Something's not right

[Walski]

So after our disappointment at giving the defence of the FA Trophy a prolonged run, I was looking back at the team sheets for the game.

We only had 4 named subs for this game.  I appreciate the long injury list we have at the moment, but a few of our better players have returned.

The players we have signed this season, with the exception of Jilli, have done nothing to improve the squad. 

Yet despite the fact we are short on numbers, we have released 3 players this week. No great loss in terms of quality in my opinion, but why can't we attract players at the moment who are good enough to strengthen the team?

Yes I'm a little frustrated at the moment, but for this club to go forward from the trophy win, there has got to be some improvement in the recruitment policy.

[LukeXIX]

I’m sure this won’t go down well but….. today wasn’t acceptable. 

we are meant to be the trophy holders yet went out to a poor wingate side who wanted it more then us. Where was the pride? 
 

im being told we are in a dip of form. What do you expect when you don’t fill holes left by big players? I get that we want to keep the trophy winning side together and time to make it work but it isn’t working. We are out of the trophy, out of the fa cup and if we carry on you might as well write the league off too. 

Hearing people after the leatherhead game say ‘[****!!****] coming here again’ breaks my heart. This was the year to take advantage of our success and we are falling foul of that quite catastrophically. 

Something is very wrong and I can’t quite understand what but we need to change, and change quickly. Before we lose all what we have achieved and brought to the club…..
 

[Riverside Urchin]

Absolutely agree with the comments. Driving home today I couldn’t work out why players have not been attracted to the club and those who have have left. The money must be ok after the trophy run. We hardly have anyone on the bench. Saka has gone and he was a promising young player - where’s the update on those out with injuries? It doesn’t take much to explain that on the website. There was some promising moves, but we can’t score. We need some fresh blood to help the good players we have. Let’s get them quickly or our slide will continue. 

[aka PeteBeatz]

Attracting good players to the club isn’t easy once the seasons is on the way. These players are already settled at there clubs and can’t be lured away. Sadly it’s only the ‘leftovers’ available.

[cup of tea]

I honestly thought we were going to win yesterday, even thought second half we were going to do it but alas, no

first half we had the chances to put the tie to rest but couldn’t take them. We are clearly lacking in areas and it now looks like confidence is low despite effort on the pitch. Not sure what the answer is but I think we need a few players in quick and actually give them a chance as well

penalties are always a lottery

Away support was pretty darn good though, well done to the fans 

[The Pars]

The team we put out yesterday was good enough to win and I totally agree with Mickey Parcell’s tweet after the game. 
By my count we made 8 good goal scoring opportunities in the first half and none in the second which tells its own story. 
I am also at a loss as to why we only had 4 subs and frankly it has become embarrassing.  Jordan Johnson and Ellis Brown both started last week yet there was no information from the club why they were not available yesterday. Also having no information provided on the availability of Ronnie Winn, Sam Higgins and Wilberforce Ocran just adds to the frustration.


 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

I fancied you guys to win the league this season - with the squad and cash from the trophy win. Whilst I'm sure your form will improve, there's no way you will be able to catch the likes of Worthing and Folkestone. So I'd say your best bet now is the play-offs, and even that might be a stretch with the league looking pretty strong this season. I appreciate you've had injuries, but is it the case that Higgins was carrying you?

[andydick]

At the moment this is all a bit embarrassing.

FA Trophy winners, loads of momentum going into the new season yet here we are, languishing towards the bottom of the table and knocked out of both cups by sides who, let's face it, were pretty rubbish.

I really feel for the players, no-one wants to lose, they are busting a gut to turn this around but it's just not happening.

We've done well off the pitch in terms of attracting sponsors etc but our squad was never big enough to cope with the rigours of a new season.  Last season we could operate with a squad of 15/16 players when we're playing once every 4 weeks but not when playing twice a week and with the inevitable injuries and suspensions.  So when we did get those injuries (granted - more than we would have expected) we end up scrambling around in the "transfer" market bringing in players who simply aren't good enough - players from clubs 2 levels below the level we're playing at.  It's no wonder our form is poor.

It's also very sad to see lads like Sak Hassan leave.  He's a very good player now and will be even better in the future but without any means to develop him or give him competitive game time he's going to want to leave.  We have no Academy, no U21 side and no U23 side where players coming through our youth set up can play competitively and follow a pathway to the first team.  You can almost guarantee that the lads that make up our U18s side now will move onto new clubs at the end of the season.  We bring these players on, nurture them, educate them, yet lose them because there's no route to the first team.

Final point, on the subject of communication .. I'd love to be able to provide more info and insights on the website as to player availability etc but the club simply does not share any of this info.  We (the HFCSA) have asked for years to get formal communications going with the club especially with social media so important but all requests simply fall on deaf ears.  It's frustrating, especially when we find the Romford Recorder have more info on the club than appears on the club's own website.  But a culture change is needed to address that and let's face it, that won't happen. 

On a positive note .. despite the doom and gloom this squad, assuming it stays injury free, is easily good enough to start climbing the table.  For 3 or 4 of our previous games we should have been out of sight by half time but either through poor finishing or good goalkeeping we haven't been and have been made to pay for it second half when we've not been able to hit the same heights.   We need a scrappy 1-0, then the wins will start to come and the play-offs will soon be within reach.    

 

 

 

[andydick]

1 hour ago, Old Codger said:

What is the actual point of going to the (presumed) expense of bothering with any Hornchurch junior or youth teams at all? 

 

 

The primary purpose of the Junior and Youth teams is to engage the community and give local boys/girls an opportunity to play football in a controlled and safe environment.  Just take a look at the uptake of mascots for instance to see how proud some of our junior teams are to walk out on a Saturday alongside the first team.

Doing what we do, we'll still unearth some very good players, a number are at non-league clubs or higher (Shadrach Ogie is at Leyton Orient for instance) but the absence of an U21 or U23 side means we may not be able to realise a player's full potential.  To do that they may need to move on to get the experience they need before progressing to a first team.  

 

[Wivenhoe Urchin]

Those kids also come back on regular match days in groups, which boosts up our attendances - I'm sure some also come more regularly with family too