Off to a Flyer with the New Look St Leonards

Micky (Turka) Taylor, Author and Non-League Football Pundit

With the 2001/02 season underway in the Southern League Eastern Division, we had hopes of a good season without the dreaded threat of relegation hanging over us and of staying in the top half of the table maybe with some more prize money in the FA Cup.

Like most non-League managers without contracts, you are only a few defeats away from getting the sack.

For some unknown reason (to me anyway) I think in a weird way they love to call you in to flaunt their power and sack you!

For me, I feel responsible to the club and the fans and, of course, my playing budget, no matter how it compares with any others after all, I chose to take the job and I do not set the playing budget, the chairman does that.

I must say at this point that during my management career I am happy to say that I have never left a football club worse off, on or off the field, than when I arrived.

With that out of the way let’s get on with our league programme and what a good start for us picking up nine points from the first four games and only a point behind early leaders Grantham Town.

After our great win at Histon what do we go and do? We lose at home on the Monday night to Chatham Town 2-1 in a game that we should have won in the first half we were that good.

You pay for missed chances, however, and you get beat which is what happened, and this was our first home league game which made it worse.

A good side bounces back though and that is exactly what we did on the Saturday at home to new boys, Banbury United, who were a typical Midlands team - very physical and on the front foot from the start.

But that actually suited us as we got in behind them and again Tony Reid’s pace gave us the lead.

Simon Fox added a second which was a great response after Monday’s defeat.

Banbury did pull a goal back, but we held on for a much-deserved win to the delight of our supporters.

We followed that up with a very good away win at Ashford Town on the Bank Holiday Monday - the first win there for St Leonards in five years.

My new signing, Tony Reid, was beginning to make a name for himself up front which pleased me as he was a very honest, pacey, powerful player and the nicest person you could ever want to meet unless it was in a boxing ring!

That win set us up very nicely for our FA Cup game away at Herne Bay which we won, and we now faced BAT Sports (who are now called Totton & Eling) from the Wessex League at home on a Sunday.

This was because of the FA ruling that as Hastings United and us were so close – a goal kick away just about - if Hastings were drawn at home in the cup or Trophy, then we must play on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon.

We chose the Sunday which was okay and we had a decent crowd in, despite it being a sunny day which, being a seaside club, most people make for the beach.

Like in all FA Cup football BAT soon made it clear that they were going to be no pushover and defended in numbers, creating a frustrating first half for the Saints` forwards.

The second half was to be a different game altogether as we took control and took the lead through a Carleton Chatelier header midway through the second half.

BAT were finding it hard to contain the power of the in-form Tony Reid and he duly obliged, running through the visiting defence and scoring past the advancing keeper.

The Hampshire side were now truly on the back foot as Danny Moody found the net with a fine headed goal to wrap the tie-up and put some more money into the club’s bank account.

I believe as a manager you have to have man-management skills which I believe I have, and although we did not play well and, in fact, could have been 1-0 at half-time, I never once showed my players any panic or frustration, I just kept preaching that we will get our goal and go on from there and win the tie which we did.

Of course, I wasn’t happy with our performance, but this was the FA Cup and we had got into the next round.

The chairman was happy, the fans were happy, and at the end of the day that is what counts.

It is true to say that in non-League football the real fans are so loyal to their club you can feel that warmth at times, but at the same time their small band of voices can have eyes and ears catching messages that will make the chairman panic and make wrong decisions which in a lot of cases they do.

At that moment, however, I was happy for the fans and the club but knowing that one day that I would be the victim.

There is a saying, and a very true one, that players win games and managers lose them, but we were doing fine in the league and still holding our own against some very good clubs.

Of course, we were always going to be compared to Hastings in the local press but that is something you have to live with.

I must say though, the draw for the next round of the FA Cup did us no favours at all.

With no disrespect intended to Fisher Athletic, who would fancy them away from home, but that is what we got and it was a case of going up to Salter Road against a very strong Fisher side.

What a drama that tie turned out to be as you will read in my next piece!

(Micky Taylor`s excellent book `Non-League Football - A Roller Coaster Ride To Beat Any` is available to buy from Amazon priced £12.99 (Kindle version £3.99. All proceeds to Cancer Research).