August 2021 (Page 7)

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The Kop terrace at the Racecourse Ground, they don’t let anyone on it these days.

For the first time since March 2020, The Green and White Supporters Club are running travel for an away Yeovil Town fixture.

If you’d like to travel to the season opener at the Hollywood-owned Racecourse Ground in Wrexham you can book your spot now.

The prices are as follow:

GWSC Members
Adult: £30
Concession: £28

Non Members:
Adult: £32
Concession: £30

The coaches will leave Huish Park at 7:45am on Saturday 21st August.

Message or call Paul Hadlow on 07736044570 to book and get more information.

Who knows, you might meet Deadpool? Or the other one.

Read the recently updated Ciderspace Away Travel guide here.

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Sarll and Skiverton
Terry Skiverton, right, alongside Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Darren Sarll is enjoying the organisation and fitness levels of his Yeovil team so far this pre-season, although he admits having to fight his nature.

Tom Knowles scored a late winner for the Glovers in the tough test at Taunton on Tuesday, but the manager said he was happy with his side’s display.

“I really enjoy coming here. Last year we were useless when we came here, absolutely useless and it set the tone. We’re starting to see a little bit more of a pattern of our play now. I thought the offensive play was better than it has been the last two games.

“We’re trying to evolve and were trying to look at our mistakes. We look strong in our shape so far. The nice comparable is we looked strong in our shape against Forest Green and we looked strong in our shape tonight and we need to keep developing that.”

Sarll added that he’s having to adjust to this new mentality and fight his natural urge to push his team to attack. He said: “My natural character is ‘come on let’s go’, ‘let’s go and attack’, ‘let’s go and score another goal’. I have to fight really hard on the side line to curb that intent. We need to be very strong in our shape. This group can’t afford to be expansive. It has to be compact, because it’s athletic, so that we can access different parts of the pitch a little bit differently than last year,” Sarll said.

While Sarll is happy with the defensive shape, he’s asked for patience when it comes to the attacking style of his new look team.

“People need to give us time on the offensive stuff because until I’m absolutely 100% confident that were not going to be a bunch of wet lettuces, then we need to keep nailing off this defensive organisation. It was good tonight. We were very strong in our shape and so far there’s not those hairy moments that I saw every half last year,” said Sarll.

“The big thing for us is to always apply our strategy as much as we can and have that consistently to our approach to it mentally. We need to try and keep evolving our attacking play because its still not quite right. I think that wont come until early September. I don’t think we’ll have that fluidity in our performance until early September. People are still trying to find how to get Charlie Wakefield in and where we roll Reuben [Reid] in differently to Joe [Quigley]. The midfield two is not quite right yet – the balance in their attacking play. So there’s loads of little things we need to iron out. If I’m doing it on the training pitch it becomes very manufactured, if we can learn in game it becomes very real. I think they’re important things that we need to patient with.”

Read Ian’s thoughts on the match at Taunton here.

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Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil boss Darren Sarll has urged for patience as he prepares the Glovers for the National League season.

Yeovil had only fourteen first team members available for Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Taunton and speaking after the match, Sarll said: “I’m sure the group will grow as the pre season carries on and as we get into the season. We’re going to have to be patient though as we are looking for real value. Both financially and something that going to come into the starting eleven and make a real impact.”

Conspicuous by their absence on Tuesday were the cohort of trialists we’ve seen at previous friendlies, with one new face, Zeli Ismael appearing. Sarll cited the newness of this current squad as the reason for not bringing in too many trialists.

“Because 50% of the group are new, I don’t want to flood it with other new people like trialists and dilute the cohesion that we might miss out on if we do that. The benefit of keeping everything nice and small and tight is that they’re obviously getting to know each other a lot quicker because they’re having to play more minutes with each other a lot earlier.  

“I am liking the fact that they’ve got to be together. There’s not many trialists, the trialists were trying to bring in have got to have some sort of CV or credibility and value to the group. Hopefully what that does is just accelerates the way the players can interact and hopefully we’ll get wins,” he said.

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New Yeovil Town defender Mark Little has been speaking to the football podcast Millsy and Mason’s Football Hootenanny about his career so far and what he’s hoping to achieve during his time at Huish Park.

During the chat, he spoke about having to deal with crossing the Bristol divide having played for both Rovers and City as well a career that has taken in big sides like Peterborough and Bolton as well as his recent stance on social media abuse and the racist nature of that abuse that he and others at all levels have received.

When asked about the expectations for the season, Little was adamant that the squad want to be nearer the top than the bottom of the table.

“It (the target) is definitely not to stabilise, because I don’t expect to be at the bottom of the table.. I’m really excited to start the season, every day in training and in the game recently, I’m looking around thinking ‘this is actually really good’.

“I’ve been really impressed with the team, the players I’m playing with the standard of football we are playing. I’m enjoying it.”

The full back was honest enough to note than it’s likely that the Glovers aren’t competing with some sides in the division from a budget point of view, but that it was still the club’s intention to battle with the higher spending sides.

“If we are in contention with them (higher spending sides), that’s my personal aim and I hope that’s what the rest of the lads will be doing.”

“I believe our squad will give a good account of ourselves and me, going out there leading it, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be accepting anything else to be honest.”

“I’m excited for the season, I really am , I’m going to be realistic about it, if we win the league, I will be very very happy because that would mean we would have ‘done a Leicester’ and beat all the top money spenders… and why not!?”

To listen to the whole Podcast click HERE

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Image courtesy of YTFC Digital

Kevin Betsy, who played six times for Yeovil during a loan spell in 2007, has taken over from Steve Bould as the head coach of Arsenal U23s.

The former midfielder had spent five years coaching across the the England youth set up and was most recently appointed manager of the England U18s.

The 43-year-old follows a similar career trajectory of another ex-Glover, Justin Cochrane, who was recently appointed the Head of Player Development and Coaching at Manchester United.

Send some our way please Kevin.

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I’ve adhered to Gloverscast Rule #2 and ‘slept on it.’
 
A late Tom Knowles (or was it Charlie Wakefield?) goal saw us pick up a 1-0 friendly win at the Cygnet Healthcare Stadium against Taunton Town last night.
 
I don’t think we learned much more than we did on Saturday against Forest Green Rovers. We defended resolutely and weathered a storm at the start of the second half. There was a clear focus on us maintaining a narrow shape without the ball and sticking to a tight defensive unit. With Josh Staunton in front of the back four, we look like we’ll be difficult to break down. Staunton got 90 minutes under his belt for the first time in a long time last night, and Monday’s Gloverscast guest is really looking the part already.
 
The first half was largely forgettable. We tried to keep the ball at points but we we’re lacklustre in the final third and didn’t really create much. There was a lot of passing around the back line before the fullbacks crossed to the Taunton keeper from deep. The trialist, who we are fairly sure is Zeli Ismael, showed glimpses but didn’t stand out.
 
We were set up differently than Saturday’s game, with Lewis Simper in behind Reuben Reid given a bit of license to roam. We looked like we were still trying to figure out this system and learning how to play together, which is normal when you’ve gone through a rebuild.
 
 
We looked better in the second half when Tom Knowles, Joe Quigley and Dale Gorman came on and we reverted to the 4-4-2 shape. We saw more of Jordan Barnett and  Alex Bradley trying to get forward and eventually our pressure and tired Taunton legs saw us get the winner.
 
My key takeaways from last night:
  • We didn’t create a lot
  • We didn’t allow Taunton to create a lot
  • Taunton had a very good left back and their Number 9 gave Luke Wilkinson a battle too
  • We look very fit
  • We’re taking the Sports Science stuff seriously
  • It was nice to be around humans at football again
  • Don’t fall in love with footballers
 

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Glovers Trialist vs Taunton

Yeovil Town are back in pre-season action this Tuesday facing local side Taunton Town.

The Glovers are lining up in a slightly different formation than the one used againt Forest Green Rovers at the weekend – employing a 4-4-1-1 set up with Lewis Simper starting in the role just behind Reuben Reid the sole front man.

There’s a little rotation to the side as other members of the side build up match fitness and notably, just one trialist – a new one as well.

Early reports are that former Wolves and Bradford winger Zeli Ismail is the number 16 hoping to impress – starting the game on the wide left hand side of a midfield four – although this has yet to be confirmed (picture attached – what do you think?)

The full side is below – none of the other trialists we have seen in the other friendlies have been listed as in the squad, suggesting Deshane Dalling, Harlain Mbayo and Jack Bodenham have not been given any futher opportunities to impress.

One new name on the bench is that of attacking midfielder Ollie Haste, a Glovers academy product who has signed a scholarship from Bideford Blues Youth Side as a junior.

A name that some Glovers fans may recognise in the Taunton side is that of former Youth Team ‘keeper Lloyd Irish, a mainstay of the Under 18s set up throughout 2008 and 2009 he did make the first team bench on a couple of occasions in the FA Cup.

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Taunton Town have launched a raffle to raise funds for Young Minds, the mental health charity which Yeovil Town has partnered with in memory of former club captain, Lee Collins.

The Peacocks, who host Darren Sarll’s side in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday night, are charging a minimum entry donation of £2 with “some great prizes” on offer.

To donate visit: http://gofundme.com/lee-collins-charity-raffle

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Yeovil Town midfielder Josh Staunton spoke candidly about his topsy turvy time at Huish Park when appearing on the latest Gloverscast, despite chatting about how ankle and knee injuries nearly ended his career let alone his season, the former Halifax Town man was still positive and upbeat about the Glovers chances this season as well as his own personal ambitions.

“We were all massively disappointed with last season and it is now time to put it right.”

“We have fresh group of players and at times, especially after seasons like we had last year, you need a refresh, you need new characters around the dressing room who have no association with the club.”

Staunton managed just a handful of games in his first season with the club, but having played plenty of football at National League level remains one of the more experienced members of the side, something which he believes he can use to his advantage following the the departure of Charlie Lee, Carl Dickinson and Jimmy Smith

“They (Dickinson, Lee, Smith) are huge characters to replace and they embedded something in the club and it’s now time for other players to step up, fill those boots and be those senior voices.

“Even when I was 20, I was a leader in terms of what I did on the pitch and off it and I think it is a character trait you have.”

Whilst the Captains armband has been worn by new signing Mark Little for the first couple of preseason fixtures, a role Staunton admits he’d like, but wouldn’t define his performances.

“I would love to be captain one day, the way pre-season has gone Litts (Mark Little) will be captain, he is an unbelievable character and a great character in the dressing room, It would be a huge honour to be captain of Yeovil, but I will do exactly the same in the way I play whether I am wearing an armband or not.”

Whether skipper or not, Staunton has joined a number of other squad members in outlining their ambitions to get Yeovil out of the National League and back where it belongs, in the Football League.

“If we went in to the season and we were not saying (we can get promoted), a club of this stature should be worried…A few of the more senior boys have set ourselves targets and our targets are clear, we have not come here to be part of this league for a long time.”

You can catch the latest edition of the Gloverscast wherever you get your Audio on demand,
or via the ‘Podcast’ page of the Gloverscast.co.uk

 

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On today’s episode of the Gloverscast, Ian, Ben and Dave have a brief chat about the Forest Green Rovers friendly.

And then, Ben chats to Yeovil Town midfielder Josh Staunton. Last summer’s marquee signing talks injury, Lee Collins and the forthcoming season in this plentiful chat.

Thanks to Josh for talking to Ben at 9am the morning after a game, top man!