Welling away on Tuesday, as our 24th match of the season puts us officially in second half of the season territory – and I’ve been asked to look back on the first half of the season, and forward to the second, and pull together a few thoughts on what we’ve seen so far and what we might hope to see in the coming months.
My earliest – and one of the strongest – memories of the start of this season for me, was on a Friday in close season. As supporters we were all aware that Mel Gwinnett had departed, and the search for a new manager was ongoing, and like most fans I was desperate for any hint I could get as to the new manager hunt. Nothing. Nada. Until I got a call from Managing Director Will King, one Friday in May, whilst I was sat watching my newly three year old son hurl himself off the soft play equipment. “Thom, any chance you could come in on Sunday… we need you to take some photos of our new manager!”. I turned up, and there was Alan Julian. I was surprised to see Jules, but also surprised at how much it immediately made sense.
I am a supporter, but I recognise I’m in a privileged position in that I get to travel with the team, and get to know them well at training and on game day throughout the season, and having got to know and see Jules operate over the last five years, I was seriously reassured that he was in charge. And the other thing which struck me was clarity – Alan was so clear about what he wanted, who he wanted this team to be, and what sort of people (and I use the term people intentionally, not players) he wanted in his squad.
And that clarity is what contributes to one of the real highlights of this season, which is the atmosphere around the playing squad and the staff. This is in no way a slight on previous groups, and I’ve enjoyed being around all of them in their various ways, but there is a real sense of togetherness here. Wherever they came from, Chelsea or Badshot Lea, it’s an egalitarian culture, with everyone pulling together and no ego. It’s exactly the sort of group of people that as a fan I find it very easy to support, and I’m sure others do too.
That atmosphere, and ease with one another is a big factor – I think – in what is the real highlight of the season for me so far, and that’s the style of play. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the best footballing side I’ve seen in my five years in the Bev, and I’ve heard countless other similar comments. We’ve seen (I think…) every side in the league now, and for me we are lucky enough to get to watch the best footballing team in the division week in week out. I really do believe that – this Beavers team play the most enjoyable style of football in the National League South. Some of the goals we’ve seen this season – Jake Gray’s Brazil 1970-esque goal at home to Eastbourne Borough, Alex Wall’s bicycle kick against Hashtag, and any number of magic moments featuring Mauro Vilhete.
Along with the style of play, I think we’re really lucky so far this season to have seen the – frankly ridiculous – development of some of our players. Sadly, two of those have now departed, and it’s been such a privilege to watch Jack Taylor and Ted Curd grow in their time at the club. Both have returned to their parent clubs as highly effective National League South performers, and more than capable of playing at a higher level. I think the same is true of the other young players we’ve signed. Ibrahim Jalloh, Josh Keeya, Archie Taylor and more… all have been astonishing in the pace they’ve adapted to the level, and thrived. Seeing Mike Atkinson show himself to be the non-league Michael Essien, Dom Revan playing like prime Sol Campbell, and the continuing on-pitch/off-pitch bromance of Jake Gray and James Roberts, which has resulted in 22 goal contributions between them. Everywhere I look, there are players that it’s just so easy to take pride in wearing this shirt.
There have been a few lowlights, sure, and I think the chastening home defeat to Hornchurch and the 3-0 defeat to Truro City are probably the worst for me, but they are outnumbered many, many times by the highlights. 4-0 against Enfield Town and Robbo’s hat trick, the first win of the Alan Julian era courtesy of Wally’s backside against Salisbury, and the superb 4-0 away victory at Hemel are results that really stand out for me, but there are many I could have picked.
For the second half of the season, well, I’m cautiously optimistic. Obviously, it’s no secret that we are operating on a reduced budget this season. I think it’s fair to say that my expectations were low – and the Chairman has spoken about how his own expectations were tied much more to culture and development than to results and league position at the start. Fundamentally, I still think that staying up would be success, and that achieving a mid-table finish would be astonishing – but I’m dreaming. This team is capable of excellence. It’s exciting, it’s youthful, it’s likeable and this league is so, so open. Put it this way, my wife and I aren’t booking any holidays over the Play Off dates…
I really hope that as the weather warms up and the idea of two hours outdoors at the football becomes more palatable we’ll see crowds go up, and some more noise in the Bev. Hands up – I don’t sing (I suspect the ref would boot me off the side of the pitch if I did), but I do think this is an area where we could do more. Some of those games last season, when Mel’s team had the 17 match unbeaten run had an incredible atmosphere and I think if we can recreate that atmosphere, with this team, we could have something really special on our hands.
Come on you Beavers!
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