Perky’s Gloversblog

The departure of Matt Worthington came has quite the shock on Friday afternoon. No sooner had we finished recording Thursday’s episode of the Gloverscast than the rumours started to circulate in a couple of Whatsapp groups and on Facebook. The speed at which it went from all very quiet to Worthy’s departure shows the speed at which football moves. Yeovil’s skipper, who made his 250th appearance the week before was gone, out of nowhere.

There’s not a lot more to say about Worthy that’s not already been said. I’ll miss his desire and athleticism and I think his teammates will miss him too. Speaking before the Rochdale defeat, Mark Cooper said that Yeovil would “never ever” have been to get to the deal that Oldham offered. Obviously Worthy’s contract was up in the summer and my gut tells me that chances are he would have left anyway, but it’s further evidence of the disparity between the top teams in the league and the middle pack. The former skipper led Yeovil to National League South glory last season, and he yet another departure from that team that clawed Yeovil back to the National League. Of the squad who won the league just Morgan Williams, Jake Wannell, Alex Whittle, Frank Nouble, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Charlie Cooper and Michael Smith are left. I totally understand the reasoning behind it, but I am disappointed that our winning squad was dismantled so quickly after clinching promotion.

Following the Rochdale defeat, Mark Cooper alluded to more departures and arrivals planned in the coming days. I don’t think it would be at all surprising to see Nouble, Lo-Everton or even Smith move on. If it is another couple of experienced heads on their way, the recruitment of leaders has to be a priority. With Worthington gone, Smith and Williams struggling for fitness and Nouble struggling for form, there’s a real lack of characters at the moment, in my opinion. There are different types of leaders on the pitch. Those who lead by example with their performances and those Terry Skiverton types who drag everyone up by the scruff of their neck. I think we need some more of them. Now, I know they don’t grown on trees, especially at this time of the year and for a reasonable price but if Yeovil are delving into the market in the coming weeks, I think we’ve got our fill of young loanees.

Last Tuesday, we were given some insight into the situation with the future of the land and stadium. Sold for £2.8m by ‘You-Know-Who’, the value is Index-linked by the council and will see the cost go above £3m if it is ever to return to the club. The exclusive buyback of the land expires in May 2026, leaving not a lot of time. We all dream of self-sustaining football club, enabled by the real-estate which surrounds the stadium. Hearing Mark Cooper talk about training facilities as a leaving a legacy that will attract players to the club is an idea that I don’t remember anyone talking about before. It’s always been about retail or houses, so the idea of something that will make a long term material difference to Yeovil Town FC is appealing. 

Yeovil Town hosts a fans’ forum tonight for the first time in as long as I can remember. Aside from sporadic Supporters’ Alliance Group meetings (which are a thing of the past now as far as I understand) and You-Know-Who’s infamous meeting with supporters once our open letter (with 1,500 signatures) forced him to resurface, we’ve not really done this. So, credit goes to the club for inviting supporters in at a time when the discourse on social media sites has been highly critical in the wake of recent results and performances.

I don’t think its unreasonable to suggest that the commentary on social media has led to tonight’s forum, that both chairman and owner Martin Hellier and manager Mark Cooper will attend to answer supporters’ questions. This type of engagement has been long-coming and will hopefully be the first of a regular structured two-way conversation with supporters. But, it has to be constructive and respectful to be worthwhile.

The early scores on YeoGov survey that I threw out on Saturday suggest that the vitriol online doesn’t necessarily match with mood in general – a shock I know! In what will be a surprise to some, the 140+ respondents, on average, have scored above the middle score of 4 across the board for how they’re feeling right know. Maybe, we’re a fairly rational bunch on the whole after all?

I was reflecting on Friday night’s stalemate with Gateshead and the future of our attack. With top scorer Aaron Jarvis out for the next three months, Yeovil had to change the approach going forward with Ciaran McGuckin leading the line in a very different way to Jarvis. We’re not going to be tossing the ball up for defenders to battle in the air with McGuckin up top and as a result a decrease in those grappling-induced decisions which have frustrated players, staff and supporters might just help with our on-pitch discipline and keep heartrates down in the stands.

I’m not a huge fan of gambling on balls down the channels but with our patient possession we can draw defenders out (as we tried on Friday) there could he plenty of space for the speedy McGuckin to capitalise on. Defenders will have a much different task on their hands with him up front than Jarvis in these next few weeks. The misfortune of Jarvis injury means we’ve potentially found a Plan B (which will be Plan A for the foreseeable) but also leaves me wondering what could be with a classic four four f**king two!

Football’s heart is in the community that it serves in our part of the pyramid

If ever you needed a reminder as to why supporting a club that needs you trumps all, the alleged story emerging from Manchester United on X is that clear reminder. A dementia-suffering season ticket holder of 45 years has had his season ticket cancelled after not scanning the QR code for the last five matches because of helpful stewards letting him in with his paper copy. There’s plenty of top-flight football bollocks which is off-putting and this yet another example of it.

This is a disgrace @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/vowCAc5uyY

— Paul Manc Bald and Bred (@MufcWonItAll2) January 19, 2025

There’s an easy PR win for Manchester United here. But based on the new regime’s track record, it’ll stay on course while alienating local supporters to make that money on the tourist supporters. The COVID pandemic took the shine off of the Premier League for me. While clubs like ours suffered and had their property sold off, the big boys continued to rake it in and pay out to millionaire footballers (and even tried to break away to cash even further). Football’s heart is in the community that it serves in our part of the pyramid. The corporations and states might pretend to understand it, but they’ll never embrace it.