Introduction
Welcome back to another lively episode of Sutton United Talk Time on Podcast. In this episode, our host Mike is joined by regular contributors Sarah and Joe. The trio dives into a variety of topics, from personal anecdotes and game insights to fan interactions and a preview of the upcoming match against Forest Green. Let’s take a closer look at what was discussed!
Mike: "Hello and welcome to another episode of Sutton United Talk Time on Podcast. It's the Sutton podcast in association with Lucky Star Gin. I'm your host, Mike, and on our panel today, we have Sarah, who’s jumped in at the last minute and has just told me that she didn’t really pay much attention to the match because she didn’t know she’d be on the podcast, so that’s going to be awesome. And we have Joe, who was doing commentary, so he didn’t have much time to make notes on the podcast, so that’s going to be awesome too. So we may well have a record..."
Joe: "Stop."
Sarah: "I didn’t actually mean when I said I didn’t pay attention to the game, like I did actually pay attention to the game because I’m a Sutton fan."
Joe: "Really. Wow."
Sarah: "I’ve been very well, thank you, Mike. How about you?"
Mike: "Hey, I had to say something, I was stalling, just definitely stalling and trying. Right, so this is the bit where I normally say about engagement, but I’d rather if people didn’t engage with what just happened there, so we’ll skip past it and not say that. Yeah, this is the one you’ve got to listen to everyone."
Joe: "Engage, guys. I’m going to repost it. Everyone like it. We’ll give it a massive plug. Listen to everything for the first minute and a half."
Mike: "It’s really professional. Sarah, thanks for stepping in. I saw you for like a few minutes before the match, but I haven’t seen you at all because it’s obviously summer holidays. How have you been? Good, good, good, and we’re getting ready for, I think it’s one more week, and then get them back at school. So, yeah."
Mike: "Yeah, I was sitting there this morning as all the programs were coming on telly, and I don’t know what time I even have to leave for school now. I’ve confused everything, so we’ll see how it goes. I might be late. And Joe, with the comms on solo, that didn’t rhyme as much as I’d written it down, actually. Yeah, never mind. How are you, Joe? Yeah?"
Joe: "Great. It’s done. I’m very good, Mike. Yeah, it’s been a very good summer, been a busy summer. Obviously, joining the Sutton media team has been a wonderful thing and met lots of people. So, you know, back on the podcast, back to where it all began with Mike at the Sutton podcast. Exactly."
Mike: "Where you graduated from. Can I come on the webcast? Yeah, go on. Come on, then. We’re moving on, Joe. You know I don’t like these things, and Sarah will back that up. I don’t like all this stuff. We are going to do the Knowing Me, Knowing You question. Partly because I just want to press my little button again, but I did set you a question, and I’m interested in your answer. Sarah, I see you only had this yesterday, but let’s go. I don’t understand what the shake of the head for was, Joe. You don’t think I can see these things? You think I’m going to let you?"
Mike: "Let it go? So, what odd place have you managed to talk with someone about Sutton United? Had a little conversation with Sarah yesterday, and you can interpret this question however you like. It’s just what odd place have you managed to talk with someone about Sutton United? So, Joe, you go first."
Joe: "I hope you see these things."
Joe: "I had two, and I was actually having a good think about this, but I’m going to go with probably the more interesting one. So, over the winter, me and my family, because we have family there, went to New Zealand. And when I was in New Zealand, well, between the flights, there was an Air New Zealand flight attendant who saw my Sutton show."
Joe: "And he said in a very thick Kiwi accent, 'Oh, isn’t that a team in London?' And I was like, yeah, yeah. And he was like, 'Oh, I’m a Wimbledon fan.' So, exactly. But he said, 'You guys are pretty good.' And this was days after we beat them away at their place, 1-0, when we didn’t have a manager. Well, we had Jason, but we didn’t have a manager. And I had a good chat with him about Wimbledon season, about Amobigil."
Sarah: "I’ve got to be that now, haven’t I?" In our little conversation, I did point out that our ground is quite an odd place, but I didn’t think that was very interesting. So I’m going to go with 19 kilometres into the Brighton Marathon, where I was, you know, jogging along like you do, and I noticed a chap in front of me. He had a black T-shirt on with white writing on it, which it looked like someone had got some sort of white fabric paint or something."
Joe: "For about five minutes, because our plane was delayed, and he was just walking around offering small biscuits. And I didn’t actually get any biscuits in the end, which I was quite upset about. But I did get a five-minute chat about Wimbledon and Sutton. So that is in the corner by the window at Queenstown Airport. That’s my kind of claim to fame in regards to conversation about Sutton."
Sarah: "And he just got his mates to write random stuff all over his T-shirt, and at the top, it said BWFC, and I thought, oh, is that Bolton Fan? Got a little bit closer, and so next to the W was a little OOD, and I was like, no way have I just met a Boreham Wood fan in Brighton. So I’ve run up behind him, and I’ve gone, 'Is that Boreham Wood?' And he’s like, 'Yeah, Boreham Wood, who else would be?' I was like, yeah, someone’s called you a Bolton Fan already, haven’t they?"
Mike: "Awesome. Awesome. And Sarah, what was your decision in the end? Are you at your feet here? This is a collective."
Mike: "Lovely. Well, mine was not the one I went to recently, but a funeral in Ireland with someone from New York. And we started it off with bitching about Heathrow and it’s like, what’s the point of having like gate one or two because no one’s ever seen them? And it led on to various different things and ended up talking about how great Sutton United was. This is way back when we’d like Ryman or conference."
Mike: "South digging out papers to have a look for him and he’s looking them up and all sorts. I was like, we’re at a funeral in Ireland talking about Sutton United to some random American that I did never know. I still don’t know who he really was. I’m hoping he was part of the funeral party or he was just the CIA just making sure someone’s dead, I guess. I don’t know. But yeah, join in. Let us know what place you have managed to talk to someone about Sutton United."
Mike: "Interpret the question how you like. We will hear from you. I did have someone pick up on last week’s saying about how to get more supporters and they sort of mentioned a lot of Hong Kong residents or origins in Sutton and I did say, yeah, we do actually quite a lot of work with people from Hong Kong as well. So yeah, do send them in. Let me know and join in the conversation."
Sarah: "Well, no, I’m used to, I’m expecting it now. Every game, I’m expecting a completely different line-up from the last one. It’s great. It’s like, I can’t even be bothered to guess what the line-up’s going to be anymore because I know it’s going to be wrong. And I think that’s part of Steve Morrison’s approach. He’s like the anti-Matt Gray, in a way. He’s like, goes out of his way not to be predictable. Whereas with Matt, you knew him again, didn’t you?"
Mike: "There was something on Club News, and I can’t actually remember what it was. I didn’t write it down. Something happened today, I think, but never mind. But let’s get into the match. So something we’re not used to over the years, but we’re going to have to start getting used to it. Seven changes. What did you think, Sarah? I mean, are you already used to this, to the starting line-up, chopping and changing or?"
Mike: "Well, yeah, I mean, I tweeted out when I did the line-up and I looked and I was like, this is possibly the first time I can really ever just remember that every single player on the bench you could argue for being in the team. Obviously, we’ve not seen Jack yet, it’s Jack Sims, but you could almost argue for every single player starting over someone who was already in the team and feel that this hasn’t changed or weakened the side."
Joe: "I mean, it’s a very busy nine days. Four games in nine days is ridiculous, to be honest. But that’s not the question, is it? Yeah, I was a bit surprised. I thought Jack Sims might come in. But I’m starting to see that he’s probably maybe going to... I reckon Arnie will start the season, take up most of it."
Joe: "Long-term signing, taking over, just as that No. 1 keeper. I think one thing about this squad is, apart from poor old Jay Williams, every player, I think... And not just because I haven’t seen Jay Williams, he’s never played, he’s not on the bench. Every other player, I think, basically merits a place in that starting XI on their day. I think they are good enough, and I think there is..."
Joe: "There are players who have stood out, obviously, but I think, obviously, you’re going to have to change things. I wasn’t massively surprised because, obviously, as Sarah said, it’s been changing every week. But I think, you know, I think if we play at our best, I think any team could go out and feel what Steve wants them to do. And that’s a weird thing. It feels like, you know, there’s a way of playing. Everyone knows what they want to do. And if we don’t do it, we’re a bit rubbish. But if we smash it, we do it."
Joe: "It’s basically unplayable. And that’s what we saw at points on Monday. We weren’t good. We were under the cosh, and the Eastleigh weren’t outstanding, but we looked like we were struggling. When we were on it, Eastleigh were defending for their lives. And, you know, the dominance is not something we’ve seen, perhaps, in previous seasons."
Mike: "No. So were you, obviously, it’s early season, and I keep saying this, but I mean, it’s 10.86% of the season gone now. But were you expecting us to go for it easily? Were you kind of thinking what a point would do? And how confident were you going into the fixture, Joe?"
Joe: "I think a point away from home is always a good result. That’s my rule. And Steve said that at the start of the season. And I thought Eastleigh would... the pressure was on Eastleigh. They’d been at the top of the league, only team in the league to have a 100% win rate. And I spoke to some Eastleigh fans and they said, you know, we’ve won every game, but we haven’t been convincing."
Joe: "We’ve been convincing against Altrincham on the weekend. We’ve been good, but we haven’t been, like, knock your socks off. And as much as I don’t think we’ve been knock your socks off, I think against York and I think against Alty, we were pretty, pretty darn good. And I thought we would be the better team. I think we are the better team. And I know it’s early and people keep telling me, but I do think we are... on our day, we are the best team in the league, if you ask me. I know we haven’t seen anyone."
Joe: "But I think we are on our day when everyone’s firing, we are the best team, whether we can maintain that, because, you know, it’s not a, I’m not going to pick on Wheel of Stone here, but Wheel of Stone sitting deep and kind of inviting the pressure kind of thing. Our game is physical, it’s very high intensity, and it must be dead tiring. I can just, I can imagine. And, you know, it’s going to, there are points where it’s going to falter and we’re going to make mistakes. But I think..."
Sarah: "Definitely. I think, like Jo said, we’ve got potential to beat anyone on our day. I mean, I don’t want to say we’re the best team in the league, because, you know, obviously, I haven’t seen many teams in the SEAG this season, let’s face it, and people haven’t really got into their stride yet. But one thing I really like about how this squad’s been assembled is, you know, I’ve said before, I like Steve Morrison’s approach of going for, sort of, young and hungry players who’ve got something to prove. And that really does..."
Mike: "Yeah, I mean, Sarah, on that, how are you, because I did say at the start of the season, all I want to be able to do this year is go into games with the hope, expectation, we’re going to get something, not a loss. Are you kind of switched around to, oh, you know what? We got a good chance here, or I expect to win. Obviously, with Sutton fans, we can’t really go around saying we expect to win. But how are you sort of feeling going into these games?"
Sarah: "Give us that advantage. If they’re really going for it, they don’t tire easily. They’ve got that kind of energy about them. And the way the dynamics of that squad, the way they work together, there’s a lot of that about it as well. So it feels really nice. I mean, being able to go to games, there’s a stark contrast from last season, being able to go to games, expecting to get something out of it. And, you know, I’ve never really liked going to Eastleigh, to be quite honest."
Sarah: "But I’m not going to be someone who says, oh, we’ve got such a terrible record at such and such a ground, because this squad is new, they haven’t played together before, they’ve never played for Sutton at Eastleigh before. So that record is completely irrelevant. It’s just in our heads as fans, isn’t it? No, it’s not. It’s also that they charged him down to support your father."
Mike: "Mhm."
Sarah: "Oh, yeah. Well, no, but what it is, it’s making the away fans walk all the way round the ground, past all the shiny, shiny stuff. If you haven’t got your ticket in advance, you’ve got to go to the pub shop, which is really professional looking, really swish, like a proper football league one, isn’t it? And then you go all the way round, and it’s like you’ve got like a little shack, and that’s the toilets, and you’re like, oh, that’s us, is it?"
Mike: "Yeah."
Sarah: "Not throwing shade on Eastia or anything, except that I am. But no, I did feel a little bit kind of apprehensive, you know, we hadn’t lost yet, but Eastia have won every game so far, they were the home side. But then, like Joe was saying, look at the results so far. I mean, we beat Altium 5-0, they beat Altium 1-0. You know, it always depends what you get on the day. You never know."
Joe: "It’s a weird stadium. It’s a weird stadium. There’s a cemetery on the way in which just threw me off completely. I’m like, is that an intimidation tactic? I was just dead confused."
Mike: "That was the end. Lovely. Love."
Mike: "Mhm. Yeah."
Mike: "Fair enough. So as mentioned, I wasn’t at the game, or even got a chance to watch it back yet, but we took a nice early lead with Idino’s goal. I’ve watched it obviously, but I was more..."
Sarah: "I did. No, I went mental. I was like, yeah, that was the moment when I thought, I’m going to get something out of this game, it’s going to be brilliant. But no, it was lovely. It was lovely. And to be fair, their equalisers were pretty well taken as well. That was such a nice goal. And actually, I think Eddie looked pretty good for the whole game. So I was, you know, I was, I was, I loved it. It was such a good moment, honestly. Screwing it, Eastia, go on then, nice."
Mike: "Impressed with the Meanie cam, where John Meanie’s jumping up and down at this goal. Then he says, who scored it? I didn’t see. And someone said Vaz. And he suddenly goes, oh, he meant it. So how can... hang on a minute, you said a minute ago you didn’t see it. How can you tell he meant it or not? That’s outrageous. But Sarah, how was the goal for you? I mean, did you have a good glimpse of it? Did you see it properly, or did you watch it back on the way?"
Joe: "What a video that is?"
Sarah: "So, you should have celebrated loud, then."
Mike: "Yeah, we’ve done a lot of our left backs already this season, haven’t we? A couple of goals and assists. Yeah. But Joe, how was the goal from you? I haven’t heard your professional dream yet."
Joe: "Yeah, we’ve got ridic- oh, we’ve got some ridiculous left backs."
Joe: "Well, I think, I think I just said, I think I said Edwino Vaz, then put the mic away and started celebrating, but I couldn’t celebrate too loud because the comms box is in the easterly home end. So I was right behind it, because I know you, the away, yeah, I know all the away fans were on the other side, but from my side, it was, you couldn’t have hit a more perfect strike if you could. You could tell he meant it. It curled, it was beautiful."
Joe: "Just perfect in the top left-hand corner. And I was initially, could the keeper do better? I was like, not really. It’s like, it’s about as good as you can get. Yeah, very happy for him. We started off, we started off like we were going to put five past the Lycaultrium. We were really good. Very happy for Edwino, which is, we’ve got a bit of a problem, but we’re not a problem, a very nice problem to have. We’ve got two very good left-backs who both offer different things."
Joe: "Probably, Charlie Waller has slightly more security at the back, but also has the crossing and also has the box presence in the, obviously, in the middle with his goal against Wildsdome. But then we’ve got Edwino, who, when we’re coming forward, is like we’ve got two left-wingers and Coley can cut inside like he did the weekend. So, we’ve got such a nice problem to have and Charlie can play in central defence, but then we’ve got Tyler and Harry."
Mike: "He’s good."
Joe: "We’ve got a great back line. We maybe need a right-back, because I know Jaco is, you know, not to bring it up, but he’s getting there, he’s getting on a bit and Tyler French is a very good defender, but he’s not an out-and-out right-back at all and that was shown a little a few times, perhaps on the right-hand side on Monday, just because, you know, he’s a centre-back by trade and when the likes of Tyree Shade, who is probably one of..."
Sarah: "You mentioned Josh Coady there, he’s like a different player this season. Sorry, Mike, I didn’t hear you until like halfway through the sentence." Yeah, I think maybe he’s found his level, or maybe it was the team that was playing him before, or maybe something about having a different manager getting more out of him, but it’s like a new find, isn’t it? He’s just incredible this season, isn’t he?"
Mike: "Yeah, absolutely."
Joe: "Josh Coley. No, no, no, Josh Coley. I love him. No, don’t believe me."
Joe: "Yeah, he’s excellent. Under Steve last season he was very good as well. I don’t think he really suited Matt’s system massively. He’s not really a defensive winger, and I think Matt liked his wingers to track back and I think Josh Coley’s more, you know, let me run at him and normally gets past because he’s got the final product as well."
Mike: "We’ve taken it right back."
Mike: "I did have a moan at him, if you want, because when it was his birthday, I was trying to find a picture to use of him and all the good celebration pictures, his back was to Paul. So I was like, you know, could you do us a favour? You know Paul, can you just head towards him when you score police? And on Saturday he did. And I was like, there we go, that’s the one. He’s like, yeah, I started looking for him now, so hopefully we’ll see some more."
Joe: "Yeah."
Mike: "More of those as well. But yeah, you’re quite right. He’s a confidence player and it took him a little while to get going under Steve, but he did, and I’m all for it. Big, big fan. But you mentioned we kept going for it, Joe. Was it defending from the front? Was it a defensive situation for the rest of that first half? Or could we have gone in too nil up?"
Joe: "Yes, yes, definitely. On another day we’re 2-3 up, just with a bit of luck, bit of non-deflections, bit of slightly better finishing. I don’t think it was necessarily the press like we saw at the likes of York and Ulti, I think it was more the midfield performance. We were so strong at keeping the ball in from the start till about the 30th minute."
Joe: "Wadham, Rush before he got injured, Vaz and French pushing up, they might tackle us or we’d put a corner in and they’d head it away, but they couldn’t get into our half and we just kept the ball excellent, Sige was really strong in the tackle, and the only chances they had were on the counter. They had one very good left-back, Jake Broeken."
Joe: "Had the capability for a defence-splitting ball, just like an outrageous one out of nowhere. But other than that, we were the midfield performance and just squeezing them and not giving them a time because they were playing a five-back, which basically meant that they only had two central midfielders, which when we have three and then Russian, Kohli, dropping inside, five versus two or three isn’t really..."
Mike: "Mhm."
Sarah: "No. No, there were some hairy moments during that game, but I wasn’t worried until the last five minutes, which I’m sure you’re going to get to. Oh, you haven’t watched it back though, have you? So you don’t know about those last few minutes. I’ve forgotten what the question was now, because I was too busy playing Silly Buggers, wasn’t I? What was the question again?"
Mike: "Yeah."
Mike: "We’ll come to that in just a sec." So, first of all, thank you, because you did start that question off with, yes. And I thought, please don’t leave it there. Expand upon that answer. But Sarah, were you worried? I mean, Joe mentioned that we had a few chances. Were you kind of worried that we’re going to ruin the chances or is it just, we’re on top, it’s going to come soon? Don’t start."
Sarah: "Not especially, because I think what I like about this team is we seem to learn from things like that. So yeah, we did create a lot of chances, we did miss a few, but I think there doesn’t seem to be any sort of trends in that. So once stuff like that happens, it doesn’t keep on happening over and over and over. I think we’re a squad of players who maybe don’t have the most experience, but they’re getting that experience."
Mike: "Were you worried about the chances we missed?"
Sarah: "Yeah, a couple of people have said that. I didn’t get the best view of it, but I don’t think it was. From what I saw, it didn’t look it to me, but you know, like I said, I didn’t have the best view of it from where I was."
Mike: "Yeah."
Mike: "Yeah, so equalizer now, I’ve been told various different things on this. Um, hint of offside was there, Sarah? I don’t, I’m not fully his actual goal, but I think the ball coming to him, person receiving the ball to pass it onto him, someone saying he was offside."
Mike: "No. And was it, was it coming? Was it a good goal or was it a bit? No. Yeah, fair enough. What about you, Joe? I mean, what did you think of the goal? Do you get to watch the replays back straight away or?"
Joe: "Well, I watched the replay back, not for just fun. I was doing some, I was looking at different things just for purpose, but it wasn’t offside. I had a very good view of it. I think it’s tight, but I don’t think it’s clear-cut offside. And if I’m honest, I’ve watched it back a few times, it’s a bit of a..."
Mike: "Fair enough."
Joe: "Lapse in judgment from us. We switch off in the middle, he’s completely unmarked. Now, he is the top scorer in the, I believe, the National League last year. He’s like three goals this game, three goals this season already. A very good striker, Paul McCollum. I think it’s Harry Ransom. He’s just left. And if he does make the challenge, it’s too late. But we just didn’t defend the cross well enough."
Joe: "To be honest, we just, they came forward all of a sudden. And it came from a string of yellow cards for us. Jack Boredom and Tyler French. And then, I can’t remember. No, yeah, and we just started to get a little bit, not ragged, but in terms of kind of discipline, a little bit off it. And then that allowed them back into the game because we, then that gave them the chance. And then that’s when I was..."
Mike: "Mhm."
Joe: "A bit nervous because after that goal, they’ve continued it. And then there was the whole, well, you obviously didn’t see it. It was a bit of a to-do in the middle of the park with the captain for them, Taylor, and Barbrook, which somehow Ashley Nadeson got a yellow card for, which I had to, as much as it’s a Sutton commentary, I had to not be too outraged because Finlay Barbrook got pushed to the floor, Nadeson came steaming in."
Joe: "The one who pushed Barbrook to the floor in the face didn’t get a yellow. I mean, it just made no sense to me. But, you know, it was just a bit poor defending, but, you know, well-taken goal from a guy who is a clinical striker. They took a chance, and they didn’t have many, and they had probably two or three big chances, and they took the one, and we had more than that, and we didn’t take it. That’s about it."
Mike: "Fairly."
Sarah: "Let’s go the last few minutes. I mean, it was a decent game all the way through, I’m not going to lie. It was worlds away from the one all at Tamworth. It was the same score line, completely different game. Absolutely, yeah, it was great entertainment. But yeah, it was really the last few minutes that sticks out. It was, wow, goodness me, you couldn’t relax."
Mike: "The yellow card is probably for being the aggressor in running over to it, and they don’t like that at all. So, second half, again, I was out, so I didn’t see an awful lot, and there wasn’t a lot mentioned other than the last few minutes, so, Sarah, was there anything chat-worthy that happened before the last few minutes, or do you want to just jump straight to the last few?"
Sarah: "So we’d spent, we’d been going forward quite, you know, quite confidently most of the game and then Eastleigh didn’t have that many chances. But, you know, it was, they look good, they look really good, so you could tell why they’re top of the league. But, you know, I felt quite confident that we’re going to hold on to those last few minutes. And it was just, you know, I can’t remember what happened first now, but they had several attempts on goal."
Sarah: "They hit the crossbar, they hit, I can’t remember, how many times did they hit the woodwork, Joe, was it twice? Because it was, no, Eastleigh, you know, at the end there, they hit the crossbar, they only hit it once. Steve Arnold made a really good save. They had about three corners on the trot. And it was just, it was terrifying. We’re sitting there going, no, no, no, no, referee, blow the whistle, please blow the whistle."
Mike: "Go on and talk us through the last few for anyone who’s not there."
Sarah: "They did in the end, thank goodness. But yeah, it was, it was, it was not fun to watch as a Sutton fan. But you know, it was, you know, it was, it was, it’s always great seeing Steve Arnold make a fantastic save. And it’s great seeing our defence getting stuck in. And hats off to the lot of them. But I was scared."
Joe: "Us? No, they only hit it once. Oh, that was horrible. That was horrible."
Mike: "Yeah. I mean, where you said earlier they seem to be growing as a team, coping with that kind of pressure in the last few minutes, yeah, very much shows that. But Joe, how was your... Yeah, absolutely crumbled. Yeah. Joe, how was that last few for you?"
Joe: "Yeah."
Joe: "Well, then it came the other way. In the last two minutes, they had a huge chance where their left-back put it across our goal and literally Steve Arnold was completely no-man’s land and if anyone was on the end of it, they had an open goal and no-one chose it. And then, I can’t remember what happened, then Steve Arnold did the best kick of his life and basically got it into their penalty area and we got a corner from a defender."
Joe: "And we got three corners. We hit the crossbar with one. Well, Jane Harris pulled off some acrobatics to hit the crossbar from about two yards out and I don’t know how he did that. Then Charlie Warner made a brilliant header, basically not even jumping off the ground and the keeper got up from diving for Harris’ effort and got a finger over the bar. Then we had another corner. That next corner was then flicked on by Hayden Muller and Will Davis was at the near post and was literally..."
Sarah: "Yeah, it was, it was off the heat again, wasn’t it? Yeah."
Sarah: "That was even worse, wasn’t it? That was even worse. The bit where Eastley were really going for us and we were like, oh no, please let’s go, please let’s go. And then it comes down the other end and it’s our turn. That would have been even worse for them. But it was, in a way, it was almost worse to watch because it’s like, why aren’t we scoring? Why has this not gone in? So it was a good one."
Joe: "Three yards out and an easterly defender got their knee in the way. So then we had another corner and then we had another corner and I want to say, I can’t remember, I think it was Will Davis again, hit the crossbar with a header and it just went over. I think if you look back at the commentary, there will be a pause, a considerable pause of me just being like, I don’t know. I don’t know how the ball went in. I don’t remember how we didn’t... I don’t actually understand how we didn’t get the net because on another day, those three chances..."
Joe: "Yeah, the easterly home end, the easterly home end were on absolute tenterhooks. The guy next to me was losing his mind. Yes. Yeah, but I think one thing which I’ve seen a lot of certain players I want to touch on, Will Davis. A lot of people..."
Mike: "Yeah."
Joe: "I don’t remember who it was, but people were saying we need that 15-20 goal a season striker, we need all this. I’m like, I don’t think we do. I think Will Davis is a pretty darn good striker. He holds the ball up well, he’s got a good pass on him, he’s good on one-on-ones and he’s got a brilliant header. And I think it’s not realistic for us to get a 15-20 goal a season striker when you’ve got the likes of Kohli, Boateng, who can beat basically it, both of them can take on anyone. Jeremy Sivvy can beat it."
Joe: "This man, the only problem is he can’t really finish because he almost blasted the ball out of the stadium two minutes ago. Yet, that’s a good point. But then you’ve got an extra, but I do think, you know, obviously, I think the likes of Harris, Waller, Vaz, Arnold, French, there are some people who will get more of the plaudits for these first five games. But I think Will Davis has to, because he came on, you know, Matt Rush, yet to find his impact, although some fan on Twitter started talking about it."
Mike: "Yet."
Joe: "And having a go at me saying, you’re playing a quality forward like Rush. And I said, well, considering that, and he said, oh, well, in commentary, he’s the only one I can hear. And I said, considering I’m the one doing the commentary and going to the games and you’re not, I can tell you he’s not been great so far. But, you know, I think he’s, he, when he hits his form, I think he’ll be very good. His scoring record is very, like, not, he wasn’t great last season. If you look him back, he used to play for the."
Sarah: "You really can’t argue with a point away against a side that’s won every game for the entire season, even though it was only four games in. But you still can’t argue with that. And they are a very good team, you can’t deny that. It was a good match. Arguably, we should have nicked that goal at the end there. But then a few minutes earlier they could have done the same."
Mike: "Let’s do it." Yeah. But overall, I mean, it does seem split on the opinions of whether we should have won that at the end, or is it a good away point? What were your thoughts? Sarah, good away point, or we should have won it? No."
Mike: "Fair enough. Joe, what do you reckon?"
Joe: "We were the better team, Eastley fans all around me were cheering like they, you know, won the cup in Brazil. I think a point’s good. I think we should have had more. I think I’m happy with a point, but I think the performance and the chances we had merited the win."
Mike: "Okay, so it leads me on to this question. Two matches over Bank Holiday and two draws. So had we lost one and won one, we’d be a point better off. But is it better to have the two draws and be unbeaten or would it be better off with the extra point? Because I’ve looked it up and the extra point..."
Sarah: "That question."
Sarah: "Absolutely, 100%, yeah. I mean, having one point more at this point in the season doesn’t mean much. And obviously, at the other end of the season, the games at this end do mean as much as the ones at that end. But there’s also quite a lot of psychology at play here. And I think the momentum at this point of the season, you’re getting going, aren’t you? You’re pushing into it, and the longer you stay unbeaten, the better, I think."
Mike: "So if we’d lost to York, they would have 10 points and we’d have 10 points and if we’d lost to Eastleigh they’d have 15 points. Probably we would have stayed third, to be fair. So what’s your opinion? Is it better to have the points on the board at this stage or is it better at this stage to have the momentum of not losing? Joe, we’ll go with you first."
Joe: "Momentum. Easy. Very easily momentum. That’s all I’m saying."
Mike: "Yeah."
Mike: "Yeah. Yeah, I mean I was sitting there working it out going, but if we’d lost to one of those, we wouldn’t have been any better off because we’d have been in the same position. I know it’s table and I always say it, table doesn’t mean anything now, but yeah, it’s a difficult one. But what did you think of Steve’s comment, which I was quite pleased with actually, in his post-match, where he said the way we play, we are going to leave ourselves open and we are going to concede."
Sarah: "I think it’s refreshingly honest, to be honest. I think saying to fans, this is what you’ve got to expect from us. I quite like that, because it shows that he recognises the flaws in whatever approach he’s taking. And if you recognise them, then you know what you’re working on, don’t you? And he’s not going to sit there and pretend that this team’s completely infallible, because it’s not. No football team is."
Mike: "Fair enough. Joe, what did you think?"
Joe: "I agree. I really like Steve Morrison’s honesty when it comes to him, his tactics, the way he is. He’s unapologetically himself and I’m a massive fan of it. It’s a change from Matt, obviously. I think Matt was the brilliant head of the club. If he’s messed up, he’ll say it. If he doesn’t think he’s messed up, he’ll say it. If he’s annoyed, he’ll say it. If he’s happy, he’ll say it. If he wants to take the mic, he’ll say it."
Joe: "I like it. I think it’s very straight-talking. It’s clear what he thinks and I think we will leave gaps, but I think we’re good enough to make up for it. I think we’ve got a very, very good team and I think he knows that. I think he knows he’s got a great set of players and I think he’s just enjoying it."
Mike: "Exact."
Mike: "Let’s get the business head on. Who are fans going to come and see? Games that end in 3-2s, 4-3s, 6-5s, or are they going to come and watch 1-0s, 0-0s? So yeah, you can kind of put up, if you’re putting up an effort and you’re losing some games because you’re attacking, I think all of us go, alright, fair enough. Obviously, as Sarah said, we’d love to win every single game and never concede a goal."
Mike: "It’s just not going to happen. I did see one comment from an Eastleigh fan who was basically saying that Sutton are a great team. You can tell they’ve got great players and they’ve just been relegated from League 2. You tell the players are a cut above and all the rest of it, and I was like, yeah, most of them are from Division Below, but that is actually a really nice thing to say. And he said it’s what some of the best football we’ve seen down at Silver Lake for a long, long time."
Joe: "H."
Mike: "So I was like, oh, OK, that’s nice. We’re going to move on and the good, the bad and the funny on the day. So another clip, Joe."
Mike: "So it’s anything about the match day for you first, well, first of all, what do you think of that, Joe? Hey, that’s good. That one. Yeah, I get copyrighted for these things on that one. The other one, they just let go because they’re like, no one’s claiming that. But what was good about the day?"
Joe: "I’m just going to smile at you." What was good? Sutton fans were very good. I wasn’t in the way, but we were loud. What else was good? I’m trying to think. Oh! Do you know what I did like?"
Joe: "I can’t remember what it was. I liked the fourth officials board. Really specific, but it looked very old school. I was making a comment on commentary a few weeks prior that the one at Welling and the one at, I want to say, Tamworth was very mini iPad-like. This one was, the numbers were really crystal clear and it was like neon bright green and red, which pleased me a lot."
Sarah: "The football was good. It was a really good game. I enjoyed that, the experience. And they’ve got a nice big scoreboard there, so when we were winning it said so very big."
Mike: "Yeah."
Sarah: "OK. Well, at least you charge £10 for parking and then you’re not allowed to leave for however long after the game ends, for safety reasons. Safety reasons I can get behind, but they’re thieving so-and-so. I didn’t use the car park, I’m going to say that now. I would refuse if they’re going to charge £10."
Mike: "Lovely. Sarah, what was good for you? Excellent."
Joe: "Lens are better answer."
Mike: "Very nice. Now, what was bad, Sarah? Again, it’s the whole day. It can be anything you like. I mean, try not to do Neil moaning about the M4 or some various junction somewhere, but what was bad about the day?"
Joe: "No."
Joe: "What was bad? Not much was bad. I’m trying to think. No. So I was going on the coach. The players get a massive order of dominoes after every game. A massive order, like 15 to 16 pieces. Probably 18, one for each of them. And I was so hungry because I had..."
Mike: "The cemetery if you want."
Sarah: "Joe, my motherly instinct has kicked in and I want to feed you now."
Joe: "I’m not eating. I ate a sandwich in the morning and I just watched, I think it was Anthony Fenton just walk onto the players’ couch with this much dominoes pizza. And then I think Steve Morrison came along. There was a massive cheer from the bus. I think he just opened the pizza and started tucking into it. And I was like, this is adding insult to injury because all I had was gum. And I was just sat there on the way home thinking about that dominoes. So that, you know, it’s not very bad, but, you know, it was a pretty good day."
Mike: "I’m going to make him sandwiches. Little snack pack. What was funny about the day? I mean the pizza story is quite funny to me because I wasn’t starving, but what was funny about the day?"
Joe: "What was funny? Do you know what I did find quite funny was in the melee of the last five minutes, I forgot, I just couldn’t, as commentating, I think I was tired already. I just couldn’t seem to get the right teams."
Joe: "So I was like, it’s a Sutton, no, it’s an Eastley goal kick. And then I was like, Sutton coming forward. And I was like, no, no one’s coming forward, the ball’s out for a throw. But I was just, I couldn’t quite believe what had happened at the other end. And then we were at corner and then I think there was, I think when Jadon Harris hit the crossbar, I think I made an involuntary squeal. And then Wallace saved it. And I was like, how does he save that? Oh, so sorry."
Sarah: "I don’t know, I thought about it, I couldn’t think of anything funny. Sorry? I didn’t see that. I would have found that quite funny. I thought it was quite funny that... I can’t swear, so obviously I can’t swear on the podcast, so I can’t... I can, can I swear? Can I swear on the podcast? Well, ever since last season, I wasn’t sure, you know, it’s always..."
Mike: "Well, I wouldn’t be able to do it because it would just be a string of more and more creative expletives. So people, I mean people would get an education, but possibly not broadcastable. Sarah, what was funny for you? Seeing all the players with pizza. Seeing all the players with pizza. No."
Sarah: "It’s always good to try and be polite. Yeah, I was saying at the end of last season, I’m really looking forward to all the teams who didn’t get promoted out of this league because of goal difference or something. And they’re going to be so annoyed, they’re going to be having a massive tantrum about it. So what does the fixture computer give us? It gives us Eastleigh, who’ve won every game so far this season."
Joe: "Do it."
Joe: "We had, we were better than Eastleigh, but I think we had the same amount of corners. And I was just like, oh, maybe we’re not as good as we think, but no, we were, we were good."
Mike: "Lovely. Well, that is great. Guys, thank you so much for that. That’s really enjoyable. We’ll catch up soon and yeah, hopefully catch up for the week. Bye-bye."
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