Taff's Gloversblog

The darkest hour is just before dawn...

2010-12-15T14:34:00.000Z

...So the saying goes. The problem for manager Terry Skiverton, and for the Board of Yeovil Town is that dawn may yet be some time off. Think things can't get worse after last night's desperately disappointing 4-2 loss at Hartlepool? Believe me, they can. Anyone who was at Huish Park to see the Glovers lose 1-3 to Merthyr Tydfil back in 1994 knows exactly how bad it can get.

Thus far in Skivo's managerial career the Huish Park crowd has, by and large, been pretty supportive of him and the things he's been trying to do. Judging by the postings on the green room II over the last week or so that support is eroding fast. I spoke about a tipping point being reached after the 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth three weeks ago and said then that I thought Skivo deserved the chance to at least stay in charge until January. I've changed my mind now. On Saturday we have a home game against Carlisle United. If ever a game has been a must-win game then this one is surely it. Anything less than three points will be unacceptable.

I'm finding this a hard blog to write. It's not nice to be contemplating the demise of Mr Yeovil, the man who has done so much on the pitch to get us where we are today. But the hard truth is that Skivo as a manager has been found out this season. His team - and it is his team, he's the one who has signed the players and who asked us at the start of the season to judge him on how they performed - has been found wanting in the basics of both attack and defence. It makes me angry and upset to see a good man floundering, but I'm not so much angry with Skivo. I'm angry with the men who have put him in this unenviable position, I'm angry with the Board.

It's the Board who should be looking at themselves today. Yes, by and large they've kept the club solvent, the small matter of a million pound loss in the last financial year nothwithstanding; but it's they who have allowed the club to stagnate over the last few years, who have failed to build on the legacy left by Gary Johnson and Jon Goddard-Watts. It's the Board who have allowed mediocre non-entities to keep positions of influence in the club and who do nothing but alienate fans and take revenue streams and potential revenue streams away from the club. It's the Board who hounded out the previous manager Russell Slade on wholly spurious grounds and then cynically appointed the one man guaranteed to unite the fanbase behind them, even though we all knew Skivo was the cheap option to end all cheap options and that it would probably all end in tears. And now, most cynical of all, it's the Board who have split the land assets of the Huish Park site away from the football operation and have the temerity and chutzpah to tell us that there's no other way to attract new investment into the club. New investment? Don't make me laugh. I could tell you stories, doubtless many of you reading this could tell me stories too about people, fans, potential investors with money, ready and willing to invest in the club in the past but who have always been turned away. And why were they turned away? Because they wanted a say in how their money was spent and our glorious leaders weren't prepared to dilute their power and their shareholdings in the club. Self-interest rules.

Skivo's time is probably up. But this current Board's time should also be up. There's a lot of rumours flying around the town at the moment. I myself have heard from several different sources that offers have been made or are in the process of being made to buy the club from it's current owners. I only hope the rumours are true. John Fry and Norman Hayward have shown themselves to be unwilling and unable to either attract investment to the club or to invest themselves. On top of that they have allowed a culture of failure to thrive at Huish Park. If they have any true feeling for the club then they should dissolve the holding company they have created, give the football club back the land assets they have taken from it, and last but not least, sell up. Go, and go now. Leave with your legacy more-or-less intact. It's time for real change.

L1: Colchester 0 Yeovil 0

2010-12-13T10:16:00.000Z

All Graft and no Craft - by Cruncher

A train journey into London followed by another out of it is often more chore than pleasure, but my first trip to Colchester's new(ish) stadium was straightforward and pleasant enough, despite the hordes on their annual pilgrimage to Selfridges and Hamleys and the like.

I met two away-shirted Yeovil lads to whom I was now going to be useful with directions to the shuttle bus bay, except they mysteriously weren't safely zipped-in-pocket like I would have bet a tenner that they were. Anyhow, no problem, we'd just ask the blue-and-white striped guy in front. Except he didn't have a clue and was hoping we could tell him, as he told us with American accent. Amazingly, he had in fact crossed the water to watch his chosen team for the first-ever time. The young Glovers had cracked it on their mobile internet just as the Big Yellow Warehouse blocked the view and we realised we had stumbled our way to the bus.

The friendliness on the bus signalled how it was to be at the ground, right through to the ticket office staff and stewards, and the few Colchester fans I had a brief word with. When I asked the American guy to account for his strange hobby (he could have chosen one of the Big Four or anyone to follow) he explained that it was the result of some serious drinking with Brits when stationed in Germany, and as far as he was concerned a drunken pledge is as good as any - he was stuck with his choice and he wasn't budging. We all knew what that was like, but extra kudos to him for walking madly with eyes open into what chooses us.

Frost and snow had at last made way for football. The modern stadium - with one end closed and empty seats aplenty with a good distance between the pitch and the stands - was a good contrast with the old Layer Road ground holding supporters packed in like sardines close to the action. Conditions were in fact as perfect as you could expect for a mid-winter football match, a dry clear day with the surface in very good nick. The scene was set to cure our mid-winter blues, my hope was that the enforced break had enabled the squad and management to talk through their woes and come up with some answers. The specific answers I was looking for were to benefit the good play we were capable of by putting away our chances and cutting out the lapses in defence.

Terry Skiverton though opted for a change of plan to a blunt but resolute 4-5-1, with both Sam Williams and Adam Philip confined to the bench to provide for a three-man central wall (Shaun MacDonald, Jean-Paul Kalala and Luke Ayling) flanked by Andrew Williams and Ivan Sproule, with the shadow-chasing job unsurprisingly given to Dean Bowditch. Yeovil's season to-date had seen either dismal failure after a woeful performance, or glorious failure despite good open play. This display hardly had a whiff of invention, one-touch flowing moves or sustained attacking intent. What it did have, and in bucketfuls, was a Yeovil determined not to be brittle against their loftier opponents as they set their stall out to battle their way to a result rather than bombard and create.

The first half was as even and as uneventful as they come, with the slight difference that the Colchester centre-backs were having a picnic clearing under no pressure whatsoever. Shaun MacDonald provided an odd moment or two of spark alongside his good tackling and covering play, with Nathan Smith also doing well including having our only serious effort on goal with a long range shot that was narrowly off-target. Paul Huntington too had done well, but unfortunately injured his ribs when making an urgent clearance. Young Tom Parkes came on for his debut and looked the part from the word go, quickly tackling Kayode Odejayi on a rare threatening surge forward and then out-jumping him for the ball. An amazing physical presence for his age with an assured air; just on this showing he seems to have a good future ahead.

Overall though, it was no spectacle. Colchester also looked blunt going forward, but in Odejayi they were holding the ball up at times whereas the Yeovil formation didn't allow for their normal pass and move - it was either head-tennis or hoof and chase, and then repeat it all again. But hearts and minds were strong, and they were sternly matching the huffing and puffing of the higher-placed home team who were certainly not showing any serious potential to rip though the Yeovil defensive layers.

After consecutive losses we ought to have felt happy with the prospect of grinding our way to a result, but with the continued ineffectiveness of the Colchester attack in the second half it did seem that perhaps we should have reverted to the usual 4-4-2. Especially, I thought, when a knock forced Bowditch to be subbed by Adam Philip - too much too ask for the youngster to be the sole man up front, though to his credit he gave it a good go. A Colchester fan had told me that they had been getting results but not performing well - this match seemed to prove that.

I had just thought that we had not made a lapse at the back when, on cue, Adam Virgo duly obliged by gifting Odejayi space in the box. Happily though, it wasn't punished as John Sullivan was forced into his one serious save of the match and what a sensational save it was, stretching to tip the close-range effort on to his bar. I have for a while now supposed that Virgo might be accountable for a fair few of these lapses, and although he does good work in between I think it might be a key point.

Sam Williams at last entered the fray. With two up front, we now had options and at last got forward a bit more. Nathan Smith cropped up on the right wing and forced a good save out of Ben Williams, Andy Williams had a strong shot closed down just in time. And in the fourth minute of injury time Sam Williams set Adam Philip on a positive run in on goal only for keeper Williams to block his effort as the away support anticipated a joyful end to the game. The ball rebounded to Sam Williams who had to stretch for his first touch to gather the ball, and the second whistled just agonisingly wide of the left post as he got his shot in before being closed down, to add to the long list of 'if only' moments for this season.

A useful point but a deep feeling of there were three for the taking against an unadventurous Colchester side, who ironically on that performance had elevated themselves into the top-six. The Yeovil plan on the day had kept quiet a number of players who had caused us problems in the past, but I couldn't help but feel that maybe we had sold ourselves short by rejecting our normal flowing strategy for this game. Hindsight though is a wonderful thing, and this was debated amongst a million other things by a small crew of us on the train.

The conclusion has to be that it is now up to home form to at last become decent to make this weekend's result an effective one in our quest to survive. We have to hope that the injuries picked up by Bowditch, Huntington and Virgo are not serious. As for formations, I hope that the 4-5-1 was a short-term fix only. Despite the very admirable steel and application shown in this defensive performance, it was a weak Colchester effort that allowed us to get away with it. Others won't be so helpful, and in any case we need wins (and now even more so that we are bottom after fellow strugglers all won) and for that we need a front-line, options when in possession and an attacking intent - at home at least.

Cruncher

Lions led by donkeys

2010-12-05T15:18:00.000Z

I think everyone's probably had enough of the cold weather by now. Certainly everyone at Yeovil Town will have had enough of it. No game for a fortnight and even though we've enjoyed a mini-thaw this weekend (enough of a thaw to make one wonder if the Peterborough game may not have been postponed in a little too much haste earlier in the week), this Tuesday night's re-scheduled 2nd round FA Cup tie at Hartlepool is by no means guaranteed to go ahead regardless of what today's pitch inspection might bring, as a return to freezing temperatures is forecast from tomorrow onwards. [Edit - as I write, the news has just come through that the match is indeed off, re-scheduled for 14th December]

On the other hand, maybe an enforced break was just what we all needed. Time to recharge the batteries, to reflect on the season so far and to put right what's gone wrong. Time for the coaching staff and the players to step back away from the treadmill of game after game after game and to focus on the things they do well and to work on those things that haven't gone quite as well. Time for a fresh start, in other words. Time too, to hit the ground running when football does eventually resume. Lest we forget we are 23rd in the table and 6 points away from safety coming up to the Christmas period. It's going to take a huge effort to make that gap up.

Away from the football and I'm sad to report that once again the club has proved that it has difficulty in organising a piss-up in a brewery. A group of ten of us booked a table at the club last night - a 3 course dinner and Abba's Angels, in honour of my sister-in-law's birthday. Unfortunately when we got to the club we found that the lift to the top floor was out of action which meant that I, as a wheelchair user, was unable to access the Alec Stock Lounge. It was explained to us that the lift had broken down the previous day, an engineer had attempted a repair that morning but didn't have the part required. We asked why the club hadn't contacted us after the engineer's visit to tell us not to come because they knew that a wheelchair user would require access to the Lounge via the lift and they also knew that the lift was out of order, but no-one could answer that question.

Well, these things happen. In the event a charming young lady - the head waitress I think, though unfortunately I didn't get her name - dealt with myself and my wife with great courtesy, gave us a refund and went further than that by giving us a bottle of wine and plated up our dinner for us to take home. Kudos to her and her staff, who all seemed genuinely embarrassed and upset. In the meantime and after much discussion we persuaded the rest of our party to carry on and enjoy the evening, accordingly they went upstairs to claim their table, whilst we made our way back home with our wine and our dinner.

Except that when the rest of our party got upstairs they found that their table wasn't actually there. Despite two previous vists to the club; once to put the dinner order in and once to pay for the evening, as well as a phone call from the club to my sister-in-law to confirm the booking; on the night there was no record of their order. My brother, by now angry as well as Amazed, confronted the catering manager, Mr Robinson, and demanded an explanation as to why no-one had contacted us to tell us the lift had broken down, and how had they managed to lose all trace of our party's food order not to mention the table booking? Mr Robinson claimed not to have a contact phone number to ring, forgetting, perhaps, that he himself had phoned my sister-in-law earlier in the week to confirm our booking and to confirm that he was aware that a wheelchair user was included in the party and that a space would be left on our table to accommodate. He couldn't explain how the dinner order and table booking had gone missing.

To cut a long story short the evening was by now irredeemably spoilt. A refund was demanded and given and everyone left. We never did see Abba's Angels and the club missed out on £300-worth of ticket money plus another £100 (at least!) that would have gone behind the bar. More to the point, the attitude and evasions of the catering manager has ensured that none of us will return for a function at the club, at least while that particular gentleman is still in his post.

In the great scheme of things no harm was done. No-one died or was injured and all we lost was an hour of our time. But the whole episode is symptomatic of the decline of our club. The poor bloody staff doing their best to provide a service led by an incompetent management who couldn't care less. Only at Yeovil Town FC could such a culture thrive. Change at the top to get rid of the dead wood is so badly needed that it's not even funny, not anymore. Is there no-one out there who can save us?

Will the real Mr Yeovil stand up

2010-11-26T16:20:00.000Z

... or put his feet up after Christmas? - by Cruncher

This is not a simple instance of assessing managerial ability - it's what actual practicalities we are faced with afterwards: very likely to be a rookier rookie with even less budget. Circumstances control us to the extent we need to support a manager who is committed to the cause in restrictive conditions, no matter how much we do or do not believe in his abilities to do the job. Much like early-2009 for the good of the club when we and the Board needed to continue supporting Russell Slade. Only, the Board didn't.

It's not a question of whether Terry Skiverton is lacking here or naive there, or caught in a trap with too many loan players, or getting the balance wrong in his squad, or leaky defensive tactics. It's like everything at the club - a decision mastered by the situation we have arrived at after a succession of misguided years.

If December results turn out as bad as November's than Skivo would have to go and we would likely be forced into a punt on Mr. Cheaper-than-chips fresh out of kindergarten, but our best chance for at least a bit longer appears to be sticking with a determined man with the hope that potential at long last materialises into points.

How we could afford to pay up his contract and source (let alone afford) a suitable replacement, is dilemma enough. And even more difficult if it involved swapping the entire management team. It all points to the Board appointing another option that strongly suits their purpose, but with even more restrictive conditions for that replacement to be under, and with even less appeal and money to attract/afford the required quality. I believe that this criteria narrows it down to such a degree that we would be hard-pushed to match or improve on what we've got - but I concede that there might be a point when we must do something, if only as a hopeful shot in the dark. For me, that assessment point would be at the turn of the year.

Bluntly, it strongly appears a desperate punt on a cheap novice will be our only route if we sack the manager - on balance I'd run with what we've got until the Christmas fixtures are done and dusted. Seven points from five December games would be my minimum, which would take us to exactly the halfway point in the season on twenty-two points and likely at best to be the top of the relegation slots. That in my book would earn him another month with a target of a further nine points from the six January League games. If he gets to that minimum, then he'd be in position to be retained for the duration with the job to chase a target of a point and half per game for the rest of the season. Which is about the state that Slade was in at that point but not retained.

The situation we are in is dictated by the situation we are in. Norman Hayward could lend to the club enabling a reasonable chance of a good replacement - but does that sound overall a good move? - which also would most probably impact from the word go on what that good replacement would have in his squad budget. Unless Dean Bowditch (say) is sold in January to fund not a replacement striker but a replacement manager - could you really endorse that gamble?

Skivo has been a nearly man in management for a long while now with performances that hint at a potential that doesn't materialise. This is a restrictive situation that only has a faint flickering candle at the end of the tunnel. He has in the past been dubbed 'Mr. Yeovil', now he has to earn that moniker like a man striving for his Finest Hour. He has the steel, there is no doubt, and for just a bit longer we must believe that he can still come up with the knowhow and to make it effective.

Support him this month, and judge him by the Sheffield Wednesday or perhaps Plymouth game. Hope like hell he turns the corner, but if he skids into the sidewall then we will be forced into that desperate cheap punt. If we can find a way that won't be at the detriment to the club of affording a new manager of the right ilk, then Skivo's time could well be up now at this point - but if we were in that healthy a position then the manager might not be in this plight. How much is down to his failings and how much is down to constraints, is down to subjective opinion.

But don't rush towards a desperate punt just yet. Because that last shot in the dark is such a flimsy gamble, we have to back Skivo until it becomes even more urgent not to do so. Perhaps there is an alternative, but it doesn't appear there is, not without cost that the club can't bear. For December: no doubting, just absolute support and then either reap the reward or worry like hell.

The real debate needs to step away from centring on the manager. There are many astute observers who cannot shake off loyalties to do this - I urge them to think long and hard. As some have noted, Terry Skiverton is a manager who we cannot fully judge. Attention should concentrate on why that is so.

Cruncher

Tipping point reached?

2010-11-25T16:00:00.000Z

There comes a time in the affairs of struggling football clubs that fans can, in the fullness of time, look back at and say, "There. That was the point when I knew things had to change, and change quickly." It's the tipping point, the time when fans stop being patient and giving the benefit of the doubt; the time the boos start and the abuse rains down from the stands to the pitch and the dugout, and, if there's any justice, to the posh seats in the Main Stand where the Board sits.

Tuesday night's 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth may just have been the tipping point in Terry Skiverton's reign as manager of Yeovil Town FC. It's not so much the loss that people have found hard to take, after all Bournemouth are way up there in the league table and have only dropped 4 points at home all season - no-one with any sense seriously expected the Glovers to get much if anything from the game. No, it's the manner of the loss that's the problem. The same old problems on view, the powder-puff attack, the meaningless long-balls, and most damning of all, the cluelessness in defence. Add to that the dissent shown when Adam Virgo was substituted and Sam Williams angry reaction to the Glovers supporters jeering of him when he was hauled off; it all adds up to the feeling that events are conspiring to undermine the manager and his staff. Just at the time he needs a bit of luck to go his way, he's getting none.

Having said, he's not helping himself. In my last blog I asked why, when it's patently obvious that the defence is the weak link in the team, did Skivo bring in another striker on loan (Adam Phillip)? To compound that why did he then add another attacking player, winger Ivan Sproule, on a month's loan from Bristol City? Especially when, according to City boss Keith Millen, Sproule's objective was to get match-fit in order to challenge for a place in City's first team in the new year. If he's not match-fit, why the hell is he playing for us? Now, at last, the gaffer's talking about bringing a defender in (and as I write it's been announced that 18-year-old Leicester defender Tom Parkes has signed on a month's loan), but he's beginning to resemble the little boy sticking his finger into holes in the dyke while the water is lapping up to his chin and rising steadily.

The last 7 league games tell their own story: Won 0, drawn 1, lost 6, goals for 9, goals against 17. We are now 23rd in the league, 6 points away from safety and with the worst goal difference in the division. We now require play-off attaining form to guarantee League One football next season. The bookies make us 10/11 on to be relegated at the end of the season, and it's not often at this stage of the season that the bookies are wrong. We have a huge mountain to climb.

And what is the Board doing, while all around them Rome burns? Fiddling, obviously! Not content with the ludicrous decision to increase ticket prices by £1 all round in January, chairman John Fry has today decided to insult supporters intelligence further by announcing an announcement that there may be an announcement concerning improved facilities at the club in a few weeks time; that is, there may be an announcement in a few weeks time, not miraculously improved facilities, obviously. It seems the Board have been talking to the South Somerset District Council amongst others, which of course brings the long-delayed Sportzone project to mind, though maybe I'm guilty of making 2+2 equal 5 there. Talks are evidently on-going with interested parties, including the Council, with Fry saying: "At this stage I am optimistic of a positive outcome which it is anticipated will provide economic benefits to the town and the club." And, of course those economic benefits will also go to the main shareholders in Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd, the company that now owns the land surrounding Huish Park on which any development will take place. And the main 2 shareholders? Club chairman John Fry and club owner Norman Hayward. Let's watch this space, though it's got to be said we've had this kind of talk from Fry many times in the past and nothing has ever come of it.

Back to Skivo and I suppose it's time I got off the fence. Should he stay or should he go? I'm reluctantly coming round to the view that time is running out for him to turn things around. I am naturally reluctant to call for a manager's head even at the worst of times as I strongly believe that continuity is the best policy nine times out of ten; I'm also reluctant to see change for changes sake simply because all too often you're better off with the devil you know. However there does come a time when one cannot ignore the signs of failure all around and indeed it becomes unfair to everyone - not least the man himself - to keep an obviously out-of-his-depth incumbent in a job. Not that I think we're quite at that stage yet, but the signs aren't good. For what it's worth I would give Skivo the next month to find a winning formula. By January he'll have been in the job a month shy of 2 years. That's long enough to make his mark and show he's got what it takes to turn things around. The ball's in his court.

In the meantime we all get a break from football league action this weekend with a trip to Hartlepool in the 2nd round of the FA Cup, weather permitting. The bookies make the home side evens favourites, the draw is priced at 12/5 and a Glovers win at 27/10. My fiver, more in hope than expectation and proving once and for all the old adage about a fool and his money, is going on the draw. The running total tells you all you need to know about what kind of season we've had up 'til now: -£30.25p. Perhaps the best outcome of all this weekend would be for the game to be postponed. At least that way we would definitely be in the hat for the 3rd round draw!

L1: Charlton 3 Yeovil Town 2

2010-11-21T20:43:00.000Z

Heroic Failure Repeated: Match report and comment from Cruncher.

Today at The Valley I witnessed a purposeful Yeovil. Hard-working with good invention, this was in so many ways a cohesive performance to be proud of. I also witnessed another Yeovil loss.

The two returning full backs Craig Alcock and Nathan Smith were impressively straight back into their stride, while my wish came true for Jean Paul Kalala to regain his midfield slot next to Shaun MacDonald. MacDonald has performed very well lately but his benefit to the cause had been restricted by too heavy a workload while Kalala was out injured, or deployed at right back . Today the Welshman was simply magnificent, whether mopping up against the odds in the tightest of situations or pushing forward to start an attack. I would be surprised if there was another comparable midfield display by any other midfielder in League One this weekend. No disrespect to Owain Tudur Jones's stint, he certainly had his moments but Kalala's combative edge is essential.

Yeovil set the mood from the off. Players were linking well and passes were accurately and confidently being played to feet or into space. Sam Williams was prominent in his spearhead role, Dean Bowditch looking very sharp and inventive playing off him. It was Bowditch who cleverly created an opportunity for Gavin Williams who unfortunately couldn't wrap his foot around the ball enough from a sharp effort in the box, as the Charlton defence closed in. Then Gav struck a free-kick with too much deftness and not enough venom, enabling Rob Elliot a cosy catch. Still the Glovers came purposefully forward, Sam Williams setting up Andy Williams only to have his shot blocked, followed by another effort from the same player which many thought was home, but unfortunately hit the side-netting. Shades of London opposition of last week crossed my mind - would we get punished by a quick raid at the other end?

Alas, that is what happened. Charlton attacking on the right chose not to wait while Yeovil disputed a throw-in decision. This gifted the Charlton winger two yards which gained the receiving Johnny Jackson the crucial one yard he needed to hit the ball first-time past the helpless John Sullivan. Yeovil, by far the more penetrative and fluent of the two sides, a goal down after ten minutes. Here we go again.

To their credit, the Yeovil players responded well and were level in five minutes, with Andy Williams getting his third on the trot, a very well-taken goal after well-worked linking with Sam Williams, sending the travelling contingent into rapture. Didn't last long though, with Therry Racon turning to fire neatly home. Again there was the familiar element of self-destruction as Kalala's pass put Alcock under pressure, his only blip (apart from a ballooned shot) in an otherwise strong showing. Charlton were 2-1 up against a Yeovil side who had been superior on the balance of play and chances created, the costly and frustrating theme of recent times.

The home side were at last looking confident, and created opportunities breaking quickly which resulted in shots across the face of the Yeovil goal. Yeovil though were not going to roll over, with Bowditch laying off the ball for Sam Williams but his effort was straight at Elliot. Bowditch himself had a better chance after good work right on the stroke of half time - bearing down on goal he needed to follow suit from Andy William's equalising strike of last week's first half injury time against Dagenham which was notable for both placement and power. Trouble was, Bowditch chose placement, which enabled Elliot to dive to his left and a golden chance at a crucial time was lost.

The referee had not been afraid to give the away side their share of decisions and early in the second half they gained a free kick in an attacking position. Gavin Williams hasn't been so convincing for a while now with his place kicks, this time opting to put it low and fiercely-hard across the Addicks box, a decision which paid off as the ball ping-ponged around until someone somehow struck it cleanly into the goal. Paul Huntington was my guess at the time, It transpired it was the defending foot of Gary Doherty.

We dared to hope that surely we were at last going to get at least a deserving point. With the home side's confidence clearly hit, more hope was to come when Christian Dailly was sent off after clobbering Sam Williams as they challenged a high ball on the right-side. To be honest, from the faraway view I'm not sure, but the referee believed the immediate and confident flapping of his linesman's flag. We would all have taken a draw, but now, despite Racon (I think) forcing a good save out of Sullivan with an angled rasper the game seemed there for the taking. The deep-down feeling that misery would follow - surely that would at last go away, wouldn't it?

Of course, it wouldn't. The referee had been a bit picky on occasion but on fouls had had a decent game and certainly not afraid to upset the locals. The left-side linesman though had annoyed the Yeovil support a few times already, the precedent to bamboozle was set in the first-half when he cocked up on a foul and an offside or two, and ruled an Alcock header not to have kept the ball in play. So when sub Akpo Sodje chased a long punt forward it was all-too expected that the linesman would flag against Huntington as a result of Sodje's flop to the ground.

Sodje had proved a handful since he came on, and we need to see why we had stretched ourselves enough against ten men for him to be chasing a long punt to turn into such significant danger. The unfair but harsh truth for Huntington after an impressive day's work is that he didn't deserve the foul against him or the subsequent sending-off, but also needs to know not to put out his outstretched arm to give a happy flag-flapper any excuse - and the gusto deployed by the lino did indeed suggest a body-language of sheer joy at his opportunity to be judge and jury. From the ref's own body language I was convinced he viewed it the same way as did the green and white masses - that contact was soft if indeed it was at all, but he chose to trust that his linesman had both a better view and reasonable judgement. So from the point the incident occurred, the linesman's spoiling of the day seemed inevitable. A fuming John Sullivan rushed 25 yards to, er, constructively debate the matter with the official. Johnny Jackson scored from the spot, a heart-breaking 3-2 defeat.

The obvious comparison of recent heroic failure is the Milton Keynes match, what with defensive lapses and a dodgy late penalty putting a very impressive fluent Yeovil performance to the sword and by the same score. Certainly it was better than last week, but it's hard to find comfort when we perform well against stronger opposition but suffer from key mistakes, yet perform worse against lower sides making even more mistakes. Overall it is clear that bad luck is playing its part, and we look to Bournemouth in midweek as an early chance to alter the long and cruel losing streak that we are on. With the Cherries having a goal difference of fourteen goals, they mirror our goal deficit of the same amount: a hard task is becoming harder.

Reality is stark in times like this. A stronger bench today might have seen us take immediate advantage of Dailly's dismissal. Teams can and do go down through bad luck, though I feel that our problems are fuelled by limitation in squad strength and size. We were the Light Brigade (light by an experienced striker and a speedy cb) riding into the Valley of, er, defeat.

Much emotion and many words abound at the moment. I am clear on my own thoughts - we are overdue on a clearout in the Boardroom, but I see no value in dismissing the manager. What I would ask Skiverton doubters to ask of themselves is this: are you bringing your emotion about the Board into your logic about the manager?

Quick appraisal of the players:

John Sullivan - 7/10: The irony is that he did not have much to do which points to a 6, but he can't be apportioned blame for the goals and pulled of a very good second half save when needed along with doing his basic chores correctly.

Craig Alcock - 7/10: Good performance after absence.

Paul Huntington - 8/10: Reads it well, solid under pressure with good distribution, had his (and our) day unfairly spoiled by the Happy Flagger.

Adam Virgo - 7/10: Solid enough for the most part.

Nathan Smith - 8/10: Very impressive performance.

Gavin Williams - 7/10: Seen as a weak link first half by one or two but I thought did well overall (with one or two golden moments), his place kicking has been off the boil for a while but he did whizz one across that led to the second goal.

Jean Paul Kalala - 8/10: His passing is better these days, broke play up smartly that led to Andy Williams's goal but his pass across the back let Charlton in for their first. Overall though he was very good.

Shaun MacDonald - 9/10: Magnificent.

Andy Williams - 8/10: Strong attacking, tracked back well, very well-taken goal.

Sam Williams - 7/10: The master of both Dailly and Doherty in the first half, linked and battled well and at times very well, covered acres of ground, not appreciated by the moaners. Needs goals though!

Dean Bowditch - 8/10: Classy in the first half, shame he missed the effort on 45 minutes

Adam Phillip (87 minutes, on for Andy Williams): Only on for a few lively minutes, I agree with those that wanted him on following Dailly's dismissal.

Cruncher

I should have stayed home

2010-11-19T15:44:00.000Z

Many thanks to Cruncher for going above and beyond the call of duty last weekend and making a 400-mile round trip to supply a match report for the Dagenham debacle. I was enjoying the Millennium Stadium experience at the time and watching a cracking game of rugby between Wales and South Africa which the hosts would have won fairly comfortably if it wasn't for a bunch of drugged-up Springboks and a blind and biased New Zealand referee. Still, the stadium was magnificent, the atmosphere incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity (and naturally took full advantage of it) to drink as much beer as I wanted while watching the game (Brains, of course). All around me 54,000 like minded souls were doing the same with South African and Welsh fans all mingling together, all consuming copious amounts of alcohol (I don't think I've ever seen so much beer/lager drunk in such a short space of time by so many) and all without even the vaguest hint of trouble or bother. A real eye-opener for anyone used to having their bottle top removed from their plastic soft drink bottle and to being segregated within an inch of their life at their nearest football ground. The only fly in the afternoon's ointment came with the regular text updates I was receiving from Huish Park. As I said to my long-suffering wife, who was having enough trouble at the time getting to grips with the complexities of the rugby union line-out laws never mind offsides (though she's very good at offside in football); 'how the hell do we expect to stay in League One if we can't beat the likes of Dagenham & bloody Redbridge?' She had no answer and I'm beginning to wonder if anyone associated with Yeovil Town Football Club has either.

Watching the Glovers this season has been like watching a Formula 1 car with slick tyres going round Silverstone in the middle of a thunderstorm. All's well on the straights and a fair old head of steam is sometimes built up, but disaster lurks at every corner, the brakes are useless and the less said about the pit-stops the better. With a third of the season gone, the league table doesn't lie: 23rd, 4 points away from safety and the joint-worst goal difference in the division.

The answer it seems is not, after all, the recruitment of another loan striker. At the start of the week the arrival of Chelsea reserve-team striker Adam Phillip on a month's loan was being regarded by a sceptical fanbase as Skivo's attempt to turn our mis-firing strikeforce into a deadly attack, capable of taking those chances spurned on a regular basis otherwise. Five days later and it now seems that the lad will be lucky to get onto the pitch at all before his month is up, as the manager has said he will wait to blood his new player at least until one of our other 6 loan players has returned to his club, which will be in three games time at the earliest. One feels a bit of sympathy for Phillip in that case, having to sit out at least 3 more games before he gets his chance, but one also feels sympathy for existing players at the club who have waited even longer for their opportunity. The likes of Craig Calver, Billy Gibson and Ed Upson must be wondering what they have to do to get some playing time in a losing team and I would also wonder how Luke Freeman would have reacted when he heard that another striker was being drafted in. The Arsenal loanee may have made 15 appearances on paper this season, but only 5 have been starts in the league and in many of his cameos he's been pushed out onto the left. Despite that he's still managed a couple of goals and one might have thought that he would have been worth trying for a while in his favoured striking position. Similarly Andrew Williams is as capable in front of goal as he is on the wing and again might have been worth a spell up front before the resort to the loan market.

I don't necessarily think that a new loan in was a bad idea mind you, but I do question the wisdom of bringing in another forward. To my mind what's needed above all else is some solidity at the back. We give far too many goals away, more often than not from set-pieces where the marking goes awry. We need, well, you name it, we need it. The recent absence of Craig Alcock has shown up the inherent weakness of the squad - how many other L1 clubs would have no recognised cover at right-back? John Sullivan is a decent keeper and by all accounts a nice fella, but would anyone argue he's a step up on Alex McCarthy or Stephen Henderson? Similarly both Adam Virgo and Paul Huntington have excellent qualities but somehow, as a pair, combine to leak goals as well as score them at the other end, and their only back-up is the injury-prone Stefan Stam. The left side of defence I would generally exempt from criticism as between them the two Nathan's have, in my opinion, done good, to use footballing parlance. So I would have been looking for a utility defender, someone to fill-in for Craig Alcock until his return from injury and then put pressure on the central defenders to perform. And, I hear you say, who would this paragon of virtue be? Not a clue, I answer, that's what the coaching/scouting staff get paid for. But these kind of players are around and it is possible to borrow them. We've done it before, for example with Liam Fontaine, equally adept at full-back and centre-half.

There, that's the defence sorted. Next week I will explain how to turn water into wine and describe how, on Football Manager 2011 I sold Andy Welsh to Portsmouth for £250,000 and a sell-on fee. Who said computer games were unrealistic?

Tomorrow the Glovers take on a resurgent Charlton at The Valley, god help us. The home side are 8/13 favourites, the draw is priced at 14/5 and a Yeovil win at a surprisingly miserly 9/2. My fiver, more in hope than in anger, is going on the away win. Come on Yeovil, shock us all! Running total: -£25.25p

Just read: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett; and Another World by Pat Barker. Fall of Giants is another huge, and I mean enormous, tome from the author of Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. It follows the fortunes of five different, but somehow inter-related families from the outbreak of the First World War to the Armistice, from the coalfields of Wales to the Russian Revolution via the White House and the War itself. It's a page-turner (which is a good job as there's 850 of them to plough through) but it managed to keep my interest until the end. It's not of the same standard as Pillars of the Earth, but it's still worth a read if you've got plenty of time and are strong enough to pick the bloody thing up. The first of a trilogy still to come, be still my beating heart. In contrast I read Pat Barker's creepy little study of a dysfunctional family living in a haunted house in one sitting, and then stayed awake half the night unable to settle. Terrific writing and proof positive that less is quite often more.

L1: Yeovil 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 3

2010-11-14T19:23:00.000Z

Match report and comments: By Cruncher

Last week at Rushden was about missing chances and finding it hard to get into our fluent stride against organised opposition. This week was, er, about missing chances and finding it hard to find our flowing stride. While luck did influence the two contrasting results, Dagenham & Redbridge were last week's well-drilled opponents with knobs on.

Yeovil still had enough chances to win this game. Missing good opportunities and messing up approach play though have become costly habit, the Daggers goals came from Yeovil attacking play breaking down. Three good Yeovil chances spurned in seconds led to the Daggers breaking down the right appearing to strive purposefully for a corner. Will Antwi's leap was softly contested to allow him a fairly easy header for the Daggers to go a goal up with 18 minutes gone. Yeovil were shaken. They hadn't been convincing but they had had the balance of play and had been punished following their most purposeful stint. In the period that followed, though, they were poor.

Dagenham snuffed out Yeovil's unadventurous blunt effort with ease - dominant in the air and with good recovering pace at the back - and first to the loose ball. Going forward their threat wasn't the sharpest, but on the back of their lead they on occasions got the ball forward quickly and held it up well enough to make us all worried that another frail moment might be near.

Until, in first-half injury time, Andy Williams, having drifted across to the left from his opposite flank, was set free by Owain Tudur Jones to thump an impressive strike past Chris Lewington. No dithering, no hanging on to the ball to 'make sure' - just one perfect clean confident clout - hard and true - that the situation demanded. Out of the blue it was 1-1 and game-on, now sort 'em out Skivo for the second-half and this match is there for the taking...

The second-half did see an improvement, patches of fluent play and numerous chances. There is no doubt that luck played a part against Yeovil this week, as they came agonisingly close a number of times. Mistakes though were also still an unfortunate factor, but on balance the home side had worked and probed well enough to have deserved a second goal. Dagenham were still positive and determined themselves, and Yeovil had to be careful at the back. As time wore on, and despite Gavin Williams and Luke Freeman joining the fray in a fruitless attempt to sharpen the attacking effort, the worry intensified that we might again get hit at the back, and that is exactly what happened with the Glovers showing a degree of naivety on two occasions. Abu Ogogo put the away side 2-1 up with a shot that didn't seem good enough to beat John Sullivan, though overall the Yeovil keeper had had a very good game. Late-on, the exposed Yeovil defence fell victim to Medy Elito angling in from the left, switching the ball on to his right foot to neatly beat Sullivan at his far post.

Yeovil battled on, but it wasn't to be, Paul Huntington unlucky with a firm header against the bar. 3-1 wasn't a reflection of any Dagenham dominance because they weren't vastly superior by any stretch, but there can be no qualms with the result that came about by our opponents maximising a combination of Yeovil misfortune and flaws. I had the pleasure of meeting up with my brother who was up from Devon for the day - not at all a football fan but always persuadable by the lure of a Hungry Horse sirloin. It was plain even for him to spot weaknesses causing the lack of Yeovil first-half cohesion. John Still's men had been efficient muggers on the day, whilst able to resist the Yeovil quality when it did surface. Shaun MacDonald's all-round midfield efforts were again admirable, I feel that he would do better with Jean Paul Kalala in there batting next to him.

It's going to be a tense few games coming up, because the harsh truth is that if we don't get a decent quota of points from those games then we could be adrift even before Christmas. The season is far from lost at this point, but it was a significantly bad result against a team also battling the drop. Those points thrown away against Swindon with three minutes to go are now appearing more crucial than ever they were. With just 3,500 regulars turning up, the future is presently appearing significantly bleak. Terry Skiverton will continue to fight for the cause, we must support him and there is no doubt that lack of squad-depth is a problem; such times inevitably turn the spotlight onto the Board and lack of off-field progression. That debate which has been simmering for consecutive seasons, is now appearing to be the main and constant topic for most supporters.

I had a long day of train travel yesterday. At the station for the first return leg I was surprised to note that the Dagenham contingent waiting for the train consisted of just a handful of supporters - the merry band of Londoners were in fact Dagenham players returning from their grand day out on the train - well not just some players but the entire team, management, staff, the Chairman in fact the whole caboodle. Gavin Tomlin was kind enough to tell (but not convince) me that we'll 'be alright.'

Final word was from my brother. He had to admit that it wasn't so bad as the last time he went. That time, so I now learn, was fixed in his memory as the most rotten of experiences, as I had taken advantage of his good nature to get a lift to the match. As that had been the awful second replay against Millwall in 1975, I could see why, but had no idea just how deeply for thirty-five years he had been carrying his scar. But now, he confessed that his mood had lightened and he might be persuaded to give it another go (with a compulsory sirloin). On the timespan from his first to his second match, I would expect his third might see us losing the Champions League Final in 2045 preceded by a steak and a shandy @ 98 Euros. But apparently no, it might even be this season - what do they put in the water, down there in Devon?

Final thought for Taff: Hope you enjoyed your Birthday and yer gallivanting in Wales. A very shrewd move by your wife to get you out of Somerset for this match, though desperately hard luck on the Wales result, certainly ran the Springboks close. Now prepare to do yer duty at HP again in three weeks when GJ comes down, or er, might come down if he can ride the wrath of the irate Irishman.

Cruncher

A shot in the arm and then in the foot

2010-11-11T14:14:00.000Z

It's not been very often I can say this in the second week of November in the last few years, so let's make the most of it: Yeovil Town are still in the FA Cup! Fair play to Skivo and his team, last Saturday's 1st round tie at Rushden was a banana skin waiting to happen, so to come through, albeit with the aid of a dodgy refereeing decision, was a veritable triumph. A shame that our 'reward' is a 2nd round trip to the winners of the Hartlepool/Vauxhall Motors tie, but hey, it's the 2nd round! I'd forgotten what that looks like.

Of course the club has managed to take away any possible feelgood factor as soon as it arrived with the announcement yesterday that ticket prices are going up in the new year by £1 across the board. It's all the fault of the Coalition Government's VAT increase in January according to Martyn Starnes as quoted on the club's official site. According to Mr Starnes the club "cannot afford to absorb the rise in the VAT rate imposed by the Treasury.". Funny that, because when the previous Government reduced VAT rates in 2009 the club point-blank refused to lower prices in mid-season in response because "the cost of doing so is prohibitive in terms of administration and arranging coinage," (ABFUP minutes 26th Feb, 2009). So it's possible to change the ticket price mid-season when it's going up, but not when it's coming down. Yes, I see.

We all know the VAT excuse is specious bollocks of course. I've no doubt that the club is struggling financially and needs the extra income so why not just come out and say so? Try treating supporters as adults Mr Starnes and tell us the truth instead of hiding behind a VAT increase that in real terms is nowhere near equivalent to a pound on the price of a ticket. The club needs the money - fine, tell us straight and make a virtue of that necessity. Make people feel that by paying extra they're helping the club to survive. As it has been handled the price rise just gives floating supporters another reason to bitch and moan about the club and not bother attending games. So that will be the recession's fault again then.

It was also interesting to see that the Meet the Manager/CEO meeting, due to be held at Huish Park tonight, has been cancelled. No reason was given for the cancellation but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why our CEO would probably have preferred not to face the public the day after he's announced a price increase. Or it might simply have been that they hadn't sold enough tickets to justify going ahead with the meeting. Speaking for myself I had thought about going but had decided not to, mainly because I didn't see much point in speaking (with no offence intended) to the monkeys when the organ-grinders were elsewhere. I don't think the decision to charge a fiver to attend the meeting was a good one either, even if the admission price did include a free drink. The days of fans being locked out of Gary Johnson's Meet-the-Manager meetings seem an awful long time ago now. Where has all that enthusiasm and energy in the fanbase gone? It's been knocked out of us in the austere years since and replaced with apathy and doubt. And until there's real change at the club, at the very top, you can't see anything altering. Just more of the same year on year, with the club declining gently in ever-decreasing circles....

Having thoroughly depressed myself it's worth remembering that we're still in the FA Cup and have a winnable home game to look forward to this weekend. Dagenham & Redbridge are of course familiar opponents from our non-league days even if tomorrow's match is the first time both clubs have met in the Football League. For the first time in a very long time the Glovers are outright favourites to win the game at 11/10, the draw is priced at 12/5 and a Daggers win also at 12/5. My fiver's going on the home win. I missed putting a bet on last week which is unfortunate as I would undoubtedly have bet on a Yeovil win at Rushden, honest, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. As it is the running total for the season is a rather alarming -£20.25p. Yikes.

No match report on the blog this weekend as neither myself nor Cruncher will be at Huish Park on Saturday. Cruncher won't be there because he lives well over 100 miles away, and I won't be there because I'm off to Cardiff to watch Wales v South Africa instead, a 50th birthday present to yours truly from my darling wife. And to save HHH the trouble, I'll say it for him: I must really be in her bad books for her to give me that! Have a good weekend, I intend to. Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Taff, happy birthday to me!

FAC R1: Rushden & Diamonds 0 Yeovil 1

2010-11-07T18:56:00.001Z

Completing The Circle: Rushden & Diamonds 0 Yeovil Town 1 - Match report and comments by Cruncher

Yeovil at last triumphed in the FA Cup First Round as they overcame the team that started their miserable four barren years in the competition. Rushden & Diamonds, although not reproducing the 2006 humiliation of playing neat triangles through the Yeovil ranks, were again a stern test. Yeovil carved out the better chances overall but it was hard going to find their free-flowing stride against an organised and well-oiled Rushden machine that had unified purpose and some pace at the back.

I had anguished whether my pre-match Diamond Burger was as good as the day was going to get, the run of FA Cup blanks, recent defensive lapses and Rushden form had firmly sorted this task as one of hope ahead of expectancy. The team was as expected without Gavin Williams at his club's request, Luke Ayling still waiting for parts of his ribs to be prised off Dean Lewington's elbow and returned in the post. Andy Welsh and Andy Williams came in with Jean-Paul Kalala dropping to right-back. Diamonds also lined up 4-4-2, both teams looking to use width.

The first twenty minutes or so was a battle: unforced errors spoiling the odd bit of Yeovil promise, the Glovers frustratingly not testing Joe Day in the home goal while facing (as were the away support) an annoying low sun. As time wore on they did create some good chances, the best of which was through excellent Dean Bowditch work to set up Sam Williams with a firm thump that unluckily hit the post. Bowditch continued to harrass the home defence, he had a crisp shot just over and hit another too near to Joe Day as well as setting up Paul Huntington to head against the bar. Diamonds though were competing strongly and created chances of their own. John Sullivan saved excellently from Ryan Charles, and he may have also got the touch that sent a Lewis Spence rasper on to the bar - hard to tell in that sun.

Yeovil pegged the Diamonds back a bit more for periods after the break, but it remained a fairly even contest. The Glovers could not make their better opportunities count, while the Diamonds still threatened the Yeovil box without penetration. This finely-balanced state of affairs certainly added to the cup tie edge as the minutes counted down, the away end playing their part with passionate voice. The Yeovil support remained positive and sustained and admirably led by the very vocal supporters along the back of the Air Wair.

When the goal came, not many could tell who the scorer was. Although the stabbing sun had gone by the start of the second half, the far-end view under floodlight was murky. It was clear though that Sam Williams had set Bowditch up well for a strong shot that Joe Day saved. Andy Williams, it transpired, followed up to score his first Yeovil goal at the most crucial of moments with just seven minutes remaining. I will go against the grain a tad by letting my bias serve me well here and suggest that there was a degree of sanity in letting subjective opinion triumph. Bowditch had after all gained the space after his run and shot, and although he hindered the keeper's view he hadn't drifted offside on purpose to gain advantage. And .. er .. if you give me a few hours I will dig up another straw to clutch at. Anyway, such luck for Yeovil is as rare now as a spare Rushden fiver, as Antalya explains on the Green Room: the stance WE have to face very often and that is "Sod you" we won you didn't. Quite right, cheerio Diamonds, hello Round Two.

A quick appraisal of performances: John Sullivan was excellent throughout - please stay fit, John. The back four were good collectively and individually, Huntington the more impressive of the centre-backs on the day with Virgo still having a decent game. Jean-Paul Kalala in an unfamiliar role was involved a lot and impressed defensively and going forward. Nathan Jones too was decent, one vital clearing header was the highest I have seen him leap, as he responded to Sullivan's forceful demand of 'Away!' Shaun MacDonald was everywhere, superb engine and excellent all-round display, with Owain Tudur Jones blowing hot and cold. Justin Edinburgh's tactics kept wingers Welsh and Williams on their defensive toes, Williams's direct approach the more threatening on the day. Up front, Sam Williams had a day littered with too many mistakes and some basic ones to boot, with some good bits chucked in. He has been doing well in his spell back since suspension, and this comparative off-day adds weight to my theory that we need a back up for his role. He was unlucky to hit the post after being superbly set up by Bowditch, who was class throughout but unfortunately without the shine on his shooting boots.

A mention before I forget of the Rushden hospitality and the stewards I encountered - super-friendly and all round top-notch.

Rushden themselves have come full circle, back to the financial reality of pre-merger days, as the Yeovil fans - noisily, predictably and merrily - reminded them. This fixture was down by almost a thousand on the one of four years ago, and with home crowds averaging around twelve-hundred it will be hard for them to keep hold of Edinburgh. Sustaining a challenge for the play-offs might be key to that, but he stands out as a manager ripe for a step-up.

Yeovil didn't find top gear with their flowing play by some distance but credit and respect is due to their opponents for that. The joyful players' celebrations might have confused the neutral as to who was the underdog but this was a vital hard-earned win. So there we are, a cup tie that could have gone either way, Yeovil with a bit more bite on the day but owing the day in the end to a bit of fortunate refereeing subjectivity. Would we have taken that at the start of the day? .. You betcha! ... bring on the draw for Round 2.

Cruncher

L1: MK Dons 3 Yeovil 2

2010-11-03T12:52:00.000Z

It's tough at the bottom - match report and comment by Cruncher

The bitter disappointment of Saturday's late throwaway needed a Yeovil side with character and grit tonight at Milton Keynes. And that is indeed the response the Glovers gave, with a decent performance thrown in. Unfortunately, all it brought in the end was, er, bitter disappointment.

On balance of the ninety minutes, Yeovil deserved at least a draw against a team unbeaten in the League at home. The Dons had only dropped four out of twenty-one available home points while conceding just three goals. If the game had been marked by judges holding up cards for style and content Yeovil probably would have been the narrow winners. Only it wasn't. It was back to at least matching their opponents in all departments but with a few key moments that made all the difference, a theme that defined much of our League One effort last season and has cost us a load of points already this year.

Yeovil's opener by Dean Bowditch reflected the visitors being the more threatening, a well-taken goal that Nathan Jones's precise through-ball deserved. The team continued to perform well, a flowing series of moves ended with Gavin Williams chipping just over, while at the other end a glancing Sam Baldock header had John Sullivan admirably palming clear. The Dons reply though when it came was a soft one to let in - Dean Lewington was as unchallenged as a six-footer in an Under-10s game to pop in an easy header from a corner. I think it was Luke Ayling and Owain Tudur Jones who were guilty of being static as Lewington leapt, with Sullivan perhaps sightly drawn too near to his near post. Yeovil got back into their stride, Ayling surged forward on a determined and skilful run that lifted the away crowd and Bowditch 's left-foot stinger tested Stuart Searle. After the break the Dons had a forceful spell that got them their second goal. A good strike by Jemal Johnson, but far too easy how Sam Baldock carved out the inviting opportunity from a cut-back on the right flank, coupled with Yeovil histrionics claiming that the ref had missed something.

For the few minutes that followed, there was a hint that the home side might overrun their visitors. Even the home crowd at last sounded like a home crowd, but Yeovil battled through it and soon were creating chances again, and the Dons support returned to cautious mode. Yeovil very much still in the game, but not quite breaking through.

On a run high up the right-side, Ayling was met by a thumping tackle by Lewington, sending the ball into the stand while simultaneously appearing to catch Ayling's ribs. I can't be at all sure it was intentional, but it was certainly effective as Ayling struggled even to take the throw-in, and broke down immediately afterwards. Andy Welsh came on, Jean-Paul Kalala moved to right-back. In a moment, the Glovers were level, Paul Huntington and Adam Virgo were both forward and it was Virgo who took his chance inside the box to shoot in off the post. 2-2, and deserved, and now a pulsating finish to the game.

Sam Williams who had done his usual to a good standard all night made way for Andy Williams, who was put clear to cut in from the right side of the area. A strong run bearing down on goal had the away support hoping with baited breath - unfortunately it was power without accuracy as Williams found Searle and not the back of the net. Bowditch went off for Luke Freeman, and it seemed a draw was the main hope now.

Only that too was scuppered, keeping to the miserable pattern we have come to expect. It was a long way up the pitch, but my first thought was that there was daylight between Sam Baldock and the covering tackle. Could be wrong, the replay should tell. Anyway, the ref was sure and penalty to the Dons. Peter Leven down the middle as Sullivan guessed to his right and 3-2, three minutes to go, here we go again. Hard on the keeper who had made a decent return, and hard on the overall effort, but this is League One and we know to expect its consistent message that it won't forgive your errors, or, er, the funny ways of referees.

Previously Bowditch had had a strong penalty appeal turned down when spinning clear of his man, but the decision was that he had offended. Presumably it he wasn't for diving or he would have been booked, so it must have been for pulling his man back - only the whistle seemed to be delayed until he had got clear of his marker. My instinct was that he had been fouled in the area by the last man, and the ref bottled it, deciding to blow against Bowditch if he got clear. That's how I saw it as it happened, I don't think I was clouding my view with wishful thinking. The exact same thing happened minutes later, but this time in a deeper position outside the box.

Most players would get sevens with a couple a bit better, for me the best player on the night was Luke Ayling, although his defensive work was frail for the first MK goal. He does have all-round qualities and is becoming stronger and stronger going forward. I'd be quite sure that he'd be a better midfielder now too after having this stint at right-back. Andy Williams was by some distance the most effective of the subs. Virgo was up the front near the end. I think a back-up for Sam Williams is long overdue; squad constraints mean he was taken off presumably to protect him for the next game, but I feel sure his role is needed for the ninety minutes.

A good performance, overall a bit unlucky but it is still the lapses that are so costly. This might well reflect our ever-weakening financial clout, but I feel the management team and the men on the pitch deserve our complete support. I admired the way they picked themselves up after the weekend, just sort out the lapses! Terry Skiverton will need to decide if it's carrot or stick that is needed - we shall see.

As for Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday, we should be too strong for them but we all know that doesn't mean we will be. I have a hunch that wingers and pace might have a key part to play, but we'll see.

Cruncher

The Time Has Come

2010-11-01T16:16:00.000Z

The Time Has Come - blog post by Cruncher

My first ever blog also had this title, looking ahead on Scratch's Pride of Somerset to what was Skivo's first full season at the helm. Now I feel it's time to dust the header down and use it again, because when all is combined I am uncertain about our destiny. Uncertainty can't run forever - the time has come, for, er... something.

To be honest about where we are, my view is that we are no longer just a poorer club in League One but a weaker one - and there is a difference.

Gates are running considerably higher than last year after seven home League games, at an average near 4,800 compared to around the 4,200 mark at the same stage last year. Don't let that fool you though, there have been more of the higher-attended games in this year's opening batch and even those have seen a significant drop on the same fixtures last year, in fact all corresponding fixtures are down bar the Leyton Orient match (the bald guy, he always could draw 'em in). The most telling fact is that the home section of the home crowd is still dwindling. The time had already come in previous years, on this topic.

As for the Board, my perception is this: Mr. Hayward capitalised the club to suit Mr. Fry's purpose of keeping out all and sundry. While this might be admirable to keep out the rogues and the inept, it also unfortunately keeps out the bright sparks with their fresh thinking who would roll up their sleeves to increase gate revenue as well as establish permanent money-making schemes. As I see it, Holdingsgate (as Taff usefully christened it) is in lieu of making progress in a proper and safe way. And I would hold to that even if separation of the club's land turned out to be some fantastic venture in the long run, because I don't agree with putting off (for example) local or supporter investment - with accompanied ideas, enthusiasm and endeavour - in favour of a punt with the club's plot.

In any case, the land separation route does not appear to be a plan that was made with specific investors already in mind - or else where is the next step of getting in the finance? As time drags on without even a hint of development specifics, it seems more and more likely that the separation is in case a chance comes our way, rather than separating assets to suit money already lined-up. Perhaps it might be viewed as reasonable for the club to do it that way, but if the club sets aside its prime assets for a hope that doesn't materialise, the club's land remains unprotected to potential risk in the future.

I still green-tintedly believe that Terry Skiverton can eventually get us up to dizzy heights, or at least achieve 20th place or better year after year. At the same time, the-never-gets-sorted has its accumulative effect, nagging away. If the time doesn't at least appear on the horizon fairly soon, we won't have the strength to hold on to what we've got.

With immense admiration and respect for a lot of the good past work, for the Board and for the future, the time may well have come. If someone of the right stuff comes knocking on their door, I hope the Board would see it that way too. Equally, anyone knocking on the door needs to have a clear vision to revive gates and create revenue streams.

Mr. Fry can proudly take acclaim for a marvellous chunk of our history, which took us from rising above the brink of oblivion to the brink of entering the Championship. If anything, it is that 2006-07 push to near-promotion which clearly endorses the message that all good things come to an end, as our Chairman had cast off the prudent cloak he had long donned. That was a gamble then, and Holdingsgate is a gamble now. What happened subsequently with Slade's pay-off (presumably followed by another following an unwise club statement) also gives the clear message that error can follow error once a wrong turning has been made.

A quick word about the manager and the Chief Executive: as far as I can see, Terry Skiverton is too constrained by compromises, especially for a rookie. My instinct is that his time has not come, and I back him to continue. Martyn Starnes may or may not be excellent, it is hard to tell while he his not given the free-reign that normally goes with the role. Would their allegiance to the present rulers be enough for their downfall if a new owner arrived? - Maybe, maybe not. It could just as likely be the making of 'em.

Cruncher

L1: Yeovil 3 Swindon 3

2010-10-31T14:28:00.000Z

"At least you can't fault the entertainment value," someone said to me as I left Huish Park in the gathering gloom yesterday afternoon after watching the Glovers snatching a draw out of the jaws of victory. I may have grinned and said something inane in return, but the remark set me thinking. And the conclusion to my thoughts was, well, actually, you most certainly can fault the entertainment value. Oh, I've no doubt the 1,000-odd Swindon supporters at the match left South Somerset in a relatively happy frame of mind. Why wouldn't they? They had seen their team come back from 3-1 down with less than 5 minutes left on the board to draw 3-3 and could very easily have even snatched a winner right at the death. But even amidst their euphoria they should have been concerned: Watching yesterday's match with it's lack of quality from both teams in both halves of the pitch was like watching two balding men arguing over the use of a comb.

The first half was probably the worst 45 minutes of football I've seen at Huish Park this season, and I've seen some bad halves, believe you me. The Glovers started with the same 4-4-1-1 formation that has seen us play some of our best football at home this season (the Tranmere and Southampton games in particular spring to mind), but for whatever reason it wasn't working yesterday. The word 'scrappy' doesn't really do justice to the fare served up by both sides. There was plenty of hard work, lots of closing down, but moments of quality very few and far between - one of those games where you find yourself watching the play but drifting off into a reverie, thinking about past games, what you're going to have for dinner tonight, the colour of the living-room wallpaper, the price of a ticket to watch Sherborne Town - that kind of thing. The atmosphere for a so-called derby match was as flat as a pancake with only the antics of Swindon's Matt Ritchie livening up the crowd, with his propensity for diving and falling over whenever a Yeovil player came within three feet of him irritating everyone in the Cowlin Stand. The one that got away, Charlie Austin, gave the visitors the lead in the 23rd minute, converting a harmless-looking cross despite being surrounded by defenders. Fair play to Skivo, he could see as well as everyone else that whatever we were doing wasn't working and made the change to a 4-4-2 after half-an-hour, Andy Welsh being replaced by Sam Williams. The Glovers got a lifeline they barely deserved with the last kick of the half, Gavin Williams low and powerful free-kick somehow evading the Swindon wall and beating David Lucas in the visitors goal. 1-1 at half-time, but it felt more like 0-0.

The Glovers lost keeper Stephen Henderson at half-time with a head injury, goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts deputising for his first competitive game in 6 years. The enforced change didn't seem to matter at first, with the Glovers somehow going into a 2-goal lead, though neither goal owed much to the concept of the beautiful game. A deep cross from the left on 50 minutes was flicked over keeper Lucas by Sam Williams and met at the far post by Dean Bowditch to put Yeovil 2-1 up. Ten minutes later and a Nathan Jones long-ball from inside his own half set Bowditch free with the Swindon defence nowhere to be seen, the striker finishing past Lucas with aplomb. 3-1 to the home side and game over, or so most in the ground must have thought. But as we've seen in the past, there's nothing more brittle or frail than this Yeovil side when they're defending a lead. Roberts in the Yeovil goal had coped pretty well up until now with everything Swindon had thrown at him, but with three minutes left on the clock it all started to go wrong. A Swindon corner found the home defence and keeper looking like statues and then looking at each other as Sean Morrison bundled the ball home at the far post. Where was his marker? Where was the far post defender? Where was the keeper? A minute later and we were watching in disbelief as Swindon equalised. Another corner, the ball punched away by Roberts but only to Jon-Paul McGovern at the edge of the box, whose shot managed to avoid everyone in the crowded penalty area to hit the back of the net. 3-3 at the final whistle and from Yeovil's point of view, two points thrown away.

I don't propose to do my usual player ratings today, other than to say I'd give Dean Bowditch an 8 for his 2 goals and Luke Ayling and Nathan Jones a 7 each for enthusiasm and effort. The rest would get 5's and 6's between them.

On the face of it the starting XI Skivo put out yesterday was as strong as any he's picked over the last two years, but there's an underlying brittleness that is concerning. Certainly the absence of Stephen Henderson in the second half didn't help, but even with an unfamiliar keeper between the sticks it should not have been beyond the Glovers to defend a 2-goal lead with only 3 minutes left on the clock. The Glovers best spell came in the second half in the aftermath of their third goal. Just for a short while they passed the ball well, dominated possession and created a couple of decent opportunities, none of which unfortunately were taken. Not even this side could have thrown away a 3-goal lead, could they? That brief spell apart however the football from both sides was mediocre, a word which pretty much sums up yesterday's game. If you weren't there then a 3-3 scoreline sounds great entertainment. Believe me, it wasn't.

The result leaves the Glovers back in 22nd place in the relegation zone, with 15 points from 14 games played. Our goal difference is comfortably the worst in the division at -10. It's not being alarmist to observe that until that is addressed and cured then with the best will in the world you just can't see anything other than a relegation fight for the rest of the season. So business as usual then!

No rest for the wicked anyway, and the Glovers now travel to Franchise FC on Tuesday night. The bookies make the home side 8/11 favourites, the draw is priced at 12/5 and a Glovers win at 7/2. More in hope than expectation my fiver's going on the draw. Running total: -£15.25p.

Diamonds aren't forever

2010-10-28T13:38:00.000+01:00

This week's Fa Cup 1st round draw brought the Glovers yet another away tie to contend with and if that wasn't bad enough also brought us face-to-face with one of our most difficult opponents of the last decade, that made-up club from the middle of nowhere, Rushden & Diamonds FC.

We couldn't have had much worse a draw to be honest. Rushden (or Ru$hden, as I still prefer to think of them even if, like ourselves, they don't have a pot to piss in these days), like Oxford United last season, are doing well in the Conference, are full-time, and will relish the chance of doing over a struggling League One side. They'll especially relish the chance of doing us over as they've already done it once before, four years ago.

Rushden & Diamonds as a club have only been in existence since 1992 but they've packed a lot of promotions and relegations into that time. They were of course formed on the back of one man's money, that man being Max Griggs, the head of the Dr Martens footwear empire. Fair play to Max, he made a good pair of boots and initially his brand new sparkling football club - the bastard offspring of a merger between Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds - did well too, eventually rising from the depths of the Southern League Midland Division all the way to the heady heights of League One in the Football League. On the way of course they came up against ourselves, particularly in the 2000-01 season, when they pipped the Glovers to the Conference title and promotion to the Football League. The final table showed a 6 point gap between the Diamonds and the 2nd-placed Glovers that season, but the table didn't tell anything like the full story of that nine months. If you've got a spare hour or so then it's well worth browsing through the Ciderspace news archives for that time, and I'm not saying that just because I helped write them! It was a fascinating season with more twists and turns in the plotlines than your average episode of Eastenders, and was really the start of the beginning of the modern era of Yeovil Town, though at the time it felt more like the beginning of the end, with manager Colin Addison being controversially sacked at the end of the season and some of our best players - Warren Patmore and Tony Pennock in particular - leaving to join Rushden in the Football League, a bitter pill to swallow at the time.

Still, we had the last laugh. Max Griggs continued to throw his money at the club and Rushden eventually made it all the way to League One, but there the bubble burst. The Dr Martens empire hit the financial rocks, and Griggs's money injections, amounting to an average of £2.5 million per season (!) since their Conference days, stopped. Now owned by their Supporters Trust and for the first time not living beyond their means, Rushden, no longer known as Ru$hden, came back down the leagues as fast as they went up them before bottoming out in the Conference, where they've remained since. As they went down we of course went up in a rather more stable and sustainable manner and now the (Doc Martens) boot is on the other foot. Until a week on Saturday anyway! Wouldn't it be nice if, just for once, we had a bit of a cup run? Is it really too much to ask?

There are more pressing concerns before then. This Saturday sees Swindon coming to Huish Park followed by a trip to Franchise FC next Tuesday. We're not quite back in crisis mode yet, but after 2 defeats in a row leaving us a scanty one place above the relegation zone it's important that we get something out of Saturday's game against our Wiltshire near-neighbours. The bookies make the Glovers narrow 8/5 favourites for the win, with the draw priced at 23/10 and a Swindon win at 13/8. My self-imposed unwritten rule of always betting on a home win when the odds are against means that my fiver is in Skivo's mens hands, god help me. No bet last week because my old computer decided to blow up, running total: -£10.25p.

Just read: Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley: Excellent sequel to the equally good The Quiet War. Both books are set in the future a century or so from now with mankind colonising the solar system and, being mankind, fighting each other all the way. I'd thoroughly recommend both books to anyone who likes intelligent, hard s-f with a human touch. Read The Quiet War first, the sequel may not make much sense otherwise - but do read them both!

L1: Brighton 2 Yeovil Town 0

2010-10-24T19:43:00.000+01:00

Defeated and Depleted - match report and thoughts, by Cruncher

I normally don't get bored on train rides but today's trudge for my first (and last) trip to The Withdean was decidedly dull. Wasn't on my 'A' list of away days, but I was peeved that I missed the Rochdale game so added it in. Heavy rain was possible if not probable, but I was going. Not long before arriving at Preston Park Station, the landscape was split by a most perfectly-vertical strike of lightning, not enhancing my expectancy of a grand day out, especially when fresh rain greeted me as I stepped onto the platform.

What happened next was a bit surreal. In the short moment I wandered through a narrow smugglers' tunnel of a white passage that was the way out, the onset of certain persistent rainfall had turned to a clear sky immediately followed by sunshine. It had a bit of Dr. Who about it, with the feeling of walking into a different time zone further compounded by the scene of a sleepy village setting. Ahead was an inviting slope down to cosy Sussex suburbia, to the right a quaint clock shop, and to the left a short road leading to a track that I presumed was perfect for designer outdoor clothing enthusiasts to walk their designer dogs. And despite home fans also on their way to the ground, all around a distinct sense of ... quiet.

Treading a continuing blanket of damp autumnal greens and golds, ten minutes or so up the dog track takes me to the ground. Miles too late for access to the Pub let alone its renowned carvery, I approach the away end caterers with high hopes but there's not much choice - the priority is to fill a hole so a burger it is. As for the atmosphere and the view, the 112 in the away end knew what to expect.

A chatty steward had seen Adam Virgo arrive at the ground, confirming that he wasn't playing today. Not a big surprise after last week but then, finding out that Craig Alcock and Shaun MacDonald were also missing, a big task becomes massive. At least Jean Paul Kalala was back and Ed Upson was getting a start, but with Owain Tudur Jones filling in at the back we were compromised now in the back and the middle. Against the League leaders, we were David turning up with a lacky band instead of a sling.

Although as it transpired the teams were fairly evenly matched in the first half. Yeovil had some good periods of keeping the ball playing neat stuff at times and applying some pressure. Brighton's threat, in the main snuffed out by the Yeovil game-plan, came through Kazenga Lua Lua who had an absorbing battle with Luke Ayling. Just before half time both teams had been adequate without being inspiring, with a fine double-save by Stephen Henderson being the most notable factor to the game remaining goalless. JPK was straight back into his stride, busy and effective, other plusses for Yeovil was the defensive work of Paul Huntington and Nathan Smith, and of course Henderson; Sam Williams also had had a good start to the game.

Hope of holding out continued until just before half-time, until Lua Lua picked out Glenn Murray at the far post: a placed header perfectly weighted to lob Henderson on his opposite corner - one nil to Brighton. While the play had remained fairly evenly balanced, a bit of tweaking by Gus Poyet did give a hint of second half Brighton superiority that was to follow - enough I thought for a Skiverton tweak sooner rather than later.

Skivo kept to the same eleven with the same plan. Brighton put their stamp on the game, Yeovil battled on but at times the second half reminded me of a school match where one side had sneaked in four or five older players, decisively showing more muscle and pace. Shots on Henderson's goal were becoming more frequent, and it must be said he had another very good game, impressing with his handling, kicking and positioning as well as pulling off good saves. He couldn't do anything about Albion's second goal, a classy collect-and-shoot from a crossfield ball as Inigo Calderon cut in from his right flank to beat Henderson in the far corner.

Yeovil eventually brought on Andy Williams and then Andy Welsh and did manage to look lively again in sporadic moments, especially in the latter stages when they got in sight of goal a few times, but on the day the home team were clearly deserving of their victory. Craig Calver got a run out, presumably mainly to preserve Dean Bowditch for next week.

Certainly not a terrible performance nor a disaster, more a bridge too far for the amount of injuries. And in the contest of the Seagulls' form and last week's crushing victory at Charlton, we come away with our dignity intact. Presumably the more positive game plan of recent weeks would have been kept if just one of MacDonald or Alcock had been fit. Both goals could be criticised, but for the squad depletion on the day we couldn't expect much more than what we got, and with what we had we gave it a go. Trying Plan B should have been at half-time, if I had to find a gripe. If we stay up, we might not get a trip to the new Amex Stadium next year as Poyet undoubtedly is doing some good work on the South Coast. At the same time though, if we can keep on to key personnel and maintain a fit squad after the new year, we have realistic hope of a result in the return match.

The young singers as always tried hard to create atmosphere, so very difficult what with the distance from the action and such like. I found the stewards to be of the friendliest nature, but felt just or two gave off a bit of stern body language. Maybe I was just being over-sensitive, not sure; neither am I sure whether my hunch has relevance to an intense situation that occurred latish in the second-half. As I say, the majority were not just decent but superb.

Another three hours (almost) of boring train journey later was just like the outward trip: without access to refreshments. Until ironically just as the train rolled in a snacks trolley belatedly appeared. The whole experience of monotonous travel and the flat atmosphere at The Withdean combined to define my day as a bit of a strange non-event. I felt slightly more affection for The National Hockey Stadium than The Withdean, even though I did get a drenching at that venue. The Brighton fans have obviously been starved of a proper home for far too long, as is clear from those that I spoke to. Good luck to them on the move to Falmer, and indeed it does sound like it will be a fantastic stadium. After today, Albion supporters indeed do have realistic hope that the move to Falmer will coincide with promotion to the Championship.

Lots of importance now on the home game against Swindon. After such a good start to October, now it's back to the crucial need to pick up some points again, much like the position we were in against Walsall at the start of the month. Fitness to key personnel for the coming batch of games could prove decisive to our season.

Lack of expected heavy rain is perhaps the biggest plus on the day, though lack of fresh injuries would definitely exceed that drop of joy. Chalk this one off as something that had to be got out the way, now let's get back to the momentum started at Walsall.

Cruncher

L1: Yeovil 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2

2010-10-18T19:24:00.000+01:00

On the face of it a 0-2 home defeat doesn't sound anything much to write home about, but appearances can be deceptive. The Glovers matched and indeed bettered their illustrious visitors for most of Saturday's game in all areas except where it really matters - the penalty box. And yet again, a referee's decision - or should I say indecision - hurt us badly.

Wednesday began the game like a house on fire and could have gone ahead through Clinton Morrison and Gary Teale efforts, though neither player managed to get their shots on target. Gradually the Glovers began to get into the game and began to dominate possession, passing the ball nicely albeit without a great deal of attacking threat. The closest they came to a goal saw a Dean Bowditch pass finding Sam Williams in the box. The big striker turned his defender well but saw his shot smothered by Wednesday keeper Nicky Weaver. Gavin Williams shot over the bar and a Bowditch free-kick was deflected away for a corner. The Glovers cause wasn't helped when Adam Virgo was subbed just before the break with a groin strain. 0-0 at half-time, but Yeovil were on top.

The second half began in the same vein with the Glovers dominating possession. Wednesday defender Darren Purse fouled Super Gav and then stamped on the Welshman as both players tangled on the floor. Referee Graham Scott and his assistant evidently completely missed the stamp as Purse wasn't even booked for the assault, never mind given the red card he patently deserved - a game-changing decision, or lack of one. Owain Tudur-Jones forced Weaver to save again with a shot from outside the box and Bowditch should have at least hit the target a few minutes later when free in front of goal but screwed his effort wide. The game changed with the introduction of Owls substitute Jermaine Johnson. The former Glover loanee's pace immediately began to give the home side's defence some problems and on 72 minutes he put the visitors in front with a fine individual goal, cutting inside from the left and from the edge of the box firing past a helpless Stephen Henderson in the Yeovil goal. The Glovers continued to dominate possession without causing Wednesday too many alarms and the visitors made the game safe on 84 minutes. John Otsomober drove into the box only to be brought down by a mis-timed tackle by Luke Ayling. A clear penalty from where I was sitting, which was duly converted by Tommy Miller.

Otsomober blotted his copybook just before the end with a late tackle on Nathan Smith which saw Mr Scott show him the red card. To their credit the Glovers kept on pressing for a consolation or better but the nearest they came to scoring in the brief time remaining was a Tudur-Jones header which hit the bar. It just wasn't our day.

Yeovil lined up as follows (4-4-2):

13. Stephen Henderson - 6/10: Strange game for Stephen. Didn't have a great deal to do for most of the match and had no chance with either of the goals.

8. Luke Ayling - 7/10: Began at right-back and switched to centre-half just before half-time when Virgo went off. Looked equally accomplished in both positions and although he did give away a penalty it was a tackle he had to make and was unlucky to just slightly mistime it. A good, versatile young player who should have a good career in the game - hopefully mostly with us!

5. Paul Huntington - 8/10: Improving all the time. Stepped up to the plate when Virgo went off and led the backline by example. After something of a slow start to his Glovers career is now showing exactly why Skivo brought him to the club.

19. Adam Virgo - 7/10: A big player for us and we missed him after he went off just before half-time. Not that we missed him so much at the back - Luke Ayling deputised very effectively for him - rather we missed his goal threat up front from set-pieces.

6. Nathan Smith - 7/10: Another good performance from a player who is getting better and better the more he plays. Very solid in defence and exciting going forwards.

24. Gavin Williams - 6/10: For me, one of his least effective performances in his latest spell at the club. Mind, that still meant he posed a considerable threat at times, but faded out of the game rather more than we're used to seeing. Playing with an injury evidently - is it beginning to show?

25. Shaun MacDonald - 8/10: That's better! Getting back to the form he showed for us last season, and we all know how effective he can be at his best.

20. Owain Tudur-Jones - 8/10: Another very good box-to-box performance. Unlucky not to score. Is he starting to win the fans over at last? Not before time if so. We'll miss him when he goes back to Norwich.

11. Andy Welsh - 5/10: A bit of a nothing game to my eyes. Struggled to get involved and subbed on 65 minutes.

9. Sam Williams - 6/10: Typical Sam Williams performance. Tried hard, put himself about, never looked like scoring. Admittedly not helped by the change of formation in the first half which pushed him out wide.

10. Dean Bowditch - 6/10: And again, tried hard, put himself about, never really looked like scoring, especially after he was pushed wide after Freeman came on in the second half.

Subs:
2. Craig Alcock (36 mins for Adam Virgo) - 5/10: A tough game to make his comeback from injury in but he coped well enough until the arrival of Jermaine Johnson. Struggled thereafter.

7. Andrew Williams (77 mins for Dean Bowditch) - 5/10: You want your subs to make a positive impact, but it just didn't happen for Andy on Saturday. For me, he needs to be starting games.

18. Luke Freeman (65 mins for Andy Welsh) - 5/10: Skivo was obvously hoping Luke would have the same impact on the game as he did as a sub at Rochdale, but again, it didn't happen. Struggled to get involved.

A good overall performance from the Glovers then, only let down by the lack of a goal or two. The difference between the teams in the end came down to the impact made by one player, Jermaine Johnson. On the day, we had no-one to match him. It's a cliche, but that doesn't make it any less true: We will play worse than this in the future and win comfortably.

Good to see the away terrace full again on Saturday and credit to the Wednesday fans who observed the minute's applause for Colin Lippiatt, Malcolm Allison and Derek Warren impeccably. It seems that we're losing stalwarts from the past at an ever-increasing rate these days, but I was particularly saddened by the news of Colin Lippiatt's passing. A very under-rated manager in his own right but more importantly a good man. He always had time for supporters and will be badly missed by all who knew him. If you've not seen it yet, then Ciderspace's tribute is a must-read.

Talking of Wednesday fans it's worth checking out this blog on the Owls Alive website. It's an account of a Wednesday fan's first trip to Huish Park and makes interesting reading. It's worth quoting a paragaph from the end of the piece:

"A fantastic end to a wonderful day, at an excellent club. To my mind everything about Yeovil Town football club screams class. It is without doubt an absolute credit to the football league and the game. The people who follow the club are without doubt the friendliest people I have ever met and it was great to be amongst them."

Ain't that nice?

On a personal note a quick word for my brother, Paul, otherwise known on the green room 2 as Amazed. The daft sod tripped up walking out of his front door on the way to the football on Saturday and snapped the tendon in his knee and will be hors de combat for a while consequently. Get well soon, you clumsy bugger!

Just read: Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson: I was really looking forward to this novel having very much enjoyed Robinson's works in the past (The Mars Trilogy in particular), but in the event I struggled to finish it. Half historical novel, half hard science fiction, it's a fictional account of the life and work of Galileo and his troubles with the Inquisition after he had the temerity to suggest that the Earth revolves around the Sun rather than vice-versa. That's half of it anyway, the other half is set on the moons of Jupiter 3000 years into the future with the Great Scientist time-travelling between both ages. It's clever, very clever and thought-provoking, but I found it hard going, difficult to read and ultimately, somewhat disappointing. Ah well, you can't win them all.

If....

2010-10-13T17:22:00.000+01:00

What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Just over a fortnight ago the Glovers succumbed to Exeter City at home for the second time this season and had fallen to just outside the relegation zone in the table. Gloom and doom amongst fans was rife and even your humble scribe - normally a glass-half-full kinda guy - was moved to write the following: ...right now Skivo's judgement and tactical nous is being scrutinised as much as it ever has been by a fanbase - those of us that are left - getting increasingly impatient with poor results and worse performances.

Three games later and the picture looks very different. A good 1-1 draw at home to a strong Southampton side followed by those rarest of beasts, two away wins in a row, firstly at Walsall and then last Saturday at Rochdale. Seven points from a possible nine on offer and most importantly, two clean sheets. Four points away from the relegation zone, but only three points away from the play-offs. I guess the only conclusion to draw from it all is that, as Skivo himself said not so long ago, we shouldn't over-react to events. Rudyard Kipling said it better:

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

He knew what he was on about did Kipling. I particularly like the lines: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same. Very apposite for the modern day YTFC fan. I'm tired of worrying about football. I'm fed up with concerns over Holdingsgate. I'm bored with obsessing over every last YTFC related fact. I don't care where the missing fans have gone, nor do I want to think about the crap beer tent. All I wanna do is have some fun, as Sheryl Crow once said. I just want to go and watch my team play football, to be entertained for a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. If we win, we win, if we lose, we lose. It doesn't really matter either way. Me and 3,000-odd others will turn up, whether we're playing the likes of Sheffield Wednesday or Hayes and Yeading. It's football at Huish Park, it's what we do.

Talking of Sheffield Wednesday, they are next up for Skivo's men. The Owls are the latest fallen giants to fill the away end at Huish Park, the latest ex-Premiership club to be informed that they are 'not famous anymore'. They are a massive three points ahead of the Glovers in the table so naturally the bookies make Wednesday 11/8 favourites to win the game on Saturday. The draw is priced at 23/10 and a home win at a somewhat insulting 19/10. My miffed fiver is going on the home win. Running total: -£5.25p.

In case you haven't noticed it's been International Week this week: No Premiership nor Championship football on tv, just international football, qualifiers for next year's European Championship. I noticed because Sunday's without football on the box are plain wrong. I pay a not inconsiderable sum to Sky TV to be able to watch football on a Sunday, so why did they not show a League One or League Two game? The lack of football meant I had no excuse not to go to a flea market/craft fair at the Shepton Mallet Showground, not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry. Sort it out Sky!

It's not as if international football - tournaments apart - is much good or very interesting. I reckon most Champions League teams, hell, most Premiership teams would beat most international sides with something to spare. I'm bloody sure Cardiff City, for example, would see off Wales very comfortably; while Everton would more than likely eviscerate England and Liverpool lamp Latvia. Er, well, maybe not that last example. Congratulations are due to Shaun MacDonald for his first Welsh cap proper, but as a Welshman I can honestly say I have little or no interest in international football at the moment, the damage done to Wales and Welsh football by the mis-management of John Toshack has knocked the stuffing out of a whole generation of Welsh fans and players and it's going to take a long time to get the enthusiasm back. Mind, the Welsh FA could help by appointing the right manager this time - hint, that is NOT Ian Rush. My choice would be for a Ryan Giggs/Brian Flynn partnership but I'd be equally pleased if Chris Coleman got the job. Hell, I'd even give Robbie Savage a go, if he fancied it.

Just read: The Evolutionary Void by Peter F Hamilton: The final part of the Void Trilogy, here at last. Was it worth the wait? Just about. It is, in my opinion, the weakest of the trilogy with the ending, as usual with Hamilton's books, somewhat forced and contrived. Having said that I still thoroughly enjoyed the journey to get to the ending and I'd still recommend this novel highly - but you'd have to read The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void first, The Evolutionary Void won't make much sense otherwise. It's epic space-opera on a galactic scale but Hamilton never gets carried away with the high-tech settings and neglects his characters. It's just a small shame that the final chapter doesn't quite live up to all of the rest.

Ya win some, ya lose some.

2010-10-08T20:32:00.000+01:00

Another quickie post tonight, ahead of tomorrow's visit to Rochdale. It's been win some and lose some in YTFC-land this week. The Glovers Board has gained 2 new Directors in the form of Andy Rossiter and David Lee, who have responsibility for the Centre of Excellence and Community Trust respectively; against that we've lost a couple of fans, if this thread on the Green Room II is anything to go by.

As I write this I've just seen a brief feature about the club on the BBC's Points West programme, asking if the club can survive in League One and even push on into the Championship in the future. Kudos to well-known supporter Mark Kelly for telling it how it is by criticising the facilities at Huish Park and explaining the need for a social club for supporters. But perhaps the most interesting moment came in a rare interview with Director Stephen Allinson, who threw his weight very much behind the controversial formation of the new Holding Company, saying: "We want to invest in this whole infrastructure [Huish Park]. Many major operators/retailers these days will not invest in a football club, but will invest in the grounds that support that football club. And what that will do is enhance us, because the more money that comes in off the field, the more money can be ploughed in on it. We're fans on the Board as well, that's the important thing."

Allinson's words are significant, as far as I'm aware he's the first Board member other than Chairman John Fry and Chief Executive Martyn Starnes to publically support the formation of the Holding Company. His words carry weight because he is regarded by many as a genuinely independent voice in the Boardroom as well as enjoying a reputation throughout the game for financial expertise. If Stephen Allinson is comfortable with the formation of Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd and believes it will bring some much-needed investment into the club then, just maybe, there's less to worry about than some of us have previously thought.

As mentioned before the Glovers travel to Spotland tomorrow to face Rochdale, who've got off to a real flyer in their first season in League One for many years. The bookies make the home side evens favourites, the draw is priced at 23/10 and a Glovers win at 14/5. My fiver is once again going on the draw. Running total: +25p.

Just read: Heartstone by CJ Sansom: I've been looking forward to this, the 5th in the Matthew Shardlake series of novels, for a couple of years now and it doesn't disappoint. For the uninitiated, Shardlake is a hunchback London lawyer alive during the reign of Henry VIII, and the novels focus on his life and work. He defends the underdog and tries, generally without success, to avoid getting embroiled in the politics of Henry's Court. The novels work on many levels; as crime thrillers, as history lessons, as chronicles of how ordinary people lived and survived in Tudor times. All five of the novels in the series are standalone works and Heartstone is as accomplished, thrilling and satisfying as any of the rest. Roll on the sixth in the series, whenever it emerges.

L1: Walsall 0 Yeovil Town 1

2010-10-03T17:12:00.000+01:00

Match report by Cruncher

A crucial result that made the difference between ourselves or Walsall being the current bottom club.

This hugely important 1-0 win was the deserved outcome for a display that was impressive in all departments, save for the taking of chances and a few wasted place kicks. The Yeovil cause was certainly helped by a toothless and unimaginative Saddlers, who were further hindered by fielding an understrength front line. Yeovil though were positive and fluent from the start, and on balance of play their win was deserved by some distance. It could have been one of those matches where superiority on the day didn't bear fruit, but thankfully Adam Virgo scotched that worry with a majestic second-half header: perfect in timing, placement and power.

Terry Skiverton dropped one of his wingers in Andy Williams to accommodate all of the Welsh midfield contingent as well as Sam Williams, which gave good team balance on the day. The front two of big Sam and Dean Bowditch covered miles giving the opposition plenty to concentrate on defensively throughout, providing for Yeovil options both short and long. In parts some pacey combined play was scintillating with players wisely using freedom to get forward. The other components under the heading of 'commitment to the cause' such as covering and tracking back, closing down, and sheer doggedness with a clear will to win were also very apparent and indeed very good.

As with our midfield, on this occasion I am going to be guided by Welsh influence and rate the players. Right, here we go:

13. Stephen Henderson - 8/10: Strong display that stopped Walsall nicking an undeserved point or more. In tune with the back four, good distribution with safe tidying up and handling. Not over-busy but saved well including a few notable good 'uns.

8. Luke Ayling - 8/10: We have another proper right-back, no doubt about that on this showing. Defensively very good, and joined the attack very effectively, especially first-half with a couple flair moments.

5. Paul Huntington - 8/10: Always effective and at times classy, this boy has great potential. Made it very awkward for opposition attackers, commanding in the air and can play the ball from the back but knows when and how to hoof. Proper centre-half, well done lad.

19. Adam Virgo - 8*/10: Constantly doing the right thing on and off the ball, even switching the play with accurate cross-field passes - what a signing. Too tight to give him a nine, so will give him the star for the goal, classy header.

6. Nathan Smith - 8/10: Outstanding first-half, would have been my MOM if not for Virgo's goal. A tackle or two was from a higher league, won important headers, all-round effective and back to being top of his game. Passed well under pressure and purposefully surged forward.

24. Gavin Williams - 7/10: Some good midfield work both centrally and out wider, plenty of effort, not back to his best but will get there, not got his fitness again yet or his place-kick consistency either, but did pick Virgo out beautifully for the goal.

25. Shaun MacDonald - 8/10: The decisive all-round midfield display of the day, hard-working with craft, pity he didn't score when through on goal - saved painfully by Jon Brain's nose, which brought sustained merry chanting of 'Shaun MacDonald broke your nose, ee-i-ee-i-o'.

20. Owain Tudur Jones - 7/10: Goodish with occasional brighter spots, put through MacDonald with a lovely ball. Seems a bit static sometimes such as when options are needed at throw-ins, but overall did ok in what was today a case of thank Yr Arglwydd Dduw for the Welsh midfielders. Until JPK nabs his spot to further improve balance and shielding of the back four, he's holding the fort well enough with a sporadic bit of spark here and there.

11. Andy Welsh - 7/10: Positive and probing, had a firm header that was blocked and a notable bit of important defensive covering in the right-back area (which ISTR he also had an admirable moment of so-doing at Huddersfield). Pity about the wayward shot and a rogue cross or two, some mixed views are voiced about him but my view is the doubters are a bit harsh.

10. Dean Bowditch - 7/10: Good contribution, worked hard all game, threatened and linked up well. Also put in a crucial defensive foot towards the end.

9. Sam Williams - 8/10: Strong display of centre-forward play that helped the cause in all areas, ran and chased all game to make options and close down, received and laid off very well under pressure, instrumental in stretching their backline and in many fast flowing moves and unlucky with a thumping header that went just over. Should perhaps have scored when through and maybe still should have had a penalty for that effort. On this showing, looked back to full strength and fitness and I believe goals will come.

Subs:
7. Andy Williams - 7/10 (68 mins for Andy Welsh): As with Welsh, cropped up on both wings and made a positive contribution going forward and tracking back. Looked to have ripped through like a tin-opener from a tight angle but just lost it as about to pull the trigger.

2. Craig Alcock - 7/10 (87 minutes for Gavin Williams): Not on long enough to get a mark but gets one anyway because I'm in happy mood after waiting since Stockport for an away win and he did have a couple or so good moments in that short time.

Today's opponents were not strong, also undoubtedly hindered by injuries to their preferred frontmen. The crowd figure of 3,127 comes as a surprise because it appeared on the eye to be less than the 3,000-mark actually seated in the ground. Walsall fans tend to be a talkative cheery bunch, but it is clear that they are facing a difficult time ahead. A quieter home crowd would be harder to find that to the point that I did wonder if a vow of silence had been arranged as some sort of protest. They have some things right, as Brizzol Glover (whom it was a pleasure for me to meet yesterday) noted on The Green Room 2: shame we couldn't have brought home their cracking supporters club. With their struggle for gates and now status both going so badly, it highlights the need for us to at least maintain what we've got.

Another pleasure was meeting John Sullivan on the train. If his is typical of the character and attitude of the young players at the club, then we are recruiting the right stuff and also it is clear that they value what the club offers to them. And a mention too for the fantastic continuous singing led by the younger supporters, well done and keep it going lads.

Next week's Rochdale test will be much sterner and will give a clearer guide of how well the improvement on the pitch is going. League One is proving to be as competitive as ever. Just a fortnight ago after letting in four goals at The Galpharm many were predicting Huddersfield to storm this League, yet a Yeovil win next week combined with a loss for The Terriers would see both teams on the same points. As the manager says, not to get too down in defeat or too up when we win, especially as this was a narrow win against weak opposition. If we push on from this result we will be alright, but we must look to take more of our chances.

Cruncher

The case for the defence

2010-10-01T20:43:00.000+01:00

A quickie blog this evening, ahead of tomorrow's game. There was an interesting post on the green room II this week. I'd better re-phrase that as it makes it sound like an interesting post is a rarity on that forum, which of course isn't the case. One of many interesting posts that caught my eye (that's better!) came from will_ran, who posted the following stats:

05-06 w3 d3 l4 pts12 (-4)
06-07 w4 d4 l2 pts16 (+3)
07-08 w4 d2 l4 pts14 (-2)
08-09 w1 d4 l5 pts7 (-11)
09-10 w2 d4 l4 pts10 (-1)
10-11 w2 d2 l5 pts8 (-8) (from first nine games)

In case it's not obvious that's YTFC's record for the first 10 games of the season from 2005-06 up 'til now. It's interesting because it shows that a win tomorrow at Walsall will actually show an improvement in our early season form for the last 2 season's in a row, albeit a very marginal improvement. Even a loss tomorrow would leave us with more points after 10 games than in the 08-09 season, so just maybe some of the doom and gloom that's been around over the last few weeks (including in this blog, before anyone says anything!) has been overdone. Of course the bare stats don't prove anything on their own, don't take into account who our opponents were each season and don't say anything much about where we're going to end up at the end of this season; nevertheless they do show that we've been in worse situations at this stage of the season in the past and come through it successfully - if continued League 1 survival is our definition of success. Which in my view is as good a definition for this club as any under our current ownership.

Well, I thought it was interesting! As mentioned above the Glovers travel to Walsall tomorrow, the Saddlers being one of only three clubs below us in the L1 table currently. The bookies make the home side 13/10 favourites for the win, the draw is priced at 23/10 and a Glovers win at 21/10. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: +£5.25p. Win, lose or draw, I will try not to over-react on Sunday!

L1: Yeovil Town 1 Southampton 1

2010-09-29T19:42:00.000+01:00

Well, that was better. The Glovers semi-bounced back from Saturday's 1-3 home defeat against Exeter with a well-deserved 1-1 draw against TBCDTR*, Southampton.

The Glovers began the game nervously, content to hammer the ball upfield whenever the opportunity arose. Andy Williams got on the end of one such long-ball in the sixth minute, skinned his fullback and drove into the penalty area. With only the keeper to beat he was pulled down from behind but incredibly neither the referee nor linesman saw anything wrong and play went on. A cast-iron penalty and red card for Dan Harding should have been the outcome and who knows what would have happened from there on, but inconsistent referee Simon Hooper bottled the decision - not by any means his only baffling decision of the night.

The Saints were next to threaten, Rick Lambert finding space in the Glovers box but crashing his shot off the bar when in all honesty it looked easier to score, a let-off for the home side. Gradually however Yeovil were beginning to find their form. There was no nonsense in defence with agricultural clearances the order of the day, but elsewhere the ball was being passed on the floor and half-chances being created. Shaun MacDonald hit a shot from outside the box which Saints keeper Kelvin Davis pushed round the post at the second attempt; and wingers Andy Welsh and Andy Williams both fired efforts over the bar. Dean Bowditch came close to giving the Glovers the lead at the end of the half after a lovely one-two with Gavin Williams, but his shot squirmed wide of the Saints post.

Early on in the second half Yeovil were again unlucky not to open the scoring when Andy Williams beat Davis in the Saints goal to a through ball from MacDonald. The winger's cross-cum-shot looked to be heading into the net but was intercepted by defender Radhi Jaidi on the line. Against the run of play the visitors went ahead on 56 minutes, and it was a frustrating and familiar goal to concede. Morgan Schneiderlin picked up the ball in his own half and with the home side's midfield AWOL drove forward unchallenged to the edge of the Glovers box before laying the ball off to an unmarked Guly Do Prado. Glovers keeper Stephen Henderson got his hand to the ball but couldn't keep out the Brazilian's shot. Heads could have dropped at that point but it's to Yeovil's credit that they kept going forwards. Eight minutes later they got their reward when Gavin Williams was dragged down in the box, an offence so blatant that even Mr Hooper couldn't avoid penalising it. Adam Virgo's penalty was placed perfectly, low and hard into the corner of the net. With substitutions from both sides breaking the flow of the game that was more-or-less the end of the Glovers as an attacking force with little in the way of chances being created in the final quarter. Southampton pressed again towards the end and were unfortunate to only hit the post in injury-time, but in truth a point was the least the Glovers deserved from their evening's work. An entertaining game played in a good atmosphere from both sets of fans, with a well-observed minute's applause for Len Harris at the start.

We lined up as follows in a 4-4-1-1 formation:

13. Stephen Henderson - 6/10: Well-protected by his defence apart from one lapse which led to the Saints goal. Did everything expected of him otherwise.

8. Luke Ayling - 6/10: Good defensive performance by the stand-in right-back who looked very solid in an unfamiliar position. Didn't venture forwards overmuch but perhaps that was no bad thing.

5. Paul Huntington - 7/10: Did what he does best by concentrating on his defending. Blocked shots, headed away crosses, thumped the ball out of the ground when necessary, or at least out of his own half. More of the same, please.

19. Adam Virgo - 8/10: Much the same comments apply as for Huntington, but he gets the extra point for a well-taken penalty, plus his clearances tended to be better placed. Indeed, some of his long passes to the right wing in particular were exquisite. Let's hope Skivo keeps him at centre half in future.

6. Nathan Smith - 7/10: Like the rest of the defence put his body on the line at times and one tackle in particular late in the second half was a goal-saver. Made some barnstorming runs forward which never actually came to much, if they had I'd have given him an 8.

7. Andrew Williams - 6/10: Should have been given a penalty in the first half as described above. Had something of a battle with his opposite number Dan Harding all match and the few times he escaped the full-back's attentions he always looked dangerous. Had an effort cleared off the line in the second half too. If I've got a criticism it's that sometimes he doesn't appear to have a huge amount of confidence in his own abilities but in my view he's got all the attributes to succeed - if only he would believe it.

20. Owain Tudur Jones - 7/10: He's been criticised for being lazy, not punching his weight, not looking interested enough and - bizarrely - for costing Norwich £250,000. Well, I thought he had a good game last night, linked up well with MacDonald and helped get the team passing the ball after a ropey start. I'd have liked to have seen him get forward more but had his hands full coping with an accomplished Southampton midfield and did well defensively, one lapse aside which cost a goal. More of the same against lesser sides would now be welcome.

25. Shaun MacDonald - 6/10: Decent performance from the Ginger Ninja who seemed to me to be consciously concentrating on the defensive aspects of his trade. Managed to get forward with good effect a couple of times, once with a shot that seriously bothered Davis in the visitors goal and he provided the pass that led to the penalty. Not quite back up to last season's level yet, but he's getting there.

11. Andy Welsh - 5/10: By no means a bad performance, tracked back well and linked up well with Smith going forward but not much in the way of end product. Had a couple of chances to test the keeper in the second half but because the ball was on his wrong foot chose to dribble or pass instead. Have a go next time, Andy! Subbed on 78 minutes.

24. Gavin Williams - 6/10: Quietish for most of the game but always capable of the odd bit of magic that changes games. Nearly did it with a lovely lay-off for Bowditch in the first half and of course was the man who was fouled for the penalty. Set-piece delivery wasn't quite on song, especially from corners. Went off injured at the end, hopefully it's nothing serious.

10. Dean Bowditch - 6/10: Busy performance without ever really threatening the opposition's goal, save for one effort late in the first half. I like the way he leads the line however and he never stopped running.

9. Sam Williams (87 mins for Andy Williams) - n/a: Won enough headers in his short time on the pitch to suggest he might have been worth bringing on a little earlier.

15. Cameron Stewart (78 mins for Andy Welsh) - n/a: The one chance he had to stretch his legs on the wing he was cynically brought down before he could get going. Spent most of the rest of the time defending.

One swallow doesn't make a summer and one decent performance on it's own means nothing, but at least Skivo got a response from the players last night after a bad couple of weeks. Results elsewhere meant that the Glovers dropped into the relegation zone. Walsall away are next up this Saturday, one of only three teams below us in the table. The pressure never stops.

*TBCDTR - The Big Club Down The Road, as opposed to TBCUTR.

Just read: Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming. Faulks has written some wonderful books in the past but this one is unlike anything he's done before. A fan of James Bond from an early age, this is his homage to Bond's creator, Ian Fleming - a brand new Bond adventure set in the height of the Cold War and written in Fleming's style. And it works brilliantly. The plot is as far-fetched as any of the original books, Bond is as suave and dangerous as ever, and the women are as alluring and devious as you might expect. The villain gets his comeuppance most satisfyingly and the whole thing is a rollicking roller-coaster of a read and great fun. Just don't take it too seriously!

It's just like deja-vu all over again

2010-09-27T16:56:00.000+01:00

I'm not going to say much about Saturday's 1-3 loss to Exeter City, mainly because I wasn't there but also because from the various reports I've read it sounds very similar to the last time we played the Grecians at home, which also resulted in a 1-3 loss. At any rate the result leaves the Glovers one place above the relegation zone with the worst goal difference in the division. We now play Southampton at home tomorrow night, followed by away games at fellow strugglers Walsall and a resurgent Rochdale. It's not hard to imagine that by the time we get back to Huish Park to entertain Sheffield Wednesday on October 16th that not only will we be by then firmly in the relegation zone but quite possibly bottom of the league. What's going wrong?

The abysmal goal difference figure provides the answer in my view. Quite simply we haven't replaced Steven Caulker and Terrell Forbes with players of the same quality. It would perhaps help if Adam Virgo was allowed to play regularly with Paul Huntington and not be shifted to wherever the latest injury crisis has occurred, but even then they both have the turning circle and acceleration from a standing start of a rusty oil tanker, so we're still vulnerable to pacey attacks. We weren't helped on Saturday by Craig Alcock's absence and in hindsight I'm sure Skivo will be regretting his decision to move Virgo to right back and bring in Stefan Stam to partner Huntington, but a manager lives and dies by such decisions and right now Skivo's judgement and tactical nous is being scrutinised as much as it ever has been by a fanbase - those of us that are left - getting increasingly impatient with poor results and worse performances.

Of course it's far too early in the season for real panic to set in and I would argue very strongly that Skivo deserves a lot more time and patience yet for his achievements in keeping us in the League One last season and the year before. But I do wonder if he'll get that time. As I said above we have a tough run of four games coming up now and on current form one can't see us picking up many points if any. All it will take is a few 'sack the Board' chants at the Sheffield Wednesday game for those at the top to start worrying about their own skins, and if there's one thing we do know about John Fry and Norman Hayward is that they can act with ruthless efficiency when criticism is directed at them. If I was Skivo I would be looking over both shoulders and praying for some results and clean sheets over the next fortnight. That Sheffield Wednesday game just might become pivotal otherwise.

As for tomorrow night's game the bookies unsurprisingly make the Saints evens favourites to win the match, with the draw at 5/2 and a home win at 13/5. I'd love to put my fiver on the home win but being realistic the draw looks much better value. Well, if we're being honest a Southampton win is the most likely outcome, but I I'm not going to start betting against us just yet. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: -£7.25p. I hear a certain well-known local dentist has put £20 on the Glovers winning tomorrow night, let's hope his faith is rewarded. And if he loses then we will all know why a filling is so soddin' expensive these days.

It was sad to see the news that Len Harris has passed away, aged 73. I'm old enough myself to have just caught him in action at the end of his YTFC career, as part of the Southern League winning side in 1971 until he retired from the game a year later. He clocked up an incredible 691 appearances for the Glovers, a record that will surely now never be broken. Like so many others I remember him from my time at Yeovil School and used to see him pretty much every day walking to the College as it was then after the grammar school closed. He always used to smile and nod, and always had time for a chat. A nice man and he will be missed. Dellboy's appreciation of Len, written in 2003, is a must read.

Just read: Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. Not quite an horror story and not quite a romance and not quite an historical tale and not quite a murder thriller either; rather a mix of all four. Slow going at times but Mosse is such a good writer that it kept my interest for all it's 500-odd pages. Must try Labyrinth next....

More new kids on the blog

2010-09-22T18:41:00.000+01:00

It's good to see a few new blogs springing up focussing on the mighty Glovers. Aside from my own humble effort and Vyse's Green and White Blog, which I've mentioned before; three other places to go for your Glovers fix have sprung into being, available on the interweb for all to browse.

I was saddened when Ed shut down his Achieve By Unity forum. His forum provided a valuable service for Glovers fans with nowhere to go to discuss YTFC matters following the closure of the original green room, so it was a shame to see it close in turn following the opening of the new green room II. Having said that, it would be hypocritical of me to pretend that I liked the format of the Achieve by Unity forum overmuch or indeed, by the end, much of the content. Such is life. Despite stopping using the forum myself, I still felt it had it's place in the scheme of things and it was a pity to see it go. It's good to see anyway that Ed has bounced back with a new blog, called (what else?) Achieve by Unity. Early days yet, but the best of luck to him with it.

Second up we have Barrett Sports Writing. Blog owner Ben Barrett is a journalism graduate/YTFC fan who has contributed articles for the Glovers programme and official website. His blog includes match reports, general comments on YTFC affairs and interviews with former players. Well worth a read and well worth checking out regularly.

Last but not least is Martin McConachie's new site, Mac the Hack. As I'm sure most people know Martin is the YTFC fan poacher turned gamekeeper who took over running the club's then moribund official website and even worse match-day programme and turned them both around into the relevant and readable publications they are today. Mac the Hack is not so much a blog, more a collection of interviews and articles from the matchday programme. As such makes fascinating reading and well worth a browse through.

And while I'm at it, it occurs that I ought to mention one more site that is becoming of increasing relevance to the wider Glovers fanbase, not just the narrower constituency they ostensibly serve - the Capital Glovers. Set up for the benefit of Yeovil fans living in London and the south-east, the Capital Glovers have been amongst the vanguard of supporters concerned about the impact of Holdingsgate on the club and have just published another open letter to the Board on the subject and calling for an open meeting between the Board and interested fans to discuss the issue. It remains to be seen whether or not the club will respond to them.

This weekend the Glovers host Exeter City in a League One fixture, but of course the game will inevitably be rightly overshadowed by the various tributes being made to the late Adam Stansfield. I was looking forward to this fixture immensely but found out last week that I've been booked in for a minor operation in hospital on Friday, so unfortunately I won't be present at Huish Park for what will be, I'm sure, an emotional occasion. If you're going, please give Adam an extra clap for me.

The bookies make the Glovers 11/8 favourites to win the game, the draw is priced at 9/4 and an Exeter win at 2/1. My fiver's going on the home win. Running total: -£2.25p. My thanks must go to the Press Association hack who credited Paul Huntington with scoring the Glovers second goal at Huddersfield last week, when the real scorer was Owain Tudur-Jones. His error led to Bet365.com paying out on my side bet of Huntington scoring a goal at anytime at 18/1, not often the bookies give you something for nothing!

Just read, Or just reading really, as I'm half way through at the moment: Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. Really enjoyed The Winter Ghosts by the same author and so far I'm enjoying this one too. though it's a bit slower going. More on it when I've finished it. Just took delivery of my latest order from Amazon. Coming up soon: The Wind-Up Girl by Paulo Bacigalupi; The Evolutionary Void by Peter F Hamilton; the new Shardlake novel, Heartstone by CJ Samsom; Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley; and Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson. Can't wait!

L1: Huddersfield Town 4 Yeovil Town 2

2010-09-19T17:46:00.000+01:00

Better but no cure from the Galpharmacy - by Cruncher

Huddersfield was always going to be a difficult place to find a cure for Meadow Lane travel sickness. Realistic conclusion from yesterday though isn't complex: we we were beaten by a stronger team that we couldn't stand up to for long enough, and it is analysis of that which is now needed to pave the way for further progression. Yielding a deserved 2-0 lead to lose 4-2 is not the obvious antidote to the damaging venom of a 4-0 away trouncing, but this Yeovil performance did continue some promise from the home win against Tranmere.

The Galpharmacy (oh dear) prescribed symptom relief. Whilst that included great disappointment at seeing potential winning joy turn to the misery of defeat, cautious hope is renewed. Yesterday, individually and collectively Yeovil proved that they can do the bottom-line requirement of performing and competing at League One level. Early on they did that marvellously well and in all departments, but now the next stage of progress has to be something that has been a long-term bugbear of Terry Skiverton's men: becoming a ninety-minutes team.

This was not a matter of chalk and cheese separated by half-time, there was a handover of superiority that started in the first-half. Here though I am glibly talking of an initial Yeovil superiority that we had no right to expect - to the team and management's credit that happy surprise was convincingly achieved in the first portion of the first half. Yeovil including the two enforced changes of Owain Tudur Jones and Stephen Henderson had stepped up to the mark: purposeful, precise and penetrating forward-play, with effective closing down and mopping up, as well as resilient and organised defending.

Dean Bowditch's sweet turn-and-strike from Craig Alcock's low-drive into the box, followed by Owain Tudur Jones's crisp stab to put away Gavin Williams's fine free-kick, provided for a two-goal cushion inside just fifteen minutes that sent the faithful 166 into merriment. How joyful it had been in those early stages at 2-0: young supporters who had trudged out of Meadow Lane looking at their shoes (until they got to Hooters) a fortnight ago were in full voice asking the Yorkshire faithful if we could play them every week and if they were Tranmere in disguise; the admirable drummer had more power to his elbow and even cautious elders amongst the 166 dared to hope of three points.

The key though could be defined by one thing: Yeovil keeping a high-line. As the half wore on, Huddersfield bit-by-bit managed to force the cheeky upstarts from Somerset onto the back foot, to the extent where prolonged periods of build-up play occurred to all sides of the Yeovil area. And although the defence was resolute and the Terriers weren't exactly baring their teeth, as well as Yeovil still on occasion threatening to punish on the break, the momentum was shifting. The half-time need for the home team was to sharpen up their act to turn territory into points, while Yeovil needed to alter things to suit how the balance of play had swung.

Huddersfield brought on Joey Gudjohnson, a midfield change which certainly did make an impact. Within minutes, they were level with a well-taken strike from Scott Arfield that owed to overall Huddersfield persistence rather than guile as it fell kindly to him, but it was a neat effort and a deserved reward for the home pressure. Yeovil responded soon after by replacing Andy Welsh with Luke Ayling. Welsh had been instrumental to the early joy, but now was deemed surplus to requirements with defensive duty now uppermost in mind. The change though did not appear to help Yeovil's cause, with Ayling close to giving a penalty away almost immediately, quickly followed by Huddersfield hitting the woodwork. Ayling appeared to slot in on the left as a direct replacement for Welsh, but the overall formation was now not too obvious either to the spectators or, it seemed, to the team.

Which perhaps accounts for the ensuing disaster of a three-minute spell providing for two rapid-fire goals by the gleefully (and on this occasion so aptly) announced 'Boom Boom Jamie McCombe'. The first was a centre-half's header from a right-wing cross, the second a centre-forward's turn and shot across the angle into the far corner - McCombe's lack of renown for adept forward play is perhaps why he was given too much time and space. Yeovil's fate was sealed, they could not regain anywhere near the punch they had in the first period.

Gary Roberts' penalty rubbed salt in the wound, replays confirm that it was a harsh decision but overall the referee was better than the norm, although he ought to have given yellow cards for persistent Huddersfield fouling in the first half. Another possible gripe is the decision not to award a foul on Bowditch early on when clean through, but it was hard to tell from distance. Indeed, the away support were unsure about both goalscorers for some time, and not only us myopic middle-aged.

Not an overall bad display, in fact individual contributions were good, but (as last year at the Galpharm) it was frustrating not to come away with a result. In hindsight we probably took advantage (and impressively so) of early Huddersfield flaws until they ironed them out. Adapting strategy during a game, and mental toughness, have perhaps become overdue considerations; but poor efforts against Hartlepool and Notts County had made for the need to concentrate on basic issues.

Goals conceded is a definite concern, at Meadow lane individual errors were more glaring. After a definite improvement in the away performance at the Galpharm, it throws more emphasis on to Terry Skiverton to stop the team from being penned in their own half especially for long periods. Exeter and Southampton will be the immediate tests of whether essential home form can be continued; Walsall will be an eagerly awaited test against less-fancied opposition to see if the good stuff at the Galpharm (and when it was good it was very good) is indicative of an ability to accumulate some much-wanted away points.

Even the well-defeated Tranmere came back to get some grip on the game, so combine that with yesterday and we are walking a bit of a tightrope. There is hope from both games that we can positively take a game to anyone, while also worry from both games that we cannot eradicate or reduce long periods of vulnerability.

First and foremost we need to ensure Gavin Williams has attacking freedom above defensive duty, which needs to include adapting the game plan as required should the opposition suss out the original strategy. That is one dilemma for manager to Skiverton to sort out, another is to decide on the line-up out of yesterday's starters added to Jean-Paul Kalala (hopefully fit for Exeter) and Sam Williams, and possibly Luke Freeman.

Are we good enough? ... I don't know. Could we be good enough? ... I think so, if we can maintain a full-strength squad. Those next three games will I think give good indication one way or the other.

Cruncher

I don't like cricket, oh no. I love it!

2010-09-17T12:09:00.000+01:00

Credit where it's due, you have to hand it to Martyn Starnes. The club's Chief Executive showed this week that he has his finger firmly on the pulse of public opinion by blaming last Saturday's paltry attendance of 3,364 on the fact that Somerset were playing a one-day cricket match 26 miles away at Taunton.

The sad thing, he's probably right. A few hundred sports fans who otherwise might have come to Huish Park to watch the Glovers take on Tranmere Rovers probably did find it all to easy to change their plans and go and watch a cricket match instead. Okay, they would have to pay slightly more for their entertainment, £18 a ticket in advance at Taunton as compared to £15-£18 at Huish Park, depending on whether you want to sit or stand; or £22 on the day at the cricket, compared to £17-£20 at Yeovil. But there again, go to the cricket and you're entertained all day for your money, go to the football and 2 hours later you've got to go home.

In fact it's quite interesting to make some more comparisons. Fancy something to eat at the County Ground? No problem sir. Choose from the match-day carvery, or something off the menu in the two (count 'em!) different restaurants, one for members and one for non-members. If your tastes run to plainer fare there's a fish 'n' chips outlet and any amount of kiosks and burger bars. Fancy a drink? You're in luck! Choose from three (count 'em!) different bars and if you want to take your drink to your seat to watch the action they'll give you a tray to carry it on. I think I'll stop there. It's perhaps lucky for the football club that the football and cricket season's don't overlap too much. If both sports are trying to attract the same audience then as far as facilities are concerned the cricket wins hands down.

One thing the football club has often been accused of in the past is failing to make the most of what facilities do exist at Huish Park, particularly the upstairs bars. Apart from at home games, Sunday carveries and the odd private party the main bar is never in use, a waste of a perfectly good venue. It's good to report then that today the club has published a Huish Park Leisure Guide with details of forthcoming events at the club. Attractions coming up before Christmas include stand-up comedy nights, Pink, Elvis and Abba tribute acts, a meet the manager night and various other entertainments. As far as I know it's the first time the club has ever attempted such an ambitious programme of entertainment. I hope it succeeds. We've all been moaning on for years that there's never anything on at the club, well now there is. If the events are well supported then it might be enough to show that a new social club is not only needed, it's actually wanted. Good luck to the club in this very worthwhile venture.

As for this weekend's football, the Glovers are away at promotion favourites Huddersfield. Regular keeper John Sullivan is injured so Skivo has brought in Stephen Henderson on loan from Bristol City to replace him. A good choice I'm sure in most people's eyes, Henderson is a fine keeper who's been unlucky not to feature more for TBCUTR. Apart from that I wouldn't expect the gaffer to change a winning team, injuries permitting. The bookies make the home side very firm favourites at 8/15 on, the draw is priced at 3/1 and a Glovers win at a frankly insulting 5/1. We don't actually have a bad record at the Galpharm since we entered the football league - played 6, won 2, drawn 1, lost 3; and I fancy us to add to that this weekend. A win may be too much to ask so my fiver's going on the draw. Running total: +£3.25p.

Just read: Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald: Not so much a prequel or a sequel to the author's award-winning River of Gods, more a companion-piece. A super collection of short stories set in India 50 years from now; an India split into many smaller nation-states, where wars are fought over water rights, where boys outnumber girls by 4 to 1, and where tv soap stars are actually virtual reality AI's... Recommended.

L1: Yeovil Town 3 Tranmere Rovers 1

2010-09-12T18:57:00.000+01:00

That's better. The Glovers bounced back from last week's mauling in the Midlands with a well-deserved 3-1 win over Tranmere Rovers. Terry Skiverton's men blew the visitors away with 3 first half goals without reply. The Glovers went off the boil somewhat in the second half, contenting themselves with containing Tranmere and playing on the break. The visitors scored a consolation penalty in the final minute, but that was the only blemish on an encouraging overall display from the home side.

Yeovil's domination of the first half was as complete as it was surprising. The team lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, Gavin Williams playing behind Dean Bowditch up front, Andy Williams returning from injury on the right and Sean MacDonald taking up his usual central midfield role. The excellent Bowditch opened the scoring on 7 minutes, a fluffed goalkick rebounding to the striker who made no mistake with a well-placed shot from around 35 yards to beat the scrabbling keeper. The Glovers doubled their advantage 4 minutes later, Andy Williams supplying the cross which allowed left-winger Andy Welsh to score in the far corner with a well-placed header. Paul Huntington made it 3-0 on 27 minutes, prodding home after a scramble in the box following an Andy Williams free-kick. Modesty forbids me from gloating about the fiver I had on Huntington to score at anytime at 12/1! Three goals by half-time then and it could have been more. Gavin Williams forced the Rovers keeper into several saves and was denied what appeared to be an obvious penalty after being tripped in the box, and Andy Williams headed straight at Collister in the visitors goal when it looked easier to score. But all in all a fine first 45 minutes for the Glovers, with Super Gav and Bowditch looking like they'd played together all their lives and the team as a whole playing with pace, energy and purpose, keeping the ball on the floor in the main and running the visitors ragged.

It was perhaps asking too much for the Glovers to dominate the second half as much as they did the first, and the visitors saw more of the ball after the break. Even then, any Yeovil alarms were largely self-inflicted with Adam Virgo and John Sullivan getting in each other's way on one occasion and almost letting in Arnaud Mendy. JP Kalala was unlucky with a thunderbolt from 20 yards which scraped the bar and substitute Luke Freeman screwed his shot narrowly wide when one-on-one with keeper Collister. Adam Virgo thought he'd made it 4-0 with a far-post header late in the game, but the referee disagreed, penalising the big defender for climbing on his opponent, a poor decision from where I was sitting. Tranmere got their consolation in the final minute, Nathan Smith pulling back Lucas Akin to give away a penalty, which Ian Thomas-Moore converted.

The Glovers lined up as follows:

1. John Sullivan: 6/10 - Competent display. Didn't have much to do until later in the second half but coped well enough with the few shots Rovers managed on target. Maybe some concerns over a lack of communication with his defenders at times.

2. Craig Alcock: 7/10 - Very good first half, got forward well to support Andy Williams on the right and always available for the pass. Quieter second half, came close to scoring with a header from a corner.

5. Paul Huntington: 8/10 - Probably his most convincing defensive display so far in his short YTFC career. On top of that he's been threatening to score for a few games now and was in the right place at the right time.

19. Adam Virgo: 8/10 - Same comments as above, but was unlucky inasmuch his goal was disallowed. Needs to listen to his goalkeeper a bit more, especially when Mr Sullivan is shouting "my ball!" Some of his long passes to the wings were works of art.

6. Nathan Smith: 7/10 - That's more like it. Solid defensively and made some barnstorming runs forward with the ball in the first half in particular. Quieter second half and I've marked him down a point for giving away an unnecessary penalty.

7. Andrew Williams: 8/10 - Not heard his name mentioned much in regard to yesterday's game but I thought he was excellent. A constant threat on the right in the first half in particular, provided the assist for Welsh's goal and linked up well with his fullback, the midfield and his forwards. We've missed him these last few games.

25. Shaun MacDonald: 8/10 - You don't know what you've lost 'til it's gone, as the song goes, but we knew exactly what we were missing when the Ginger Ninja went back to South Wales. Graft, application, hard-tackling, accurate passing but above all else bags of skill. Swansea must have some absolutely fantastic midfield players if this fella is surplus to requirements. Ah well, their loss is our gain.

21. Jean-Paul Kalala: 7/10 - Battling. Bustling. Bristling. Belligerent. Business as usual, in other words. Unlucky with one effort in the second half that skimmed the bar.

11. Andy Welsh: 7/10 - Marked him up a point for the way he took his goal - a well-placed header (of all things) away from the keeper into the far corner of the net. Slightly quiet match otherwise.

24. Gavin Williams: 7/10 - His mere presence gave everyone else a lift, crowd and players alike. Linked up well with Bowditch and always made himself available for the pass. Always appeared to have plenty of time and space come to that and popped up all over the pitch. Faded a bit as the match wore on but he hasn't got his match legs yet. Much, much, much more to come.

10. Dean Bowditch: 8/10 - Lead the line with great verve and energy. Excellent finish for his goal and looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself all afternoon.

Subs:
8. Luke Ayling (90 mins for Dean Bowditch): n/a - Not on long enough to affect the game.

18. Luke Freeman (84 mins for Andrew Williams): 5/10 - Barely on long enough to affect the game, but had one golden opportunity when one-on-one with the Tranmere keeper, which he fluffed. Might find chances to impress are hard to come by, in the next few weeks at least.

20. Owain Tudur-Jones (90 mins for Andy Welsh): n/a - Not on long enough to affect the game.

Crisis? What crisis? Play like this every game and my pre-season prediction of a 9th-place finish might not sound as daft as it did this time last week. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, again. Tranmere were ravaged by injuries and in the first half at least were as accommodating to their hosts as any away team could ever be. Having said that you can only beat what's put in front of you, and beat them we did, convincingly. What was most pleasing was the almost complete absence of the vaguely-aimed long-ball up front. Passes were to feet, or into space for players to run onto and possession wasn't just frittered away. Not that was to the taste of some in the crowd. I felt sorry for Andy Williams in particular at one point in the first half when instead of whacking a long-ball forward to no-one in particular he elected to pass back to Craig Alcock and keep possession instead. 'Get it bloody FORWARD Williams' came one stentorian bellow from behind me, followed by other shouts of displeasure, including, I swear, 'bloody rubbish Yeovil!' The beautiful game still has some way to go before it filters down into certain parts of South Somerset.

Still, at least the long-ball fans turned up. Yesterday's crowd was a miserly 3,364, the second-worse attendance at Huish Park since we joined the Football League. And that's with the return of Super Gav and Shaun MacDonald figured in. If that doesn't give the Board some serious concern and pause for thought, then nothing will.

Just read: Transition by Iain Banks: For me, Banks is one of those authors who could make a shopping list gripping. Love his books, particularly his science-fiction, which he releases under the name 'Iain M Banks'. This one's without the 'M', but don't be fooled, it's as science-fiction as they come. Infinite parallel worlds and multiple story-lines with diverse characters all of which come together in a thrilling and satisfying finish. Highly recommended.

Return of the Talisman

2010-09-10T15:26:00.000+01:00

Can I just say how glad I am to see Super Gavin Williams back where he belongs, playing in the green-and-white of Yeovil Town. The worst-kept secret of the summer finally came true yesterday, with the news that Super Gav has signed on loan until the middle of December. That will do for now. We'd all like it to be for longer, we'd all like it to be permanent, we'll all have to be realistic and accept that that is the best we can do at this moment in time.

Interesting to see the club acknowledge the role played by three businessmen supporters in bringing Gav back to South Somerset. Ben Tupman of Westbury Packaging, Simon Prout of Avon Valley Motor Sales and Rob Tizzard of TZZ Estates have all been thanked by the club, presumably for contributing to the player's wages, though that's not spelled out in so many words. If that's what they've done, then unlike some supporters on the various forums, I've got no problem with that at all. If I had the spare cash (chance would be a fine thing) I would more than happily be willing to contribute to the wages of a player of the calibre of a Gavin Williams. I don't see it as any different to sponsoring a player, or even signing up to the club's lottery - it's all money from fans being given to the club, the only difference here is that the Super Gav Three know exactly what their money is being spent on. Nothing wrong with that and well done to them.

It's curious though that in the past the club have always fought shy of relying on supporters to subsidise wages. I can remember various groups offering to do similar things only for the club to politely refuse their help. I wonder what's changed their mind now? The obvious answer is that we have problems, on and off the pitch. New blood will help on the pitch, off the pitch the solution could well be the same. New blood in the boardroom, new blood in key roles, new ideas, new enthusiasm. Revenue streams revitalised, supporters re-energised and crowds increasing. If the current owners aren't capable of providing the resources and the leadership to keep the club at this level, then sell up to someone who can.

O brave new world. Skivo's problem for tomorrow's home game against Tranmere is who of his 7 loanees to leave out. I haven't picked the gaffer's team for him for a while, so here's my shot at it: A 4-1-3-2 formation. Sullivan in goal (1 loanee), back four of Alcock, Virgo, Huntington and Smith. Yes, Smith. The more Nathan plays, the better he gets and although he's started the season poorly he can and will improve, if he's given games. In midfield I would play Kalala as the sole holding midfielder, playing 2 holding midfielders at home is overkill and unnecessary. In front of him and playing as attacking midfielders prepared to get forward and support the frontmen I'd pick Tudur-Jones (2nd loanee) and MacDonald (3rd loanee), plus an-out-and-out winger - Andy Williams for preference, Welsh if he's unfit - who can switch flanks as and when necessary. Super Gav (4th loanee) as second striker and Bowditch the main striker. On the bench Roberts, Stam, Ayling, Upson, Stewart (5th loanee), Calver and either Welsh or Gibson, depending if Andy Williams plays or not. Freeman and Kiernan (5th and 6th loanees) miss out this time. 4-1 win (we're bound to let in at least 1), 3 points, job done. An hugely important game for Skivo tomorrow. A win, any win, and all the worries will evaporate, at least for a week. Another disappointing performance and a loss, especially with the presence of the Talisman in the team, and the pressure on the manager will be enormous.

The bookies make the Glovers 11/10 favourites for tomorrow's game, with the draw at 9/4 and a Tranmere win at 13/5. My fiver has to go on the home win. Running total: -£7.25p.

L1: Notts County 4 Yeovil Town 0

2010-09-05T20:37:00.002+01:00

Dismal Day At The County Show - by Cruncher

Following the staunch display against Oldham, my confidence was not even dented by the LDV Vans Trophy defeat to Exeter. Notts County were to be the Hartlepool chance that we fluffed, and while not glib enough to expect a win I hoped we were at least ripe for a decent performance. High hopes indeed, for some cohesion and purpose, and that the words of the day might be pass and move. As it transpired, the two words I heard most were Hooters and crap. Oh and nil, I heard that a lot.

Hearing of Dean Bowditch's unavailability, I checked out the ten outfield players warming up with Darren Way to guess at what might be the formation. Hmm, three centre-halves - most likely going to be Adam Virgo up front, though I did hope for three hoofers holding the fort enabling the full-backs (who by reports had been struggling defensively) to block out the threats from wide, as well as to get forward as is their strength. Unfortunately it was the former, Virgo though put in a shift and I admired his effort. Luke Freeman alongside also tried hard and showed glimpses of class, but the odds were stacked against him and the rest of a mish-mash of a starting eleven.

Luke Ayling (stuck out towards the right rather than on it) proved to be the wrong choice for balance that it appeared it would be, as I saw it. I have sympathy for the manager's overall task, but was despondent he ignored Cameron Stewart on the right, a choice I think that created a disadvantage from the start. It was my pleasure to meet Matt from Wellingborough. He was obviously drawn to Hooters for its well-known intellectual debate, where pre-match he learned from County fans that 'if Yeovil have wingers against our full backs, then they will win.'

We coped well enough for the first quarter. Contrary to murmurs about Stefan Stam's showing and my own suspicion he might be rusty, he and Paul Huntington snuffed out both the skill and cunning of the County attack quite competently in that period, aided by the home side's midfield wasting of the final ball. Yeovil forced some useful corners and did get forward, but it was two sides slugging against each other, certainly not poetry. The most likely scenario was that one side would give the other a way in, and that is what happened with the first goal.

John Sullivan may well have got the ball before Craig Westcarr hooked it over him, if he had continued his initial movement forward, or saved if he had not moved. I could not tell what did or didn't happen between Stam and his keeper, but my thoughts at the time revisited my belief during the warm-up that it would be better to have kept Virgo and Huntington together, to keep their learning curve of each other moving forward, rather than to bust two departments of the pitch in one go. In the context of two blunt teams both looking like relegation fodder, the first goal was a big moment. Both the team and the away support were visibly set back, a reflection on our current fragility. All credit though to the young group who sang themselves hoarse, they were rockin' and kept at it admirably.

Yeovil were on the back foot, and it didn't take long for that to be compounded. It signalled for County's approach play to get better, to coincide with the Yeovil defensive work to fall apart, culminating firstly in an an unchallenged stinger from Ben Davies which Sullivan puzzlingly parried behind himself for the second goal, and then another gift for Davies just seconds before the half-time whistle. That third goal was a terrible blow, County appeared to have no ambition of a forward thrust in those dying seconds before the break, when all of a sudden a gap opened up as if sending a leper into a bus queue.

The Meadow Lane 100 Years celebrations had set the scene for the hosts, and the pre-match procession of over fifty veterans was befitting the occasion. This was County's Show, but at no time could I see either team's display on the day showing them to be contenders to beat the drop. Lee Hughes's volley was well-taken for their fourth. Such basic glaring problems seem to beset this Yeovil side - despite setting out their stall from pre-season to play to a quick enterprising style, they seem unable to create angles either for the pass or or to stretch the opposition. The back four was easily hurried into hoofing the ball away, whereas the County back four could pass it around with time and space, with their midfielders dropping back to collect-and-build.

A disappointed, despondent and demoralised away support on a thoroughly dismal day. Thoughts turned to two situations: what could be done about the here and now, and what was going to happen to our club long-term? For me, I couldn't help but get the two tangled up, trudging back to the station wedged in amongst the merry men of Nottingham (many soon-to-be-merrier Hooter's-bound), wondering how it would all pan out.

At the final whistle, I detected a hint that displeasure was going to erupt. Manager Terry Skiverton strode boldly across with purposeful stride applauding the support, with players summoned to follow. A bighearted response from a bighearted man, there is no doubt, that also served to quell the revolt, at least that's how it seemed. He does seem to have got himself into some dilemmas: soon there will be too many loan players which was opposite to the declared intent, and we have a number of contracted players who don't seem to be anywhere near ready.

These dilemmas arise as a result of trying to make a difficult situation work, and are similar to those that beset Russell Slade. Just a short jog away was the scene of that dream Nottingham night, now we return to the city for a nightmare. It transpired as some suspected that the Wembley push was an overspend year - what is clear since on continuing falling crowds is that, without having got revenue streams in place, we are falling further off the pace as a competitive financial force in League One.

Which is why HHH's post on Achieve by Unity is significant. And as it is his first post in the six months since the forum started, a long-time coming like a Terrell Forbes goal with similar impact.

Dismal is the only word apart from expletives that describes the performance. In 180 minutes of League One football County had scored just once at home prior to yesterday. They were crying out for a soft touch to kick-start their season - the team from Somerset duly obliged.

Cruncher

FLTR1: Yeovil Town 1 Exeter City 3

2010-09-02T21:18:00.000+01:00

Another first round cup competition: Another defeat. Terry Skiverton's unwanted record of failure in knock-out competitions continues apace. What's left for this season? On this form a battle against relegation and, er, that's it.

Tuesday night's Football League Trophy game against Exeter was disappointing on several levels. The Glovers began the game reasonably well and created several half-chances without reward but it was the visitors who went ahead with only 10 minutes gone and in the simplest of fashions, a long-ball seeing the veteran Jamie Cureton beating Adam Virgo for pace and finding the net from an acute angle. You might have thought that the Glovers would learn from the goal, but as the half wore on the same scenario was repeated 3 or 4 times, but with keeper John Sullivan proving his worth with some very good saves. Paul Huntington was unlucky not to score when his volley from the edge of the box crashed off the bar, but aside from that effort the Glovers were huffing and puffing with a lot of the ball but not much in the way of inspiration. On the stroke of half-time Sam Williams reminded us that he was still on the pitch when he head-butted Exeter's James Dunne after a spot of handbags in the visitor's penalty area, a piece of rank stupidity that will now see him banned for the next 3 games following the inevitable red card.

So, 1 goal down at half-time and down to 10 men, the Glovers collapsed, right? Well, no, actually. In Williams' absence the team seemed to realise that there was no point in punting the ball aimlessly upfield in the general direction of an (ineffective) target-man, instead they began to pass the ball on the floor at pace, began using the wings and the midfield started pushing forward to support lone striker Dean Bowditch up front. And glory be, whaddayouknow, it began to work. Chances were being created, the crowd got behind the 10 men and we all began to remember that football can be entertaining after all, not just prosaic and mundane. Stewart, Tudur-Jones and Bowditch all went close before Andy Welsh notched a well-deserved equaliser on 76 minutes, the winger picking up a loose ball on the edge of the box following a blocked Bowditch effort and rifling home. All the good work the Glovers had put in since the break went to waste immediately after however, when virtually from the re-start the Grecians regained their lead. And again, it was a sickeningly simple goal to concede. Jamie Thompson wasn't closed down quickly enough on the right and his cross found an unmarked Cureton in the box who had all the time he needed to fire a shot past Sullivan from close-range. Schoolboy defending at best. The Glovers went for broke, sending Virgo up front in a 3-3-3 formation but to no avail and it was the visitors who had the last word, Ryan Harley firing home a splendid free-kick to give the scoreline that extra bit of gloss.

We lined up as follows (4-2-3-1):

1. John Sullivan: 7/10 - Couldn't fault him for any of the goals and made some excellent stops to deny Exeter even more. We couldn't have complained if they had scored 3 in the first half alone. Deserves far more protection than he's currently getting.

2. Craig Alcock: 5/10 - No lack of effort but a definite lack of inspiration. To be fair he had his work cut out defensively as all too often was left two-on-one against attackers with Cameron Stewart AWOL somewhere up the field. Looked frustrated.

5. Paul Huntington: 5/10 - You would have hoped that after 6 games together both Huntington and partner Adam Virgo would be forging a solid defensive partnership. Not much sign of it so far. Unlucky not to score himself when he hit the bar in the first half, but he's there to defend above all else.

19. Adam Virgo: 5/10 - Same comments as above. Almost redeemed himself with a brief cameo as emergency target-man late in the second half, and actually won more balls and made more of a nuisance of himself in that 10 minutes than Sam Williams managed in an entire half - which ought to give the manager some food for thought.

6. Nathan Smith: 5/10 - Strangely subdued performance. Didn't get forward much, looked vulnerable defensively; what's happened to the Nathan Smith that was galloping up and down the left flank creating havoc in the latter half of last season?

15. Cameron Stewart: 6/10 - Like the curate's egg, good in parts. Showed some lovely touches and flicks and at times looked genuinely exciting when running with the ball at the Grecians defence, but rather too often his crosses came to nothing. Tended to go missing from the action and I suspect Craig Alcock will be having words about his tracking back, or lack of it. Having said all that at last showing glimpses of what he might be capable of. More to come, hopefully.

20. Owain Tudur Jones: 7/10 - Didn't do much wrong, and did quite a few things pretty well. Was unlucky not to score twice with shots from the edge of the box and was evidently at least trying to get forward to support the strikers. Provided a presence in midfield that was lacking in previous home games.

21. Jean-Paul Kalala: 6/10 - Usual solid defensive display, but didn't add much going forward. Taken off after 61 minutes with a possible hamstring strain.

11. Andy Welsh: 7/10 - Marked him up a point for taking his goal well, but like Cameron Stewart tended to fade in and out of the game a touch. Of course it would have helped if he had the ball passed to him as much in the first half as he started to receive it after the break, but still...

9. Sam Williams: 2/10 - No lack of effort as usual and puts himself about but, I'm sorry, I'm starting to lose patience. His flick-on's rarely lead to anything, he doesn't hold the ball up particularly well and as a striker his goal record is poor to say the least. I'm not going to say his lack of discipline cost us the game because we actually played better and looked more threatening after he was sent off, but what was most telling was that when Adam Virgo went up front to play the target-man role he looked more effective in 10 minutes than Williams has managed in 5 and a half games this season. Perhaps I'm being harsh, but I don't think so and we've now got 3 games to see how we cope without him.

10. Dean Bowditch: 6/10 - Marked him down a point because for all his good movement and efforts on goal I can't recall him actually making their keeper make a save. He should take a leaf from Jamie Cureton's book - all his shots were on-target and forced John Sullivan to save. If he didn't, Cureton scored. Easy game really, isn't it?

Subs:
8. Luke Ayling (61 mins for Jean-Paul Kalala): 6/10 - Decent display. Looked to be playing a more defensive role, allowing Tudur-Jones to get forward more.

18. Luke Freeman (83 mins for Cameron Stewart): n/a - Not on long enough to make a difference.

It's been a sobering month. Played 6, won 1, drawn 1, lost 4. Scored 4, conceded 9. Oh, and two players shown red cards in those 6 games. The bare facts show a team in some trouble and in need of a lift. Hopefully the return of Shaun MacDonald (when he's finished playing for Wales u-21's) will provide a boost and Skivo has said that he's looking for another forward to add to his attacking options. Bear in mind that that means either a free agent now the transfer window has closed or another loan - and we already have 7 loan players at the club, with a maximum of 5 loanees available for the matchday squad. At this rate the manager is going to have his work cut out to keep all of his loanees - and their parent clubs - happy. Interesting times!

The Glovers travel to newly promoted Notts County this weekend for an L1 fixture. As mentioned above they'll definitely be without Sam Williams and have Shaun MacDonald and Rob Kiernan unavailable because of international commitments. Added to that JP Kalala and Paul Huntington both limped out of the Exeter game before the end, it remains to be seen whether they'll be fit for Saturday. Andy Williams also missed Tuesday night's game, it's to be hoped he'll be back for Saturday. The bookies make County 5/6 favourites for the win, the draw is priced at 12/5 and a Glovers win at 7/2. I detest betting against my own team but that would be the smart thing to do on current form. However I'll let my heart rule my head. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: -£2.25p

Just read: Assegai by Wilbur Smith: And it's Wilbur Smith by numbers. Do we have a manly hero with a surname of Courtney? Check. A brutal protagonist with scars and an evil laugh? Check. A beautiful heroine who 'belongs' to the brutal protaganist who eventually falls for the manly hero called Courtney? Check. Noble natives who serve the white men faithfully while keeping their dignity at all times? Check. Ferocious lions being slaughtered to order? Check. Ditto elephants, buffalo, rhino's and anything else on four legs? Check. I think I'm definitely all Wilbured out now. He's going through the motions, and so was I reading it. Merde.

It's the hope that hurts

2010-08-30T21:03:00.000+01:00

Catch-up time. This blog is a Holdingsgate-free zone, at least for today. We've seen a couple of unexpected new signings since the last time I blogged as well as the confirmation of longer-term loans on a couple more; added to which the rumour-mill, fuelled by no less a source than Skivo himself, has gone wild with the possibility of one more big signing before the transfer window shuts at 6pm tomorrow. Oh, the possibilities! If one was of a cynical frame of mind then one might conclude that the Glovers Board had relaxed the purse-strings somewhat in order to distract attention away from Holdingsgate, but we're not that cynical are we? Hell, no. Oh, I nearly forgot, we also earned a good point away yesterday against a decent Oldham side for which we were full value and were evidently somewhat unlucky not to come away with all three points after having what seemed like a perfectly good goal disallowed as well as a cast-iron penalty refused, again. What is it that referees have against Yeovil Town?

The two loanees who have penned longer-term deals are the expected ones: Millwall keeper John Sullivan and Watford midfielder/defender Rob Kiernan will remain at Huish Park until at least January 3rd 2011. Good news there, but the really good news came on Friday. In hindsight everyone and his dog and cat could see after the Hartlepool debacle that the weak link in the squad was the central midfield, especially when JP Kalala was missing. That has now been addressed, firstly with the arrival of Welsh international Owain Tudur-Jones from Norwich City, back for a second month's spell at Huish Park after his month long loan deal last season; and secondly with the massively welcome news that Shaun Macdonald is back and on a reasonably long-term basis too, also until January 3rd. We won't actually see the Ginger Ninja in action until the September 11th home game v Tranmere as he's off for the next week on Welsh u-21 international duty, but the news that both he and Tudur-Jones have signed was a huge boost on Friday after a pretty dismal week. Welcome back boys, with so many Welshmen back on the playing staff how can we go wrong?

And then there's the possibility that's got the rumour-mill in overdrive. Speaking after the Oldham game, Skivo stoked the fire: "I am still trying to add one more and I am not going to say who it is yet, but I am still trying and I think if we get this one that I am looking for we will be very strong this year." ITK's suggest the mystery man is none other than Gavin Williams. The Welsh international is out of favour at Bristol City, barely appearing on the bench so far this season under former manager Steve Coppell or current boss Keith Millen and is set to go out on loan. According to the rumour-mill L1 rivals Southampton were thought to be keen on signing Super Gav, but with the shock sacking of manager Alan Pardew - who signed Williams from Yeovil when in charge at West Ham United - that move must now be in doubt, which may just leave the Glovers in pole position. It might be a case of 2+2 equalling 5, but there have been whispers all summer about the possibility of the player returning to Huish Park at some stage, and it might just be that this time the rumour-mill's got it right. Fingers are very firmly crossed.

The thought occurs to me that if Gav did sign (I know, I know, let's not count any chickens, but I can't help myself and it's my blog so I'll say what I like), but if he did sign then not only would we have three Williams's in the squad, we'd have a grand total of six (count 'em!) Welshmen as well, if you count Andy Williams as being Welsh which I do seeing as he was born in Hereford. Six Welshmen! Plus one with a surname of Welsh! That's more sons of Wales than Cardiff City and Swansea City combined managed to name in their first team squads this weekend! Cymru am byth!

Ahem! Back to reality. The Glovers entertain Exeter City in a Football League Trophy 1st round match at Huish Park tomorrow night, a game I'm hoping to get to if my sodding electric wheelchair can be fixed before then. My back wheel fell off as I was taking the dog for a walk today, not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry. To add insult to injury it happened at Huish Park as I was foolishly going to see if the ticket office was open so I could buy a ticket for tomorrow night's game. The ticket office open on a bank holiday? What was I thinking? The bookies make the Glovers 6/5 favourites for the win, the draw is priced at 12/5 and an Exeter win at 15/8. My fiver's going on the home win. Running total: +£3.25p.

Just read: Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. Life starts at the moment of death and winds backwards in this Booker Prize-winning novel. Our sympathy is with the protagonist as he gradually gets younger until we realise that his present life hides an appalling past as an assistant to Mengele in Auschwitz. A clever, very readable novel which horrifies and amuses in equal measure. I finished it nearly two weeks ago and I still find myself haunted by the scenes set in the concentration camp, as time inexorably flows backwards, with all that implies. Frightening and absorbing.

The Slowest Drip

2010-08-27T20:04:00.000+01:00

The Slowest Drip - by Cruncher

Even the slowest drip of information is welcome. Although it importantly highlights an issue that previously was all too quiet, it doesn't add to the knowledge we have, with the one piece of detail that the ground will remain with the club having already been let out of the bag by Digger. Have we been told that because it is already known information? Indeed maybe not, but telling us the one thing we know is not going to boost confidence that the club might be completely endeared with the need to enlighten us.

Words though are now being spoken, a giant step forward - just how significant a step we shall judge over the next few days as we hope for a big increase in detail. Though also welcome to hear, comment about a lack of future rent obligation on the club is optimistic intent more than detail, at this stage. And at least we have the plain words now that confirm that it is about borrowing money to create revenue streams that go to the stadium and football budgets, a definite improvement on gobbledygook about 'facilitation of the brand' and suchlike.

I hope the club now turn the drip into a flood of information, as well address questions however awkward. Martyn Starnes's reference to "extensive consultation over the last few years" lets us know that the club has had this project in mind for a long time. It also increases belief that it has been a long term objective to avoid other investors because they also would want the right to have a say on policy and direction.

Now is the time to be bold and sell the plan to the entire support with the same purpose that undoubtedly they have applied during those years of research and planning. Twelve acres of commercial security will appeal both to speculators and to advisers who can match the club up with financiers.

One thought about 'advisers' does strike me - with the experienced and renowned football-industry specialist Stephen Allinson on the Board, why does the club seek advice elsewhere?

The club needs investment to compete and grow, financiers deserve their profit but safeguards will be a key issue, both in general and in eventuality of future events such as the passing of ownership. With the club now admitting (as I see it) to a long term preferred policy of seeking out experienced commercial development backers, they would do us and themselves well to send a signal that the club will not have to yield too much of its value for the privilege.

I refer to this post from Das Boot on the Achieve by Unity forum: a plain-speaking plea for clarifying detail that will pave the way forward. As he concludes: "Once and for all Mr Fry and Co tell us all about your plans in full!"

Else, even the slowest drip such as myself will inevitably conclude that 'Achieve by Unity' is one of the assets to be sold off. But I don't want to sound a miserable git, because the club have begun to respond and credit to them for that.

Cruncher

Club offers crumbs of comfort

2010-08-26T16:25:00.001+01:00

After criticising both the club and the local press last week for the deathly silence over the Holdingsgate issue, it's a pleasant surprise to note that the entire back page of this week's edition of the Western Gazette is given over to an interview with Chief Executive Martyn Starnes regarding the club's plans.

As far as I can see at first glance two questions have been addressed, sort of. Firstly it's confirmed that the Huish Park Stadium itself is set to stay under the control of the football club and not the new Holding Company; secondly Starnes states that the Holding Company has 'no wish' to charge any rent to the football club for use of the remaining land. One might hope for something more substantial in writing then a vague claim of having 'no wish' to charge a rent, but it's better than the complete silence that we had before today.

Indeed, much detail is missing and the whole piece still has that patronising 'papa-knows-best' feel that Yeovil fans have unfortunately become accustomed to with its communications from the Board over the last few years. No mention is made of any valuation of the land, nor does the piece detail where the rights to any income generated on and from the site reside. Neither is there any mention of any safeguards to protect the club when, as is inevitable at some point in the future, control passes from the current main shareholders into other hands. Starnes does claim that the Board have undergone 'extensive consultation over the last few years' regarding the issue. Nice to know, but what a pity they didn't see fit to consult with the supporters during that time, either through the Achieve By Unity Fans Partnership (ha!) or the Customer Charter Meetings. As usual the club pay lip service to the idea of transparency whilst conducting their real business through a veil of secrecy.

Still, at least the Board has finally said something, at last, and at least the main local paper has raised the issue publically, at last. They haven't said enough and many questions still need answering but it's a start. Interestingly it seems that a 'detailed response' has been made to Guardian journalist Matt Scott's articles from last week, but as yet there's been no acknowledgement from the paper. I await Digger's next column with bated breath.

Back to the football and it occurs I'm still to provide my usual report on last Saturday's 0-2 home loss to Hartlepool United. So here goes: We were shit. There, that covers that. Okay, I'll expand a little on that. We were out-thought and out-fought. Hartlepool correctly identified our midfield as the weak link and swamped us there. We never got our passing game going, our wingers became more and more peripheral to the game and long before half-time we were already resorting to the long ball simply because we had no other options. It was a depressing and toothless performance, probably the worst I've seen under the current manager. He knows it, we know it and the players know it. I don't see any point in saying any more at this late juncture, suffice it to say that if we play like that again we will lose again. Hopefully it was a one-off and our triumphant march to an eventual 9th place as forecast by yours truly will resume this Saturday, away at Oldham. The bookies make the home side 5/6 favourites, the draw is priced at 5/2 and a Glovers win a tempting 10/3. Tempting, but not tempting enough. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: -£9.25p.

All Quiet On The Western Front (and the back)

2010-08-22T17:07:00.002+01:00

[As much as I enjoy and appreciate Cruncher's contributions to this blog, it sometimes takes me a while to 'get' his punning headlines. This one is no exception, but I got there in the end. Hopefully it won't take you as long as me to g(az)et it! PS, if you're looking for my usual review of yesterday's debacle against Hartlepool it'll be along either later this evening or some time tomorrow, if I can be arsed. The team didn't seem to make too much effort yesterday so why should I bother? In the meantime can I point you towards Vyse's Green and White Blog where you will find a comprehensive and excellent match report. - Taff]

All Quiet On The Western Front (and the back)

I soon can get to some games and talk about the football, which I am still very much looking forward to doing despite yesterday's great disappointment. I tried to resist a ramble last week about the restructuring plans, but couldn't hold out - sorry to inform that this compulsion has occurred again. This time it is as a result of Taff's balanced and fair look at the local media blanking the wide concern at-large, about what he has christened 'Holdingsgate'. I did start to reply with a comment on his blog, but it became too long when I tied it in with the theme of inevitability - so here we are.

Nobody expects The Gazette, for example, to be confrontational. What is expected is that they acknowledge a concern amongst their readership that obviously exists, done in the briefest of ways would have sufficed. It was naive, at best, not to have stated from the start from problems incurred at other clubs, that there would be much debate and many questions. And to compound that with putting the Capital Glovers letter to one side, to the convenience of the Board (it appears), has led to the inevitable thought that lack of communication is a foe lined up on two fronts.

I have banged on about inevitabilities, and this outcome of how the local media is viewed is another of those, and as with the club, of its own making. Everyone understands why they are not at the club's throat, nor wants or expects them to be, but not why they haven't made a single reference to a significant concern amongst the community they report to, or at least raised an eyebrow as to why Matt Scott thinks it so.

If the local papers still do not give supporters' views a mention, we will have the ludicrous situation of national reporting on a provincial issue ballooning, while its local counterparts can't spare a drop of ink; a ridiculous contrast that would increasingly become part of the issue, as well as self-perpetuate it, if it were prolonged.

The Guardian was also bound to happen as a follow-up to inaction. As a direct result, of both the club and local press attitude to great concern in the community, that concern now has the benefit of a proven super-sleuth and champion of punter-perspective.

Digger appears to follow every item he starts as a project to completion. He is keeping a watchful eye on Plymouth, where that includes noticing what Sir Roy Gardner is up to. It is inevitable that a continued silence at Huish Park will lead him to find clues elsewhere - as his work uncovering the mystery of the previous Notts County owners showed.

This inevitability is now a predictable conveyor belt gathering pace. The Board need to take a reality check on what is happening, hold to the Customer Charter promise and explain how we could achieve by unity. If they don't, the simple conclusion at some point will be that they won't tell us because we won't agree that it's good for the club.

No-one wants to be at odds with their club, no-one either wants to hold up what may be an astoundingly good plan to advance the fortunes of the club.

But, on this issue, silence is madness. If a spouse was to inform the other that some bloke in a suit down the pub had told them it was good to change the house ownership into just that person's name, 'but don't worry, it's for the best', a lot of questions would follow. So would a lot of wondering, and checking to see if someone was winking at the milkman, or even the bloke in the suit, or booking airline tickets, or whatever.

That is certainly no slight on the integrity of this Board, none at all. It is simply the inevitability of human nature when faced with such an unexplained dilemma. The conveyor belt won't stop unless the Board acknowledge the obvious in that they have caused a chain-reaction that is sane, fair, and inevitable. It is up to them to apply the brakes by speaking up.

Yesterday has brought on the height of worry in normal times that a club should expect its support to have to cope with - ie. that the team played crap. It is inexcusable to bring significant extra worries through a silent dismissal, especially when disallowed by a promise of Charter. As well as it is inevitable that words such as 'despondent' to describe the effect of silence of both local media and the club are replaced by those such as 'bloomin' rude'.

Cruncher

Local press letting fans down

2010-08-20T21:55:00.000+01:00

I haven't received my invitation for a chat with club chairman John Fry and Chief Executive Martyn Starnes yet, but judging by the comments made by some on the achieve by unity forum then I'm sure it's only a matter of time. It seems that the Chairman and CEO are willing to conduct one-on-one meetings with virtually anyone who asks them, which makes their apparently wilful refusal to otherwise comment on the ongoing Yeovil Town Holding Company saga very hard to understand.

It's not just the YTFC Board who are conspicuous by their silence however. So far all the running in publicising the story has been made by unofficial and independent supporters groups and websites/blogs, aided and abetted by the wonderful and tenacious Matt Scott, author of the Digger column in The Guardian newspaper. One would have thought that as the national press has now started to pick up on supporters' concerns over Holdingsgate (as I am now beginning to think of it) that the local press might have seen fit to make their own enquiries into the situation, but so far neither the Western Gazette nor the Yeovil Express have featured the story at all, other than the Gazette's initial interview with John Fry back in the first week of June, which was when the club first announced its intentions.

As I understand it the Capital Glovers sent their open letter to the Board to the Gazette and asked the paper to print it. I'm told that the paper then contacted the club to see if they wanted a right to reply to the letter, but the club refused, saying they wanted to respond to the Capital Glovers direct - despite telling the Capital Glovers that they hadn't received the open letter! Whatever, the Gazette have been holding the open letter for 3 weeks now and evidently have no intention of printing it without some kind of reply from the club, who evidently have no intention of replying - a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs. And what of the Yeovil Express? There's no bigger fan of the club than Express editor Steve Sowden but again, the silence from the paper on Holdingsgate is deafening. It's becoming clear that the local press are very good at reporting on the usual activities of the club, but when it comes to the unusual then they're found wanting. It's fortunate that The Guardian isn't as shy.

Does it matter that the local press is so backwards in coming forwards? Not as much as it did before the advent of the internet. Nowadays more fans are more informed than they used to be due to the influence of the net, but nevertheless a significant number of supporters still rely on the press and particularly the local press for their YTFC news and views. And it's these supporters who are being let down by the lack of coverage on Holdingsgate. It would be nice to think that both the Gazette and the Express could rediscover some independence and indeed some balls by the time they publish next week's editions of their respective papers, but I won't be holding my breath. The club says 'jump', they only ask 'how high'.

With some relief, it's back to why we are all here, the football. The Glovers entertain Hartlepool United tomorrow at Huish Park, with the visitors reeling somewhat after the unexpected resignation of former manager Chris Turner this week. Glovers boss Terry Skiverton has signed former Watford midfielder Billy Gibson on a 6-month deal and he will presumably go straight into Saturday's squad. Missing will be the suspended JP Kalala and almost certainly missing will be the almost certainly injured Luke Freeman; but on the plus side both Dean Bowditch and Andy Welsh should return from injury, so happy days there. Skivo's main selection dilemma will be in the central midfield spot - will Ed Upson or Rob Kiernan partner Luke Ayling in the middle? I would go for Upson initially, but Skivo may prefer Kiernan's defensive nous. We will see tomorrow.

The bookies make the Glovers favourites for the win at 11/10. The draw is priced at 12/5 and a Hartlepool win is also at 12/5. My fiver is going very firmly on the home win. Running total: -£4.25p. Come on you Greens!

Can you hear the Yeovil sing ...?

2010-08-19T21:34:00.001+01:00

Cruncher is back with a follow-up to his blog of last week, 'Get over the hump'. Is there anybody out there listening?

Can you hear the Yeovil sing? I can't hear a ...

Well, you know the rhyme. Although there are some signs of warming up the vocal chords for a performance or two. Once the Board went for the ostrich technique, it was inevitable that they would invite more criticism and less trust. Just as it was clear that once Matt Scott was on the scent of the shareholders documents, that he would eventually find them. This is increasingly becoming a saga about inevitabilities; if the Board remain obstinate, there is no doubt Digger's spade-work will be followed up until eventually he starts up the JCB. The more you bury yer head in the sand, the easier it is to get yer arse kicked.

On motive, I remain open-minded. I do, however, see why the wider view may be falling the other way, largely due to the lack of explanation and debate. For all that is good at the club, silence and non-engagement unfortunately is a common theme, meaning a bolted-door policy over the years on other matters has now impacted on this single vital issue, to affect the benefit of doubt: one of the afore-mentioned inevitabilities.

As it happens, based on John Fry's long service and how the club is perceived in the wider football world, my instinct remains that there is good intention - though I sincerely wish the route avoided separation. I wish also that local and/or supporter investment had been sought as a preferential strategy, including accepting well-chosen new directors for their input and ideas as well as their money.

Apart from The Guardian, the press have been shy while supporters have been penned-in like sheep subdued by a wall of silence. On this issue, that has a proven as well as a potential risk, sheep don't stay penned-in for ever. The silence of the lambs has ended, the flock has broken free to find its voice with questions, and the club needs to find its own voice with comprehensive answers. Digger breaking through the topsoil does seem to have got the club reaching for the throat-spray. Let us hope that what they do say addresses the issues full-on, especially with regard to safeguarding the club and ensuring it benefits wholly from its own assets.

No-one wants development to be off-agenda, this small club needs to create revenue. The opportunity is there for the club to understand, then explain and engage, and then to achieve by unity. A lack of such action though will compound an opposite and divisive effect. With crowds having dwindled significantly compared to a few years back, that is relevant to the here-and-now, as well as the future. 'Achieve by Unity' is the club's motto, and (as the Guardian article highlighted) the Charter also demands debate on such issues.

I noticed Denison Till and their belief in asset-separation alongside understanding of 'football difficulties' a couple of months ago, when searching around to find more clues in general. I made and repeated a general enquiry that was not responded to, though accept an explanation given. Since Digger's disclosure that the club is consulting with them I contacted them again, combining my initial general points with YTFC relevance.

Consultant Andrew Lindsay (while understandably and politely expressing his unavailability to comment specifically or to continue a dialogue) sang the praises of the Yeovil directors, as he had done to Digger, confidently assessing the Yeovil Board as ranking high on integrity and commitment to both club and community, in his many years of experience; also re-assuring (without detail) that the proposed route was both safe and wise; and he viewed the current Yeovil business model as notably superior to how most lower league clubs were run.

All well and good. Now it is time for the Yeovil Board to sing the praise of their own proposals, and that will inevitably have to include detail. The Capital Glovers Open Letter was a fair and respectful open-minded approach, which I would ask the club to note as reflecting the general view of a great many of us. I know that others are making similar approaches and seeking other routes of help and advice - as is the inevitable outcome when explanation goes AWOL. If that compounded further, the collective opinion would strongly suspect that satisfactory explanation was not possible - the worst scenario.

This is not a stand-off from uninformed (oh the irony) supporters, but a plea from a realistic support that wants to be allowed to share a vision that they want proven as an exciting way forward they can take part in. Sing up.

Cruncher

Late goals cost points, again.

2010-08-15T21:09:00.000+01:00

Triple disappointment for the Glovers at the Memorial Stadium yesterday. Firstly we went down to a 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers, losing to a goal scored in the 4th minute of injury-time at the end of the game; secondly we lost Luke Freeman to a leg injury. At first it seemed the loanee might have broken his leg, but x-rays thankfully ruled that out; nevertheless it seems certain that the youngster will be sidelined for some weeks, though exactly for how long we will have to wait and see. A shame for him, and us. Thirdly, JP Kalala got himself sent off for 2 bookable offences which means he'll miss next Saturday's home game against Hartlepool. With such a small squad the last thing Skivo needs is a self-inflicted wound like this, it means that our central midfield against a streetwise Pools outfit next weekend will consist of two players whose League One starts can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

So far this season the Glovers have played 3 games and conceded 4 goals. All 4 goals conceded have something in common - their timing. The goals against have all come either in the last 5 minutes of the halves played, or in injury time itself. Now obviously 3 games is only 3 games, but nevertheless they are interesting stats. And of course we can all point to games last season when late, late goals cost us dearly - off the top of my head I can think of matches against Leeds, Millwall and Southampton from the run-in last season, in all of which we conceded injury-time goals which cost us points. What causes the late goals? No doubt fatigue, disruption caused by substitutions, maybe a lack of concentration or perhaps simply heavy pressure from teams desperate to score, all will play their parts. It's obviously something that Skivo and his coaches will be aware of, let's hope that a solution to the problem can be found sooner rather than later.

After 3 games in 7 days the Glovers now have a week to regroup before their next match. Three points out of a possible 6 and a narrow loss to a Championship side in the League Cup is by no means a bad start to the season. But the loss of Freeman for however long and Kalala for one match in the first week is a reality check. It's a long season and we have a very small squad. For all the optimism amongst the fanbase at the moment survival must still be this club's first goal.

Just read: Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. The blackest of black comedies set in a contemporary Dublin boys school. Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll are rife, and that's just the staff. What the boys get up to is worse... Hilarious, irreverent and at times moving and sad. It's on the long list for this year's Man Booker Prize and well recommended

League Cup R1: Yeovil Town 0 Crystal Palace 1

2010-08-11T22:01:00.000+01:00

The Glovers entertained Championship outfit Crystal Palace last night in the first round of this season's League Cup competition. The match kicked off 5 minutes late due to the late arrival of Palace fans, held up by delays leaving London.

The visitors were all over Yeovil for the first 20 minutes or so, John Sullivan keeping us in the game with some excellent goal-keeping. Sullivan had an excellent match in fact, and if he carries on like this then not only will I be eating my words regarding my reservations as to his suitability as a no.1, but he'll have made the position his own, whether that's as a full-season loan or on a permanent basis. At any rate, the start Palace made threatened to blow us away, but gradually we began to catch up with the pace of the game and to create some chances of our own. Dean Bowditch was the recipient of a couple of those chances but unfortunately although he did well to get into good positions to score, the striker didn't have his shooting boots on last night and the chances went begging. Luke Freeman hit the bar for no reward, Bowditch got one on target but found a defender on the line, and Craig Alcock's header was saved. It was end-to-end stuff with both sides attacking with pace and verve and highly entertaining for the crowd of 3,720; but with no goals at half-time to show for it.

The second half was slightly less frenetic but just as entertaining and absorbing with both sides looking threatening without ever quite managing to make the breakthrough. The vast majority of fans in the stadium were convinced that the Glovers should have had a penalty with quarter-of-an-hour to go when Bowditch was upended in the visitors box by Paddy McCarthy. It looked a clear foul from where I was sitting but referee Phil Gibbs - who otherwise had an excellent game - waved play on, a pivotal decision in the outcome of the match as it turned out. The Glovers piled on the pressure for the rest of the game and in the last minute had the chance to win it when an Andy Williams cross found Bowditch in space in front of goal from 6 yards out. Somehow the ball bounced off the striker and a backtracking defender and looped gently into the Palace keeper's arms when a goal looked certain; and from the ensuing counter-attack the visitors finally did score. Sullivan did well again to block an initial shot but was left with no chance when the ball rebounded kindly to Alan Lee who scooped the ball into the back of the net. There was no time for the Glovers to respond and the Londoners were through to the next round.

We lined up as follows in a 4-4-2 formation:

1. John Sullivan: 9/10 - Top-class performance. I've been comparing him unfavourably to Alex McCarthy ever since his arrival, but this performance was every bit as good as McCarthy at his best. Mea culpa, again.

2. Craig Alcock: 7/10 - Better. More involved in the game than last Saturday, going forward and defensively.

5. Paul Huntington and 19. Adam Virgo: 8/10 for both - Our new central defenders look to be forming an effective partnership. Both are excellent in the air and no-nonsense on the ground. I was worried about their apparent susceptibility to pace pre-season, but they coped well with Palace's very pacey attack in this game. What I particularly like about them both is their refusal to take risks. If in doubt they kick the ball out and don't bugger about with it. Their other important attribute is that they both pose a threat from set-pieces. Encouraging.

3. Nathan Jones: 8/10 - Just when you think it's time for the old boy to retire then he comes along and has a game like this. Galloped up and down the left flank like somebody 20 years younger than he is, solid as a rock defensively and always prepared to get forward. A revelation.

18. Luke Freeman: 7/10 - Another very promising outing. Began the game on the right flank for a change but didn't look any worse for that, providing his usual threat running with the ball and his delivery from the wing. Was unlucky to hit the bar instead of the back of the net in the first half and is never afraid to shoot, which is very pleasing to see. Appeared to tire during the second half and was eventually replaced.

8. Luke Ayling and 21. Jean-Paul Kalala: 7/10 for both - Our central midfielders both appeared to be enjoying themselves last night and it showed in their performances. Ayling had far more time and space to pick his passes than he had against Orient and JP looked rather more like a footballer than the headless chicken he resembled on Saturday. Both of them roamed the length of the pitch in search of the ball and appear to be forming a good understanding.

7. Andy Williams: 8/10 - Started on the left and had an excellent game, whichever flank he was attacking from. Full of flicks, tricks and backheels, and provided some wonderful crosses which were begging to be put away. First-class.

9. Sam Williams: 7/10 - Decent all-round game. Didn't find it easy against Palace's experienced central defenders but stuck at it and won his share of flick-on's, one of which Bowditch really should have converted. At one point found himself clearing a Palace shot of his own line from broken play - an impressive example of his work-rate considering he's a striker!

10. Dean Bowditch: 7/10 - A frustrating game for Deano. No-one could fault his effort and ability to get himself into goalscoring positions, it was just that when he pulled the trigger he was firing blanks. He'll play worse than this and get a hat-trick.

Subs:
6. Nathan Smith (73 mins for Luke Freeman): 8/10 - Came on as a direct replacement for Freeman on the left wing and added plenty to the Glovers attacking threat. I've never rated him as an out-and-out winger before, but on this brief cameo he could do a job in that position. Fast and direct, he's surely too good to be starting on the bench for much longer, however well Jonesy played last night.

So we lost, but trundling home from the ground last night it didn't feel like we had. We were never going to win the League Cup whatever happened and despite the eventual result the performance was what counted. Terry Skiverton has put together a side with pace, flair, inventiveness and spirit. Last night we kept the ball on the ground in the main, used the flanks and looked every bit as good as our Championship opponents for most of the match. The challenge now is for the lads to build on this performance at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

And talking of the Gas, the bookies make them evens favourites for the win at the weekend, the draw is priced at 12/5 and the away win at 11/4. Given Rovers poor start to the season and the fact that we won there last time out I reckon that's quite generous of the bookies, and my fiver's going on the away win. Running total: +£1.25p.

Just read: Orbus by Neal Asher, and Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds: Two terrific 'hard' science-fiction books written in two very different styles, but both immensely entertaining in their different ways. Orbus is a Spatterjay novel set in Asher's Polity universe, and if you're a science-fiction fan who doesn't know what I'm talking about when I say that then you owe it to yourself to check his books out. Densely-plotted and action-packed, Orbus is simply wonderful. Pushing Ice is very different in tone and style, but equally rewarding. A stand-alone novel with big ideas and a huge timescale, but rooted in human foibles. Thought-provoking, well-written, and again, very enjoyable.

Adam Stansfield 1978-2010

2010-08-11T12:13:00.000+01:00

Shocking news. Adam Stansfield has passed away. He had been diagnosed with bowel cancer and lost his battle with the disease last night, at the age of 31. My deep and sincere commiserations to his family and friends.

What can you say when something like this happens? There's no rhyme nor reason to it, nothing that can be said to make anyone feel better. All we have left are memories. I'll never forget Adam scoring against Stevenage Borough in the FA Trophy final and especially his interview afterwards, live on Sky Sports. 'I've come fucking miles for this,' he beamed in sheer delight and I can remember laughing out loud and thinking, yeah, haven't we all Lisa, haven't we all. I loved him a little bit for that and I loved him for the sheer effort he put in on the football pitch, loved him for the way he never stopped running, never stopped closing the opposition defenders down and for all the goals he scored in the green-and-white. And always with a smile on his face. And I loved him for refusing to celebrate when he scored against us for Exeter the last time he played at Huish Park, a short time before he was diagnosed with the bowel cancer that ended his life.

An Exeter fan, Nick Bryant, is doing a charity run from Exeter to Yeovil on the day the Glovers play Exeter City, Saturday 25th September, in aid of Cancer Research UK. Donations can be made here: www.justgiving.com/arunforstanno

Rest In Peace Adam, you'll be missed.

Get Over The Hump

2010-08-09T21:57:00.000+01:00

Guest-blogger time. Cruncher is back with a powerful plea to the Board to start talking....

Get Over The Hump

Time is moving on, and the questions and worries about the club's restructuring plans continue to be met with a castle-wall of silence. As an enthusiastic manager with an enterprising on-field approach who can also easily connect with the support, Terry Skiverton is a promising prospect to bring more through the gate. It is worrying, though, that he might be hindered by the Board's reluctance to illuminate about their own enterprising endeavours.

On one hand there is much to draw in new punters and to re-enthuse old ones to return. On the other, the club is advocating what has proved elsewhere to be significant risk in divorcing the football club from its ground - and then significantly compounding that with no explanation. It's a subjective view, but I tend to think it feasible that while Skiverton is drumming up more support, the wall of silence could cause the potential returning masses to, at best, dither.

The first crowd of the season could be read two ways: disappointing because it was down by a couple hundred on last year's opener; or encouraging because three hundred more turned up than for Orient's last visit - which is significant because last year it was also an August fixture. Which leads me to conclude unsurprisingly that nothing can be concluded after one game just as equally with attendances as with on-field prospects. I do think though that the end of August sum total attendance compared to last August might be an early measure, and even tomorrow's Crystal Palace Carling Cup crowd will be interesting to compare against last year's 3,860, for the Norwich encounter at the same stage of the competition.

Anyway, we'll have to see. It's the dilemma that I particularly want to mention and for the Board to note its significance: a feeling that we could indeed be taking small exciting steps to better things, yet coinciding with a great and rational fear of where the restructuring proposals could lead. They need to appreciate that this is what is in hearts and minds at this time, including no doubt in those that are 'dithering' about either finding out what Huish Park is like, or returning to the fold. It is real, and needs to addressed.

For what this club both needs and wants, Terry Skiverton's approach to developing this club hits the mark. A clear long-term objective to continue on an upward climb, committed to sourcing and developing talented youngsters to play to an entertaining attacking plan. Combine this with his understanding of the perspective from the supporter and the press, as an effective and enthusiastic communicator, then Skiverton shows potential to follow the successful eras of Alec Stock, Mike Hughes and Gary Johnson that defined the football club.

John Fry, like all of us, may acquire criticism on specific issues, but he has also certainly done enough for this club to have earned his place in the history of the club as firmly as anyone. That though adds to the enigma. Start talking to us. When it comes to matters so important as ground, I like my terra to be firma.

I particularly enjoyed DNB's post on the Achieve by Unity forum about the last twenty years of wonderful mixed emotion since the move from the old Huish - I want someone doing that with similar fond memories in another twenty years. Matt Scott of The Guardian has learned that his persistence has given the club 'the hump'. Time for the club to get over their hump. Martin Starnes has stressed in The Western Gazette the need for people to attend games - while welcome to hear, it falls on the club to look into all aspects of why people may not be attending.

How frustrating it would be to negate the good efforts of the management team, and indeed the good efforts of many years of good practice with John Fry at the helm. Silence or insufficient communication though has been a long-standing bugbear - but all those occasions added up together cannot amount to the need for words as does this singularly important restructuring issue.

As the line says, 'Silence like a cancer grows ...'

Cruncher

L1: Yeovil Town 2 Leyton Orient 1

2010-08-08T15:36:00.000+01:00

Goals from Dean Bowditch and Luke Freeman got the Glovers off to a winning start to the new season at Huish Park yesterday. Visitors Leyton Orient probably had more possession during the match and in truth looked the better side for much of the game, but a combination of good finishing and last-ditch defending won the points for Terry Skiverton's men.

The Glovers started the match well and dominated the first quarter-of-an-hour of the game, taking a deserved lead through a Bowditch solo effort. The striker received the ball wide on the right, cut inside to beat his marker and placed the ball wide of the keeper in the left hand corner of the goal from just outside the box. An excellent start, but strangely the Glovers couldn't capitalise and instead seemed to retreat into their shell, allowing the visitors to gradually take control of midfield and the match. It was no surprise when the O's pulled level on 41 minutes, Alex Revell nodding home a Dean Cox cross with the Glovers central defenders stranded. What was a surprise was the Glovers going into half-time with the lead intact, and it came about through a mistake from O's keeper Jamie Jones. A long ball out of defence found Andy Williams wide on the right who did well to take the ball down under heavy pressure and lob a cross into the box from the by-line. It looked easy for Jones but somehow the ball squirmed out of his grasp to fall into the path of Freeman, who side-footed gleefully into the open goal for probably one of the easiest goals he will ever score. 2-1 to Yeovil at half-time.

And that's how it stayed. The pattern of the game had been set: The visitors had most of the possession, passing the ball around nicely up to the home side's penalty box and invariably grinding to a halt there - all very familiar to long-time watchers of Russell Slade's sides, it must be said. Former Glover Terrell Forbes was unlucky not to score when a bullet header hit the post from a corner, and on the odd other occasion the visitors did break through Adam Virgo crowned an excellent competitive debut by clearing off the line. Orient huffed and puffed, the Glovers threatened sporadically on the break and that, in the end, was that. Not the the most convincing of performances from the Glovers, but a very welcome three points and plenty of room for improvement. I'll very happily take that.

We lined up as follows in a 4-4-2 formation:

1. John Sullivan: 7/10 - Good, competent performance. Not overly stretched by the O's attack but did what he had to do well and without fuss.

2. Craig Alcock: 6/10 - Decent game, without ever quite hitting the highs that we know he's capable of. Looked to be caught out of position for Orient's goal, but that's what can happen when your full-back is looking to attack as much as Craig does.

5. Paul Huntington: 7/10 - Very solid and reliable. I was a tad concerned about his parternship with Virgo beforehand and indeed they were caught out once looking at each other wondering who should have been marking who after Revell's goal; but apart from that lapse combined very well.

19. Adam Virgo: 8/10 - I take it all back! I said a week or so ago that I didn't think that Virgo would be a good signing, good in the air but too slow. I was wrong. Dominated at the back, dangerous at set-pieces, and kept us in the game with a couple of goal-line clearances where he literally put his body on the line. Mea culpa!

3. Nathan Jones: 5/10 - No doubting his enthusiasm, nor his effort and certainly not his spirit but these days the flesh is getting weaker. I assume Nathan Smith has some sort of knock?

7. Andrew Williams: 6/10 - Didn't quite get into the game with the same kind of positive effect we saw in the friendlies. Didn't have a bad game by any means and the second goal came from his assist, but was generally fairly quiet by his recent standards.

8. Luke Ayling: 5/10 - Tried hard but found it tough against Orient's 3-man midfield. Rarely had the time on the ball that he found in the pre-season, but kept going against the odds. It's all part of the learning curve for him.

21. JP Kalala: 6/10 - Looked like a one-man wrecking squad at times. Threw himself into tackles but was always swimming against the tide of that 3-man midfield. When he did get the ball his passing wasn't as precise as it might have been.

18. Luke Freeman: 7/10 - Decent game. Made one or two good runs down the left but guilty at times of trying to beat one man too many before delivering the ball. Again, it's all part of the learning curve for him. Attacking instincts led him to be in the right place at the right time for the winning goal.

9. Sam Williams: 5/10 - No lack of effort but no real penetration or anything much else really. Did okay, but you can see why Skivo has started talking about the need for an alternative target-man.

10. Dean Bowditch: 7/10 - Good game. Enthusiastic running, put himself about the pitch, always available for the pass, took his goal very well and was unlucky not to score again in the second half.

Subs:
14. Rob Kiernan (84 mins for Luke Freeman): N/A - Not on long enough to make an impression.

15. Cameron Stewart (77 mins for Dean Bowditch): 6/10 - Did enough in the short time he was on to suggest that Andy Williams is going to have real competition for the right-wing role.

One down then and 45 to go. Tuesday night sees the visit of Championship side Crystal Palace. The bookies make the Eagles favourites at 13/10, the draw is priced at 12/5 and a Glovers win at 17/10. My fiver is going on the home win. Running total: +£6.25p.

Mystic Taff's season's predictions 2010/11

2010-08-04T20:19:00.000+01:00

So here we are only a couple of days away from the big kick-off and it's time once again to put on my Tommy Cooper fez and gaze into my crystal ball to see who's going to finish where next May. Now people laughed this time last year when, amongst other things, I said Stevenage would be promoted from the Conference; and that Spurs would finish 4th in the Premiership. Guess who's laughing now? So without further ado, here are this season's runners and riders:

Premiership: Another potentially fascinating season awaits. Six clubs, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool all have the wherewithall to finish in the top four, but four into six doesn't go. My gut feeling is that Man City will this season make the breakthrough into the top four, Spurs will consolidate into real title contenders, Arsenal will slip out of the elite group and Liverpool will improve now they have a competent manager, but perhaps not by enough. I just wonder about Man Utd. Last season they relied very heavily on Wayne Rooney bringing home the bacon and they've barely strengthened over the summer. Could they be surprise strugglers? One can only hope. At the other end of the table Blackpool have to be the biggest dead certs for relegation since er, Burnley last season.

Champions: Chelsea (Last seasons prediction: Chelsea - actual finish: 1st)
Runners-up: Manchester City (Manchester United - 2nd)
3rd: Tottenham Hotspur (Liverpool - 7th)
4th: Manchester United (Tottenham Hotspur - 4th)
Europa League: Liverpool, Arsenal (Manchester City - 5th, Aston Villa - 6th)
Relegated: Blackpool, Wigan, West Ham United (Burnley - relegated, Hull City - relegated, Stoke City - 11th)
------------------------------

Championship: Normally one would expect all 3 clubs relegated from the Prem to have a good go at bouncing right back the following season but I can't see that happening this time. Portsmouth will more than likely be relegated again, Burnley were lucky to be promoted in the first place and will be play-off contenders at best, and Hull City will be happy enough with mid-table mediocrity and avoiding administration. My choices for automatic promotion are Nottingham Forest and Reading, with Leicester City, Queens Park Rangers, Middlesbrough and dark horses Doncaster Rovers vying for the play-offs. As mentioned above it doesn't take a Nostradamus to see Pompey doing a Leeds and sadly I can see Cardiff City going the same way unless the club's new Malaysian owners start putting some money where their mouths are.

Champions: Nottingham Forest (last season's prediction: Middlesbrough - actual finish: 11th.)
Runners-up: Reading (Cardiff City - 4th)
Play-off winners: Doncaster Rovers (West Bromwich Albion - 2nd)
Relegated: Portsmouth, Cardiff City, Scunthorpe United (Newcastle United - 1st [oops!], Barnsley - 18th, Swansea City - 7th)
------------------------------

League One: Southampton have the stadium, money, team and resources to go the entire season without being beaten and must be red-hot favourites to go up as champions. Charlton's experience from last season will be enough to provide the impetus to make the other automatic promotion place their own. Huddersfield, Sheffield Wednesday, Peterborough and Plymouth are my tips for the play-off's. At the other end of the table there always seems to be one surprise struggler. Last season it was Southend, this season I have a feeling in my water about our 'friends' from up north. Keep your eye on the Gas.

Champions: Southampton (last season's prediction: Charlton Athletic - actual finish: 4th)
Runners Up: Charlton Athletic (Leeds United - 2nd)
Play-off winners: Huddersfield Town (Norwich City - 1st)
Relegated: Rochdale, Exeter City, Dagenham & Redbridge, Bristol Rovers (Exeter City - 18th, Swindon Town - 5th, Hartlepool United - 20th, Carlisle United - 14th)
------------------------------

League Two: This division is looking more and more like the Conference in disguise these days and even though I forecast it happening I still can't believe Stevenage are a football league side now. The division is also one of the tightest of them all, especially at the top. My three to be promoted automatically: Bradford City, Port Vale and Morecambe. Play-off's between Burton Albion, Chesterfield, Rotherham and Aldershot. It could be equally tight at the bottom, with Accrington, Barnet, Macclesfield and Cheltenham all fighting for the right to party in the Blue Square Premier next year.

Champions: Port Vale (last season's prediction: Northampton Town - actual finish: 11th)
Runners-up: Bradford City (Notts County - 1st)
3rd place: Morecambe (Bradford City - 14th)
Play-off winners: Aldershot (Rotherham - 5th)
Relegated: Cheltenham, Accrington Stanley (Grimsby Town - relegated, Accrington Stanley - 15th)
------------------------------

Blue Square Premier: Or League Three, or even Division Five depending on how old you are. The boundaries between league and non-league are becoming more and more blurred nowadays and this season half of the teams competing in non-league's premier division are ex-football league clubs and perhaps more to the point full-time. Luton will be once again the team to beat and I fancy York City, Wrexham, Cambridge United and Grimsby to make the play-off's. Can a part-time club bridge the gap? Almost certainly not, which doesn't bode well for the likes of our our old rivals Bath City or Forest Green Rovers.

Champions: Luton Town (last season's prediction: Luton Town - actual finish: 2nd
Play-off winners: York City (Stevenage - 1st)
Relegated: Hayes & Yeading, Bath City, Forest Green Rovers, Eastbourne Borough (Salisbury - relegated, Eastbourne Borough - 19th, Ebbsfleet - relegated, Chester City - relegated).
------------------------------

And finally, proving once and for all that hope continually triumphs over experience I will again this season be putting a fiver on each of the Glover's games as they come along. Last season this resulted in me making a profit of, (drum roll....) £3.88p over the season. Well, at least it wasn't a loss.

We start off with Leyton Orient at home on Saturday. The Glovers are 5/4 favourites, the draw is priced at 9/4 and an Orient win at 11/5. In accordance with my unwritten rule that says I must always bet on the home win if we are odds against, then my fiver is going on the Glovers win. And the best of luck to us all!

We're going to score one more than you

2010-08-02T19:38:00.000+01:00

This time last year I looked at the Glovers squad and compared it with the squad from the previous season and attempted to forecast where we would eventually end up at the end of the season. Quite clearly I knew what I was talking about as my forecast of a final position of 15th did indeed eventually come to pass, though we'll draw a veil over such comments as "An injury-free Scott Murray will score and provide goals." and "Keeping Danny Schofield was the third major bonus of the summer." Well, no-one can be right all of the time.

Here then, is my look at this season's squad (with last season's incumbents in brackets) and my thoughts as to what we can expect:

Goalkeepers: John Sullivan, Richard Martin (Alex McCarthy, Richard Martin). You've got to feel a little sorry for John Sullivan. Not only has he to follow in Alex McCarthy's footsteps, he still doesn't know if he's going to be here for more than a month, with rumours persisting that McCarthy may be on his way back to Huish Park eventually. At least, we don't know if Sullivan knows if he's going to be here for more than a month, if you see what I mean. Perhaps he does? Whatever, Sullivan's a competent enough keeper, but he's no McCarthy. This year's Martin looks to be an improvement on last year's Martin.

Fullbacks: Craig Alcock, Danny Hutchins, Nathan Smith, Nathan Jones, (Craig Alcock, Danny Hutchins, Nathan Smith, Nathan Jones. No change from last season, surprisingly. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my opinion Alcock and Smith are as good a pair of starting fullbacks in this league and we're lucky to have kept hold of both of them. We'll hopefully see a lot less of Nathan Jones on the pitch this season and it would be wonderful if Danny Hutchins was to rediscover the form and enthusiasm he showed when he first came to the club on loan from Spurs.

Central defenders: Stefan Stam, Adam Virgo, Paul Huntington, Rob Kiernan (Stefan Stam, Steven Caulker, Terrell Forbes). I've included Kiernan as a central defender but he could equally be used as a midfielder. And currently he's only here for a month anyway. As for the rest, Stam unfortunately is liable to be injured more than he plays and from what I've seen so far in the pre-season both Virgo and Huntington have two things in common: They're good in the air and susceptible to being run at with pace. It remains to be seen whether the threat they'll pose from set-pieces will be greater than their vulnerability from open play.

Central midfielders: JP Kalala, Luke Ayling, Ed Upson (Kieran Murtagh, George O'Callaghan, Ryan Mason). Both Ayling and Upson look to have bags of potential but both are very young and relatively untried. Kalala's fitness and influence will be crucial.

Wingers: Andy Williams, Cameron Stewart, Luke Freeman, Andy Welsh (Scott Murray, Aidan Downes, Danny Schofield, Andy Welsh). If there's one area we've strengthened then this is it. All four of this season's squad are exciting, attacking players and 3 of the 4 are also capable of playing up front. Really looking forward to seeing them all play this season.

Strikers: Sam Williams, Dean Bowditch, Craig Calver (Gavin Tomlin, Sam Williams, Dean Bowditch, Andre McCollin). If Bowditch can stay fit then it's not impossible to see him scoring 20 goals this season. The key phrase is 'stay fit'.

Overall then we have at the time of writing a first-team squad of 20 (assuming Richard Martin has signed some sort of contract), the same as this time last year plus around a dozen academy players. Two of the first-team squad are loanees on long-term (6-month) deals and 2 are loanees on short-term (1-month) deals.

It's evident that Skivo is setting out to build on last season's pattern of play and then some. We're going to get the ball down, out to the flanks and then into the box and there's going to be plenty of attackers in and around the box looking for the ball. I fully expect us to start most games with a back four and two holding midfielders, but after that it's anyone's guess. It could be 4-4-2, 4-2-1-3, 4-2-3-1, even 4-2-4 at times. Whatever it is, it's going to be attacking, open - maybe to open for comfort at times - and exciting.

It's one of those beautiful ironies that football often throws up that our first opponents this season are Leyton Orient, managed by former Glovers boss Russell Slade. It's often forgotten that under Slade the Glovers played some breathtaking stuff at times during his first season at Huish Park even if he came to be regarded as - at best - a pragmatic manager, someone who's first concern was to stop his opponents scoring rather than one who takes risks. Skivo is shaping up to be his exact opposite in philosophy, one of the 'we're going to score one more than you' school. As much as I admired Slade and respected the work he did at Yeovil, I'll take Skivo and his attractive and attacking style of football any day.

For what it's worth I think this time around we're going to do better than last season. Last term we won a grand total of 13 games out of 46 played and finished 15th On 53 points. We look stronger going forward this season even if marginally weaker defensively, but I think Skivo has rightly decided that attack is the best form of defence. We will finish in the top ten, but out of the play-off's. Final position: 9th. As far as cup competitions are concerned I couldn't help noticing that we are 40/1 to win the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the moment. 40/1! Say no more.

Positively Go Wing Forward

2010-07-31T20:20:00.000+01:00

(Guest blogger time: I'm delighted to welcome the erudite Cruncher to these pages for the first of what I hope will be many contributions. I much admired yer man's blogs for the Pride of Somerset site last season and any post by him on the green room and then the achieve by unity forums are always required reading. Here's his first blog for this site, hopefully the first of many.
Taff)

Positively Go Wing Forward

Well we're nearly ready for the real stuff and sure as ever the first August kick off approaches with the traditional mix of excitement and vulnerability. Not that we would have it any other way, of course. Bliss is the ignorance of those that seek the boring comforts provided by large doorstep-populations and Russian billionaires - they know not what they are missing.

What certainly is not missing at Huish Park is a positive management team, determined to cut a way through all the restrictive financial barbed wire to assemble a promising youthful blend of signed and loaned players. Terry Skiverton leads from the front with the McCawberish perspective that good times will come, though importantly with the added self-belief that he will engineer that good future and not depend on fate. To continue the Dickensian theme, he needs to be as shrewd as Scrooge with the hunger of Oliver Twist.

Which brings us to assess the manager's pre-season work. My instinct is that he's has gone some way towards rounding the circle (though have a concern or two) but still suspect he might have a trick or two up his sleeve. Increasing striker and flank options has been done cleverly, to my view. Working the forward budget presumably to its limit, we happily continue with Sam Williams and Dean Bowditch, superbly bolstered by Luke Freeman and Andy Williams also contending the front places, and an exciting prospect with a golden chance to come through in Craig Calver. Such a full and varied striking provision (especially all fit) has been unheard of since the cull of Kirk, Owusu & co.

I'm also excited by our new strength on the wings. Last year a lack of strength in depth and variety in the wing department caused problems. Andy Welsh had a very good season, but Scott Murray disappointed, hindered initially through a lingering injury problem. Gavin Tomlin did well on the right, but a return for Arron Davies backfired (another lingering injury, it later transpired). And Downes was injured most of the time. With no back-up or alternative to Welsh and Tomlin, I felt that as a squad we had our thrust and attacking intent diluted, and that it impacted on other areas.

With a quartet of Welsh, new signing Andy Williams, and hot Premiership prospects Luke Freeman and Cameron Stewart on loan, I am hopeful that we will get more goals and points. The interchanging in the forward and wide positions that has been glimpsed in the pre-season matches also provides for optimism that we will have a more potent attacking force. The flexibility of Williams and Freeman is such a boost, especially with budget in mind, and Stewart seems able on either wing, regarded as a good crosser who can also cut in and score. His arrival now makes Williams available as another striker option. And all have pace aplenty.

There has been the odd murmur that we have become top-heavy on wingers, I did see a hint (was a bit tongue-in-cheek, I think) on the Achieve by Unity forum from *Mine Host that we might already have had enough wingers before Stewart's arrival, and in the context that we may well still need some other departments reinforced I can see the sense in that. With some need to defend by attacking, my two-penneth is that Skiverton has a good and necessary balance between his four exciting wing options, especially with the value to the budget that Freeman's and Williams's versatility provides.

*Opportune time to say a big thank you to Taff and to let you know who to blame. I have long-admired his blogs and forum posts and before that his Ciderspace work, so I feel he has afforded me a great privilege. Whether he was drunk at the time, I don't know, but it's a bit like risking someone's muddy boots trail through your pristine Homes and Garden living room. The biggest joy has to be at the chance to do such a terrible, terrible pun as is the title - it really is a strong addiction, for which I apologise (but have no remorse).

Right, as we were: a bit of tweaking does appear to be needed, or I fear that we might see a lot of entertaining positive football but not enough points to show for it - some deja vu about that. As it happens, I have a feeling that manager Skiverton is on the case, based on ..er .. nothing concrete. I am glad to see that we have now three good contracted centre-backs, and am enthused about the young and versatile Watford loanee Rob Kiernan, but share concerns that we may be now exposed to fast counter-attacking after having the luxury pairing (as I saw it) of Forbes and Caulker. Sullivan has shown some good ability, by reports, though I wonder if a revisit or similar to McCarthy's loan of last season might be the longer plan.

With Alcock and Smith still staying, and the new additions of Ayling and Upson, I think the potential of this squad is put into perspective by stating that a couple of the golden additions of last season, (such as McCarthy, Mason, MacDonald, SuperGav) could realistically raise League Table hopes to a comparatively giddy height.

Has the shrewd (nay, resourceful) and hungry Terry Skiverton got anything left in his kitty to juggle with? I am not sure, and that is where the nerves are a bit egdy, but on the whole, I continue to admire how he goes about his rebuild and can't wait for the excitement proper to begin.

Cruncher

PSF: Yeovil Town 1 Bristol City 3

2010-07-29T22:00:00.000+01:00

Many apologies but having just written approximately 800 words on last night's 3-1 loss to Bristol City and then losing the lot just because blogspot.com had automatically signed me out of my blogging account WITHOUT BLOODY TELLING ME, I really don't feel inclined to re-write the whole thing again; so seeing as it was only a friendly I'll make do with a few pithy observations instead:

As with the Manchester United reserves game, we looked good going forward. The front four of Williams (Andy), Freeman, Bowditch and Williams (Sam) once again worked well together in the first half and we could and should have scored more than the penalty we did score from. In the second half Freeman replaced Bowditch in the centre and Welsh came onto the left wing for Freeman and we were less effective generally, though perhaps that was more because we were by then winning less of the ball in midfield than we were in the first half. But in general our attacking play is looking a cut above what it was this time last year.

In midfield we are currently relying very heavily on one player, Kalala. When he went off yesterday we gradually lost control of the centre of midfield. Ayling and Upson are two very promising players but it's asking a lot to expect them to replace the likes of Shaun MacDonald and to a lesser extent, Ryan Mason. They may well prove very adequate replacements eventually, but to expect them to slot right in and play straightaway means we're risking a lot of short-term pain while we're waiting for them to adjust to League One.

Defensively, I'm concerned by our lack of pace at centre-back. Both Paul Huntington and Adam Virgo were caught out by City's pace up front yesterday and we looked particularly vulnerable when playing a high line in defence. We could get away with it last season because our central defenders Terrell Forbes and Steven Caulker had the speed to recover if the line was breached, but neither Huntington, Virgo or Stefan Stam have that same raw pace and we were exposed relatively easily at times, both yesterday and in last Saturday's United reserves game. It may be that the new loan signing Rob Kiernan can give us that cover, but again, it's asking a lot of a young and untested player. Players of the calibre of Steven Caulker don't grow on trees.

As for the goalkeeping situation I have to admit I'm somewhat underwhelmed with current first choice John Sullivan and even more underwhelmed to hear today's news that Skivo is considering re-employing last year's model Richard Martin. Two months ago Martin wasn't considered good enough and was released. He must have made great strides in a very short space of time since then. Sullivan himself didn't have the best of games yesterday. He made several good saves but his kicking was poor and the command of his box wasn't what it was against United's kids. I'm not condemning him on the basis of one iffy game, but I am comparing him to last season's custodian Alex McCarthy. And I'm afraid that so far, it seems that we've downgraded.

Regardless of anything else I admit I was disappointed by the result of last night's game. TBCUTR have had a poor pre-season up until now, losing to the likes of Aldershot and Exeter and I trundled along to Huish Park last night fully expecting us to add to their woes. Alas, it wasn't to be. That's it I'm afraid, I'm all written out. You should have seen the stuff I wrote that blogspot wiped out, sheer poetry it was, honest. Sigh.

PSF: Yeovil Town 3 Manchester United Reserves 2

2010-07-25T17:41:00.000+01:00

A crowd of 6,664 turned up at Huish Park yesterday to pay tribute to Glovers hero Darren Way in his testimonial match against Manchester United Reserves, and they were treated to a competitive and entertaining game, the Glovers coming out on top by 3 goals to 2. United's kids started brightly, Ravel Morrison missing the target with a free header right in front of goal early on, but Yeovil gradually took control of possession and were creating more chances. Dean Bowditch was unlucky not to score with a shot from the edge of the box that hit the bar, and both JP Kalala and Andy Williams came close as the half went on. Somewhat against the run of play the visitors went in front on 36 minutes, Rodrigo Possebon scoring with a low drive from the edge of the box past trialist keeper John Sullivan. The goal knocked the Glovers out of their stride a touch, and United came close to extending their lead before half-time, Sullivan doing well to save another Possebon effort amongst other attempts on the Yeovil goal.

The Glovers came out invigorated after the break and drew level on 47 minutes with a JP Kalala special from fully 30 yards. The visitors keeper got his hands to the shot, but such was the power behind it could only parry the ball into the back of the net. If JP scores a better goal this season I'll eat my season ticket! Two minutes later and a short corner caught the visitors napping allowing Andy Williams to provide the perfect cross for Sam Williams to find the net unchallenged in the 6 yard box. A further 2 minutes on and Yeovil were 3-1 up, another corner causing chaos in the vistors defence with Sam Williams heading the ball across the 6 yard box for trialist Adam Virgo to nod in from close range. The match settled down again thereafter, the flow of the game not being helped by the usual wholesale substitutions from both sides as the second half wore on. Manchester pulled a goal back on 77 minutes when Robbie Brady scored with a shot into the corner of the net, but that was the end of the scoring. There just remained a brief cameo from Glovers gaffer Terry Skiverton and, with a minute left, the appearance of the man of the moment, Darren Way.

Seeing both Skivo and Weasel on the pitch together was quite a lump-in-the-throat moment. The end of an era most definitely, but what an era. I remember seeing Darren make his debut in a Yeovil shirt in a reserve team pre-season friendly back in August 2000 and I've been fortunate enough to watch most of his career since. A small man in stature, he was a huge presence on the pitch and his central midfield partnership with Lee Johnson was pivotal in propelling this club up the leagues to it's present lofty status. It's been a privilege to watch him over the years and it was a privilege to be present yesterday to pay tribute to him.

As usual, merit marks for the match:

1. John Sullivan: 7/10 - impressive performance, couldn't be faulted for either of the visitors goals. Controlled his box, claimed the high balls and looked to be a good shot-stopper.

2. Craig Alcock: 6/10 - Quiet game, did his job.

3. Nathan Jones: 4/10 - No lack of effort from Nathan, but badly exposed for pace by his opposite number. Bailed out by Luke Freeman tracking back a little too often for comfort.

5. Paul Huntington: 5/10 - I must say I didn't really notice our new signing feature too much yesterday, at either end of the pitch. Subbed at half-time.

14. Stefan Stam: 5/10 - Not the best of displays. Bothered by the pace of the visitors attack and nearly gave a goal away with a suicidal pass across goal which left Adam Virgo with nowhere to go. Unconvincing.

8. Luke Ayling and 16. JP Kalala: 8/10 for both. The more I see of Ayling the more I like him. Combative in the tackle and bags of time on the ball. I know it's early days yet and only the pre-season, but he looks a real find. As for JP, he really imposed himself on the game when United's youngsters were threatening to take control, and scored a cracker. Excellent stuff.

7. Andy Williams: 7/10 - Another very promising outing. Again provided a stream of crosses from the flanks and looked direct and threatening, with plenty of pace.

9. Sam Williams: 8/10 - Big improvement on last weekend. Looked fitter, faster and sharper; took his goal well and set up another. More of the same, please!

10. Dean Bowditch: 7/10 - As with Big Sam above, a big improvement on last weekend. Looked fitter, faster and sharper, and was unlucky not to score himself. More of the same, please!

11. Luke Freeman: 8/10 - My man of the match. My first look at Luke and he didn't disappoint. Spent most of his time on the left wing and showed himself to be a tricky and direct player with plenty of channelled aggression. Worked extremely hard for the team and unlucky not to score himself. Very encouraging.

What I particularly liked about our performance going forward was the way the two wingers interchanged with each other and Dean Bowditch up front. One minute Freeman and Andy Williams were on the left and right respectively, the next they had swapped positions. At times it was Bowditch up front with Sam Williams, at other times it was Freeman, with Bowditch taking his place. At other times it looked like we changed from the usual 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1, with Sam Williams the lone striker and the other three interchanging behind him. It all looked pretty seamless anyway and more importantly, effective.

Subs:
15. Adam Virgo (for Huntington, 45 minutes): 5/10 - I was impressed with Virgo last week but I'm not so sure after yesterday's performance. Good in the air and took his goal well, but looked a little ungainly at times and was caught out for pace against United's youngsters too often for my liking. Against that I don't suppose he'll face such a pacey attack every week in League 1.

I won't give marks for the other subs, for the record they were:
12. Danny Hutchins (for Alcock 75), 17. Billy Gibson (for Kalala 75), 18. Craig Calvert (for Bowditch 75), 19. Sean McAllister (for Andy Williams 75), 20. Scott Guyett (for Stam 75), 21. Lloyd Matthews (for Sam Williams 75), 22. Ed Upson (for Ayling 75), Terry Skiverton (for Freeman 87), Darren Way (for Jones 89).

For what it's worth Gibson and McAllister are trialists and of course we all know who Scott Guyett is! It may or may not be telling to suggest that he looked no worse, or better, than any other central defender on show yesterday for the short time he was on the pitch.

Two weeks to go to the start of the season then and the squad is beginning to take shape. I've been generally impressed by the new contracted players but the obvious concern is the sheer lack of numbers. The starting XI looks to be full of pace and flair going forward, the worries come when looking at the replacements - not that there's anything wrong with them, there just isn't enough of them! Hopefully that will be addressed before the season proper starts in two weeks time. Bristol City up next on Wednesday night anyway and I'll be looking forward to seeing this team play again. On the evidence of the last two friendlies they're going to be well worth watching this season.

Silence from the boardroom is deafening

2010-07-23T17:01:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago the board announced plans to form a new company - Yeovil Town Holdings Ltd - to coexist alongside the existing company, Yeovil Football and Athletic Club Ltd. The reason for this as far as one could glean from the titbits of information doled out by the club was to separate the club's property assets from it's football operation. The property assets - in other words Huish Park Stadium and the surrounding land - would be owned by the new company with the football operation run by the existing company.

Since then we've heard nothing, at least nothing from the club. We found out this week that South Somerset District Council have earmarked approximately half of the Huish Park site as one of 7 possibilities on which the proposed Yeovil Sportzone - a multi-million pound development including a 50m swimming pool, gym, indoor tennis centre and climbing centre - might be built. One might have thought that such a potentially important development on the Huish Park site would have been worth a comment from the board, even if it was just to confirm that fans would still have somewhere to park their cars should the proposed development go ahead, but as usual the silence from the boadroom is deafening.

It might be that the Sportzone proposals have nothing to do with formation of the new Holding Company at the club, and indeed it would seem highly unlikely that any such large-scale development would be given the go-ahead at Huish Park when there would appear to be at the very least several more advantageous sites around the Yeovil area; nevertheless is it a coincidence that these proposals have come to light just after the board's separation of the stadium and grounds from the club's football operation?

The history of clubs going down the road of splitting property assets from their football operations is a short and unhappy one. AFC Bournemouth, Southend Utd, Rotherham and Crystal Palace are all recent examples and warnings. In this case silence is not golden, the board owe supporters a full explanation of what they are doing and why they are doing it. Chairman John Fry is very fond of claiming that the club is run transparently and openly. It's time for him to prove it.

Back to the football: There's still no real movement to report in terms of Skivo adding to his squad, though the gaffer has said this week that he has a verbal agreement in place to sign a keeper on loan. ITK's suggest that David Button of Tottenham or Elliot Parish of Aston Villa are possibilities, and either would be very acceptable; but I'm still hoping that Alex McCarthy might yet fancy another season in deepest Somerset. Time will tell.

As far as the rest of the squad is concerned there's been no additions or subtractions that we've been told about this week and Skivo has said he's only looking for a couple more players to complete the squad. Which would give us a senior squad of around 16 players by my maths, not even enough for a full bench without the addition of a few academy lads. Again, time will tell and with another fortnight before the start of the season proper Skivo still has room for manoeuvre.

Tomorrow sees the visit of Manchester United's reserve side for Darren Way's testimonial game. I know a lot of people don't agree with the very idea of testimonial's in this day and age and to be honest I do have some sympathy with that point of view, but if ever there deserves to be an exception to that general rule then surely this is it. Good luck to Weasel for tomorrow.

Just Read: We Joined The Navy by John Winton: Actually this must be about the 30th time I've read this book and it still makes me laugh even now. Written in 1959, it's a wonderfully warm and witty look at life as a cadet in the Royal Navy and even though it's very dated it's still well worth reading, both for the humour and as a chronicle of more innocent times. Wonderful.

PSF: Yeovil Town 0 Swansea City 1

2010-07-18T18:45:00.000+01:00

Well, it was nice to be back at Huish Park in the sun to watch a game of football. You can't beat live football. Even a fairly gentle pre-season friendly is, I think, preferable to any amount of televised World Cup games, HD or no HD. And better still, no vuvuzelas.

As for the match, Swansea were worthy winners. They had more of the ball, as you would expect from a side playing in a higher division, and looked more of a threat in front of goal, even if David Cotteril's 5th minute solo effort was their only reward. For the Glovers the interest came from seeing the new players for the first time and as far as they were concerned the verdict was, so far so good. Andy Williams, Luke Ayling, Paul Huntington and, later on, Ed Upson all showed up well and did enough to show they're going to be useful assets to the squad this season.

We lined up as follows (4-4-2):

1. Ben Roberts: 6/10 - Shot stopping good, kicking bad, shouting at the rest of the team excellent.

2. Craig Alcock (Captain): 6/10 - Had his hands full coping with Dave Cotteril but managed pretty well most of the time. Didn't get forward as much as he would doubtless have liked.

3. Nathan Smith: 6/10 - Had a real battle with opposite number Nathan Dyer and came out honours even. Delighted to see him back for the season.

4. Stefan Stam: 5/10 - Looked a bit short of pace at times but otherwise solid enough, apart from the time both he and partner Huntington were turned inside out by Cotteril for Swansea's goal.

5. Paul Huntington: 6/10 - Decent debut after a slightly dodgy start. Looked good in the air and the odd foray out from the back with the ball at his feet was almost Caulker-esque, dare I say it. Promising.

6. Jean-Paul Kalala: 6/10 - Typical JP performance. Glad he's back for the season.

7. Andy Williams: 7/10 - Started his YTFC career on the right wing and provided a whole series of dangerous crosses that the front men should have done more with. Says he wants to play up front, but if he carries on like this it will be difficult to take him off the flank. Encouraging.

8. Luke Ayling: 6/10 - My first real look at Luke and I liked what I saw. Kept the ball well, always available for the pass and always looking to release the front men. Seemed to have plenty of time on the ball, which, they say, is the sign of a good player.

9. Sam Williams: 4/10 - Not the best game I've seen Sam play. Looked off the pace and missed a couple of good scoring opportunities. Early days yet, we know he's better than this.

10. Dean Bowditch: 5/10 - Enthusiastic performance, by which I mean he ran around a lot and got into some good positions, but without ever looking like scoring. More to come.

11. Andy Welsh: 5/10 - Quiet game. Provided one or two decent crosses but on the whole struggled to get involved.

Subs: Richard Martin (46 mins for Ben Roberts): 8/10 - Easily the best 45 minutes I've seen him play. Made a couple of excellent saves, kicking was good and commanded his box. Surprising!

Adam Virgo (46 mins for Stefan Stam): 6/10 - Calm and classy. Would only enhance the squad, if we have the budget to sign him.

Ed Upson (70 mins): 7/10: Easily the pick of the outfield subs on 70 minutes. Combative, quick and a great range of passing. I'd like to see more of him next time.

Lloyd Matthews, Craig Calver, Nathan Jones, Danny Hutchins, Sam Hewson, Billy Knott, Kevin Lacroix and an unnamed Trialist (all introduced on 70 mins): No mark for any of these players, none of them really stood out so better luck next time. If there is a next time for some of them.

Here we go again then, off on the merry-go-round of another new season. What was encouraging about yesterday was that all 11 of the starting XI are contracted to the club next season, which makes a nice change; though of course we mustn't forget that we still don't really have a goalkeeper, either a first choice or a back-up. What wasn't so encouraging was that - Andy Williams crosses aside - we didn't create a whole lot in front of goal, and those chances we did make weren't taken. Still, Luke Freeman, injured yesterday, is still to come, and it's early days yet.

Magic Daps gets his cake and eats it

2010-07-16T15:41:00.000+01:00

Pre-season training has been going on for around two weeks now, and while there's been no real news regarding definite signings we do have some interesting possible signings to run the rule over at tomorrow's first home friendly against Swansea City.

The main points of interest come at centre-half, where 2 trialists have been training with the Glovers. They are former Brighton defender Adam Virgo, as mentioned last week; and former Leeds and Stockport centre-half Paul Huntington. Virgo's pedigree as a solid, reliable performer is well established, but Huntington is perhaps less well-known. Well, he's less well-known by me at any rate, in fact I'd never heard of him before now. He's potentially a very interesting acquisition however. He's 6'3", 22 years old and began his career at Newcastle, making 16 Premiership appearances for the Geordies at a comparatively young age before being transferred to Elland Road. Injury decimated his time at Leeds however and he eventually ended up at Stockport, where he played most of last season, making 26 appearances for the Hatters. He's clearly got potential, but equally clearly could be regarded as being injury-prone - in other words he sounds the ideal player for us. Young, hungry, and presumably looking to use us as a stepping-stone to get back to the higher levels of the game; but a bit risky for the bigger clubs in the division to be taking a chance with. Last term we managed to go the entire season with only 3 central defenders in the squad - Steven Caulker, Terrell Forbes and Stefan Stam. This season we could potentially do the same with Stam, Virgo and Huntington; plus a loan signing if and when required.

But we may be getting ahead of ourselves. Skivo's budget may not allow him to sign both Huntington and Virgo, time will tell. There are other trialists at the club in other positions. As far as can be told keepers Matt Glennon and Richard Martin are still with us and this week we were informed we have a 19-year-old striker on trial, Craig Calver from AFC Sudbury, a former Southend youth player. There are still more trialists around apparently, but the club have done a good job in keeping their identities secret, at least until tomorrow.

One signing we do know of is the return of midfield enforcer JP Kalala, subject to a medical. I know some people regard JP as a kind of anti-footballer, a poor man's Van Bommel if you will, but I'm not one of them. His passing and general distribution is better than he's given credit for and his ball-winning abilities and defensive know-how will be needed in a squad that so far seems to consist of mainly kids, flair players and Andy Welsh. In an ideal world we would all play like Barcelona, but in League One that just ain't going to happen and you need an enforcer like Kalala at times. I'm happy he's back, even if he is a pain in the arse.

One player we now won't be signing is Lee Trundle, who's taken his magic daps to The Gnoll in preference to Huish Park. The where? I hear you ask. The Gnoll is the home of Welsh Premier League side Neath, who offered the former Swansea favourite a 3-year £2500 a week deal to become the WPL's highest paid player. Trundle no doubt bit their chairman's arm off, as well as his other arm, legs and head, as well as finishing off the sandwiches in his packed lunch. I would have loved a fit and motivated Lee Trundle to have signed for us at one point, but that point was some years ago now. Skivo might (and presumably does) disagree, but I can't help feeling we've dodged a bullet on this one.

Stop press! News just coming in over the ether - Paul Huntington has signed a 2 year deal with the club and JP Kalala a 1 year deal. Good news!

Last week's behind closed doors games ended in a 3-3 draw at Wycombe and a 1-0 loss at Stevenage, not that anyone's counting. Anyhow, it's off to Huish Park tomorrow for the first friendly of the season. I'm looking forward to seeing our new signings play, in particular Andy Williams, Luke Freeman, Ed Upson and now Paul Huntington. It will also be nice to see Shaun MacDonald back at Huish Park, albeit playing for someone else.

Just read: Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony by John Scalzi. Super SF trilogy set in a hostile universe where mankind has reached the stars only to find hundreds of other intelligent species doing their level best to wipe each other out. But in the end the biggest threat to man comes from within... Think Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but with a sense of humour and added balls. Recommended.

Silly season warming up

2010-07-09T17:26:00.000+01:00

Pre-season training has been going on for over a week now and the big news is that there really isn't that much big news around. We have made another signing since I last blogged, 20-year midfielder Ed Upson, who was released by Ipswich at the end of last season. I'm not going to pretend I know anything about him or that I've even heard of him before, but Skivo was obviously impressed enough to offer him a 2-year deal, so good luck Ed and welcome to Huish Park.

Andy Williams and Luke Ayling have signed their agreed 2-year deals so they're ours now and we can do what we like with them (evil laugh). Skivo has already said that he sees Ayling as a central midfielder rather than the central defender he's been up 'til now. Young Gunner Luke Freeman has also now signed a 6-month loan deal, and I'm looking forward to seeing all the above at the first friendly of the season, at least the first one that's not behind closed doors, against Swansea City a week on Saturday. According to the invaluable @SW6Haribo on Twitter the Glovers are in the Home Counties this weekend for training matches against Wycombe and Stevenage.

Hopefully we'll have a goalkeeper for those games! It's been confirmed that 31-year-old former Bradford City, Huddersfield and Carlisle keeper Matt Glennon is training with the club, as, perhaps surprisingly, is Richard Martin, who of course was released by Skivo at the end of last season. The rumour is that Skivo is hoping to entice Alex McCarthy back to Huish Park for another season which if true might explain the apparent relaxed attitude to getting a keeper signed up, doubtless more will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Another player worth mentioning who's been training with the Glovers this week is former Brighton defender Adam Virgo, but judging by Skivo's comments it's more a question of whether he fancies joining us rather than the other way around. Former Glover Scott Guyet has also been present this week following his release by Bournemouth as well as an unnamed German central defender. It's not known whether anyone mentioned the World Cup to our teutonic guest, but if they did let's hope they got away with it.

Funny story of the week was the one about Super Gavin Williams signing for League Two no-hopers Hereford United. Bullshitter fans were getting very excited about the possibility on their forum, right up until the time Gav got to hear about it himself and said, er no. What would make the story even funnier would be if the multi-talented Welshman then signed up for one of the Hereford's bitterest rivals instead, and no, I don't mean Cheltenham. Sound far-fetched? Maybe, but maybe not. Fingers crossed, eh?

And finally: Lee Trundle. We have made him an offer, according to Skivo, as have several other clubs including Tranmere (where he's training), Swindon, Charlton and Welsh Premiership side Neath Athletic. I think my feelings about the possibility of Trundle signing are best summed up by the erudite Cruncher on the Achieve By Unity forum: "If we are going to give it a go for an expensive flair player, it has to be only one and the one that stands out is SuperGav. No idea if he will become available for loan, but I would want to keep a hopeful slot open for him rather than commit to Trundle and miss out on Williams." Couldn't put it better myself.

Just read: Loadsa stuff so far this summer but what stands out in particular is a series I've re-read: Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars. Easily the best lets-go-to-Mars-and-colonise-and-terraform-the-place series I've read, and believe me, I've read a few. It's long, overlong for a lot of people perhaps but I loved every word of it. If ever human beings get to Mars then this is the template on how to do it. Inspirational.

Now you see 'em....now you don't.

2010-06-30T15:49:00.000+01:00

So, goodbye and good luck Gavin and Kieran. The last thing we heard was that Gavin Tomlin had agreed a new deal with the club and that Kieran Murtagh was to return for pre-season training in an effort to prove that he was worth a new deal with the club. Ah, the best laid plans... Tomlin has now signed a 3-year deal with L1 new boys Dagenham & Redbridge and Murtagh is now not coming back at all.

Tomlin probably can't believe his luck. He can return to his native south-east and has the security of a 3-year deal. Three years! For an L1 player that's unheard of these days. Doubtless we offered him a year at best, so one can hardly blame him for taking the better offer. And as much as I personally liked Gav as a player and kept bigging him up both on here and on the various club forums, one wonders whether he would have been first choice next season, what with Andy Williams and the promised Luke Freeman (more on him in a minute) competing with him for a place in the starting XI. Doubtless he would have been a useful squad player however, so from that point of view I'm a little miffed that he's off. As for Murtagh, I thought he was fortunate to be offered any sort of contract at all. There's no doubt he has potential, but how long do you wait for that potential to be realised? At his age (21) he has to be pushing for a place in the first team but in his 2 years at Huish Park he's never really done that. Murtagh has all the physical attributes to succeed, one wonders whether the drive is there. Good luck to him, and to Tomlin anyway.

Pre-season training begins tomorrow (Thursday). In the light of Tomlin and Murtagh's departures let's hope that Andy Williams and Luke Ayling have (a) signed their contracts and (b) turned up. Or vice-versa. Ten days ago the club was getting everyone excited about the imminent arrival of Arsenal wonderkid striker Luke Freeman, but there's been no news of him, or indeed anyone else signing since. Unless you count today's silly season story of course. Lee Trundle is coming, apparently. Yeah, right. I have seen Lee in ASDA as it happens, as well as Tesco, Morrisons and Lidl; how one man can eat so many doughnuts is a mystery, but perhaps I'm being unfair - he may have been having a doughnut party.

In all seriousness we have 11 players on contract at the moment. They are: Luke Ayling and Andy Williams (assuming they've signed their agreed deals), Craig Alcock, Nathan Smith, Nathan Jones, Stefan Stam, Sam Williams, Andy Welsh, Dean Bowditch, Danny Hutchins and Ben Roberts. JP Kalala may or may not be back. Of the rest, Hutchins is on the transfer list; Jones and Roberts are really coaches and won't play much if at all. Skivo has already said that he's expecting 22 players to turn up for training tomorrow, it will be fascinating to see who the trialists are. Not that I'll know anything until after the weekend: I'm off down to Cornwall for another wedding, my daughter's this time. Happy days!

I'm not one to intrude upon private grief under normal circumstances but seeing as England were my adopted country for the purposes of having someone to support in this World Cup then I might as well add my twopenceworth to the debate as to where they went wrong. And didn't they go wrong? England's whole campaign has become a textbook case in how not to approach a major international tournament; their initial selections were wrong, their tactics were wrong, the team's put out on the pitch were wrong and the substitutions were wrong. Under such circumstances one would normally be blaming the manager, but that would be being wise after the event. I don't recall too many people disagreeing with Fabio Capello's selections or tactics before the tournament, though to be fair there were some concerns over the wisdom of taking injury-prone players such as Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King, and those concerns were eventually borne out.

Capello has to take some measure of responsibility for the fiasco that was England's campaign, but to my mind the real fault lies with the players. They simply didn't perform. One can look at all of the players used by Capello in the tournament and with the possible exception of Ashley Cole it's easy to pick holes in every single one of them. The shortcomings of the obvious talents - the Wayne Rooney's, the Lampard's, the Terry's, the Gerrard's, have been detailed exhaustively elsewhere; but it wasn't just the established stars that didn't perform. Aaron Lennon didn't beat one man on his outside as he does week-in and week-out for Tottenham. Glen Johnson is supposed to be one of the best attacking full backs in the world, on this tournament's evidence he can neither attack nor defend. Gareth Barry's passing was uniformly awful. The less said about Shaun Wright-Phillips and Emile Heskey the better. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that the players are the real culprits. They weren't capable and don't have the footballing nous to get anywhere near the really top teams. Flat-track bullies the lot of them, looking pretty good in the overblown Premiership where they are made to look better than they are by the presence of the foreign stars amongst them, but take away that prop and they are exposed as overpaid and under-talented hacks, not worthy of the magnificent support the fans gave them.

And I can't finish (sorry!) without mention that other fiasco of this world cup - Lampard's goal that wasn't. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in this day and age it is incomprehensible that it is apparently beyond the wit of man (and FIFA) to have some kind of system in operation to tell irrefutably whether the ball has crossed the goal line or not. I see the ludicrous Sepp Blatter has at last bowed to the inevitable and hopefully by the next major tournament some sort of technology will be in place, but it's too late now for Lampard and England. The argument that the game wouldn't be the same at the lowest levels where the technology could not be afforded cuts no ice with me. Cricket, rugby union, rugby league, motor-racing; all major sports in fact rely on technology at the highest level with no adverse impact whatsoever at the grass roots; the argument that football would somehow be different is specious nonsense. Let's hope that there are no more controversies to come in this tournament, it would be inexcusable and absurd if the final, say, was decided by a similar no-goal as Lampard's effort.

Three out of five ain't bad

2010-06-18T18:22:00.000+01:00

Terry Skiverton's little game of brinkmanship with the five out of contract players paid off this week with the news that Dean Bowditch, Nathan Smith and Gavin Tomlin have all agreed new deals with the club; with only Kieran Murtagh and JP Kalala's future as yet uncertain. Murtagh is evidently going to return for pre-season training anyway, and Kalala is still at home in France, having been given extra time by Skivo to deal with a family problem.

I'm pleased to see Smith and Bowditch sign on in particular. There were strong rumours going around the interweb linking Smith with Ipswich and Bowditch with Colchester respectively. We'll never know if there was ever any substance to those rumours, but there's no doubt that both players were among our better performers last season, particularly of the contracted players. Bowditch was our top scorer despite missing over 3 months of the season with a dislocated shoulder; and Smith, once he gained a regular starting position, got better and better the more games he played. He's the epitome of a modern full-back - dangerous going forwards, strong defensively and has bags of pace. I'd go as far to say that with Smith on the left and Craig Alcock on the right, the Glovers will have as good a pair of starting full-backs as any other side in League One next season, and better than most. And not to leave him out, I'm happy to welcome Gavin Tomlin back for another season as well. I know Tomlin's a bit like marmite for a lot of fans, but I've always liked what he brings to the team. He's inconsistent, true. But he works hard, is better in the air than he's given credit for and does have a little bit of flair and creativity that can upset opposition defences. It's still fairly early days as far as squad-building is concerned, and there are still a lot of gaps to be filled, particularly in goal, defence and midfield. Nevertheless the retention of the above three players plus the addition of Andy Williams and Luke Ayling is encouraging.

The fixtures are out, and we've been drawn against Crystal Palace at home in the first round of the League Cup. It all kicks off again in 7 weeks time and the first friendly is in less than a month. What happened to summer?!

Been watching: The World Cup (what else?). After a pretty quiet first few days the tournament began to wake up when favourites Spain lost to Switzerland and it's been getting better ever since. What has been been disappointing is the standard of commentary and punditry, from both BBC and ITV. Almost without exception the viewer has been treated with contempt by both our national broadcasters who seem to have spared no expense in the creation of space age sets with wonderful views of the South African skyline and then filled them with talking heads with virtually nothing of interest to say and a complete lack of tactical insight into the games we've been watching. The likes of Alan Shearer, Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Gary Lineker, Gareth Southgate and Andy Townsend deal exclusively in platitudes and cliches, are boring to look at and listen to and oh so smug in their condescension, both to the viewer and the occasional different studio guest. Even Adrian Chiles, very watchable as host of Match of the Day 2, is being dragged down to Lineker-lite by the demands of constant live exposure on ITV. The games themselves are being spoilt by the constant drone of the sound-a-like commentary teams, only Jonathan Pearce in my view adding anything to the viewing experience with his trademark enthusiasm. There is a chink of light at the end of the tunnel with the arrival in South Africa of several current managers who actually know what they're talking about to augment the various sofa's - step forward Roy Hodgson, Harry Redknapp and Gordon Strachan. Hopefully we'll hear rather more from those three over the next couple of weeks and rather less from the ex-players who currently monopolise the airwaves.

That was the season that was.

2010-06-11T11:44:00.000+01:00

It seems a fairly long time since I last blogged and indeed it is a fairly long time - just over a month to be somewhat less than precise. In that time the Glovers played (and lost) their last game of the 2009-10 season and finished in 15th position in the League One table, exactly as I forecast at the beginning of the season, and to hell with false modesty!

It's worth having a quick look back at the season as a whole. Overall we must say it was a success. The main target for the management team of Terry Skiverton and Nathan Jones was survival, and that was achieved relatively comfortably in the end by the standards of recent years. The football on display at Huish Park was generally entertaining with more goals than we got used to during the Russell Slade era, albeit being scored at both ends of the pitch. Crowds were up slightly, averaging 4,664, up by 5.2% against last season's football league low of 4,432. The main disappointment was the lack of any sort of cup run, with the Glovers being knocked out in the opening round of each cup competition entered.

As far as the squad itself was concerned we were fortunate enough to watch some of the finest young talent ever seen in Yeovil Town colours. Steven Caulker I'm convinced is a Premiership star of the future and it wouldn't be the greatest of shocks to see him in the senior England side in years to come. Alex McCarthy has surely a long and fine career in the game ahead of him, sadly for us at a rather higher level than we are likely to be playing at. Ryan Mason needs to bulk up, but otherwise showed enough in the first half of the season to suggest that he too could eventually be an important addition to Tottenham's first team squad. And Shaun MacDonald in my opinion is every bit as good as the likes of Chris Cohen (currently being linked to Premiership side Boltonin a £5 million deal - we did have a sell-on clause attached to his transfer, didn't we?) and a player I would love to see back here next season if by some miracle parent club Swansea decided against offering him a new contract. And of course the icing on the loanee cake came with the return of Super Gavin Williams who almost single-handedly (it seemed at times) dragged us kicking and screaming over the finishing line to safety.

As for our contracted players, I thought Craig Alcock was the stand-out performer. As the season went on he grew into his role as captain and became in my opinion our most consistent and reliable player. Terrell Forbes and JP Kalala also enjoyed fine seasons, such a pity that Forbes has now finally left the club. Nathan Smith got better and better the more he played and Dean Bowditch showed that he can find the back of the net regularly at this level providing he can stay fit. I was generally impressed with Sam Williams but he needs to up his scoring rate if he wants to play regularly at this level. Andy Welsh and Gavin Tomlin both performed well in the main but tended to fade in and out of games. The major disappointments to me were the obvious ones - Scott Murray never lived up to his billing and Danny Hutchins wasted all the potential he had shown at the tail end of the previous season. A real shame.

There were no surprises in Skivo's release list. I felt sorry for Aidan Downes, but his injury record and lack of football was always going to count against him. Scott Murray and Andre McCollin leaving were no-brainers, and Richard Martin never came close to breaking into the first team. Six players out-of-contract were offered new deals and have until June 15th to respond. Of those six, Terrell Forbes has rejected Yeovil's offer and joined up with Russell Slade at his new club, Leyton Orient. Good luck to Terrell, he plainly wanted to leave last summer but found no takers and stayed on in Somerset to have a fine season. He'll be hard to replace, but not impossible. The remaining five offered contracts are Dean Bowditch, Nathan Smith, JP Kalala, Gavin Tomlin and Kieran Murtagh. The rumour-mill suggests that Bowditch and Smith in particular may well be looking elsewhere, which again would be a shame. But at this level no-one is irreplaceable and there have never been so many decent players looking for contracts as there are this summer. A contract offer - any contract offer - might be worth its weight in gold to any player looking to play professional football next season.

We've signed two new players so far, both on permanent deals. Highly-rated Luke Ayling spent the final month of the season on loan at Huish Park from Arsenal and it was something of a surprise to many observers when the North London outfit released him on a free at the end of the season. The 18-year-old has spent most of his career as a central defender but Skivo has so far played him as a defensive midfielder, so it will be interesting to see in which position he ends up plying his trade. Andy Williams is a 23-year-old striker/winger who chose the Glovers over a renewed offer from former club Bristol Rovers. I'm really pleased with this signing. I've been following his career with some interest ever since I noticed this kid called Williams scoring goals for Hereford a few years ago. It didn't surprise me that the Gas were willing to pay £100k for him, what did surprise me was that he didn't really kick on at the Mem. Whenever I've seen him play he's impressed me with his trickery and directness and if he can regain his Hereford form then he could be a cracking signing. Here's hoping, anyway.

Off the pitch and the board have sprung something of a surprise with the news that they are intending to form a new company - Yeovil Town Holdings Limited - and will invite shareholders in the main company - Yeovil Football And Athletic Club Limited - to exchange their shares in YF&ACL for an equal number of shares in the new holding company. Why would shareholders want to do this? I have no idea. Let's ask chairman John Fry: "Our aim is to create a Yeovil Town holding company which will enable the directors to focus specifically on the development of our football and Huish Park assets and facilitate the enhancement of our brand. The recent and current economic climate has made it considerably more challenging to secure the necessary interest in any potential club developments, and the professional advice received has indicated that it will be significantly easier to attract the appropriate investment if our property assets are separated from the football club." Fryspeak at it's best.

There's been much discussion on the Achieve by Unity Forum as to what all this actually means in practice. The obvious worry for supporters is the mooted separation of the club's 'property assets' - in other words the stadium and grounds - from the club's control. Some people have speculated that this could mean that the board are planning to sell the 'property assets' to outside investors to raise money for whatever purpose - perhaps to invest in the team (highly unlikely IMO), perhaps to build a new stadium elsewhere free of the strangling covenants that hinder any kind of improvement to facilities at Huish Park, perhaps for other reasons not yet clear. It's also been suggested that it would be somehow advantageous to the club for tax reasons. What we can say for sure is that the example of other clubs going down the same route in the past has not been encouraging. What have the likes of Stockport County, Crystal Palace, AFC Bournemouth, Luton Town, Rotherham United and (last and definitely least) Weymouth all got in common? The answer is that all have gone down the road of selling their stadiums to outside investors, and all, eventually, have ended up in administration. Now in practice the board can do what it likes. 90% of shares in YF&ACL are held by two men - club chairman John Fry and owner Norman Hayward. We know and trust that they have the best interests of YTFC at heart. It will be fascinating to see how they intend to proceed over the next few months and if they are intending to sell the stadium to outside investors (and we don't yet know for certain that this is their intention) how they plan to keep YTFC from following the bad examples of the clubs mentioned above. All will presumably become clear in time. Good luck to them, and us.

Many thanks to everyone who sent their good wishes after I revealed I was getting married in my last blog. In the event the day couldn't have gone better. The weather was kind, my bride was beautiful and even I managed to scrub up reasonably well. We had a fantastic honeymoon on the English riviera (never let it be said that I don't know how to treat Mrs Taff Glover) and are now happily ensconced in marital bliss. In other words I'm doing as I'm told, well, most of the time. Seriously, we're both very grateful for all your kind words. Cheers!

Mission accomplished

2010-05-03T14:57:00.000+01:00

The Glovers went into Saturday's final home game of the season against Oldham needing a point to ensure League One football would be played at Huish Park next season. In the event they got all three, with a comfortable 3-0 victory against an Oldham side that had ensured their own safety the previous week. The Glovers played the same brand of attacking football they showed against Millwall and Southampton, but this time were rewarded for their adventure with a first-half headed goal from Gavin Tomlin and a second-half brace from the probably irreplaceable Gavin Williams.

We lined up as follows (4-4-1-1):

1. Alex McCarthy: 7/10 - One of the easiest games Alex has enjoyed playing for the Town. I can't recall him saving a shot in anger and apart from claiming a couple of crosses and the usual clearing of backpasses he had little to do. At the start of the season I can remember wondering if it was asking too much for a 21-year-old to be the club's main keeper - no need to wonder now. He's had an excellent season.

2. Craig Alcock: 8/10 - The most improved player of the season in my book. Rock solid defensively and a real attacking threat going forward, as well as becoming a danger at set-pieces. Seems to be growing into his on-field captaincy role to become increasingly influential. A great example for any of the various youth team players to follow.

5. Steven Caulker and 6. Terrell Forbes: 7/10 for both. Very competent display from both centre-halves who have formed a very effective partnership over the season. It goes without saying that we're going to miss Caulker, but at least we can console ourselves in the knowledge that we've been watching one of the future stars of the game for a whole season and have been instrumental in his development. As for Forbes, I don't think he's had a better season, for us at any rate, and is surely worth a new contract in the summer.

28. Nathan Smith: 7/10 - Starting to develop a real presence at left-back. Strong in the tackle and in the air and so exciting when he makes his forward runs. With Smith on the left and Alcock on the right The Glovers have 2 full-backs who are potentially every bit as good as anyone else I've seen in League One this season, and maybe better than most.

10. Gavin Tomlin: 7/10 - I've said it before and I'll say it again, I like Tomlin. For me he's one of the few contracted players we have with a little bit of flair and the ability to do something different and unexpected, the kind of player who can unlock defences when he's on form. I accept he's inconsistent but that's not surprising - if he was consistent he'd be playing for a bigger club than ourselves. I think Skivo's found his best position on the right side of midfield, from there he can drift into the centre as and when required and can pop up with the odd goal - as he did on Saturday. It remains to be see whether his manager will agree, but for me he's definitely worth another contract.

21. JP Kalala: 8/10 - Typical JP performance. Never gave Oldham's midfield a minute to get any kind of passing game together, constantly harrying and nipping in at their players until the inevitable booking for persistent fouling. Every team needs a JP Kalala, I do hope ours will still be here next season.

8. Keiran Murtagh: 6/10 - We didn't miss Shaun Macdonald as much as I thought we might on Saturday, and that was because (a) Oldham were half on their holidays, and (b) Murtagh stepped up to the plate and had a decent game. Will he be offered another contract for next season? Only Skivo can answer that. Murtagh has all the physical attributes, he's skilful, has a good shot and at his age should now be forcing his way into the first team and be demanding selection. The fact that there's not been much sign of that, at least to outsiders, may count against him. In his favour, he's probably cheap.

11. Andy Welsh: 6/10 - Welsh's game on Saturday more or less summed up his season. Extremely effective in parts, anonymous in other parts. Very much worth his place in my book though, because when he's on his game there's no better provider of other people's goals, certainly on our team and not many better in the entire division.

20. Gavin Williams: 10/10 - Seven games played, 5 goals scored and he's provided the assists for another 5 goals on top of that. It might be stretching a point to say that without his input we would have gone down, but we can say with absolute certainty that his goals and general inspiration have played a huge part in keeping us up. You don't know what you've lost 'til it's gone, as the song goes, but we knew when Super Gav left us the first time around that he was one of the finest players to have ever played in the green-and-white, and the brief cameo he gave us at the end of this season just confirmed that judgement. The tragedy for him is that fitness and injury have compromised a career that deserved to be played at the highest level. It's been our privilege to have seen him at his best, both first time around and again this season. Thanks Gav.

14. Dean Bowditch: 5/10 - Flattered to deceive in the end a little. Finished the season as our top goalscorer despite missing a large chunk of it with injury, but - as he did on Saturday - tended to disappear from games if he wasn't scoring. Misses too many chances one suspects to attract attention from the bigger clubs in the division but is a good enough player to be wanted by someone apart from ourselves I'm sure. Will no doubt be offered another contract, whether he'll still be here next season we will have to wait and see.

Subs:
7. Arron Davies (41 mins for Gavin Tomlin): 5/10 - I'm sorry to say it but a pale imitation of the player we sold to Nottingham Forest along with Chris Cohen 3 years ago. Lightweight, lacking in confidence and generally ineffective. I'd be surprised if he was offered a contract by Skivo.

One more game to play then and we can all start gearing up for the World Cup. The win on Saturday pushes the Glovers up to 15th position in the table on 53 points and for me, my season ends here. Congratulations to Skivo and Nathan Jones on a generally successful first full season in charge, with the main aim of survival achieved with a game to go. Me, I'm off to get married on Friday. If I survive the honeymoon this blog will return in a few weeks time!

Glass half empty

2010-04-29T22:07:00.000+01:00

It's been a funny old week. The Glovers drew 1-1 at Brentford last weekend to more-or-less assure themselves of safety, but there's been no great outpouring of relief or satisfaction from either the club or the fanbase. Maybe that's because we're not mathematically safe as yet, though to be sure it would take a quite remarkable sequence of results from several different teams below us to put us back in the relegation frame now. It can all be put to bed on Saturday, when a point against fellow strugglers Oldham will be enough to secure League One football for a sixth successive season regardless of what any other team does.

Let's think about that for a minute. A sixth successive season at the highest level this club has ever played at! It ought to be a cause for celebration, another triumph against the odds, but it really doesn't feel like that. The club lives from hand to mouth and while we can recognise intellectually that finishing just above the relegation zone - again - is an achievement, it's not an achievement that gladdens the soul and quickens the blood. After all, what do we have to look forward to next season? At best, more of the same, the eternal struggle to avoid relegation, to remain a small fish in a big pool punching above our weight, to borrow from the YTFC book of cliches. Play-off's, or automatic promotion? On our budget? You're having a laugh. Actually, what's remarkable is quite how few games one has to win to stay in this division. With 2 games to go we are virtually safe and have won a grand total of 12 games from 44 played. Astonishing.

Ah, it's been a long season and at times quite a fraught one too. We've been much too reliant on loan players for most people's liking and you can't see that changing next season. But without those loan players the lack of any kind of strength in depth in the squad is concerning. Our occasional reserve side, including 8 first team squad players, lost 2-0 at Welton Rovers earlier in the week in the semi-final of the Somerset Premier Cup. All due respect to Welton, but a 2-0 loss against them would have been a bad result for our youth team. To lose against them with a team containing 8 first team players is a bit of a worry, to say the least.

Two games left to play in the season then and to be honest it will be a relief when it's all over. It didn't ought to be like this. All those years we played in the Southern League, the Isthmian League and then the Conference, we yearned to be in the Football League and now we're here and established and at times it's a real struggle. And that's despite the fact that at least at home, under Skivo we've generally tried to play attractive, passing football, even if at times it hasn't come off. I was looking at the Stevenage forum last week, reading all the messages of joy and relief from their supporters following their promotion to the Football League. It reminded me very strongly of how we felt 8 years ago when we won the Conference, the sense of anticipation we had in the season to come and the collective pride we all felt, pride in our town and pride in our club. Enjoy it while you can Stevenage fans, the reality of the Football League will rub off all that optimism soon enough.

We go into Saturday's match with half the team apparently carrying injuries. Shaun MacDonald has gone back to his parent club, Sam Williams and Aidan Downes are out for the rest of the season. The Glovers are 11/10 favourites to win, the draw is priced at 12/5 and an Oldham win is also 12/5. I fancy us to limp rather than sprint over the finishing line - my fiver is going on the draw. Running total: +£8.88p.

One more home game to go. Roll on summer, roll on the World Cup. I've had enough of this season.

Just read: The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith, and The Complaints by Ian Rankin: My fourth Wilbur in a row and probably the weakest of the four I've read so far, or perhaps I'm just Wilbured out for now? That's not to say The Seventh Scroll is not a good read or I didn't enjoy it, I did; It's just not quite up to the standards of the previous titles I've read by the author. It's basically a treasure hunt set in modern day Ethiopia and is part of the author's 'Egypt' series. Having damned the title with faint praise I still managed to gallop through all 600-odd pages in about 3 days, so it must have something to recommend it. As for The Complaints; the king is dead, long live the new king! Rankin introduces us to a new protagonist after Rebus, Malcolm Fox, a copper investigating other coppers. The backdrop is still Edinburgh and as such familiar from the Rebus novels, and Rankin manages to make his new hero as distinctive and original as Rebus was, without inviting unwanted comparisons. Excellent stuff.

Brentford betting

2010-04-24T12:49:00.000+01:00

A quickie post just ahead of this afternoon's crucial game at Brentford. We all know what's at stake - a win and we can look forward to our 6th consecutive season in League One, anything else and it will go to next week's home game against Oldham. Griffin Park is a tough place to go to get a result. The Bees haven't lost at home since last October, but on the other hand have nothing left to play for anymore this season, whereas the Glovers will surely be going all out to attack. The bookies make the home side favourites at 11/10, the draw is priced at 12/5 and the away win at 12/5. My fiver will be going on a Yeovil win. Running total: +£13.88p. Come on you greens!

Just read: A Time To Die and The Quest by Wilbur Smith: I've been on a bit of a Wilbur Smith binge lately, the first time I've read any of his novels and all I can say is how did I go go long without trying his books before now? Wonderful storytelling, high adventure and all three of the novels I've read by him have been very different. Of these two, A Time To Die is set on the border of modern day Zimbabwe and Mozambique and is a high octane thriller; The Quest is completely different, a fantasy set in ancient Egypt; both are hugely readable and immensely enjoyable. Highly recommended.

L1: Yeovil 0 Southampton 1

2010-04-18T19:24:00.000+01:00

Football can be a cruel game sometimes. The Glovers deserved so much more than they got from yesterday's match, but that's two games in a row now that injury-time goals have cost us points, and that's something the team and management must look at. We should be 4 points better off now than we actually are, and looking at the certainty of League One football again next season. As it is we're not out of the woods yet and need at least another win from our final three matches to assure safety. The good news is that if we approach our final three games in the same positive manner that we've played this week, then surely that win will come.

Yesterday's visitors Southampton are so far ahead of us in any measure you care to make it's not even funny, but where we can and did match them is in heart. The Saints dominated the first 30 minutes of the match, creating chance after chance after chance but a combination of good goalkeeping, profligate finishing and last-ditch defending kept the score goalless. The Glovers gradually came more and more into the match, Townsend and Kalala began to make their presence felt in midfield and Gavin Williams started to find space to spray the ball around. By half-time the Glovers were more than matching their visitors and both Bowditch and Tomlin had spurned excellent chances, misses that were to come back to haunt the home side at full-time. The bulk of the second half contained more of the same, with the Saints probably enjoying more possession but the home side counter-attacking with real intent and threat and looking more likely to score. The Glovers task was on paper made easier when Saints midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin was dismissed on 70 minutes for violent conduct after a kick on Gavin Williams, and the visitors were somewhat fortunate not to receive another red card a few minutes later when Jose Fonte fouled Williams with the midfielder bursting through on goal. As time went on the visitors again began to look more threatening despite being a man down and in a last gasp bid to keep their season alive put on two more strikers to try to force the win. In contrast the Glovers by now seemed happy to take the draw, the feeling reinforced when the sole striker Bowditch was replaced by a midfielder, Murtagh, with 2 minutes to go. The effect was to leave Yeovil with no outlet when clearing the ball and Southampton were able to play out injury-time in the Yeovil half. With strikers of the calibre of Barnard, Waigo, Connolly and Lambert on the pitch this was always going to be risky; and sure enough it was Barnard, a £500,000 snip from Southend in the January transfer window, who popped up in the 3rd minute of injury time to head home the winner and break Yeovil hearts.

Merit marks as follows:

1. Alex McCarthy: 8/10 - Kept Southampton out almost single-handedly at times during the first half. Had a lot less to do after the break. Helpless for their goal.

2. Craig Alcock: 7/10 - Typically solid display. One of the most improved players in the team. At the start of the season he could be relied upon to make at least one bad error per match. Nowadays he can be relied upon, as simple (and effective) as that.

5. Steven Caulker and 6. Terrell Forbes: 8/10 - Immense partnership at the back. Ricky Lambert has been scoring for fun against all-comers all season but for most of the game he didn't get a sniff. Caulker has been getting all the plaudits all season and rightly so, but Forbes is equally deserving of praise. Sign him up NOW.

28. Nathan Smith: 8/10 - Back to his best. Marauding runs down the left, combining well with Andy Welsh and his defending is top-notch too. His long-throws are starting to become a useful weapon as well. Sign him up NOW.

10. Gavin Tomlin: 6/10 - Worked extremely hard all match and got himself into a couple of great goalscoring opportunities - but didn't score.

21. JP Kalala and 25. Shaun MacDonald: 8/10 - After a dodgy first 20-25 minutes where they both looked off the pace they began to find a measure of control in midfield, which they didn't relinquish until that unhappy last 5 minutes of injury time. Sign Kalala up NOW.

11. Andy Welsh: 8/10 - Combined really well with Smith to provide a real attacking threat on the left. Not his fault that all too often his crosses led to nothing because of a lack of numbers in the box. If only Sam Williams had been on the pitch!

20. Gavin Williams: 8/10 - Once again the creative fulcrum of the team, once up to the ferocious pace Southampton set at the start. The only thing I'd criticise him for (and it's a very mild criticism!) is for trying to find that killer ball once to often when he himself is in a good position to shoot.

14. Dean Bowditch: 6/10 - Put himself about well again and got into good positions to score but unfortunately left his shooting boots at home. Sign him up anyway, NOW.

Subs:
8. Keiran Murtagh (88 mins for Dean Bowditch): N/A - Not on long enough to make an impression.

Despite the disappointment of losing there were plenty of positives to take from the game. The fact is that for much of the match we matched and even bettered a Southampton side that to my limited knowledge has spent at least £1.5 million on just 2 players in the last year (both of them strikers). The match itself was thoroughly entertaining and as in the Millwall game last Tuesday we played some very good passing football albeit without an eventual end product. It was good to see the biggest crowd of the season at Huish Park with probably the highest number of home fans all season - let's hope the generally positive vibe of the day will persuade the irregular attenders to come more often in future. The negatives - well, we lost, yet again to an injury-time goal. We have got to learn to close out games properly, something I don't think was helped by the substitution of our only striker for a midfielder with 2 minutes left. It's easy to be too critical of Skivo here however - look at the options he had on our bench and then look at the options Alan Pardew had on his bench. The difference is chalk and cheese.

Onwards and hopefully upwards anyway. Brentford away next weekend in a game which will mean a great deal to us but hopefully not so much to them. I'm hoping we'll go into the game in the same positive vein that we've approached the last 3 games. If we do I'm convinced that we can get the result we need to be playing in League One next season.

L1: Yeovil 1 Millwall 1

2010-04-14T13:39:00.000+01:00

This is what football should always be like. A good atmosphere, the away terrace more or less full, two teams committed to attack and a referee prepared to let the game flow. What more could you want? Well, a win would have been nice, but let's not be churlish. This was one of the Glovers best performances of the season and against a side unbeaten in their last 18 matches and in second place of the table. And make no mistake, for 93 minutes out of the 94 played we battered Millwall, outplayed them and generally looked like the side that was going for automatic promotion. To fall at the final hurdle and allow a bit of a soft equaliser in the depths of injury time was gutting, but let's not dwell on that. The performance as a whole was hugely encouraging, and that's the most important thing.

We lined up as follows (4-4-1-1):

1. Alex McCarthy: 7/10 - Oh, Alex. Faultless for 93 minutes and then one small error which let Millwall in for their equalizer. That's life for goalkeepers.

2. Craig Alcock: 7/10 - Fine display of modern full-back play. A threat going forward, good defensively and solid at set-pieces.

5. Steven Caulker: 7/10 - Another dominating display in the heart of the defence. He and Forbes kept the prolific Morrison and Harris in their pockets all night.

6. Terrell Forbes: 7/10 - As above. Never mind all this wait until we're safe bollocks, he must be signed on a long-term contract NOW.

28. Nathan Smith: 8/10 - Probably Nathan's best game this season. Rampaging runs forward, excellent when defending, getting better and better all the time. Sign him on a long term contract NOW.

10. Gavin Tomlin: 7/10 - Played on the right side of midfield again and though he's not a natural in that position you get the feeling he's growing into it. He's a bit like Marmite though, half the crowd love him and the other half want to see him substituted 10 minutes ago. Me, I think he's worth another year at least. Sign him up NOW.

21. JP Kalala: 8/10 - More of a box-to-box midfielder these days than a purely defensive player, he adds just as much to the team's offensive play as he does winning the ball. Sign him up on a long-term contract NOW.

25. Shaun MacDonald: 8/10 - I had a dream the other night that Swansea released the Ginger Prince on a free transfer in the summer and we signed him on a long-term contract. It could happen, couldn't it? Dreams do sometimes come true...

11. Andy Welsh: 6/10 - I can see why Skivo drops Welsh as often as he does. He's by no means a bad player, his dead ball delivery is excellent and his crossing generally good, but there's something missing somehow. He tracks back, gets in the right positions but he couldn't tackle his way out of a paper bag and you just know if there's a fifty/fifty or a contested header he won't win the ball. I'd still play him more often than not for his attacking skills, but you need a bloody good full-back behind him to make up for his shortcomings. Fortunately, we've got one in Nathan Smith.

20. Gavin Williams: 9/10 - The missing link in the side. Played in the hole behind the main striker and from there popped up all over the pitch creating mayhem wherever he went. How good would it be if somehow both he and MacDonald were here again next season? I'd happily pay double the price of a season ticket to see that.

14. Dean Bowditch: 8/10 - I've criticised Dean in the past for being somewhat invisible unless he scores. Not this time. He's no target man like Sam Williams but he was all over the pitch last night, led the line superbly and took his goal with aplomb. Sign him up on a long-term contract NOW.

Subs:
17. Aidan Downes (80 mins for Andy Welsh): 6/10 - Put himself about for the short time he was on. Skivo's got a decision to make about Aidan in the summer. Is he worth another contract? I don't know.

There were two slightly disappointing aspects to the evening. Firstly, why no minute's silence for the late Malcolm Gold? I appreciate the players wore black armbands in his memory, but you would have thought that if the club went to the trouble of having a minute's silence for two dead Leeds fans last week then an ex-player of the club and a local lad to boot would be worthy of the same honour. And it was disappointing to hear the reception a minority of fans gave to Jon Obika. What he did to deserve the outbreak of booing he received when he came on as a second-half substitute I just don't understand - his goals were vital in keeping us in League One last season and let's not forget he was our top scorer this season until a couple of weeks ago. It was almost poetic justice to see him score Millwall's equaliser and he showed his class by refraining from celebrating after he scored. A pity some of our fans couldn't show the same sort of class.

Still, other than that it was a cracking night. Some of our football was sublime - one touch passing on the floor with superb movement and a real work ethic throughout the team. It bodes well for the future. It's time now though for the board to play their part by allowing Skivo to sign up those players he needs who are out of contract next season - I'm thinking particularly now of Bowditch, Smith, Kalala and Forbes, and I personally would retain Tomlin too - in order for the manager to start the summer with a solid base from which to build the rest of his squad.

Just read: Monsoon by Wilbur Smith. Wow! My first Wilbur Smith epic and it won't be my last. A juggernaut of a book which blows you away with the sheer force of its storytelling, grabs hold of you and doesn't let go until you've read the final page. I suppose the best way to describe it is as an historical adventure story for adults. Thoroughly entertaining.

Million dollar bash

2010-04-13T14:42:00.000+01:00

It will have come as no surprise to anyone to see that Yeovil Town's latest set of accounts show a large loss. What will come as a surprise to most people are the scale of those losses, a few thousand pounds shy of £1 million over the financial year. I don't propose to reinvent the wheel by going through the few details the club sees fit to release, see part 1 and part 2 of the Ciderspace news page for as many of the details as can be gleaned from the auditors statement, with the club's version of events on it's official site.

The club's statement begs as many questions as it answers. It blames the main part of the loss on the lack of player sales during the period in question plus the absence of a cup run, as well as the effects of having to replace the injured Mark Bircham and Darren Way. Interestingly there is no mention of the costs incurred in the botched sacking of Russell Slade, either in terms of the compensation finally paid to Slade, nor the legal bill the club would have had to pay. It seems from all of the above that the board took the decision to increase the playing budget in the expectation that taking a risk would bring a reward, either in the shape of another big player sale or an extended run in one of the Cup competitions. In the event, neither expectation came to pass and the board made a bad situation worse in the ham-fisted way they got rid of the man they blamed for their misfortune - Russell Slade.

So where do we go from here? Well, according to the club's statement the club has been successful in reducing costs in this latest financial year to the extent that they are expecting to show a small profit in the next set of accounts. The loss last year has been covered, according to the auditors, by personal loans from 'the shareholders' - in other words the club is now in debt to Norman Hayward, though we don't know by how much, nor the terms of repayment, if any. We know nothing of any consequence really because, as usual, the club tells us the bare minimum they can get away with by law. Transparency? They don't know the meaning of the word.

There's no point in being overly concerned about all this anyway. The sun will keep on shining and the Earth will keep on turning and next season I will buy my season ticket and go along to a stadium with nothing much in the way of facilities and a gradually deteriorating pitch to watch an underfunded side do their best to keep in League One and try to play some decent football on the way. Who knows? We may even have a bit of a cup run. Until and unless there's a change of ownership at the club then that's the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future. It could be worse, we could be Weymouth.

Back to the football and the 3-1 win at relegated Stockport on Saturday has made League One survival now almost certain. Skivo reckons 2 more wins will do it, but he's erring on the side of caution. We're on 48 points, 7 away from the relegation zone with 5 games to go. I think we've probably got enough already, but one more win will surely be ample. It would be nice to get that win sooner rather than later, but with 2 home games next up against 2 of the most in-form sides in the division - Millwall tonight and Southampton on Saturday - then we might have to wait a week or two for some certainty. Second-placed Millwall are the visitors this evening, and it's no surprise that the bookies have made them favourites to win tonight's game. What is surprising is that they're odds-on at 4/5 for the away win. The draw is priced at 5/2 and a Yeovil win an insulting 7/2. The home win has got to be worth a fiver at those odds. Running total: +£18.88p.

L1: Yeovil 1 Leeds United 2

2010-04-08T18:11:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of the usual post match review following the Leeds game, real life sometimes gets in the way of blogging! It's been a few days now since the match, so I don't propose to do my usual thing of awarding merit marks etc etc, I'll content myself with a few general remarks about the game.

We showed Leeds far too much respect. Right from the start and that impromptu minute's silence (organised spontaneously by the players apparently), following on from a negative team selection designed to try and stifle Leeds rather than express our own attacking prowess; our entire approach was one of deference to the big club. Instead of taking the game to Leeds we were content to sit back and fill in, not take too many chances, to keep things tight and narrow, to take the width out of the game. As a game plan it was all very well and it might even have worked had we been able to do the basics, like defend competently from set-pieces, but we failed on that test.

The shame of it all was that when we finally did introduce some width in the shape of Andy Welsh and began to take the game to Leeds in the final quarter of the match we did look a much better side and despite being outplayed for most of the game could easily have got something from it in the end. But we didn't deserve anything. To win you've got to attack and be positive, for too much of the game we were defensive and negative.

Good games: Alex McCarthy - kept the score down to reasonable proportions with some terrific saves. Andy Welsh - added width and pace going forward, good crosses. JP Kalala - tigerish prescence in midfield.

Bad games: Steven Caulker - lost his man twice at set-pieces which led directly to the Leeds goals. Scott Davies - played out of position on the right side of midfield and it showed. The third time I've seen him play now and I still haven't seem do anything positive of note.

Good and bad: Craig Alcock - some cracking last-ditch clearances, but lost his man too often at set-pieces. Terrell Forbes - generally sound defensively, should have scored himself. Nathan Smith - anonymous until Welsh came on, then started getting forward well. Gavin Tomlin - our only (vague) threat in the first half, faded as the game went on. Unlucky not to score with a header cleared off the line. Gavin Williams - peripheral until pushed forward in the second half when he began to show his class. Dean Bowditch - took his goal well, hardly noticed him otherwise. Shaun MacDonald - played out of position on the left for most of the game, and it showed. Much more effective when shifted into centre midfield later on.

I said before the Leeds game that I hoped we would give it a go against one of the best teams in the division and give the tv cameras a real show. We did just that, but only for the last 20 minutes. If only we had shown that same positive attacking intent right from the start! We may not have done any better than we actually did, but at least we wouldn't have died wondering. I've resisted the temptation to criticise Skivo all season right up until now, but on Monday in my humble opinion he got both his tactics and team selection wrong, and then was too slow to change things for the better. Let's hope he learns from those mistakes. Three weeks ago we were 11 points away from the relegation zone and looking comfortable. Now we're 4 points away and on a downward spiral. Make no mistake, a loss this weekend at Stockport could be disastrous. A draw will be disappointing. Let's go for the win, let them worry about what we're going to do, not vice versa. Attack, attack, attack attack attack!

The bookies make the Glovers favourites for the win at 7/5. The draw is priced at 23/10 amd the Stockport win at 19/10. Anything other than an away win is unthinkable, and that's what my fiver is going on. Running total: +£6.88p

Away from the football and the club have announced their season ticket/matchday prices for next season and the good news is that there's to be no increase. In fact there's no change of any kind, so the bad news is there's still a surcharge for those who can't buy their tickets until the day of the match. The club insists it's not a surcharge, the matchday price is in fact the normal price. They say people who buy in advance of the matchday receive a discount on the normal price. I have news for the club: People aren't stupid, if it looks like a pig, smells like a pig and squeals like a pig then it's more than likely a pig. I know plenty of people who can't buy in advance for one reason or another but who refuse to pay the £2 extra on the day, asking why should they be penalised just because they can't commit themselves in advance through no fault of their own? So they and the club miss out. If there's one thing I would change about the club's ticketing policy to make it more equitable for all fans it would be this: Lose the surcharge!

Finally, a thought for former Glover and current Exeter striker Adam Stansfield, who has just been diagnosed with bowel cancer, though the prognosis is apparently good. Get well soon Lisa!

Just read: Amazulu by Walton Golightly. Fascinating semi-fictionalised account of the life and times of Shaka, King of the Zulus in 19th century Africa; from his lowly beginnings as a bullied child to his eventual emergence as the Father of the Zulu Nation and his descent into murderous purges of his own people. Gripping throughout but the ambiguous ending is unsatisfactory - read it and you'll know what I mean, but don't let it put you off the rest of the book.

A good game to watch on teletext

2010-04-04T19:52:00.000+01:00

"God, that was one dull match. The sort it's better to 'watch' via teletext and think 'a useful point towards staying up', than spend 20 quid to actually sit through the 90 minutes of tedium. Two sides completely clueless in their respective attacking thirds of the pitch. Thankfully the away support was on good form. It helped pass the time."

I hope HHH doesn't mind me nicking his comments from the Ciderspace MOTM voting form but they seem to sum up what appears to have been the general consensus of opinion regarding yesterday's 0-0 draw at Southend. Never mind the quality of the football on show, at this stage of the season it's the results that matter, and it was essential that the Glovers didn't lose at Roots Hall yesterday afternoon. In that sense at least then it was job done.

The result leaves the Glovers in 15th position and on 45 points with 7 games left to play, 5 points clear of the relegation zone. I'd hesitate to call tomorrow lunchtime's televised clash with Leeds United a 'must win' game, or even a 'must not lose' match, nevertheless tomorrow's visitors haven't scored in 4 games and have just fallen out of the automatic promotion places for the first time all season - if ever there's a good time to play them then it must be now. Added to that we're on the telly! Let's hope we really go for it tomorrow and show the watching world what we're capable of. Leeds are evens favourites to win, the draw is priced at 5/2 and a Glovers win at 13/5. With odds like that what else can I do except put my fiver on the home win? Nothing. Running total: +£11.88p.

Gotcha (well, got one or two of you)!

2010-04-02T17:23:00.000+01:00

I must apologise to anyone who was taken in by yesterday's blog. Yes, it was an April Fool, and no, I've not really converted to the dark side. Most people obviously saw it for what it was straightaway, but if you were fooled then you have my sympathy.

Actually, two or three responses to the mirrored blog on the Ciderspace site gave me pause for thought and perhaps ought to give the club some concern as well; with some respondents echoing in real life my fictitious complaints and saying they too were completely disillusioned with watching League football with all the expense involved when they could go to local non-league clubs to watch a similar product with better or at least comparable facilities and at a much cheaper price. Perhaps that's one explanation as to where the so-called 'missing' fans have gone over the last couple of years?

Back to reality and I was a little disappointed this week to see that Skivo has ruled out contract talks with the current squad until our position in division 3 has been secured for another season. I can't see what difference it makes what division we're in when it comes to offering new contracts to the likes of Dean Bowditch, J-P Kalala, Nathan Smith and Terrell Forbes; surely it's a no-brainer that all four will be retained next season, if we are in a position to do so. The danger in leaving contract talks in abeyance is that other clubs can and will fill the gap - already there are hints from informed sources that Dean Bowditch has been approached by another club keen to take him on next season. One of the criticisms made of Russell Slade was that he was too slow to initiate talks with players coming to the end of their contracts, now we see exactly the same situation being re-enacted, this time under Skivo. One begins to wonder if it is in fact the manager's decision not to begin to secure his squad for next season, or is he acting under instruction from above? Let's hope that divisional survival is secured sooner rather than later so contract talks can begin as soon as possible. I'm sure that all concerned - players, management and fans - would welcome some certainty regarding the make-up of the squad next season rather than the usual last-minute panic.

After a fortnight off it's back to the football at last and two important games coming up over the next 3 days. First up it's relegation-haunted Southend away on Saturday, followed by the visit of promotion-chasing Leeds United to Huish Park on Easter Monday. We all know the score. We mustn't lose against Southend and given Leeds recent form should go into that match with every confidence of getting something out of it. Offer me a couple of draws here and now and I'd take them both. As far as the Southend game is concerned the bookies make the home side 6/5 favourites. The draw is priced at 23/10 and a Glovers win at 9/4. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: -£4.62p.

Just read: Solar by Ian McEwen, and Glory Boys by Harry Bingham: I really enjoyed McEwen's latest, a climate-change black comedy, believe it or not. As ever with McEwen the writing is immersive and you realise after you've finished the book that you've learnt all sorts of things without realising you were being taught. Clever stuff, but very entertaining. In contrast 'Glory Boys' was a curiously old-fashioned yarn, a tale of two fighter pilots struggling to find their way in post-WW1 USA. It's a bit unfair really to compare the light reading of Glory Boys with the literary heavyweight that is McEwen, but that's the way the cookie crumbles, I read the one after the other so that's how it goes; but really there is no comparison. I got halfway through Glory Boys before losing patience with it, went straight to the last chapter to find out what happened in the end and didn't feel I'd missed anything in between.

The end of an era

2010-04-01T10:53:00.000+01:00

This is a difficult blog to write. I never thought this would happen, but happen it has and I (and you, dear reader, if you continue to read this blog) have to deal with the consequences.

The fact is that over the last few years and for various reasons I’ve gradually fallen out of love with Yeovil Town Football Club. It’s not something that’s happened overnight, it’s been a gradual diminishing of passion over the years. Looking back on it I can see that it started with the sacking of Graham Roberts. As an armchair Spurs fan I was thrilled when a stalwart of White Hart Lane was appointed as Yeovil manager and it hurt, badly, when he was summarily dismissed, and over such a little thing! The worst of it was that he was right all along, they are all arseholes at Stevenage.

Roberts was the first, but other unjustified sackings over the years have similarly badly affected my love for this club. There’s been so many own goals, so many instances of bad practise that it just seems pointless to list them all here now. On the face of it the last decade had been one of unparalleled success for this club, but scratch beneath the veneer of achievement and one finds, well, nothing else really.

The football league, the holy grail of all non-league clubs! Surely, I hear you say, surely you must be happy that after 100-odd years of non-league under-achievement we are now playing at the highest level this club has ever played at? I’m afraid not, no. League football is not all it’s cracked up to be. Teams are all much of a muchness. They’re all super-fit, they’re all tactically aware, they’re all so similar, so boring. Games aren’t normally decided by flashes of skill but by defensive errors, or the referee’s whistle. Going along to Huish Park these days to watch the likes of Hartlepool, Carlisle or Stockport is no different to watching Hednesford, Telford or Bath City a decade ago. We just pay much, much more for the privilege nowadays, and I, for one, can no longer justify that expenditure.

I’m sorry, but that’s it for me. After nearly 40 years following the Glovers I’m opting out. I’ve not fallen out of love with football itself, just become vastly disillusioned with League football in general and Yeovil Town in particular. I still intend to follow the game though and this is where I suspect that anyone reading this who may have found themselves agreeing with what I’ve written above will now part company with me. You see, over the last few months while I’ve been writing this blog I’ve occasionally commented on the trials and tribulations of our old rivals Weymouth. And gradually, over the months, the unthinkable has happened. The more I’ve looked into the Terras affairs, the more sympathetic to their plight I’ve become, and – secretly – the keener an interest I’ve taken in their results and day-to-day business. It all came to a head last week in the run-up to the CVA meeting which could have resulted in the death of the club, when I realised I was spending more time on the Weymouth forum than I was on the Yeovil equivalent.. I knew then that I could no longer go on living a lie. Next season I intend to have a season ticket at the Wessex Stadium and watch Southern League football. I’m going back to our roots.

I hope Glovers fans can forgive me, I suspect they will not. Such is life. From now on Taff Glover is dead, as is Taff’s Gloversblog, though I’ll keep these pages online for posterity. Taff’s Terrasblog will open for business tomorrow, Friday 2nd of April.

Thank you for reading, and for your understanding.

Up the Terras!

L1: Yeovil 0 Bristol Rovers 3

2010-03-21T15:29:00.002Z

Funny old game, not that I was laughing. A 3-0 loss at home sounds like a fairly comprehensive thrashing; well, it is a fairly comprehensive thrashing, and yet it could easily have been different. The stats make interesting reading: The Glovers had 7 efforts on goal, most of them in the first half, none of them on target. The Gas had a total of 3 efforts on goal and scored from all 3. We had 9 corners to their 5 and enjoyed 52% of the possession. We lost the game in both penalty boxes. Our defending was poor and our final ball into the box even worse. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong.

We lined up as follows (4-4-2):

1. Alex McCarthy: 4/10 - Is a tough season beginning to catch up with Alex at last, I wonder? He's been excellent for the most part, but there's been signs in the last few games that he's just starting to struggle a little. Yesterday he struggled a lot. Dithered on a back pass to gift Rovers their first goal and didn't really recover from that. He's certainly been due a bad game, let's hope this was it and he's back to the keeper we know next time out.

2. Craig Alcock: 6/10 - Probably the pick of the back four for me on the day. Usual all-action performance, but not much in the way of end-product when he went forward.

5. Steven Caulker: 5/10 - I know, burn the heretic! How dare I do anything other than praise young Steven to the skies? Sorry, but I don't think he played that well yesterday. Was AWOL for their second goal (as was Forbes to be fair) and that wasn't the only time he was caught out of position during the match - one of which times he even felt compelled to take one for the team and picked up his first booking of the season. But if anyone's entitled to have an off-day then it's him.

6. Terrell Forbes: 5/10 - As with Caulker, never really got to grips with the Rovers front two, especially during the first half. Should have scored with a free header at the back post from one of our many corners but put it wide. One of those days.

28. Nathan Smith: 5/10 - Bit of a nothing game for Nathan. Only got forward occasionally which was a shame because he looked to have the beating of his opposite number when he did. Okay-ish defensively.

10. Gavin Tomlin: 5/10 - Started well, but faded badly as the match went on, particularly when he went up front in Sam Williams place. Not entirely his fault though, with the best will in the world he's no-one's idea of a target man so why did we lump so many balls towards his head?

21. JP Kalala: 7/10 - Typical box-to-box display from JP. Probably my man of the match. He must be worth a 2 year contract in the summer surely? Don't call me Shirley.

27. Scott Davies: 4/10 - My first sighting of our new loanee and I'm afraid I'm struggling to see what he brings to the party. Never really got involved, didn't look particularly fit, offered very little going forward or defensively. No surprise to see him subbed eventually.

25. Shaun MacDonald: 6/10 - I know he's played on the left side of midfield before, certainly at Swansea, but to me he never looks completely comfortable there. Did well enough, but IMO it's not his position. At his best as a box-to-box midfielder. If he was moved to accommodate Scott Davies then I hope it's the last time that happens.

9. Sam Williams: 7/10 - I've given him a 7 not so much for what I saw him do, but for the negative effect on the team after he was replaced halfway through the first half. When he was on the pitch we looked like scoring (even if we, er, didn't), as soon as he went off you had the feeling we could have played for another 90 minutes without coming close.

14. Dean Bowditch: 5/10 - He ran around a lot without much effect it has to be said. If he ain't scoring then he ain't that noticeable.

Subs:
7. Arron Davies (24 mins for Sam Williams): 4/10 - Started on the right and then moved into the middle as the second striker after the break. Supremely ineffective in either position. If this is Arron playing for his future then the future is elsewhere.

11. Andy Welsh (63 mins for Scott Davies): 4/10 - I know he came on because Dave Linney said so. I don't know what he did when he was on though.

Hmmm, re-reading all that and it sounds like we had a collective 'mare, but it wasn't that bad in truth. Given that we gave the Gas a goal start we actually played quite well for the first 20 minutes and created some very respectable chances which unfortunately we didn't take. The second goal was a sickening one to give away with 3 Rovers attackers enjoying the freedom of our penalty box with defenders nowhere to be seen. But even then we still created chances and if we could have nicked one back before the break I would have been optimistic for the second half. Alas it wasn't to be and the third Rovers goal was the killer. Heads dropped and both teams went through the motions in the second half, but everyone there knew the game was over at half-time. We've got a fortnight off now without a game, and we need it. I daresay the team could do with recharging their batteries as well.

Just read: The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse: Beautifully written ghost story set in France in the years after the 1st World War. Haunting, lyrical, and if you're the nervous type, not at all scary. Best of all, it's nice and short, I read it in one sitting. I'll be looking out for more by this author.

From hero to zero

2010-03-19T15:45:00.003Z

Just a quickie post today. Weather permitting we welcome Bristol Rovers to Huish Park tomorrow for the nearest thing to a derby match that we've found since entering the football league. I say weather permitting because we've had heavy rain for the last 2 hours which is forecast to continue until tomorrow evening, more or less. Oh god, I'm turning into you-know-who.

The Glovers are narrow favourites to win the game at 7/5, a Gas win is priced at 19/10 and the draw at 23/10. My fiver's going on the home win. Running total: +£1.62p.

Skivo has signed on loan another young Premiership central defender with a good reputation. The only surprise is that Luke Ayling is on Ars*nal's books, not Spurs. Well, no-one's perfect. He's here to provide back up to Terrell Forbes and Steven Caulker in Stefan Stam's absence, good luck to him during his stay in Somerset.

Shock of the week, as far as I was concerned, came yesterday, with the news that Gary Johnson has left Bristol City after nearly 5 years in charge at Ashton Gate. During that time he took TBCUTR from the bottom of division three back into their more natural home in the Championship, and came within a losing play-off final of dragging them into the Premiership. Since then 2 seasons of mid-table mediocrity have been deemed unacceptable by both City's owner and fanbase and yesterday Gary paid the price with his job. It's astonishing really how soon fans forget the good times and indeed the bad. When Gary left us to go to Ashton Gate City had spent 9 years in division three and were in real danger of dropping even further to division four. To read their forum now you would think the 2 seasons since the play-off final that they've been mid-table in the Championship have been 2 seasons of complete purgatory, not amongst the high points of the last decade or so that they actually are. Impatience and short-termism rules, as always in football. City are currently a fairly comfortable 7 points clear of the relegation zone. I would laugh my socks off if that was to change by May, and they ended up coming back down to division three.

As for Gary, he's probably better off out of it. It will be very interesting to see what he does next. Who knows, while he's waiting for his next challenge he might come back to his old stomping-ground, to give Skivo a few tips and tricks. Whatever, I'm sure this is not the last we've heard of Gary Johnson.

Another one bites the dust (part 2)

2010-03-16T16:18:00.003Z

It's the end of an era for internet-using fans of the Glovers with the news that the green room has been shut down by its owner, almost certainly for good. The end came quite suddenly yesterday afternoon when owner/admin Hoagy tired of paying what I'm sure was a considerable sum every year to give a platform to a small but vocal minority of users who seem to think their 'right' to say what they like as aggressively and obnoxiously as possible superseded everyone else's 'right' to enjoy discussing what we all supposedly have in common - Yeovil Town FC.

We've been here before of course. Before the green room came along we had the Ciderspace Forum, which Badger, HHH and yours truly moderated. We ran the Ciderspace Forum for 6 years from 1999 to 2005 and by the end of those 6 years we couldn't wait to close it down, for dare I say it much the same sort of reasons that Hoagy has now closed the green room. There comes a time that one tires of kicking against the pricks (to coin a phrase), especially when you are the one shelling out the bucks to keep the forum open.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, free speech is a privilege, not a right. With free speech comes responsibility, the responsibility to treat others opinions with respect and not to take disagreement as an excuse to start throwing around insults or threats. Some people think that 'because it's the internet' they can say things and behave in a manner which they wouldn't dream of doing if they were talking face-to-face with the person they're disagreeing with. And they are the ones that spoil it for the reasonable majority, because eventually the users who make a good forum worth reading and contributing to realise they've got better things to do with their time than plough through reams of self-serving crap. And then when the moderator tries to winnow out the idiots and the ones who are killing the forum with their moronic one-line 'banter', you get accused of censorship or playing god and that's when the threatening emails start, and you realise that the game isn't worth the candle.

This being the internet two new forums have sprung up overnight to replace the green room, let's hope that at least one of them has the staying power to prove an adequate replacement. You pays your money (well, you probably don't) and you makes your choice: Town Talk; or Yeovil True. For what it's worth I prefer the look and feel of the first option, but will happily use either. What's important is that at least one forum succeeds. The only people I can think of who will be delighted by the green room's demise currently work at Huish Park!

Just read: Martyr by Rory Clements. After the never-ending Sarum it was a relief to get back to an ordinary sized book - a mere 300-odd pages from start to finish. Martyr, the author's debut novel, is set in Elizabethan London and does a good job in bringing that period to life. A murder mystery, it's obviously meant to appeal to fans of the excellent Shardlake series of novels by CJ Sansom, and does a decent enough job of that. It's the first of a series and despite it's (minor) flaws I enjoyed it enough to look forward to reading the next when it's released later in the year.

L1: Yeovil 4 Hartlepool 0

2010-03-14T13:54:00.004Z

Friday morning and I woke up with a headache, aching sinuses and a fever. But enough of my better half's problems, I felt fine and was looking forward to my trip to HP on Saturday to witness the second coming of Super Gav, aka Gavin Williams in the match against Hartlepool.

Oh bitter fate. Saturday morning and I was the one with the headache, the aching sinuses and the fever, but being a man, I had it bad. I could no more have got up to go to the football than I could have got up and walked to the moon; so I missed Super Gav's return and his part in the 4-0 win over the Monkey-Hangers. I missed Gavin Tomlin's penalty that put us 1-0 up, I missed Super Gav's super free-kick that put us 2-0 up, I missed Super Gav's super lob that hit the woodwork and then rebounded in off a Hartlepool defender to put us 3-0 up, and I missed Dean Bowditch's stunning solo effort that made it 4-0 to the Glovers. I also missed Super Gav retaliating to a late tackle which led to him receiving a red card which means he now misses the next three games. Bloody hell!

That's 3 wins out of the last 4 games which leaves the Glovers 11th in the table on 44 points from 36 games played. I personally think that will be enough for safety this season, I can't see any of the bottom 4 pulling back the 11 points they need to get to us, though doubtless Skivo will be continuing to crack the whip in training to get us as high up the table as he can.

And talking of Skivo, it was interesting to hear Steve Claridge's comments on the gaffer in the Football League Show on BBC1 last night. IPATHLYK commented that in his opinion the two outstanding manager's in the division this season were Paul Lambert at Norwich City and our very own Skivo. Lambert for the turn around at Carrow Road which now sees the league leaders finally punching their weight after a poor start to the season; and Skivo for his achievement in leading the smallest club in the division with the smallest budget to the top half of the table. Not often I agree with anything Claridge says, but he's got this spot on. Skivo (and Nathan Jones) deserve huge credit for the way they've approached the season. Most of their permanent signings have contributed well and their loan signings have been uniformly excellent. We've looked fitter as a team than we have for a long time and we at least try to play passing football, even if we don't always succeed. Sure, there have been disappointments - Scott Murray, Danny Hutchins and the FA Cup defeat at Oxford stand out - but on the whole the season has gone as well as it could have gone given the limitations a club the size of Yeovil has.

We've seen the last of Ryan Mason at Huish Park, at least for this season. Quite rightly both Skivo and Spurs have come to the conclusion that the player will be better off with some rest and recupuration at Spurs Lodge rather than trying to play through injury for the rest of the season. Ryan was superb for us during the first half of the season but began to struggle as the weather and the pitches deteriorated. There's no doubt in my mind that he's got a big future in the game if he can develop the physique and physical stamina to compete against the top players. The best of luck to him, I'm sure all Glovers fans will watch his career with huge interest.

The Glovers are in action again on Tuesday evening, making the long trip to Carlisle for a rearranged game. The bookies make the home side evens favourites, the draw is 12/5 and a Yeovil win 11/4. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: +£6.62p.

Just read: Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. I didn't expect to but I ended up more-or-less enjoying this, a way overlong (1400+ pages!) history of human habitation of the Salisbury area, seen through the eyes of six families and their descendents. Having said that it's too long (1400+ pages!) it did just about manage to keep my interest until the end. Parts of it are excellent, other parts could have been happily junked. I don't think I learned anything new from it, other than perhaps not to read such big books in future. I've got the author's Dublin to read waiting on my shelves, but I think it will be waiting a while before I do eventually pick it up. Something shorter for me next!