Back to the sanctuary of the FA
Cup tomorrow at Edgar Street, kick off 3pm, with Welling the visitors. Win,
lose or draw, the match does at least represent a break from the league, and
therefore buys the new management team some additional time on the training
pitch to halt what has been an alarming slide in recent form. It doesn’t take a
performance analyst to realise that there’s currently only one way Hereford FC
are getting out of National League North this season.
Although some have questioned the
ambition of the club in appointing a relatively inexperienced and unknown
quantity in Marc Richards as head coach, he could prove to be someone on an
upward career path to managing higher up the pyramid. If he can quickly arrest
the current slump the Bulls find themselves in, he’ll start to gain traction
with the Edgar Street faithful, most of whom will now see survival this season
as priority number one. Anyway, it could have been worse. Had Man U sacked the
not-so-special one he’d have been available.
Walking yellow card Mike McGrath
can play in this one before serving a one-match ban, and Ryan Green could be fit to start,
which will hopefully restrict Welling to fewer than what’s seemingly becoming
the regulation three opposition goals. Once again, a new man in charge may mean
changes to the starting XI and formation, and perhaps Richards has
suddenly seen the magic formula at Hartpury in midweek and is ready to employ
it tomorrow to devastating effect. If so, devastating for who?
Spennymoor and Chester have
recently demonstrated what’s needed to succeed in the NLN, and on current form
how far below that level Hereford are. Welling should provide a similar stiff
test. They play in the NLS, and although that division is widely perceived to
be weaker than its northern equivalent, they’re enjoying a good start to the
season, currently lying in third place, having won four of their last five league games. Last season they finished tenth, eight points behind Truro, who the Bulls calmly eased past in the last round of course.
Supporters, particularly those who invested in 'On loan to the Conference' t-shirts, will have less than fond memories of the hugely anti-climactic opening match of the 1997 season, when Welling beat Hereford United 2-1 at Edgar Street in the Bulls first match in non-league following THAT match against Brighton the previous season.
As supporters scratch their heads
about quite what’s happened to the club over the course of just one month, the board
is reportedly looking to appoint a fairydust coordinator and accordian player
to assist the performance analyst, but in a shrewd PR move it’s been made clear
that only Herefordians will be considered for the roles, not people from
Gloucester or Newport. Funding will come from trimming the playing squad to 11.
In all seriousness, the last time
we witnessed the non-playing staff side of things being overloaded it didn’t
take too long for HUFC to spiral out of control. I hope the board knows what
it’s doing.
Anyway, surely, somehow, we’ll
score tomorrow and not be ‘welling up’ at the final whistle (sorry). Win the
Cup, qualify for the Europa League, enjoy a two-legger against the Finnish or
Maltese champions next July, job’s a good ‘un.
Welcome to the club Marc
Richards. Take this bull by the horns and steer him back in the right
direction.
COYW