Ian Perkins (Page 2)

The Glovers finished off 2025 with a 1-1 draw against Eastleigh at Huish Park. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from the sub-zero press box.

We’re not creating yet. We showed moments, we saw glimpses in the final third, especially in the second half but if it wasn’t for Eweke’s slip, I’m not sure we would have found the back of the net. Certainly after we scored we didn’t push on. In the second half we looked the more likely to find a second goal, but other than the McCormick and Daly two v one, I never felt confident that there was another one coming. Which is a problem when…

We’re conceding sloppy goals. The way in which we conceded the penalty was entirely avoidable. The goal on Boxing Day was really sloppy, the second goal Forest Green Rovers scored was poor, as was the defending for Maidstone’s equaliser in the FA Trophy. As a defensive unit we’ve shot ourselves in the foot so many times this season and when you’re struggling to score, you can’t afford any slip ups at the back.

Luke McCormick made the difference again. Yeovil’s number 8 has another man of the match trophy to his name and yet another goal. He finishes 2025 with more goals for Yeovil than anyone else. He’s really made his mark in green and white and without his goals Yeovil would be in a very different position. But, we can’t rely only him.

Eastleigh have a striker in Aaron Blair. If you we’re looking at adding a different kind of striker to bolster the front line, we witnessed it last night. Blair chased down everything, bothered our back line and confidently put away his penalty. He worked hard for his team and reminded me of those strikers Gary Johnson always relied on his teams. If we were looking for another type of striker to bolster the front line, someone of Blair’s ilk would fit the bill.

It’s clear reinforcements are needed. Billy Rowley said there would be changes ahead his post-match press conference. The loans of James Plant and Andrew Oluwabori are expiring and Rowley has inherited a squad that three managers have had an input on before him so and he needs to build it in his vision. January will be a big month and hopefully the manager has the means to balance out this squad and build some momentum in 2026.