Our next opponents in the FA Cup were the “famous” Spurs. Unfortunately for us, they are in top form this season, sitting second in the league.
They were far too good for us to realistically expect to progress, so I told the players we were going there with no pressure — just to enjoy the occasion. It was a great experience for the squad, and hopefully one day we’ll have a stadium of that quality ourselves.
They picked quite a strong starting eleven, so when I looked at the team sheet I knew we had to focus on defending first. I chose the Grumpy Dwarf tactics with a balanced mentality.
It didn’t work this time. After 12 minutes we were already 2–0 down, and they added a third in the 38th minute. The tie was effectively over — it was just a question of whether we could at least score a goal. Sadly, we couldn’t. It just wasn’t our day. I tried to make changes and even introduced the D-Day tactics, but they were simply too good for us.
Next, we travelled to York and managed to grind out a 1–0 win. It looks like the players have had some finishing issues in recent matches, but I’m hopeful we’ll sort that out soon.
Then we were at home to Barrow. We couldn’t break them down until the 76th minute, and eventually added a second in the 90th to win 2–0.
That made it 40 unbeaten home matches.
We had to play a couple of games without Maher and Scanlon as they were away on international duty, but it wasn’t a problem against Blackpool away — we beat the second-placed side 4–0. That only proves how strong we are this season.
Then came another home match. We don’t usually lose at home, and it was another win — 3–1 against Barnet.
Goal highlights:
Now it is time for some off-field news — it’s been a busy period.
Firstly, I decided to sign some coaches before Jim changed his mind. I didn’t mention earlier that he decided not to introduce the U21 team after we had agreed on it. I signed three U18 coaches, two first-team coaches, and appointed Simon Mignolet as Head of Youth Development.
I also sold Sam Rak-Sakyi to Kwara United for 215k. He was unhappy about his lack of playing time, so it was an easy decision. He’s not a bad player, but he isn’t developing as we’d hoped.
London Emenalo and Alex Campos both signed contract extensions. That was very good news, as they each had £235k release clauses and would have been easy targets for rival clubs.
Jim also agreed that our training facilities need upgrading, and the work is scheduled to be completed by September.
