Not a loaded post, but genuinely interested to find out what other fans thought of the season?
I was only able to get over for one game, Southall at home over Christmas, but looking at the table and a record of 18-7-17 and 12pts off of the playoffs with a 9th place finish at Step 4 seems well below par to me. Add to that we've got the worst goal difference outside of the four relegated clubs. It's clear much change is needed in the summer.
Also (and I'm playing devil's advocate a little here), did things really improve much under Jamie Tompkins after he took over from Simon Lane? Genuine un-loaded question as the stats tell us that 9 of the 17 league losses came after he took over. Admittedly, the very end of the season was a write-off once the playoffs were an impossibility, but he did drastically change the squad and still results haven't really improved.
Not meant to sound too critical of JT. Only so much you can do midway through a season but with so many changes, including releasing players such as Aaron Watkins who looked a solid stopper, it just doesn't look to me to have worked as well as we hoped. I'm certainly not advocating the removal of JT, far from it. He needs a proper summer to change the squad properly and get them playing his way, but you'd have to feel we need a strong start to 26/27 to assuage any fears.
One good addition looks to be Brendan Matthew who has added goals. But our top scorer is still Sam Ashton who hasn't played since November. That's a pretty damning indictment.
As I say, not meant to sound uber-negative, but just how I see it from afar. Feel free to correct me if I've got any of the above wrong. I just really hope we can have a very strong season next season. We need more than one goalscorer (a la Barney, Toomey, Culley etc). A strong defence has got to be a must too. From what I saw, it was so easy to get in behind us if the opposition had any kind of pace. If the aim truly is to get back to National League South (and I believe that's correct for us) then the recovery has to start right now.
We're also competing with other successful local clubs such as Uxbridge, Hanworth Villa, Hanwell Town and the like. I'd like to think a good start can boost the attendances.
COYH!
2025/26 - What's The Feeling?
Re: 2025/26 - What's The Feeling?
I would agree with everything you've said there. We are where we are because there is no clear plan or strategy to get us any further.
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Mr Heinstein
- Posts: 175
- Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2023 4:43 pm
Re: 2025/26 - What's The Feeling?
Eras During 2025/26
After 9 games under Simon Lane we were sitting pretty, averaging 2.1 points per game. Then a run of one point and no goals scored in 4 league games saw us drop to 1.55 points per game and the chairman decided to act.
In the second half of the season, played under Jamie Tompkins, the club achieved 1.42 points per game, we ended up ninth, 12 points and a good few goals off the playoffs.
I know there wasn’t much to play for in the final few games but Tompkins whole ethos was to bring in players with the right attitude as his key priority. Personally, I didn’t see a lack of application towards the end of the season, we just weren’t good enough.
We’ll never know if the chairman should have stuck with Lane and the team would have recovered its early form, or if the slide would have continued. Maybe the chairman was burnt by giving Mark Molesley more of a chance than he deserved previously.
It’s all water under the bridge now and Tompkins has a chance to start afresh for the new season, so good luck Jamie, we'll be there to support you and the team!
Longer Eras - How To Reverse The Decline?
Looking higher up the club, we’ve had four seasons of decline:
In that time Hanwell, Hanworth, Southall, Harrow and Uxbridge have overtaken Hayes & Yeading United. Local sides, fishing in the same talent pool as us with, as far as I can tell, no sugar daddy pumping silly money in. As clubs, they have out-manoeuvred us. Needless to say, Wealdstone has disappeared over the horizon.
So, yes, we can wish Jamie Tompkins all the best, but I agree with Vialli, we need to look for a coherent strategy at the top of the club to avoid a fifth consecutive year of decline.
After 9 games under Simon Lane we were sitting pretty, averaging 2.1 points per game. Then a run of one point and no goals scored in 4 league games saw us drop to 1.55 points per game and the chairman decided to act.
In the second half of the season, played under Jamie Tompkins, the club achieved 1.42 points per game, we ended up ninth, 12 points and a good few goals off the playoffs.
I know there wasn’t much to play for in the final few games but Tompkins whole ethos was to bring in players with the right attitude as his key priority. Personally, I didn’t see a lack of application towards the end of the season, we just weren’t good enough.
We’ll never know if the chairman should have stuck with Lane and the team would have recovered its early form, or if the slide would have continued. Maybe the chairman was burnt by giving Mark Molesley more of a chance than he deserved previously.
It’s all water under the bridge now and Tompkins has a chance to start afresh for the new season, so good luck Jamie, we'll be there to support you and the team!
Longer Eras - How To Reverse The Decline?
Looking higher up the club, we’ve had four seasons of decline:
- 2021/22 : Step 3 : 2nd
- 2022/23 : Step 3: 7th
- 2023/24 : Step 3 : 20th
- 2024/25 : Step 4 : 6th
- 2025/26 : Step 4 : 9th
In that time Hanwell, Hanworth, Southall, Harrow and Uxbridge have overtaken Hayes & Yeading United. Local sides, fishing in the same talent pool as us with, as far as I can tell, no sugar daddy pumping silly money in. As clubs, they have out-manoeuvred us. Needless to say, Wealdstone has disappeared over the horizon.
So, yes, we can wish Jamie Tompkins all the best, but I agree with Vialli, we need to look for a coherent strategy at the top of the club to avoid a fifth consecutive year of decline.