Ian Perkins (Page 57)

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On this episode of the Gloverspast we welcome an FA Trophy, Conference and League Two winner, Roy O’Brien.

Dave chats to Roy about his arrival at Huish Park under David Webb in 2000, success under Gary Johnson and what he’s up to now.

Thank you for your continued support of the Gloverscast. Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news and views from Huish Park.

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Jake Gallagher has kindly offered us his thoughts on why pre-season doesn’t matter…

Pre-season is win-win as a football fan. If your team didn’t do well in the five or six games that occur before the league action commences, then it doesn’t matter because it’s only pre-season. If your rivals are putting good results together, then it doesn’t matter because it’s only pre-season.

Jordan Stevens celebrates his opening goal in the pre-season friendly win at Buckland Athletic.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Depending on the biased view of your team or of that lot from down the road, pre-season doesn’t matter. That is of course, until it does.

Last season’s National League South winners Ebbsfleet United started their title-winning campaign with nine consecutive league victories. The first club to stop them earning three points were Oxford City who ended the season promoted themselves. Simply put, Ebbsfleet started like a train.

Ebbsfleet scored 15 goals in those 6 friendly games, at an average of 2.5 goals per game

Now if you look back to their pre-season of 2022 – and do remember that none of this actually matters – they won 4, drew 1 and lost 1. The loss coming against West Ham U21s and 2-2 draw against League Two outfit Colchester United. Their wins were good results, on paper at least, including a 3-1, a 1-0, a 3-0 and a final pre-season fixture that ended in a handsome 5-1 victory.

Ebbsfleet scored 15 goals in those 6 friendly games, at an average of 2.5 goals per game (gpg). When the season began, that average increased to 2.8 gpg. On this occasion, a good pre-season equalled a good start to the league.

Next let’s check on Maidstone, the National League South champions from the season before that.

Their pre-season of 2021 – and remember once more that none of this matters – they won 5, drew 1 and lost 1. They scored 20 goals in 7 friendlies, that’s 2.8 gpg, and saw them propel into the season proper with 6 wins in their opening 8 league matches, drawing the other two, scoring 2.4 gpg.

There’s a trend here; Good pre-season = good start to the league.

Shall we now cast our eyes back to Yeovil Town’s last pre-season? I’m talking about the beginning of Chris Hargreaves’ short spell at the club.

Chris Hargreaves

In our pre-season of 2022 – and remember for a third time that none of this matters – we won 1, drew 3 and lost 1. We scored 0.4 gpg in those friendlies which saw us begin the campaign with 1 victory in 11 league matches scoring 0.9 gpg.

The trend? Bad pre-season = bad start to the league.

Listen to any football manager and they’ll tell you pre-season is about fitness levels and getting through games unscathed

In Mark Cooper’s pre-season of 2023 (so far) – which doesn’t matter – we’ve won 5, drawn 0 and lost 1 scoring 3 ggp on average. So can we expect a good start to the campaign given the good results in our friendlies? You’d have to hope so.

Listen to any football manager and they’ll tell you pre-season is about fitness levels and getting through games unscathed. But it’s absolutely, categorically, much more than that.

Pre-season is about setting standards, creating good habits, a good culture, and gaining confidence through good performances. At this level player turnover is high, so it’s likely players be playing with new teammates or have a new teammate to play next to. It’s about forming strong on-pitch relationships and understanding each other’s strengths. Winning is a bonus but winning – friendly game or not – is what football is all about.

The performance against League Two Newport was a good one. If you can put aside that the Welsh side were utter shite there are many positives to take into our opener against Hemel Hempstead Town. Don’t get me wrong there’s plenty to work on; Morgan Williams didn’t look comfortable receiving the ball in the middle of a back three and Jake Wannell didn’t show enough aggression when defending corners aerially, but these are small points to pick up on.

I’ll level with you and admit all the numbers I’ve referenced earlier in the piece is a shallow analysis – there’s no deep dive here. It’s based on results only. As I mentioned earlier in the piece though, winning is what football is all about.

Winning breeds confidence in yourself.
Winning breeds belief in your teammates.
Winning breeds trust in the management team and their methods.

If you can get to full fitness, avoid injury, feel like you’ve performed well while garnering strong connections and partnerships with your teammates AND win games, then pre-season matters. It always matters.

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Off the back of a good win against Newport County, Ian, Dave and Ben chat about the performance, the stadium and more. We take your GCQs and there is an impromptu Sudden Death Gloverscast Quiz.

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We had the first taste of pre-season at Huish Park last night on a glorious summer evening as Yeovil ran out 2-0 winners over Newport County. Here are Ian’s conclusions from a confidence-boosting evening at home…

Huish Park was looking resplendent. We all know our home has been in desperate need of some tender loving care for a long time and we’ve seen a lot of the work that has been done over the Summer through social media. Last night more than 2100 supporters got to see it first hand for the first time and to say it looks impressive is an understatement. The refreshed seats, the dugouts have transformed pitch side (and make you feel closer to the players and staff), the carpet, as much as we love it, has been replaced with modern wooden flooring. And, there’s more to come behind the Thatchers Stand too. The pitch is looking impressive too, and complemented some of our excellent passages of passing play. 

Frank Nouble is everything we’ve been looking for. For so long we’ve needed a ‘sticky’ striker. Someone strong, who can hold off defenders and keep the ball to alleviate some pressure on our defence. Nouble has that about his game, as well as some explosivity too. He’s formed a good partnership with Rhys Murphy already from what we’ve seen, and last night he and Olly Thomas seemed to strike it off too. I don’t want to look back, but you can’t help but wonder where we might be had Mark Cooper been allowed to sign Nouble a few months earlier…

Frank Nouble celebrates his goal with Jordan Maguire-Drew, left, and Jordan Young.

Jordan Maguire-Drew is purring. If you ever lose your keys, give JMD a call, I think he can unlock anything. We saw flashes last season before injury derailed his season, but during pre-season he’s been on another level. He’s shown how good he is against smaller teams and against Newport County he showed other assets of his game. I can’t recall a set piece that wasn’t dangerous, the deliveries were pinpoint and caused the League Two side all sorts of problems in the box. He’s looking sharp, knows where his teammates are those relationships are strengthening. We knew he was good, but I think he’s the man to make us tick when August 5th rolls around.

What a difference a year makes. Last summer, although there was optimism (isn’t there always in Summer?), we struggled to score goals throughout our pre-season. We couldn’t create clear openings but for Tom Knowles (#DFILWF). This summer it’s been a totally different story at the top end of the pitch. We’ve got experience in Murphy, Hyde and Nouble and I’m excited about Olly Thomas too. Combined with that there’s the likes of Jordan Young, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, JMD, Matt Worthington, Alex Whittle and Zac Bell who are all contributing in those attacking areas. There’s massive depth up front and the patterns of play taking shape and creating chances.

A case for the defence. Other than the defeat at Wimborne pre-season has been pretty much immaculate. We’ve conceded five goals (but scored 18) and huffed and puffed against some teams, but that’s to be expected. The only questions that have been asked on social media have been around the defence but against Newport County we looked like a good defensive unit. Morgan Williams, a goal scorer on the night, was in the middle of a three and provided that pace that helped to cover Jake Wannell and Jamie Sendles-White who aren’t necessarily as quick. In the case of Wannell and Sendles-White, they had their best performance so far in a three and as a pair later in the evening. It’s natural that as these players gain fitness, they improve and we’ve seen that in the culmination of a good performance where we kept a football league side at arms length – despite their ‘official’ version of events.

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Ian, Dave and Ben are back to talk about the last couple of weeks in Yeovil Town. Dorchester is on the agenda, along with trialists, goals and 3G pitches. Plus we talk about Malachi Linton’s move to Taunton and take your #GCQs.

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If you have an idea for the website, want to contribute or just want to send us a message, feel free to email ian@gloverscast.co.uk.

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On this episode of the Gloverscast, Ian and Dave welcome Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper and club captain, Josh Staunton, to the podcast. They share an insight into what it was like at the club towards the end of last season, their views on pre-season so far, the business we’ve done in the transfer market and their message for supporters ahead of this season.

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Yeovil Town have confirmed the loan signing of Zachary Bell from Bristol City until January 2024.

The 20-year-old is a right back and spent time on loan at fellow National League South side, Bath City, last season.

The fullback adds further depth in a position that Morgan Williams, Matt Buse and Jacob Shore have shared so far during pre-season.

Bell will be no stranger to Will Buse and Josh Owers who both signed from Bristol City this summer, and he was presumably told good things about Yeovil by former loanees Sam Pearson, Ewan Clarke and Seb Palmer-Houlden.

Welcome to Huish Park Zac!

Image courtesy of YTFC.net

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Yeovil Town’s second pre-season friendly ended with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Wimborne Town this evening.

The Glovers fell behind early on and lost Matt Worthington to injury in the first half. Jake Hyde levelled things up in the second half as the Glovers improved but Wimborne struck back following a flurry of substitutions to clinch a win in front of a crowd of 375.

Thanks to Callum Hallett for the updates from New Cuthbury…

FIRST HALF

First half XI: Will Buse, Matt Buse (Trialist), Josh Staunton, Jake Wannell, Alex Whittle, Charlie Cooper, Jordan Stevens, Jordan Maguire-Drew, Matt Worthington, Frank Nouble, Rhys Murphy.

Things got off to a poor start for the Glovers as they fell behind inside the first five minutes after a defensive error. 0-1

Will Buse was called into action minutes later and forced into a save. The Southern League side kept the early pressure on with a dangerous cross just going wide of Buse’s left hand post.

In the 16th minute, the hosts countered in a three -on-one but the final pass was misplaced allowing Matt Buse to clear away for a throw in.

Matt Worthington went down injured 20 minutes forcing Cooper into an early change. Josh Owers, who played the first half against Buckland Athletic, came on as Worthington’s replacement. 

Wimborne attacked again a couple of minutes later dancing through the Yeovil defence. A deflected cross went through the penalty area and was blasted over from close range. A terrible miss!

The Glovers finally had an attacking effort around the half hour mark through Jordan Maguire-Drew. The midfielder struck his effort from the edge of the box but it wasn’t causing the Wimborne keeper any trouble.

Maguire-Draw was involved again minutes later as his cross found Rhys Murphy inside the box. The poacher’s header deflected off a Magpies’ defender into the keeper’s hands.

Wimborne were on the attack again in the 32nd minute, a cross into the box following a corner wasn’t inch perfect and the Wimborne attacker couldn’t good enough connection to test Buse.

Before the half time break Alex Whittle found himself with a chance to shoot after neat play from Frank Nouble, but the left back’s effort was charged down by the a Wimborne defender.

Half-time: Wimborne Town 1 Yeovil Town 0

SECOND HALF

Second half XI: Will Buse (Lewis Williams 61), Matt Buse (Jacob Shore 72), Josh Staunton (Jamie Sendles-White 61), Jake Wannell (Ollie Haste 66), Alex Whittle (Will Dawes 61), Charlie Cooper (Trialist – Andry Demira 66), Jordan Young (for Jordan Stevens), Jordan Maguire-Drew (Benjani Jr 66), Josh Owers, Frank Nouble (Malachi Linton 61), Jake Hyde (for Rhys Murphy).

Yeovil made a double change at half time (flashbacks intensify) with Jake Hyde and Jordan Young replacing Jordan Steven and Rhys Murphy.

Hyde made an instant impact grabbing his second goal of pre-season and levelling things up. A lovely ball from Owers found Maguire-Drew who squared it to Hyde to scuff home! 1-1

Wimborne tried to regain their advantage shortly after with an inviting ball smashed across the box, but no one could get on the other end of it.

Maguire-Drew was centre-stage again, chopping in and out before getting low shot away that was deflected into the feet of Wimborne’s goalkeeper.

Wimborne had an effort of their own moments later as their striker fired a long range effort wide of Buse’s top corner.

Alex Whittle found himself more involved in the 2nd half and his pass to Maguire-Drew led to Jordan Young shooting over the bar.

The Maguire-Drew x Hyde combination almost found a second in the 64th minute, but the striker’s header went straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.

in the 68th minute the Glovers fell behind again. A lovely ball through the Yeovil defence was squared across the box and tapped home past substitute Lewis Williams. 1-2

Wimborne kept the pressure on and after good play down the right hand side they had an effort deflected over the bar for a corner.

Young attempted an effort from 25 yards out five minutes from time, but his shot didn’t cause the keeper any trouble.

Benjani Jr earned the Glovers a freekick on the edge of the box, but Young despatched his effort well over the bar. The youngster was in the thick of things again moments later, flashing a brilliant cross across the penalty box begging to someone to get a toe on it!

Full time: Wimborne Town 2 Yeovil Town 1

Goals: Wimborne 4 (1-0),  Jake Hyde 49 (1-1), Wimborne 68 (1-2)

Wimborne Town: No idea

Attendance: 375

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After a trip down to Devon, Ian shares his thoughts on the Buckland Athletic friendly with Ben and Dave. Plus we take your #GCQs.

Image courtesy of Iain Morland

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

We’d love to welcome some local businesses into the Gloverscast family through advertising. If you’re a business that would like to speak to a dedicated audience of more than 1000 monthly listeners, please get in touch. Find out more about advertising with us here.

If you have an idea for the website, want to contribute or just want to send us a message, feel free to email ian@gloverscast.co.uk.