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Catalysts that may contribute to bucking that recent form and making the dream scenario above become a reality include the return from injury of Ryan Lloyd and the return from oblivion of Levi Andoh. The Dutch-born defender is something of an enigma. In his first loan spell at Edgar Street he looked at times like a world beater, a player who would imminently break through at then-parent club Ipswich and go on to enjoy a career in the upper echelons of the footballing pyramid. Instead, he’s recently been treading water at Buxton (admittedly nice fancy water to be treading) and Hednesford. As I said, oblivion (no offence to Steve Burr).
All credit to Josh Gowling if it’s his man management, uniquely, that gets a tune out of the player, and it would be uplifting to see some more of his rampaging runs over the coming weeks.
Aaron Amadi-Holloway was used up front on New Year’s Day, which was good to see, although what was bad to hear was that he reportedly left the field injured rather than as a tactical withdrawal. Everyone desperate for an upturn in 2023 will be hoping that it’s not a bad one and that the striker can play some part in this upcoming pair of home games, and on into the January fixture pile-up.
Miles Storey played well when coming on in the second half last Sunday, and could replace Marcus Rus here, with the latter now back at parent club Coventry. Assuming AAH can’t start, what would be nice to see would be a front two of Barnett and Storey with Holmes and McLean out wide, and Lloyd and Kane Thompson-Sommers in the middle. That won’t happen in a month of Sundays as it’s too gung-ho for the computer programs the coaching staff seem to be slaves to (the same programs that have left one of the biggest clubs in non-league football on the verge of a return to the Southern League), but if it was used it might actually produce some goals, and currently the Bulls are averaging half a goal a game, and no-one ever won a match half-a-goal to nil. To continue to play 4-2-3-1 when it has now more-or-less conclusively been shown not to work with the players available seems perverse. Some sort of tactical shift would also suggest to supporters that something proactive is being done to find a way to start winning again. As Einstein famously said: “Insanity is playing 4-2-3-1 over and over again with an isolated 37-year-old up front chasing his own knockdowns, and expecting different results.”
I do hope Josh turns it round though. It must be a lonely and difficult place for him to be at the moment and I totally feel for him, but a move away from an inflexible, quite negative counterattacking approach perhaps wouldn’t go amiss, would be warmly welcomed by supporters, and would demonstrate an admission that maybe he hasn’t got everything quite right in rigidly adhering to a losing formula. And despite what he claimed after the Kiddy game, I’m not sure the club has progressed at all during his tenure really, in any meaningfully measurable sense. I don’t mean that spitefully, it’s just the truth as far as I can tell. That could all change in 2023 of course, and I really hope it does.
Saturday’s opponents are having a brilliant first season in the National League North since promotion in May. The Seadogs sit in fifth place and have won four of their last six, whereas Hereford have lost four of theirs. The Bulls haven’t won since an unconvincing 1-0 victory at Telford, and the last win carrying any real conviction was at Curzon Ashton in October. October to January in any calendar worth its salt is absolutely ages. Actually it’s so long that it would need two calendars.
Scarborough have the sort of home record you’d expect from a club with a plastic pitch, having lost just two in 12, but their away record is solid too – they’ve won half of the 12 games they’ve played on their travels, whereas Hereford have won just a third of theirs. One of those two home defeats Scarborough have suffered actually came last weekend, a 5-2 drubbing from Darlington.
Hometown boy Michael Coulson is enjoying the autumn of his career back at the club he supported as a boy, with eight goals so far in 2022/23, after a career that has encompassed York, St Johnstone and Grimsby. However, the success the club have enjoyed so far this season seems largely to be the result of a heady mix of momentum and a collective team spirit. That’s usually enough to win as an away side at Edgar Street. After an initial cagey five minutes while they get used to a crowd, they then realise that the home side are inexplicably set up ultra-defensively, allowing them to attack at will down the slope, scoring a goal or two, then wasting time for the rest of the match and getting back on the bus happy and baffled at how easy it all was.
Tricky one. It’s still difficult to see where the goals are coming from. A Levi Andoh hat-trick maybe. And it’s high time Luke Haines belted one in from 40 yards again. Oh and Big Orrin’s back in favour, and that could be worth a goal or two. That makes it 6-0 then.
COYW