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They looked formidable, the four men heading the panel. Ash, his captain Nathan Daley, the vice-captain Cory Walters-Wright and the returning James Shaw. Plenty of experience all through those lads.

And when they spoke, it underlined that. I’ve been really impressed with Cory on the pitch so far this season, and he spoke brilliantly off it last night, in somewhat quieter tones than we’re used to hearing from him. Daley, too, was statesman-like. There was too much content to give a full transcript, but here’s the gist;



⁃ In response to specific criticism of the tactics employed in the Northwood game, Ash pointed out that response was evident with Tuesday’s clean sheet. Reveals there was an extra session called for the lads on Monday night in order to assess video footage of the game. I have to say that Ash fielded the question very well, as the lad who asked was quite direct in his criticism. He alluded to the nature of his management style, where he isn’t shouting his head off from the technical area and spoke of the trust and responsibility he places in the senior players on the pitch to manage effectively on the field of play, something the players there backed up.

⁃ “A bit of a hangover from last season”. There was mention of the preseason form being worrying and supporters coming into the new season apprehensive. Daley spoke of last season having “no flow” and seemed to suggest that the changing room atmosphere that had served the club so well in the covid-affected seasons was no longer there. There was no specific explanation for this, though player turnover was referred to a couple of times.

⁃ Ash addressed player turnover and suggested it was absolutely the plan to not use so many players this season.

⁃ Reference to Tooting players “squaring up” to each other on the pitch and having rows. None of the players present, or Ash, seemed unduly concerned by this. “Intensity is good”, said Daley. Cory referred to making sure everyone knows what’s expected of them.

⁃ The Sky documentary was mentioned. “It was a pain in the arse”, commented a supporter. Ash, Daley and Cory seemed reluctant to go into much detail, it seemed to me at least. Daley conceded that players might have been inclined to do bits for the benefit of the camera. Personally, having concluded that neither the supporters or the players present seemed to enjoy the experience much, I would have liked to ask Ash specifically how the experience was for the coaching staff. Having seen the documentary in full, I have my own theories, but they weren’t explored so I won’t mention them here.

⁃ A supporter mentioned Tooting’s infamous home form, and informed Ash- who until that point didn’t know- that Tooting’s home form has been worse than our away form in every season since something like 2006 {citation needed}. There was a consensus amongst the players that opposition players raise their game at IF- we have a good ground and a reputation as a big club in the league (“the Real Madrid of the South Central”, said Daley)- so it’s something of a scalp to get a result at Imperial Fields. Cory spoke well about how it was up to the players to use the weight of the Tooting shirt to their own advantage. “We have to know we deserve to be here”, he said, or words to that effect. The thought seems to be that players should puff out their chests to meet the weight of the shirt, rather than have it be a millstone.

⁃ Referees. There was much chat about referees and it seems the club is developing a policy on how to approach games in terms of the appointed officials. The management has learned that some refs are officiating games with very little experience of the level we’re at, if any at all. When refs are appointed, the club is now doing some “background checks” on the individual, to find out more about where they’re from, their experience, what they’ve given etc. It seems to me that being forewarned in this regard is being forearmed. If the lads know the kind of guy they’re getting, they can go into the game with at least an idea of how to approach the less technical, more “street-smarts” aspects of the game. On that- Cory responded to a supporter comment about the “histrionics” employed by opposition players by letting us know to expect more of that this season. He suggested that it’s an essential part of game management, and that we need to get “cute” in order to see games out. There were no objections from his colleagues.

⁃ There was a bit of chat about discipline. It was noted that Tooting had one of the worst disciplinary records in the division last season, which needed to be addressed. There was some theorising that refs come to Tooting and “don’t like us”. While frustrations with officials were understandable, the players made it clear it was on them to manage games. “If we allow ourselves to let the ref run our games, we take control out of our own hands”, said Cory (or words to that effect). It’s clear that the players realise they have it in their power to run the games how they want to run them, and they can’t afford to cede that power to decisions made by the officials.

⁃ Finally, Ash addressed a question about the squad for the season ahead. In short, he’s happy with what he has and has no concerns about physicality in midfield. He is “talking to” Billy Brown- it seems Billy isn’t playing anywhere else and has been away during the summer. Nathan Gordon, seen at the game on Tuesday night, is recovering from an injury and will be back when fit. Unfortunately, Akheem remains injured. There didn’t seem to be any optimism from the panel about his return in the near future.

With that, the manager and the lads went off to train. A few of the rest of the squad had been present, but not participated. Ash made it clear that supporters were welcome to watch any training session they cared to attend “so you can see what we’re about”.

I was left feeling very positive about the squad. The manager is clearly happy and anyone with any concerns about there being “too many” young players should take heart in the fact that there’s a body of senior players the manager trusts completely. It’s notable that they all seem to be at one end of the pitch, although all indications are they can and will be heard as much at the top of the park as at the bottom.

There followed a discussion with Chris Woolley, Nick Shaw and Tong Cox about off the field things. It was long and, if I’m totally honest, I’m not arsed to comment on it here.

VCD this afternoon in the oldest cup competition in the world. Possibly the universe.

Up the Stripes