Jerry’s thoughts ahead of St Albans match

Today will be a very difficult game for many reasons, with St Albans in good form in the league and also having progressed to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in Tuesday night’s replay. From our angle, of course, we are not happy with our current form which was magnified last Saturday having lost out to Banbury Utd in the FA Cup. On days like that there is always a lot of emotion before and after the game but it’s really important we all understand we are ALL trying to get the same result as a football club; whether you are a player, staff, board member or supporter.

No one goes out on a Saturday to lose a game or give less effort than they normally would. Confidence in the group has obviously taken a bump and this can be perceived by the naked eye as not trying but I can assure you every player gave it their all (backed up by our GPS data) it just wasn’t meant to be on the day.

We didn’t create enough opportunities in the game to win it or even get back on level terms in all honesty.

Since last Saturday I and have spent a lot of time thinking about the group and how we can move forward to improve performances and then in turn get some better results. Some key decisions have been made in areas which we have identified as needing change.

Having only played eight league games to date we are really confident we can, in time, get back to having our identity, win, lose or draw games which I feel has been lost in recent weeks.

In my tenure we have always been known for a certain style and, if you like philosophy, both on and off the field.

Behaviours and values set the tone for your club and I have taken a pride in introducing this from day one and have looked back to how far we have come in so many good ways here at Bath City FC.

Today you will see our team hungry to play in a certain way with and without the ball. They will need encouragement and support in good and difficult moments of the game.

We come to football to enjoy watching the players compete, take on the next challenge and give you all some enjoyment, a team to be proud of. We can never ever guarantee results but we can in terms of effort, resilience and a way of playing.

We have had a really good couple of night’s training this week, the mood and spirit in the group feels very positive. I am excited to see how the players perform today and hope you all are too.

Thanks for all your continued support.

Jerry