Press Conferences (Page 8)

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper said he always had confidence he could build a squad capable of getting promoted back to the National League Premier at the first time of asking.

The Glovers’ boss saw his side win 3-1 against a Dartford side which headed out of National League South on Saturday and then lifted the division’s title on the pitch in front of a crowd of 5,701 at Huish Park.

He said he believed the squad needed to add “five or six really good players” if they wanted to compete in the top tier of the non-League game next season.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins and our own Ian Perkins after the game, he said: “Talk is cheap, but I knew if someone would give me the opportunity to put a squad together I knew I could do it. I have done it at every level in the National League. The owner (chairman Martin Hellier) came in and backed us to put a good squad together and we have done that and it just shows if people come to a club and you trust people who know what they are doing, not trust people that do not, you have a chance to succeed. If you get it wrong, you get relegated.”

Brooklyn Genesini 📸 Gary Brown

He added: “It means a lot because I felt a real sense of responsibility for the players that were here last season. I wanted a chance to build the club because I liked what I saw even in the dark times, I knew it could be a good club if we had the opportunity to build it. The owner put his money where his mouth is and has given us that chance. Those dark times have been lifted by the tremendous achievements of the players and fans, they have been amazing.

“If you looked at our team at Braintree and Slough, the team on the pitch would be in a bottom tier budget. Without the likes of Alex Whittle, Jake Hyde, Rhys Murphy, Michael Smith, we had a lot of young players like Jahmari Clarke, Brooklyn Genesini, there were a lot of young players on the pitch. People will talk about our budget this season and it is alright having loads of money and being the favourites like Torquay were, but you have to make sure you use that money wisely. I think that is what we have done.”

Asked about how he felt about next season, he said: “It is a tough league. We have the nucleus of a good squad, I have had to be ruthless at times and do the best thing for the club. We need to sign five or six really good players that are going to complement the group we have because they deserve that.”

On Saturday, Yeovil fell behind to an early goal from Dartford captain Luke Coulson, but were quickly back on level terms when Sam Pearson equalised before an own goal from the visitors’ Ronny Nelson and a second half tap in from Alex Fisher sealed the win.

Cooper said he was never worried despite going behind early, saying: “The goal was probably the best thing that could have happened, but I was never worried or panicky. I just trust the players implicitly to get it done.

“It was an incredible football performance and we are going to play a lot more football if I have anything to do with it, I just think that is the way the game should be played. I do not want to make it a lottery, of course we are going to give balls away in rubbish areas at times but you see the amount of chances we created, we should have scored ten.

“It was nice to go out with a nice, convincing win in our final home game and the scenes at the end I just said to the boys ‘it is a shame it is not like this every year, but let’s try and make this the thing.’”

For Fisher, it was another chapter in his fairytale return following a horrific double leg break he suffered almost exactly a year earlier and the manager was full of praise for his striker. 

He said: “Fish has come back and scored some goals to get us over the line. He’s a great bloke, an experienced professional and he will enjoy that first promotion in England. These players have crossed over the line today, a lot of them have a (C) on their CVs which, as a manager, you look at these things when you ask ‘is he a winner?’ We know we have a few that can whether it is here or elsewhere that they do it, you can never take this promotion from them.”

The Glovers finish the season with a long journey to already relegated Dover Athletic on the final game of the season next weekend and Cooper is going to win.

He said: “I said on Thursday night (after the win over Truro which sealed the title), we were desperate to win this game and go out in style. We did that and we will be desperate to go to Dover and get three points. We might have an opportunity to play a few of the boys who are coming back from injury and freshen it up because you have some boys in there that ran 13km on Thursday and did it again today. We have some warriors in there, and we need to add to that in the summer, add wisely and get the right characters.”

 

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper paid tribute to his players, the club’s supporters and chairman Martin Hellier as he tasted promotion at the first attempt with a 2-0 victory against Truro City.

The boss was soaked in champagne by his players as he gave a raft of interviews at the side of the pitch having watched the game from the stands at Gloucester City’s Tigerturf Stadium, part of a touchline ban for his recent FA charge for picking fault with a Hemel Hempstead player trying to break his son’s leg.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the match, he said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for the club, the owner came in and gave us a chance to put this remarkable team together and get a bit of soul and heart back in the club and we have done that. We have done that, the players have done that and it is a brilliant night for the football club and one we should enjoy.

“It feels so sweet. We proved everybody wrong and we went and we enjoyed the plastic and we look forward to next season now.”

Cooper has spoken on many occasions about the desire to remove the stain of last season’s relegation to regional football during a turbulent period at the club, and admitted he always wanted to stay on to try and guide them back at the first attempt.

Asked how he felt about his decision to stay, he said: “I am delighted, but I did not have too many options, to be honest! I just felt there was the nucleus of a good team and I wanted to get rid of that relegation or make it look better on my CV.”

Next up, Yeovil return to Huish Park with relegation-threatened Dartford coming to town on Saturday when the National League South trophy will be presented and the manager said he was looking forward to celebrating with the club’s supporters.

He said: “We hope to have the chairman there. He was not here tonight, he has gone away for a much deserved break, but I am buzzing for Saturday when we can have a party together with loads and loads of Yeovil fans and get that feel good factor back. We have to enjoy these moments before we start thinking about next year.

“It is amazing support, for the level we are at. It should be a great football club and we want to try and build that and make it great again.”

On the pitch on Thursday night, goals from strikers Rhys Murphy and Alex Fisher sealed the three points which clinched the title. But, the game was not without adversity with winger Jordan Stevens coming off after just nine minutes with a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury, before Murphy limped off seven minutes later.

Cooper added: “If you had asked me which one of the player would not have broken down, it would have been Murph (Rhys Murphy) because he has trained for two weeks, he’s played decent minutes and looked really strong and then he’s just pulled it. Then Jordan Stevens again, so we had to keep a substitution back just in case. It was not great for those boys but we got it done.“

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Mark Cooper praised AFC Stoneham following the Glovers 7-1 win in the FA Cup this afternoon. Goals from Jordan Young, Jake Wannell, Frank Nouble, Rhys Murphy (x3) and Jordan Maguire-Drew saw Yeovil run out comfortable winners and the boss was pleased that his side scored seven but lamented the Duarte Martin’s consolation goal.

Speaking to BBC Somerset following the victory, Cooper said: “It’s about Stoneham today. It’s their day, it’s about them and how well they’ve done to get the results they’ve had to get to get to this stage.”

Despite the comfortable score line and the dominant performance Cooper was disappointed with the “schoolboy defending” for Stoneham’s goal and felt his side should have scored more.

“We had a job to do, we did it. Like I said, it was a no-win situation for us. But we were professional enough. I’m devastated about the goal we conceded, that should never happen. But, to score seven in any game is obviously pleasing.

“I’m pretty selfish, I thought we could have won by more”

“We started off really well, the keeper made some unbelievable saves in the first few minutes. I’m pretty selfish, I thought we could have won by more. but I’m really angry about the goal we conceded and if that’s a league game we probably concede two or three late on.”

Rhys Murphy earned himself the match ball with a second half hattrick of archetypal Murphy finishes and Cooper was pleased with the contribution of his substitutes.

“The boys that are not playing, when they come on the pitch [they]need to contribute and that’s been the case so far for us this season. Our subs have contributed and they did again today.”

It’s three wins in a row for Yeovil now, and the Glovers face a visit to 21st place Hampton & Richmond Borough next weekend hoping to find the a fourth.

“Whatever level you play at, to win three games on the bounce is hard. It’s hard to win a game of football because there are so many variables. The opposition have 11 players that are trying to stop you so to win three games at any level is good. We’ve got to try and make that four next week.”

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Jordan Young is relishing Saturday’s FA Cup tie with ninth-tier AFC Stoneham.

The forward had a successful run in the competition with Chippenham last year, beating Lincoln to reach the Second Round.

“It’s an exciting week, FA Cup week,” Young said. “I think it’s a massive competition and I’m looking forward to it.

“I had a good run last year and it’s so exciting. If you can go on a good run and get a good team, it’s exciting.

“We’re obviously focused on the league but that was last week and this week we’re really looking forward to having an exciting cup game.

“I know a little bit about them. Every game’s going to be tough because they’re going to be bang up for it so we’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves and go from there.”

The 22-year-old is enjoying a run in Mark Cooper’s team, contributing a goal and two assists in his last two games.

“I’m quite a confident player even when I’m not playing. I’m confident in myself and I just need that run of games getting in the team and thankfully I’ve done well.

“It’s tough because sometimes you want a run of games to get going, but we’ve got a really good squad with good players and rotation can help as well.”

Young has particularly impressed with his set pieces, including a sublime free-kick against Weston-super-Mare.

“I think at the start of the season we struggled with set pieces a little bit, but we really worked on it and you can tell now it’s paying off.

“We’ve got some big boys and all we need to do is go and attack it and we’ll score goals.”

“The good thing is we’re winning and we’re not playing as well as we can do. So once we get to that level, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

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Mark Cooper described Yeovil’s upcoming FA Cup tie with AFC Stoneham as a “no-win” situation.

The Wessex League Premier Division side, who ply their trade three divisions below the Glovers, will travel to Huish Park looking to cause an upset.

Cooper said: “It’s a ‘no-win’ for us and it’s a ‘win-win’ for Stoneham because everyone expects us to win. For us, it’s about paying total respect to Stoneham.

“It’s about them, it’s their day but we have a job to do and our only job is to make sure we try and get in the next round.

“They’ve not played lots of league games yet but I think they’re at the top of their league. We had them watched at Cowes on Saturday, so we’re paying as much respect as we would to a Torquay United or whoever we were playing.”

When asked if he’d consider rotating his team for the visit of the Purples, Cooper had a simple answer.

“No. We’re trying to win the game so I’m going to play the strongest team I can. I’ve never had an easy game and I don’t expect one.”

Experienced defender Michael Smith could be in line to make his debut after signing for the Glovers following his release from Hearts.

“He’s been on our radar for a while and obviously Michael with his stock and having played 30-odd games in the Scottish Premier and Europe last year, he was a little bit out of our price range.

Michael Smith signed on Tuesday

“He was exploring the possibilities of League One and he’s had some big offers to go back to Scotland but he wanted to settle in Bristol because of his family and that’s the only reason we’ve managed to get him. He could have gone back to Scotland for treble the amount that he’s getting paid with us and it just fell lucky for us at the right time.”

The Northern Ireland international will be hoping his first Huish Park appearance is as successful as the drum that made its debut on the terrace last week!

“I think the Chairman’s just got that to drown out the moaners! I asked him for that to shut them blokes up behind me!

“I thought it was great, the players loved it. When there’s those dull lulls in the game, it keeps going. I think it adds to the experience, definitely.”

 

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper is looking for all three points ahead of this weekend’s visit of Scunthorpe United and said his side will have to get on the right side of ‘moments‘ against the National League’s bottom club.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins on Thursday, the manager said: “We just have to perform on the day. Physically, mentally, tactically, we have to be right on the day. We can talk about how poor a run Scunthorpe are on, but they have players that can hurt you. If you take the top two or three out of the league, there’s not a lot between any of the teams and its about moments in matches that decide which way the afternoon or evening’s gonna go and we’ve got to make sure were on the right side of those moments.

“We need to win, simple. We need to win the game. However we do it, we need to win because we a tough game on Tuesday away at Barnet and more tough games after that so we need to win the game to put ourselves in a strong position.”

With two sides who were relegated from the EFL last season taking up the bottom two places in the League, Cooper expressed his sympathy for the situation the Iron find themselves in and said how no team has a divine right to walk the league.

“It’s a graveyard for big former football league clubs. You look at the teams that are around the bottom, Scunthorpe, Oldham, Yeovil (ouch!) those kinds of teams. There’s no divine right to be at the top of this league, you have to earn it. Scunthorpe is a great football club and you just feel sorry for their fans as to where they are now and what they’re having to put up with. I’m sure they’ll sort it out in the long run but we’ve got to make sure that’s not on Saturday.”

When asked by Adi Hopper of Three Valleys Radio about his time at the club so far, the manager said: “I’m happy, you always want more. I’ve said before, I was left a good base by the previous manager. The players were in good nick a good defensive unit, and we’ve just added a little bit of something to the group. We’ve brought a couple of players in which has given us a spark. But as a coach, as a manager you always want a bit more.”

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Darren Sarll is beginning to see a trend from his ‘settled’ team. Following the win at Dagenham, he told the BBC that the first half performance was one of the best in his time at the club.

“I thought first half in particular, we were really, really good. It’s right up there, that first half performance, in my time here. That’s how good I thought we were. I thought it was a really good performance (in the) first half, we looked controlled, we look settled at the moment which is nice,” he said.

He praised the incredible spirit of last year’s squad after the ordeal they went through, but added that the current group of Glovers are building a close bond.

“They’ve got a real togetherness, and a tightness in their relationships. It does help that they’re all pretty much 21 – 24, minus a couple. And, those seniors players are really really leading them well at the minute.”

“The best thing about the group, their kind of USP, is that they have a unique work ethic and it endears them to people and that’s lovely to see again, a nice moment again with the supporters (at the end).” 

Yeovil are now six unbeaten (don’t let anyone tell you the SPC doesn’t count) and Sarll sees that consistency coming from being able to name unchanged personnel. He said: “We’re starting to see a little bit of a trend and a pattern. It’s nice to see that consistency, but it does get easier when you can consistently roll out the same side.”

Yeovil have another tough test on Tuesday night as they head to 4th-place Bromley. 

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

Darren Sarll was full of praise for the defensive efforts of his Yeovil Town side after the Glovers picked up three points at Dagenham & Redbridge this afternoon.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following the match Sarll said: “Regardless of 10 v 11, I thought we always had to be concentrating and focused. Again, you see the quality of (Luke) Wilkinson in these minutes, in these moments. The back four and the goalkeeper were excellent and to still have the same amount of goals conceded after coming away to Dagenham, I think they should be very proud of themselves.”

The manager also reserved special mentions for his two fullbacks, Jordan Barnett and Dan Moss, who worked hard to keep the Dagger’s wide players at bay.

“I thought Jordan Barnett and [Dan] Moss at full backs were out best players by a mile. Their defending 1v1 against some good players, in isolation, on their own, no support, I thought it was just magnificent.”

Sarll also praised the work ethic of his side, noting their determination to get back when countered.

“They run so hard, and they work so hard and even when there were some counter attacking moments from our attacking set plays today, the work-ethic of Worthington, Knowles, Wakefield, Gorman, Barnett to get back, I mean poor old Wilko they leave him on the goal line and they all just run back really quickly,” he added.

Dagenham were reduced to ten-men in before half time, with Elliott Johnson given a straight red card for a tackle on Moss, and Sarll indicated there was room for improvement from his team in those situations.

“I think you can see what type of side we are, because, I find, when we do play against ten men, we do struggle to retain the ball for periods that need to be a little bit longer.

What it does, especially when you’re in the lead, it takes the sting out of the game. It means you can breath, it means you can get control, it means you can get territory. Those things are really important, so I was a bit disappointed with our ball retention in the second half,” he said.

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

Darren Sarll was happy with his Yeovil side’s ‘excellent’ performance as they sailed past Yate Town in FA Cup first round this afternoon.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sheridan Robins after the 5-0 win he praised the performance of his players and said he sees momentum  building in the team.

He said: “I thought their performance levels were very high, their training this week has been like a whole new level, really. We’re starting to find a little bit of momentum now and I thought some of the performances were excellent. I thought they dealt with the ball on quite a difficult pitch. We were very good, very good.

“The most important thing with this team, I keep saying it over and over again is, process, it’s progress, it’s time. And I just feel like we’re starting to really hit some form. When I was watching training this week I said to Terry (Skiverton), someone might get a bit of a slapping from us soon and today we started so fast, so athletically, so intense that would have been hard for a full time team to deal with.”

The Glovers started strongly in the first and second half and the manager indicated the quick openings are part of the plan.

“We’ve got a very small set of unique skills in our team and obviously the first one is athleticism. Some of them are very good athletically and we have to play at speed because they’re fast and there’s no point being fast and playing slowly.”

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

Darren Sarll was full of praise for his defence following Yeovil Town’s 0-0 draw on the road at Solihull.

In a game of two-red cards, the Glovers held on to valuable point at the 5th placed side.

Speaking to BBC’s Sheridan Robins, Sarll said: “I thought we defended very well and what’s really pleasing, and something that I’ve not really spoken about is that I think we’ve probably got the fourth best defensive record in our division (it’s actually the third!). And I don’t think we would associate that with our recent run of results, but I thought that [the result] was a really good point.”

Max Hunt was justly dismissed for a professional foul in the 70th minute and the manager was pleased with his makeshift back four and how they defended in the closing stages.

He said: “When you looked at the make up of the back four in that last 10-15 minutes, I was really pleased for those young men.”

When asked about the status of Dan Moss and Jack Robinson’s loan deals, Sarll commented that “Robinson is done [signed] until January” and that Moss will be going “absolutely nowhere.”

Sarll also provided an update on Luke Wilkinson, who he had suggested on Thursday could return for the Solihull fixture. He said: “Luke tried on Thursday and it was too soon. So we put it to bed yesterday and left him out of everything. He’s going to have to get a wiggle on now, bless him Luke, or we’re going to have to bring someone else in I think.”