One plus was the performance of Ian Selly in central midfield. You might remember him from his days at Arsenal, where he won the European Cup Winners Cup, among other things. He’s been playing for Woking after a series of pretty bad injuries, and we’re pleased to have him on board. What you see is what you get: he doesn’t give the ball away, whatever level he’s playing at. He’s an anchorman, neat and tidy, who’ll keep possession, which is vital for a football-playing team like us. If you look at the teams which did well last season, most of them were hoofers who just smashed it forward. We’re not like that, though we have to realise that in certain games we’re going to have to pull our sleeves up and win the physical battle before we win the game. Sometimes last season we got bullied out of games, and I don’t want to see that happen this time round.
First up, then, on Saturday, a game against Hayes and Yeading. That’s not both teams at the same time: they amalgamated over the summer. I watched them the other week, and they were looking good: better than Yeading were last season, and certainly better than Hayes. Their danger man is a striker I looked at in the summer, Josh Scott, a big centre forward with a bit of everything. We’ll be looking for the best possible start and three points in the bag.  Points in the bag: music to my ears. We’ve had some great friendlies over the last month, but it doesn’t compare with competitive football, when there’s everything at stake. We can’t wait to get cracking, and I’m hoping for a decent crowd to create a good atmosphere to set us on our way.
Home Games in August: 11 Aug VS Hayes and Yeading
25 Aug VS Braintree