This week I had my latest interview with club captain Charlie Horlock and he reviewed the recent performances. He accepts that we are having a blip at present but feels there are reasons for this and he remains confident that results will pick up again.
Charlie said that we had had an excellent start to the season and have been in and around the play-off places. This has led to teams showing us greater respect than may have been the case in previous seasons and the consequence has been that teams are sitting deeper when they come to Top Field and defending in greater depth. We have struggled to break down this more defensive strategy and have also conceded a number of soft goals to aggravate the situation. Yet when we play away we are seeing teams attack us more and we have been very good on the counter and have produced some excellent performances.
Charlie says the management and players are aware of the problems we are facing at home and are working hard to adapt our game. To coincide with the more defensive approach of the opposition there are other factors Charlie highlighted that have added to our drop of in form. Injuries have certainly not helped with key players missing for a number of games and while the squad is stronger this season it is not easy for players to come in and immediately be at their best as they adapt to our system. Also when players come back from injury it often takes a few games to get back to previous levels. Another factor Charlie mentioned was that certain players have been playing with niggles due to other absentees and have not been at their best, while a number of players have had to play out of their normal position. It is also a young team and certain players will have dips in form.
As we get in to December pitches can be more difficult as we experienced at Royston and it has been a tough month. But Charlie feels in our division anyone can beat anyone and playing a team at the bottom of the table does not mean an easy game as we experienced with Berkhamsted. They turned up having lost their manager and had signed some experienced players and Charlie said they deserved to win. However Charlie is still confident as are the rest of the squad and he feels results will soon change and there is no need for any panic. We should be pleased with where we are and our good start to the season has raised expectations. In his time at Hitchin Charlie says we have tended to finish seasons strongly after a slow start and we would have bitten off the hand if we had been offered our current position.
We need to be better in both boxes by not giving away soft goals and being more clinical up front. The one thing Charlie is really pleased by is the fact that players are always giving 100% effort and nobody is hiding. He fells this is the least the players can do for the supporters who he again praised for their great support. The players have really appreciated the larger numbers and the extra chanting and are determined to improve the home form to reward the supporters.
Many thanks to Charlie for his insight in to the season so far.
ROY IZZARD