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Michael Parker is to leave West Bromwich.
He is joining Örgryte IS which is in Sweden.
Parker had two loan spells with Hereford earlier this season.
Meanwhile another former West Brom player who also had a loan spell with Hereford is on the move.
Mo Faal is joining Cheltenham on loan from Wrexham.
There are eight National North League fixtures set to take place tomorrow evening although one, at Hereford, is subject to a pre-match pitch inspection as the Edgar Street pitch remains quite wet.
AFC Fylde v Peterborough Sports
Chorley v Leamington
Curzon Ashton v Bedford
Hereford v Marine AFC
Kings Lynn v Southport
Macclesfield v Kidderminster
Radcliffe v Oxford City
Spennymoor v AFC Telford
Jacob Maddox is joing Merthyr on loan from Yeovil for the rest of the 25/26 season.
27 year old Maddox is described as an attacking midfielder who can also play as a number 10.
It is reported that Yeovil have loaned Maddox out to help him recover from a long term injury. They hope he will have 'valuable minutes' to help him return to full fitness.
Maddox has made over 100 appearances at EFL level.
Meanwhile a loan spell for former Hereford players Keenan Pattern at Barry Town has been announced by Newport County.
Yeovil's Charlie Cooper is staying on loan at Kidderminster until the end of the season. Before moving to the Harriers he had a loan spell with Hereford.
Dagenham have let Ashley Hemmings stay at Kidderminster for a further month.
AFC Telford manager Kevin Wilkin has said he is not interested in the vacant manager's post at Brackley. Wilkin managed Brackley for seven years from 2015 to 2022.
With the news that Jim Bentley has been appointed manager of Morecambe, the 'Alty Files' have listed all the changes in the National League this season to date.
The fourteen departures (so far) since the start of this season are listed below; all were sackings unless otherwise stated...
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Beleaguered Hereford FC host Marine on Tuesday night, pitch allowing, as they attempt to start picking up points from their multiple games in hand. A forecast of 16 hours of rain prior to kick-off doesn’t look ideal though.
This is a hugely important time for the board to make the right decisions, and a hugely important time in the managerial career of Paul Caddis.
Marine had an excellent start to the season and were fifth when this match was originally scheduled. They’ve slipped to tenth since then, but seven points from their last three games is form Hereford can only dream of. They don’t tend to draw away from home and they’re in no way prolific scorers, and given that the hosts aren’t either this will probably end up being a 5-5 thriller. I can’t quite see it though.
They took a while to acclimatise to the National League North last season following promotion, and looked way off it at Edgar Street in terms of quality (not much) and naivity (loads), but quickly turned things around and finished 19 points clear of the drop in losing just two of their last ten games. There’s very little chance of them exhibiting any of that naivity this time having really kicked on since then, when Hereford have very much gone backwards.
Bobby Grant is their manager, and something of a ‘Mr Marine’ having also played for and captained the club.
If this isn’t to go the same way as so many other home games this season, Aaron Skinner will be required to keep Fin Sinclair-Smith quiet. The diminutive ex-Radcliffe left-winger is having a fruitful season and will give the Hereford defence plenty to think about, as will centre forward George Newell, who has proved to be a handful for more watertight defences than Hereford’s over the course of the season, and seems to have inherited some of his father Mike’s attributes as a typical English centre forward and target man.
When this match was first scheduled, Remaye Campbell was a doubt because of injury. He’s now a good deal more than a doubt as he’s left. At the time, Callum McFarlane was also available to play up front, but he’s also gone. Campbell’s attitude was first class of course, but he was never going to score 15 goals in an NLN season, so his departure looks like one that will unusually suit all parties, as his wages can go towards someone more likely to regularly score. Finding that person is a different matter, and at the time of writing Andy Williams is still the only out-and-out striker at the club, with coach Adam Rooney needing to be called upon to chip in as a substitute. That situation doesn’t obviously point to the Bulls being able to score their way out of trouble, so perhaps there’ll be a new striker in place for this game. If not Tuesday, there certainly will have to be very soon after.
It’s getting to the stage where maybe Lewis Hudson could be moved up the pitch. He’s been giving a captain’s example of how to find the net in regularly scoring recently. He’s now got three in four games. A tailor-made in-house replacement for Remaye Campbell perhaps?
On last Saturday’s evidence, the biggest threat from Hereford will come from Cormac Daly. He should start again here after showing well on his debut at the weekend. What he also showed is how devoid of similar threat the Bulls have been this season since Yusifu Ceesay’s departure. Having got a game under his belt, he’ll hopefully kick on.
Justin Donawa looks like he may have a goal in him soon, and the two other recent arrivals, Charlie Pavey and Cherif Yaya, could have bigger roles to play on their home debuts, having both got some game time on Saturday to introduce them to the rigours of the National League North.
A solitary point earned from the last two games against Kings Lynn and Curzon Ashton, both bang out of form (Kings Lynn lost at home to strugglers Alfreton at the weekend), strongly suggests that this Hereford side is indeed poor enough to be relegated, games in hand or not. Telford, hugely progressive under Kevin Wilkin, scored eight recently at Curzon. It’s becoming impossible really to find anything about Hereford’s season that could be termed progressive, other than that the club continues to have money in the bank.
The Bulls are now seven points from safety with five games in hand over fifth-bottom Kings Lynn. Seven points, on current form, seems huge. Five games in hand, on current form, seems irrelevant.
So, on all available evidence currently, it looks like it will be an exciting end to the season after all - unfortunately in all the wrong ways.
COYW
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Jim Bentley has come to the rescue of Morecambe.
'Morecambe Football Club is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Bentley as the club’s new First Team Manager until the end of the season.'
Bentley takes over from Ashvir Singh Johal who left the club last week.
Bentley played for Morecambe and then was their manager from 2011 to 2019.
"When I was asked to come back as manager, I was excited," said Bentley.
"They've asked me to come back here and I'm more than happy to do that."
Some pictures from both before and after yesterday's game between Curzon Ashton and Hereford.
Highlights from yesterday's National North League game between Curzon Ashton and Hereford are now online.
To watch please go to: youtu.be/rnoaJr9_efI
A selection of pictures from the second half of yesterday's game.
A selection of pictures from the first half of yesterday's game at Curzon Ashton.
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| Hereford Captain Lewis Hudson Opened The Scoring |
It wasn’t all bad at Curzon, in fact the Bulls played some good football in patches and had the upper hand at times, but were unable to turn that into goals, whereas the home team’s second goal resulted from a period of sustained pressure which the Bulls finally caved in to.
One bright spot was the performance of the young loan players from Villa and Forest, in particular Cormac Daly whose pace and control was frequently too much for the home defence, operating on the left wing in the first half, switching to the other flank for a period in the second.
The Bulls lined up with Richardson in goal as always, with Skinner, Quansah, Roberts and Hudson the back four. Mafuta, Martin and Hamilton in what I suppose you could describe as the 6, 8, and 10 roles respectively. Andy Williams the central striker with Donowa and Daly wide right and left.
The Bulls have made a habit of conceding early this season, but on this occasion they took an early lead. An excellent through ball from Hamilton connected with Hudson’s run into the box – his first touch took the ball round the keeper leaving him a tap in for a ninth minute lead.
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| Cormac Daly |
The half finished with scores even. Hereford finished strongly but without really testing the home keeper.
Half time: Curzon Ashton 1 Hereford FC 1
The second half started with a period of dominance by the home side. Richardson took a knock saving at the feet of a Nash attacker as he raced onto a through ball. Shortly after, a cross/shot from Richards clipped the Hereford crossbar, and in the 60th minute Curzon predictably took the lead. A corner from their right caused chaos in the Bulls defence before it was eventually fired home by centre back Amado.
Full time: Curzon Ashton 2 Hereford FC 1
The Teams
Hereford: Richardson, Skinner, Quansah, Roberts, Hudson, Hamilton, Mafuta, Martin, Donawa, Daly, Williams
Subs: Lewis, Preston, Rooney, Howkins, Cisse, Yaya, Pavey
Curzon Ashton: Hawkins, Amado, Stobbs, Curran, Spencer, T. Weston, C. Weston, Darby, Richards, Barton, Ezennolim
Subs: Sobowale, Stokes, Ollerenshaw, Holmes, Flannery, Welsh
Another disappointment, but the three young loan players all look to have potential, and given that they’ve probably only one training session so far will make a bigger impact once they’re properly integrated into the team.
From where I was sitting I could see Caddis’s touchline behaviour clearly. He was in the fourth official’s ear relentlessly from the first minute. I don’t know if he just can’t help himself or whether it’s a calculated attempt to influence the outcome of the game, but I don’t know how it benefits the team. It’s certainly not hard to see how he picks up yellow cards.
There’s much talk of how Caddis is working to strengthen the squad, and with Campbell’s departure we must improve the attacking options. Willo’s demeanour seems to be one of constant frustration, arms spread wide in exasperated gestures. It seems to have been the case all season that we have a single striker who always looks isolated.
Finally, the pie report. Possibly the worst pie I’ve ever had at a football match. Or anywhere else come to that. The only choice I was offered was a cheese and onion pie that looked like it had been squashed and then the top burnt. I had one bite and gave it back. One out of ten and that’s being generous.
Harwood Bull
Ten minutes into this afternoon's National North League game at Curzon Ashton, Lewis Hudson put Hereford into the lead after being fed by Harley Hamilton.
