TT BLOG

Clive Hayward – @Byehorse

Clive blogs about Paul Wotton’s latest presser

TRUST YOURSELF, TRUST THE PLAYERS, TRUST THE PROCESS

Paul Wotton’s press call this Thursday took place in the warm glow of the two away wins at Farnborough and Maidenhead. It is in the nature of these things, however, that the main focus is on the future.

Dave Hammond did give the Manager a chance to reflect briefly on the terrific performances though, asking what he put them down to.

The Manager’s answers were quite succinct:

“Trust yourself, trust the players, trust the process”.

Consistency, he hopes, will come through practice & positive experiences:

“Football is repetition”.

Injuries and Availability

Selection for Saturday will be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Louis Dennis and Callum Dolan were both unable to train today because of injuries they have been trying to play through for a while. They are both doubts, although Wotton reported that he will probably leave it until Saturday lunchtime to make final decisions.

Skipper Matt Worthington could only manage 11 minutes at Maidenhead, and he definitely won’t feature.

Sunny Fish probably has “65-70 minutes in him” now. Wotton sung his praises: He referenced the young striker’s barnstorming run from one box edge to the other at Maidenhead. “He’s 20 years old: he will finish up being a proper player”.

(I think he’s actually 21, but I aged Sonny-Bluo Lo Everton by a year on Gulls Eye View this week, so greenhouses, stones and all that. Sorry SBLO!!).

There was encouraging news about both our longer-term absentees. Cody Cooke has moved up from treadmill to astroturf this week, and Nash Sundire is also now able to do some light jogging as he continues the rehab from his knee reconstruction.

Maidstone in the Trophy

These games are normally difficult for promotion-chasing managers to judge. It’s very clear that changes are likely on Saturday, whether due to injuries or other workload concerns. Alan Richardson asked Paul whether he would have preferred a league game on Saturday to capitalise on the recent uptick in United’s form. The answer was very nuanced. Wotton said although it would have been nice to continue the league form, the Trophy also comes at a time when two key players in Dolan and Dennis are not certain to be fit- so maybe the slightly less important fixture isn’t the worst for them to miss.

Paul said that the home draw is a big positive- “massive”. In a masterpiece of understatement, he commented that: “Travelling all that way for a Trophy match wouldn’t have been ideal!”

Looking Further Ahead

Paul pointed out that- including Maidstone- we have got “4 massive games ahead”. Following the Medway Men’s visit, we have a Sussex double header against underachieving Eastbourne and resurgent Worthing (who have won their last 6), followed by a trip to big-spending Chelmsford: which has not been a happy hunting ground for the Gulls even before the “Loadsamoney” Essex outfit started splashing serious cash.

The 3 up Campaign

There was a bit of light relief when the Manager was asked about the National League’s “3 up” campaign. In a gesture which will probably have as much effect as a spit in a thunderstorm, that division’s games will all kick off at 3.03pm this Saturday.

There is, of course a serious point behind this: the gap between League Two and the National League has narrowed and the FA talks the talk about “The Pyramid”, but there is a bottleneck meaning that only 2 clubs per season can get promoted. This, of course, also affects NLS and NLN.

Wotton is, understandably, all for the campaign. He pointed out that the Non League game is rapidly becoming more professional and he is a strong advocate for 3 up into the National League. When it was pointed out that this could mean that 6 clubs would need to be relegated, his answer was very simple:

“Just finish 7th bottom then!”

Sonny-Blu Lo Everton

I thought the young midfielder was excellent on Saturday (he also gave a really good post-match interview). Wotton agrees. I asked if he thinks Sonny is now coming into his own?

“Yes, massively. It was probably his best game that he’s had for us on Saturday. When you’re out for 6 weeks, without a reserve team there’s only so much training and running you can do: match fitness is the only way you’ll get there. I hope he will stay at that level now. You can see why we brought him to the club and what a good player he is. I thought he was massively influential to the result on Saturday.”