Overall a deserved win. Very early days. Still a work in progress. The starting 11 and the finishers all put in a good shift. Special mention goes to Reece Grant who doesnt know what a lost cause is. Well done to the players Rod and his coaches. Marks out of ten: 6.5
We've been held back for years by constant near total restart each season from turnover of new managers bringing in new squads, so it's great we've Rod's continuity here for a 2nd season, retaining a fair number from last season, avoiding gambling on a squad of untested players that take months to gel. Rod had a really clever effective pre-season, getting all squad match fit and fully tested, so able to release a couple who didnt quite cut it, better than only finding that out once the season started. So we started with 5 from last season, 6 new players, a sound balance, ended with 3 retained players, so new guys made an immediate positive impact.
Aveley were in play offs last season, so to score against them and concede nothing is fab. Rod had play off form last season, only 2 defeats from 18 league games, this fine performance shows he's picked up where he left off, and will make mugs of bookies who foolishly ignored our improvement with Rod and his history of success, so mistakenly thought us the 2nd most likely team to go down. After some real bluffers as recent managers it is great we finally have the real deal.
The ball flew into the crowd right where I was sitting, and I threw the ball back to Rod with a highlight pass of the entire match, perfect weight and placement, which bizarrely didnt make match highlights or reports, but I'm sure scouts watching noted my superior skills and will clamor to sign me. On a more sensible and modest note, Mardell's post match interview was nice, he talked about his goal just being a 1 against 1, and modestly misses mentioning 2 midfielders closing him down, 2 defenders he had to shoot over, and the placement of the shot that had to be perfect to score, in a shot most players (and me!) wouldnt have even thought was on!
Thought it was a really good second half performance - was very obvious Rod and Kev would have had some words at half time, as straight from the kick off in the second half the switch in tempo was obvious. Was chatting to Gav behind the goal and we both said that was a key difference to last season - Danny would have been patting them on the backs at half time and we'd have probably gone on to lose, where as Rod made the tweaks with Reece and others and we ended up winning a tight game.
Not getting carried away but its nice to finish the first game with some optimism and a sense that the team are pulling in the right direction and well coached, organised and led from the front
Thought our whole back line and GK were very solid, which was the total opposite to the start of last season
Only minus would be I think the team lacks a natural goal scoring CF - Martell won't score from 25 yards every week, so hopefully a loan signing in that area to build on what looks like a promising squad
Spot on point from Treacle on last season's manager. A player called him an old school manager, I was a bit puzzled as I didn't really know what that meant, so I asked a player what he'd meant by that, and he said he'd meant if the players put in a lot of effort that manager would be satisfied. And looking back, we had tons of effort, but not much more. Rightly or wrongly I thought the player explaining was a bit disappointed, as though he expected more from a manager than just telling them to try harder.
Rod's totally different, I really like how demanding he is with players, not unfair or for the sake of it, but to bring the best out of them. I've really missed not seeing Antony flying round the pitch anymore, but Rod was on his case in games, and the reward for that was a move three divisions up, whereas under previous managers he wasn't really pushed and had very little meaningful management. I guess that's a reason why players sign for Rod, they know he'll bring out the best in them. It's so enjoyable to see Rod now with a proper build up and a whole season to play with. We gave away 3 sloppy free kicks in dangerous areas which need to be cut out, and our corners weren't great, but we're miles ahead of where we were this time last season.
Almost forgot to do this. Still getting used to the season having started for real now.
Impressed with the team very organised and battle well. The defence looks particularly strong which is a good foundation. I don't think we will struggle this season. Nice to have had a little continuity with the same manager and some of last season's squad. The bonus was to win against a good side and for such a special goal to be our first of the season. Happy days
