Five Conclusions (Page 9)

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On the face of it, going away to a Solihull Moors side on a run of four consecutive wins and getting a 0-0 draw is a result that plenty sides in this division would take.

Plenty have tried and failed to do what a solid Yeovil Town defensive unit did and keep and clean sheet.

Here are five things Ben Barrett took away from a battling draw at Damson Park…..

It might be an odd place to start, but after some chat about the loans that have ended recently, some quotes regarding the Lewis Simper, Dion Pereira, Ben Seymour and Jordan Dyer deals have suggested that maybe our place as developers of talent for other clubs has been questioned.

But the loanees we have are very, very good for the club.

I can’t really comment on Sonny Blu Lo-Everton as his cameo was short and purely a fresh pair of legs to chase and chase.

Loan signing Dan Moss in action against King’s Lynn Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

But, the full-backs Dan Moss and Jack Robinson were two of the star players in the Midlands.

Both of them are clearly here to get used to ‘grown-up’ football and they will have learnt so much in that 90 minutes.

How to take a pummelling from the likes of Tyrone Williams and Adam Rooney, but picking themselves up  heading the next cross away and putting themselves right in harm’s way.

I gave Robinson my man of the match. When at left-back he links with Jordan Barnett and Charlie Wakefield well, but when called upon to slot inside next to Josh Staunton he stood up and made it his own.

Moss was equally impressive and is not afraid to put his head in where it hurts (literally a couple of times) which is wonderful to see from a player who is not ‘ours’.

Darren Sarll spoke after the match about how Robinson was ours until January and Moss was going “absolutely nowhere.” I want them both secured for the rest of the season.

I’m sure you’ve noticed, it may have been mentioned, but we don’t have much squad depth.

Only Luke Wilkinson and Morgan Williams were missing from the squad and it felt like we were missing a golden ticket from the bench.

Jamey Osborne and Adam Rooney came on and made a real difference for the hosts, when I looked at the bench, I didn’t see the midfield general we needed to control the game.

As the second half especially rolled on it was crying out for another Josh Staunton in the middle, someone to put their foot on the ball and try and calm the play down.

With Staunton’s time at centre-half set to last a while longer after Max Hunt’s dismissal, I feel we need to think about this area in recruitment.

In my last Five Conclusions after the 2-0 win over Woking in midweek, I said I didn’t really know what to think about Adi Yussuf.

Yussuf Warming

Well, 70-odd minutes more and well, now I can say with some confidence, that I am still absolutely no nearer to knowing what I think of him.

For every neat passage of play with his strike partners, there was an offside, or a stupid free-kick given away.

For every flick on into good areas, there was a frustrating lack of control especially at times where we needed to take the pressure off… and then there’s THAT miss.

At the time of writing, I haven’t seen it back on the highlights yet, but I REALLY hope it’s not as bad as I thought when it happened live.

Going into half time 1-0 up would have flipped that game on its head and quite simply you have to be taking those chances when they come around.

Darren Sarll and plenty of others have talked about how fit this bunch are, but for the first time, maybe all season… we did finish the game looking a bit tired.

Eight games in October, one of which went 120 minutes and penalties, a couple long coach trips have all piled on, and I reckon they’ve earned a Sunday and maybe a Monday off before cranking in to gear again for Yate Town in the FA Cup last weekend.

No doubt our new fitness coach Scott Wickens has been doing wonders and will be crucial in the weeks to come.

I actually wanted to do one of these without an off-the-pitch mini rant, but it was so good to see a club clearly committed to putting on a show for their family fun day.

It was Halloween special day and fans of a number of higher positioned league clubs could attend at a reduced rate, there was a Halloween fun fete thing on the outside 3G pitch, plenty of activities, face paint, the works.

Kids there had Aston Villa shirts [did you leave have yours on, Ben? – Ed), Birmingham shirts, Coventry shirts and more, and with those kids, parenmts who want a coffee, a bite to eat, to pay to park, to have a drink in one of their multiple bars – you get where I’m going with this, don’t you?

I understand that COVID restrictions are preventing us having ball boys and girls at Huish Park, but that didn’t seem to be an issue at Damson Park – if they can do it…..

We have people at our club who could do and have done this stuff with their eyes closed… they just need the green light from above.

Oh, and the away supporters’ bar at Damson Park was a small breeze block building with a bar, nicely done up with a Peaky Blinders’ theme, and it was rammed for a couple of hours before kick-off.

Not hard, is it?

 

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The Glovercast’s Ben Barrett took up residence in the Thatcher’s Stand to see Yeovil Town pick up their first victory in eight matches with a much-improved performance and a 2-0 win over Woking.

Here’s his Five Conclusions on what he saw….

First thing is first, you’ll have to let me have one for myself, but it was really nice being a supporter again.

That sounds stupid, but I’ve only watched on streams, or on TV, or had my professional hat on as part of the media.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m VERY lucky to do occasional bits for the BBC and I’ll never turn those chances down. But to stand in what used to be something of my usual spot, just behind the left hand post in the home terrace with my Dad, a cup of coffee and a few familiar faces (hi, Foxy!) felt fantastic.

It’s been a while since I’ve had that feeling and whilst the overall ‘match day experience’ still leaves a lot to be desired, but being told by a steward ‘don’t worry about that, it’s only Woking’ as I held my arms aloft expecting a pat down, to Max Evans saying ‘evening’ with a little nod as we crossed eyes whilst I waited for Dad to go through the turnstile reminded me, that it’s not ALL bad at Huish Park.

Onto the football then and this is my first experience of the 4-3-3 formation and for me it has one main benefit and one major flaw.

We’ll start with the benefit, because you know… #BeMoreBarrett and all that.

Knowles and Wakefield are seriously dangerous attacking options in the front line.

Catching Woking on the break, quick one touch passing through midfield and either a ball whipped down the line or sprayed out wide was the order of the day and it worked nearly every single time.

That man Tom Knowles (#DFILWF) back in the goals – and we love to see it.

Having one of those split the full back and the central defender meant they didn’t really know how to defend against us, afraid to push their full backs on for fear of being caught and defenders being pulled out of their regimented shape.

Wrap these two up in cotton wool, protect them at all costs… and it’s absolutely fine to fall in love with footballers.

However, the Yin to that Yang is that I’m not quite sure where it leaves our midfield.

Jordan Barnett on the left of three is fine when in full attacking flow, but he did occasionally fall out of position as possession fell to Woking.

Matt Worthington continues to work his backside off, but he isn’t a right sided player, almost opposite to Barnett he DOES look fairly well placed when we don’t have the ball, save for a few uncontrolled hooked clearances, he wasn’t quite the attacking driver that Barnett was on the other side.

Dale Gorman was combative and all hustle and bustle, but at times in the 2nd half, I wanted a controller, someone to dictate the play and he isn’t quite that.

When I knew I was going to do these conclusions, I really hoped to have something concrete (and ideally positive) to say about whoever led the line up front.

But… after an hour of seeing him from the start… I just don’t know what to think about Adi Yussuf.

I think I enjoyed his first half performance, I think he was reasonable at the back-to-goal stuff, I think we played less hoof-ball that we seem to revert to for Joe Quigley, and I think he put himself about and ruffled a few feathers… but I don’t KNOW any of these things… you know?

He was pretty anonymous in the second half and I wasn’t surprised to see him come off after a pretty stale 15 minutes in the second period, I don’t know that we missed him, but I don’t know if there might be more in there.

I think I want to see him have a bit of a run in the side, I think I want him to have a bit more of a chance to impose his game on our style of play, but I don’t KNOW any of these things… you know? No? Sorry.

Finally, I’ve been thinking about what happens now we’ve ended the winless run.

After the 3-0 win against Stockport, we were crying out for a performance to back it up, to probe it wasn’t a one-off.

Now, I think we desperately need to back that performance up.

We can talk about ‘runs of one’ and resetting after the previous result, regardless of a win, a loss or a draw, but there isn’t a Yeovil fan out there who is desperate to see a bit of a streak of results.

Another three points on Saturday away at Solihull would lead us nicely into another big couple of weeks, with a prime opportunity against Yate Town in the FA Cup and then a couple tests with Eastleigh and Dagenham on the horizon in the league.

The Gaffer giving it the big ‘un after a much-improved performance. He’ll be wanting more like that from his side going forward.

That was a solid 2-0 win, about a solid of a win as you can ask for, there is an extra gear to find, a gear that will determine if we’re a side with ambitions of glancing up and thinking… ‘maybe’… or a side glancing over our shoulders thinking… ‘oh, maybe’.

Shall we do it again on Saturday? Yeah, go on then.

 

 

 

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Yeovil Town went down to a 2-0 defeat at National League table-toppers Grimsby Town yesterday, stretching their run without a win to eight matches. 

Marcus Duncomb, who was on co-commentary duties for BBC Somerset at Blundell Park, gives us his Five Conclusions from the match……

Being 1-0 down away at the league leaders at half time isn’t terrible. But it was clear that change was needed in the Yeovil team. We never looked like creating any chances (which I’ll get onto later…) and with Simper, Knowles and Yussuf all on the bench, I think Darren Sarll needed to look to his bench earlier than he did. This has happened in a few games now and while I understand that we don’t have much squad depth at the moment, there were at least three players on the bench who could have influenced the game.

We were actually quite solid at the back and retained possession nicely in midfield. Yes, we conceded two goals, but one of them was a penalty and the other was in the 90th minute when we’d lumped Max Hunt up front to go all out for an equaliser. As much as Yeovil couldn’t get forward much, the team did very well to limit the chances that Grimsby created. We kept the league leaders quiet for the majority of the match which is a positive.

We never looked like scoring. I don’t know what our attacking plan is or, indeed, if there is one but we never threatened Grimsby’s defence. We had a lot of the ball in midfield but the final ball was just non-existent. We’re missing that Lawson D’Ath-esque playmaker in midfield and also midfielders who make runs into the box like Jimmy Smith and Albi Skendi. I’m aware I’m just listing previous players who we could do with now, but we really are crying out for goals and creativity from midfield.

Get him some tequila because Dale Gorman bloody loves a shot. Any time he gets the ball with in 40 yards of the goal and with some space ahead of him, the Irishman will be lining up to thump one from range. Don’t get me wrong, we need goals so please try anything! Sometimes however, we’ve worked the ball into a decent position deep in the opponent’s box and could create a clear-cut chance but he just gifts the opponent a goal kick from a pot shot.

As Sheridan said in the Five Conclusions from the W*ymouth replay – Sonny Blu Lo-Everton is a very talented footballer. He’s got great skill and frightening technique, but some games just don’t fit his style or maybe he doesn’t suit Yeovil’s style. I really want him to succeed, and I know he can, but unfortunately he got pushed off the ball a few too many times and the game just passed him by leaving him somewhat invisible.

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Yeovil were held to a 1-1 draw by Altrincham at home last night and here are our five conclusions…

We did play better(ish!). We had a lot more shots than Saturday and we did cause Altrincham problems in the open stages. The movement of Yussuf and Seymour did cause problems until the injury to Altrincham ‘keeper Tony Thompson at which point they shored up. It was damning that we struggled to test Connor Hampson, a left back, who came on from the bench to have a go in goal. Eventually, it became apparent that couldn’t catch anything in the second

Joe Quigley opens the scoring against Altrincham.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

half, which led to Quigley’s opener. But, inevitably, we let it slip, allowing our former player Ajay Leitch-Smith to equalise. Once again we were left lacking creativity, ideas and failed to break down a side that had been protecting their not-goalkeeper for more than 70 minutes. Although the players felt aggrieved not to have had a winner through Josh Staunton, we really should have been able to do more than rely on a decision from an official to find a winner. Beforehand,  I would have taken a draw against part-time Altrincham (such is our decline) but there is no doubt that we should have got more than that in the context of the match

Don’t fall in love with footballers. Tom Knowles, the shining light at the end of last season. The player who many have pinned our hopes on for this season. What’s happened? Where’s that spark gone? He was playing in a different role during the last campaign. Is he a bit shackled with our new defensive focus? He was withdrawn at half time on Saturday and the first off last night. Something’s not quite clicking in this system for Knowles and we need to get it right. When Knowles is confident, and playing well, we’re going to be a better team. Personally, I want him through the middle as close to the goal as possible.

Joe Quigley had another one of those games which make you question what we’re doing. I like Quigley, I think he’s scored more goals than we thought he would and I think he’s a better player than many give him credit for. However, we’re not playing to his strengths. He struggled to win any headers last night, yet we continue to lump it forward to him. We need his goals (no one else is scoring) but we need to try and switch up how we use him. Maybe he needs to come out of the firing line for a game or two and we give Yussuf and Seymour a go together. I thought Quigley and Yussuf sort of got in eachother’s way a bit in a 4-3-3 last night.

The pressure is on. Three disappointing results in a row at home and W*ymouth come to Huish Park on Saturday, in front of fans, for the first time since November 1999. The off-field uncertainty x growing unrest amongst supporters is not the most ambitious crossover event in history and it’s made Saturday feel like a must-win for Darren Sarll. Even if we win, it may not be enough.

The Supporters Alliance Group are united. On a night when our gate was 1640, with Scott Priestnall absent (again) and Glenn Collis in the Directors’ Box the timing of the SAG statement has made it abundantly clear for those in charge and those at the table. The supporters of Yeovil Town FC want total change. The supporters groups of Yeovil Town haven’t always agreed on things, but at this critical moment in the club’s history they are working for the same cause. We want change, we need change and it can’t come soon enough. Obviously, it’s the owners prerogative who he does a deal with, but with momentum and a united voice, supporters should feel empowered to make their feelings clear.

 

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Dion Pereira showed glimpses of his quality. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

It was a difficult afternoon at Huish Park for Yeovil Town as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Notts County. Here are our Five Conclusions from the game.

Once again it was another game with a lack of creativity. Two centre midfielders who play it safe, an out of form Tom Knowles and a new loan signing in Dion Pereira adjusting to his new surroundings struggled to create anything. Pereira showed glimpses of quality but the overall performance made it near impossible for him to make an impact. Charlie Wakefield looks better on the right hand side than the left, and looked a threat after his half time introduction, but Joe Quigley is looking increasingly isolated. I know it’s easy to say, but we need an Ed Upson. 

I think there’s a decision to be made about Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. The youngster is struggling to adapt to the physicality of the National League. He was withdrawn early against Chesterfield having made little impact. He came on against Maidenhead United when they were down to ten men and couldn’t unlock them. And yesterday he didn’t get a sniff out of Notts County. I’m sure Sonny has a very bright future in the game but right now his contribution in a Yeovil shirt is negligible. We’re on the verge of crisis territory and it’s unfair to put a young loanee in that environment because with every stray pass, every lost challenge the supporters’ frustration grows. 

For the second consecutive game Josh Staunton was voted the sponsors Man of the Match. It was another strong performance from the stand-in skipper and he’s proving what a smart signing it was last season. However, when your centre back is getting man of the match awards, it’s a damning indictment of the shape of things. Well done Josh, you’re becoming a leader and standard bearer, but I’d love a striker or a winger to be Man of the Match on Tuesday after scoring three and setting up two.

Minus King’s Lynn, we started well this season. A solid and dependable XI that we weren’t forced to change. The loss of Luke Wilkinson through injury has created a ripple effect through the side. With Staunton having to move back (mainly because of Morgan Williams’ injury) we’ve had to shuffle the pack a bit, including breaking up Staunton and Gorman. But are we changing things too much now? Three changes against Maidenhead United, after an alright (given the circumstances) performance against Boreham Wood in our last outing. Another three changes yesterday, and I’m not sure why. Jordan Barnett has been one of our better performers and was left out of the team yesterday for loanee Jack Robinson. Mitch Rose, regardless of the overwhelming negativity, started on Tuesday but was dropped for Notts County. History tells us that chopping and changing for every match doesn’t bode well, and now we can expect more on Tuesday.

Darren Sarll’s final substitution at 1-0 down yesterday was to remove Dale Gorman, the slightly more forward thinking of our central midfielders, for a defensive midfielder in Mitch Rose. We had an experienced striker in Adi Yussuf on the bench. I think with 20 minutes left at 1-0, we should have brought on another striker, tried something different and at least gone down swinging. That change was essentially us forfeiting the game in my view. Our rigidity is our strength in certain moments, but it is a weakness when we’re trying to do the same thing over and over again and failing to achieve anything. I know we’ve heard about ‘doing Plan A better’ in previous seasons but in the space of two weeks, the team appear to have been totally sapped of confidence and are barely carrying out Plan A. 

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Last night, the Glovers drew 0-0 with Maidenhead United at Huish Park, here are our five conclusions.

We’re not creating enough going forward is the blindingly obvious one. Darren Sarll reiterated a need for patience from the fans for the likes of Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, and the young players in the squad but for the final 20 minutes, Yeovil were up against ten-men. (Not that that changes games of course…) Against a semi-professional side who had not won since the 28th of August, we should have created more. Our system is robust and we didn’t give away a lot of chances, but I think it’s fair to expect more from a team who haven’t had a competitive fixture in 10 days.

Ben ‘don’t call me Tom’ Seymour showed signs of a spark. He’s got the pressing and chasing mentality that Gary Johnson’s strikers tended to have. He looked pacy and sharp and I think we can expect some good things from him if he’s served right. His low-effort at the end of the first half was his effort on goal but he worked hard and that’s a good sign.

Jordan Barnett who came on as a second half substitute in the goalless draw with Maidenhead United.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

What has Jordan Barnett done? I think Barnett has started well for us. Dedicated, decent defensively and happy to push forward too. I thought it was an odd circumstance to bring in Jack Robinson for his first game and leave out Barnett who had started every game. Robinson didn’t set the world alight and I think Barnett can feel hard done by to lose his place.

Last night Darren Sarll was asked about the signing of Mitch Rose for the first time since the midfielder signed for the Glovers. Rose, as has been widely reported, is serving a suspended sentence. When asked about the circumstances surrounding the midfielder, Darren Sarll said: “People should understand and know the full extent of any situation before we start beating people down. Mitch is an ex-youth team player of mine, I have known him years and if something untoward has happened in his life I have certainly not got any details about it.” It feels disingenuous to say you’ve signed a player without this information, especially when the player himself indicated the opposite. I would imagine the only reason we’ve signed this player is because of the ‘untoward’ circumstances. The manager had plenty of time to think about how this signing could be communicated in a positive and almost redemptive way, and he chose to plead ignorance. 

Another match where our absentee owner was nowhere to be seen. We’ve not heard any communication from Scott Priestnall since the Glovers Trust informed members that they were aware of two bidders for club. No denial, no acknowledgement. Nothing. In July 2019, when Priestnall met with supporters and the media ahead of his own takeover completion, he said: “I’m not going to put the club in danger, so I want to bring a fresh viewpoint on how the club moves forward.” At the end of the match last night, there were a few boos. I think they were aimed at the performance and the tactics and it seems there is a bubbling frustration amongst supporters, albeit a minority, which stems from the over-promising of the summer. If as an owner of a football club, when you insist that you’re building a squad for promotion and you fail to beat a ten-man semi-professional outfit, fans are well within their rights to vocalise their feelings on the state of affairs.

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Yeovil Town suffered a 2-1 defeat on the road to Boreham Wood yesterday. Here are five conclusions from the match.

Adi Yussuf let his team-mates down with his sending off. Two moments of stupidity in the space of five minutes cost Yeovil yesterday. The first was a needless push as the ball was running out of play and the second was another needless foul. Yussuf jumped in for a 50-50 giving the referee no choice. The team gave it their all in the second half with ten-men but it was an entirely avoidable situation to be in. Yussuf has since apologised to fans, recognising it was careless on his part.

Yussuf’s sending off laid bare the lack of game-changing attacking depth we have at our disposal. With only Sonny Blu Lo Everton to bring on we couldn’t change much. Neither Matt Worthington nor Dale Gorman were particularly inclined to get the ball going forward and it’s left to Charlie Wakefield, Tom Knowles and Joe Quigley to produce. Which is challenging when you have ten men.

Knowles came to life in the second half and created a couple of good opportunities, but we need more from him. He was our talisman last season and he hasn’t quite grown on those impressive performances. If we’re to reach the play offs this season, the nearly misses have to turn into goals and assists. We need him to be a killer in the box.

I probably won’t go to Boreham Wood again. Parking’s good, the facilities are nice and an okay cheeseburger. The atmosphere: non-existent. A good travelling contingent in Green and White made an atmosphere, but the Boreham Wood faithful barely made a peep throughout the 90 minutes.

Yesterday we signed Mitchell Rose, a midfielder with a criminal conviction for an assault on a man and a woman, that left the woman with a fractured cheekbone. It’s a decision that cannot go unquestioned. Months after endorsing the #HerGameToo movement, we’ve signed a player with a questionable past. After the match, Darren Sarll praised Rose’s character. After talking about the quality of player we’re able to recruit, we have to question what pool we’re dipping our toes in if we’re pulling out this type of “character”.

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Yeovil Town were downed 2-0 by a very impressive Chesterfield at Huish Park on Saturday. In a new feature for the Gloverscast, here are our Five Conclusions from the National League encounter.

Luke Wilkinson.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The loss of Luke Wilkinson hit us hard. It’s never easy to lose your captain, but when your captain is your most experienced defender who is surrounded by younger players it’s a big blow. With Mark Little and Reuben Reid out until Christmas, Adi Yussuf is the next most senior player at 29 and still new to the group. We saw that lack of experience exposed for Chesterfield’s second goal after Kabongo Tshimanga capitalised on soft defending from Max Hunt and Wilkinson’s replacement, Morgan Williams. One long ball over the top should be handled comfortably but there was a real lack of conviction in the defending in that moment.  Speaking after the match, Darren Sarll said: “I think that is a hamstring tear, so we will have to dig deep in to the reserves or recruit.” 

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton really struggled to influence the game in the first half. Chesterfield’s back line, Gavin Gunning in particular, were powerful, imposing and dominant. The 19-year-old couldn’t find the pockets of space that $tockport County allowed and it was noticeable. His half time substitution suggest that the manager felt the same and his replacement Yussuf made more of an impact, although Chesterfield with Gunning-less in the second half.

Against Halifax and $tockport, Josh Staunton and Dale Gorman were impressive in containing their attacking players. They didn’t give Matt Warburton or John Rooney a chance to pull strings. Defensively, they are as safe as you can ask in the position and they had little chance to influence the goals that were conceded yesterday. During pre season I felt there was need for us to have centre midfielder who could break lines and make an impact further up the pitch and I felt yesterday was a good example of that. But for a speculative effort from distance by Staunton, the influence they have inside the opponents half isn’t creating clear cut chances. The absence of Lewis Simper is one we could do with an answer on, as a forward thinking midfielder he could have made a difference in the latter stages.

For all of our effort in the second half, it felt like Chesterfield were holding us at arms length. Our half time change of Yussuf for Lo-Everton made a difference but not game-changing. As a squad, we still seem short. Chasing the game at 2-0 and we didn’t feel that bringing on Alex Bradley would make a difference our other outfield option was Jack Robinson. If I’m Darren Sarll, I’m knocking on Scott Priestnall’s door (he was in attendance to see it unfold) and asking if I can have another option in midfield as well as another central defender.

Let’s not discount Chesterfield here. They are an expensively assembled side that fell in the quarter finals of the play offs last season. They’ve got Football League level players in their squad and have spend six-figures on a striker. That level of money in the National League is not uncommon this season with the likes of Wrexham and $tockport. They have Danny Rowe, Jack Clarke and Akwasi Asante to return from injury and if you listened to Friday’s Gloverscast, their fans are pining for seven substitutes. Right now, we are in a different league in terms of competing off the pitch.