Yeovil fell to defeat at the hands of Wealdstone at Huish Park yesterday. I was under the H yesterday and here are my conclusions from a pretty terrible afternoon.
It wasn’t alright. A match between two poor, low on confidence teams didn’t make for the greatest spectacle. Usually we look technically sound and really in control of games (clearly that doesn’t guarantee victory) but I didn’t really feel that we were in control of any situations, especially defensively. Without Charlie Cooper we lose midfield control and without Morgan Williams we have to move Jake Wannell centrally and lose his input on the left-side of the back three. We struggled for any real cohesion going forward and the less said about the defending the better.
It was yet another bad result at home. Yeovil have won just four of their National League matches at Huish Park this season. You could forgive those early defeats to Hartlepool, Rochdale and Solihull as adjusting to the new level, because they we were winning against the teams you’d expect to beat. Now, Yeovil are not winning those games and while the games are tight, we seem to find ourselves in a perpetual struggle to break down teams and find the back of the net. Our home points total accounts for only 44% of our total points and only 46% of the goals we’ve scored, compared to 57% for both points and goals last season. Fortress Huish has been breached.
We don’t feel like a team at the moment. Our league-winning team has been dismantled since that trophy lift with only Wannell and Whittle left from that team starting yesterday. From our opening match day squad of 18, there were just eight in the squad yesterday, including Matt Gould who’s yet to make an appearance. With a revolving door of ins and outs, is it any wonder they don’t feel like a team right now? There’s been talk about different types of leaders, but at this moment we are absolutely missing the Terry Skiverton on that pitch. We’ve let Worthington go, Nouble (TL?) has struggled to make an impact, Smith has struggled for fitness, there’s no Murphy, Hyde or Fisher type bring off the bench. In my opinion, we don’t have the multiple ‘characters’ you need to get out of a rotten run like this and that is a concern.
The next two matches are huge. Last weekend’s point at Dagenham & Redbridge only looked good if we won yesterday. Now the visit of Tamworth and trip to Maidenhead have even more pressure on them. Tamworth could leapfrog us if they pick up the points on Tuesday and we don’t win at Maidenhead – I’m still trying to erase 2022/23 from my memory. Can this group handle the pressure? Our loanees are all under 22. We’ve got a new goalkeeper getting used to his defensive unit and – without Charlie Cooper – a lack of depth and pretty tepid midfield. Thankfully, Cooper will return and give us a bit of structure in midfield to control the game. We’re in must-win territory, especially at home.
The mood is dour. It’s been four weeks since the Friday night draw with Gateshead, so I expected a bit of a show. The Thatchers were certainly in good voice all afteroon, but come the final whistle yesterday the boos were as loud as they’ve been since the 2022/23 horror story. It was my first match as a punter yesterday – when you are on the radio you hear the vociferous grumbles in front of you but not the general mood as much. So yesterday was eye-opening. People are tired, again. People aren’t enjoying their afternoon out, again. And the atmosphere on social media – which is usually dialled up – feels like it’s in the stands too. We know from recent history that supporters of Yeovil will vote with their feet and not go to matches, which spells problems for a club that needs gate receipts. The playoff hopes are a distant memory now and with our current form, we should be looking over our shoulder at what’s creeping up behind us.
Spot on Ian!! I would also suggest there is a general fear and rigidity amongst the group. They aren’t relaxed and feeling they can win. We possibly don’t have the tools to fix the problem (all already discussed) so we’re trying the square pegs – round holes approach.
I genuinely believe if we keep doing what we’re doing with cooper, we’ll be dragged down into a proper relegation scrap, Braintree beat FGR yesterday, we gave 3 points to Wealdstone, if they carry on their form and we carry on with ours, it might be back to Tuesday nights at Weston next season. Hellier needs to find the minerals to make a decision and make a change, not just bring in another loan signing hoping their some kind of non league messiah.
Sorry but the signs are there that we will only go lower in the table. The Cooper mantra of we will only sign players who improve the squad has been exposed and the many decent players who have departed (for whatever real reasons we will not know) have not been replaced by quality. What other national league side would get 3000 turn up to watch that garbage knowing what has been dished up at home all season? Hope I’m wrong.
I can’t understand this as in the premier managers get the sack, but we are holding onto a manager that will not cost much to be replaced only to drag us back down to the south league, come on Hellier get your finger out and get rid of him, 3000 fans at yesterday’s match don’t lie.
Where has all the player’s gone that got us promoted last season? All gone well some have. We have listen to Mark cooper’s report from yesterday’s game and it is full of rubbish.
What game was he watching? Was he watching the same game as we was watching?, because we don’t think so.
Hellier listen to your supporters and do the right thing and get rid of Mark Cooper…..
National league manager’s get the sack quite regular, the only place we are going backwards not forward.
Having watched 6 home and 2 away league games last season (I live 2.5hrs drive from Yeovil) I witnessed a decent team playing a style of football that was never going to produce consistent results in the National league, or be entertaining to watch. Yeovil prevailed in a league of poor quality, without ever looking impressive. Does that possibly explain subsequent departures, or possibly provide an indicator of why that group and this seasons additions look so uncomfortable in possession and lacking as a cohesive attacking unit. So let’s be honest and objective here, and acknowledge that under the current manager it appears unlikely that things will improve.