VIEW FROM THE PRESS BOX

Craig Biddlestone

SEPTEMBER TO LEAVE JAS AS SOLE MANAGER AND AGAIN WE JUST COULD NOT GET PROPERLY GOING AND RESULTS AND PERFORMANCES TOOK A DOWNTURN, CULMINATING IN JAS LEAVING IN OCTOBER.

SO, HERE WE ARE, THE END OF ANOTHER SEASON, OUR 5TH FULL SEASON AS A FOOTBALL CLUB (THANKFULLY THERE WASN’T A ‘5 YEAR PLAN’), AND IT HAS OF COURSE FOR MANY OF US BEEN A SEASON OF FRUSTRATION BOTH ON AND OFF THE PITCH.

THE WHOLE IDEA BEHIND THE MERGER WAS TO CREATE A BIGGER, BETTER CLUB, POOL THE RESOURCES AND GROW THEM, BECOME SELFSUFFICIENT (SOMETHING I BELIEVE WE HAVE DONE), AND AIM FOR A HIGHER LEVEL, AND WHILST OFF THE PITCH, FACILITIES WISE, WE HAVE SOMETHING HERE THAT MANY A CLUB AT LEAST THE LEVEL ABOVE WILL BE ENVIOUS OF, ON THE PITCH IT HASN’T OF COURSE GONE THE WAY WE WOULD HAVE HOPED, FOR NOW.

AT THE VERY START OF THIS SEASON, WE HAD A FULL PRE-SEASON WITH JAS AND WARDY, WHERE THEY COULD BRING IN THEIR PLAYERS, PLAY THEIR STYLE OF FOOTBALL, AND HELP US PUSH FOR AT LEAST A SOLID PLAY-OFF POSITION. FOR WARDY THOUGH IT HAD BECOME APPARENT THAT THE JOINT MANAGEMENT TEAM WASN’T WORKING AS HIS STYLE OF PLAY WASN’T EXACTLY MATCHED TO JAS’S. WARDY STEPPED DOWN IN EARLY

WHEN BLACKIE AND HIS TEAM CAME IN AS THE REPLACEMENTS, THERE WAS EUPHORIA AT THE CLUB, FROM ALL LEVELS, THE FORMER OSSETT TOWN MANAGER AND HIS TEAM THAT TOOK THEM TO THE PLAY-OFFS ONLY TO LOSE HARSHLY TO FARSLEY CELTIC IN THE FINAL AFTER THE REFEREE HAD SPENT A LARGE AMOUNT OF TIME DOWN INJURED, THAT TOOK THEM TO AN FA CUP 4TH QUALIFYING ROUND REPLAY AGAINST SOLIHULL MOORS, THAT THEN WENT ONE BETTER AT THEIR NEXT CLUB BY GETTING BELPER TOWN PROMOTED TO THE PREMIER DIVISION, AND ALSO WAS UNLUCKY TO LOSE TO NOTTS COUNTY IN THE EXACT SAME ROUND WAS BACK AT INGFIELD.

BUT, AS WITH ANY MID-SEASON MANAGERIAL CHANGE YOU NEVER KNOW EXACTLY HOW IT’S GOING TO GO FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON. MANY PLAYERS AT THE CLUB WILL INEVITABLY MOVE ON AS THEY’RE NOT FANCIED BY THE NEW MANAGER, AND MANY NEW PLAYERS WILL COME IN, BUT IT’S NOT AS SIMPLE AS NEW MANAGER, NEW PLAYERS, IT TAKES TIME FOR THOSE PLAYERS TO WANT TO LEAVE THEIR CLUBS AND JOIN A NEW ONE MID-SEASON, SOME PLAYERS (AL PETERSON, NATHAN CURTIS, DANNY SOUTH ETC) WILL WANT TO JOIN “THEIR” MANAGER, OTHERS WILL TAKE PERSUASION, AND IN A LOT OF CASES PLAYERS WILL WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE SEASON AS LOYALTY TO THEIR CLUB BEFORE MOVING ON.