Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 473)

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

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has handed league debuts to four summer signings  against King’s Lynn Town at Huish Park (3pm kick-off).

Goalkeeper Grant Smith, full-back Jordan Barnett and midfielders Dale Gorman and Charlie Wakefield are all named in the starting eleven for the opening National League fixture.

Fellow new arrivals striker Adi Yussuf and loanees Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Dan Moss start on the bench.

Ex-Glovers’ striker Gold Omotayo starts for the visitors who are looking for their first points of the season after an opening day defeat to Southend United last weekend.

Yeovil Town: Smith, Wilkinson, Williams, Hunt, Barnett, Worthington, Staunton, Gorman, Wakefield, Knowles, Quigley. Subs: Evans (GK), Stephens, Lo-Everton, Moss, Yussuf.

King’s Lynn: Jones, Denton, Fernandez, Callan-McFadden, Bird, Barrows, Clunan, Coleman, Omotayo, Linton, Rowley. Subs: Bowry, Sundrie, Gyasi, McGavin, Gascoigne.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town have secured two defensive reinforcements ahead of the start of the season.

Jack Robinson, 20, is a left-sided defender who has joined on loan from Middlesbrough until January. Robinson has a minor injury and is unavailable today. He signed a new two-year-deal with the Teesiders in May.

Millwall’s Dan Moss has also signed on loan until November, providing much-needed cover at right back. The Lion’s youngster is available for this afternoon’s match against King’s Lynn Town. Moss, also 20, can play in midfield and at centre back.

Welcome to Yeovil Town lads.

 

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Having admitted last season was a “free hit” for his King’s Lynn side, Ian Culverhouse knows they need to start fast in an ultra-competitive National League this season.

The Linnets’ boss saw his side go down 1-0 at home to Southend United last weekend, thanks in no small part to a fine performance from goalkeeper Paul Jones, who pulled off a string of saves in their opening fixture.

Conceding just once against a side expected to be in the promotion mix come the end of the season will have pleased Culverhouse whose side conceded 98 goals last season, more than any other team in the division.

They finished the campaign in 21st place which would have been enough to send them down if relegation had not been cancelled.

It has been a summer of change on and off the pitch at King’s Lynn, with the club going full-time despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and bringing in a number of new signings.

They had six players, including former Exeter City keeper Jones, making their senior debut against Southend and will be looking to build on a positive performance against Yeovil.

One familiar face in the visitors’ squad is striker Gold Omotayo, who made 16 appearances in for the Glovers in the 2019-20 season. He finished last season at Wrexham before being released and arriving in Norfolk.

FROM THE MEDIA 

Normally, we would try to find you the views of the opposition manager in this pre-match previews, but there’s nothing we can find from Ian Culverhouse about his side’s trip to South Somerset.

So, here is what Greg Plummer, reporter for the Lynn News had to say: “Whatever side manager Ian Culverhouse chooses to put out, the Lynn boss will not budge from his philosophy of getting the ball down and trying to play football out from the back.

“Despite going full-time in the summer, Lynn’s ambitions this season have to be to survive in the league and build from there. That in itself will be seen as a great achievement.

“In terms of squads and budgets, Lynn have perhaps the smallest in the National League.

“With a squad of just 19, any absentees will leave the Norfolk side down to the bare bones in terms of players available for selection.“

 

TEAM NEWS

Ian Culverhouse is known as a master tactician but even he will struggle to find a formation from a squad which is even more paper-thin than Yeovil Town’s.

And his job is made even harder by the loss of striker Junior Morias who was red carded in the 1-0 defeat to Southend United on the opening day.

Morias’ place alongside Gold Omotayo means Malachi Linton, a 20-year-old forward signed on loan from Wycombe Wanderers, is likely to get a start.

The Linnets’ attacking options have been dented by the loss of Adam Marriott, whose last minute (offside) goal earned them a 2-2 draw against Yeovil in the opening game of last season, and Michael Gash.

Marriott departed to Eastleigh last season as the club looked to cut its wage bill during the pandemic and Gash was a ‘victim’ of the decision to go full-time, preferring to stay semi-professional by joining Southern League side Peterborough Sports in the summer.

In midfield, the Linnets have been boosted by the signing of Ipswich Town midfielder Brett McGavin in the week.

The 21-year-old is described as a ball winning midfielder equipped with precise passing and seems likely to make his debut at Huish Park.

Joe Rowley, who has joined on loan from Chesterfield, was a bright spark in midfield against Southend with Irish centre half Kyle Callan-McFadden the mainstay in defence.

 

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

Gold Omotayo – the obvious link man between the two sides having been part of Darren Sarll’s first squad as Yeovil Town manager in the 2019-20 season.

He made 16 appearances that season before departing to rivals Halifax Town and then Conference South big spenders Gloucester City before turning up at Wrexham, where he played in the Welsh side’s 3-0 win over Yeovil towards the end of last season.

Presumably the part-time kick-boxer was too proud to take the Hollywood cash offered by the Red Dragons and instead opted for a move to the familiar rural setting of Norfolk.

Ominously, the last time Gold played against Yeovil in the Glovers’ opening game of the season, he scored an 89th-minute winner for Bury in the 2018-19 season.


Kwesi Appiah – spent a month on loan with Yeovil from Crystal Palace during the 2012-2013 – which turned out alright for us, as I recall.

He made five appearances for Gary Johnson’s men, coming off the bench for four of them which the Glovers won, and starting one – a 2-0 defeat at Colchester United on a cold February night.

Earlier in his career, whilst with Peterborough United, Appiah had a prolific spell with King’s Lynn FC scoring nine in 10 games for the Northern League Premier side before his loan spell was cut short when the club went bust. I’m not saying he’s unlucky, but….

King’s Lynn FC were eventually wound up in November 2009 with debts of £77,000 and  reformed as today’s King’s Lynn Town in January 2010.

 

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News
Adi Yussuf in action against Yeovil for Mansfield

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll spoke highly of his new front man Adi Yussuf ahead of the game with King’s Lynn.

Speaking to the Gloverscast’s own Ben Barrett the Manager said he was excited to work with Yussuf after he had been triying to secure his services for a while.

“We have been speaking to Adi and his agent all summer… he’s at a good age at 29, established in the division and has the capability to score 20-plus goals a season”

Those final words will be music to Yeovil fans’ ears after the summer departure of Rhys Murphy to Southend, it’s a sentiment that was backed up recently by the Blackpool Gazette journalist Matt Scrafton who agreed with Sarll that Yussuf probably just needs a solid base from which to really fire.

 

Sarll added of the former Tangerines’ front man; “He’s an uncomplicated finisher (with) brutal force and instinct”

“Wilkinson said when we played against Yussuf he gave him a hard time and those things are important when new players walk into the dressing room… Adi needs a spike in his fitness levels before we see him week in week out, but he will be a really good signing.”

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has confirmed he spoke with outgoing midfield Charlie Lee about finding a suitable replacement which led to the signing of Dale Gorman.

Speaking prior to the King’s Lynn game Sarll said “I was really worried about replacing Charlie (Lee)’s charachter and I sat with Charlie and said ‘Chaz, you are a dying breed, how do I replace you?’ he said ‘ you know there’s one lad out there who can do that… Dale Gorman’. so off  we went and tried to do the deal with Glentoran, which was not simple but we got there.”

Gorman and Sarll have known each other for a while, something which the gaffer thinks will stand them both in good stead.

“Dale Gorman might be new to Yeovil, but he’s not to Darren Sarll, I’ve known him for a third of his life, it’s an easy one, I know how to manage him straight away, I know what he does – he’s a horrible little Irish man – he’s not very nice when it comes to winning and losing”

“It’s lovely to have him back, I’ve known him since he was a teenager, he’s a smashing chap”

Gorman, like a number of others is likely to make his Glovers’ debut in front of a home crowd when Yeovil host King’s Lynn on Saturday

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News
Sonny Blu Lo-Everton in action for Wealdstone against Yeovil Town last season.

Darren Sarll has been speaking about loan signing Sonny Blu Lo-Everton ahead of the Watford attacker’s potential competitive debut against King’s Lynn.

Lo-Everton, who has known Sarll since the age of 15 has joined the Glovers on an initial six month loan spell, something which the Gaffer said was as much down the player and his family as anything else.

Responding to the Gloverscast’s Ben Barrett’s questions, Sarll said; “Sonny and his family made this happen, 100%, they wanted to come and play for me, they wanted to come to where I was, which was Yeovil.

“He played for Wealdstone against us last season and made a massive impression on the likes of Jimmy Smith and Chris Dagnall who spoke really well of him”

Despite his relative young age, Lo-Everton has been on Sarll’s wishlist for a while admitting he’d tried to get him to the club before

“I have been trying for two years to get him to Yeovil, he’s a brilliant footballer, I think he still needs a month of familiarising himself with my ways and first-team football, but he has ridiculous talent”

Sarll would go on and compare the diminutive attacker to James Tilley, who was such a key player in Sarll’s first season in charge at Huish Park, but said he could arguably be better and couldn’t sing his praises highly enough.

“I would play him in the under 23s (at Watford) at 15 years old, because he was a special little footballer,

“As the months tick over, I think we will see more and more of him, his qualities will end up dictating the way we play, he is a gifted young man…he will be a really influention member (of the squad) because there’s no-one in our group that can do what he does”

 

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Defender Luke Wilkinson has said he hopes to have put the injury problems which kept him out for large parts of last season behind him.

The centre-half said that using custom-made insoles in his boots and a regime of gym work has helped him overcome problems with his soleus muscle, part of the lower leg.

He only played 20 times last season as a result of injuries and suspensions and is hoping to get in much more game time this season.

Yeovil Town defender Luke Wilkinson.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Wilkinson said: “It has been a really frustrating two years, I have had soleus problems on both legs twice, so it has been frustrating.

“But we seem to have gotten to the bottom of it with orthotics and strength work, so I am hoping I can be out there for 50-plus games and help take this team to where we want to be.”

The 30-year-old said the team had been working hard in pre-season to rid themselves of the errors which cost them 68 goals in the National League last season.

Manager Darren Sarll has spoken in pre-season about how supporters can expect to be a more “controlled” style from his side this year.

Wilkinson said: “There has been a lot of work on the defensive side of it and you can see from our pre-season games that we were solid as a team and our attacking play comes from our defensive work.

“We defend as a team and we then we build from there, if we can wear teams down that way and get a couple of goals that way we will take it every week.

“It’s not about scoring four and conceding three, I don’t think any football fan want to see you concede three every week and then you have to score four every week.

“So hopefully we can keep games tight but get the wins that we need.“

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Press Conferences

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has said he is still looking to bring in more players to his squad which has been hit by injury and illness.

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.

Speaking ahead of the National League opener against King’s Lynn at the weekend, the boss said he had been speaking with club chairman Scott Priestnall about new targets.

He said: “I would still like to bring in a couple more, we have a couple of options at the moment that Scott and I are discussing.
“If they come off before the weekend then great, but if they don’t we will do what we can and put out what is available to us.”

The boss has confirmed that striker Reuben Reid and defender Mark Little will both be out until Christmas and defender Alex Bradley and on loan midfielder Lewis Simper will be missing for the opening game.

 

By:
On:
In: Uncategorized, Latest Yeovil Town News, Press Conferences

Lawson D’Ath is undergoing  treatment at Huish Park as he bids to return to fitness after suffering a knee injury.

Manager Darren Sarll has confirmed the 28-year-old has had surgery over the summer on the injury sustained in the final game of last season against Stockport County.

He said he hoped to have the former Northampton Town man available for selection in January when he is also hoping that injured striker Reuben Reid and defender Mark Little will be available again.

Darren Sarll has his head in his hands as Lawson D’ath is attended to

Sarll said: “I have this lovely vision that in January I will have a fit Mark Little, a fit Reuben Reid and a fit Lawson D’Ath.

“Lawson is at the club now, having treatment on a daily basis, he is still living in Yeovil and we are taking care of his accommodation and his treatment.

“I am desperate for Lawson to get back in our shirt and play because at the end of last year I saw a different Lawson, there was a maturity to him.

“He is a very good player, so Scott (Priestnall, the club chairman) if you are listening, I want Lawson for January!”