Mark Barnham's View From The Dugout
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Update: 5th April 2010
Hello everyone, and welcome to my latest column as Northwood manager and I would like to thank all those people who have helped me overcome the initial settling in period, and all the supporters who have also been very complimentary.
The games continue to come thick and fast, I can't even remember how many games we have played since taking over! I feel the team are struggling at the moment, due obviously to the injuries (Cato, Osei, Hewitt, Page, Christian, Sharples) and players leaving.
We have had quite a turbulent time and therefore had to blood a number of reserve team players quicker than we would have liked, and they are finding it a bit tough at the top. We must also bear in mind, though, that a lot of these boys have not even trained with the first team, and we still have not had a training session, as we prepare for another game. We must be patient with the players as we use this period of consolidation to form our squad for next season.
We also welcomed back to the team after short absences Mitch Swain and Scott Orphanou, the later rejoining just as I write this column. I would also like to mention that in these turbulent times it's good to know that some players will walk through brick walls for you, i.e. Michael Peacock who we are strapping up before each game, and must have several injuries. He also turned down a move to Wealdstone to see the season out, whilst John Christian should have had an operation on both groins by now, but has delayed this to see the season out and help these youngsters through.
Also would like to pass on a big thank you for Dave Pelton and Pat Byrne for a great evening out at the curry house with the players ... only thing being that we seem to have got more runs than points since!!
Finally, I would like to welcome the players and management team of Wingate and Finchley to the Woods today and I am sure it will be an enjoyable game, with the return of a familiar face in one Gary Burrell.
Wingate are probably the most in-form team at present: ever since our win at Wingate at Christmas they have been knocking off win after win, and will no doubt be taking part in the play-offs at the end of the season. This will be the fourth encounter this season between the teams, with the scores currently at one win each and a draw, so this should be a great spectacle as Wingate are one of the best footballing teams in our division.