dan Holloway about this and he like me thought it would be a great idea for us to be involved as he (like everyone at the club) wants to see us progress as a club and gain more of a following than the small one we do have.
The club, thanks to our chairman Dan, will be helping to design and run an ‘Olympic Podium’ which on the day will be an area of the festival, where local people will get the chance to meet local Olympic/ Sporting stars.
This will be an area of the festival where the general public will get a chance to get autographs and photos with these stars and I think it is great that as a club we will be involved with, as we’re guaranteed to get more awareness and publicity in our area as a result.
I know that we as a club are targeting to have a big event planned for our first home match of the upcoming 2011/12 season, in which through Julie’s work and the Borough’s ODT we will be trying to ‘sell out’ our first home game which will have an ‘Olympic theme’ to the day from what I’ve been told.
Redbridge's New Club Crest
This will be a great way for us to start a new ‘era’ at the club, as we have changed our club colours and crest over the summer and will now be playing in a red/black kit similar to what AC Milan wear from what I understand. You can read more about our changes here
On the face of it, it really is quite a challenge that’s been set for our first home game as although last season our average attendance was up to about 90, on most days we average about 60 supporters which can be improved for next year.
To be brutally honest I don’t think we will quite sell out our first game, but at least we’re doing something to try and attract local people (of all ages) to our club and even if we only attract 20-30 more fans that’ll be great for us.
We want to be a ‘community club’ for local people and with our clubhouse recently renovated (as you’re see by the picture) we really do think we’d be a good alternative not just for local people wanting to see a game of football but for families and organisations who might want to hire out our clubhouse for social and corporate events.
In conclusion I understand that not everyone is excited about the Olympics and that the money and the controversies surrounding it can cause people to not want to get passionate about it. I am however someone who is passionate about the Olympics and local sport in general and hope that the Borough’s events relating to the Olympics can help create a ‘feel-good factor’ locally that I feel has declined over the last couple of years.
That’s just my view though. All I know is that I’ll be there at the Borough’s ‘Inspiration Festival’ where I am due to be leading a small team of young ‘ambassadors’ who will be going around the site around Fairlop speaking, filming, photographing the day’s festivities’ as with my media background that’s the task that I’ve been given to on the day.
The event might not be perfect and it might not run as well as the organisers want it to be. But local people of all ages should think about attending and I know that the Borough’s ODT want as many local people to turn up and give those views on the day.
Of course it is up to citizens of Redbridge: Do you want to be Inspired by London 2012 or not?
Should anyone want to discuss anything to do with the Borough’s Olympic plans or Redbridge FC you can do so at @ADennehey87 or@TheMotormen (Redbridge FC’s twitter account) for more information.
I have also applied to be a London 2012 Gamesmaker in the LOCOG’s Press Operations team and recently had in interview with LOCOG about a possible voluntary position during the Games. That of course at the moment is just an ‘idea’ but something that I would like to do although the chances of it happening of course are slim, though there’s nothing wrong in me thinking about it.
All good non league blogs/websites have common features on them. I thought for mine it’d be good to have a regular Questions + Answers feature, which I’ve decided to call ’8 Questions With.’
This feature will hopefully enable me to speak to various Non League players, fans and characters that I can get in touch with in which they’ll hopefully give good answers to – you’ve guessed it – 8 questions that I’ve set them.
Next up to the plate is Rakathr Hudson, who for someone only in their early 20′s already has a whole heap of playing and coaching experience in Non League Football compared to most players of his age in the game.
Rak In The Dugout Whilst At Kentish Town
Rak first started out managing Dartmouth Boys Youth Team in 1999 before starting his playing career with Haringey Borough in 2001, a club at which he has held several coaching roles. He’s also been involved in University football and has had roles with London MET and Westminister Uni where he’s currently the Uni’s first team manager.
Rak’s also played for the now defunct Edgaware Town, Heybridge Swifts, Kentish Town (where he’s had coaching roles) and Hendon FC whom he is currently with today.
Here I quiz him on how he got into coaching and management, whether his knowledge in Sports Science and Psychology has improved his career as well has tackling some important issues facing Non League football today.
For someone still in their 20′s you have got 11 years of coaching experience under your belt. What was it that made you want to get involved in the managerial side of football and just how much have you learnt as a result that’s improved you as a manager?
I have always had the belief that when I stop playing football I will become a manager. I love football and so anything to do with the sport motivates and inspires me.
I have already experienced many different coaching and management roles; and the experiences I have gained certainly improve my ability as a manager and will continue to do so.
You are always learning and picking things up along the way. I have a strong belief in myself and I am certain that when I go back to management I will be successful.
Haringey Borough is obviously a club that’s close to your heart as you’ve had various coaching and playing experience there over the last decade.
What does that club mean to you and would it be wrong to suggest that you would one day like to manage Haringey’s senior team and help them climb out of the Spartan divisions?
Haringey Borough are close to my heart for a number of reasons. I know the committee there very well and consider them as friends. I have managed the Youth Teams, played for the First Team (which was my senior debut at 15 years old) and the Youth Team, I coached the First Team and believe it or not I even had a spell as the Women’s Team manager there!
I always look out for their results and want them to do well. However, for the time being that chapter of my career is over and I have no immediate plans to be involved there in any capacity.
I am an ambitious person and would like to play and manage at the highest level possible and for that reason Step 5 doesn’t entice me. However, you never know, one day in the future I may manage the club, I wouldn’t rule it out. Football changes quickly and you never know what the future holds.
Your first managerial position in Senior football came at Spartan side Kentish Town where you were player-manager during the 2009/10 season.
How much of a challenge was this job and did you have plans to stay in the job longer despite wanting to resume your playing career at a higher level?
The Kentish Town job was a massive challenge. I don’t think words could really do it justice! I took over at 23 years old, I had no permanent assistant or coach and inherited a squad that had only been reprieved from relegation through ground grading and had only 2 or 3 players who were of step 5 standards.
On top of this we had zero budget, not even expenses for the players, and were red hot favourites to finish bottom. In hindsight it was crazy for me to take the job as it could have killed my reputation as manager before I even got started.
Fortunately we managed to build an excellent squad in the 18 months I was there and I am extremely proud of my record. By the end of the first season we managed to acquire a good squad who managed to have a great second half of the season to see us finish in 17th.
Then we improved on it again over the summer, still with no expenses, and had a good start to the new season, culminating in winning team of the month in November.
I truly believe had I not resigned at the end of November we would have finished top 7 in 2010-11, and the aim would have been to compete for promotion this season.
However, at my age (25) I couldn’t justify continuing as manager if I wanted to play again and I knew in 20 years time I would look back and regret it if I didn’t.
So for this reason I resigned and resumed my playing career. It was a very tough decision as I had a close bond with all the players and it was devastating having to break that team up after working so hard to build it.
Obviously due to the money involved in keeping clubs going, we hear lots of sad stories about clubs either going bust or going very close to doing so.
One of your former clubs Edgware Town sadly went bust following the 2007/08 season. What was your time like at Edgware and do your foresee the club making a come-back of sorts any time soon?
I enjoyed my time at Edgware Town as it was my first experience of non-league football away from the comfort zone I had at Haringey Borough.
It gave me a good grounding and as it was a local club I quickly found an affiliation with it. I loved the White Lion Ground and it’s very sad that it is no longer used for football and has just been left to rot.
It’s never nice when clubs go under, especially if you have played for them, so it was disappointing but what can you do? It seems to be happening more and more now.
I don’t see them making a comeback soon, but it would be nice if someone with some money could bring them back at the White Lion Ground, that would be special!
New seasons of course always are moments of ‘changes’ for clubs up and down the country, but what are your plans for next season.
Do you intend on playing next season or focusing more on your managerial role at Westminster University. How hard can it be to continue in both roles?
My football comes first at the moment; management and coaching are a little on the back burner. You can’t really do both at 100%.
When I was at Kentish I was officially player-manager, however I focused on management as I found playing and management at the same time too much, especially without an outstanding permanent assistant manager or coach.
Saying that, playing non-league and managing a university side won’t clash as training and matches are on different days and so the two roles won’t affect each other. With the university I can focus on managing and with my club I can focus on playing.
My plans for next season are not 100% set in stone. I have had a few good offers but my primary aim is to get myself fit and playing well, whoever it is for.
Obviously I have a strong bond with Hendon FC as I have made over 100 appearances for them and they have fantastic supporters. Hendon are probably the club I have made the most appearances for and I feel I’m associated with most as a player, so there is a strong relationship and loyalty there.
You’ve been someone who has worked hard in your studies. How has your degree in Psychology and you diploma in Sports Science benefited you in your career not just as a player but as a manager too?
Sports Science and Psychology are key components of both playing and coaching or managing football. They can form the basis for training sessions and physical preparation, as well as mental preparation which is just as important.
I like to learn as much as I can and I strongly believe in a training theory that I like to call ‘Football Specific’ training. This training incorporates lots of short and sharp drills which are also known as SAQ (speed, agility, quickness).
Unfortunately a lot of managers and coaches, even at the highest level, still don’t fully appreciate or understand this concept. However it is growing and I believe it will become normal practise in the future.
An example of the theory behind this training is that a lot of coaches will make players run long distances or for longer periods, i.e. 1000 meters in preseason or a 4 minute run, whereas in a football match players will make 150 ten meter sprints in 90 minutes.
At no point will a player run continuously at one pace for more than a few seconds. So training to be a marathon runner does not benefit a footballer!
Players obviously come and go from clubs for a number of reasons at Non League level, as a manager do you always have to plan in advance if a key player looks likely to leave.
How tough can it be for a morale of a squad for instance when a good player goes and is not replaced?
Well, when you have no budget there is not a lot you can really do! If a player leaves or you are struggling for a particular type of player in a particular position you can’t just go out and cherry pick someone to come in and offer them a few quid.
Through my time at Kentish Town, if I felt a player had the chance to better themselves at a higher level I would always encourage it. This way if it doesn’t work out you can get the player back, and if it does work out than you have the satisfaction of helping a good player with their development.
However if a player was making a sideways step it would really disappoint me, luckily our players were enjoying their football and so this wasn’t really an issue.
If the squad loses a key player that isn’t replaced, maybe a striker or a defensive leader, then yes this will have a negative effect on the team.
This is partly a confidence issue, when you have a proven goalscorer then even when you are losing you know there is a goal in him, but without him the confidence wanes. However if it is a player who is not considered ‘key’, then the squad will move on without much of a change.
Lastly, what do you think Non League football brings to the party that makes it unique and why do you think more people should go down and see their local side?
I think if people gave non-league a chance they would actually start to get a feel for it and enjoy it. For instance, if a fan of a professional club decided to support a local side for half a season, I think the majority would get attached and become long-term fans.
Once you get to know the players names, which ones are good, which ones maybe not so good, the other teams in the league etc, then I think it becomes a real buzz similar to supporting for instance a Premier League side.
So given the chance it can be very similar, and yet very different. It’s a lot cheaper, but the quality of the players and the pitches is not as good. But both can provide passion and excitement, and there is value in that!
Thanks for that Rakatahr!
If you would like to get to know more about Rakatahr, you can follow him on Twitter at @snakesnare.
If you know of anyone who would be intrested in being interviewed for ’8 Questions With’ or whether you you yourself would like to be questioned by me, feel free to let me know by tweeting me on contact me on @ADennehey87 or @TheMotormen.
All good non league blogs/websites have common features on them. I thought for mine it’d be good to have a regular Questions + Answers feature, which I’ve decided to call ’8 Questions With.’
This feature will hopefully enable me to speak to various Non League players, fans and characters that I can get in touch with in which they’ll hopefully give good answers to – you’ve guessed it – 8 questions that I’ve set them.
First up to the plate so to speak, is a Non League midfielder whom I know quite well.
Andreas Pilides may not be a well known star, but at 21 years old he’s quite experienced in the grass-roots game after being involved with Barnet’s Youth team up until the age 18. Since then he’s played for the likes of Welwyn Garden City, Hendon, Kentish Town, Redbridge, Ilford and Barkingside enjoying his football wherever he goes.
Andreas Pilides Playing For Ilford Last Season
Despite Andreas playing for my beloved Redbridge once two seasons ago and being involved with our local rivals Ilford, I actually only got to know him on Twitter, where he’s one of several players whom I regularly talk to, so to speak.
Towards the end of the season after leaving Ilford, Andreas joined Barkingside – Redbridge’s tenants – where he was briefly part of Tony Fenn’s side that lost a club record 15 games in a row.
Andreas is certainly a player who by now should be challenging for a regular starting place at whatever team. Here I quiz him on how his season went, whether his job as a fitness coach as benefited his career as well as getting his take on some important issues facing Non League football today.
So Andreas, your last season it would be fair to say didn’t go to plan with you first being first in and out of the Ilford team before ending the season with a short spell at Barkingside – what are your hopes for next season?
Yes that’s correct last season, although was one that started very promising for myself became very flat and disappointing! Finding myself starting every match from pre season right through the early stages of the season to then being very much in and out became really frustrating for me!
The coming season I have my ambitions and hopes set as always, to push myself as high up the non league ladder as possible and to find a club where I can play consistently and be settled in order to develop my game! Which to be realistic needs regular football and a manager who can help me grow!
You were involved with Barkingside during their 15 match losing streak that of course started before you arrived at the club. What was it like to be part of a squad going on a bad run like that and were you always confident that the boys despite their inexperience would indeed turn it around?
After leaving Ilford I was on the hunt to find a club where I could finish the last 10 games of the season playing regular football! Barkingside popped up for me and I’m very greatfull to Tony Fenn for giving me the opportunity to play football matches. I came at a time where the club where struggling massively to win games and even send out a settled same squad of players!.
I believed the 15 match run was a result of the big fixture pile up rather than the teams lack of quality. The boys were playing 3 games every 10 days for 3 weeks and this took its toll on an ever changing squad! Everybody in the camp believed however it was only a matter of time before the team turned it round as the performances never actually matched the results, which does tend to happen for struggling sides.
Sadly of course towards the end of ‘Side’s losing streak, several first team regulars left the club at short notice. Could you sympathise slightly with their situation or did you feel that some despite earning next to nothing should have shown more loyalty to the cause and hung around to the end of the season?
To be perfectly honest this question is very difficult for me to answer as being there for such a small space of time I didn’t really get to know the players who left the club and what there reasons were for. However I believe playing at that level should never be about money as your never going to earn that much so it should all be about passion and the love of the game and club.
Having played in divisions above the Essex Senior League, how much of a gap is there between step 9 sides in the league system and the divisions above. In other words how easy was it for you to adjust to playing back in the Essex Senior League after not figuring as much as you’d have liked for Ilford?
I am always a believer that the higher in football you play the easier the game becomes for you!. Stepping back into the essex senior was by no means a walk in the park, mind you. The games at that level are more fast and furious where as the Ryman North and Ryman Premier games where I’ve had my own experiences are very much competitive but slightly more controlled.
Players at a higher level take information on better from their managers as well as being fitter and better technically. This in turn allows you to concentrate on your own role rather than having to cover for an unfit less footballing aware player at a lower level some of the time. The Essex Senior League is very competitive and if you are not on your game you will get found out as a player.
As someone who is into their fitness with your job as a Sports Coach, how much of an advantage do you think you get against your peers in terms of keeping in shape. Has your job in any way helped you in your playing career so far?
Being a personal trainer/sports coach it can be very beneficial when maintaining your fitness level throughout the season. I believe its always helped me be one of the fitter players in the squads I’ve been in but has not always benefited my career to date.
What can be frustrating for me sometimes is that from my work, I know the bio-mechanics of the body and how it should be trained to reach peak fitness. As a result it can be weird going into fitness sessions put on by coaches who really arn’t doing it correctly, which does annoy me. My point is a lot of the time at steps 7, 8 and 9 fitness gets overlooked by players who have experience and therefore I believe younger, fitter players sometimes get less football on board as players that they should be getting.
Do you think it’s slightly mad that despite poor weather conditions every year that the various non-league seasons do not get extended, to help players and teams cope better? Do you think that this stance by certain leagues actually lessens the quality of the league towards the end of a season when games are coming in thick and fast?
I have always had the opinion that the league associations should not start all the cup competitions so early in the season and should concentrate on gettin as much league games in as possible at the start of the year when the weather is nicer. I do believe that the standard drops at the end of seasons when teams have to cram in stupid amounts
of games. Barkingside’s form which we’ve mentioned is a prime example of this and leagues should be trying their utmost to keep the quality of their league at a good consistent level.
Having played for 3 of the teams in the London Borough of Redbridge in Barkingside, Redbridge and Ilford – do you agree a small view that’s been talked about that those teams would actually be stronger if there was one ‘super’ club in the area? After all wouldn’t they stand a better future if they were just one club?
Its a nice idea however I dnt think it should happen. Having 3 clubs in the area that are of a standard that is competitive allows players who are not of a professional standard to have a team to play for.
If there was 1 super club, that would only allow around 18-20 players to be involved in that team’s squad on a long-term basis .With the 3 clubs around that you’ve mentioned, it gives 60 odd players a chance to play. I still believe if there was 1 club the same amount of fans would come as some fans as a result of the club’s merging might not want to follow the new team.
Lastly, What do you think Non League football brings to the party that makes it unique and why do you think more people should go down and see their local side?
Non League football is a beautiful thing. It allows the average footballer and working class fan to have so many memories whether they be good, bad, ugly, fun or nervous ones.
I think going to see non league football has a better atmosphere than some football league clubs and that’s something people may laugh at, but having played at this level, it’s something that I really believe.
There was a great atmosphere last year for ‘Non League Day.’ On the day itself, which was September 4th, I was part of the Ilford side that played Enfield Town and despite us losing 2-0, the day was brilliant.
It was a big gate for us and a great atmosphere to be playing in front of. I believe if you haven’t been to a game below the football league, as a football fan you are missing out on something and it’s a great cheaper alternative than going to watch a Premiership game for instanec where the ticket prices are way over the top.
I must add I was disgusted with the high ticket prices for the various Blue Square Play-Off final’s that have happened over the last week or so. The prices at around £30-40 were near-on professional prices, which ripped of the average hard-working fan. But then again the money-problem in football isn’t one which we fans didn’t know about, so it’s nothing new.
Thanks for that Andreas!
If you would like to get to know more about Andreas, you can follow him on Twitter at @e4Yidman.
If you know of anyone who would be intrested in being interviewed for ’8 Questions With’ or whether you you yourself would like to be questioned by me, feel free to let me know by tweeting me on contact me on @ADennehey87 or @TheMotormen.
At this time of the football season, everyone from anyone in football usually has their own view on who should be the ‘Player Of The Year’ for their respective league or team that they follow.
Whilst I could give my view on the PFA Award Nominations and voice who I think should win the various PFA awards, I’ll stick to what I do best – and that’s talk about my club Redbridge and focus on the player who at least in my opinion (which probably doesn’t count for much outside of Ilford) deserves to be crowned Redbridge’s player of the year.
This season as a club we’ve gone through 57 players. Now that’s not that much of a suprising number for most clubs at our level to use, but it has been one of the reasons why we are sitting 19th at the moment, and why we haven’t had a great season so to speak.
At the current moment only 4 players who were with us at the start of the season are still at the club, which is a number totally understandable given the fact that we’ve gone through 3 managers this season as well as having some good players sign and leave the club at various stages of the season.
Whilst we’ve had some good players this year – who I will pay tribute to further on in the article – the stand-out player for us without a shadow of a doubt has been our young left back Tom Stephen.
Not much was known about Tom when he joined us in the summer. All we knew about him was that we’d got him from AFC Hornchurch U18′s and that he was rated highly there.
Tom impressed our then joint-managers Dave Ross & Kris Taylor well enough in pre-season to warrant a start at home to AFC Sudbury in the league and despite us losing 1-0, impressed people in the ground before being substituted on 78 minutes.
The first time I saw Tom play for us was in our FA Cup tie away to Barking, where he played the full 90 and didn’t give anything away really against players much taller and more physically stronger than him.
A first goal for the club came not long after in our 4-1 defeat at East Thurrock and since then Tom hasn’t looked back and has appeared in 43 games for us this seaosn, the most for any player at the club. In those 43 games he’s scored 3 goals, set up 2 assists directly as well as helping to set up multiple goals with his hard work down the left. And in my ‘unofficial’ man of the match awards, that I do alongside our statistics page on our website, he’s picked up the award 3 times for me.
For a lad only 18, he has such composure and maturity on the ball and has been one of our most reliable players this season. It’s very hard for me to think of seeing him make a mistake for us, which has cost us a goal at the back as he stays tight on his marker when defending and gets rid of the ball quickly often finding one of his team mates as a result.
Over the last 2-3 months, I have grown to become a big fan of his and have regularly spoken to our manager Jody Brown during my post-match interviews about just how well Tom’s been playing.
Jody certainly rates him highly and has spoken about how he’d be very surprised if he doesn’t go on to play at a much higher level, as from working with him his talent has definitely caught the eye.
It’s a view that several people at the club as well as myself share and without being disrespectful to the club, Tom is defiently good enough to play at a higher level.
I would be surprised if other managers haven’t taken note of his form this year and I really do hope that we can sign him on for next year as it’s vital we have a good crop of players at the club who we can build a team around and Tom without a shadow of a doubt is definitely one of those.
As for our other good players this year. Kevin McLeod took some time to settle in and recover from his injuries that prevented him from joining Football League sides in the summer.
However once he was over those injuries and he begun to play confidently he’s been nothing but great for us, scoring 12 goals and getting 9 assists for us in his 31 games for us this season.
It’s been brilliant to watch him play for us as you can see in his movement and first touch why last year he was playing in League 1 and why he’s had a good career in the Football League.
After injuring his quad whilst scoring against Enfield Town a fortnight ago he’s been all but ruled out for our remaining 3 games.
Losing a player of his ability has hurt the team as without being critical of the forwards we do have at the club, they are nowhere near the ability of Macca and frustratingly at times don’t even do the simple things that a forward can do.
It remains to be seen whether Macca will be at us next season, as despite knowing our chairman well through his family, he can certainly play at a much higher level than we do and would be able to handle himself at least playing in the Blue Square Premier.
Our centre-backs Sean Crossley and Glen Golby have been a real solid pairing for us this year and both deserve credit. Sean Crossley was picked up by Kris Taylor who whilst managing Westamians in the Essex Olympian Football League, thought that Sean would be well worth bringing into the team. The former Waltham Forest youth player comes 4th in our most appearances this season and after overcoming a tough start, has adjusted to our level brilliantly.
If it wasn’t for breaking his nose midway through the season and missing 6-7 games for us, Sean would have appeared in the most games for us above Tom. Sean’s also done well to score 5 goals for us and is a big threat for us from set-pieces.
His most important moment this season was his late winner for us in our most recent win at home to Potters Bar when his goal deep into added time secured us a 2-1 win over Potters Bar, when he rose like a salmon to head home a brilliant header at the back post.
Sean’s partner in crime in defence, Glen is someone who we expect to be putting in great performances. Glen’s got great experience at this level and rejoined the club after spells at Aveley and Tilbury. He must be one of the strongest players in the league and has been a great servant for us this season, often skippering the side in the second half of the season.
Julian Ashby has become a really solid player for us and after doing well at our tenants Barkingside and local rivals Brentwood over the last 18 months has been an ever-present for the team. He’s been there right from the start of the season as well and as well as making 38 appearances for the team, has at times led the team as well.
His hardwork has made him a real asset to the team. The fact he can play in a number of positions makes him a player I hope we can have for next season. Whether it be right back, centre midfield or even on the right wing, Julian does not let you down.
The final player that really deserves some praise is Elliott Justham who after joining in October has been our regular Number 1 in goal. Ell’s made a few mistakes recently partly due to playing with a dodgy ankle recently but he has grown into a great goalie for us and at only 20 has a great future ahead of him. It’s vital for any goalie that you’re able to get down or up to save shots and Ell’s certainly made some great saves for us this season
Probably one of the reasons for his form for us this season, as correctly picked out by my chum @thecoldend on Twitter, has been the fact that Ell’s slimmed down alot which you can see here on his excellent blog here.
The Official Redbridge Player Awards for this season are due in a fortnight and I’d be very suprised if someone other than the six players that I’ve mentioned here wins an award.
Tom Stephen has got my vote, as above all his performances have suprised everyone and it would be nice to see someone get the praise and recognition they deserve for once. He’s a credit to himself, his parents who have watched him regularly this season and the club – no-one deserves it more than him!
As pleased I was with Manchester United’s wins over Chelsea, there was one player’s performance over the two legs that shone out that as a United fan satisfied me the most.
Michael Carrick may not be the most gifted or popular player at United, but his performance in the heart of the United midfield was nothing short of exceptional.
Carrick never has or never will be blessed with pace, but he used his reading of the game well last Wednesday and made sure that he was always in the right place at the right time for United.
It wouldn’t be wrong of me to say that Carrick is not the most popular or gifted player at the club. Over the last 2 seasons or so, his performances have not always been brilliant and often when United don’t play well, he usually is one of the first players that our fans blame for our misfortune.
It’s just one of those things that happen to players, just like for how Emmanuel Eboue was blamed by Arsenal fans seemingly week in and week out when Arsenal were going through a bad patch 2 seasons ago.
Eboue famously of course was able to win over the Arsenal fans and while it looks likely that he’ll move on from the Emirates in the summer, he can look back on that dark time in his career and say that he’s got over it.
Of course Carrick hasn’t quite been criticised by United’s fans to the extent that Eboue suffered, if barley at all. However when it was announced last month that the England midfielder had signed a contract extension to stay at the club until the end of the 2013/2014 season, there were a lot of United fans puzzled by the news.
With Carrick being 29 and looking seemingly unlikely to get better as a player or at least get back to the form of his first 2 seasons at the club, it seemed like there were better options in the centre of midfield for United. As funny as football is, it looks as if Carrick’s confidence has shot up since getting that contract extension and finally he looks like he’s getting back to the form that saw him a regular in the United midfield.
His performance at Stamford Bridge was great to see. His pass to Ryan Giggs that helped set up Wayne Rooney’s 24th minute strike was nothing but sensational. It was the kind of pass that was reminiscent of the Carrick that played at Spurs, when often he would produce passes that would have Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane licking their lips in similar scenarios.
To a degree had Paul Scholes produced that pass, probably more and more football fans worldwide would be raving about the pass and adoring it over and over again on YouTube. Sadly because it’s Michael Carrick, the pass won’t be getting the major recognition that it deserves at least on the continent. But that’s football for you.
Should Carrick’s good form continue it will be good news for United who with Paul Scholes looking likely to retire at the end of the year will need the Wallsend-born boy to produce more alongside the likes of Darren Fletcher, Darren Gibson and Anderson.
With the likelihood that a big-name midfielder such as Wesley Sneijder or Daniele Di Rossi will be joining the club next season, it’s vital those already at the club help make it easier for that new signing to bed in. It’s all about getting the right ‘balance’ in midfield, and Carrick according to his club captain Nemanja Vidic’s praise certainly has plenty of that.
@JTarget23 Good for you. I'm a big fan of Springwatch. Rather sad to admit it but I often go to Fairlop Waters to see the wildlife there! 40 minutes ago
@StephFarnsworth All he ever says is 'for sure' most've the time so half the time that's why we don't need to listen to him! 2 days ago
When the draw for the fourth round of the Carling Cup was drawn, I may surprise everyone here and say that there was only one team that I wanted Manchester United to draw. 
As pleased I was with Manchester United’s wins over Chelsea, there was one player’s performance over the two legs that shone out that as a United fan satisfied me the most.
