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Line in the sand
Views: 3209
I totally agree with John Rogers article, and it seems that from the start of this season everything has gone wrong, it started with the Mcclarens and their disgraceful attitude off the pitch and on many occasions they were not any different on it always questioning referees decisions, I first started following Hendon in 1960 and have felt pride in the players that have played for us, I wonder what Rod Haider and John Swannell would make of what is going on today, I agree with John that I would be happy to finish mid table or lower, but lets get back to playing football the Hendon way and re-ignite that pride in the players that has always been the hallmark of Hendon
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 3204
John and Les are completely right and I for one am ashamed at the behaviour of the current squad. Some 2 weeks and 2 red cards ago, Gary said words to the effect that ill discipline would be stamped on - these words are sounding very hollow now.
Will the Club's Board now break its silence and tell us clearly and honestly what on earth is going on and what steps it is taking to remedy the awful mess we are in? There are clearly several players, both current and suspended, who, due to their consistent bad behaviour, regrettably do not merit the honour of wearing a Hendon shirt. Will the management have the guts to wield the necessary axe? The club is now a laughing stock, particularly over the signing of the 8 minute wonder and home attendances of 200+ will soon be nothing but a memory unless collective fingers are extracted. It's no good dreaming of a rosy future at SJP - we need to sort the present mess out now.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 3051
I may be many things Mike but I don't think I'm silent. I like to think that I answer any and every question that any and every supporter asks me on any and every Hendon-related issue as openly and as honestly as I can.
I won't always do that on a public forum because the Message Board is followed by people who do not support Hendon as well as those who do.
Most supporters know how to get hold of me whether that is by phone, email or face-to-face at a match.
The issue of discipline is a subject that needs to be addressed and I'm sure that Gary's post-match comments after the Leiston match were not just hollow words.
The days of the Corinthian spirit are long gone and players will pick up red and yellow cards these days. It's a fact of life. Neither Aaron Morgan nor Sam Murphy can be described as thugs - far from it
No-one, least of all Gary, wants to see us finish games with less than a full complement of players.
As other supporters have commented, there really is nothing that Gary can do once the players are on the pitch. Three out of the four red cards we received were provoked (a fact, not an excuse). The fourth red card (Aaron's against East Thurrock) was an appalling decision.
Players are fined for dissent cautions.
Gary's job is to sign the right players and pick the right team. Moulding the right squad and the right team takes time, particularly when players leave or are injured as has been the case this season.
That is Gary's job and he is judged by it, along with other factors such as results.
I have never and will never dictate to Gary which players he should sign and which players he should pick. I will, from time to time, share my opinions with him. I expect him to consider these opinions in precisely the same way he would consider the opinions of any other supporter - no more and no less.
We have a chain of command here as there is in every other football club.
The manager signs and picks players.
The Board selects the manager.
What is different with our club is that supporters - or, more accurately, Trust members - get to select the Board.
I trust Gary completely and absolutely to do what is right for the club on and off the pitch and will continue to work with him until such time as I'm no longer the Chairman of the club.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 2869
Great post Simon,I for one appreciate the hard work that yourself and Gary do for the club.Obviously after the highs of last season it is hard to see us struggling on the pitch ,but it is almost understandable bearing in mind that the heart of the team has been ripped out for a variety of reasons.Non availability of players pre and early season,injuries,a couple of the new signings have badly let down their manager and their teammates ,plus the hangover still being felt after the clubhouse incident of last season involving the brothers two.I know one thing we've got the right bloke in the Managers chair,I'm pretty sure given time that he will turn things around and get us all smiling again. Roll on SJP.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 3007
I don't get a "nice" feeling about Hendon I have to say. To the sarcastic bloke on the turnstile on the give what you want day last season "That's a fiver is it?" he says holding it up to the light, to the unpleasant scenes at the end of the play off final. I don't say this out of spite because I can tell there are plenty of good people there working behind the scenes. It's a shame because I enjoy going round non-league grounds but there are plenty of them to choose from in London.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 2970
I'm a bit surprised (and concerned) if any of our volunteers were being sarcastic towards anyone, not least someone who isn't a regular. I'd hope that it's more a case of an inquiry (i.e. that you intended to pay a fiver and weren't expecting change!) being lost in translation, but obviously it's not really relevant if it means your first impression is negative.
Probably a bit late to be able to address that specific incident now, but if you do experience something like that again, then do please mention it to the club via Twitter or email so we can make sure that we can help our volunteers come across a bit better and that visitors don't feel slighted in future.
In my experience, as a club we generally get more right than wrong - we quite often get some lovely comments back from people, but certainly we do on occasion miss the mark. Hopefully you're willing to come back again sometime in the not too distant future and we improve your perception with a better match experience.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 3032
I'm not sure in underlying acquiesce what everybody expects. Paul eluded to it and I agree - this batch of ill-discipline is correlated to coming up short and being overran in the middle. We had the same thing 3 or 4 years ago and worked through it and will again.
To be fair to the Gaffer he has acknowledged the problem and and so has everybody else. But he or the club cannot control the actions of individuals once they cross the white line. That is their responsibility.
I maintain that the recent sentiments are based around the actions of one player yesterday whilst the rest of the squad have fully accepted they need act appropriately.
It's unfortunate that one further incident has undermined what could have in effect been to the greater part resolved.
The players are aware of what is going on and to some degree it may even have a detrimental effect on their play. They have to play their natural game not feeling intimidated by fear of failure.
Hopefully yesterday with regards to this issue we hit rock bottom and consequently the only way is up. We got over it last time and we will again.
As for our form, it's a test of everybody's character and we have enough about us to progress.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 2989
A few thoughts on recent events, with the caveat that the only red card I've actually witnessed was Aaron's first one against Enfield Town as work & church commitments continue to mean that I am unable to get to many games.
Firstly, Gary has got my full backing to get things sorted out both in terms of results/performances and discipline. We've all watched football long enough to know that we were going to hit a bumpy patch at some point - we've just done it in some style! I think Paul is right, that a certain amount is down to frustration. I may not agree with some of his signings, Mr Tajbakhsh being one of them, but I figure that if Gary is willing to give them a chance, then so am I. The same goes for Mr Shulton - Gary was clearly willing to give him another go, therefore so was I. Bookings for dissent not withstanding, I think Scott's played well in the games I've seen him in, and if he can cut out the dissent, I think we have a very good player on our hands.
Whilst 4 red cards in 12 games is very disappointing, and clearly three of them were entirely avoidable, I think we all need to remember that Aaron's red on Tuesday at East Thurrock was clearly a very poor decision by the referee. Even the East Thurrock reports have said as much. Also, as others have said, there's not a lot Gary can do once the players are on the pitch. Gary said after the Leiston game that lessons needed to be learnt - and I believe they will - and if they aren't, the players concerned will be shown the door. He's done it before, and he'll do it again.
Finally, we are fortunate that both Simon and Gary are approachable, and will listen to concerns from supporters. I know I was involved behind the scenes for a number of years, but I've had many conversations about players with Gary - and whilst we've not always agreed - I've always felt that he's respected my opinion, and I'm sure that goes for everything that has been said over the past few weeks. The same goes with Simon - I believe that he respects all our opinions, again whether or not he agrees.
We're fortunate that we have a couple of blank midweeks coming up, which will give Gary, Freddie & Scott some additional training time with the squad - and also ease the workload on the players before the next run of fixtures through October. Whilst going out of the FA Cup is always disappointing, maybe not having the distraction could work in our favour over the next few weeks, particularly as the FA Trophy doesn't start for another 6-7 weeks.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 2961
As always a great post from Steve. I still maintain this is an underlying football problem. What we have faced is a perfect storm scenario and emanates from being without, (sorry to bring up the Maclaren's), but yes there loss is tangible. With them we could be top of the league, who knows.
My disappointment remains from the first game I saw pre-season at St Neots. Goalkeeper, Centre-half and Centre-midfield all flagged up by all those fans present. That's the spine of the team. All those positions remain to some degree in a degree of flux.
As for the Enfield lad, he may well have Maclaren-esque characteristics - that's something we may well have to adhere to in order to extract the positives. We need some experience out-there. For 24 hours I was hanging my hat on the lad Busby coming back into the fold. I still think we need a Scholes type. Finding the right player is not like putting items in a shopping basket on Ebay. I see this as an opportunity to become stronger.
There's so much going on in a perverse kind of way I'm quite enjoying it. We have the nucleus of a very good team, that hasn't evaporated, it's on hold, it needs to be restored and it will be.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 2970
Just to make it absolutely clear, I am 100% loyal to Hendon FC and have been so since the 1950s and will continue to be so as long as I remain ( relatively) compos mentis. Of course the occasional red and yellow cards are to be expected - it is the dissent and confrontation with match officials that is distasteful.
As to the dip in form, this was predictable due to the enforced changes in key personnel. I wish Gary nothing but success in the incredibly difficult process of filling the gaps and striking the right balance.
Re: Line in the sand
Views: 2968
There seems to be ? predominantly ? a difference between older and younger supporters (and we have far too few of the latter!!!) in the reaction to our disciplinary problems of the past few weeks. I am now in the older group, but I do see and understand both sides of the argument.
I hate seeing our players surrounding the referee after a decision ? whether it is questioning his decision or trying to get a card sanction for an opponent ? but that is just one of the utterly distasteful aspects of modern football. However, I love it when opposing players do the same thing because it means that they are rattled.
Red cards for retaliation are always disappointing because it shows a lack of self-discipline. Aaron Morgan?s red card against Enfield Town was needless and borne out of frustration (and it appears he was the victim of an appalling decision at East Thurrock), and I didn?t see Sam Murphy?s red card at Leiston. But, on Saturday, Aryan Tajbakhsh raised his hand to the opponent after being fouled. However light the contact might have been, and the excessive play-acting of the AFC Sudbury player was cynical, in my mind he should have been red-carded. His action, especially given the time and game situation, was utterly inexcusable.
What really upset me, though, was that Liam Wales of Sudbury was still on the pitch be substituted. His kick on Ollie Sprague ? also retaliation ? after 25 minutes was as easy a red card as it was possible to give, but he was given yellow. Then, with his team 3?1 up, moments after the Morgan penalty incident (see below) he was caught offside and kicked the ball 45 yards away. On this occasion, the referee knew what he had to do and went to his back-pocket, only to realise that a second yellow would have ended Wales?s involvement, so he just lectured him. Maz Bettache then ran 40 yards to complain and was shown a yellow card. It wasn?t his argument, so why did he do it?
All in all, we didn?t get the rub of the green when it came to referee?s ? or, more accurately assistant referees? (they seemed to do most of the whistle-blower?s thinking) decisions, but it must be made patently clear we weren?t good enough in either attack or defence. We had more than enough chances to have at least forced a replay if not won the tie at the first attempt, and it was interesting that AFC Sudbury?s match sponsor gave their goalkeeper the man of the match award.
At 3?1 down and with only 10 men, two crucial incidents went against us. Aaron Morgan was fouled as he got behind his defender near the goal line, but between the sidelines of the 6- and 18-yard boxes. Morgan?s error was do it down the side where there were no assistant referees to make up the man in charge?s mind for him. The ref dithered and play continued, after which we were never going to get the penalty we should have been awarded.
Then Leon Smith was given offside when he was clearly behind a defender as the ball was played through to him. The goalkeeper made a save, but Lee O'Leary knocked in the rebound. There were only a few minutes to go, and we may well not have got an equaliser, but we would have been in with a chance to put real pressure on a Sudbury defence that had not seemed particularly secure.
We have to get behind the team and support them. I have faith in Gary and his management team, as I do in Simon and his board. They will get things right, but what in mid-June seemed like a quiet summer rapidly turned into a horribly turbulent one. It appeared that we had lost only three players from last season, Peter Dean, Ben McNamara and Charlie Goode, but when the season kicked off there were 14 players from last season absent. Is it any wonder that Gary had to make some very late signings and we were not as organised as we would have liked to be?
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