Newark Advertiser approaches area football managers about the season so far and asks is everything going to plan?
As the end of the season fast approaches, football managers across the district were approached to give feedback on their seasons so far.
Newark and Sherwood United have had a season that has not met the expectations of their fans or owners.
Assistant manager Dennis Rhule left in November followed by coach Duncan Robertson, before Jonathan D’Larye departed as manager in January.
His newly appointed assistant manager Romaine Graham is now in charge as the side look to salvage something from their disappointing campaign.
Since taking charge, Graham has now secured four league match wins in a row and brought Tristan Spencer on board as his second in command.
The Highwaymen will now be hoping to get as high up the United Counties League Premier Division North table before regrouping for next season’s campaign.
“This season has been a relative success up to this point, before the called off game this week we was sitting in 3rd place,” said Newark Town’s manager Luke Parsons.
The step six side had a good season last year finishing fifth and making the play-offs before losing against Birstall United.
They are now in contention for promotion once again in the United Counties League Division One competition.
“After a slow start we picked up momentum and had some really good results along the way, the last couple of weeks we haven't quite got the wins we wanted but remained unbeaten in all three,” said Parsons.
“With still a 1/4 of season to go we are on track to achieve this but the most challenging thing has being preventing injuries and getting the same 16 man squad every weekend.
“If we can keep the consistent squad for the next 10 games this would be a massive plus for our playoff push.”
Jonny Upton who manages Southwell City and has celebrated 200 games in charge of the club during the season said it had been a mixed season for his side.
“We have had highs and lows.
“We’re better than what the table suggests but equally our Achilles heel has been performances against the bottom half.
“We have a young squad and compared to the wage budget others have we’re effectively fishing without a rod in comparison to a lot of them.
“On our day we will give anyone a game but we’ve done that then had a stinker the next week.
“Our squad is better than ever and we’re playing five or six under-21 players a week, they should be really proud.
“We have 13 games left and ten at home, let’s finish as strong as we can and set ourselves for a big summer where we have to increase the quality further.”
Kirton Brickworks manager Jamie Birch said that this season had been a page turner for his club.
“Considering that we were in a relegation battle last season, to be in a title fight this year is amazing for the club,” said Birch.
“With just a few additions to the core group we’ve pushed on this season.
“I’ve been at this club 20 years as a player and club secretary.
“My goals when taking over were to simply put the club back on the map, build some respect for the badge and create a fun, competitive environment for local lads to play their football.
“I measure success in trophies, so we are not quite there yet, but I think over the two years I’ve been in charge we’ve come a long way and certainly made great progress against our goals.
“Getting the lads to believe what I saw in them took a while, but we’re getting there. “Results are the ultimate measure of success and we’ve done well in that regard this year.
“Ultimately I see a bunch of lads loving their football and I’m seeing lots of old faces down to watch on match days - they are both two huge successes for me.
“We have a challenging finish.
“We have to win all our games and hope Blidworth make some mistakes for us to win the title.
“Our goal is that we want to win the league.
“We’ve just brought a few more lads in to help us with injuries.
“We’ll keep believing to the end, wherever we finish it won’t be through lack of effort.”
Collingham is still seeking promotion and looking to continue pushing in their first season in the Nottinghamshire Senior League.
“The ambition is still to achieve promotion, that is what we want to do and we are probably relying on Stapleford dropping some points,” said manager Damon Parkinson.
“At the end of the day though we need to win as many points as possible and get those goals on the board.”
