Sunday 31 January 2010

Merchandising



With the Rotterdam Tour on the horizon, now is a good time to  think about grabbing yourself some  commemorative club attire.
 Anniversary tops are still available ( albeit now re-branded as  '3 Decades' tops).  Prices are still £12 ish for a top with  Accies badge and £20 if you want  initials /front number/back number as well.
 In a  rare brand awareness and marketing  Eureka moment , Luke thought up the idea of offering the shirts in Orange for the Holland trip.( £12 with club badge).
After Thursday, it might be a good idea to get some Accies waterproof tops too - approx £15 with badge.
If there's enough interest i'll make an order... if not i won't bother. You decide.


Saturday 30 January 2010

Nostalgia corner

For the benefit of squad members who didn't play in 2007 and  who haven't checked out the Accies Facebook page, here's a clip of our last trip to Rotterdam - an exciting 3-3 draw. The return leg at Crystal Palace saw the Accies  flirt with disaster before inflicting an extra time defeat on the Dutch so devastating that Gza's team took their ball back to the Low countries and have not played us since...........until now.

Stu - who is our top scorer aginst the Dutch - my money is on the Hairy Cornflake.

Friday 29 January 2010

Little and Large

To be fair Dave, i don't think  Hull could afford Dean's subs.
 The cameras weren't rolling much last night but Mickael did manage to capture a brief glimpse of The Ewell players bouncing off the Accies'  man mountain. 
Check out this footage of one of Little Joe's  goals too. Mickael and Little Joe's Grandad formed an excellent commentary Duo ...
L.J.G.. ' i don't believe it , he's put it in the net again'
 M.L ' I fink I got it...I fink I got it' 
In a game in which the Accies seemed to grow in stature (...literally - have you seen the size of Dean?), it was great to great to see Tiny Stevie Spurdens and Little Joe  combine to create an excellent goal.

January Transfer Window

I see Coach Sene has taken advantage of the entire Hull City squad being put up for sale by taking Dean Marney on trial. Will the Premier League star (or person with coincidental name) be up to the standard required for Thursday nights? So far the signs look promising, but will Dean swap his weekly wage in its thousands for £5 a week subs???

Match report by Luke Fallon to follow, surely

Good on you, Luke.  Looking forward to reading all about that event-packed game.  For now, I'll just say you didn't need to be playing - you didn't even need to be on the same continent - to enjoy tonight's win.  First, a text I received from The Hut in Brazil before kick-off:
"Come on Accies.  Control, pass, move."
And one I received from Coach Sene nearly two hours after the final whistle:
"I'm still buzzing with excitement and I didn't even play!"

Up the Accies.

Effra 5 MRC Ewell 2

Another game brings another determined performance by The Accies, not to mention a record-equalling fourth straight victory.
From the off, our intention was to attack, and we earned an almost immediate reward by taking the lead within the first couple of minutes. As the first-half wore on, the team deserves credit for trying to keep a high line, and certainly we were very successful in our attempts to play the ball on the deck whenever the opportunity arose.
However, as the first 45 minutes ticked away, it was obvious that MRC had a very clear game plan of trying to play in their nippy strikers with chipped balls over the top of our back four.
On occasion, they certainly got some joy with this tactic. However, it was in the second-half, following a handful of substitutions during the first-half, and a change of tactics at half-time, that really saw us start to dominate the game.
The change in tactics saw us drop deeper, to limit the space MRC had to expose, as well as a change of formation from our much used 4-4-2 in to a 4-1-4-1. Suddenly we were over-running the opposition in midfield, and stifling their attempts to loft the ball over the top of us. We realised that when we had the ball, we had the ability and pace to open them up. The more MRC attacked us the more spaces we were creating on the counter. For a spell, Heath led the line alone with a composed head, often laying off simple balls and in doing so responding to the many questions that have been posed of him recently. Perre really proved tonight what an effective attacking force he can be whilst at the same time being a team-player.
And the good news for us is that Perre wasn't the only one who contributed towards what was a fantastic evening for the team. Trialists Dean and Joe B made telling contributions, none more so than the goals they helped themselves to, Joe B scoring 2 and Dean 1, with Dean also claiming an assist. These two proved over the course of one match that they have much to offer The Accies for the year ahead.
The final tally for goals scored was; Joe-2, Sam Herbert-2, and Dean-1. We could easily have scored more, and from my vantage point as Coach that was the most satisfying thing about tonight's game. At times we were under a lot of pressure, but yet we created opportunity after opportunity, with Joe B unlucky not to claim a hat-trick, and Perre coming really close to adding to his goal tally.
Our attacking play was composed, measured and incisive. These are certainly three adjectives I'd use to sum up a lot of the contributions made by individuals tonight, be it Phill A at both left-back and left-midfield, Herbert up front, Andy Thornes in the middle, Andy Dade at right-back or Barry at the back, our clear intent was to play attractive, attacking football, and for this I congratulate each and every single one of you.
Lee was awarded the MOTM award following some quite outstanding saves and a clutch of sliding challenges made outside his box to thwart MRC attacks. At 2-2, he literally did keep us in the game.
As I said after the match tonight, I cannot remember the last time we dominated a game so much, particularly considering the conditions we had to play in (freezing cold temperature and non-stop rainfall for those who didn't make it). But dominate we did, in a style that we all wish to achieve on a more regular basis.
I'd like to congratulate you all on a thoroughly deserved victory, and at the same time insist you all give yourselves a massive pat on the back for the manner in which you achieved it. More performances like this and 2010 will go down as a very memorable year in the history of The Accies!
Keep the faith!
Joe

Saturday 23 January 2010

Accommodation

We'll have to be quick to book our accommodation. Decent places are getting full, especially on Sat 10th April.
we could stay at the 'Cube' hotel on fri 9th for £30pp. Late breakfast till 11am. Full on Sat but would make sense just to book a big cheap dorm somewhere central for Sat anyway. I remember a confused, still drunk Gary white refusing to pay for his (fairly nice and expensive) hotel room on the basis that he hadn't actually been in it! Come to think of it, he still owes me 20 Euros....

Friday 22 January 2010

Holland update










Looks like the best two dates for us are 24th April or 10th April*
Please let me know if you can't make either one of these.
Stu plans to  be in contact with Gza soon  to talk dates.
Travel-wise Neill and Gobby both plan to drive to Rotterdam 
( max capacity 12 people altogether - cost will be £30-40 
per person for a full car.)
If you haven't replied yet, please do soon .
Come on, you know you want to.

* Just got a call from Gza - He's very keen on 10th April - half term so  easy for families to come too.  Gza's  trying to get  confirmation from the Dutch lads 
that they can all make that date.


24/1/10  Excitement mounts as the Accies approach their squad size target. The graphic shows that 16 players have pledged their support for the  tour. 

Game of two halves

Big thanks to Big Dean for filming the second half of this enthralling match. 
Fantastic start for Coach Sene. It's a testament to Neill's acheivements last year that this match represented a continuation of a long run of good form. When was the last time we won three on the bounce though?
I only switched the camera on twice in the first half - both times we scored within a minute. 
Great goals from Mes and  Perre.
In the second half i tried again - we scored almost immediately - but in a camera catastrophe reminiscent of Player-Cam (ask Stuart), I filmed  Lee having a sneaky smoke instead. Sorry Sam.
After this, Grafton  raised their performance level as our slick passing game evaporated to be replaced by a determined  if slightly incoherent rear guard battle. Congratulations to Grafton who fought right to the end as ever and played some good stuff. Neill had a busy night. Big Dean captured lots of footage of  Grafton peppering the Accies goal and Luke  made what looked like a  fairly serious attempt to switch Neill's lights off.
 Last night had it all - great pass and move football, great goals, great team spirit, big turnout.
In his pre match team talk Joe asked us to concentrate on just 3 things -'All i want you to do is  control, pass and move'  coach Sene instructed. Meanwhile, deep in the heart of The sports centre,  a solitary squad member was giving  some equally sage advice to passing palace patrons -'i'd give it 5 mins before you go in there if i were you' our club manager suggested. Wise words.

Effra 3 Grafton 2

In what was certainly a game of two halves tonight we went from controlled, passing, domination in the first half to scrapping and fighting for every ball in the second.
The first-half saw us play some of our best football in recent memory, and despite falling a goal behind after Grafton scored from their only shot on target in the first period, we stuck to our game plan and played our way back in to the game as we took a 2-1 lead in to the half-time break.
Two quick-fire first-half goals, one from the ever-willing Mesner (who now has 11 in 11 games), and an excellent lob from the irrepressible Heath, meant that the half-time team talk was a much easier affair for me in my first game as Coach for 2010.
Trying to juggle 5 substitutes during the course of the game soon took its toll during the second half and the game became much more disjointed from our perspective. That said, when we were required to dig in and defend under pressure we did so admirably.
The two goals we conceded both came following lapses of concentration in my opinion. The good news in this regard is that this is the kind of thing we can work towards eradicating over the coming weeks.
Herbert added a third goal for us in the second-half with a salmon-like leap to meet a Mesner corner. By this stage I was feeling very confident that the win was there for taking, and so it proved to be, although only just!
I can't praise you all highly enough for your willingness to listen to what was being asked of you, and also the enthusiasm that you all showed tonight, even when a number of you were asked to play out of position.
There are a huge amount of positives to take forward from tonight in to next week. In particular, if we can work on re-producing our first-half display more consistently then we will achieve victories in style much more often!
Everywhere I looked on the pitch tonight I saw players doing their absolute best, be it Were on the left wing, Rainey in the middle, Caldwell at right back, Robertshaw in goal, Spurdens on the right wing, every single player put in a great shift and we earned our just rewards. Herbert won the MOTM award, but there were a number of players who ran him very close indeed.
Thanks to you all for making tonight such an excellent performance, and not to mention a very well deserved victory!
Keep the faith!
Joe

Sunday 17 January 2010

Footy and something else...

Thursday's 5-a-side was a good session to clear cobwebs after our christmas lay-off. Good movement and attitude from all concerned and some very good pass and move football, everyone concerned should be applauded for the shift they put in.

In other news, official invites to follow but Gemma and I would like to invite all Accies and their partners to our engagement party at the Norwood Hotel on Friday 12th February, would be good to see you all there for a good night and good music from ace band 'The A-team'.

Looking forward to getting Coach Sene off to a good start next week and more good results in weeks to come

Up the Accies

Saturday 16 January 2010

Europe

At the AGM we voted for a trip to Rotterdam  to play Gza's Dutch team. There have been many trips before - some victorious, some...well, catastrophic, but all epic.
I'll try to arrange a spring fixture - anytime from late March to Early May.
What i need you to do THIS WEEK is tell me  whether you  plan to go to Holland - (Yes / no/maybe).  Very importantly, let me know any weekends you can't make. 
As far as cost goes - I think flights are £80ish rtn. Obviously it's cheaper to pile in a car and get the Ferry. Budget accomodation starts at around £20 per night for somewhere clean and  fairly central.*
* Gza is talking to the Dutch lads about potential dates at the moment and will come up with a couple of  suggested fixture dates shortly.  Currently we have 6 players confirmed. I won't be able to acept the Dutch challenge until we have at least 14 confirmed.

Friday 15 January 2010

St Elmers (Sam On) Fire...




A cracking night of 5-a-side action last night attended by Andy D, Lee, Phil, Phil, Sam, Steve, Stu, Neill,Barry, Graham, Little Joe and Thorney.
After a brief warm up captains were selected and started selecting their teams, playground stylee.
Humiliation for the Dade brothers followed, being the last two standing. They waited with baited breath to see who would be left as last man picked. As Stu was called forward to Barry's team, I was left self-reflecting on the reasons for being last picked. Blaming it on having been injured for the last 6 months or so, I 'jokingly' announced: "I'm going to make you fucking regret that..."
And so off they went, teams as follows:
The Whites:
Andy D
Lee
Phil
Other Phil
Sam
Steve
The Red 'n' Blues:
Stu
Neill
Barry
Graham
Little Joe
Thorney
The whites got off to an absolute flyer - slotting home six or seven in the first 10 minutes (I think, probably - it felt like a lot anyway...)
Hard to talk through the entire game but the reason for posting the blog (and the dreadful double-pun headline) is to highlight Sam's performance.
If there was a man of the match last night it was undoubtedly Sam. Skill, pace, tackling, tracking back, movement, turns, shots, goals galore - an uplifting performance from a cracking player. Well done Sam, MOTM by far!
Finally, some self-gratification: to end up on the winning side and even get a goal, beautifully placed in the top left hand corner from a narrow angle, past the recently diphtheria-foot recovered Werewolf made up for being last man standing being picked!
All in all though, a great night of 5-a-side Accies action - and at 2 hours long, a well needed fitness session too.
Well done all that attended, but especially Sam for putting in such a great shift!
Up The Accies and see you all Thursday!

Wednesday 13 January 2010

5 a side is on























The Accies' season kicks off tomorrow with a 5 a side session at GOALS, Elmers End, from 8-10pm. Should be good fun and an excellent way to gain a bit of post Christmas match fitness.
Some Accies have chosen to avoid the cold and do a bit of brain training instead.In an Accies first, we are  also going to  field a pub quiz team at the Paxton.
  Hopefully we'll be prepared  when the Oppo ask questions of us next week - that is so long as the question they ask is 'What's the capital of Somalia?'

Monday 11 January 2010

50/50

The pitch at Palace is today still sporting a handsome covering of snow. You can only imagine the Herculean efforts being made by Palace staff to ensure that the surface is playable in time for coach Sene's  first fixture of 2010.
 Palace  have  promised that someone will look out of the window once a day to see if the snow  has melted.
I'll post an update as soon i know more**.

*Tues pm. Snow still hasn't thawed. Final pitch inspection Weds lunchtime but Veron isn't  optimistic.
May come down to a  choice of GOALS 5 a side or  Paxton Pub.
**Weds pm - Thursday's Match cancelled as feared -  8 people have confirmed for 5 a side - Need 4 more before 6pm or beer will win and i'll have to cancel the booking

Friday 8 January 2010

Moving forward in to 2010...

Morning all,

Apologies in advance for the length of this post, but these are important points that everybody needs to be aware of.

Following my "Landslide victory(!)" for the role of Coach for 2010 last night, I wanted to post on here some changes to team selection criteria for this coming year. I mentioned a number of these last night, but unfortunately not everybody was there. So...

Our weekly starting XI will be selected from the players present at 8.05pm. So, there is an instant reward for turning up before 8.05pm every week for those who manage it! There is also the added benefit for those who are there early to be able to warm-up with the knowledge that a) they're starting, and b) in what position. If we don't have eleven players present at 8.05pm, the starting line-up will be formalised following the warm-up.

There will be a re-introduction of the group warm-up. By group, I obviously mean EVERYONE, goalkeeper included. The group warm-up will start at 8.10pm, and will last for 10 minutes.

At the conclusion of the group warm-up, the finalisation of the starting XI will occur from the players present. By this stage I'd expect to have a minimum of eleven players there every week!

If you can't make it to the dressing room by 8.05pm for whatever reason, please communicate that to me. Giving me a quick call before that time will mean you stand a better chance of starting than somebody who doesn't. It's likely that Stuart will continue to keep doing his weekly attendance email so please reply to that where possible (although he is looking in to some alternatives). However, as much as possible, I'd like people who need to communicate a last minute change of plan to do so to me on a Thursday rather than Stuart as this will help me with team selection.

The pre-match team talk will take place at 8.25pm, starting with a confirmation of the starting XI. The team talk will last no more than 2 minutes, and so allowing a couple of minutes before kick-off to either take tracksuits off, continue warming up, etc.

We will then be ready for kick-off by 8.29pm. I have previously hated only being able to play a 70 or 80 minute game due to kick-offs being delayed for one reason or another. We need to do what WE can to MAXIMISE our PLAYING TIME - it's what we're there for after all!

A couple of other important points I'd like to make are firstly that anyone who overtly criticises a team-mate/tries to "kick-off" with a team-mate will be immediately substituted. There can be no more tolerance of name calling/insults between us as a team whilst we're on the pitch - or off the pitch for that matter! Secondly, as much as I possibly can, I will attempt to get everyone who turns up a run-out on the pitch. I do not want to restrict the number of substitutes who get to play to just 3 people. In my opinion, WE ARE AN INCLUSIVE CLUB, not exclusive. Of course, as an example, it may not be possible to work our way through 8 subs in one game, but I promise to do my best!

I'm 100% positive that Andy T., Neil G. and I can provide a positive and supportive atmosphere for all of us to be able to enjoy playing football and hopefully pick up some victories along the way!

I'm very excited about the year ahead, and I hope you are too!

Keep the faith!

Joe

Saturday 2 January 2010

AGM

  The AGM is almost upon us - another opportunity to talk for hours whilst failing to address the key issues that have been the subject of whispered  conversations all year. It's the same every year, but it need not be. 
   It's human nature to air our views in private to like minded friends but if a democratic club is to  function properly, key discussions have to occur between those with differing views.  The momentary discomfort of raising difficult issues in public is in my view far preferable to the corrosive  effect of  gossip .

  I say it every year, but  it should be seen as ok for any club member to stand for any post within the club.  Those elected should serve those who voted against them  just as much as those who voted for them. Club members should  have their say at the AGM and then  give their full backing to whoever is elected, whether they voted for them or not. 

   I agree with Neill that we need to look at how best to support the coach to select teams - the balance between fairness and winning is difficult at the best of times and impossible if we don't all pull together. We could create a new post - coaching assistant or team manager - or we could all just agree to help out and make the coach's life  a bit easier.

  I think we should get back to  sharing playing time equally. I don't want to be part of a club where some people play 90 mins nearly every week in their favoured position whilst others play much less and often out of position. 
 Let's make the AGM as quick  and as productive as possible.

 *Not sure why i bother posting this sort of  stuff really - FACT - the post  that generated the most comment this year was the one that invited us to notice that  Mes looks a bit like Elton John.  Second most responded to was  the post about the demise of Stuarts's bag. Are we really ready for democracy?
 
   
  

Friday 1 January 2010

One large step.......

Just a quick note to let you all know that I proposed to the beautiful Gemma on Christmas Day and the women I love she say......YES!!