Max Evans (Page 2)

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Max Evans. ? Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town Goalkeeper Max Evans has confirmed his contract extension until the end of the upcoming 2022/23 season.

Evans, 20, was listed on the end of season ‘retained list’ as being part of the squad for next season, but we today got confirmation of the one-year extension.

Evans made just one league appearance last season starting in the 1-0 win away at Altrincham under caretaker boss, Josh Staunton.

He also played in the FA Trophy and Somerset Premier Cup and will once again push Grant Smith for the number 1 shirt this season.

Good to have you back on board, Max

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Max Evans. ? Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town’s final day victory over Altrincham saw two young Glovers make their first league starts, Ollie Haste played the final few moments but it was Max Evans who put in a cracking performance on debut to keep a clean sheet in goal.

When talking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins he said he was delighted with his first league start.

“I enjoyed it, it was good to get the number 1 down.”

“(The clean sheet) was the main thing, helped the boys out, they helped me out many times, it was a good start.”

He thanked the experienced members of the squad, name checking Mark Little and Josh Staunton for their contributions during the game even if he wasn’t expecting to get his debut under the Glovers’ stand in player manager.

“I had a chat with him (Staunton), he was happy for me to get the game which was nice…

“… me and Grant (Smith) get along really well, it’s been a really good season, my first full season in men’s football, it’s been really good and I can’t wait to have many more hopefully.”

One Man of the Match performance in the bag for Max, here’s to many more.

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On loan defender Ben Barclay‘s stay at Huish Park until the end of the season is expected to be completed today (Friday).

The Stockport County centre half is due to conclude his second month’s stay after tomorrow’s home match with Southend United.

Ben Barclay. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking to the Gloverscast’s Ben Barrett ahead of the fixture, Yeovil boss Darren Sarll confirmed the 25-year-old “should get authorised today.”

He added: “Ben should be staying until the end of the season. The class of Stockport has been unrivalled, their sporting director, Simon Wilson, has been unbelievable for us.

“We are very grateful to Stockport, both Dave Challinor and Simon, that we can keep Ben until the end of the season.”

A few hours after Sarll said his at his pre-match press conference on Friday, the club confirmed Barclay’s loan had been extended – see here. However, we’d expect any deal to prevent him from turn out against his parent club when they visit Huish Park on April 23.

The boss also confirmed that Max Hunt, whose absence through injury coincided with the arrival of Barclay, was back in training with the first-team coach but said he does not expect him back until the middle of April.

But, of loanees forward Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and defender Jack Robinson, Sarll said the pair would have to fight for their places in the squad.

Sonny’s last appearance came in the 2-0 defeat to Grimsby Town a fortnight ago whilst Middlesbrough loanee Robinson has not been seen since the loss at Wealdstone at the start of February.

The manager said: “Sonny has to compete and get himself back in. There’s no divine right to play, I’ve probably shown in three years I have left out a lot of bigger players.

“Reuben (Reid) had to fight, Adi (Yussuf) has had to fight, it’s a meritocracy. My duty is to the club and the changing room and I have to give them the best chance to win matches.

“It won’t be the first or last time in Sonny’s career he’s had to fight. I’m not sure there’s another teenager which has made 16 starts in the National League. The contribution he’s had will stand him in stead.

“Jack is in and out with injury with a reoccurrence of a couple of injuries. He should be back on the training pitch next week, but when he’s fit he will have to fight Morgan Williams for that shirt.”

Sarll has also defended his decision to bring in loan goalkeeper Ted Cann instead of throwing number two Max Evans in to National League action.

The boss said that if he had not been able to bring in a more experienced keeper following the injury to first choice Grant Smith he would have played the 19-year-old.

Max Evans

He said: “My duty is to the club and the dressing room to get the best available, if I didn’t think there was anything out there that was better and immediately available, I would have played Max.

“He knows his development plan, we’ve outlined that very clearly. He’s learning every week. Goalkeeping is a pressurised position and if you get it wrong at an early stage with a goalkeeper it’s curtains and I didn’t think it was the right time.

Max has a big future, I would love him to be here next year and continue his growth and he will be a very good goalkeeper.

To ask him to play away at Dover and at home to Bromley, who we assumed would have been a physical team, that would have been hard for Max.

“I would rather he got good experiences and built slowly than jump to the next bit and had to go back down.”

There was praise for striker Reuben Reid after he impressed with his performance in the midweek win over Bromley.

The game was only his third start of the season having suffered a hamstring tear in pre-season and he has got just one goal in his 15 appearances.

Reuben Reid. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Sarll said: “His story is unfair on him, we started pre-season and building around Reuben and Joe (Quigley) being our two forwards, Mark Little in that back four and then between week four and five of pre-season you lose Reuben and Mark.

“So we had to change, went through the adaptation process and went to a 4-3-3, we go on a great run and come away with Reuben fit, but playing a system I did not think would suit Reuben.

“I have always played Reuben in a front two since he joined. I wanted Adi (Yussuf) against Dover because he’s chaotic and the work he does against defenders, but then at home I wanted to smooth us out.

“So you take two destructive players like Jordan (Barnett) and Adi and bring in Reuben and Lawson (D’Ath) and they were great, but that was the quality I expected of him when he signed.”

Josh Neufville went from “rusty” to “breath-taking” in his performances between last weekend’s win at Dover Athletic and Monday morning’s training session, according to Sarll.

The winger arrived for his second loan spell at Huish Park last Friday and played the last 15 minutes in Kent and then got a further 21 minutes on Tuesday night against Bromley.

Sarll said: “He’s a young man who’s had a career-threatening and is still finding his feet. When he was training on Friday and when he came on on Saturday he looked rusty which is inevitable, but he was breath-taking on Monday, so the shackles are coming off.

“Everyone was excited to have Josh back and the players who were here last year went through a hell of a time, so the bond that players who were here then is stronger than it is with other players.

“So, we were all pleased to see Josh and pleased to know he’d recovered and he was playing again, he did a lot for us last year and we did an awful amount for him.”

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Yeovil players celebrate Charlie Wakefield’s FA Cup winner in Round 2

Here’s a conundrum for you.

How do you cope with the injuries and illness that the Glovers have had this mid-season, in ‘COVID World’ whilst having a squad as small as Yeovil Town’s, and yet at the same time have multiple selection headaches with multiple options in different positions?

That’s exactly what manager Darren Sarll has not just up front with Joe Quigley, Reuben Reid and Adi Yussuf seemingly vying for one spot, but also now in goal.

First choice Grant Smith has been nothing short of fantastic between the sticks this season, and his post-match red card at Torquay on Boxing Day threw a spanner in the works for the upcoming games including last weekend’s FA Cup tie against Bournemouth.

With the greatest of respect, the loan keeper from QPR, Dillon Barnes, was far from an adequate replacement. The 87th player to take his place between the posts for us since the end of the Second World War (we think) but not one to stick in the memory.

Dillon Barnes vs Bournemouth

Errors against both Torquay and the Cherries at key moments were killer blows in big matches and the team suffered.

Barnes is not a bad ‘keeper, far from it in fact, he has played plenty of EFL games and a contract at a Championship club is a clear sign that he has qualities.

But he was clearly rusty, thrown into two big games with players he’d barely met and maybe, couldn’t quite get up to speed in time.

The Glovers’ regular back-up keeper Max Evans, with not a lot more than a single FA Trophy game behind him, had the potential to be a rabbit in the headlights in those games too, and I totally understand Sarll’s choice to get in a loan keeper.

Max Evans

Evans will get his chance against Needham Market, but I am sure glad Grant Smith is back. A reliable pair of gloves has been the mainstay of successful Yeovil sides, see Tony Pennock, Chris Weale, Steve Mildenhall and Marek Stech in previous years.

We’ve had some great on loan goalkeepers – Begovic, McCarthy, Henderson, Steer – and some high quality back-up keepers down the years, haven’t we? Gareth Stewart, Ben Roberts, even Wealey himself for a time. Malcolm Rigby, anyone?

Grant Smith might need to keep his composure and his hips slightly less thrusted at times, but his absence has only solidified his value to the group. 

Check out the Gloverscast Column in the Western Gazette every week and come back for more daily Gloversblogs here on Gloverscast.co.uk 

 

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With the FA now confirming that Yeovil Town’s  number one Grant Smith will be out for the next two games after his sending off after the final whistle in the 3-0 defeat at Torquay United on Boxing Day, manager Darren Sarll has a choice to make.

Max Evans has been the back-up keeper for the past two years with his starting appearances limited to the Somerset Premier Cup and then the recent FA Trophy win over Woking, and is the obvious choice to fill in for Smith – but there’s also the option of bringing in a loan keeper.

We got BBC Somerset’s Yeovil Town reporter Sheridan Robins and Gloverscast regular David Coates to put forward the arguments for both options…

Max Evans

 

Going with Max

Nineteen-year-old Max Evans has been in and around the first team for two full seasons now, under the watchful eye of excellent goalkeeping coach Craig Wight and has worked with some excellent goalkeepers in Adam Smith and Grant Smith.

His professional debut against Woking in the FA Trophy was uneventful, but as a goalkeeper that is all you can really ask for. He has been consistently on the bench in the National League, and with how many sides do not even use a substitute spot for an additional goalkeeper, he is clearly well sought after.

In my view, if he is good enough to be the backup, he is good enough to take to the field for an FA Cup match and National League clash.

Grant Smith has been outstanding this season, but I am sure he would be the first to say his actions on Sunday fell short of his standards. A loan signing might be sensible to provide cover, but with the loans we already have in, and the bodies we have cover for elsewhere in the side, I am not sure it is necessary.

They always say a goalkeeper is better for having competition – and if Max Evans plays these games and impresses then Smith will have to force his way back into the team and that can only be a good thing for this ever-improving Yeovil side.

I was struck by Darren Sarll’s post-match comments about how he doesn’t think we are short for next week. A few weeks ago, that would not have been the case.

I do hope we see Evans take to the field – and impress. What a moment it would be for him to start against the Championship winners-elect in the FA Cup.

And if the worst did happen and Evans got injured, there is always Luke Wilkinson who can come in to save the day…. ?

Sheridan Robins, BBC Somerset 

Getting in a loan

In Max Evans we clearly have a goalkeeper of some promise and his selection in the FA Trophy tie recently makes it clear Darren Sarll has faith in him.

Yeovil Town goalkeeper Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

But – you knew one was coming – I do not believe that Darren Sarll has it in his DNA to write off matches as lose-able and therefore chucking Evans in feels like a risk.

We’re still smarting from a loss at Torquay on Boxing Day and the Gulls made it clear that they have the gamesmanship (let’s be polite about it) you need a bit of in this division.

The likes of Danny Wright will undoubtedly target an inexperienced keeper.

In the FA Cup tie with AFC Bournemouth in the second match of Smith’s suspension, there will be some very good players in opposition and a Red Button audience watching on.

Should things start to go against us, the last thing Max needs for his confidence is to be repeatedly picking a ball out of the net.

Let’s assume for the sake of this scenario that the finance is in place to get a loan keeper in, and his parents club (assuming they are still in the competition) are willing to let him be Cup tied.

For his own protection, my view is we should look to bring a more experienced keeper in on loan even if it is just for a couple of matches.

We are at the midway point of the season and undoubtedly there are some good number two (and probably number three) goalkeepers kicking their heels in the Football League.

There will be chances for Max Evans in the near future and I have no doubt he’s capable of challenging for the number one jersey – but is now really the time for a novice?

David Coates – Gloverscast

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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.