Long distance thoughts - what now...........?

[Graeme H]

OK I was not there today, and as a result cannot comment on what was obviously a poor result.

 

However disappointing , it is not the end of the world though. 6 key injuries would hurt any team. Cray can't be a bad side to be able to tonk us 3-0 away from home. And most of all, frustrating though it is, we are still building a new team from the rubble of the close season, and this takes time even for a manager of CKs proven quality, especially as the treatment room is more crowded than the changing room.

 

With the FA Cup dreaming now over, what do people feel are realistic objectives for this season?

It's not often I agree with JJ, but he made one good point(steady Jeremy) in his post earlier when he said that this time last year we were going nowhere fast, least of all Hartsdown.

 

Are we letting our hearts rule our heads here? No one wants us to do well more than me, and I was gutted today. BUT we do have to be realistic. Teams cannot be thrown together overnight.

[TonyM]

Well said Graeme H.

[JeremyJacobs]

GH, agree with you, but there are those like Cookie who, understanderbly is very upset at todays performance.

[Porka]

Objectives? Don't think we are good enough for play-offs at the moment and by the time it all comes together it will probably be too little too late. However, we can clearly compete with any side in the league. We just don't have the consistency in our football and it's obvious that players aren't too familar with each other. A year of consolidation in the Ryman.

 

A Kent Senior Cup win over Gravesend would be nice though.

 

And hopefully seeing Ramsgate hit some poor form. They seem to have been very lucky with injuries so far...

 

OFF THE PITCH... the next phase of the Hartsdown development. I'm looking forward to seeing the work starting on this fairly soon.

[P.W.]

[color:"blue"].... and, at the end of this season, Chris to name(and sign) about 12-15 of his honed squad on a retained list so we don't have to go through the same 'weeding out' procedure we've had to endure for the past two early season campaigns.

[Graeme H]

That is so true Peter. Consistency is what made the team that got us in the conference so successful. they all knew their role, and believed in what the manager was doing. My hope is that the off field stuff that has blighted our last 3 seasons does not stop CK building another side that will get us up there again.

[MargateFan]

I am with Peter on this one. Last season an unsettled start did for us, and this season we have had a similar situation.

I am sure none of the squad would have wanted what happened yesterday, and I do think we have a great deal of quality there. But it is individual quality at the moment instead of a solid team ethic.

The other difficulty is that the players run out carrying the burden of a huge weight of expectation on them. Graeme is right that there has been a tendency to let our hearts rule our heads - we all thought that get back to Hartsdown, get the crowds, get good players, job done. I think it is more complicated than that.

Porka is right that we need a spell of consolidation - in the team, in progress with the Hartsdown project, but also in the support. I am sure all of us who actually support the team do so through good and bad, as Cookie said in another post. Some of the 'new' crowd may not be so tenacious, we have to accept that. But it would be a mistake to become so desperate for all this to happen at once that we put undue pressure on the club, management, team, and most of all ourselves.

I was totally gutted yesterday, but time heals, there is more to come, so Up the Gate and Come On The Blues will be the order of the day when next we see the lads run out. (Which I wish could have been Tuesday).

[seasidesteve]

where is the quality i havnt seen any apart from ryan and billy edwards

[JeremyJacobs]

Ellis Remy is an outstanding header of the ball. Not as good as Sam Sodje though. Daniel Sacha, Hassim Deen and Kola are excellent players and could easily play at a higher level. Mitten is probably the best goalie in the Ryman Premier. Gavin McGowan looks real class.

[MargateFan]

Jermaine Brown can mix it up very well, but he is playing way out of position.

 

You also have not mentioned Sesay yet. He has been virtually untried, and yet from what I have seen of him he could be an outstanding talent.

[Dutch_Mike]

Have to agree with you there June. I have seen litle of Sesay, but have been impressed with what i have seen. Personally, i would much rather see him come on than Burke.

[BlueGate Alan]

I was one of the fans very gutted with performance, but, after reading these posts, I agree we cant rebuild overnight. I will still be there for as many games as I can, and still produce the posters with Peters help, which hopefully will entice some supporters!

 

Am sure we will make it in the end, as has been said, some quality players they just have to work together as a team

[zhukov]

Quote:

PeterW said:
[color:"blue"].... and, at the end of this season, Chris to name(and sign) about 12-15 of his honed squad on a retained list so we don't have to go through the same 'weeding out' procedure we've had to endure for the past two early season campaigns.

I totally agree with you.
It seems that the opportunity of using the preseason to consolidate and improve the team is consistently missed. It is a time when teamwork can be developed ready for the start of the season.
It would save us having to try and play catch up with teams that have used the preseason profitably.

[zhukov]

Yesterday's performance was frankly dreadful.

However it may prove to be a wake up call for the team. Sometimes a sound defeat can galvanise a team onto better performances. There will be injured players to return sooner or later and we still havent seen Andrew Burke, the young, talented Sesay and the striker Adolph Amoako in the starting line up yet.

But there really is a great deal of hard work to be done in building both teamwork and team spirit.