Resignation

It is with a certain amount of regret that I wish to stand down from my role as Coach with immediate effect. It is not a decision that I have made lightly, but I am certain that I can no longer continue in this capacity.

I made a pledge to be as fair, as consistent and as inclusive as possible in January of this year. I believe, truthfully, that I have managed to achieve this to the best of my ability. However, it seems my attempts have not reached the exacting standards expected by certain people, the same people who voted me in as Coach but yet have not given me their full, unequivocal support in recent times. I simply detest the notion that any one person is more important than the team, or that any one person is entitled to play over somebody else, or that any one person should expect to play their own game over what serves the team best, or that any one person should be able to undermine me as the elected Coach by the majority of the squad. After all, I was the only person who seriously wanted to be Coach for 2010, as I hoped, and believed, that I would be able to pull together the various factions within the squad and be able to promote a more positive and fairer attitude towards our Thursday night football.

Clearly, some people believe that they can do a better job, or perhaps be more inclusive, or more fairer than I have been for the past seven months. Well, now is their chance to prove it.

I hope to still be able to play in future for The Accies, but that will clearly be a decision for whoever takes on the mantle of Coach.

Joe

Effra 1 Random Unknowns 4

What was intended to be an Accies kick-around tonight resulted in an impromptu 11-a-side against the young lads who had hired the other half of the Dulwich astroturf pitch. What we hadn't anticipated is just how much of a competent bunch they were!

We were chasing shadows for long periods of the first-half as our random opposition played some excellent passing football. We retreated further and further back in to our own half, and so inevitably invited more pressure upon ourselves. It was incredible really that we went in to the half-time break with the scores still even at 0-0. This was thanks in no small part to a wonderful fingertip save by Lee Clifford just before half-time.

I said during the interval that we needed to push up the pitch, condense the space that we were affording our opponents, and so be able to close them down quicker than we had previously been doing. Unfortunately, we came out in the second-half and very quickly went 2-0 down. From there, we suddenly tried to assert ourselves, chasing back, and playing balls in to feet when moving forwards. We were getting closer to the opposition goal, and we eventually got ourselves back in to the game (after going 3-0 down), thanks to a fine finish from Phil Caldwell, who again performed admirably in the lone striker role.

We couldn't convert our late rally in to any more goals, and were hit by a sucker-fourth. It was harsh on us as we were enjoying the lion share of possession.

The MOTM went to Lee Clifford tonight. Lee had a great first-half in goal and an inspiring second-half at the heart of our defence. Phil Caldwell came in a very close second.

Keep the faith!

Joe

Effra 4 Sporting Brixton 3

Having started the match with 11 v 9, we raced in to an early 2-0 lead. The first-half saw us pour forward repeatedly, and we created a large number of chances. However, we were just not clinical enough in front of goal (myself included!).

There was, however, a lack of urgency for large spells of the first 45, and we were left to rue our wastefulness when Sporting managed to even up the numbers thanks to some late arrivals.

The fresh legs and parity of numbers gave Sporting fresh impetus, and they started to stroke the ball around the pitch to good affect. They managed to pull the score back to 2-2, and then took the lead late in the second-half, and in all honesty we only had ourselves to blame for letting them back in to the match. The fact is we should have had the game won in the first-half. But our casual approach play meant we never really took hold of the game in that spell.

Amazingly, it was when we were under the most pressure that we really started to play our best football. From back to front, our passing when under pressure was very good, playing triangles, balls across the lines, and then looking for the decisive forward pass all suddenly came together and thankfully for us it was just in time. There could not have been more than 5 minutes left on Henry's watch when we suddenly sparked in to life and grabbed two quick fire goals and so securing the victory. Phil Caldwell in particular was instrumental in our late surge, and can rightly feel very satisfied with a performance that saw him claim two assists and come very close to scoring himself on more than one occasion.

The MOTM went to Phill Arnold though, who was run very close by Phil Caldwell, Luke Fallon and Neill Robertshaw in particular. Phill again showed how crucial it is to have a calm touch on the ball at the back, with his distribution and timely interceptions again providing the benchmark for the rest of the team.

I said after the game that it felt like we had grabbed a victory from the jaws of victory, I can't think of a better way to sum up what was, at times, a quite bizarre performance from us!

Well done all on a deserved win, but let's try and make it a bit easier on ourselves in future!

Keep the faith!

Joe

Dolphin 2, Effra 0

We did ok, they we're a bit better.