July 2021 (Page 5)

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Former Yeovil Town defender Carl Dickinson has been speaking to sports podcast The Grassroots Guy, conversation ranged from cheesing off Tony Pulis at Stoke, to a short stint in Iceland and of course a rollercoaster couple of seasons at Huish Park.

In the podcast, Dicko talks about how it was Assistant Manager Terry Skiverton who made the move to Somerset possible and despite a promising start to his first season, things didn’t go to plan.

“Terry (Skiverton) used to come up to Stoke City quite often, so I recognised him, I went and met him, had a good chat about everything and was really excited about joining.”

“We got off to a good start that season and then things started to change quite quickly”

That good start Dicko refers to included wins over Notts County, Stevenage, Grimsby and Newport County – a game in which he scored – and an EFL Cup Tie with Aston Villa.

But, the results soon turned against the Glovers and the cracks began to show.

“I didnt have the greatest relationship with Darren Way, I’ll be perfectly honest, we didn’t see eye to eye, we didn’t get on… but that’s probably a different story” (One you’re more than welcome to tell us here at the Gloverscast, Dicko… Just Saying)

“A lot of things happened in that first year where I questioned a lot about football and what I wanted to do… it got to that point”

It was clear to all Glovers fans at the time that at the end of the season, Dickinson’s time at Yeovil was going to come to an end, exiled away from the club and training with his former employers Port Vale to keep fit.

But, when Way and eventually Neale Marmon had come and gone Dicko’s Glovers career was brought back on track thanks to Darren Sarll.

“I had a massive chat with the Gaffer, Darren Sarrl, we had a proper, deep chat about what he wanted and i was like ‘come on then, lets have a go, lets see’ “

There was still work to be done to reintergrate Carl back into a side who had just dropped out of the Football League, had lost the vast majority of the squad and was going through a change in management, ownership and culture.

“The more we trained and spoke to the Gaffer more and more, he seemed to reignite something within me”

“He was able to squad together that was so close to achieveing something, a fantastic group – loved working under him”

That first season in the National League ended up being curtailed early due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, but a table was settled on points per game and the Glovers were in the Play Offs, losing to Barnet in one of the most one sided games Yeovil have ever dominated, but lost.

Dickinson was quick to draw comparisons with some of his other former bosses, saying how Sarll and he were honest with one another, could argue, disagree, but always come back around to the same wavelength and get on with the job – something which Dicko says he respects.

Furthermore, it was noted how the Sarrl era had started to bring supporters back to the club after many had fallen out of love with the style of football and lack of success on the pitch.

“He managed to get a real togetherness back with the fans, I think there was a real disconnect with the fans, players and everything at club just looked like it was defeated”

“He’d probably say the same, but it was one of his biggest achievements, getting that togetherness back and having that bond between fans again.”

Attention turned to the crop of Yeovil players that Carl and a number of other experienced players have left behind, something which the left back says should excite Yeovil fans.

“There’s some really good lads, even this year, even though we didn’t do as well as we should have done, there’s some good lads there, some good young lads who could kick on and have very good careers”

“Looking at the signings they’re making now, I think they’ll be alright again – he’s made some good signings”

Dicko singled out a couple of the players he’s looking forward to seeing at Yeovil; “(Jordan) Barnett who was at Notts County, had a great game against us at their place, Mark Little who will be a massive signing… I really do wish them all the best, I’ve got some really fond memories of the last two years”

There was plenty of praise for the likes of Luke Wilkinson and Josh Staunton too.

Of course, the final words were left to the Glovers faithful,

“The fans were always fantastic with me, they know what happened the first year, they get it, but they know deep down, every time I went out on that pitch, I wore the shirt with pride, I always wanted to give them all the best, I just want to wish them – the fans, the gaffer, the lads – I do thoroughly wish them all the best, they deserve to be in and around the top of the table.”

“Im excited to watch Yeovil this season and see how they do”

You can follow the Grassroots Guy onTwitterand Instgram

Harry has also spoken to Matty Worthington on his podcast – you can see the links to that podcast HERE

 

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Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has said the club will have to wait until nearer the start of the National League season to sign another striker.

Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel to answer fans’ questions, he said he would have to wait until players’ demands came within the club’s financial “capabilities.”

However, he said he believed that current strikers Reuben Reid and Joe Quigley could be sufficient backed up by support from midfield.

Asked if the squad was forward of attacking options: “We are only short if we carry on playing with two, if we play with one and wide players we are comfortable with Reuben (Reid) and Joe (Quigley).

“We are not close to signing a forward, we will have to wait late for that one because forwards go for higher premiums and we are going to have to wait til they come within our capabilities.”

He added: “In my first year (2019-20) we only had Rhys Murphy and Courtney (Duffus) until seven or eight games in and then we got Gold (Omotayo) and then we signed Chris Dagnall, so I think it may follow that trend this year.”

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Some time ago, we here at the Gloverscast decided we’d test out some questionable Latvian (and a little Slovienian) to try and track down one of the 2013 Wembley heroes – Vitalijs Maksimenko – and we did! (you can read our interview with him… HERE)

This week, we dusted off the Google Translate, set it to Hungarian and tried to find another former Yeovil star – Zoltan Stieber – and wouldn’t you know, it worked!

The former Aston Villa youngster joined Yeovil Town on loan in November 2007 and only actually spent a few months with the Glovers.

But, he has gone on to have an incredible career, which includes playing at UEFA Euro 2016 for his country and playing in the top flight of both Germany and the USA.

We sent some questions to Zoltan and he remembers his time at Yeovil fondly.

“I signed for Villa I think in 2007. I used to train with the first team at Villa regularly and it was the next step in my career to go on loan, so i was really exited to go on loan to Yeovil Town and get some first Team Football! “

It would be a fair assumption that a young Hungarian plying his trade on the verge of the Aston Villa first team may not have heard of a small Somerset club who were in League One, but that wasn’t the case.

“I heard about the club, because i was following the lower leagues as well, but didn’t know much to be honest!”

It was Russell Slade who signed Stieber, initially on a short term loan, but after impressing in his first few games, the deal was extended.

“It was a great experience to work with him, he was my first Coach in first team football so of course I had to adapt, but I learned a lot from him and I am thankful for him that he gave me the chance to get my first games in first team football it helped me a lot for my career”
A lot has been made about how Yeovil have helped young players move through their careers and go on to better things, something which Stieber agrees with – his career in adult football essentially began at Huish Park
“All the players were great with me, they helped me directly and made it easy for me to feel home for my time at Yeovil, this was the biggest step coming out of youth team football, it helped me a lot”
Stieber played 15 times in the Green and White, scoring just once, a winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Brighton in late December of 2007, a moment that Stieber will remember for a while; “It was a great feeling to score the first time in English Football”
Sadly, the Hungarian doesn’t keep in touch with any of his form Yeovil team mates any more, but he did say he keeps an eye out for the results occasionally.
He did want to send his gratitude to the Glovers faithful though
“Thanks for the support, it was a great experience to play in front of 8-9000 fans, the game days were really a dream came true feeling”
Zoltan Stieber may have made more goals than he scored at Yeovil, but you could tell there was quality waiting to burst out – time spent with Wayne Rooney at DC United and scoring at major international tournaments suggests it did find it’s way through!
A huge “köszönöm” (thanks) to Zoltan for asking my questions… where shall Google Translate take us next? Who knows!

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New Glovers Lewis Simper in action for Concord Rangers

Cambridge United Head Coach Mark Bonner has been speaking to the club’s official website about the season long loan deal that will see U’s midfielder Lewis Simper head to Huish Park.

Bonner has highlighting the success and progression of another former Cambridge player, Tom Knowles since his move a year ago.

He said;“We have seen how good Darren Sarll and Yeovil Town have been for Tom Knowles and hope that Lewis will rise to the challenge of competing for a regular starting place in the team, coping with the physical demands that brings and adjusting to a new environment.”

Simper, who has spent time on loan at Concord Rangers, has recently signed a new deal at the Abbey Stadium and this move is the next step in his career according to his parent club’s head coach.

 

“This loan gives Lewis an excellent opportunity to build on his strong conclusion to last season, stepping up a level to the National League. (It) makes it the perfect time for him to experience a first team environment with a more realistic chance of senior match minutes.”

Speaking on social media, Simper himself said he was “Buzzing” to sign for Yeovil.

Welcome to Huish Park, Lewis!

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Young midfielder Lewis Simper has joined Yeovil Town on a season-long loan from League One new boys Cambridge United.

The 20-year-old, who is described as “highly-rated” by the club’s official website, signed a contract extension with the Us last month to extend his stay at the club he joined as a six-year-old.

He signed on professional terms in January 2020 and made his debut eight months later, coming off the bench against Fulham in the EFL Trophy tie.

He had a spell at National League South side Concord Rangers last season, playing seven times and scoring twice and was involved in the Essex side’s delayed FA Trophy final match with Harrogate Town at Wembley.

 

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In our efforts here at the Gloverscast to keep the legacy of the the Ciderspace website alive, we have published the first Away Travel Guide for our pre-season friendly at Stratford Town on Saturday, July 24.

The Guide is available here.

Together with Hugh Gleave, a Ciderspace original, we are in the process of salvaging and updating all the Away Travel Guides for the coming season – this is still a work in progress, so bear with us.

The Away Travel Guides are starting to emerge, but will appear here.

 

 

 

 

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Former Yeovil Town defender and coach Nathan Jones has been speaking to the Best Eleven Podcast, which is a predominently Luton Town based chat with former Luton player Marvin Johnson and presenter Andrew McMellon.

In the chat, the Welshman is asked to put together the best XI he has ever played competivley with as well as chatting about his playing and coaching career.

He lists for former Yeovil Town loanee Ryan Mason in his all time XI claiming he was the “best young players I’ve ever worked with” 

The ex-Brighton full backs talks about all the former Glovers loanees who have since had international honours.

“The amount of England internationals that made their debut for Yeovil Town, you would not believe… there was a few more, Steven Caulker made his debut in league football at Yeovil, so did Andros Townsend, so did Ryan Mason – all three went on to play for England – Alex McCarthy made his debut from Reading at Yeovil”

“We (Yeovil) had to go and take players at their youngest, because of the budget, because of the location, we couldn’t go and get experienced players – so we started to have a philosophy – we had to get them early before anyone knew about them”

“We took Luke Ayling, Luke Freeman, Asmir Begovic – all played and made their league debut for Yeovil Town”

Looking back on his time at Huish Park, Jones talks about how establishing the Glovers as a consitent League One side was an incredible achievement.

“We were League One at the time, surviving at League One level – but then we established ourselves in mid table on the lowest budget in the league, but playing young players – and the record they produced, it continues with Tom Lawrence, Shane Duffy, that have gone on to play for their countries too”

Aside from Mason, Jones says that both Chris Cohen and Marcus Stewart narrowly missed out on his all time XI after they crossed paths at Huish Park – Cohen is now embarking on coaching alongside Jones at Luton where he is the Assistant Manager whilst Jones recalls how the Glovers ended up with Stewart as his time at Bristol City was coming to an end.

“We got him by default, he wanted to leave (Bristol City), they paid big money for him and he fell out with Gary Johnson, he was a Bristol boy, wanted to live in Bristol and we were just the next club local”

“We took him on loan and eventually signed him… what a player – I loved playing with him”

There was also a tale about a post-training session fight and how Jones ended up playing cupid for Stewart and his wife – but we will let you listen to the podcast for that!

As current Luton Town boss, the link between Jones and Yeovil remains strong with the loan deal of Josh Neufville last season.

We here at the Gloverscast are fully paid up, card carrying members of the Nathan Jones fan club and we would encourage any YTFC fans to listen to the podcast in full, click HERE to see who makes his best XI and follow My Best Eleven on Twitter HERE

 

NEW EPISODE: Nathan Jones (Current @LutonTown manager)

He talks through his playing career and managerial career so far!

Direct: https://t.co/HM2HHWonkc
Apple Podcaster/ iTunes: https://t.co/B8TNvGLlbO
Spotify: https://t.co/5seRJneNz3
Website: https://t.co/jEkS3VsCsJ pic.twitter.com/uaQwgzlscq

— MyBestElevenPod (@mybestelevenpod) July 14, 2021

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Details of ticketing arrangements for Yeovil Town’s opening pre-season friendly at Stratford Town have been announced.

The Glovers visit the Southern League Central side’s Knight’s Lane ground on Saturday, July 24 and tickets can be purchased – click here

Stratford have asked supporters to buy tickets in advance of the game and, depending on the number of sales, tickets may be on sale on the day.

Prices:

Adults: £11.00
Concessions (Over 65s): £8.00
Youth Ticket (16-18): £5.00
Under 16s: £2.00
Under 12s: FREE (Must be accompanied by an adult)

Tickets are also on sale for the visit to Weston-super-Mare on Saturday, August 7.
Prices: Adults £8, Concessions £5, Under-16s: £2.
Tickets can be bought online for a 50p booking fee, here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/wsmafc/533304/

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With Yeovil Town‘s first game of the new season not taking place in England, but in Wrexham, Wales, there was a little extra delay in confirming just who could attend and in what numbers, but Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced that as of Saturday July 17th Wales would follow England in easing some Covid Protocols.

Drakeford has annouced that Wales will not restrict attendances in outdoor events as they move to ‘Alert Level 1′.

In a series of tweets he confirmed that… “there will be no limit on the amount of people who can gather outdoors in Wales – and we will no longer have to social distance when outdoors”.

This seems to suggest that Yeovil fans will be able to make the trip across the border without restriction.

The rules change when indoors where, numbers will still be reduced and face coverings will still be required and those showing symptoms of Covid will still not be admitted into sporting events.

Ticket details for away supporters are yet to be confirmed, and it is yet to be seen if Wrexham as a football club intend to apply any further restrictions.

The Glovers start the 2021/22 season against Wrexham on Saturday 21st August.

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Charlie Wakefield battles against Yeovil’s Charlie Lee for Wealdstone last season

New Yeovil Town midfielder Charlie Wakefield has been speaking to Goal.com about his horrid luck with injury, illness and contract situations as he looks to head back to the big time, starting off at Huish Park this season.

The former Chelsea youngster looked set for stardom under Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge, before a string of injuries hampered his progression through the youth set up.

He impressed in the Under 18s and Under 23s alongside some household names including one of England’s Euro 2020 hero’s Mason Mount.

“I played in unbelievable teams with the likes of Mason Mount, Andreas Christensen, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and many more. Everything was good… All of a sudden, injuries started. I have had 10 hamstring injuries between the ages of 18 and 21.”

Hamstring problems aside, the former England Youth player also had to have a couple of months off after a serious incident after returning from holiday in the United States.

“I had 10 days off to go on holiday so I went to New York with my girlfriend. The plane journey led to me suffering a collapsed lung on the drive to my first training session upon my return, I was rushed to hospital from the training ground and I had to have two months out with no exercise after that.”

It is of no surprise that after all that, Charlie admits needing help with his mental wellbeing, teaming up with the charity Tape 2 Talk, a mental health focus group for young players who have found themselves going through hard times or having been released from clubs.

Covid also brought his time at Coventry to a screeching halt and Wakefield now says that a move to Yeovil – via Wealdstone and Bromley – is a chance for him to begin climbing back up the ladder – and hopefully taking the Glovers along with him.

“I am grateful, but I don’t think it is arrogant to say that I know I can play in the Football League. I hope to look back on one hell of a journey and story, losing it and getting it back…

“People like Jamie Vardy and Tyrone Mings inspire you, who went through non-league and came back. Six good months can change your life in football, that’s what’s great about the sport.”

Everyone here at the Gloverscast is excited to see Charlie at Huish Park and wishes his charitable ventures off the pitch all the very best too.

 

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