I did manage to make time to read the Non League paper this week.
There is always some good stuff in there and I will read a few match reports if I have had an interest in a team at some point in the past. The football family is so large that it is important to leave out the clubs that you have no interest in. You can have a Love interest or a Hate interest but the interest is what keeps you reading.
Adam Virgo ran a mid season analysis of the National League and I will quote some of his comments for particular teams:
BRAINTREE TOWN: It was always going to be difficult for them. Hakan Hayrettin has tried to rally the squad with a lot of new players but it's going to be difficult. (Challenge! Repetition!) They are part time and these days those clubs are going to get found out. It is not their fault but the league landscape has changed.
DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE: I honestly believe Peter Taylor is doing a magnificent job. I loved playing for him because he is a very good coach. His England U21 record proves that he is good working with young players. From where they were earlier in the season - they were nailed on for relegation - to where they are now is fantastic. They've got some really good players and two or three more wins should see them safe.
DOVER ATHLETIC: You can't keep bringing in new squads every season because after a while it will catch up with you. Andy Hessenthaler knows the club well and they have seen an upturn in results recently. They are full time now and there is some money to help but you cannot keep replacing the majority of the squad and expect to be as good as the previous year.
EASTLEIGH: They need their identity of not being a club that just throws money at players who go down for a jolly up. (What?) There are one or two high earners still there since owner Stewart Donald upped sticks to Sunderland, but after this season I think that will all stop. Boss Ben Strevens may be a rookie but he knows the club really well and they have got an outstanding striker in Paul McCallum who is having a very good season. Ironically, it is probably a weaker squad than when they reached the play-offs in 2015, but the club seems to be in a better place now.
GATESHEAD: What a job Steve Watson is doing. He learned his trade with John Askey at Macclesfield and, along with Solihull, the Heed are probably the surprise package of the top half as they don't have the biggest of budgets. They have good options in the final third, which is a big plus, and they will be there or thereabouts. If you'd have asked me at the start of the season I would have said "No". Fair play to them.
MAIDENHEAD UNITED: If three of the four relegated sides are part time it will not be a surprise. It won't be the managers' or the players' fault, it is just the changing times of the National League. I do fear for them a lot because defensively they are as poor a side as I have seen this season. I know Havant concede a lot, but Maidenhead have conceded some really basic goals, which is very unlike Alan Devonshire teams.
SALFORD CITY: I cannot remember more national interest in a team in this division. It is a huge pressure. They don't want to stay in this league for long. In terms of results in December it is probably the first time the football club has struggled since the "Class of 92" took over. Your main concern is their away form over the season. Conceding three at Barrow, five at Wrexham, two at Chesterfield who can't win for toffee, that away form could end up costing them. Unless they sign some players now I don't think defensively that they are going to win the league. Having said that, they will definitely finish in the top three.
SOLIHULL MOORS: Brilliant! They showed a lot of character away at Blackpool in the F.A.Cup and their home record is fantastic. Nathan Blissett is a good bit of business to offer Danny Wright support. I like Adi Yussuf and Jermaine Hylton up front, Darren Carter and Kyle Storer, then they've got two powerful centre halves in Liam Daly and Alex Gudger. Tim Flowers is manager of the season so far. I would not want to face them in the play-offs.
There is more but perhaps you ought to buy the paper if you want to read it.
There is always some good stuff in there and I will read a few match reports if I have had an interest in a team at some point in the past. The football family is so large that it is important to leave out the clubs that you have no interest in. You can have a Love interest or a Hate interest but the interest is what keeps you reading.
Adam Virgo ran a mid season analysis of the National League and I will quote some of his comments for particular teams:
BRAINTREE TOWN: It was always going to be difficult for them. Hakan Hayrettin has tried to rally the squad with a lot of new players but it's going to be difficult. (Challenge! Repetition!) They are part time and these days those clubs are going to get found out. It is not their fault but the league landscape has changed.
DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE: I honestly believe Peter Taylor is doing a magnificent job. I loved playing for him because he is a very good coach. His England U21 record proves that he is good working with young players. From where they were earlier in the season - they were nailed on for relegation - to where they are now is fantastic. They've got some really good players and two or three more wins should see them safe.
DOVER ATHLETIC: You can't keep bringing in new squads every season because after a while it will catch up with you. Andy Hessenthaler knows the club well and they have seen an upturn in results recently. They are full time now and there is some money to help but you cannot keep replacing the majority of the squad and expect to be as good as the previous year.
EASTLEIGH: They need their identity of not being a club that just throws money at players who go down for a jolly up. (What?) There are one or two high earners still there since owner Stewart Donald upped sticks to Sunderland, but after this season I think that will all stop. Boss Ben Strevens may be a rookie but he knows the club really well and they have got an outstanding striker in Paul McCallum who is having a very good season. Ironically, it is probably a weaker squad than when they reached the play-offs in 2015, but the club seems to be in a better place now.
GATESHEAD: What a job Steve Watson is doing. He learned his trade with John Askey at Macclesfield and, along with Solihull, the Heed are probably the surprise package of the top half as they don't have the biggest of budgets. They have good options in the final third, which is a big plus, and they will be there or thereabouts. If you'd have asked me at the start of the season I would have said "No". Fair play to them.
MAIDENHEAD UNITED: If three of the four relegated sides are part time it will not be a surprise. It won't be the managers' or the players' fault, it is just the changing times of the National League. I do fear for them a lot because defensively they are as poor a side as I have seen this season. I know Havant concede a lot, but Maidenhead have conceded some really basic goals, which is very unlike Alan Devonshire teams.
SALFORD CITY: I cannot remember more national interest in a team in this division. It is a huge pressure. They don't want to stay in this league for long. In terms of results in December it is probably the first time the football club has struggled since the "Class of 92" took over. Your main concern is their away form over the season. Conceding three at Barrow, five at Wrexham, two at Chesterfield who can't win for toffee, that away form could end up costing them. Unless they sign some players now I don't think defensively that they are going to win the league. Having said that, they will definitely finish in the top three.
SOLIHULL MOORS: Brilliant! They showed a lot of character away at Blackpool in the F.A.Cup and their home record is fantastic. Nathan Blissett is a good bit of business to offer Danny Wright support. I like Adi Yussuf and Jermaine Hylton up front, Darren Carter and Kyle Storer, then they've got two powerful centre halves in Liam Daly and Alex Gudger. Tim Flowers is manager of the season so far. I would not want to face them in the play-offs.
There is more but perhaps you ought to buy the paper if you want to read it.
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