Tonight, we welcome our good friends from Braintree Town Football Club, can I wish their Directors, Manager, Players, Staff and Supporters a pleasant stay with us and a safe journey home.
Well, it’s been an eventful last 10 days or so back in the National League, as we’ve played a very good Rochdale team losing a close game 2-0, played Notts Forest u21’s in the National League Cup winning 2-0, and then travelled to Cumbria to face Carlisle United in front of nearly 9,000 fans, where we led at half time, trailed late on before deservedly drawing 3-3. The good thing for me is the summer building works can now slow down, and the new season can begin in earnest.
Player news:
Other than the injured Jack Payne and Joe Newton, every other player within the squad has already had good minutes and everyone has played a big part in what has been a promising start to the season performance wise.
On the recruitment front both Luke and Charlie Hunter are still working on strengthening the squad but these things do take time to get right and so we will need to be patient. That said, we have just been forced to sell Tom Whelan to AFC Fylde, although in truth we didn’t want to let him go.
Disappointing though it is, Tom did have a buyout clause in his contract and Fylde were obviously told that by third parties, they activated it and we were informed on Sunday by Tom’s agent that Tom wanted to discuss personal terms with Fylde which he did and subsequently accepted their terms.
There are no complaints from me as in business terms the contract is the rule book which we must all abide by, and the buyout clause was about fair. It was activated by Fylde, Tom wanted to go as it was a longer deal, more money and very importantly for Tom, it would possibly give him more game time. We of course wish him well, we remember last season’s promotion, we forget the relegation and personally I thank him for his friendship and service.
Our squad as you know is not the biggest, as shown on the back page of our programme each and every week and that’s often highlighted by visiting fans, managers and clubs as if it’s a huge downside. That is not how we see it, as we believe that quality over quantity as a conscious footballing decision has always held us in good stead throughout my tenure here.
I have always believed that putting together a better quality group of players within a smaller squad system often assists the club, manager and aids him in keeping his players happy, it also often suits keeping things financially viable and has over the years often been dictated by our year on year building programmes, our facility upgrades etc, while we also factor in things like the size of our growing fanbase, season ticket sales and the level we are playing at.
Our budget policies are not for everybody and if I was Carlisle United’s Chairman/Owner and had 8,000 home supporters spending up to £26 a ticket, I would of course fill my boots. But we’re not that type of club so we must do what works best for us and that has meant step by step progress, long term partnerships and our future proofing stadium builds.
As we now look to develop the club further, improve the facility further and improve the academy both on and off the field in the manner we’ve done for more than two decades, we must do so while not weakening ourselves at National League level and that will be my main aim this season.
We are in truth not a club that can carry, say, a squad of 25 plus players this season even if we wanted to. Our present budget means Luke would end up with a lot of bang average players being paid a tad more money than they’re possibly worth and although that is subjective, it is the only outcome I could foresee.
At times a club like ours can get vilified by some of the bigger clubs and their supporters for possibly bloodying their nose at times, competing on much lower resources or possibly because we are playing them as equals when having a much smaller support base. Anyway, for whatever reasons we are financially sound, we are successful in our own right, and I do try to invest in all things local and do try to pay reasonably well.
In truth we must always be resourceful and at present we have had to adapt and come to terms with new things like having 7 subs and that means creating a slightly bigger squad, and that will affect things financially across the whole club.
Luke and the backroom staff will also now be working on how best to utilise a 7-man bench and how to best use up to five subs. The days of the starting eleven finishing the game or being used week in week out at this level is over. Full time football is now very much about athleticism, high energy, physicality, peak powers, analysis, medical departments, strength and conditioning, nutrition and the whole squad and our professional backroom staff playing their part.
That said, it’s also about owners like me evolving and football clubs like ours working smart not stupid and that means understanding the transfer market, dealing with agents, knowing our budget restrictions, increasing our club partnerships, growing the clubs’ commercial partners and being intelligent enough at times to work smart within the recruitment process and not become too emotional.
How Luke looks at or pre-empts how his teams might start a match will need to dovetail in the coming years with how he might finish games and as you can see at the levels above us and around us, it’s often the players who finish games who now win or lose football matches.
We are at present trying to create a squad that ensures we have legs and goals in key areas and whether we bring people on or take people off, you do need legs and nous throughout 90 plus minutes if we are going to be successful.
We’ve already seen in last season’s play-offs, and in this season’s opening games, how the bench can influence things positively and our subs/finishers up at Carlisle United played a huge, huge part in securing us a point and silencing nearly 9,000 Brunton Park supporters.
In truth I felt we were great value for what was a very hard-earned point, and it made the journey home for the team and our supporters that much better. On that note I would like to thank our supporters for their efforts, their voices and I’m so pleased we gave you a performance to sing about and sustain you on the long journey home.
Anyway, back to this evening’s game and our visitors Braintree Town, like us they have their own business model and if it works for them, and it clearly does, then good luck to them. They have started the season pretty well and as a club we have played them many times over the years and so know how difficult this game will be.
Let’s look forward to an open, attacking game and may the best team win.
Take care,
Danny.
