Darren Sarll (Page 13)

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Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has told supporters to expect a more controlled side for the upcoming National League season compared with the previous two campaigns.

The Glovers’ boss was talking after his side won 1-0 in their opening pre-season friendly at Step 4 side Stratford Town at the weekend.

He told the club’s official YouTube channel: “I was really pleased with the structure of them team because for two years we have been ‘we’ll get five if you get four’ and that is my fault because that is my attitude – I want to get in the middle and dominate the fight.

 

Sarll and Skiverton
Terry Skiverton, right, alongside Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

“But we are going to have to be different this year because there is no Charlie Lee, Jimmy Smith and those characters in the team that can take my character on to the pitch.

“We are trying to do things a bit more strategically and a bit more in control which is hard for me because I have to sit down.”

He added: “I was just really pleased with the control of the team, it is a different team and it may take the supporters a while to get their heads around it, but that is how we are going to have to be.”

The boss gave debuts to summer signings goalkeeper Grant Smith, defenders Mark Little and Jordan Barnett and midfielder Dale Gorman from the start against The Bards.

Other new boys midfielders Charlie Wakefield and loanee Lewis Simper were introduced in the second half along with four trialists – see more about who they might be – here.

The visitors had the ball in the net twice courtesy of striker Reuben Reid and midfielder Tom Knowles only to be ruled out for offside, and former Glovers’ goalkeeper Liam O’Brien pulled off a number of fantastic saves to deny his old employers.

Sarll added: “We had some good chances there, the goals that were ruled out were ridiculous and some of the other chances we had, it could have been a really hefty scoreline.

“But I was pleased with the performance and the fitness levels were great.”

 

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New Glovers’ signing midfielder Dale Gorman has said he is looking forward to playing for boss Darren Sarll again.

The Northern Irishman, who joined on undisclosed terms from NIFL Premiership side Glentoran, played under the manager at youth team level at Stevenage in 2015 and then again under him in the first-team three years later.

Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel, the 25-year-old said: “I have played under the gaffer for a number of years now, I know what he is like and he knows what I am like and I am delighted to be back playing under him again.

“I was about 16 when I first signed for Stevenage when I first came across him, so I have known him a long time and to get back working with him is something I looking forward to.”

Having been released by Stevenage following the departure of Sarll at the end of the 2017-18 campaign, Gorman joined Leyton Orient and played 22 times as they won the National League.

Asked about his ambitions at Huish Park, he added: “Our ambitions have to be promotion, when you look at the size of the club and we will give it a good go this year to get back where we know we should be.

“I have experience of winning this league and I know what it takes to win matches in this league, so hopefully I can bring that with me.”

See what supporters of Gorman’s old club Glentoran had to say about his departure – here.

 

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Andrejs Stolcers spoken about how he tried to encourage his Yeovil Town team-mates to play the ball through midfield after joining the Glovers’ side that would go on to win the League Two title.

The Latvian international had been released by Premier League Fulham in the summer of 2004 and linked up with former national manager, Yeovil boss Gary Johnson, in September.

Upon his arrival, Johnson spoke about Stolcers joining to build up his fitness as he looked for a move, but within three days he made his debut in a 1-0 home win over Swansea City in League Two.

The winger went on to play 43 times that season, scoring seven goals, and has spoken to the Gloverscast about his season at Huish Park.

He said: “I tried to bring something more to the team through my conversations with the lads to help them to keep the ball and manage the game rather than get it forward quickly.

Andrejs Stoclers on his debut as a second half substitute against Swansea City in 2004.
Picture courtesy of Ciderspace.

“When I arrived I saw that it was difficult to create much from midfield when you saw so little of the ball, so I tried to help us get the ball down, move it quicker and build up attacks rather than direct passes forward.

“We had some great full-backs and great wing players and we were able to use them more, but if we needed to play it direct, we knew we could do that as well.”

It did not take long for Stolcers to make an impact, on his debut as a half-time substitute against Swansea, he nearly combined to set up Phil Jevons with his first touch of the ball.

Then, in his second start, he scored twice in a 6-1 demolition of Oxford United at Huish Park, but it was the New Year’s Day trip to Swansea that season that sticks out as a memory for him.

He recalls: “I remember players telling me that Yeovil did not have a good record there and I spoke to a few of the lads about not allowing these things to stick in their heads.

“I told them to to put the past aside and stick to the game we knew we could play and the game plan the manager had set for us.”

The result was Yeovil won 2-0 and became one of only three sides to win at  The Vetch in the club’s final season at their old home – oh, and Stolcers scored the opener and set up Phil Jevons for the second.

The winger adds: “I loved that game in a big stadium, playing away from home where so many supporters are against you, it helps you focus and concentrate.

“I remember scoring a great goal there and then setting up Phil Jevons for the second – a brilliant performance which bred more confidence in our group.

“I think that game gave us more strength and understanding of what we could do, we wanted to be champions that year and we obviously went on to do that.”

However, having taken a drop of £14,000 a week in wages – according to manager Gary Johnson on his arrival – the winger was looking for a better deal than Yeovil were able to offer at the end of the 2004-05 campaign.

He recalls: “I wanted to stay, but I wanted to improve my contract a little bit and that did not happen.

“I felt I had given something special to influence the team’s performance, but it did not work out like that and I felt I had done enough so I left.”

Stolcers, who had signed for Fulham from Russian side Spartak Moscow in 2000, left Huish Park and joined FC Baku of Azerbaijan before returning to Latvia.

In 2009, he did have a trial at Yeovil, he recalls: “I went for a trial when Terry Skiverton was manager and I tried to get back, but he did not feel I was not good enough.”

He ended up playing for non-League Bath City and then Hayes & Yeading before retiring in 2010 and quickly got in to coaching the game.

In 2015, he was a youth team coach at Stevenage when current Yeovil boss Darren Sarll took over as Head of Youth.

Stolcers recalls: “I enjoyed my time at Stevenage and I did have a short time with Darren Sarll there, maybe three months.

“But, Darren decided he did not want to work with me, so I left – that is football, sometimes things do not work out.

“I am still coaching young players and working in schools with them, but I am ambitious to be a manager and applying for opportunities when they come up – but it is very competitive.”

 

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Yeovil Town’s players can expect to have an intense start to pre-season when they travel away to Stratford Town for their opening friendly this weekend.

The Glovers travel to the Step 4 club for the opener with manager Darren Sarll saying he expects all his players to play at least an hour.

Talking to BBC Radio Somerset reporter Sheridan Robins at a recent training session, the boss said: “I’m a little bit different to the general stereotype thinking of pre-season, lots of people do (give players) 45, 60, 75, 90 (minutes each).

“But you can see (from our players) our there that none of them need to just do 45 minutes, they’re all pretty fit, so there will be a good hour, maybe 75 minutes in everyone on Saturday.”

The manager added that he wanted the match at Knight’s Lane to be the start of a winning habit for his squad.

He said: “It will be the start of winning again, there will be no fluff in this pre-season, we want to win all our games as comfortably and thoroughly as possible.

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

“If you lose all your pre-season games, does that mean you are going down? No. If you win them all, does that mean you are going up? No.

“But I just want to get those good habits ingrained in to this new group, because there are only six or seven that are still here from last year.”

The game will be supporters’ first chance to see new signings including goalkeeper Grant Smith, defenders Mark Little and Jordan Barnett, midfielders Lewis Simper and Charlie Wakefield and welcome back Morgan Williams, who has turned out on loan for the club.

Stratford have confirmed the club bar at Knight’s Lane will be open to both home and away supporters with the club hoping to have a Pie & Pint stand open for the match. It will be located inside the ground near the turnstile entrance.

If you are attending the opening friendly match in Shakespeare country, don’t miss our Ciderspace Away Travel Guide on The Bards – here.

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Darren Sarll has spoken to YTFC.net about the latest Glovers signing, Mark Little, emphasising what a coup Little’s signing is for Yeovil Town.

The Yeovil manager said: “This is brilliant, brilliant signing for us. This is a lad who’s not even played in League Two. This is a League One, Championship fullback. Everyone I’ve spoken to has told me (he’s a) brilliant character, good talker. Were almost trying to reinvent a different style of footballer to Carl Dickinson. That age, that experience, that level that they’ve played at, they have a standard to their work. They understand the things you have to do to in order to get promoted and Mark covers all those boxes.”

The 32-year-old’s signing from Bristol Rovers was announced yesterday, and adds ‘character’ and importantly to the manager, another ‘talker’. Sarll said: “It’s a lot of character that comes in. Same with Grant Smith – brilliant talker. Same with Morgan Williams – brilliant talker. There’s a theme, I know. It’s such an important part and we were very quiet last year because of our age and inexperience. Mark’s a coup for the football club.”

Sarll also explained his shock when Little gave him a call, and had a conversation with former Glover Charlie Lee about his ex-teammate.

“I was shocked when I was phoned. I then when I spoke with Charlie Lee (who was previously a teammate of Little), Charlie was shocked he’d phoned. Mark’s driving it. Mark’s driving the decision. Marks drove the process. (They’re) brilliant people to deal with. I must say, agents get a lot of stick, Mark’s agent was magnificent. Good guy, very sensible, very reasonable,” Sarll said.

Ex-Yeovil fullbacks Luke Ayling and Ryan Dickson also praised the signing on Twitter.

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With Rhys Murphy‘s move to National League rivals Southend United now confirmed, there is a job to fill a goal-scoring gap left in the Yeovil Town frontline for next season.

The striker struck 13 times in 31 appearances this season, having got 20 in 33 appearances the year before, with Joe Quigley the Glovers’ next highest scorer with 12 this year.

Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

It is widely accepted there is a need for another frontman alongside Quigley and Reuben Reid, who has scored three times since rejoining in January, so who could it be?

Here are some possibilities based on no real fact whatsoever……

Andrew Dallas – Cambridge United

The 21-year-old Scotsman has spent the second half of the season down the other end of the A37 (and A354) on loan at W*ymouth and scored 12 times in 25 appearances.

He is a product of the Rangers youth set-up and made the long journey south to Cambridge United in the summer of 2019, but has never managed to find a regular spot in their starting line-up with just two league starts, albeit with many more off the bench.

His parent club will be playing in League One having secured automatic promotion from League Two this season, meaning Dallas may struggle to find a place.

Dallas would have been at Cambridge at the same time as Glovers’ midfielder Tom Knowles, has proven he knows where the goal is at this level – is that enough conjecture to make this seem credible?!

 

Olufela Olomola – free agent

Striker Olufela Olomola in action during his loan spell with Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

It would not be a summer at Yeovil Town if there wasn’t a former player linked with a return to Huish Park, and one option could be former loanee Olufela Olomola.

The former Southampton youngster is a free agent having been released by Scunthorpe United at the end of the season, having made just seven appearances this season.

His goal-scoring record has been healthier during his spells in green and white than anywhere else with seven goals in 28 matches in his first spell in the 2017-18 campaign, and three in 21 appearances when he returned in 2018-19.

So, not prolific at League level, but perhaps a division lower he could do something…..maybe?

 

Donovan Wilson – Bath City

Anyone who has listened to former Glovers’ defender Jerry Gill, now the manager at National League South side Bath City, doing co-commentary on BBC Somerset this season will have heard about Romans’ striker Donovan Wilson.

The 24-year-old  was on trial at Huish Park last summer having not been retained by Macclesfield Town at the end of last season, but was not picked up by Yeovil boss Darren Sarll and joined Bath last September.

His impact was impressive with six goals in nine starts before the National League South side was prematurely brought to an end, and in March he was brought in on loan by Sutton United, scoring seven times in 17 appearances as they won the National League Premier.

It’s fair to say that with his goal-scoring exploits at Sutton, there will plenty of teams looking at the former Wolves player – but we can dream, can’t we? At least until he signs for someone else.

UPDATE: Turns out we can’t dream, Donovan Wilson joined Sutton United on a permanent transfer on June 11 – which makes sense.

 

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Sarll and Skiverton
Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll, left, with assistant, Terry Skiverton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll is back in the dugout this Wednesday (2nd June) as he takes part in an academy trial day for Stratford Town.

Advertising on their social media channels, Stratford Town are offering a trial day for players aged 16-19.

This is their third trial day and the second with a guest host, the other being former Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth.

Sarll has been invited to host the event as the two clubs have had a strong link since 2019. Albi Skendi joined the Glovers from Stratford and the two have played pre-season friendlies in the last two years.

Speaking to the club’s official site, Sarll said; “I’m delighted to be invited to Stratford Town to host this next trial. Academy football is where you begin to see players maturing into the game.”

The current Academy manager for the Southern League club Ryan Simmonds said “Having Darren come in to host the trial is great for the Academy. His experience of working with players of this age group and passing on his knowledge of the game will be a real bonus for those who attend and our boys who are already here.”

All the best to the gaffer as his search for young talent continues – just… maybe bring a couple of the good ones back to Huish Park, instead, yeah?

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Sarll and Skiverton
Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll, left, with assistant, Terry Skiverton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Manager Darren Sarll has said he is “determined to do the right thing” by Yeovil Town as he prepares to rebuild a squad ready for next season.

Speaking after a 1-0 defeat to $tockport County on the final game of the National League season, which saw his side finish in 16th place, the boss said he will “shut down”  and return a week on Monday to look towards the next campaign.

He told BBC Somerset: “For the first time, I am looking for a break, I am going to shut down for a week and then we will start talking to the players a week on Monday.
“Them we need to rebuild around a completely different budget, against a different thought process.
“We need to use the resilience we have built this year because things like we have all been through this year give you such a strong bond and we need too go again.
“I am determined to do the right thing by the supporters, by the club and by the big man up there (club captain, Lee Collins).”

He said the club now needed to remove a “dark, grey cloud” which has been over the club this season when they have suffered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, an extended run of poor form, an injury crisis and the death of Lee Collins, which shook the club in March.

The manager added: “We need time off to break up that dark, grey cloud over us and start again. We need to rebuild the enthusiasm and energy of the team, and reinvigorate those lads.
“No-one knows what it is like to be in our shoes, no-one except us and that is what connects us so tightly.
“I loved that at the end there, I thank every supporter from the bottom of my heart, because that is like fuel for me to try and do them justice next year.”

Sarll was joined for his post-match chat with the media by Amelia, the daughter of the late Lee Collins, who was in attendance at the game with her sisters and Lee’s partner, Rachel Gibbons.

The boss thanked supporters for the warm reception they gave the family, himself and his team at the end of the game when supporters on the Thatcher’s End terrace serenaded them with the now famous ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’ chant.

Sarll said: “It was tough at the end, but I think we did everything we had to do in the right way and conducted ourselves in a really graceful manner and did the right thing.
“We know the season has been really poor, we can all talk about availability and COVID and no fans, but the fact of the matter is we have dipped below expectation and I am sorry for that.
“It was unbelievable and the girls which is what it is all about, they need to experience the connection and what it was like and why it was so important. and they got that feel of that connection between the players and the supporters.”

 

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This Saturday’s game against Stockport will be the final one in green and white for Carl Dickinson and Manager Darren Sarll took time to praise his left back who has been a real leader for the club since his arrival.

Carl Dickinson in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

“It is going to be impossible to replace Carl Dickinson. Everyone tells me what he can’t do, but he has played so many games and hardly ever gets roasted, maybe one in five someone gives him a bit of a lesson in athleticism. A brilliant character.”

Dicko has accepted a Player/Manager role at Hanley Town closer to his base in Stoke.

“He is magnificent and someone I will never fall out of touch with. He is a brilliant guy and a top player and the way he and Lee (Collins) led my first two years in the changing room has been incredible. We have had many a conversation on his new job, how difficult it is going to be and how old he is going to look in the next six months!”

“We will always stay in touch, we have a very close relationship because he has to embody the manager. I thank him from the bottom of my heart. He is a born winner and he will want to go out with a win (against Stockport County this weekend).”

The former Port Vale legend joined the Glovers in League Two but spent time training with his former club after being exiled from the set up at Huish Park under former Manager Darren Way.

“The only blip on his Yeovil career is the time he wasn’t allowed to help keep us up and that is something that is a real shame and obviously still grates with him. He was willing to come back and give his all in a league lower which was wonderful and just typifies the man.”

Carl Dickinson leaves very big boots to fill and whoever does done the number 3 shirt next season – and the Captain’s armband – has a very tough act to follow.

Thanks for everything, Carl, from everyone here at the Gloverscast and every, single Yeovil Town fan.

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In a busy final pre-match press conference Darren Sarll was asked about just how much preparation had gone into building for next season.

Sarll confirmed that the budget was tight and only likely to get tighter, but that the Glovers had scheduled in some pre-season friendlies.

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

“I am speaking to some very good people in terms of recruitment and those spinning plates.  There are hundreds spinning right now and you just hope you can catch them before they drop. Two years ago when I was building this squad, I was able to grab so many great plates and we developed a great squad.”

“It is obvious to say this year that our recruitment has not been as good, it is obvious our squad is going to get smaller because finances are not getting better. We have to spend every pennny wisely. We can’t forecast for injuries. Josh Staunton played 35 games in a row for Halifax, he played six for us, how can you account for that?”

“We had  (Luke)Wilkinson, (Josh) Staunton and (Lee) Collins for 28 games out of a possible 120, how are you supposed to account for that? Staunton was supposed to be the one that filled in for Wilkinson, Collins and Charlie Lee when they weren’t fit and he was the first to go!

Whilst Sarll spins the plates and counts the pennies there are a few warm up games already in the diary – the gaffer stopped short of confirming exact dates, but Yeovil fans are going to have visits from at least one Football League club and some decent top-flight youngsters.

“We are going to play Forest Green here in late July and Southampton’s under-23s here a couple of weeks before the season…
I think we are going back to Weston-super-Mare and Taunton, so they have been really good in the past couple of years. Our pitch is having quite a bit of work done to it this year, so we have had to have a decent period we can refurb the pitch which starts Tuesday. There’s more in there, I think we have six or seven in the diary.”