Yesterday Yeovil Town parted company with Chris Hargreaves and Mark Cooper is reportedly set to take the reins. Dave, Ian and Ben welcome Chris Weale to the Gloverscast to discuss Aldershot, the fallout and the future.
Yeovil Town director Stuart Robins has said manager Chris Hargreaves‘ record of two wins in 17 matches in charge spelt the premature end to his time in charge at Huish Park.
The shareholder said the club was looking to “bring someone in with experience at this level and above” with former Forest Green Rovers and Swindon Town boss Mark Cooper thought to be in the frame for the job.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Matt Faulkner on Thursday afternoon, Robins said the club’s exit from the FA Cup at the hands of lower league Taunton Town was “an incredible disappointment”, but insisted that was not the end for Hargreaves.
He said: “The only way that the fans will get really behind the team is if we produce a winning team, we have got to win football matches.
“That is the disappointment (of Hargreaves’ tenure) because in the some games we played some really good football but didn’t come away with the results.
“Chris often used to say to me ‘I do understand this is a results business’ and it is, we have got to win football matches.
“Even if we win ugly that’s fine because at the moment we just have to climb up that league and if that happens the fans will get behind us.“
Following the departure of Chris Hargreaves, Glovers fan and now multiple time Gloverscast blogger, Jake Gallagher penned some words on how Hargreaves couldn’t get the best out of his side, and how whoever comes in has an almighty job on their hands… take it away, Jake.
“Don’t suppose you want a 1,000 word rant for the website?” That’s how I pitched this to the Gloverscast team.
Okay so you were right. You are all right and I was wrong.
In early October I penned an article asking for the fans to give Chris Hargreaves time and detailed some reasons why. You can read that piece here and you can call me a fool on Twitter here.
So where did it all go wrong? It’d be easy to blame the manager’s lack of experience, call him the P.E teacher and suggest he’s just a pundit out of his depth. Let’s do some actual analysis.
We can’t avoid the topic of the formation despite feeling like it’s all we’ve discussed in recent times. Against Aldershot Chris Hargreaves did finally alter the shape to the 4-3-3 we were all begging for but with it came with a couple personnel changes in key areas which smelt to me of desperation. In a must-win game against a team next to us in the table, is it the right time to give a first start to 19-year old Ollie Hulbert and a debut to 19-year old Ewan Clark on loan from Bristol City? Come on, Chris. Don’t stand there after the match saying we lack experience when we have Gime Toure (28) on the bench. We needed goals, bravery, know-how. The team picked was lacking in know-how, and it really showed.
Ultimately the formation change came about six or seven matches too late. Hargreaves’ pig-headed commitment to the 3-5-2 (which always turned into a 5-3-2) didn’t work and didn’t suit the players in the squad. It was the hill he died on.
This is an overused cliché in football but against Aldershot I’ve never seen it truer. The body language of the players was abysmal and it’s because they completely lost confidence in the manager’s methods. There were two moments in the second half, at 0-0, when a free kick was awarded to Yeovil in our own half and all three central midfielders were head down, not looking at the ball, walking to their position up the pitch. Sam Perry, Matt Worthington and Callum Rowe all trundled slowly forward as Grant Smith lined-up. There was no urgency, no grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck, no understanding of the gravity of our situation. It was 0-0, all to play for, and our engine room workers looked resigned to defeat.
This was a new development by the way – the players not playing for him – ever since the Taunton Town debacle(s) and was truly evident after Richards-Everton and Worthington were fighting and arguing after being humbled at Wordsworth Drive. Before that though the players were playing for Chris Hargreaves and they were playing for each other. But not anymore. And that’s why he had to go.
It was clear throughout most of his tenure that Chris Hargreaves could motivate the group, that was shown by how we started matches.
We tended to score early when games weren’t yet settled into their tactical patterns. In fact, we scored before the 10th minute on four separate occasions but never went on to take all three points.
There was a theme about our play, we’d come out of the blocks fast but started to look flat and without ideas as the games grew.
As Hargreaves would say, we ‘worked our socks’ off but ‘lacked ruthlessness’ or started to look ‘leggy’.
In truth, he bemoaned the lack of ruthlessness because we simply had show a sniper-like ruthlessness to score from the only decent chance of the game we got. Without the killer instinct of someone like Erling Haaland, if you’re only going to create one or two chances in 90 minutes of football, if you’re not ruthless, you’re f*****.
It’s also a myth in professional football that players look ‘leggy’. Often if a team looks off it physically it’s because they can’t get near the opposition tactically.
They would be two yards off the pace because the team’s shape and set up isn’t allowing them to get into the game. ‘Leggy’ is the excuse managers give when they can’t see what happening in front of them.
They can’t see that they’re being overrun, out-manoeuvred and as Sam Allardyce would say ‘out-tacticed’.
Being ‘out-tacticed’ by the opposition is one thing. But ‘out-tacticing’ yourself is another.
Against Wealdstone, after they had halted us to a 0-0 despite being down to ten men in the 9th minute, opposing manager Stuart Maynard said: “Yeovil made it comfortable for us today, they changed their shape at half-time and it helped us. They went 4-4-2 and we were banked up in 4-4-1 so it helped us. We even looked more dangerous on the break.”
After our 1-1 draw with Dorking Wanderers, manager Marc White said: “Yeovil’s back three defend deep and narrow. The wingbacks work hard to make it a back five.”
Chris Hargreaves couldn’t see that his system and his tactics were failing and instead blamed lack of experience, lack of ruthlessness and a lack of leaders.
As was evident on Tuesday night, not only had Hargreaves lost the dressing room but he had lost the fans. I have never seen a more toxic atmosphere at Huish Park, or any football ground, than at the final whistle against Aldershot. Singing about the owner is fine, it’s clear his intentions aren’t best placed for this football club.
But singing about Hargreaves, and Alex Fisher, that was low. How you can chant “Fisher is a w*****” and call yourself a supporter is beyond me. Alex Fisher is not the reason we’re in this mess. He’s just one of many out of form, out of confidence players in the squad who needed support. Booing him when we got substituted was unacceptable. It was embarrassing.
One thing is clear, whether it’s Jamie McAllister, Carl Dickinson or one of the other 40 phantom applicants in the summer, whoever replaces the manager has quite the job on their hands. They must reunite the fanbase, the squad and restore some much-needed confidence at the football club all while upward managing an owner who cares little for the future of Yeovil Town Football Club.
If you’re reading this Jamie or Carl, all the best.
As ever, we always value a range of opinions here on the Gloverscast and you can contact us in all the usual ways, on social media via @Gloverscast or via email, Gloverscast@gmail.com
So Chris Hargreaves has the dubious pleasure of being the shortest lived Yeovil Town manager in many a year.
No question a decent man, a good football man, but someone who will not be surprised that a in the ‘results business’ his two wins in 15 National League fixtures and an exit from the FA Cup simply was not good enough.
His stubborn refusal to bend on a formation which obviously was not working from the start appears to be the hill that he has died on.
It seems his replacement will be Mark Cooper someone with a longer football CV than his predecessor with some considerable success taking Forest Green Rovers to promotion to the Football League in 2017, and guiding Swindon Town to the League One play-off final two years before that.
The big question is – is he going to get the backing needed to fulfil the club’s stated ambition of a return to the EFL? Maybe not immediately, the long-term financial health of the club has to be balanced against its on-the-field ambitions, but promotion would undoubtedly open my many a revenue stream.
Darren Sarll departed for Woking six months ago seemingly believing he had more backing there and, with his side which the Glovers will face in Surrey next Tuesday night sitting pretty in the play-off positions, it seems he was quite right.
Hargreaves spoke frequently about how he knew the Yeovil job was going to be a tough one from the moment he left his job as a pundit on BT Sport and prior to that a coaching career in the youth systems of many a League club.
So, if Cooper is the man for the job and he does not get the backing he requires, does it matter if it’s Pep Guardiola or Houdini who is in the dug out?
We’ve said it many a time on the podcast and in various articles, the words of chairman Scott Priestnall and his board of directors, which is only extends to Stuart Robins at the current point with more apparently set to arrive, need to backed up by actions.
In his most recent update a fortnight or so ago, the chairman spoke about his belief that Hargreaves was “building a team that can compete and I certainly believe we are improving in that department” and it would appear the exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Taunton Town and the capitulations in the past couple of league defeats quickly changed his mind.
I don’t think many Yeovil Town supporters would disagree it is the right decision with a relegation battle now well and truly in place.
That same statement spoke about “additional resources to improve the squad” being afforded to Hargreaves – were they enough? Hopefully if it is to be Cooper, he will have been very clear about the support he requires to do the job.
For us as supporters, we continue to have one job on the pitch, to support the team. A change many of us wanted has been made and now we have to hope it can spark us out of our malaise starting with an important match at Maidstone United this weekend.
The Football Association have confirmed Jamie Reckord’s one match ban following his fifth yellow card of the season against Aldershot Town.
The left back will be missing for the this weekend’s trip to Maidstone.
He’ll be available for the following’s Tuesday’s rearranged game with Woking.
Interestingly, Soccerbase only has him down as having had four yellow cards this season, someone somewhere must have missed one.
For the record, as of 27th of October, Lawson D’ath has four, Morgan Williams has three, Ben Richards-Everton and Chiori Johnson both have two bookings so far this season.
Mark Cooper is expected to be named Yeovil Town manager following the sacking of Chris Hargreaves with the club in the National League relegation zone after 15 games of the season.
The former Swindon Town and Forest Green Rovers manager was in the stands for the Glovers’ 2-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic last weekend and there seems every chance he may be in the dug out for the trip to Maidstone United this weekend.
The Gloverscast understands Hargreaves’ assistant Chris Todd and Head of Player Development Marcus Stewart are still in their roles at present.
In a statement on Thursday morning, chairman Scott Priestnall said “I would firstly like to thank Chris for his effort and professionalism during his time at Huish Park.
“After internal discussions this week, it has been decided that it’s best we go our separate ways. We wish Chris every success in the future.
“There will be a further update on the management situation before Saturday’s trip to Maidstone United.”
Cooper’s last job saw him leave League Two side Barrow by mutual consent in March with the club in the relegation zone.
His son, Charlie, plays for Oldham Athletic and came on as a second half substitute in the match against Yeovil, however, his attendance appears to be more than just parental interest.
Hargreaves departs with just the club fourth-from-bottom of the National League table with just 13 points having won just two matches all season and drawing seven, and suffered the humiliation of an FA Cup fourth qualifying round at the hands of Taunton Town.
In his last match, the manager and team was booed off the pitch after two goals in the final five minutes saw them go down 2-0 at home to Aldershot Town on Tuesday night.
Businessman Martin Hellier has said he is “exploring available options” amid speculation that he is looking to take a role at Yeovil Town.
The managing director of Hellier Group, the sponsor of the Main Stand at Huish Park, posted on his personal Twitter account on Wednesday night to say he had “set about my approach.”
He added: “As a truly local businessman intent on reviving the fortunes of Yeovil, I will give updates as and when there is something of tangible interest.
“Despite being tagged in various tweets today I can confirm I am not interested in consortium bids and believe I could not give everything the club needs with only a part ownership / voice. Updates will follow when it’s appropriate to do so.”
The post follows another Sunday where the businessman said he “may be ready to express an interest” using the #YTFC hashtag, suggesting he was looking at…….a takeover? An investment?
The Gloverscast did reach out to the businessman, who was in attendance at Tuesday night’s 2-0 home defeat to Aldershot Town, following his weekend post to understand his interest. We have had no response from him.
The businessman’s company describes itself as having “a diverse investment portfolio” as well as an “unwavering focus on shrewd investment strategies, impeccable standards, and shared work ethic“, and reports to be valued at £50m with annual revenues of £15m.
The group owns the Yeovil Court Hotel, the Fitness Yeovil gym on the Lynx Trading Estate and a has been involved in developing a number of properties in to Air BnB lets in the town.
In an update to supporters a fortnight ago, club chairman and owner Scott Priestnall said that he was hoping to add further directors to the board before the end of the year adding he would “take any approach seriously.”
He added: “We are continuing our discussions with potential investors to become part of the football club and the door is open for anyone to approach the club with interest in being involved in the ownership of the club.”
Now obviously Yeovil Town is no stranger to takeover talks in recent years, so maybe we’ll just have to wait and see how this one plays out.
Following on from Yesterday’s successful outing for Ollie Haste at Truro, Toby Stephens racked up 80 minutes for Plymouth Parkway.
Parkway, came from behind to beat Tiverton Town with the on-loan Glovers midfielder Stephens starting the game.
He was substituted on 79 minutes, with he and former Yeovil front man Ben Seymour taken off as Parkway looked to see the game home.
Keep it up, Toby!
Halloween came early at Yeovil Town last night as a second 2-0 defeat in as many matches saw the Glovers slide in to the National League’s bottom four.
Ian was in the stands for the Huish Park Horror Show and here’s how he saw it…..
That was as sorry as it gets. I don’t think I’ve ever known Huish Park be so toxic. Boos in the first half for misplaced crosses and passes. There was a section of supporters on the Thatchers willing things to go wrong so that they can pile in. That’s not conducive to creating a winning atmosphere and if that’s the sentiment going into matches under Chris Hargreaves, we may as well call it now and prepare for part time football in the National League South.
The performance was devoid of anything. It’s really sad to see how low these players are on confidence, which is not helped by the above. There’s a reluctance to get the ball forward and the balance between patience in possession and fear of a mistake has been crossed. Alex Fisher chased things down as a the isolated striker, Josh Staunton put himself wherever he could to make a difference, Matt Worthington tried to run things in midfield, Grant Smith did what he could. It’s a moot point assigning blame now, everyone is culpable.
Change in the dugout needs to come immediately. The manager can’t survive off of Wrexham, Chesterfield and Solihull. Those results are the outlier in what has been a dreadful season so far. We were playing well but drawing, and now we’re playing badly and losing. There’s no recovering this sentiment. There’s no turning it round. It boiled over last night to an element of nastiness wasn’t even reached when Darren Way was leading us to this dismal League.
I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it at Huish Park. When the final whistle blew, the boos from the supporters that were left inside were clear. The anger and shouting at players as they walked round the pitch was a level I’ve not witnessed. The club is in a dark place at the moment and it needs to be addressed, dealt with and steered in a direction of positivity. Will our owner grab the wheel and put us back on track?
We need to come together. Everyone who was there last night witnessed us at our lowest ebb and we need to harness that feeling to make a difference. Whether it’s the Glovers Trust, the Green and Whites, the entire SAG or another. There is structure in the Supporters Alliance Group that exists to align supporters and groups, although in my experience its been quite handy for creating division. That group needs to come together, away from the club and hold an open forum for an honest and open discussion. The need for change is clearer than ever and if we can’t come together after last night then what is the point is supporting a club? The club is on its knees and genuinely in danger. I fear relegation would be a death knell rather than an opportunity to reset.
