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It’s derby day at Edgar Street on Boxing Day, and the majority of what promises to be a healthy 4000+ crowd will be praying that the home side ‘turns up’ for this one to put some much-needed festive cheer into what has been a grim season to date. The game’s thankfully looking to be safe from postponement courtesy of a huge chunk of luck with the weather over the last week.
Adam Murray took over as Harriers’ manager in the summer, arriving from Eastbourne Borough, who he’d guided to third place in the National League South last season, falling just short of promotion. He and his new club therefore had something in common, with Kiddy missing out on automatic promotion in agonising fashion on the last day of the season. It was then somehow inevitable that they wouldn’t then make it up through the play-offs, such is the nature of that cruel mistress of promotional decision-making.
There’s no suggestion that the Aggborough money tap has been turned off despite them having to endure another season at step 2, and as a full-time side with a hefty wedge subsidising them it’s no surprise that they’re in the mix again, although a degree of inconsistency earlier in the season has left them with a job on their hands if they’re to challenge Fylde, South Shields or even Merthyr for the title.
However, a 1-0 home victory over Fylde on Saturday further enhances the suggestion that they’re flying at the moment, and that they’ve in no way given up the idea of winning the league, which is of course quite right too with half the season remaining. The 20/1 being offered about them topping the table looks like very good value to me. The 1500/1 on Hereford doing the same looks slightly less so.
Given the players they sign, it’s no surprise that they’re haemorrhaging £200k a season, and it’s to be hoped that whoever’s underwriting that doesn’t get bored and walk away as they’re a proper and respected club. However, in a week in which it was reported that Norwich City lost £39m (like, over the last year I think rather than in the last week) maybe that’s what passes as financial prudence these days on Planet Football, and indeed a football finance expert recently deemed Kiddy ‘sensibly run and sensibly managed’.
They’ve signed a number of players for this season far out of the financial reach of sustainably-run Hereford. Kurt Willoughby for one, and Michael Gyasi, who is on loan from Kings Lynn in one of those loan deals I don’t really understand. He has already been instrumental in masterminding a very straightforward victory at Edgar Street for his parent club in the opening home game of the season. Ex-Bull Charlie Cooper is now with them, and Ashley Hemmings recently returned, again on loan and is another obvious big threat.
Their goalkeeper Dibble has only picked up two yellow cards this season, both presumably for timewasting, which suggests perhaps that the new manager has told him to stop being hellbent on continuing to take the practice to extremes, when it’s thankfully seemingly falling out of fashion everywhere else.
An aggregate score of 8-1 in their favour last season in the two matches against Hereford was, depressingly, about right. However, and I hate to say it - the current ‘quirky’ nature of the Edgar Street pitch could be something of a leveller. Something that could be considered, perhaps, is a new sort of press – pressing the visitors into the sandy/boggy areas of the pitch where they can’t do anything too fancy.
The Bulls go into this one back in the relegation zone. If, and it was admittedly a huge ‘if’, Hereford had won at Chorley, won their three games in hand over Harriers, and beaten them here, they would only be two points behind their Worcestershire neighbours. OK, OK, I did say it was a huge ‘if’!
That sort of fanciful notion, following a heavy defeat at Chorley featuring the concession of yet another early goal and some careless defending, is now well and truly for the birds. The rest of the season is about survival, and the sooner enough points can be ground out to ensure another season at this level, the sooner preparations can be put in place to become progressive again for 2026/27. By progressive, I mean actual winning runs rather than four-game unbeaten runs featuring draws and wins over lower-league opposition. The former simply hasn’t happened this season at all, because the squad isn’t strong enough to allow it. Whether that’s because the club has been left behind by its part-time status, it’s admirable adherence to sound financial management, underwhelming summer recruitment or what, who knows, but you can’t put it down to bad luck for half a season.
Paul Caddis has suggested that current loan deals won’t be renewed when they expire imminently, although Sam Osborne is thankfully on a season-long loan, and would ideally be made a permanent signing over the summer. Madou Cisse is also at Edgar Street for the season, but he seems, unusually, to be a non-playing loanee. Perhaps he helps Ben Bowen with the drainage.
There’s undoubtedly the core of a decent squad, and hopefully the two, three, four or even five new players suggested as coming in for the new year will be good enough to keep the Bulls up. Perhaps it’s not ideal to be starting again for what feels like the third time this season, but who’d want continuity given what’s gone before?
After last season’s two games against Kidderminster, it would be so good to actually be competitive at least for this one. In recent seasons it seems that performances generally have been flat when there’s a large crowd in. It’s high time that pattern was broken here.
Can a reasonable case be made for that happening? Nope. Is football a funny old game? Allegedly. Fingers crossed.
Merry Christmas to all, and here’s to a safe journey over for our Worcestershire neighbours.
COYW