Adi Yussuf

Adi Yussuf in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Former Glovers striker Adi Yussuf has signed for St Joseph’s in Gibraltar.

The Tanzanian forward is set to make his debut for his new side in the Europa Conference League qualifiers on Tuesday night against Northern Irish side, Larne.

Yussuf was one of a number of players released by new manager Chris Hargreaves at the end of his contract.

All the best in Gibraltar, Adi.

Thanks to the Gloverscast’s Europa Conference League correspondent Marcus Ducomb for the heads up.

Goalkeeper Grant Smith could be available for Yeovil Town‘s trip to Barnet this week having sat out the last three games through injury.

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Caretaker manager Charlie Lee said the keeper had impressed in training this week and would be in contention for the match in North London.

On loan West Brom keeper Ted Cann has been between the post for the past three games – all of which have ended in wins for the Glovers.

Speaking on Friday ahead of the match, Lee said: “Grant is looking good, we will see how he is today, it’s good to have him firing. He’s nearly fully fit.”

Striker Adi Yussuf is back at the club having been missing for the past fortnight on international duty with Tanzania and the boss said he would be assessed in training today.

Central defender Max Hunt has had a slight set back as he makes his way back from an ankle injury which has kept him out since the end of January.

Charlie said: “Hunty has done well, he’s having a little problem with his quad. He’s not too far away, but not for tomorrow.”

The game will be Lee’s first in the hot seat following the departure of Darren Sarll to join National League rivals, Woking, but he has done his homework on Barnet, who Yeovil beat 1-0 in the reverse fixture in December.

Of the opponents, he said: “We have looked in to Barnet and we know they have good players. They have had an up and down season similar to us, but we have to do what we have been doing lately.

“We know what we are good at and we have to do that.

Adi Yussuf trains with Tanzania ? @TanFootball

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf was an unused sub for Tanzania on Tuesday.

The frontman has been on international duty since last week picking up his fourth cap in the win over Central African Republic.

But, he was left twiddling his thumbs during the Taifa Stars 1-1 draw against Sudan on Tuesday.

Yussuf is expected to return to Somerset for the Glovers’ National League game at Barnet on Saturday.

Adi Yussuf trains with Tanzania ? @TanFootball

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf claimed his fourth international cap by starting for Tanzania against Central Africa.

Kick off was meant to be at 4pm UK time, but a delay put that back to 4.50pm with social media suggesting that the visitors objected to a home official being used.

Young midfielder Novatus Miroshi gave the Taifa Stars a first half lead in the 10th minute.

The hosts made a number of changes at the break including replacing Yussuf with Joshua Mwakasaba.

The game ended 3-1 to Tanzania, Adi and his team have two more friendly games in this international break before his return to Huish Park

Huge congratulations to Adi 

 

Yussuf lines up with Tanzania ? TanFootball

 

 

Adi Yussuf. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf has been called up for international duty by Tanzania for games against Central African Republic, Botswana and Sudan.

The call up means he will miss tonight’s National League fixture at home to Bromley and this weekend’s visit from Southend United to Huish Park.

Yussuf, who has five (ish) goals for the Glovers this season, joins up with Kim Poulsen’s side ahead of the games on Wednesday 23rd, Friday 26th and Tuesday 29th ruling him out of at least two Yeovil games in the process.

Yussuf was born in Zanzibar, an autonomas region of Tanzania and has made three appearances for the Taifa Stars without scoring, most recently playing the full 90 minutes of a 0-0 draw with Rwanda in October 2019.

All three games are set to be played at the Benjamin Mkapa stadium which can hold up to 60,000 people and we’ll bring you news of his ventures when we can!

Good luck (or should we say, ‘bahati njema’) Adi!


Adi Yussuf in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf has spoken to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following the Glovers’ 3-1 win over Woking in the FA Trophy.

Yeovil, with Yussuf’s second half brace to thank, move into the fourth round of the Trophy and extend their unbeaten run to 12 first team fixtures.

The forward said the manager had a few words at half time which spurred the side into action.

“The team are doing well at the minute, the gaffer’s speech at half time, motivated us to kick on, he reminded us about the start at Dover (Yeovil went 1-0 down inside 2 minutes), he reminded us to push us on, to do what we’re good at which is run, tackle and that’s what we’re good at”

“We didn’t do that first half, but the gaffer’s half time speech – we came out second half a completely different team”

Yussuf now moves onto six goals across the League, FA Cup and Trophy games of which three have come in his last two, the Tanzanian said he knew the goals would come once he was at peak fitness.

“I’ve got absolutely no doubt about the goals, I just wanted to get fitter, so I could do what the gaffer has asked me for, I’ve never doubted myself about scoring, I’ve always believed I would score”

“You can’t buy fitness, it’s the one thing you can’t cheat and I know the hard work I’ve put in, the dedication, the sacrifice I’ve put in, I always know it is going to pay off”

Adi Yussuf celebrates vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

With four trophies still up for grabs and a small squad, Yussuf – like so many others – has pointed to an immense team spirit in the camp as a reason for the recent success.

“The team bonding is probably the best I’ve seen, and every time we’ve had a team bonding like this at every other club I’ve been at, we’ve always had success, I’ve got absolutely no doubt we are going to be a success this season.”

“I’m a big believer in hard work, dedication will always pay off, no doubt, and self belief, everyone has got to believe we can do it…”

“The way we train, everyone is going to be ready. I’ve never been at a club where it’s that intense, every single day.

“On a Friday, it’s like a Monday, that’s how intense it is, anyone who comes in, everyone is putting a tackle in, every single day, the gaffer demands a lot from us, it’s only going to show on the pitch.”

Yussuf finished off his post-match chat by looking forward to local derbies vs Torquay and W*ymouth over the festive period, but he was adamant the side had ‘enough in the locker’ to keep this run going.

The fourth round draw of the FA Trophy will be announced on Monday 20th at 1pm with games played on Saturday 15th January 2022. 

 

 

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll was proud of his side’s comeback after the Glovers turned a 0-1 deficit into a 3-1 in the FA Trophy game against Woking.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins he said that he needed to give his players a ‘polite’ word at the half time interval.

When we went in at half time, I thought about the interview afterwards and have to say I’d picked the wrong team, for the right reason, to try and give some players some extra minutes.”

“I reminded them the amount of balls we had to defend at Wrexham, the amount of commitment we had to show at Bromley, the amount of quality we’ve had to show over the last two months and I said ‘are you ready for that to be all in vein, for all that to end today?’”

“The second half, there was a different energy to us, the body language was different, because first half was absolute garbage”

“The attitude and energy of the players was magnificent second half and their spirit and their fightback – that’s a really experienced side, Woking, good players, good manager and I thought once we built our momentum and speed of our play I thought we became the team we’d become accustomed to seeing.”

Adi Yussuf in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The introduction of Adi Yussuf on the hour mark was a key moment in the game as the Tanzanian international scored a brace to send the Glovers into the fourth round.

Sarll was full of praise for all three subs and the introduction from the start of Max Evans, Alex Bradley and Jeheim Headley

It’s like a team of misfits and they’re broken pieces of a puzzle, so when any of these lads do well, there’s a real sense of achievement… we like to celebrate their successes and Adi is no different.

(He’s) another one who has done so well for us, it’s taken its time, but he looks so much fitter and stronger now and he made a real difference when he came on.

He was powerful, disruptive and destructive and took his goals well.”

Young Max (Evans) in goal, didn’t have a lot to do, but I thought he kicked very well, I thought Reuben (Reid) did well – we are a different team to last year, so the service to him was different … Reuben is going to need time, Alex (Bradley) I thought did much better in the second half, I was worried about his booking, so instead of having him suspended and we go to Torquay with one sub, that we save him…”

Sarll also confirmed that winger Charlie Wakefield had a slight injury and had been ill this week and was unlikely to come off the bench, and hoped to have Morgan Williams back in contention for Boxing Day’s trip to Torquay.

 

 

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

Yeovil Manager Darren Sarll spoke of his praise at the attitude of his side after a gritty, but impressive, 2-1 win over Eastleigh on Saturday.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, the gaffer said it may not have been a beautiful game, but he saw a lot that he liked from his side.

“I don’t think it was very pleasing on the eye, the performance, but for effort, togetherness, physicality, physical performance, attitude – any of those key fundamentals I thought it was 10/10” (we know you mean 7/7, really)

“To recover after the (Eastleigh) goal was great, I had a feeling we would recover with (Luke) Wilkinson back out there, because of his experience. I thought their desire to win a game of football was incredible.”

The two Glovers’ goals came from super strikes from Tom Knowles and Adi Yussuf and the Manager spoke of how they’re both showing some of their best form

“I thought the first half performance was the better of the two halves, for us, especially offensively, but I didn’t feel like we had that ruthless mentality.

Tom Knowles in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

“It was only every going to be a wonderful strike like Tom produced, that allowed us to go in one-up”

“I thought we played with a lot of creativity first half… I thought (Dale) Gorman was outstanding with Knowles, feeding him the ball and the front three were a real threat”

“We all know Tom is capable, it’s only ever a matter of time, Tom’s very much a ‘flurry’ goal scorer, so hopefully that’s the start of a good return from him now.”

“I thought (Joe) Quigley was outstanding when he came on, Sonny (Blu Lo-Everton) played in three or four different positions and Morgan Williams made the most telling contributions late on with his block”

“I’m really pleased for Adi, he looked fitter today, he looked sharper – I’m sure he was delighted to play on Wednesday (vs Larkhall in the SPC – for context, add sarcasm) – but I don’t care, he had to play, because he needs to get fitter and as he gets fitter we’ll see that”

“I was really pleased for Adi, because he worked hard today, I think he endeared himself to our supporters today”

Striker Adi Yussuf has said he is confident that goals will come for Yeovil Town if they continue to do the things they are doing.

The 29-year-old played 72 minutes of today’s goalless draw at Solihull Moors where he had two great chances to find the net at the end of the first half.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the match, Yussuf said: “At the minute I am still getting the minutes in and getting fitter and I am confident in myself that the goals will start coming.

Striker Adi Yussuf fires a shot in on goal.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

“But the most important thing is the team are playing well and we are getting points on the board.

“I have got no doubts about the scoring, we are playing well and when the team is playing like that it is only a matter of time before the forwards start scoring.

The former Solihull player has started the last two games and says he is feeling his fitness returning having not had a proper pre-season before joining in the summer.

Following his release by Blackpool at the end of last season, he had a spell at League Two side Hartlepool United before signing for Yeovil on the eve of the new season.

He said he was using his position as one of the most experienced heads in to support the Glovers’ young team.

He said: “I am a big believer in confidence, so I praise them all the time and obviously tell them when they need to be told.

“I am loving every minute of it and I think we can do great things this year as long as we stick together, work hard and most importantly believe in ourselves.

Adi Yussuf.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf has apologised to Glovers fans after he was sent off in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Boreham Wood.

Yussuf was shown two yellow cards within the space of 5 minutes shortly before half time with the game finely poised at 1-1.

The fromer Blackpool front man said on Twitter that his ‘passion got the better of me’.

Yussuf has scored just the one league goal for the Glovers so far, the third against Stockport as well as finding the net in the Somerset Premier Cup in midweek.

He will be absent for the Glovers’ game against Maidenhead on Tuesday 5th October.