Utter garbage yesterday. But it shouldn’t affect the outcome of this season and, with the club already looking towards next season, yesterday might actually do the manager and players (those already contracted) some good in the long term as a wake up call to what will need to be added over the summer to be more competitive next year.
The way Rushall organised themselves and (impressively at times given the conditions) stretched the play across midfield, was much more indicative of what we will have to deal with away from home in the Conf North next season. As opposed to turning up at places like Halesowen where they are already bent over with their pants around their ankles as we step off the team coach. The way Rushall defended their lead high up the pitch (rather than the usual Evostik tactic of packing your own box for the last 15 mins and hope for the best), and managed the end of the game well near our corner flags, is something else that the players and management team will have to learn to adapt to next season.
I was saying on the way down that I was concerned for the Rushall game after Thursday night. There are only a few clubs in the world who could pull the ‘popular young manager signs new contract publicly in front of a handful of fans two days before league game’ stunt, and still expect to win. We definitely aren’t one of them.
Hopefully back on the saddle on Monday. It was a bad day at the office yesterday, but we don’t have many, and Marine and Shaw Lane should be exactly the right level of sh1te that we need to get it out of the system at the first opportunity.