Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 298)

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town goalkeeper Grant Smith says securing survival in the National League is still in the hands of his team-mates.

The Glovers’ stopper, who has kept 13 clean sheets in all competitions this season, follows the thinking of his manager Mark Cooper that midweek defeats for Aldershot Town and York City have pulled them back in to the relegation scrap.

Yeovil go in to Saturday’s home game with Southend United occupying the top spot in the division’s bottom four with only Gateshead, who now sit two points and one place above them, having played fewer games.

Speaking on Thursday, Smith said: “All we can do is focus on ourselves, if we win our games that’s all we can do. Obviously teams around us play each other and we have to play those teams, so if we can get some wins then that will lead to others not getting results. So it is truly in our hands.

“By Saturday we will be fully focused on what we are doing, we can’t affect anything else so ultimately it doesn’t matter if other teams don’t get results. If we don’t win the game, it doesn’t matter if others win, lose or draw.”

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He admitted that the team’s poor form in front of goal – just 32 goals in 38 matches which is 11 worse than bottom club Maidstone United – was putting extra pressure on the defence not to concede.

The Glovers have the best sixth best defensive record in the division and you have to go up to 12th place to find a better goals against tally – which is Saturday’s opponents, Southend United, incidentally!

Smith said: “It adds pressure on us defensively because we need to be perfect because we do lack in goals, but we have faith in the boys and hopefully starting Saturday that will come.

“When you know we don’t create five, six, seven chances, we know we might only create one chance that does add pressure because we know that if we let in one or two goals, the stats don’t lie, so it does add pressure.”

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Striker Jordan Young is “touch and go” for tomorrow’s visit from Southend United in front of the television cameras at Huish Park.

The 23-year-old has been missing for the past two games with a hamstring injury and is one of a number of fitness doubts for manager Mark Cooper going in to the weekend.

The boss said ruled out any chance of midfielder Jordan Stevens being fit and said a thigh injury sustained by recent arrival Callum Harriott in last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to Bromley could keep him out.

Speaking on Thursday, Cooper said: “It’s about the group, it’s about that spirit, togetherness and desire and a group of players are desperate for Yeovil Town to retain its National League status.

“The core group have that connection and it’s down to me to galvanise that and make it more powerful. We might lack in quality, but we don’t lack in effort.

“There is a togetherness in the changing room and the players are desperate for the club to stay up. It’s all about what happens on the pitch, we can’t effect or control what goes on off the pitch, from my point of view I can only put the best team possible on the pitch and get them to have a right go in a Yeovil shirt.”

Jordan Young. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He confirmed striker Malachi Linton, who scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw at FC Halifax Town a fortnight ago but was an unused substitute against Bromley, was available. The manager said: “Mal is okay, but we have a selection of forwards and we have to try and find a combination which leads to us scoring more goals.”

Asked about the number of injuries suffered by his squad, Cooper added: “There are reasons for it. We have found ourselves in a position where we are having to get players fit during matches because they can never replicate the tempo, speed and adrenaline of a match in training. Some players are going to break down, that is just nature.”

 

Following last weekend’s defeat both Cooper and captain Josh Staunton made it clear issues behind-the-scenes had been a major distraction and this week owner-in-waiting Matt Uggla revealed that former Tottenham Hotspur and QPR assistant manager Kevin Bond had joined the club as (we think) Director of Football.

There has been no statement made by the club since Uggla tweeted the arrival earlier in the week, but Bond has been meeting with various people at Huish Park this week.

https://twitter.com/matt_uggla/status/1640380160846200835?s=20

Asked about the news, Cooper said: “I can’t go in to that. That’s up to the club to answer that. It’s difficult because you see and hear what is going on, but it is important I try and protect the players because we all get things wrong. We will take some stick, but we only have the club’s best interests at heart and we will try our best to do the best job we can.“

In midweek, victories for Gateshead and Dorking Wanderers saw Yeovil drop in to the National League relegation places.

They now sit 21st, two points behind Gateshead, who are in FA Trophy semi-final action on Saturday, and five points behind Dorking, who travel to Dagenham & Redbridge at the weekend.

But, a midweek defeat for Aldershot Town and a draw for York City, who have both played two more games than the Glovers, means they are within striking distance as well.

Cooper said: “I think the results have dragged more teams in to it. Certain teams won but there are another couple of teams that lost that are bang in it, there’s more teams involved in the scrap to stay up than there was on Tuesday night. Look at Aldershot and York now, they are bang in trouble.

“We have got eight games, we want to win eight games, that is the challenge and hopefully we can get enough players fit to give us that lift.”

The bottom of the National League table going in to this weekend.

Asked about how he and his backroom staff had lifted the players who were booed off the pitch by the Huish Park crowd after the defeat to Bromley, Cooper said: “With good training, reinforcing messages that they can be good players, there is no point in me hammering the players and expecting them to run through brick walls on a Saturday.

“It is more arm around the shoulder, they are good people and we have to drain every last minute of ability out of them.

“We started really flat last weekend and that was a culmination of a number of things that have happened, but there’s no excuses, it’s about the players being the best version of what they can be when they cross that white line. We need to get at least eight or nine of the eleven to be right at it, last Saturday we had two or three.

“The intent is to out have two corners, a few shots and crosses in the first five minutes and not be 1-0 down, but that comes down to personal pride and concentrate. The players will be prepared and we hope we get good performances.”

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Kevin Bond, who counts Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City among his former employers, appears to be the new Director of Football at Yeovil Town.

On Monday afternoon, owner-in-waiting (still not had official confirmation on a takeover) Matt Uggla posted on his Twitter account: “Kevin Bond in the door what a man.”

This followed a somewhat more lengthy post on Sunday night where he said: “Tomorrow we have our new director of football coming in and I’m excited by working with both him and Mark.”

One therefore assumes that the post about Bond relates to his appointment in this role, however, assumption can be a dangerous thing. No doubt we will find out more in the coming days.

In his last role, Bond was part of the first-team coaching set up at Bristol Rovers, which he held from August 2021 until last October.

His departure followed the arrival of Glenn Whelan Danny Ventre as coaches at the Memorial Ground in the summer with Rovers’ boss Joey Barton saying: “I just felt we had too many cooks and with where we’re at and how we need to do it, we needed to streamline it a little bit. It’s unfortunate for Bondy that it’s him that exits the building, but we’ve got to be efficient and effective and I don’t think we were moving as efficiently as we could.”

Prior to that role, he was notably assistant to Harry Redknapp, who was a guest at Huish Park for the recent home win over Eastleigh, during spells at Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers.

He spent two years in charge at Bournemouth in the mid-2000s when the club suffered a ten-point deduction and were relegated to League Two in the 2007-08 season, and then hit with a further 17 point loss the following campaign leading to Bond being dismissed in September 2008. He went on to be re-united with Redknapp at Tottenham Hotspur and latterly QPR.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Podcasts

Well, that was a fun one on Saturday. Ian, Ben and Dave are back to chew the fat of a really dismal result and we take your GCQs. Settle in…

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.

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.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

A new Director of Football will join the Yeovil Town set-up on Monday as the club comes under the ownership of SU Glovers, according to  Matt Uggla.

The owner-in-waiting has also apologised for any offence he caused during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Bromley which saw manager Mark Cooper and captain Josh Staunton both talk openly about difficulties in the dressing room.

In a series of posts on his Twitter account on Sunday, Uggla said he would learn from mistakes and said he was “fully behind” Cooper as the club battle to avoid relegation from the National League.

He said: “If the supporters think I have anything but love and respect for them then I’m shocked. We have inherited a relegation battle and this is a baptism of fire. At the end of the day the supporters are here for the rest of time and as owners we plan to be here for decades to come.

“Frustrations yesterday were high amongst everyone at the club. But I am fully behind Mark and think he is more than capable of turning results around. But more than anything we have to come together as one. 

“I apologise if I offended anyone but certainly never have and never will aim anything at the fans who I have nothing but love and praise for. I’m young and new to this so will make mistakes which I will learn from and maybe should learn to not speak so much in the heat of the moment and in pure frustration.

“This is a long journey and we need to be on it together. Tomorrow we have our new director of football coming in and I’m excited by working with both him and Mark. Let’s stick together on and off the pitch.”

Following the defeat, pictures posted on social media showed Uggla talking at length with Cooper and his son and midfielder, Charlie, who picked up the sponsors’ man of the match award for his performance in the defeat, on the Huish Park pitch.

During the game, Uggla posted on his Twitter account calling on supporters in the Thatcher’s Stand to get behind the team. The tweets have since been deleted from his timeline.

In his post-match interview, Cooper admitted there had been a difference of opinion in some recent signings with new arrivals winger Callum Harriott going off with an injury at half-time and striker Reo Griffiths and midfielders Zanda Siziba and Scott Pollock, who all appeared in the second half, failing to have much of an impact.

Cooper said: “We are always going to differ on targets and players we are going to bring in, that’s just the way it is, Matt has made it clear he is going to recruit the players he is going to recruit and that’s fair enough – it’s his money and it’s his club.”

Staunton called for unity in the dressing room and admitted the integration of a number of new arrivals during the heat of a relegation battle had not been easy.

He said: “It is important every single player is pulling in the same direction and it is my job to unify the dressing room. People are under pressure and pressure does strange things to people in terms of decision making and characteristics, this would be a much easier integration if we were relaxing in the middle of the table.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil fell to a 1-0 defeat against Bromley yesterday in a result that could prove disastrous in the fight for National League survival. Ian was at Huish Park and here are his conclusions.

We were lucky it was 1-0. The scoreline didn’t really tell the story of yesterday. Bromley could have gone home having scored 5 or 6 with the chances they spurned. Grant Smith (as always) made some important saves but the visitors were profligate in front of goal. The Glovers struggled defensively on corners and throw ins and were carved open more than once. The early goal from Toppaloj gave Yeovil plenty of time to claw something back but…

We never looked like we were going to score. Unfortunately it was the usual story going forward. Chances created were few and far between. Alex Fisher had a chance from header which you expect prime Warren Patmore to bury, but not Fisher. The arrival of Griffiths, Pollock and Siziba made little difference. Harriott was bright and looked like he had something about him, but could only last the first half. We’ve added players that our new stewards say are ready to go and our manager says aren’t. On yesterday’s evidence, I’m with the manager on this one.

Alex Fisher heads towards goal. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We missed our ball carriers. When you take out Jordan Stevens, Jordan Young, Matt Worthington and Lawson D’Ath, the squad loses so much. The pairing in midfield of Freckleton and Cooper never looked comfortable and it was only when we switched to a back three (argh wingbacks!) that we got good spells of possession. Anything good was going to come from Charlie Cooper but even he couldn’t work miracles with what was in front of him. All he could do was pass to his wingbacks but with Bromley’s organisation it was near impossible to cut through. We missed the pace of Young and Stevens and without Worthington we weren’t able to play out from the back effectively.

Something felt off yesterday. We’ve had some bad games this season, but that was down there with the Aldershot home game. I think for most of the season, the team have played together and worked for each other but yesterday felt so disjointed. It was a performance devoid of team spirit. Mark Cooper and Chris Todd, usually so animated on the touch line were not their usual selves. Cooper’s admission after the match that the new owners sign who they want to doesn’t tally with the approach talked about in the week. To me, the substitutions looked like Cooper was making a point of ‘here are your players, let’s see what they can do’. Despite all the positivity outside, morale at Huish Park appears lower than ever. There is clearly a growing divide between the boardroom and the dressing room and it couldn’t come at a worse time.

If we don’t fix it, we’re down. Results around us couldn’t have gone worse yesterday. Gateshead’s win and there two games in hand see us staring down the barrel. There’s no recruitment left to happen and this is our lot. Worthington will be back from suspension, but if we can’t get Stevens, Young and D’Ath fit enough for the run in then I’m worried. The new lads need to get up to speed and only can in matches, but we’ve got eight cup finals to retain our National League status. Unity comes from within the club and if the manager is being told who to pick and new players aren’t embedding into the group then we may as well call it now. Cooper is far from perfect, the recent form shows that, but with his experience and pedigree as a manager there’s no one more suited to pull us out of this. If a rash decision is made now, we’re in Marmon territory and we may as well look forward to trips to Bath City and Taunton Town next season.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Debutant Bobby Hilton came off the substitutes’ bench to score for Yeovil Town Under-18s, but he could not prevent them falling to a 2-1 defeat at league leaders Bridgwater United.

The schoolboy, a member of the Yeovil Town Community Trust’s Under-16s set up, appeared on the hour mark in the match at the Bridgwater & Taunton Sports Arena on Saturday. Also coming off the bench was Under-16s player Joey Beckey, who came on in the 65th minute.

The team which included top-scorer Charlie Bateson and goalkeeper Rob Hollard, who had both been on loan at Tiverton Town and Gillingham Town respectively.

Billy Hilton, a member of the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust Under-16s, chips the keeper for his first Yeovil Town goal. Picture courtesy of Matt Partridge.

Hollard returned from his loan spell last week whilst Bateson was available due to his loan club’s match being postponed on Saturday.

The result saw the Under-18s drop to third in the South West Counties’ Youth League behind Bridgwater and Torquay United.

 

Yeovil Town Under-18s: Rob Hollard, Mikey Archibald (for Bobby Hilton-Jones, 60), Harry Lock (for Corey Koerner, 45), Aidan Skiverton, Harrison Foster, Mason Alden, Jack Bareham, Charlie Bateson, Freddie Beale (for Joseph Beckey, 65), Josh Haskett, Max Dyer.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Whilst the scenes at Huish Park didn’t give Glovers fans much to get excited about, could any of the on loan cohort make things any better, let’s find out.

In the National League, Woking came from behind to beat bottom side Maidstone United with an injury time winner, Charlie Wakefield came on in the 82nd minute.

Scunthorpe were on the wrong end of a 4-0 thrashing from Notts County, defender Ben Richards-Everton credited with an 11th minute own goal.

All in all, two good results for Yeovil.

In to the lower leagues, Oxford City took a point from their clash with Dulwich Hamlet, Will Dawes was introduced as a 74th minute substitute.

Leamington lost 2-0 in front of a bumper crowd as Boston United were in town, Ollie Hulbert started, but was taken off after 70 minutes.

Jake Graziano made his Dorchester debut from the bench but his side went down 2-0 to Merthyr Town (dual-registration watch doesn’t have quite the same ring to it)

Down at Sherborne, the result might have gone against the Zebras, but Yeovil Under-18s striker Benjani Juniot was back on the scoresheet (are you watching, Mark Cooper?).

He got his side’s first in a 4-2 defeat at Millbrook AFC, taking him to three goals from his loan spell. The Sherborne line-up also included Under-18s’ midfielder Mason Hunter too, who appears to have also joined our friends at Sherborne for a short stint – go well, Mason.

nbsp;

Gillingham Town, were big winners, Rob Hollard has returned to the Glovers following his loan spell, so he wasn’t involved, and I couldn’t any team news to see if Sam Hodges had been involved.

Truro’s (Ollie Haste) game was postponed, as was the game between Toby Stephens‘ Plymouth Parkway and Charlie Bateson’s Tiverton Town. This allowed Bateson to turn out for the Under-18s in their 2-1 defeat at Bridgwater United.

Plenty more of these sides are playing midweek, more Loan Watch updates to come!

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Now this one could really challenge you and don’t bite our heads off for asking, but which Yeovil Town player impressed you most in today’s 1-0 home defeat to Bromley?

If you need any inspiration, take a look at the picture in the banner (above) to see who we think you might want to consider.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town captain Josh Staunton had called on his team-mates to unite to pull the club out of the relegation scrap at the bottom of the National League table.

The skipper admitted the recent influx of a number of new players in recent weeks had proved difficult to integrate in to the group which started the season.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the 1-0 home defeat to Bromley, he said that he was “taking the pressure” on behalf of his team-mates and urged them to play with a “freedom” which was obviously lacking at Huish Park this afternoon.

He said: “It is important every single player is pulling in the same direction and it is my job to unify the dressing room. People are under pressure and pressure does strange things to people in terms of decision making and characteristics, this would be a much easier integration if we were relaxing in the middle of the table.

“It is clear to see that we look like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders and it is my job to relieve that pressure and keep it on myself and let the boys play with a sense of freedom they should have.

“I would run through a brick wall for this football club and it is important that everyone in that dressing room has the same mentality. You will never find me blaming my body – I hurt, I ache but will go out there and do everything for the football club. The boys do look tired, but when I am looking them in the eye I am asking them to give everything for the club and I wanted every single player to find that extra 10%.

“It’s essential (we have that unity) and if we don’t have it we will be in a very difficult position in a few weeks time. Characters at this stage of the season are worth points, they make a difference, stand up, run through brick walls for each other and get you those few points when you really need them. So it is important we all take the time to realise what we are playing for and it has to be your driving force.”

He gave his backing to manager Mark Cooper who is looking to lift the team which could be in the National League relegation zone before the kick a ball in the televised fixture against Southend United next Saturday afternoon.

Gateshead, who sit one point and one place below them, host Dagenham & Redbridge in midweek and a win for the North East side would see them go above the Glovers.

On his manager, Staunton said: “I support Mark Cooper, he is one of the best managers I have ever worked under. As a person, he is a fantastic person and there’s not a better man to deal with the pressure. I trust the Gaffer and I respect that he takes a lot of the responsibility and I will try and take as much pressure off every single player in the dressing room as I can.”

On the performance against Bromley, he added: “The first five or ten minutes we were in disarray, but we managed to gain some sort of control and finished the first half well. I thought second half they had a lot of territory and really could have hurt us on the break but we had lot of balls in the box and we are clearly trying to do things the right way. But we had no answers to any questions today.“