This coming Thursday night sees us playing our last 7-a-side League match of the Summer...a 9.00.p.m. Kick-Off against League leaders and confirmed Champions Latymer Old Boys.

I know that a lot of our players don't want to play in this match because they are bored with the 7-a-side League dragging on into September (and so am I !).
However, we cannot start training (on Wednesdays) until the week after, so this is the only chance we have got this week of having any midweek session for those who need some match practice & fitness.

I will use our page on Teamer again either later tonight or tomorrow (Monday) to send a text & e-mail message to several players who I would like to see play in this match. I will give them up until 10.00.p.m. Wednesday evening to make their mind up if they want to play or not. If we have more than 8 (which is unlikely), then I will pick a squad from that.

We MUST NOT 'non-fulfil' this match ! We have already had to pay a £38 fine for calling off our match last Monday and we cannot afford another one.

According to the responses (or lack of them !) on Teamer, we only have 4 players for this match at the moment (or 5 including me), so it is looking like another non-fulfilment and a £38.00 fine unless we get another 3 players volunteering to play. That includes a goalkeeper !

The four players who have indicated they are playing are Ivan Bass, Danny Hagan, Terry Moore & Alan Barnard.

I know Spurs v. Lazio is on telly tonight, but if players don't want to play because of that, then presumably we are going to get a poor turnout when training starts on Wednesday nights ?

I will add more players to the squad on Teamer and send reminder e-mails & texts on there to those who have not yet replied. If players have to play tonight who are not going to pay (as happened last Thursday), then so be it. Trev will have to sort that one out when he comes back from holiday.

We still only have five players...including me in goal !

Ben Keating & Tony King have now indicated that they cannot play and I have not heard from anybody else from those I listed on Teamer as being in the squad if they are available.

John Scouller phoned me and said he may be able to get Volkan Dalgic and Dan McEnaney to play, but they have let us down too many times before, so I would rather have more reliable players volunteering to play first.
I told John to phone me back at about 5.30.p.m.

Dan & Volkan are playing (according to John). Krishan also just phoned me and said he might be able to play, but he won't know until about 8.00.p.m.

We still need a goalkeeper, as me in goal will be a farce against this lot !

Lexton is playing...reluctantly, as he doesn't want to get injured for cricket on Saturday.

This 7-a-side League is really p!ssing me off. Wish it could have finished at the end of August as normal.

Total nightmare now. Hagan has had to drop out because he has just smashed his car up in Thurrock and has got to wait over an hour for the AA to turn up.
Dan McEnaney has also just dropped out because his bird has got his car.
Also, Ivan has just phoned wanting to drop out because his missus has arranged something, so that means Lexton won't be there as well as he won't have a lift.

So...at the moment we are down to four players. (Terry, Barney, Volkan & myself). We have another hour to find four more.