2019-20 National League South

[Raymondo316]

Does the Dulwich manager have something on the board? I appreciate and understand loyalty, but not convinced that Rose is up to managing at this level. He’s squandered resources.

By the club’s reckoning, our budget is around halfway, hence why we have overachieved so much. Not sure I’d agree with a mid table budget, but certainly Maidstone, Havant, Dartford, Dulwich, Chelmsford, Hemel, Bath, Billericay are paying more than us. We are probably the same as St Albans and Slough,

The figure I've heard for our player budget is 500k (was 700k in the Conference National). We really should be doing a lot better than we are for what we're paying out.

 

[Raymondo316]

Looks like it might not be Tonbridge on any other day this season going by this statement they've released:

https://www.tonbridgeangels.co.uk/f...f-letter-sent-to-tonbridge-angels-owners/1141

I guess Maidstone would be the obvious alternative to play fixtures, or even Bromley?

It was suggested our game against Tonbridge on the 10th be switched to our place, but the league said it must be played at a neutral venue if Longmead isn't playable.

Seems abit silly really, Tonbridge would get more gate money if it was played at our place than somewhere like Bromley or Ashford. We're crap at home & haven't won a local derby in 4 years, so its not like we would have much of an advantage.

 

[doveranddover]

If Tonbridge go to a 3G team, then aren’t there a few more reasonably local? Dorking. Sevenoaks? Etc?

 

[Raymondo316]

If Tonbridge go to a 3G team, then aren’t there a few more reasonably local? Dorking. Sevenoaks? Etc?

Sevenoaks ground isn't NLS standard

 

[Pink Panther]

Does the Dulwich manager have something on the board? I appreciate and understand loyalty, but not convinced that Rose is up to managing at this level. He’s squandered resources.

I've more or less reached that conclusion myself, but this is his eleventh season and in each of the others without fail we've either finished higher in the table, gone a stage further in the play-offs, or been in a higher division than the previous season. That also encompasses eight consecutive top six finishes with two promotions, so he had a lot of credit in the bank. Furthermore the chairman has publicly admitted at a supporters forum that the transition to a full-time regime was poorly handled by the club and (with hindsight) was rushed through at a relatively late stage without proper planning, so it's been a steep learning curve for everyone and he probably feels some of the blame lies with himself. Rose also signed a 3 year contract only last summer so I guess it could be costly to terminate that now unless he leaves by mutual agreement.

This is really just my own gut feeling as a regular long-term supporter, but my impression is that Gavin Rose is most effective developing and rehabilitating talented younger players who've fallen by the wayside after being released by League clubs, maybe adding one or two older players he already knows from working with them in the past, and gradually improving from one season to the next. In the last three summers Panutche Camara (Crawley), Reise Allassani (Coventry) and Nathan Ferguson (Crawley) have all earned Football League contracts after rebuilding their career with the Hamlet, which makes the club an attractive proposition for similar players like Charlie Grainger, Ben Chapman and Aaron Barnes who all joined us last summer after being released by Orient, Gillingham and Colchester respectively.

All our best seasons have come when we've kept the bulk of the previous season's squad and strengthened two or three key positions. Whenever he's brought in a group of experienced high profile players he's never worked with before it seems to go a bit pear shaped. One of this season's newcomers described the manager as "very intense" in an interview. He has a habit of making three or four changes to the starting XI each week when we're on a poor run, so after three weeks almost everyone has been dropped and some have been recalled again. I wonder whether he overthinks things when it starts to go wrong, which just ratchets up the pressure leading to tension and loss of confidence, then everyone seems to have forgotten what worked well in the first place.

There was also the televised FA Cup tie at home to Carlisle in November, which should have been a great day for us in a competition where we've never made any impression. This was completely overshadowed by a bold decision to include two debutants in the starting XI, having picked an unchanged XI for the previous four matches including an excellent win at Havant in the final qualifying round. Anyone who watched the live television coverage may recall Micah Richards (in a pitchside punditry role) sounding quite taken aback and stating that, from experience, it was the sort of thing that could easily "lose the dressing room". I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's happened. I actually felt quite deflated by the team news, as did many other supporters. Apparently one or two players who were omitted were distraught and others fully empathised with them. Goodness knows how the two newcomers felt walking into that. One was a teenager (Ben Dempsey) on loan from Charlton who hadn't even met most of his new teammates. The other (Nathan Smith) was a veteran of hundreds of Football League games (mostly for Yeovil and Chesterfield) who had been training with us for about six weeks and hadn't played since last season, but that just begs the question of why he wasn't introduced for earlier league games.

I have a lot of respect for Gavin Rose as his teams play attractive football but whenever I see Dulwich they always look so naive. Rose really should have got them up a couple of seasons before he did and they haven't even flirted with the top 7 since coming up. When you look at what Slough have done on a lower budget it reflects pretty poorly on Dulwich, and it's not like Slough's football is any less attractive to watch either.

Underwood & Baker have doe a superb job at Slough, having previously worked wonders at Godalming on what must have been a minimal budget.

I'm not sure how much you've seen Dulwich just recently but the football really hasn't been very attractive this season. We got found out with our fancy football right from the start after promotion. We were mugged at Welling by Steve King's side on our very first day at National South level. (Ironically we signed four of those players in the summer and then did the very same thing to newly promoted Tonbridge on the opening day this season.) Rose seemed to adopt an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach with more physical players and a more direct style and I'm not sure it suits him, because he seems to have deviated from his fundamental footballing principles.

 

[DarkSithLord]

David Oldfield is the new manager at Oxford City

 

[Raymondo316]

http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk/2020/03/vnl-news-pre-match-fair-play-handshakes/

Considering the players have physical contact with each other all game this seems utterly pointless

 

[Pink Panther]

http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk/2020/03/vnl-news-pre-match-fair-play-handshakes/

Considering the players have physical contact with each other all game this seems utterly pointless

I'd ban "fair play" handshakes full stop! They're a meaningless sham when the cynical gamesmanship and cheating begins within seconds of the kick-off.

I bet everyone still shakes hands after the final whistle, which is how it should be anyway.

 

[Raymondo316]

I'm in shock we've finally won a local derby, its only taken us 4 years!!

 

[Pinner Stones]

Stones just about saw off Dulwich, whose rather large wage bill has seen a side that plays in a very agricultural way, with a team of giants. Dulwich took the lead when ex Stones Jeffrey Monakana's penalty sent Oxborough the wrong way; a penalty he himself conceded rather needlessly.

We huffed and puffed and didn't look like blowing Hamlet's house down but two goals in a minute in the second period, gave us a huge, but probably undeserved, win.

A disappointing crowd of 1,310, can't believe I am saying that, with the pink and blue numbers well down.

For 10k a week, Dulwich are not getting value for money from their team. Has Gavin Rose run his course?

Decent ref as well. Even got applauded off.

 

[Aberstone]

Fair enough assessment above, Oxborough had impressively kept out Danny Mills when the latter was through 1-on-1 and also made a crucial save in the second half when Dulwich were still 1 up.

The Dulwich supporter on Twitter who believed they were on top for 88 minutes clearly watched a different game to me, it was far more of a 50-50 game. Like the game at Champion Hill we were on top for the first 20 minutes but just lacked sharpness whether that be the precision of the final pass or taking an extra touch when in a shooting position.

The rest of the half Dulwich were on top and we looked all at sea when they got the ball out wide, far too many times our full backs were being isolated and left against 2 on 1. Great strike from Lionel Ainsworth which cannoned off the crossbar and then Oxborough took out Mills when he latched onto the rebound, definite penalty and tucked away by Monakana who clearly wanted to prove a point yesterday (but was subbed before getting himself sent off).

Second half we were pressing long before the equaliser and Dulwich dropped really deep, that pressure told in a mad couple of minutes with Michee Efete flicking a header on from a Ashley Charles corner into the far post and then Danny Green's cross being headed in by Sanchez Watt into the same far corner. Pandemonium behind the goal when that second goal went in.

As with too many times this season, we made things really nervy at the end and Dulwich did have chances to equalise but were almost all wide of the target.

I've been to both games and for the most part I'm struggling to see how Dulwich have found themselves in this position, they have the prototype of a team that is normally successful at this level and did play some good football at times yesterday. One noticeable thing was players distributing to areas of the pitch where there was nobody there, I'm guessing that's patterns of play instructed by Gavin Rose but not being carried out by the players.

 

[Pinner Stones]

Dulwich just look a team of strangers, but from what I see on social media, they chop and change the side all the time, hence they haven’t got a pattern of play.

btw lots of the clubs, especially the right on trendy ones, talk about diversity and wanting to encourage; yet it’s at Wealdstone that you really see it in action. Never seen so many brown faces at a non league club as I did yesterday.

 

[Pink Panther]

That's a fourth successive odd goal defeat for Dulwich. With hindsight we'd have been better off getting hammered at Bath and Wealdstone but scraping a draw at home to Welling and edging a 1-0 win against poor Tonbridge side. It's not results like yesterday that have really cost us, it's the dreadful home form with only two league wins (and nine defeats) at Champion Hill since August. I haven't been to the last two away games as it just feels like a waste of time and money. Our next trip is to St Albans in a fortnight, which is normally a good day out, but their ridiculous entrance prices will probably be enough to put me off unless we beat Hemel at home next week.

It's the continual revolving door in the dressing room that worries me most right now. Two newcomers starting for the first time yesterday, neither with any history in English football never mind this particular division. (The latest is an Angola international whose most recent club football has been in Cyprus and Lithuania.) Alright, they may turn out to be a cut above the typical NLS player but even the shrewdest coach can't be sure of that, and this doesn't seem like a great time to start experimenting.

There are maybe a few players I'd discount from selection right now, if only to simplify matters because we seem to have such a large squad, but I don't see individuals in that squad who aren't up to playing at this level. I don't know whether it's impatience or panic but there seems to be a continual changing of tactics and personnel without ever persevering with anyone or anything for long enough to make it work. Our new year revival came when the younger players like Chapman, Barnes, Kearney, Debrah were given more responsibility; now they seem to have been marginalised with the likes of McCoy, Orlu and N.Smith recalled. It's the lack of continuity and repeated change of tack regarding team selection that baffles me. It's the polar opposite of what we did during our best seasons.

The club also has the forthcoming matter of the planning application for the redevelopment of the ground, which is due to be heard by Southwark Council on 22 April. So now is just about the worst time for the club's directors to be distracted by any thoughts of changing the manager (who still has two more seasons to run on his contract) but I'm beginning to hope there will be an amicable parting of the ways at the end of April, with someone different taking charge before next season. With Hungerford taking ten points from their last six matches it would be foolish to think we can't possibly finish bottom. (I'm reliably informed that last season's wooden spoonists Weston-super-Mare had a £10k a week budget.)

 

[Farleigh]

lots of the clubs, especially the right on trendy ones, talk about diversity and wanting to encourage; yet it’s at Wealdstone that you really see it in action. Never seen so many brown faces at a non league club as I did yesterday.

Same at Maidstone.

http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk/first-team-squad-201920/

Yet to hear what one club's fans white fans write about us, we're a hotbed of race hatred.

 

[mattchapp7]

Oxford City vs Chippenham Town.

Another win for Chippenham, 5 in 6 games. Two splendid free kicks from Swindon Town loanee Scott Twine, and a bulletheader from Kieran Parselle.

Highlights via the link below, feedback appreciated.

 

[simonfromsurrey]

Hold on. Dulwich are actually full time ?

That's laughable. Their budget is more than ours in the league above

 

[Pinner Stones]

Same at Maidstone.

http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk/first-team-squad-201920/

Yet to hear what one club's fans white fans write about us, we're a hotbed of race hatred.

I was referring to the terraces rather than the pitch!

 

[Pink Panther]

Hold on. Dulwich are actually full time ?

That's laughable. Their budget is more than ours in the league above

So what is Dulwich's budget and what is your club's budget?

Dulwich train on Tuesday/Thursday/Friday daytimes, player contracts cover the close season, most players seem to have other employment of some sort (to judge from programme profile articles etc), mainly football coach or personal trainer type stuff. Whatever the budget at Dulwich it's clearly not been well used this season, but we probably rake in more matchday revenue than anyone else from the largest average attendance in the division, and one or two of the part-time clubs may be spending just as much if not a bit more.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Mike Cook doing exactly the same for Chippenham now that he did for us in his first season in the South. Your basically safe now I think.

 

[joethegill]

http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk/2020/03/still-to-stand-down-this-summer/

John Still to leave the Gallagher this summer. Got to be the right decision, there's a lot of potential at Maidstone United, but the club has been regressing for a couple of years. HH staying on as manager though, which isn't ideal.

 

[Raymondo316]

http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk/2020/03/still-to-stand-down-this-summer/

John Still to leave the Gallagher this summer. Got to be the right decision, there's a lot of potential at Maidstone United, but the club has been regressing for a couple of years. HH staying on as manager though, which isn't ideal.

Letting his mate Hakan have 100% control is one of the worst decisions the owners have made. The bloke is utterly clueless when it comes to managing a football team......I honestly think he could get us relegated.

Also we are stupidly staying fulltime, which is another poor decision.

 

[#Beebot]

Letting his mate Hakan have 100% control is one of the worst decisions the owners have made. The bloke is utterly clueless when it comes to managing a football team......I honestly think he could get us relegated.

Also we are stupidly staying fulltime, which is another poor decision.

Hayrettin has received far more opportunities at step 1 and 2 now than he deserves. He has failed everywhere.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Robbie Simpson is the new manager at Chelmsford City

 

[mattchapp7]

 

[Super_horns]

Will the league be null and void?

Bad news for the Stones but the Saints of St Albans would be happy.

 

[Aberstone]

Will the league be null and void?

Bad news for the Stones but the Saints of St Albans would be happy.

We don't know yet, ultimately I don't see how the FA could declare Steps 3-6 null and void already (despite Jersey Bulls and Vauxhall Motors already winning their respective leagues) when it's a pyramid, everything flows down from the top.

Ideally the season could continue whether that means 2020-21 is knocked on the head or delayed. Most clubs at this level pay players for 44 weeks so contracts will end by mid-May, I'd imagine they'd find a workaround although it would be a dilemma for us with a loan goalkeeper from Norwich City who we wouldn't be able to extend.

 

[Aberstone]

By any chance do you have footage of Sanchez Watt (think he was wearing #5 on the day) missing an almighty sitter in the second half, the highlights didn't cover that or Michee Efete hitting the post before his equaliser - that said, very good highlights package.

Game of two halves, Chippenham bossed the first, we bossed the second. You'll argue otherwise but the shithousery from Chippenham was of the highest order. All in all though I really enjoyed the last game of football I'm going to see for a few months.

On Michee, in an incredibly tight call he'd probably be my player of the season up to now, for a right back he's been on a scoring tear in 2020 - 5 goals since the turn of the year in the league and 7 for the season.

 

[Raymondo316]

We've now had a change of mind and decided to go part time whenever next season happens.

 

[Farleigh]

If the virus persists and sport is subject to regular interruptions, in the future clubs may demand flexibility to suspend or terminate contracts at short notice.

Football demands a result and outcome. If this season can't be finished, I would support points per game and think about when to start the next season.

 

[Super_horns]

Looks like the non league teams are going to appeal the decision to shut their league down.

Start of potential legal action?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52098137