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"Mellow Yellow" 3 Sep
05
If it isn't obvious by now we're in a
tough league, far tougher than last year.
Out of the six sides we've played, there's only one that our conference north
team would have had a chance of beating, namely Burton. Even Stevenage who we
played exceptionally well against would on 9 times out of 10 have beaten us with
the players we've got. Steve Smith's comments about expecting to beat teams like
Gravesend look even more foolish. These teams are no mugs, that's why they've
been at this level for the last few years.
By contrast we're in our first season back. Many of our players haven't played
at this level before or have limited experience of it. It is a tough learning
curve for manager and players alike. Over the season we'll see quite a lot of
games where we're under the cosh. The key will be how we respond and improve.
I'm confident we have enough quality to stay up, I don't agree with some other
posters who believe that we're in a position to finish any higher than we are
now, without changes to the personnel.
I'm not unhappy by that and that's not a criticism of players or management.
It's only natural that some players won't make the step up. The difficult bit is
always predicting which ones they are. A year ago and I'll bet a good number
would have had doubts over whether Earl and Daly would progress, but they are
two who have certainly grasped the nettle.
No need to panic at the moment but let's temper any expectations with realism.
We're a part time side in a mainly full time league. We're playing many sides
that would have thrashed us last year, and we weren't in this league last year
so learning is the key.
In Liam I feel we have the right man. One thing he has demonstrated in his short
time with us is his ability to quickly learn what works and what doesn't. Our
qualification for conference north and subsequent championship are testament to
that. Without him I can't help feeling we'd still be playing Blyth Spartans!
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