Posted by: fenlandclarioncc | April 2, 2008

Cuckoos News 02/04/08

“The kids are alright”

If it was a deliberate policy shift by Yaxley FC this season to go for enthusiastic youth over proven experience then it was inspired. If it was as a result of more realistic budgetary needs then it was still inspired!!!

Either way I had more satisfaction and pleasure watching the Young Guns scrapping for a point at reigning league champions Deeping than many a night of my three decades of watching this football club (and I include the not too distant past of steamrollering lesser sides in that).

Something is stirring in this furthest most outcrop of Huntingdonshire, and it is worth watching. As the President mentions in the posting below, football has gone mad and lost its soul, even at this eighth tier, and money and greed has replaced loyalty and cameraderie.

If half of the rumoured salaries and benefits offered to UCL players this season were to be true then we would have a problem. I suspect it could be more, so we have a big problem.

But somehow, amongst the three figured weekly salaries for essentially amateur footballers, Clippo and Seb have been forging a side together full of heart and endeavour. And whilst they have a long way to go in their development, I hope in years to come we can look back on this as a night when they started to come of age.

The good thing is that there is still that smattering of experienced players, who have seen and done it all in the UCL, and I hope that they will stick around to pass on the trade to the new breed.

It is hard to pick out individuals, but fans favourite Anthony “Patrick” Thomas never fails to impress. The little and large front two of Sam Makansi and Josh Crick put an experienced defensive unit to the test, and defensively the Cuckoos were solid.

I came away from Outgang Road with hope for the future. Of course some of the players will be destined to leave us for bigger and better things. So we should enjoy their skills whilst we can and hope that the club stays true to its philosophy of developing local youth and giving them the tools to go a long way in the game. Hopefully with YFC.

Posted in Cuckoos News

« Deeping 0-0 Cuckoos “A Presidential View”
Desborough 0-0 Cuckoos »

Responses

Your comments make interesting reading, Clippo was given no option than to blood the young players due to the experienced players letting him down on many occasions, and then when things got difficult, taking flight rather than battle for the cause, and unfortunately there has always been money paid to players in the UCL and it will continue, whether you like it or not.
Optimism is always good, but its about getting the correct blend, and over the course of a season you will need some experienced quality to get you through the difficult games and be successful.

As always, a crop of good young players attracts attention from other clubs and if one of those clubs offers a “package” to one of them, its always very hard for them to say No, and i don”t like to say it, but the current facilities at Leading Drove are doing them no favours, as was discussed in my time there, which was 18 months ago !!
That aside, i wish gary every success, because the guy”s heart is in the job, and you need people like that…..oh, and a sprinkling of luck….energy, commitment, heart, and bloody hard work…..

have fun guys !!!!

By: Jim Watson on April 3, 2008
at 2:45 pm

Words of Wisdom and experience from Jim …

Jims words are profound and of course absolutely true.

As for the facilities, we are just about to move into the temporary units and demolish the old club. We have achieved much over the past couple of years - new access road, new floodlights, another 4.5 acres of playing area, new pitch maintenance equipment, new 3 phase power supply, burger van, etc etc.

We now have U16’s , U18’s, 2 ladies teams, reserves and 1st team using the facilities at Leading Drove but understandably, everyone focuses on the new clubhouse.

We still depend immensley on volunteer support - especially on the finishing and commissioning of the temporary units and to be frank, we could do with more help but as every club knows, it always comes down to the same handfull of people which means that things never ever happen as quickly as everyone else thinks they should or wants them to.

Thanks to Jim for his good wishes and lets hope that the sprinkling is more than we hope for and yep, it’s still fun (well some of the time!)

By: Jeff Lenton on April 8, 2008
at 7:53 am

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