Awards Night

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for their kind words last night, coming from people who know the game, it means a great deal to me! I still maintain that there are more worthy winners than I, based on form, fitness, commitment, and the other one!
Hope everyone had a great night, well done to all the organisers and thanks.
One thing I would like to have said, which I think sums up the quailty of people we have in our club perfectly, is about Neill Robertshaw. Two years ago, when I was made redundant, Neill offered me work with him, even though he was struggling himself. It was such a great gesture, and, like I say goes to show Effra Academicals is so much more than football.
Here's to everyone who's pulled on the red and blue shirts, roll on the next ten years.

The Coach goes Crazy

Imagine, 2-0 up at half-time and cruising to victory, then the Accies let in two soft goals. What are the odds of Thorny running up the grandstand and pulling out the seats? Thats similar to what happened in the Champions League the other night with the coach of the Romanian champions, CFR Cluj.

Film clip

I filmed 2 mins of the Accies ...erm... unlucky departure from the MI Cup. I did manage to capture the Accies goal and miss all the Ewell Ones. What are the chances of that happening?

See you all tomorrow.

Just as well we don't have a "Miss of the Season Award"

This may not be an Accies match, but it doesn't matter who you play for, your age, gender or ability, there's surely no beating this miss? If Andy Thornes had hair, and attempted to score with his left foot instead of his head, even just from merely inches away from the goal line, unchallenged, would it look like this? Perhaps we could re-enact it tonight, just to see? I'm only saying..!

You're off Son!

I couldn't help but feel the scorer of this disallowed goal should be very thankful he doesn't play for The Accies. Given his amazing show of petulance by throwing his Captain's armband to the ground in disgust, surely our Shiny Pated Coach would be left with no alternative other than to substitute him???

Last week's game… communication again! (Sigh…)

Another post on behalf of Thorny:

Three wins on the bounce and lots of good stuff from last week. Three well taken goals and several excellent individual performances. It's great to see Steve's form continuing on an upward spiral (?);Tim Howard, sorry Lee, had another rock solid game, which will hopefully continue all the way to Christmas; Dave continues to turn up one week in three and look like he hasn't been away; and Bobby and Neill both looked back to somewhere near full fitness after pretty chronic injury issues.

The downside to last week was primarily a lack of communication, or rather our lack of proper communication. Getting the Accies to talk to each other was something I made a top priority during this temporary period where I will be picking and organising the team. I thought we had made significant improvements in recent weeks, but our last game made me realise how foolish that assessment has been. I'm not going to re-state my views on this – they are clearly outlined in previous blogs – but will only say from now 'til the end of the year, if a player cannot talk to a team-mate properly, ie not swear or abuse him, or just generally deride his ability, he will be replaced by somebody who hopefully can. We all want to win and play well and this is undoubtedly best served by encouragement and constructive, friendly criticism. If a player makes a mistake he isn't doing it deliberately and shouldn't be treated as if he was trying to sabotage the team. This helps nobody. Anyway, enough said.

This week is a cup game against MRC Ewell. After our first game in this competition, where I made several selection cock-ups, this is just to let everyone know i will be treating the game as a normal Accies football night. Selection will be made from a squad of 15, who will all play roughly the same amount of time, barring injuries or communication issues (see above). In my opinion this gives us the best opportunity to win. My ideal is for us to play as a team with everybody making a contribution. We have done this before and I am confident we will do it again this week. I actually think this could be the game when we put in a truly great performance for 90 minutes. Whatever happens let's make sure we enjoy it and win or lose together, with everybody giving their all.

Last week's game… progress and congestion…

Another post on behalf of Thorny:

I'll keep this brief, as the previous match report covered most stuff I wanted to mention. Firstly, I still believe there is a lot more to come from the team, but our communication is generally getting better, and as a result, our football is moving in the right direction. Without sounding contrary, or too negative, I did feel last week was a slightly backwards step though, but one that I am confident we will put right in the coming weeks. As I keep stressing, if we all talk to each other quickly and clearly it will have a direct effect on our passing and movement, and hence our football in general.

Secondly, it's also worth warning people that this week looks like being one of those unenviable occasions where we are over-subscribed - I reckon we might have as many as 18!!! All being well everyone should get football though, as apparently the opposition are likely to be short. Apologies in advance for anybody who gets left out of the Accies 15. All I can say is that selection will be made in as fair a way as i know how, which means recent commitment will figure heavily, as will the issue of whether you have already missed a game this year - although those who haven't are in an increasingly small minority. Anyway, let's try to raise our level on Thur and continue our good run of form. Oh and if you do miss the 6pm Wednesday deadline this week it will almost certainly result in you not making the 15, so drop Stu a line ASAP!

Two on the Bounce

Last night's victory was hopefully the continuation of a winning streak that we can build on until the years end.

In what was a highly entertaining match, played in a marvellous spirit, there were chances for both sides and a 2-1 win for the Accies could have been many different scorelines. After having a couple of blips in otherwise good performances, Lee Clifford between the sticks was outstanding. He set the tone for his performance with a stunning save in the first five minutes and grew in confidence throughout.

Yet again praise to Mes who has dropped back into centre half and gives us a more dynamic look with his tackling, communication and distribution, week after week he has been putting in solid performances in a demanding position and the way he organises the defence is reaping rewards.

Great first goal from Paul, who was a menace to the oppo throughout, was just one of chances created but CP&DSV had a good keeper of theor own and his performance was rewarded with them getting back into the game in the second half. Not to be outdone the Accies raised their game and a great diving header from Thorney (within his comfort zone 1-5yards) put the Accies back in front and thats the way it stayed.

Not our best performance of recent weeks but our determination and resilience stood us in good stead and hopefully will for weeks to come.

Up the Accies

Homage to Cantoria: A Travelogue of the Accies in Spain

2.30am Alarm rings, minutes later, a minicab pulls up. Off we go to Tooting. Drunk girl in Tulse Hill lying across litter bin. Nice start to the day.
3.15am Cold morning, Luis and I bundle into friend’s car off to Gatwick at rendez-vous point.
circa 4.00am, arrive at airport, meet up with the Dades, Luke, the Rudd family, and Anthony. Slurps in the Wetherspoons, they’d been up all night.
6am Take off, strange smells coming from one of the Dades.
Hoorah! Almeria, warm and sunny.
10am Met by Ian ‘the Gaffer’ and hire car rep. Luis talking Spanish in full flow.

Climbing the mountains, past the Spaghetti Western film sets, greeted by a waving cowboy, empty wood front towns and wigwams in the valley. No signs of any Injuns.


Luis driving the hire car


The barren mountain landscape


A waving cowboy at the Spaghetti Western film set

12noon Arrival at our B&B: the Barrio, Cantoria. Our Walsall hosts make us feel welcome then a leisurely stroll around the mountain village to loosen our muscles for tomorrow’s games.

12.10 Hit the bars. Shandy’s seems like a good place to start.
…
…


Luis displaying his trophy napkin


Watching the local talent


Local dolly bird, goldfinch


Deep thought...An eventful evening: Killer Pool, cash Euros changing hands, some great tapas, several local wind-up merchants, a story about a local dog, we head off for an early night...

Saturday
9.30 Full fry up in El Barrio followed by team talk. Ah, sounds like when Liverpool won the European cup in Israel in the late 1970s.
11.20 Head off to the neighbouring village to the sports ground.
11.42 Warm up and pitch inspection. Its warm and sunny, the pitch is erratic. The teams arrive.

12.15 Shite. We get the worst draw. We play the first two games of the tournament back to back. Its getting hotter. 8-a-side. We recruit Carlos, a left-back from Ecuador.

12.30 Kick off: Accies v Ex-pats. Anthony in goal, Luke centre-back, Carlos left back, Andy Dade right back, Luis right wing, myself left wing, Dave centre mid and the Gaffer forward. Stuart shouting encouragement and instructions from the touch line.

0-1 After several great saves, another aerial challenge sees the first goal of the day squirm past Anthony.

[Its getting hotter and the pace of the game is making my breakfast come back.]

1-1 WOW! Fantastic opportunist goal by the Gaffer. The ball breaks lose and Ian takes the ball first time and lobs the keeper.

Result: 1-1. A hard fought draw, but deserved.

15 minutes rest. We are all exhausted playing 40 minutes at full pace. Next up, the local Spanish side.

1-0 Brilliant goal. Quick move and the Gaffer buries the ball in the back of the net as he runs at the Spanish defence.
[It’s getting hotter still and we are all slowing.]
The Spanish team are physical and well organised, playing the ball through the middle of the park. Then they equalise, threading the ball through the centre.
1-1
We re-convene for second half and they are attacking our goal again. The Gaffer limps off with calf injury, Werewolf moves into forward position and Stuart goes in goal. Anthony moves into midfield.

1-2 They score a second. Then great block by Stuart to deny third but collides with the brave Fallon. Luke taken off injured. Down to 7 men. One of the ex-pat team joins us. 1-3. Another neat goal through the centre.
Result: 1-3. We lacked subs.

The final match between the Spanish and ex-pat team ends 2-2, with a cameo role for Dave Rudd in the ex-pat team. Local Spanish team win the cup.

Good celebrations as we drink beer and eat wonderful tapas in the sports bar provided by the generous Spanish team. Then reconvene in the Casino bar in Cantoria for more drinks and a curry [superb], then a night on the town. Pub crawl of the local establishments until we drive back down the mountain.
Arrive at airport at 8am [thanks to Luis], for flight back to Gatwick.





A brilliant few days in the sunny mountains, good food and drink, and some great football, not to be forgotten. Thanks Ian and the Lads in Spain!

Almeria 2010: Best Caption Award

Accies centre back Luke Fallon in deep conversation with bar dog. Best captions in replies please.

This picture says more than a thousand-word blog, which is handy because it's a lot quicker too…

(Besides, I signed up world travel expert Werewolf to write a traveblogue of the trip!)

Accies Spain Trip 2010

Well, what a fantastic weekend.

Great location, great host (thank-you Ian "The Gaffer" Holmes!), great football, great tapas, great bars, great company.

Can't wait for next year when we can bring home the "Trofeo Amistoso"!

No doubt more detail to follow on here soon...

Pixie Football

If you want to know what at least six Accies players used to do to get their competitive football fix before we had the Accies, click here (you need to be on Facebook to view it I think). Strange as it may seem, Olympic Soccer on the PlayStation, followed by two or three successors, are in my mind a part of Accies history, in that they're what I did before I had the opportunity to play real football. Shortly after Effra was formed, the PlayStation went into the loft, never to be seen again. Why would I want to play Pixie Football (football starring pixellated players…!) when I could play the real thing?

Extra-CurrAccular Activity

On Monday night a smattering of Accies made their way to the True Theatre Of Dreams at Palace to help out two other teams in what turned out to be a thoroughly entertaining 11-a-side match. Southside FC, managed by our own Phil Caldwell and starring Neill Robertshaw in goal, took on Longmead Tuesday, a Tonbridge-based team "managed" by yours truly. Longmead were helped out by Dave Rudd in goal plus both Luke Fallon and Andy Thornes, who played stints at centre back, and Tremayne, who had a spell at left-back and some time up front. Another familiar face starred for Southside: 1860 Lambeth gaffer Mark Davies.

The match was one of the closest I've ever witnessed at Palace, much to the delight of the Tonbridge Massive, who had feared a drubbing. Two of Longmead's players had last seen 11-a-side action back in 2008, playing for Dads Army against the Accies and suffering a demoralising 8-0 defeat. Fortunately there was no repeat pasting – in fact, possibly thanks to the absence of several key Southside players, the teams were very evenly matched.

Time constraints prevent me from producing a lengthy match report, but here are some choice recollections: both keepers played absolute blinders, the match would've been high-scoring if it hadn't been for them; it was 0-0 at half-time and both myself and Elbows delivered rousing half-time team talks/rambled on amid a cacophony of voices and contributed nothing of any use (delete as applicable). Southside had the better of the 2nd half pressure and chances but failed to put the sausage in the sausage roll. Longmead's burly forward Paul Humbles, who was so late on the night and so incapable of finding the pitch that he came very close to driving home in a huff, provided a superb through ball with 10 or 15 mins left, putting fellow striker Simon Don't-Even-Know-His-Surname-And-I've-Been-Playing-5-A-Side-With-Him-For-The-Best-Part-Of-2-Years in on goal. Simon's finish was emphatic and Southside couldn't respond in kind.

Longmead Tuesday triumphed 1-0 and the lads refused to agree with my opinion that a draw would've been a fair result. The team seem bang up for a return to the True Theatre Of Dreams and I've pencilled in 25 November for the Tonbridge fellas to play the Accies. If I'm fit I'll line up for Longmead, but that's a pretty big 'if' and frankly on the strength of their performance against Southside they don't need me anyway! Should be a great night if it comes off and with the Accies' annual awards bash the following night, a great couple of nights!

Last week's game… and an apology

Another post on behalf of Thorny:

Excellent to finally get a glimpse of the kind of football I know we are capable of. Lots of great performances all over the pitch and some passages of play that were up there with the best I have ever seen the Accies play. Still lots of room for improvement though. We did give away two sloppy goals towards the end, mainly I think, through a sense of complacency. I also believe we can sustain the passing side of our game for the full 90 minutes, which, hard though it is, should certainly be one of our aims in the run up to Christmas. The talking on the pitch can still be improved too, although I do feel we are moving in the right direction on that issue.

I do need to make an apology to the team for something in last week's game. In line with our fair-play policy, most certainly Joe and possibly myself should have been immediately substiuted during an incident in the second half. I will do my best to make sure this doesn't happen again, although, in Joe's defence in particular, the were extenuating circumstances (one, being the tackle was lined up undoubtedly with malice, and two, it was fraction of a second away from snapping his leg in two!). Anyway, apologies for any lack of consistency - I will do my utmost to make sure it doesn't happen again.

As for this week's game, they are a team we have played a few times before, with mixed results. They are a team we can beat, particularly if we play with the confidence of last week. Hopefully it has given us the chance to finally get some momentum going and put in a string of good performances (assuming Stu doesn't have us down to play Zidane's All- Stars in the next few weeks!), so let's look to lift our performance level by imposing our game on the opposition from the first whistle - that's quick short passes into feet, lots of movement off the ball and plenty of communication, in case any of you were wondering! Looking forward to seeing everybody fit and focused on Thursday.

Up The Accies!

Last Week… and some selection issues

Another post on behalf of Thorny:

Last week's game resulted in a rather depressing 8-0 hammering! There were very few positives from the game, apart from the fact that we got a healthy dose of physical exercise chasing a ball around! Actually, joking aside, there was no shame in last week's result. We fielded, to my knowledge, at least five players well into their forties (apologies to anyone if I have this wrong), several players knocking on the door of 40, and, again apologies if i am wrong, only two, possibly three players who can seriously claim to be still at their physical peak. Against a team that were not only technically far better than us, but also, pretty much to a man, in their mid/late twenties, the result was hardly surprising. All this highlighted to me was the need for us to be more discerning in selecting our oppostion, which I am sure we will be in future. That said, we were still almost silent again, which I found to be the only truly disappointing thing about Thursday. In a roundabout way this brings me to another issue.

In the pub on Thursday, and afterwards by text, a number of players aired the view that selection should not be based on the 15-man, equal-time rotation policy that I have been employing, but rather, on picking our strongest team, with substitutions brought on as an when appropriate ie they want the team to be selected in the same way that a Saturday or Sunday league team is picked. As promised, I have spent the weekend reflecting on this issue.

The first response of most Accies reading this will no doubt be the mantra of 'form, fitness, talent and commitment'. To me, this is, and has always been, a bit of a red-herring as far as selection is concerned. Since I have been with the club the only person to implement this policy strictly was Simon and, at least to my recollection, it proved to be highly unpopular. When I took over picking the team from Joe a few months ago I at no point planned to use FFTC, even though we all agreed to it at our last AGM. The reason was simple: if I did, some players would hardly be getting any football, and others would be playing all the time. The Accies is a club of widely divergent talents and abiltities. Some obviously see this as in sometimes understandably negative light ie after 8-0 dubbings!!! I have grown, reluctantly at first, to see it as one of the positive things about playing for the Accies.

Hence I have tried, much in the same way that Joe did, to make everybody who turns up for the Accies feel important to the team, and therefore give everybody the chance to contribute. This has meant that I have used this strict rotation policy, with everybody getting approximately equal minutes on the pitch. It should be stressed I have done this not just because i believe in some kind of broadly democratic principle, but because there is a deeper philosophy, based on a fundamental sense of team-spirit, behind it. Put very prosaically it's part of an effort to make us a better team, but a better team based not just on a handful of individuals playing well, but on all of us playing well together and supporting each other. As Steve said to me during last week's game, "your mistake is my mistake, mate" (in fact he says that to me most weeks in an effort to keep my spirits up after my latest misplaced pass!). This, in a nutshell, is exactly my point. Thus, it shouldn't matter if people are coming on and off fairly frequently. We are a team of 15, 18, 20 people who can all do a job for the team, playing football in a way that we enjoy, and will hopefully, in time, become more successful than not. This is the reason I have made such an issue of communication rather than focusing on tactics or technical stuff.

All that being said, I consider this to be an open debate and would greatly appreciate all club members' views on this issue. My email is anaxagoras484@yahoo.com, so feel free to drop me a line, or I'm happy to chat about this after games in the pub. In the meantime, and until I get a considerable portion of the Accies demanding I change my selection policy, I'm going to continue with the ideas as I have briefly explained above. Let's bear in mind though, whatever system we use, we are going to get beaten sometimes, maybe even frequently. The trick is, I think, to win and lose as a team and, just as importantly, to play football in an environment that we can all enjoy. For myself I can only say that there is nobody in the Accies I don't look forward to seeing come Thursday evening.

As for this week's game, it's looking like we are going to be oversubscribed with players again. Some of us will therefore have to miss out. I will do my best to let those whose turn it is know beforehand, although that still means we would like you to turn up to the game (see above). If you do miss out, be assured, you will get plenty of chances to play before the end of the year. If you are in the 15 let's try to forget about last week, show a bit of determination and start to play some good football again. I thought the week before we showed signs that just round the corner are a string of excellent performances, which will hopefully be accompanied by similarly excellent results.

Moonlighting again, Steve?

Another post on behalf of Thorny:

After a possible sighting a few weeks back of Steve in Spain scoring for Valencia it seems strange that on another week when he is absent from the Accies I found this uncannily similar image of him, this time scoring the winner for West Brom against Man City. Is there really something he isn’t telling us?

Attempt to raise spirits

Guys,
Not being around ever week, it's not easy for me to judge the mood of the team, or whats going on,so you can appreciate that the news of team mates arguing, abuse to opposition and to each other, and a team refusing to play us anymore comes as quite a shock to me!
However, lets put all the negativity behind us now, and build on last night. After a slow start, we really dominated, looked to keep the ball on the floor, and, with a number of players not playing in their preferred position, didn't look disjointed at all. (Sam, absolute class!)
I want to make special comments about Barry and Perre. Barry was asked to come off, as per Thorny's pre match warning, had a bit of a grumble on the sidelines, but responded in exactly the way I think Thorney wanted. That second half performance from Bazza was superb. Perre also had the dissappointment of not starting, and came on to do a job at right back without a word of protest.Playing up front in the second half, he looked sharp, linked up well with Baz, Simon, Bobby in such a way we actually looked better WITHOUT Dean on the pitch!! Again, I think it was a performance that Thorney was looking for, especially the cut back for Bobby's goal,well played.
So let's carry on with that, I know we all get wound up, especially if we're not playing well, but surely after 10 years we are used to not playing well all the time by now! I love coming down, and can't envisage a time when it will feel like a chore, we rebuilt our bridges with the Dutch, maybe we can get Southside back onside too?

Team mates… if you practise hard enough, one day you might be able to pass the ball like these fellas:

Last night's game… a win for the club

Posting on behalf of Thorny:

The response last night to the previous week's poor performance, and our run of recent poor results, was terrific. We thoroughly deserved our 4-2 win against a team with whom we have had many close-fought matches. For the first time in a while it is therefore a pleasure to highlight some of our better performances, although, to be honest, there wasn't a player last night who didn't make a significant, positive contribution to the game. Firstly, it wouldn't be right not to mention Dean, who on his return to the Accies, bagged a hat-trick. His goals were well taken and his link up play and overall contribution were superb. Luis, playing his first 90 minutes in a while, was excellent and, even in the last few minutes, looked full of running. Sam, who has the misfortune of being accomplished in so many positions and hence gets used freely about the pitch, provided the defensive security and assuredness of touch that gave us the platform to play more expansively further up the pitch. And finally Barry, who after a first-half indiscretion, came back on and showed real character when others might have gone into their shells and sulked, playing with genuine intelligence and comittment. In general it was great to see the Accies spirit flourishing again, particularly in the second half, when some of the football was really fluent, penetrative and enjoyable to watch.

A quick word for next week and beyond. We have lots of players coming back for our next game, so let's hope we can carry this type of performance on all the way to the end of the year. For one reason or another I think we have been underachieving as a club for a while. It would be great to have a run where we set that record straight. If so I'm sure we will have many more nights at least as good, if not better, than last tonight. Oh and one final thought, please take the time to not only read but think carefully about the 'open' letter Stuart handed out at the end of the game. With the news that Phil's team, Southside, don't want to play us any more, we all need to think carefully about the type of image the club generates if we are to continue to enjoy our football. It's worth remembering there is a world of difference between people who play sport and those who are sportsmen. Lets hope that everybody who pulls on an Accies shirt in the future falls into the latter category.

Up the Accies.

Quick Statattack

Deano's first goal last night was our 500th 11-a-side netbuster. As is customary with such huge milestones, at the time it passed without comment. But as the scorer of one of our 503 goals to date, I hereby congratulate everyone who's helped us pass 500. Nice work, fellas!

Last Week's Game… To Talk Or Not To Talk

Posting on behalf of Thorny:

I'm sure everyone was disappointed with last week's result. As i pointed out after the game it was not for lack of effort. As always it was tremendous all over the pitch. We had innumerable chances in the first half, that on another night would put the game out of sight. We also gave away two more cheap goals, which hopefully, very soon, we will stop doing. As we all know defending begins at the top end of the pitch so, frustrating as it is, we are all culpable when calamity strikes. Things are not all doom and gloom though, as i feel sure that very soon we are going to put in a string of decent performances which will get the results they deserve. There was one general area that i think we keep letting ourselves down on, and at the risk of getting boring and repeating myself, i think i need to to comment upon again. Quiet simply there is too much talking when we should be silent and not enough when we need to speak. If we can get this issue right we will become a transformed team.

The most important time to speak is when one of our players has the ball and is under pressure, or very soon will be. Then we need to move into space, tell the player which direction the pressure is coming from and call for the ball. We also need to talk when an opposition player is free in a dangerous area and one of our players can pick him up. Simply call him by alerting him to the direction of the danger, quickly and calmly. This is very straightforward stuff but it was noticeable last week that once the game became tight we fell silent in this respect. It is also appropriate to talk if one of our players makes a mistake. We then need to give him a brief word of encouragement, as, to be successful, we all need to support each other.

The times when we shouldn't be speaking are if we want to in any way abuse the opposition. Far too much of this goes on and it needs to stop. Not only does it make us look like a team of very unsporting players, but it has the effect of unfocusing the team from the only reason we should be there: to play football! If you have a problem with an opposition player let the referee deal with it and save your energy for helping the Accies win the game. Another time when its not appropriate to talk is if one of our players makes a mistake or you disagree with a decision, either with regards to the referee, or myself, or whoever else is making substitutions, tactical decision etc. Again there was way too much mumbling and grumbling during last week's game. It really isnt helpful in any respect. Whatever happens on the pitch we need to stay together as a team, support each other and strive to do our very best. If there are issues that you have with the referee mention it to me at half time or after the game and we will try to address it. If its an issue you have with me then im more than happy to discuss it with you after the game. I welcome everybody's input so long as it's constructive.

All of this being said, none of the above is directed at anybody in particularly. To be honest we all made mistakes last week, and will no doubt continue to do so. The trick is to do so in an atmosphere where we are all pulling together. We have players with ability in all areas of the pitch to be really successful, success, of course being fundamentally judged not just in terms of winning games (though that would be nice!), but in having a happy club with everybody contributing.

Anyway, let's try to put last week behind us tomorrow and really make an effort to change the way we talk or don't talk on the pitch.

Up the Accies.

Little Joe: Over Before It Really Began

Just a quick note to let you all know that "Little" Joe Bowkett has regretfully decided to leave the club. His work have declared that he will work late most Thursdays, meaning he feels he's wasting our time by trying to continue with the Accies. I am going to offer him the opportunity to keep paying £2 a month to keep his membership going on the off-chance that he can start playing again at some point in the future; or simply join the ranks of the Associate Members, meaning he would have reapply for membership in the future.

I'm sure you'll all agree that it's a shame to lose Joe as he seems a top lad and was a pretty useful young player too. On the other hand, with both this year's triallists, Joe and Dean, not working out for different reasons, it does mean that our currently high squad number has been curtailed a little. Both Joe and Dean were excellent additions to the squad, but on reflection I'm not sure we needed two extra players in 2010 as much as we have needed newbies in previous years. Time will tell.

Over and out.

MI Cup Draw

Just to confirm.

The Accies are drawn with Southside FC and MRC Ewell in the group stages of the MI cup.

There are 6 groups - 6 group winners plus 2 best runners up go through to the QF's in the new year.

In the past 12 months Effra have played MRC Ewell 3 times - 1xwin, 1xdraw and 1x defeat.

All to play for in a wide open group.

This week's match is now a CUP TIE…

Teammates, the below is from the skipper (technical problems prevent him from posting it himself):

Just a brief note to let people know that tomorrow night's game with Southside - Phil's work team - is now an official game in the MI Cup. Therefore selection will not follow the usual 'form, fitness etc' mantra, but will be a little more focused on winning the game. The squad will also only be 14 in number, and substitutes will not be made as freely as normal, but with the aim of winning the game. Ideally we will be 4-0 up after 20 minutes and we will all get plenty of football.

As for the game itself, well we all, of course, want to enjoy it, but i think a win is imperative. We have played some decent stuff in the last few weeks, even though we have been on the wrong end of results, so I see tomorrow night as a time to raise our levels, cut out any costly mistakes and win the game decisively. That's not to say we should approach the game complacently. We may well have beaten Southside 8-4 and 5-1 in our last two encounters, but i'm certain they will be sharper and more determined, and i have it on good authority, ie Phil, that they will be fielding a much stronger side. Therefore, to avoid the kind of disappointments we have had in this competition over the last couple of years, lets start strongly by playing the kind of quick, passing football we have shown in bursts over the last month or so, and keep playing that way for 90 minutes. I feel certain, if we do that, we will get a positive result from the game.

Oh, and one final thought. Any of you disappointed, either at being left out, or with the amount of football you get tomorrow night, will get plenty of football over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully you will use that playing time to prove to myself, or whoever else might be picking the team by that point, that i was wrong and you should have been playing a far more significant part in our next cup game.

Up the Accies.