the fragility of football

[CANV EFM]

what a great sport/social thingy football really is..

ive been casting an eye back to the early season messages when we were on the back foot.. plenty of abuse from riccay (as expected). albans (well they did win their first 8 and were flying high) and gravesend (only to be expected as well, and they had a good start to the their season)...... in seasons past we would have seen some shots gloating on here but they are so desperate to get up to the conf most of em dont want to say anything away from their website till its in the bag..(fair enough)............... scroll forward to now..

we hear zero from the riccay despite the fact that if they win their games in hand they are about 2 points behind us, why? cos they are treated to ZZZZ football and are on their way to basildon ASAP..

the albans have turned to poo, they are still in the frame if the shots slip up but havn't been impressing their own fans recently (still in the game tho)...

hendon still lurk in the background, like the creature from the swamp that is their pitch...

we are playing some great stuff at the moment, stringing together 7 wins on the spin to get back in the frame should the shots slip up.. but remember, even when we are sweating on a 2-1 advantage with 5 to go and we all groan when a minton flick dosent come off, we are treated 'week in week out' to a team that plays football with style and always look to win every game no matter what!..

if we win and the shots lose this weekend its 'HURRAHS' all round..

if we fk up and the shots do the biz (and they are one of those solid at the back teams it seems) then its all over till next year.. how ones mood and appreciation of events can swing around 90 mins of talent,skill,luck,linos, a bounce etc etc .....

today it looks like the shots in the driving seat and us trying to apply some pressure.. by sunday it could be albans bk in the frame or hendon.. maybe purfleet can string together 5 bk to bk wins ..

what in trying to say is this .

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. roll on saturday!

[YELLOW]

To be honest Canv even two months ago I thought by February we'd have nothing to play for and would be going through the motions. At least we have an exciting few weeks ahead of us with some cracking games coming up.

 

In my opinion I feel the turning point was the Hayes game at Park Lane. A lot of people after the game felt that it was two points dropped but remember we were a couple of minutes away from losing. That last gasp Boylan goal prevented an eighth defeat, that at the time would probably have ended any hopes of a title challenge. At the time it meant we'd only lost once in six games, not a bad record and something to build on. You felt if Canvey could turn these draws into wins they still had a chance and this is what they've done.

Considering the bad luck we had in that game and the appalling refereeing that was probably a point gained.

 

The Hayes game also signalled a welcome return to the sexy Canvey football(albeit only the first 25 minutes!) of previous seasons.

 

You can put down this revival to alot of things, the signing of Gavin Cowan, the form of Minton and Boylan or the decision to finally play Benno in defensive midfield but there's no doubt Canvey are back and the Ryman league had better watch out!

 

 

[The Great Eckscape]

I think that at the beginning of the season, we were a superb squad of players. Now, we have become a superb unit of players, a team that plays as a team regardless of reputation. Compared to other seasons this one has been relatively uneventful, no cup run, no constant top of the table fight, out of the trophy. However, we now find ourselves in a great position, where other teams look at us lying 2nd and say "WHERE THE BLOODY HELL DID THEY COME FROM?" People, including myself, wrote us off earlier in the season, as it seemed that we never could go into a game as real favourites. We have now come to the stage where 75% of Ryman fans I'm sure would back us to beat Aldershot, who currently lie top. This rapid climb from mid table obscurity to promotion challengers could just be the answer we have been looking for these last 2 seasons, rather than being the pace setters we have had to reach the pace that had been set. This battle has united the team a lot more I believe than in other years, which is why I think we are favourites for the title. Whatever happens, I am happy to know that I have seen the best ever Canvey team play, and it's getting better every game!

[pabird]

A well said celebration of the non-league game Canv

One issue that stands out a mile is the pap that supporters of third and some second (league) division sides have to tolerate

If you catch up on TV the dross served up to those supporters Canvey fans are well blessed in the entertainment value given week in week out

Little wonder that the Canvey and certain other (very few) non-league clubs are feared come FA cup time

[Merv]

Many of us were guilty of predicting a mediocre season, following some mediocre performances earlier on. The game at Slough was an all time low and all those points dropped at home sent several of us searching for the telephone number of the Samaritans.

 

But then the team started to gel, Jeff Minton started to look world class, Benno found a positon he enjoyed playing in (and Jeff played him there!) and Boylan started to collect a fistful of goals. Wow!

 

We are now back to 'sexy' football at its best. The game against Basingstoke was one of the best I've seen at The Lane. With promotion a possibility, it feels good to be 2nd and doing the chasing, unlike earlier campaigns when we were up there to be shot at.

 

Whatever happens, its going to be another cracker, even if it was a bit slow coming to the boil. All we need now is some vocal support to match the preformance on the field.

 

Come on yooooooooooo Gulllllllllllls

[CANV EFM]

with tuesday night games coming up against aldershots and riccay there is potential for a couple of great nights out at the lane to make up for the lack of any real cup action this season..

tuesday nights are good for the big games , there tends to be less kids and more drunken adults. lets hope its still close when aldershot roll into town. what would really be the icing on the cake would be a friday night fixture against basilricay

[Cressing Toad]

Everyone likes to have a shot at the clubs at the top. Its natural not something reserved for Canvey Island. I will add however the jibes and envy does amplify when success is being bought. I for one don't think Canveys attendances are all that flash considering who they put on the park. My club Braintree are always doing it tough on a shoestring budget but i feel could easily equal Park lane attendances if the same resources were available. Then theres the matter of all that free advertising you get from BBC Essex, who never seem to miss a Canvey game to cover on a saturday. Yep you and Daggers (who aren't even in Essex) are the BBC Essex blue eyed boys to the rest of us its tiresome. With regards to spectators hounding your players, well I'll never understand that sort of nonsense, after all the players are only blokes doing the best for themselves and will turn out for whoevers prepared to look after them the best. One would hope the players would act professionally and get on with the game.

[PKNEESH]

I TOTALLY disagree about BBC Essex. I nearly always listen to the match reports after the games. The Guy is not even at the same football match. I swear he turns up in that car of his and turns on a portable telly and watches Coronation Street or something equally dismall. Talk about biased against Canvey ... he struggles to put together a good sentence about us. If he manages to squeeze a little bit of positive reporting, he follows it with "They didn't look sharp", "They were matched equally" ... complete scrotum ! It's like how positive John Motson is about England (he should be sacked for treason ... the [****!!****]).

[CANV EFM]

well whoever did saturdays bit was pretty complimentary about the gulls.. bbc essex sports bit is pretty good i think, both sarfend and col u games get a live report on their two wavelengths, sometimes the daggers squeak in if its a big game, obviously these teams would dominate the coverage.. as for the best of the rest they usually have a reporter at most of the essex games.. tho grays canvey did dominate that bit last week it was the biggest game at that level... mind you bbc essex is based in southend so maybe they are biased to canvey and i just didnt notice

[YELLOW]

Daggers yes Canvey no. They only seem to cover us when we're at home. If we're playing away to a team outside Essex they don't tend to bother.

 

My grouch I've got against BBC Essex is that they concentrate too much on Southend and Colchester. They spend half the programme talking about what Blues and Us are going to do(nothing this season!) and shunt the non league stuff to half way through the programme.

By the time I have to leave to go down to the Lane at about 2.25 they're just about getting on to the non league matches.

 

Why don't they do more live non league matches instead of having just reporters there. I don't seem to recall there being live coverage of that epic match at Gravesend last March even though it was a massive game.

 

I wonder if they'll cover Canvey v Shots if that is another crucial game.

 

Having slagged off BBC Essex, they have covered some of the lesser lights of Essex football this season including Great Wakering, Aveley, Southend Manor and Maldon Town in the Vase this season.

 

Their coverage overall is not bad but a liitle less emphasis on the league clubs would be nice.

[rich sparkes]

There was coverage of the Gravesend game,but it was on BBc kent.Once BBc essex done live comentry of us against Basillricay couple of years ago.

[YELLOW]

Yeah I remember that, it was just before Christmas and Joe Baker scored twice for them. God I hate him!!

[PKNEESH]

Retracting some of my previous statements. I do enjoy the commentaries of SUFC, and how the U's are doing. If you stay tuned long enough you also get a bit of feedback from the managers or coaches including Jeff King or Glen Pennyfather; which is excellent. BBC Essex you're not all bad, just get rid of the muppet (if you haven't already, if the last report was complimentary to us) who wears Stevie Wonder shades when he sees the bright lights of the Yelllllllowwwws !

[c'mon ricay]

BBC essex are always oppesed with southend and colchester and it would be so annoying if they where acctually going somewhere

 

if we win our games in hand its 1 point we will be behind youre lot

 

good luck in the championship race as i really dont want aldersh*t to win it as it piss them so much to be in this league

 

 

 

 

[Merv]

In reply to Iron Knob's disappointment that BBC Essex don't give as much coverage to Braintree as they do Canvey (same is true of Match of the Day, actually) can I just re-assure him that the present state of affairs is by no means an accident. Several of us worked very hard to get BBC Essex to take notice of us.

 

Once upon a time, in spite of some impressive promotion runs over successive seasons, Canvey got zero coverage from our local radio station (based in Chelmsford, actually, not Southend). On an earlier message board we all had a moan, rather like your posting above. But it wasn't until Ian and I contacted Margaret Hyde, Programme Controller for BBC Essex, that things started to change. Margaret was very polite and considered our complaints seriously. She did some research into the problem and, eventually, Steve ??? (Sports Editor) contacted me and we had a long chat about goings on at Park Lane. I used to write a monthly newsletter that was published on the BBC Essex website. Apparantly, most of the local clubs were asked if they wanted to contribute a monthly article but only the webmaster from Chelmsford City and I bothered to submit anything.

 

Eventually, BBC started to visit Park Lane and reports were given on air. Obviously, the success of the FA Cup runs and the Trophy final helped, but so did the constant stream of information Ian and I used to text/email BBC and the warm welcome that was given at Park Lane to Dick Davies, including Jeff King always being happy to give an interview after the game.

 

I first met Dick Davies at Braintree. He was there to cover the derby game, but from a Braintree perspective. I had quite a heated discussion with him because his OB van didn't include the name 'Canvey Island' in its livery. It had places like Braintree, even Bocking, but no CI. Actually, it still doesn't but Dick and I now get along fine.

 

Perhaps if you want some free publicity for Braintree you ought to stop moaning about it and be just a little more pro-active. It worked for us.

[Matt H]

Places like Chipping Onga or however you spell it are on the van twice at least, same for a few 'villages' actually.

 

When Canvey played Heybridge at Scraley Rd. this season we were graced with the presence of Dick Davies & Matt Barker...but still no Canvey fan agreed with their report of the game at full-time.

 

Our coverage is still more than we got about three of four seasons ago. But they tend to stick with Colchester, (cause their fighting against relegation) & Southend, (as they seriously believe that Southend have a chance of reaching the playoffs!). Dagenham get quite a bit of coverage too.

 

I also do not read the Evening Echo, so I tend to look on their website for info about us. However this week I have not found a report for the Grays game, yet the Great Wakering, Barkingside & Harlow Town match reports were on their Sunday morning!!

 

Matt CIFC <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

[CANV EFM]

yellow advertiser n standard recorder nearly always has a bit on the gulls.. we feature in the echo paper most weeks as well

[Merv]

Dick Marshall gives a lot of coverage to Canvey in the Evening Echo. Not only match reports, but usually a piece on Friday night relating to the forthcoming fixture or player news at Park Lane.

 

Once again, it has to be worked at. Jeff or Glen are always prepared to talk to him with news and tit-bits and Wayne, Keith and Frances all make him very welcome at match days.

 

Of course, it could be that some clubs have very little written or broadcast about them because... well... they have nothing worth writing/broadcasting?

 

I still think you have to be pro-active with the news people. Give them something to report and, if they have to do very little work on it, they will usually report it. Do all clubs even have a press officer? How easy is it to get news of some clubs? Often, the first port of call is their website and, though I say it myself, we work hard to keep ours up to date with loads of statistics, news and, most important, contact information for any journalist who wants to follow up on a story.

[CANV EFM]

hear hear merv, keep up the good work...er you couldnt convince the ryman geeks that we have 7 more points than we currently do?

[Merv]

Case in point. I just took a look at the Braintree Town webstite using the link that we have on our own links page and also using the link on the Non League Paper site. Keep getting the messaqe that the URL doesn't exist.

 

Did a search with alltheweb.com and still couldn't find a link. If I were going to do a broadcast this afternoon on Braitree's next home game I'd have to ring the ground to get details. It's 11:15 on a Wednesday morning. Would there be anyone there to answer the phone?

 

You got to be pro-active when it comes to putting your club on the media's map.