This week, chairman Ben Hudson sat down with the club’s media team to provide an update to fans. The full video is available on our Youtube channel HERE.
Below are the key points Hudson touched on.
“Firstly I would like to apologise that there has not been an update more recently. I’ll get defensive and say whenever I do get to the club the cameras are out on the pitch for match day and I am not there much during the week. But the truth is things have fundamentally been good. Things that we care about off the pitch have been in a really good place. We’ve moved forwards, we’ve implemented what we’ve wanted to implement.
Website and X account handle.
“The only two bits and pieces I think we need help on [is that] I still can't find the HRBFC.com website owner. If you've got it, if it's yours, if you know anything about it, if you know who's got it, please let us know [as] we would love to make the change back to that.”
“The same with the Twitter handle, if anyone's got it, let us know we'd love to get back to that.”
Junior Kitman/Laundry Role Vacancy
"We'd like some help on the laundry side of thing. If there's someone out there that would like to be a kitman, junior kitman, or anything in between or just do some laundry during the week, please reach out!, We need help and support that side of things. There are three academy/junior teams and a men's team also with training, there's a lot of washing that needs to do.”
On the Pitch
“I can't not address a bad run of results. I think it's pretty unprecedented to have nine first team players out injured, so there was a long run where we were struggling to fill a bench.”
“We need a bigger, broader squad. I think there's plenty of people that would just sign players now for the sake of signing players, Alan and I talk all the time about what else we might need or how we improve. I think we've got a really strong first XI on its day, and I get that it hasn't been available, but I do hope that people are capable of looking at how well we played at Hornchurch and how different it felt, certainly for 20 minutes towards the end at Bath. The Bev was alive, it felt great, and that's how the season started We need to get back to that”
“[To the fans:] Please get behind us, please cheer for the boys, please do everything you can to do your piece off the pitch.”
“And to the players, please get back to being you. We started the season with 11 warriors. I keep using that phrase, and I hate using the word ’warriors,’ But we did, we had people that fought for each other, and whether we were the best or the worst or whatever it was in between, we gave 95 minutes’ worth of energy and we were there, we battled, we fought for everything, et cetera.”
“Whatever happens next, we would like to improve the squad, and that's not a dig at the first team. That's the reality of if five people get injured again. We can't be sat there naming three subs.”
“We are in the market for players. [However,] Not many people move now, it starts to change in January [when] League 1 and League 2 teams can sign players again and it all starts to rotate. We are always looking to improve and to have the boys on the pitch earn their place and fight for their shirts.”
Departures
“Alfie Tuck got recalled because he's injured [his shoulder] so he went back to QPR.”
“Luke Robertson has left us this week. So, I want to say a huge thank you to Luke. It was dual Registration with us and Chertsey. But now he has departed in search of more minutes. He is a good guy, really good around the dressing room and it’s been pleasure having him here.
Final Message To The Fans
“We're 18 games into a 46-game season. We have time. Don't panic. Managers talk game by game, and as a chairman, you look at seasons, It's November, we're not even at the halfway point. We had a great run at the start, we've had a poor run after that, which we need to correct and get back to being what we are, and we've got plenty of time to turn things around.
"We know we need a bigger, more competitive squad for the future. That's what it comes down to.”
Up the Beavers