Post by yeadoner on Jul 15, 2008 18:18:50 GMT 1
Our Unibond Premier Rivals...
No.6...Eastwood Town
The Facts:
Where they play:
Coronation Park, Chewton Street, Eastwood, Notts, NG16 3HB
Admission 2008/2009:
Adult £7, OAP's (Note: Their phrase, not mine! Thought we had to call 'em all senior citizens now?...) £5, Concessions £5, Under 14's £2
Final league position last season:
4th - Reached play-offs, but were soundly trounced 4-0 by Gateshead in the semi's.
Current Odds at Coral's:
8/1
Home Kit:
Black and white striped shirts, black shorts, black socks. Like badgers...
Change Kit:
All yellow. Like...
Club Nickname:
The Badgers. Note: Club badge has a really cute pic of two or three badgers on it....Anyone sense a theme emerging here?
Manager:
Paul Cox, although, on their website his name only appears 11th on the list of club officials after their Chairman, Vice President, Managing Director, Secretary, Match Day Secretary, Programme Editor, Website Editor, Safety Manager, Club Shop Manager and Social Club Steward/Manager...
Highest home attendance last season:
532 v Ilkeston Town
Lowest home attendance last season:
175 v Leek. Note: Amazingly they only attracted 177 for the visit of Fleetwood Town
Average home attendance last season:
255
+/- increase/decrease on previous season:
+32%
Home gate v Guiseley last season:
232
Attendance at Fort Nethermoor last season:
273
Result at Eastwood:
3-2 to them
Result at Guiseley:
1-0 to us. We also played them in the League Cup and they beat us 4-3 at Fort Nethermoor in a very exciting and very memorable match that I can't quite remember anything much about at all. Maybe it was just very wet or very cold, but I've only got the vaguest and haziest recollection of the game, so maybe not that rivetting after all at the end of the day. Or something....
Website:
www.eastwoodtownfc.co.uk Capably edited by our good friend and regular visitor, derbybadger.
Forum:
www.etfcforum.co.uk/ Currently only has about 5 members, but it's only been open a little while. Seems to have superceded a previous site that had quite a few more members - around 200-ish or so. As regards access to the site, derbybadger says he intends it to be pretty well 'locked down '' to deter lots of nasty intruders from the fans of Ilkeston Town (or 'Ilson' as they're known down Eastwood way). Eastwood Town and Ilkeston are not the best of friends, which is a shame...
Last few times v Guiseley:
We beat them 1-0 in the league, as already stated, but games against The Badgers have been pretty physical affairs. Havent they, OB?
News from the close season:
Have now signed Richard Duning and Simon Sturdy - formerly, of course, of this parish, who'll be rejoining our former striker Marc Smith. Eight players signed in all, and we are grateful to derbybadger for allowing us to reproduce the following interview with Eastwood's Manager, Paul Cox, in which they reviewed the coming season:
"I met Coxy today to get an update after he returned from his 2 week break in Cyprus and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions on behalf of our supporters"
AC: Since your return from holiday, you are now a full time football manager with a 4 year contract, how did this come about and does it feel different?
PC: I don't feel any different in terms of my commitment to the club, but I do know that I will be able to do a higher quality job now and have more time to support the players and increase the professionalism of the club. I had to go full time as Paddy was sick of me not answering his phone calls when I was teaching!
AC: Where are you actually based from then?
PC: I go to the club every day and have a desk at the Chairman's head office which is only 3 miles away. I've got a lot more "off the field" responsibilities now and am really getting involved in every aspect of the club.
AC: Are you happy with the new signings?
PC: Yes, we will be stronger than last season. John and I drew up a list of 10 targets at the end of the season and we have managed to capture 7 of them so far, being able to attract the players that you want is a great position to be in.
AC: Why are Eastwood able to do this now? Cynics would say these players are only joining for more wages.
PC: I disagree; often we do not offer players any more wages than they are currently earning. Also, I know who the "mercenary" players are and we avoid them like the plague. There are a combination of reasons why players want to come to play for us, and our achievements last season are one of them. Throwing money around to attract players is just not what we are about, I’m not saying it won’t work, it’s just not our style, we like good honest pros that are prepared to roll up their sleeves and do a job.
AC: What about the 3 target players that you have missed out on, who were they and why would they not join?
PC: 2 strikers and a midfielder, we have not missed out on all 3 yet
AC: Come on, more details please…..
PC: One of the strikers we lost out on was Adam Muller, but I'm more than happy that we have signed Tristam Whitman who could be prolific next season. We have now offered terms to the other striker and are waiting for his decision. We made what I consider to be a very competitive offer to Buxton for Anton Foster, but disappointingly, Buxton have a much higher valuation.
AC: Is the other striker as good as Muller?
PC: Yes, if not better, but it is really 50:50 at best whether he will join; he is only 22 and has offers in higher leagues, plus he was a full time professional last season, we will know the outcome this week. He is a player that I have liked for a long time but I do have another option if he does not sign.
AC: His name?
PC: Can't remember!
AC: Okay, will you be increasing your offer for Anton Foster then?
PC: Definitely not, we made what I consider to be a very good offer, I did expect Buxton to snap our hands off, but as I said, we will not be throwing money around and trying to compete with the big boys. Anton is a player that I like a lot so it's a pity but we'll move on. Apparently he is on trial at York City with one of our ex loan signings, David Brown, so maybe the lad will be going to a higher league anyway. We are in the market for the best players but won't fall into the trap of by paying over the odds.
AC: Is that it then for new faces at Coronation Park?
PC: Yes, I think so, if an outstanding player comes available I am always interested but only at the right cost. I'd like to see how pre season goes with the current squad, we also have some very promising players who have signed for our new reserves side, so I'm very happy but with so many new faces the task now is to develop a good "team".
AC: How long will this take, to get everyone playing well together?
PC: This is the biggest squad "shake up" I have ever had to deal with in my management career; I'd like to think we will be firing on all cylinders in the second half of the season but I am a bit worried about how the team will gel in the first 10 games.
AC: Is this league tougher than last season?
PC: No, it's the same. Last year we had Fleetwood, Witton and Gateshead who were head and shoulders above everyone else. Looking at the squads for this season, Boston, Leigh and BPA look to have ambitions of replacing those 3, although I don't agree with people writing Witton off, they are still a very big club at this level.
AC: Who is your tip for the season outside of those 3 teams?
PC: I would actually put Guiseley in with those 3, definitely, maybe they would even be my favourites if Boston struggle to adapt to the Unibond.
AC: Come on then Coxy, the big question; give us a straight answer, what place finish in the league will you be happy with? Where do you think we will finish?
PC: That's a silly question, of course I will only be happy if got promoted as we made the play-offs last season, but I also have to be realistic, we over achieved last season and teams will take us more seriously now. Also, we were a long long way away from the top 3 teams last year, it depends on whether the "big clubs" perform as well as they are expecting to, if they slip up, us and a few other clubs will be trying to take advantage of this. It's a very interesting league and any manager that can predict where his team will finish in 9 months time should be working in the Premiership! There will be some surprise packages, I guarantee that, everyone seems to be focussing on 4 or 5 teams but we are going to treat every single team with the same level of respect.
AC: Everyone at the club knows that you and the Chairman go back a long way, to school days I believe, do you think this is a good thing or could this "comfort zone" have a negative effect?
PC: There is no comfort zone, I got fined 6 weeks wages last season for getting sent off.
AC: I was coming to that! Do you think you were victimised by referees last season?
PC: I got sent off 3 times last season, I know that is not good enough but I can honestly say that at least one of those times I did not deserve it. However, I have accepted my punishments from the FA and I am committed to making significant improvements in this area. I'm still a young inexperienced manager and have made some mistakes and I cannot apologise enough to our supporters for the sendings off last season.
AC: Finally, what's it like having Rammers as your no.2
PC: I worked for John at Leek and Hucknall, he has been my mentor throughout my management career, maybe that's why I get sent off so much! Seriously, I'm over the moon that he is here to help me and I am pleased that he has chosen to sign up for 4 years aswell. When he first came in last season, my only concern was that he would want to return to being a no.1 at a club but I think there is too much happening here to keep him excited plus we pretty much work as a team anyway.
AC: Thanks for your time, Coxy, this season, even though us supporters will be slagging you and the team off every time Eastwood get a bad result – we are really all behind you!
PC: Cheers Andy, you are all heart...
...................................
What we do think of them and/or how much do they annoy us: OB?
What's their Forum like?
Completely redesigned and only newly up and running. Difficult to judge because of that...
Likely prospects this season:
Can't really see them troubling all the top contenders.Managers will have had a look at done their homework on them now, and they'll know all about the three from Nethermoor, having seen them in the past...
Thanks, again, to derbybadger for allowing his to print his own following appraisal of their chances:
"We'll be launching the new official forum along with the new website. The unofficial website isn't very frequently used as few people know of it's existence. The new forum is being driven by our chairman, who is determined to give fans the chance to openly discuss the events at the club.
Along with a lot of our fans, this season can't come quick enough. We have been installed as the bookmakers favourites to win the UniBond Premier league this season. Six bookmakers have released their prices, with four making the Badgers their favourites to win the league outright and the other two placing them second favourites. Only 12 months ago, the Badgers were odds on favourites for relegation. However in a extraordinary season, not only did they confound the pundits by finishing in a play-off spot but won the UniBond Challenge Cup and Notts Senior Cup as well
We have made some great signings in the close season. Obviously Simon Sturdy and Richard Dunning will need no introduction to the Guiseley fans. Tristram Whitman fired Bradford to promotion last season. Alistair Asher & Russell Cooke have joined us from Hucknall Town after turning down offers to remain in the Blue Square North. Paul Robinson (Hednesford) has looked solid in pre-season along with Ross Gardner who has promised a shed full of goals from midfield.
We are continually trying to strengthen the team, only narrowly missing out on Mark Stallard the Ex Notts Co, Lincoln City and Derby striker. We have a substantial bid on the table for Anton Foster the Buxton midfielder, however I believe our fans disappointment at losing out on Adam Muller will evaporate, with the news of a bigger signing over the next few days.
I know Otleybard has a downer on us and can only assume he was out 'penned' by the literature genius that is D.H.Lawrence…
Seriously though I think OB would be interested in Paul Cox's answers when I broached the subject of discipline with Paul the other day. "
www.eastwoodtownfc.co.uk/news/interview.php
Our own Forum members views:
Add your own views, comments and predictions below...
Next: FC United of Manchester.
No.6...Eastwood Town
The Facts:
Where they play:
Coronation Park, Chewton Street, Eastwood, Notts, NG16 3HB
Admission 2008/2009:
Adult £7, OAP's (Note: Their phrase, not mine! Thought we had to call 'em all senior citizens now?...) £5, Concessions £5, Under 14's £2
Final league position last season:
4th - Reached play-offs, but were soundly trounced 4-0 by Gateshead in the semi's.
Current Odds at Coral's:
8/1
Home Kit:
Black and white striped shirts, black shorts, black socks. Like badgers...
Change Kit:
All yellow. Like...
Club Nickname:
The Badgers. Note: Club badge has a really cute pic of two or three badgers on it....Anyone sense a theme emerging here?
Manager:
Paul Cox, although, on their website his name only appears 11th on the list of club officials after their Chairman, Vice President, Managing Director, Secretary, Match Day Secretary, Programme Editor, Website Editor, Safety Manager, Club Shop Manager and Social Club Steward/Manager...
Highest home attendance last season:
532 v Ilkeston Town
Lowest home attendance last season:
175 v Leek. Note: Amazingly they only attracted 177 for the visit of Fleetwood Town
Average home attendance last season:
255
+/- increase/decrease on previous season:
+32%
Home gate v Guiseley last season:
232
Attendance at Fort Nethermoor last season:
273
Result at Eastwood:
3-2 to them
Result at Guiseley:
1-0 to us. We also played them in the League Cup and they beat us 4-3 at Fort Nethermoor in a very exciting and very memorable match that I can't quite remember anything much about at all. Maybe it was just very wet or very cold, but I've only got the vaguest and haziest recollection of the game, so maybe not that rivetting after all at the end of the day. Or something....
Website:
www.eastwoodtownfc.co.uk Capably edited by our good friend and regular visitor, derbybadger.
Forum:
www.etfcforum.co.uk/ Currently only has about 5 members, but it's only been open a little while. Seems to have superceded a previous site that had quite a few more members - around 200-ish or so. As regards access to the site, derbybadger says he intends it to be pretty well 'locked down '' to deter lots of nasty intruders from the fans of Ilkeston Town (or 'Ilson' as they're known down Eastwood way). Eastwood Town and Ilkeston are not the best of friends, which is a shame...
Last few times v Guiseley:
We beat them 1-0 in the league, as already stated, but games against The Badgers have been pretty physical affairs. Havent they, OB?
News from the close season:
Have now signed Richard Duning and Simon Sturdy - formerly, of course, of this parish, who'll be rejoining our former striker Marc Smith. Eight players signed in all, and we are grateful to derbybadger for allowing us to reproduce the following interview with Eastwood's Manager, Paul Cox, in which they reviewed the coming season:
"I met Coxy today to get an update after he returned from his 2 week break in Cyprus and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions on behalf of our supporters"
AC: Since your return from holiday, you are now a full time football manager with a 4 year contract, how did this come about and does it feel different?
PC: I don't feel any different in terms of my commitment to the club, but I do know that I will be able to do a higher quality job now and have more time to support the players and increase the professionalism of the club. I had to go full time as Paddy was sick of me not answering his phone calls when I was teaching!
AC: Where are you actually based from then?
PC: I go to the club every day and have a desk at the Chairman's head office which is only 3 miles away. I've got a lot more "off the field" responsibilities now and am really getting involved in every aspect of the club.
AC: Are you happy with the new signings?
PC: Yes, we will be stronger than last season. John and I drew up a list of 10 targets at the end of the season and we have managed to capture 7 of them so far, being able to attract the players that you want is a great position to be in.
AC: Why are Eastwood able to do this now? Cynics would say these players are only joining for more wages.
PC: I disagree; often we do not offer players any more wages than they are currently earning. Also, I know who the "mercenary" players are and we avoid them like the plague. There are a combination of reasons why players want to come to play for us, and our achievements last season are one of them. Throwing money around to attract players is just not what we are about, I’m not saying it won’t work, it’s just not our style, we like good honest pros that are prepared to roll up their sleeves and do a job.
AC: What about the 3 target players that you have missed out on, who were they and why would they not join?
PC: 2 strikers and a midfielder, we have not missed out on all 3 yet
AC: Come on, more details please…..
PC: One of the strikers we lost out on was Adam Muller, but I'm more than happy that we have signed Tristam Whitman who could be prolific next season. We have now offered terms to the other striker and are waiting for his decision. We made what I consider to be a very competitive offer to Buxton for Anton Foster, but disappointingly, Buxton have a much higher valuation.
AC: Is the other striker as good as Muller?
PC: Yes, if not better, but it is really 50:50 at best whether he will join; he is only 22 and has offers in higher leagues, plus he was a full time professional last season, we will know the outcome this week. He is a player that I have liked for a long time but I do have another option if he does not sign.
AC: His name?
PC: Can't remember!
AC: Okay, will you be increasing your offer for Anton Foster then?
PC: Definitely not, we made what I consider to be a very good offer, I did expect Buxton to snap our hands off, but as I said, we will not be throwing money around and trying to compete with the big boys. Anton is a player that I like a lot so it's a pity but we'll move on. Apparently he is on trial at York City with one of our ex loan signings, David Brown, so maybe the lad will be going to a higher league anyway. We are in the market for the best players but won't fall into the trap of by paying over the odds.
AC: Is that it then for new faces at Coronation Park?
PC: Yes, I think so, if an outstanding player comes available I am always interested but only at the right cost. I'd like to see how pre season goes with the current squad, we also have some very promising players who have signed for our new reserves side, so I'm very happy but with so many new faces the task now is to develop a good "team".
AC: How long will this take, to get everyone playing well together?
PC: This is the biggest squad "shake up" I have ever had to deal with in my management career; I'd like to think we will be firing on all cylinders in the second half of the season but I am a bit worried about how the team will gel in the first 10 games.
AC: Is this league tougher than last season?
PC: No, it's the same. Last year we had Fleetwood, Witton and Gateshead who were head and shoulders above everyone else. Looking at the squads for this season, Boston, Leigh and BPA look to have ambitions of replacing those 3, although I don't agree with people writing Witton off, they are still a very big club at this level.
AC: Who is your tip for the season outside of those 3 teams?
PC: I would actually put Guiseley in with those 3, definitely, maybe they would even be my favourites if Boston struggle to adapt to the Unibond.
AC: Come on then Coxy, the big question; give us a straight answer, what place finish in the league will you be happy with? Where do you think we will finish?
PC: That's a silly question, of course I will only be happy if got promoted as we made the play-offs last season, but I also have to be realistic, we over achieved last season and teams will take us more seriously now. Also, we were a long long way away from the top 3 teams last year, it depends on whether the "big clubs" perform as well as they are expecting to, if they slip up, us and a few other clubs will be trying to take advantage of this. It's a very interesting league and any manager that can predict where his team will finish in 9 months time should be working in the Premiership! There will be some surprise packages, I guarantee that, everyone seems to be focussing on 4 or 5 teams but we are going to treat every single team with the same level of respect.
AC: Everyone at the club knows that you and the Chairman go back a long way, to school days I believe, do you think this is a good thing or could this "comfort zone" have a negative effect?
PC: There is no comfort zone, I got fined 6 weeks wages last season for getting sent off.
AC: I was coming to that! Do you think you were victimised by referees last season?
PC: I got sent off 3 times last season, I know that is not good enough but I can honestly say that at least one of those times I did not deserve it. However, I have accepted my punishments from the FA and I am committed to making significant improvements in this area. I'm still a young inexperienced manager and have made some mistakes and I cannot apologise enough to our supporters for the sendings off last season.
AC: Finally, what's it like having Rammers as your no.2
PC: I worked for John at Leek and Hucknall, he has been my mentor throughout my management career, maybe that's why I get sent off so much! Seriously, I'm over the moon that he is here to help me and I am pleased that he has chosen to sign up for 4 years aswell. When he first came in last season, my only concern was that he would want to return to being a no.1 at a club but I think there is too much happening here to keep him excited plus we pretty much work as a team anyway.
AC: Thanks for your time, Coxy, this season, even though us supporters will be slagging you and the team off every time Eastwood get a bad result – we are really all behind you!
PC: Cheers Andy, you are all heart...
...................................
What we do think of them and/or how much do they annoy us: OB?
What's their Forum like?
Completely redesigned and only newly up and running. Difficult to judge because of that...
Likely prospects this season:
Can't really see them troubling all the top contenders.Managers will have had a look at done their homework on them now, and they'll know all about the three from Nethermoor, having seen them in the past...
Thanks, again, to derbybadger for allowing his to print his own following appraisal of their chances:
"We'll be launching the new official forum along with the new website. The unofficial website isn't very frequently used as few people know of it's existence. The new forum is being driven by our chairman, who is determined to give fans the chance to openly discuss the events at the club.
Along with a lot of our fans, this season can't come quick enough. We have been installed as the bookmakers favourites to win the UniBond Premier league this season. Six bookmakers have released their prices, with four making the Badgers their favourites to win the league outright and the other two placing them second favourites. Only 12 months ago, the Badgers were odds on favourites for relegation. However in a extraordinary season, not only did they confound the pundits by finishing in a play-off spot but won the UniBond Challenge Cup and Notts Senior Cup as well
We have made some great signings in the close season. Obviously Simon Sturdy and Richard Dunning will need no introduction to the Guiseley fans. Tristram Whitman fired Bradford to promotion last season. Alistair Asher & Russell Cooke have joined us from Hucknall Town after turning down offers to remain in the Blue Square North. Paul Robinson (Hednesford) has looked solid in pre-season along with Ross Gardner who has promised a shed full of goals from midfield.
We are continually trying to strengthen the team, only narrowly missing out on Mark Stallard the Ex Notts Co, Lincoln City and Derby striker. We have a substantial bid on the table for Anton Foster the Buxton midfielder, however I believe our fans disappointment at losing out on Adam Muller will evaporate, with the news of a bigger signing over the next few days.
I know Otleybard has a downer on us and can only assume he was out 'penned' by the literature genius that is D.H.Lawrence…
Seriously though I think OB would be interested in Paul Cox's answers when I broached the subject of discipline with Paul the other day. "
www.eastwoodtownfc.co.uk/news/interview.php
Our own Forum members views:
Add your own views, comments and predictions below...
Next: FC United of Manchester.