Ian Perkins (Page 91)

Happy Christmas Eve listeners. We couldn’t leave you without a Gloverscast on a Friday so here it is.

Ian, Ben and Dave chat about the week, what the implications of behind closed doors football could be, the FA Trophy and a look at Torquay on Boxing Day. Dave chatted to TorquayTalk to get the low down on Gary Johnson’s side. We’ve had some questions from the listeners and as always, there’s a quiz.


Thanks for listening!

Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news from Huish Park.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, enjoy some retro content on Instagram. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

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Terry Skiverton clears an early Newport attack
Photo © Ciderspace 2001
Photography Tim Lancaster

Good morning,

We’re now on day 18 of Scott’s seven day deadline.

The problem is we’re getting news, that’s not actually news. Another article appeared this week, saying the takeover was going to be done on the 21st. Here we are on the 23rd. We’ve been here before a few times.

It’s frustrating and disheartening to keep reading the nonsense, based on rumour and conjecture, repeated and taken with such credibility. Throw a dart at the calendar and hope it sticks.

As we’ve said before, the only people who know exactly what’s going on are at the heart of the deal – the individuals at the table. Everything else is noise and misinformation. Despite how it’s dressed up.

Terry Skiverton is taking the “gaffer’s presser” today in a bit of a switcheroo. I always think it’s interesting to hear from Skivo every now and then. As a bonafide club legend, his take on the situation at the club he’s been at since 1999 is always worth listening to. Plus, we’re up against another legend in Gary Johnson on Boxing Day – we hope.

The less said about our last trip to Plainmoor the better. This could not be a more different Yeovil Town heading to the English Riviera than last December. 

There’s a good interview with Grimbsy’s owner, Jason Stockwood on Grimsby Live, where he talks about governance within the National League and refers to Wrexham and Stockport County.

“The downside is the people who can come in and spend disproportionate amount and underwrite losses through advertising revenues that others don’t have access to.

“It completely distorts the wage structure and the expectation of fans if you can sign a player from a top team and spend over 5K a week.

“That makes it impossible for teams like Grimsby. It is outside the constraints of what is sustainable within our budgets and it would upset the wage structure within your organisation.”

“All power to the Wrexhams and Stockports. It would be disingenuous to say you wouldn’t want someone to invest at that level in your club. It’s just the potential consequences I worry about.”

He goes on to talk about Fair Game and Tracey Crouch’s review, as well. 

I’m just jealous of a local news outlet sitting down with the owner of the local football club for a multi-part interview. What a novelty.

Keep an eye on the website for all the latest news from the press conference. We’re recording tomorrow’s podcast at midday today so if you have any questions get them in early!

Sport in Wales will be played behind closed doors from Boxing Day in a bid to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. This means our Hollywood friends, Wrexham will play Solihull Moors on Boxing Day without supporters at The Racecourse.

Wales Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: “Sporting events over the Christmas period are one of the big highlights of the year. Unfortunately, the new Omicron variant is a significant development in the pandemic and could cause a large number of infections. We need to do everything we can to protect people’s health and control the spread of this awful virus.

“Throughout the pandemic we have followed scientific and public health advice to keep people safe. The advice is clear – we need to act now in response to the threat of Omicron. We are giving people as much notice of these decisions as we can. Crowds will come back as soon as possible. We want everyone to be here to enjoy their favourite sports.”

What does this mean for Yeovil Town? At the moment not much. However, with the ever-changing situation being monitored ‘hour by hour’ it wouldn’t be a surprise if England followed suit – they probably just don’t know how to break it to us yet.

Update: This afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon has followed suit and said festive sport in Scotland will essentially be spectator free. With the Chancellor having delivered his package to support businesses, it wouldn’t be a shock to see similar restrictions in place in England over Christmas. Ugh!

Morning readers!

It’s a weird feeling this isn’t it? Unbeaten in 12 (the Somerset Premier Cup counts dammit!) and confidence is running through these players. You have to go back to 2012/13 under Gary Johnson to remember a spell where we exuded such swagger on the pitch which was felt in the stands. The dark days of October are well and truly forgotten and it’s actually quite nice going to Huish Park at the moment – quagmire behind the Thatchers aside.

In my Five Conclusions yesterday, I wrote that Adi Yussuf changed the game when he arrived. He did, but those conclusions were written before undertaking Gloverscast Rule #2 (sleep on it) and it’s fair to say all three of the subs made a difference. Critics will say Sarll got his selection wrong, but he had to give time to Reuben Reid, Alex Bradley and Max Evans. With the little depth we have at our disposal, they deserved a chance. In the case of Reid and Bradley, those two need to get some proper match fitness as we need to take advantage of the limited bodies we have.

Yussuf made the most obvious impact with his two goals, but Josh Staunton was calmness personified (as always) when he was introduced. When we lost Luke Wilkinson against Chesterfield we fell apart but that fear of a team without Wilkinson wasn’t there on Saturday. If and when Luke Wilkinson feels his time at Yeovil Town is up, we have a ready-made leader to take the armband. I think we can all agree that we need this lot all signed up as soon as possible though.

Jaheim Headley enjoyed a strong start to his loan spell in green and white, but it wasn’t until we brought on Jordan Barnett that we saw the best of Headley. Headley’s cross for Yussuf’s first was inviting but the decoy run of Barnett allowed him the time and space to deliver. The on-pitch chemistry he and Barnett seem to have already is surprising given he only trained with the Glovers on Friday.

Today we’ll see the FA Trophy 4th Round draw take place. It’d be good to get a draw against a lower level team, just to keep things interesting more than anything. But with fixtures scheduled for January and with cases of covid rising, it feels like most fixtures the other side of Christmas will be in jeopardy.

At the top of the game, the Premier League are talking about having a round of fixtures off between the 28th and 30th of December. These are clubs with multi million (and some billion) pound assembled squads who have ridiculous depth and talent at their disposal. It’s hard to feel sorry for them when we’ve had four on the bench this season, including Ollie Haste and a keeper. Clubs in our position, especially with our off-field situation, don’t have the luxury of being able to take a game off. If our fixtures against Weymouth and Torquay, which should be box office, are postponed, that’s a massive hole in the finances of the club. Let’s hope we, and our opponents do the right thing and we get to enjoy some festive football.

Have a good Monday and try and hold onto this weird winning feeling!

After yet another impressive win onSaturday, the Glovers progress in the FA Trophy. Ian and Dave are joined by Sheridan Robins to talk about 3-1 win against Woking.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news from Huish Park.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, enjoy some retro content on Instagram. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

WANT TO ADVERTISE ON THE GLOVERSCAST? Send us an email for our rate card.

If you want to take part in the quiz, have an idea for the website or just want to send us a message, email ian@gloverscast.co.uk

Adi Yussuf. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Another Yeovil Town fixture, another win. What are these feelings we’re feeling? Here’s Ian’s take on a pleasant afternoon at a chilly Huish Park.

This one’s a bit obvious, but Adi Yussuf changed the game. His arrival just after the hour for Reuben Reid gave the Glovers an injection of ramshackle chaos at the top end of the pitch. He just bumps into to people and wreaks havoc and it’s brilliant to watch – when it ends in goals. He was in the right places and took his chances superbly, a brilliant finish with his left and then one with his right in stoppage time. Sleep well Adi – we need a lot more of them!

It wasn’t the return for Reuben Reid we all dreamed of, but people need to show patience. This was Reid’s first start since injuring his hamstring in pre-season and while Darren Sarll may not have helped manage expectations by hyping him as the ‘best back to goal striker’ in the National League and League Two, we do have to remember he’s a 33-year-old returning from a pretty serious injury. I don’t think we played to Reid’s strengths in our first half display yesterday. We know he’s better with the ball in at his feet and we just didn’t give him that service. We’ve been patient with Yussuf as he’s gained fitness and we need to do the same with Reid.

It was a decent debut for Jaheim Headley. The youngster was thrown straight into it on his debut and he grew into the game as it wore on. Yeovil did get exposed on the left in the first half but Headley gained confidence in the second half and showed real intent to get forward and influence the game. He looks to be a powerful runner with energy to spare. It’s early days in his Yeovil career but, once again, Darren Sarll seems to have done some good business in the loan market. Side note: Dan Moss was sensational again. What a tremendous player he is.

Yeovil Line Up vs Weymouth

We had to show character. It’s become a cliché and we do say it a bit tongue in cheek at times, but the first half performance wasn’t great – presumably down to the changes we made. But, after the break we were a different team. Woking resorted to slowing it down wherever they possibly could, but it felt like we were always likely to get something as the game progressed. We got back to doing what we’ve been good at this season, we got the ball down and we played and Woking didn’t have an answer to it.

Don’t Fall In Love With Footballers. Back along, I said this because players always break your heart when they eventually leave. I said it at the start of the 2021 when Tom Knowles was scoring for fun (Nice header Tom!) and just becoming our talisman. This mantra is becoming increasingly difficult with this team. Every single one of them is playing for the shirt and for the club and it’s brilliant to see. As we’ve said ad nauseum, the manager is working miracles with his stretched squad and these players look like they’ll run through walls for our club. It’s painful to see how many could leave at the end of the season. Time for someone to start drafting contracts up, or we’ll all end up with broken hearts.

Yeovil Town have announced the signing of 20-year-old Jaheim Headley on a “short-term loan” from Championship side Huddersfield Town.

The left-sided player has spent time on loan at Hyde United and Bradford Park Avenue, but this will be his first loan spell since the 2019/20 season.

With Morgan Williams absent until Boxing Day, Jack Robinson not expected until next month, and  just “10 or 11”  players training this week, Darren Sarll said he needed to add to his “drastically short” squad before today’s FA Trophy tie with Woking.

This article on the Huddersfield Town website from March 2020 focused on the youngster. “He arrived to begin his two-year scholarship as a midfielder, and he has enjoyed a lot of game-time on the wing and in the centre of midfield. However, it is as a left back that Jaheim has found his home, where his power and direct style are assets both in defence and attack.”

Ian, Dave and Ben catch up on a quiet week. Ben’s spoken to Woking fan/The Non League Paper’s David Richardson, too.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news from Huish Park.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, enjoy some retro content on Instagram. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

WANT TO ADVERTISE ON THE GLOVERSCAST? Send us an email for our rate card.

If you want to take part in the quiz, have an idea for the website or just want to send us a message, email ian@gloverscast.co.uk

Ben, Dave and Ian are back to talk about the win against Barnet, Scotty’s deadline day and more.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news from Huish Park.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, enjoy some retro content on Instagram. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

WANT TO ADVERTISE ON THE GLOVERSCAST? Send us an email for our rate card.

If you want to take part in the quiz, have an idea for the website or just want to send us a message, email ian@gloverscast.co.uk

A 1-0 win over Barnet in miserable conditions with a referee who wanted to be centre of attention was far from a classic, but it did move Yeovil to within two points of the play-off places with a game in hand over many teams above them.

Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions on an eleventh match unbeaten….

Dale Gorman’s importance to this team is understated. I touched on this during last Monday’s

Dale Gorman is fouled
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

podcast. Like many of this team, Gorman has taken a bit of time to make his mark but he’s well and truly doing it now. His assist for Yussuf was a deliciously-flighted cross to the back post with his weaker foot and it invited the Tanzanian to head home. He played, in match where he really had to concentrate, on a yellow card from the 22nd minute. He moves the ball nicely, keeps the game flowing and he has the edge that Darren Sarll likes his players to have. We can’t afford to be without him, and I think if we were to lose him for a game or two, we’d really notice his absence.

That FA Cup atmosphere wasn’t there. What a difference seven days make. A gate of 2024 (with 98 away fans) meant there were less than 2000 Yeovil Town supporters in the ground. That electrifying atmosphere wasn’t there. There’s a new variant in town which might ruin Christmas, thus people could be taking extra precautions, but this is an in-form team without a loss in 11 matches who are on the verge of the playoff positions and in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. We all know what needs to happen, though.

As matches go, this wasn’t the most enthralling. It was pretty bleak conditions at Huish Park, with two teams looking to break each other down. Barnet were restricted by our ever-resilient defensive unit and our huff and puff attack didn’t create many clear cut chances. It made for a rather drab affair which was made entertaining (apologies for the Rule #1 break here) by a referee who insisted on being the centre of attention. Ephram Mason-Clark’s red card and the subsequent booking of four members of the Barnet coaching team was the pièce de resistance of refereeing performance art from Ryan Atkin.

We should have killed the game off. Yussuf’s opener was the perfect start, and our performance in the first

Adi Yussuf. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

part of the match suggested we might do something special. As it happened, things evened out and it was a tough game. While we didn’t create and clear cut opportunities at goal, there were moments when we could have put the game to bed. Worthington teed up Gorman centrally, on the edge of the box, but Gorman miscontrolled and couldn’t get a shot away. Knowles could have put Lo-Everton in on goal but didn’t get his pass right. Lo-Everton was put through by Yussuf and worked a decent effort into the side-netting. Those moments would make things a little less stressful if they resulted in goals.

We are unreal at defending. I don’t recall ever being comfortable with Yeovil Town defending a one goal advantage. Come to think of it, I don’t recall being comfortable with Yeovil Town defending a two goal advantage either. But, this lot can defend. Luke

Max Hunt, Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

Wilkinson, Max Hunt, Dan Moss, Morgan Williams and Josh Staunton were the obvious standouts in their defensive duties yesterday. But the  way Yussuf, Wakefield, Lo-Everton, Worthington and Gorman press is a real difference maker. We know this team work hard for each other, but the confidence they’ve given supporters when we’re 1-0 up is remarkable.