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Davies Consultancy

Friday 19th November 2010
PROBABLY THE BEST GAME OF FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND
It’s back to Cup action again this Saturday as FC take on Hinckley United of the Blue Square North in the third and final qualifying round of the FA Carlsberg Trophy at Gigg Lane, 3.00 pm. kick off. After a stirring run of seven wins on the bounce the two away league defeats in the last few days have brought Margy and the team crashing back down to earth.

"After all the good work of recent weeks I was extremely disappointed with our performance at Colwyn Bay on Tuesday. At times it seemed like we’d gone back to some of those games in September and early October. We had a good start and took the lead but in the second half the opposition came out and wanted it more than us. I’ve said it before but that’s not acceptable from our players. There wasn’t enough pressure on the ball defensively or in midfield, whilst the lads up front didn’t hold onto possession and the lads out wide just didn’t perform."

"In contrast I could accept last Saturday’s defeat at Northwich because I thought we did reasonably well. They only had one or two efforts on target, whilst we hit the bar twice and had a good number of other chances to score but just couldn’t put the ball away. There was no faulting the players’ effort, it just seemed to be one of those days, especially on the back of everything going right against Rochdale. Tuesday was different for whatever reason and I’ll be looking to the players to put it right on Saturday."

"I can understand supporters being worried by our position towards the foot of the table but I think it’s a false position and I’m sure we’ll start to climb away when we get back to a run of league games after all the cup ties we’ve been having. The players have shown how well they can perform over the last six weeks and we have to start translating that into league points on a consistent basis. However we won’t be doing so if we carry on playing like we did in midweek."

"We welcome Hinckley on Saturday and they’re the fourth higher division side we’ll have played this season. After three previous victories we should hold no fear, but I don’t think we should pay much attention to their own league form which suggests they’ve been struggling a bit. Their players will come here and look to enjoy the experience just like every other team does and it’s our job not to let them draw on that to get a result. It’s extremely important that we go out and put on a good show at the weekend as after an excellent run of victories we’ve now lost two on the bounce and another defeat could easily see that turn into a bad run very quickly. That’s why it’s so important not to take your foot off the gas when you’re on a winning run. Just as success breeds success, so it can go the other way and losing runs are a lot harder to break. The main thing in football is work rate no matter how much talent you might have in your team, and that shouldn’t change whether you’re playing badly or playing well, as if you put the work in then you’ll reap the reward nine times out of ten."

"Obviously a lot of the focus in recent weeks has been on the FA Cup, as it will be again in the coming days. It’s not on my agenda yet however – it counted for nothing on Tuesday and after today we’ve got a League Cup game against Ashton on Monday before we can even start thinking about Brighton. Only once Tuesday comes rounds can we focus on trying to spring another upset next weekend, and that’s something I’ll be drilling into the players."

As ever, we’ll look to you for your backing on Saturday. The atmosphere in the last round here was excellent and of course at Rochdale it was simply amazing. When you get seasoned pros looking on in bewilderment and saying it’s the best they’ve ever encountered then it just shows how fantastic the backing is that this club gets. That’s something our lads need to keep appreciating and which none of us can ever take for granted.

No luck at Northwich

BUY NOW WHILE SHARES LAST!


Only 12 days left to invest in FC United’s Community Share Scheme. There are still a significant number of supporters and members who haven’t yet got around to investing so please don’t delay any longer, the Club need to have the funds in so that we can move as quickly as possible into Ten Acres. We don’t want to be homeless for any longer than we have to.

If you haven’t got a brochure then all the info and forms you need are here:- http://www.fc-utd.co.uk/communityshares.


Supporters may be interested to hear that Kevin Jaquiss of Cobbetts Solicitors has received national recognition by winning the Financial Times Innovation Award for his work on our scheme and the development of an alternative form of finance.

The CSS also won further recognition this week from the wider community outside of football as it received the winning votes in a Dragon’s Den style presentation at the Good Deals Social Investment Conference - click here.

Get yourself to that football ground. FC United V Hinckley United, FA Carlsberg Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round, Gigg Lane, Saturday 20th November, kick off 3.00 pm.


10K FOR TEN ACRES

The BUPA Great Manchester Run will take place next year on Sunday 15th May. For the sixth year in a row FC United will have a team of supporters running to raise funds for the Development Fund and other worthy causes.

It’s a great occasion and as we run around the course in our FC first team shirts with the other 38000 participants we always receive shouts of encouragement from the thousands of spectators lining the route to help us on our way.

Registration is now open, however places are usually filled in a matter of days, so if you would like to join us go to www.greatrun.org as soon as possible, follow the instructions and/or contact Mike Sherrard for further information at sherrard@btconnect.com.

Looking back at Rochdale

While being rather excited about the Rochdale game in the cup there were two things that as a part of this club worried me. The first being a hammering by the League One outfit and the ribbing I’d get from mates who wouldn’t take into consideration the gulf between ourselves and the Dale, no problem there though thanks to the performance of the players.

The second was a more important thing to worry about. There was a worry about how we as a club and as fans of this club would be perceived in the media. I was basically worrying that the media and the public just wouldn’t get what this club was about. Again I needn’t have worried there; this was mostly down to the fantastic support the lads were given that well, let’s face it we’re used to seeing week in week out.

The build up game saw the usual red top angle seeking stories the pick being that of debt advisor Carlos Roca putting the club opposing football debt into the oldest club competition in the world, and the wonderful story about minister come centre forward Glynn Hurst looking for holy intervention to help the Reds.

One article though stood out for me, it featured in The Times on the Friday of the match and just absolutely captured what this club was about. It talked about the fans, the people that founded the club and had a real understanding of what this club is about.

The same goes for the ESPN coverage of the game, which heaped praise on the club before the game, seemed in awe of our support during the match and even portrayed the emotions of all involved in the club after pulling off such a fantastic victory.

There were murmurs in some quarters about the board taking the opportunity to put the club on TV and move the fixture, but I think now we can all understand why this decision was made and the positive coverage we’ve received since the Rochdale game can only add weight behind the argument to switch the game.

All in all it’s amazing how well the club came off, and I’ve lost count of the amount of times that people have talked to me in these two weeks about what a great thing we have here in this, our club.

But let’s not forget this isn’t the end of our journey in either the cup or as a club, next weekend sees the trip to Brighton but long after that game the same fans will still be here fighting for the same thing they believed in before the television cameras came and went.

SATURDAY 20TH NOVEMBER KICK-OFF 3pm - ADULTS £8, UNDER 18s £2, OVER 60s £5