Following training last Tuesday, at which I was not in attendance but a number of players complained vociferously to me afterwards regarding the poor ability of Oscar Aleman and his mate 'Sam ?' spoiling the session, I have now e-mailed Oscar and reluctantly told him that he (and Sam) are not good enough to play for us on Sundays and not to attend training tomorrow night (and thereafter).

It is not a very pleasant thing to have to do, but I agree that we now have no choice when we only run one team and only have half a pitch to use for training.
If it ensures that more 'first-choice' players attend training, then it is the right decision, and to that extent, I want to see EVERYBODY make an effort to attend training tomorrow night to back up the decision I have made.
(The only excuses will be if players are working, injured or live too far away).

I still want Adam Barker, Thomas Dell and Dan's mate 'Kris ?' to attend tomorrow night as they are improving and show some promise, although if training starts getting too overcrowded in the coming weeks, we may have to look at stopping them (and others) from attending as well, so that priority is given to our current 15-20 first-choice/regular squad members.
Hopefully it won't come down to that.

I have also asked James Walker to attend tomorrow night. He is a 17-year-old midfielder who has just been released by Fulham, so he is obviously of good ability.
However, I do NOT want any more prospective new players/trialists/'mates from work' being brought along to training unless they are of known good quality.

Another thing...I know people were very pissed at the Snooker Night, but I was very concerned to hear one of our first-choice players suggesting that we have more than just two players who are 'absolutely crap' and should be 'banned' from training and not picked for matches because they will 'never learn'.
Does he just want us to play with a bare eleven in matches and just do 'boring' 5-a-side at training ?!!

Text 07949 128505

Is there any point in that post at all other than to p*ss off quite a few people?

For the record, I'm not the regular first teamer who suggested that & nor do I know who it was - think I was too pi**ed to remember.

And why is 5-a-side training boring?? Personally, I find passing a ball to Trev and shooting from 30 yards for 15 minutes as boring as you like & of no benefit at all (other than to strain muscles after not warming up properly)

So who have I pissed off there then, Conor...or are you winding me up again ?

Yes, maybe I didn't need to mention the last paragraph, but how else am I going to explain the training situation as regards who we want in attendance from now on when these people only look at the Forum and don't answer their phones or reply to e-mails ?

If I had not put this message on and we get a load of 'crap' players turn up to training tomorrow night, then you and a load of others will be pissed off won't you ...so I can't win really can I ?!

Text 07949 128505

You already copied me & other management commitee members on your e-mail to these guys this morning so why does it need to be aired on the forum?

It was taken care of by your e-mail.

This email also has been sent to the people that lol mentioned who may be asked not to come training ???? Crazy!!!!!

also if Scott realises that you were talking bout him..........well i don't know!!!!

So, what's the difference between telling Adam, Tom & Kris via a bulk e-mail (and this Forum) that we may have to cut down on numbers in future weeks and telling them that to their face tomorrow night ?
None whatsoever as far as I can see. They still might get the hump whatever way, but I think they should be warned in advance about this and a bulk message is the way I am doing it because I haven't got time to phone/text/e-mail each player individually. I also want them all to know that they are all in the same boat and that we will not necessarily be telling just one or two players to stop coming training.

There is no way I am going to put myself in a position where we have 16 'proper First Team/squad members' turn up to training one Tuesday and pressure is then put on me to turn 'fringe players/trialists' away at the gate on the night.
We must make that decision in advance to save them an uneccessary journey.

When we folded up the Reserve Team, all players (including the likes of Murf) were made fully aware that we might end up in this situation. They were given the choice of finding another club or staying to fight for a place in the First Team in the knowledge that that would be difficult and that they may end up not getting a game at all.

Oscar has now e-mailed me back and fully understands our decision.
Personally, I think the others have enough potential to continue coming training and that we should stick by them, certainly for the time being. We only appear to have one 'moaner' who doesn't agree with that. Everybody else I have spoken to has been quite positive. We will only have a problem with overcrowding if people start bringing unfit mates along for a kickabout. That's what we need to stamp out.

Text 07949 128505

Don't stop naming people now Lol, whos the moaner, and is she any good????

The e-mail to them was enough - that's all I'm saying.

Come on Lol - name the moaner?? It's not like you to hold back!!

I don't care if we have 20 Thierry Henrys - it'll still be over crowded & I won't bother coming. I'd say 14 (not necessarily Theiry Henrys) is the perfect number with 2 proper keepers - anything above that it gets to busy.

The Moaner ?
Ask Trev. It was him who told me what was said at the Snooker Night.

Anyway, I'm sure all clubs have a moaner in their ranks (ignore what Simon classes as a moaner for the moment), and I'm glad to say that none of our alleged 'inferior' players are threatening to leave just because one of our 'better' players is too impatient and thinks they are 'never going to improve'.

If they continue (or start !) to turn up to training, they will definitely improve if we have 7-a-side three-touch on a regular basis with good players round them and no unfit triallists or workmates mucking things up.

I happen to think 8-a-side is also o.k., but 9-a-side is too much.
Myself, Trevor & Mark are always prepared to join in or drop out of the small-sided matches whenever necessary.

I agree with Conor that shooting/crossing/heading practice beforehand can get a bit boring and Trev needs to look at other drills now and again to make things a bit more interesting.
We still have a situation though where four or five first-choice players cannot come training because they work nights or live too far away, and I know that puts Trev off planning anything different.

Text 07949 128505

I did tell Laurence what was said at the Snooker Night but I did not label anyone as a 'moaner'.
I think it is good that people have different opinions and it is fair to say that a number of players abilities were discussed and that we did not agree. The players that were criticised by the 'moaner' were in fact praised by others. There is no need to name names and upset people. I am pleased that I now have a squad of players from which to choose a team rather than ten or eleven players as we had on many occasions last season.

Laurence you wasn't there so i'm even going to bother with the crap u talk.

Why can't people have their views aired. It doesn't make them any less a team member, and doesn't mean that they are not happy or play with less than 100% commitment. By the way, i do recall the "moaner" praising a lot of the players and reconising that these players have improved already this season. Moaner is the wrong word here. Lol strikes again!! I think it's good for people to say if they think something or someone is wrong or not of the quality they should be for this team. It shows how committed people are to the club. With it being a club night, why not talk about it then?

As Trev said, a lot of players at the Snooker Night had vastly different opinions of whether their team-mates were 'good' or 'crap', but what all of them (and particularly 'The Moaner') seem to be forgetting is that we are only a Sunday League side and not a professional team where everybody is supposed to be 'quality'...and where if they don't come up to standard they get transferred and a new player is bought straight away.
The phrase 'he should never be playing' has been used by 'The Moaner' and others recently, but as far as I am concerned we are doing alright with the Reserve Team players from last year and there must be loads of other teams in our League in the same boat (where 7 or 8 of their players are a lot better than the others).

I just think we should get behind our ex-Reserve Team players a bit more. After all, we went up the Divisions in the 90's with two or three 'technically very poor' players playing regularly every week who were a lot worse than those we have now. (I'll leave it up to others to name who they were !)

Text 07949 128505

I must have missed that bit then when it was said they shouldn't be playing!

I'm getting paranoid now!!

Black Sabbath, different class!