Excellent game, I thought we were always the better side and for once we got a few breaks going our way.

congratulations to all, a great wat to start the new year.

onwards and upwards

A really pleasing performance, as the three new players added tons of desperately needed pace into our play, and that turned us from the sluggish team of the past few months into today's really exciting, quick, attacking team.

The Tonbridge manager is hard pressed for many genuine positives from the game, whereas Warren is spoiled for choice about things to be pleased about in the win. Best game I've seen from Amadou who was my man of the match, Daniel was great too in the first half, Myles played a cracker, it was a great team performance, it really was Welling United.

The postponements due to the snow may well turn out to be a blessing in disguise, as the guys out there today had a much stronger team spirit than before and it feels as though everyone involved has been working out together in training and talks what needed to change to break the bad cycle of 2 wins from 12 games (Bradley Quinton was sacked after 1 win from 12 games, so our form really was ominously bad) and then putting those lessons learned into practice instead of just repeating past mistakes. Now it is 2 wins on the bounce, so now heading into the second half of the season with grounds for more confidence of a top half finish, and meeting that informal goal of looking up, rather than down. Great so many came to the game despite recent poorish results.

Form in this division is so unpredictable, Ebbsfleet kicked off with 10 wins in a row, and have now crashed to their 7th defeat from their past 9 games, which would have been unimaginable a month or so ago. Fingers crossed we continue to place the emphasis on speedy play, and that leads us to have a great run of results again. The most impressive thing though was the way three new players have fitted in so quickly, as that is such a challenging thing to achieve. Add in the fact this win was without regular key players Chi and Stefan, yet we still created so many clear chances, and the second half of the season looks very interesting.  

Bit of trivia for anyone interested Tonbridge Angels have never won a league game against us at PVR. Only times they have won at PVR have been in KSC or against E&B&Q. (Taken from their forum).

bexleylion wrote:

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This may sound schoolboy stuff, but IMO we invite relentless pressure because when conceding a corner or free kick into our box, all 10 of our outfield players generally come back to defend. The ball might get cleared upfield but there is no Welling player to receive or challenge for it, hence it comes straight back for another attack. Leave one man on the halfway line and he has a chance of collecting the clearance and laying the ball back for a colleague who is driving forward, relieving the pressure at the same time. Also, opponents usually leave two defenders marking that man on halfway, so there is one less attacker available. I've never understood why teams/managers do this. Can anyone explain?

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 We have had this under different managers over very many years and I have never understood it. As well as having no outlet when we clear it, it also makes the penalty area so congested that it becomes a free for all. If you leave one up, the opposition are likely to leave at least one bac, often two, unless it's in the final minute of added time.

Johnny Hartley wrote:

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That threat of legal action sums up the problems. Nothing I have said is inaccurate, so there are no grounds for legal action. However it reinforces what I said, that the manager's mentality means he cannot handle any criticism, or free speech, so avoids it. When you look at it you realise he has a team that will not disagree with him as they know he stores grudges and drops anyone who crosses him. He has the board backing. So he has no reasonable counterbalancing checks and balances that all effective managers need. And being surrounded by yes people is a risk, behind long poor runs, as there is no fresh thinking to fix things. So the fans' reasonable neutral, experienced and knowledgeable views are the only fair and neutral opinions. Except he thinks they are not worth paying attention to so blocks them out. At the end of the day, this forum is people saying what they think. And that is worth knowing, whether or not one agrees with them.

This wanting to silence a challenging voice is as unsavoury as the cancel culture I dont like of people trying to get managers sacked. If a a manager doesn't understand that part of the job is dealing with opposition at times, as well as the positives, they shouldn't be in the job. I've said good things, I've said bad things, it is all fair and balanced and constructive overall, and I make the same points as other fans.

Being open to constructive criticism is part of being an effective worker, and ignoring any constructive criticism is a recipe for problems. In his interviews he keeps attacking fans for having expectations of the season, him always going on, interview after interview, win lose or draw, that people have to remember where we came from last season, with our major rebuilding, and that we just have to play games and see where that takes us. But that point is a waste of time, as it equally applies to most other teams in the league who have also done major rebuilds, some more successfully than us, so this late in a season one can't keep making that excuse.

I am really impressed with player selection. It is safe to say we have the best keeper in the league, Ade, Stefan and Taylor are three of the best attacking players in the league, many of our other players are among the best in the league, so it is only fair and reasonable to expect a play off spot/ top half finish. We are 7 points off a play off spot, with 10 remaining games against teams above us - Chelmsford City, Dartford, Oxford City, Worthing, Bath City, Eastbourne Borough, St Albans City, Ebbsfleet United, Havant & Waterlooville, Braintree Town, and 13 games of teams below us Dulwich Hamlet, Chippenham Town, Chippenham Town, Hemel Hempstead Town, Slough Town, Hungerford Town, Farnborough, Concord Rangers, Weymouth, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Taunton, Cheshunt, Dover Athletic. I think we could win enough of them to finish top 7. But it is common sense that to do that one has to analyse past mistakes to fix them, rather than just burying ones head in the sand and repeating them.

The Tonbridge game at the weekend was top quality from Welling, and hopefully some of the fans views filtered through to help influence the positive changes that have clearly happened in the past few weeks.

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 Ok well have it your way, I was asked to pass a message on to notify you of possible consequences and I have..

N Jones wrote:

Johnny Hartley wrote:

That threat of legal action sums up the problems. Nothing I have said is inaccurate, so there are no grounds for legal action. However it reinforces what I said, that the manager's mentality means he cannot handle any criticism, or free speech, so avoids it. When you look at it you realise he has a team that will not disagree with him as they know he stores grudges and drops anyone who crosses him. He has the board backing. So he has no reasonable counterbalancing checks and balances that all effective managers need. And being surrounded by yes people is a risk, behind long poor runs, as there is no fresh thinking to fix things. So the fans' reasonable neutral, experienced and knowledgeable views are the only fair and neutral opinions. Except he thinks they are not worth paying attention to so blocks them out. At the end of the day, this forum is people saying what they think. And that is worth knowing, whether or not one agrees with them.

This wanting to silence a challenging voice is as unsavoury as the cancel culture I dont like of people trying to get managers sacked. If a a manager doesn't understand that part of the job is dealing with opposition at times, as well as the positives, they shouldn't be in the job. I've said good things, I've said bad things, it is all fair and balanced and constructive overall, and I make the same points as other fans.

Being open to constructive criticism is part of being an effective worker, and ignoring any constructive criticism is a recipe for problems. In his interviews he keeps attacking fans for having expectations of the season, him always going on, interview after interview, win lose or draw, that people have to remember where we came from last season, with our major rebuilding, and that we just have to play games and see where that takes us. But that point is a waste of time, as it equally applies to most other teams in the league who have also done major rebuilds, some more successfully than us, so this late in a season one can't keep making that excuse.

I am really impressed with player selection. It is safe to say we have the best keeper in the league, Ade, Stefan and Taylor are three of the best attacking players in the league, many of our other players are among the best in the league, so it is only fair and reasonable to expect a play off spot/ top half finish. We are 7 points off a play off spot, with 10 remaining games against teams above us - Chelmsford City, Dartford, Oxford City, Worthing, Bath City, Eastbourne Borough, St Albans City, Ebbsfleet United, Havant & Waterlooville, Braintree Town, and 13 games of teams below us Dulwich Hamlet, Chippenham Town, Chippenham Town, Hemel Hempstead Town, Slough Town, Hungerford Town, Farnborough, Concord Rangers, Weymouth, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Taunton, Cheshunt, Dover Athletic. I think we could win enough of them to finish top 7. But it is common sense that to do that one has to analyse past mistakes to fix them, rather than just burying ones head in the sand and repeating them.

The Tonbridge game at the weekend was top quality from Welling, and hopefully some of the fans views filtered through to help influence the positive changes that have clearly happened in the past few weeks.

 Ok well have it your way, I was asked to pass a message on to notify you of possible consequences and I have..

 I think there's a difference between constructive criticism and accusing someone of toxic behaviour. No reasonable person would have an issue with the former, but most might with the latter.

N Jones wrote:

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Johnny Hartley wrote:

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Odin, in 10 years time I will re-read my post, and only then will I understand what I was saying! Actually, there was some background thinking about a couple of things behind what I wrote, but if I had put them in the post it would have doubled it at least. And as I am trying to keep my posts shorter (yes, I really am!) I had to leave those parts out, which is a shame as they would have made what I said clearer.

But the two background things were Warren has a really dreadful track record as a manager, which I am not sure if many are aware of. So I thought unless he learns from his past mistakes Welling will be just the latest team he leads to disaster. Our poor record leading up to Tonbridge wont be a surprise to anyone who has looked into Warrens previous managerial record, which is by and large disastrous, with a trail of relegation and failure.

1. At Newport he was sacked with his team bottom of the table, with 6 points from their first 9 matches of the 201617 season. A new management team managed to keep them up.

2. In his next job at Ards they were relegated after finishing second from bottom, 12 points below the team above.

3. At his next job at Pirin he got promotion, but the following season his team were bottom of the table with 8 losses from their first 9 games, and he left, and they ended up relegated.

With 2 relegations and a bottom place at the time of departure from his last 3 teams, nothing with Welling should be a surprise. It just repeats his record of teams collapsing due to his toxic behaviour towards players and others resulting in them losing their respect for him. Some may consider his record shows a lack the temperament, man management skills, or ability to effectively deal with failure and turn things round. Football is a results business, if his results end up being good enough he will stay, if not, he will go. Time will tell which way the cookie crumbles. Who knows, he may even eventually learn not to keep repeating his past mistakes. So that was on my mind.

Also I used to manage football teams, and I was a Warren type, always angrily screaming at my players in matches. Once I stopped and had time and space to look back, I realised how abusive my behaviour was, and how I turned what should have been a fun, enjoyable experience, playing football, into stress and abuse for players. I had a lot of player turnover, as players walked, as they didn't enjoy my approach. Then the penny dropped with me about that, so I turned into a fun manager, which fixed morale and player retention and transformed results. I felt so guilty about my past behaviour I got in touch with my previous teams, and asked them to introduce a code of conduct, so that people like me wouldn't be allowed to behave like that to players. The odd thing is Welling have some rules on behaviour, the programme says, "Welling United FC has a zero tolerance towards foul or abusive language and racism at Park Valley Road. Should anyone be found to be using foul or abusive language, or making racist remarks they will be asked to leave the stadium. It is a criminal offence to swear or make racist remarks in public and anyone who persists in using this at matches may be prosecuted..." yet we have club officials in matches constantly breaking these requirements, which is really bad for a team aiming to set a good example for the community.

So it is interesting to see if and how the manager changes, to avoid making mistakes he previously made in this and other management roles, to avoid his past disasters happening to us too. I know at first look what I say may look negative or hostile to the manager, but actually there are tons of great things about him, so if he could cut out his bad sides he could end up a really good manager. So everything I say is constructive and to help improve the team. I can guarantee people some may not like what I say now, but re-reading it in future one would see I am usually shown to be right. So I am happy to stand by what I say, and if I am proved wrong, happy to say I was wrong. For example the Chi replacement defender did really well, which is great, as that could free Chi up to play in midfield, where his dribbling and drive would transform us as an attacking force. Similarly Taylor Maloney is an outstanding attacking force, adding his assists and goals totals he is probably our most successful player, yet Warren plays him as a holding midfielder, so if he moved him directly behind the two strikers that would be an awesome improvement to the attacking shape of the team, as Ade and Stefan get lots of goals in the box, whereas Taylor M has a great shot from the edge of the box, but that is lost to us if Warren keeps seeing him as just a defensive holding player, just like he misplays Chi's role. But our Tonbridge game was really good, I loved the players forming the circle before the match, that showed a real new togetherness, and support for each other, which they hadnt been getting from the manager, but hopefully will from now. And now to press the "Post Quick Reply" button!

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 Jonny Hartley (I've now been informed that this isn't your real name), let me give you some friendly advice. The manager doesn't do social media or this forum BUT he has been informed of your comments. I've have just spoken to him on another issue and my advice to you is to stop making comments and observations about his character, otherwise you may find yourself having legal action taken against you.!!!

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 Really?!  this is what it has come to.  With respect to Mr Hartley I don't pay much attention to the posts due to the reasons previously outlined on here.  And I really appreciate you and your efforts nigel but why would the comments be passed to feeney who on the contrary says he can take criticism and secondly why is the club trying to moderate the forum to this degree or have I missed something?