The maverick, rebuilding and high level finger pointing

A few memories popped up on my facebook timeline over the past two weeks which got me thinking about the blog. It was around this time seven years that my Oval Ways and Treble Days book was published which was, of course, the precursor to this blog.

As I suspect is often the case with these things, I began writing the blog with a real passion and fervour to share my thoughts on all things Caernarfon Town Football Club and, for a number of years, I managed to generate a regular output. However, as my role at the Oval and the responsibilities that come with it increased, there has been an inevitable effect on my time and sharing my thoughts on the club and Welsh football has been confined to Twitter.

If there is a problem with Twitter, it’s that we all find it impossible not to tweet something when we’re feeling emotional after a match and so I, like everyone else, have managed to ruffle people’s feathers on a regular basis. In some cases I’ve regretted doing so……but not often!

There’s another obvious problem with Twitter. I’m convinced that there are people out there who do nothing but trawl around it all day, waiting to pounce on anything and everything, just to feel good and important. Keyboard warrior is a great noun for these people although, looking at the meaning of  the word ‘warrior’ in the dictionary ('a brave or experienced soldier or fighter') it’s certainly not an accurate reflection of them.

And so today, as it lashes down outside and my better half has told me she’d rather do the housework than go out for a drive in the car, I find myself with a spare hour or two.

Is it time for a blog? Time for an honest opinion as a supporter? Should I really be writing a blog as chairman of a Cymru Premier League club?

Why not?

The 2021/22 season is already three months old and things have been going reasonably well on the pitch, although we’ve definitely hit a poor run of form, and results of late.

Huw was left with a second rebuilding job this past summer after a number of players decided their futures lay away from the Oval. It happens most years at most clubs but, having had a settled side for a number of terms before the Summer of 2020 and having already experienced an overhaul in time for the start of last season, it was a challenge for the manager to repeat the feat again this time around.

To be honest I sense that Huw seems to love the challenge and I’ve seen first hand how extensive his  base of contacts is, not just in the Welsh game but over the border too. I knew this from last summer of course but to be able to sign a goalkeeper from Liverpool Football Club on loan for the season is some coup for us and getting players of the calibre of Steve Evans, Josh Bailey, Dion Donohue, Danny Gosset and Rob Hughes shows that we’re continuing to head in the right direction.

Jakub Ojrzynski has been outstanding in goal for us. He may be inexperienced in senior football but you’d never think it after his performances so far. Having just signed a five year contract with the Reds, Jakub is obviously highly rated at Anfield and so to get someone of his calibre into our club is special. Although he may miss a handful of matches due to being with Poland’s under 19 squad, he more than makes up for it with what he will provide for the majority of the season. He is also a really nice guy and it’s great to see him with the young kids after matches, who all want a photo with a Liverpool FC player. And, having seen his initiation song on the bus home from Penybont, I can also say that he’s as down to earth as you can get!    

Dion needed no introduction to Caernarfon Town supporters as he’s been with us before and has always been well-liked by the Cofi Army. Playing for us as a teenager under the management of Lee Dixon, I don’t think there was any doubt that Dion had what was needed to make it in the professional game and he’s been a regular to the Oval as a supporter in the intervening years. He always said he’d love to play for us again and so whilst we didn’t expect it to happen so soon, everyone is delighted that it has and that he now wears the armband as out captain. A really nice person and one of the best players in the Cymru Premier League today.  

Danny was another we all knew about at Caernarfon as he played briefly for our reserves a few years ago. I’ve known him since he was a young boy and was gutted that he broke through into senior football for our rivals at Farrar Road and then went on to Bala. He excelled at both clubs and was chosen for the Wales ‘C’ side, so is obviously another top player in our game.  We’ve been hoping to sign Danny for a number of seasons and were all excited that he finally joined us. He’s been injured of late but the start he made before being out of action was proof enough that we have a quality midfielder in our ranks.

The third ‘impact’ signing we made is Rob Hughes. Having failed to get him in 2020 I knew we’d be in for him again this year and I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t know too much about him, although had heard he was a bit of a maverick. Huw told me that he was a big talent and would be good for us and he was spot on! Rob has been excellent so far and there’s little doubt that his performances even this early in the season have made him a favourite with the supporters. Ball players who unlock defences and scores goals are hard to find and thankfully we have one in Rob, who can link up with our other magician, Darren Thomas.

The problem we have had in the last month or so is that injuries and suspensions have hit us hard. Dion, Daniel, Steve Evans, Sion Bradley and Mike Hayes have had injury problems whilst Noah Edwards and Rob have been suspended, and it seems that Huw has very rarely been able to pick from a full squad. The latter two were ruled out of our home defeat to Barry Town through suspension and so, if everything goes well during the week, we may have a full squad to travel to Cardiff Met next Saturday.

One thing I am pretty sure about is that once everyone is fit, we’ll be a match for every other team in the league. The New Saints were fortunate to beat us early in the season and they’re the team we have to target as far as our ambition as a club is in the question. I’m sure we’ll get there one day but, considering our resources, it will not happen overnight. Some supporters will expect us to win every match, and as a supporter that's what I always hope for too but, based on our small squad this season, we need to keep everyone fit to compete week in, week out.    

Part of our future plans will rely on the progress of our youngsters through the Academy and, from what I have seen and heard this season, things are looking promising on that front. I’ll be honest and say that I have never really watched any of our Academy sides regularly because the first team takes the majority of my spare time.

This season, however, I have made an effort to watch the Under 19’s at the Oval and have to say that they are impressive. Our Head of Academy, Dave Cavanagh, has been telling me about this crop of players for two or three years and what has been really encouraging is that the majority of the squad,  which plays in the Welsh Premier Development League, are just sixteen and seventeen years old. So far this season they remain undefeated in the league and reached the quarter finals of the Welsh Youth club before losing out to TNS. Striker Gwion Dafydd has already made an impression in our first team and it seems that there are a fair few in the squad who may one day progress into the senior side.

A huge advantage to the squad is that they are coached by the first team’s assistant manager, Richard Davies. ‘Fish’ (photo, right) as he is more commonly known, joined us five years ago when Iwan Williams brought him into the set-up and has become a very respected coach, so the boys are getting top class coaching in addition to having the opportunity to impress an integral part of our senior management team. I’m convinced it won’t be too long until we start seeing a few of the side lining up for us in the Cymru Premier League.              

Unfortunately, and certainly not surprisingly, we’re still seeing the same tired problems cropping up with match officials. Just to make it clear, I think it takes a lot of commitment and not a little thick skin to officiate football matches at any level, and I take my hat off to those who do so. It’s easy to have a go at them, and some see it as part of the game to do so, but I know that I would never be up for doing their job.

We all make mistakes in our places of work and, rightly so, we get called up for it. However, we see some pretty contentious decisions being made on a regular basis in the Welsh game and yet the same officials pop up at matches every week. I can mention two or three fixtures this season that have been victims to extremely poor decisions, with our Welsh Cup fixture at Penybont being a prime example. I’m referring to the sending off of Darren Thomas and Lewis Harding midway through the first half for what is usually described as a bit of ‘handbags’. It really was nothing more than a bit of push and shove between the players and yet they were both shown straight reds, much to the confusion of everyone else at the ground. The incident seemed extremely innocuous at the time and even more so on the Sgorio highlights package later on. There was simply no need for early baths.  

I’m sure I sensed a change in the way matches were being officiated at the start of the season, with more tackles being given the green light by referees but there has been a gradual return to the usual ‘whistle for a free kick every time there’s a tackle’ policy of late, which negatively affects matches.      

Thankfully, long gone are the days when I used to stand on the Kop at Anfield as a teenager and join in with the chorus of “Who’s the B****** in the black” but I’m afraid that when this type of officiating occurs, it will leave people extremely frustrated both on and off the pitch. It’s a shame for the officials to be subjected to some stick from the terraces but a change in attitude and an injection of common sense would probably help them. It will be interesting to see how things pan out for the remainder of the season and my hope is that we see a return to the attitude where players were allowed to challenge for the ball and the action allowed to flow. But I wouldn’t bet on it.        

One thing I do know is that, by even sharing my views on match officials, I am opening myself to some high level finger pointing. It seems that we can never question anything in the Welsh game without someone, somewhere, taking umbrage and deciding we may have to justify ourselves. A case in point being when I spoke with Welsh news website Golwg 360 on the eve of the season.

When I agreed to an interview with the company’s reporter I did so on the understanding that it would be about our hopes as a club for the new campaign. In amongst all the questions and answers I mentioned that I would have preferred if our opening match, at home against Cardiff Met, had not been picked as the weekend’s live match on Sgorio. My sole reason for this is that I knew it would have a negative impact on our gate and so would cost us money. I was surprised, and rather disappointed that the editor at 360 latched onto this and made it the headline of the piece!

He agreed to change it after I protested that it was not an accurate reflection of the piece but the damage had been done and plenty of people had already read the article. More importantly, people at Sgorio had seen it, which I felt bad about. I know and appreciate how important Sgorio is to the Welsh game and I respect what they do for all the clubs. Without the coverage they provide our supporters would not get to see highlights of all our matches and would lose out on such a vital part of following the team.  Not every supporter can travel to matches, be it at the Oval or away and so their live matches and highlights are essential to keep them involved.

This was one instance where I felt I needed to make an apology, and this is what I did to the Sgorio team on match day. Unfortunately, I was also made aware that the story had reached a high level at S4C, including Sue Butler, their Sports Commissioner, and so I contacted her to explain what I had meant in the interview. Thankfully, she was as understanding as I could have hoped for and we recently had a an enjoyable meeting at the Oval to discuss the matter. Sue is certainly someone who wants the best for Welsh football and I think it says a lot about her that she was happy to listen to my side of the story. I’m not sure that it will ever happen with match officials but if we continue to let poor decisions have negative impacts on matches without at least highlighting them then we have no chance have we?

If any of you are still reading at this stage then I thank you for hanging in there, and hope you’ve enjoyed a few minutes of my thoughts on Caernarfon Town related matters. There’s more from where this came from and so, if you think it’s worth me writing another one soon, please share and let me know!

Un Clwb.