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Squad update 11 January

Matt

By Matt
in Slough Town Forum

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Sir Rebel1965 Experienced

Sir Rebel1965

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have regular chats with Big Ginger from Farnborough who saw Jake come up through their youth set up and although he rates him highly, it always comes back to his size - if he was 6 inches taller he would be playing for a league side.

 

I think the problem is that Jake is now up against bigger more physical teams in this league, and where he was more than able against last years sides where he could use his skills, the size issue is now becoming a factor.

 

I don't think I have seen a more agile keeper in a Slough shirt for a long time as Jake, so his movement will be missed.

 

However if the new keeper is only marginally bigger than Jake are we then not back in the same position - only performances will tell.

Edited by Rebel1965
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GlenSTFC Veteran

GlenSTFC

Posted
Posted

This shows that no players' position is safe, which of course is how it should be. I wonder how many players that start on Saturday were in Jon & Neil's first match with us? We'll see how good Luke is on Saturday against the table toppers, look forward to see how he fares.

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Neil Baker Enthusiast

Neil Baker

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Posted

Just in regards to a few points, we have not let Jake go because of his height, it has never been a huge issue for us because of his agility, as I have said he is an excellent keeper, however from our point of view his standards have not been up to where we need them to be which is mainly down to some confidence issues and Jake agrees entirely with this.

Unders, Trent and myself have had a number of very honest and open conversations with Jake and we just felt that the right thing for him was to go into a different environment and try to get back to where we all know he can be. If he was an outfield player he would have come out of the 'firing line' and spent time on the bench but as a goalkeeper that just isn't possible as we cannot keep two quality keepers in the squad.

The problem with confidence is it starts to affect your talking and decision making as a keeper, and if you can’t overcome this it starts to create a problem not only for the keeper but for the back four as well. As a shot stopper there are not many better than him and his distribution is usually excellent, however there is more to being a keeper than just this, which Jake knows himself and a lot of this will be things that, without being disrespectful, many supporters would not always notice,but it's our job to do so.
 
He performed well last year and at times he was superb, however if you asked him how his season had gone, he would have said it was not as good for him personally as the previous year with Godalming (despite us being promoted) and again this season he would say not as good as last year.
 
We have tried to work with him to improve his form, and of course he himself has tried to find the answers, but we have now reached a point where we believe for the benefit of Jake and the team that a change is needed and hopefully this will now work out for both of us. We knew this decision would come as a surprise and that some would not agree but as managers it's our job to make the tough decisions as well as the easy ones and do what we feel is right first and foremost for the team. On this occasion we are also 100% convinced it's right for Jake too.

We think a lot of him as a lad and as a keeper and of course wish him all the very best in whatever he decides to do next. We will keep in touch with him to see how he gets on and will just have to see what happens in the future.

 

In terms of Luke he was someone that we really liked, and I have spoken with a number of people that I respect in the game who have given a very high opinion of him, only 1 year ago he was called up to the Wales u19 squad alongside the likes of George Williams who is now a first team player for Fulham, and in the senior Wales squad.

 

We are up against it in terms of paperwork, as we have him signed on league forms, however the league at present can not register him as such, as the liquidators of Hereford have obtained the contracts of all the players and are classing them as "assets" even though none of them had been paid for 6 weeks and therefore the club are in breach of contract (so will never be an asset to the club).

 

The FA are on the case and we are hopeful for a resolution before the weekend, as it is in effect restriction of trade, as the lads can not play anywhere until this is sorted thus restricting them from earning any money and indeed playing football.

 

It is no different than if your company went bust, and the liquidators saying to you sorry you cant go and work and earn money elsewhere, oh and also we won't be paying you.

 

Obviously if it is not sorted in time, we will bring in a keeper and we have a few options at present on this.

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Jon Underwood Explorer

Jon Underwood

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Posted

Just a further point in addition to what Bakes has mentioned about Luke.

 

We obviously weren't aware of the contract situation when we met with him at the weekend. The player and ourselves believed him to be a 'free agent' (as Hereford no longer exist) and this issue only became apparent yesterday. Very frustrating and everyone is doing all they can do get it resolved for the weekend.

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Curtis Experienced

Curtis

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Posted

I would like to say a big thank you to both Jake, who in my opinion played an integral part in the promotion last season, and his father, Stuart, who has ensured we have a good TV gantry at the ground..... I'm sad to see Jake leaving the Club and will miss both him and his father.

 

I do trust our managerial team though, so when they say this change is best for both Jake and the Club, then I am sure they are right.

 

I do hope though that the Club are putting Luke Williams on a contract, because from what is being said about his potential, I fear our Club may find they resolve his contract issues with Hereford and the FA, and then a bigger club tempts him away.

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Graham Cox Newbie

Graham Cox

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Posted

I have spoken to my brother in law, who is an Aldershot season ticket holder and who said the reason Luke left the shots was because he was not getting game time except in competitions like Hampshire Cup.

 

He says he  is very agile and was showing signs of being a good keeper when this apparent frustration set in and he moved..

 

It is also thought that he was local to Aldershot so therefore quite local to us.

 

Hope the legal nonsense is clear by the weekend or otherwise maybe Gogic can have brief return.

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GlenSTFC Veteran

GlenSTFC

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Contracts at this level are risky and not that common. Obviously there's pros and cons but also a risk of upsetting team spirit if only one player is on contract. But if you have a young prospect you need to protect your asset or potentially risk losing out on a lot of money. Difficult one really and I'm pretty sure none of our players are on contract?

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Curtis Experienced

Curtis

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Posted

Contracts at this level are risky and not that common.

Really?

 

I think they are very common one level up, and uncommon one level down (where we were last season)...... I would be very surprised if there were not a lot of players at our level who are on at least a one season contract.

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Jon Underwood Explorer

Jon Underwood

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Posted (edited)

That is correct Glen we have no players currently on contract. It is something we have discussed with the chairman but as yet have not felt the need to go down this route.

 

Contracts are far more common at this level though than the one we have come up from as we have discovered when enquiring about the availability of several Step 3 players this season. I would say there are still far more non-contract players than contracted in this league though.

 

On another note, Graham you are right, Luke lives in Camberley.

Edited by Jon Underwood
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3spirit Mentor

3spirit

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Posted

Well,one thing's certain.Some club is going to gain a bloody good keeper.

 

If Jake goes back to a Central division side,I still think he is among the best keepers in that league,regardless of what's been said on here about his shortcomings[pardon the pun!].

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