Match Preview

There is a saying in the English language which goes “Things go from bad to worse.”. It is a broadly accepted notion, that paths are linear, that momentum -metaphorically and actually- leads to an inertive continuation and that a negative path continues to be negative. We, as individuals, are guilty of this thinking all the time. We look at situations, at league tables, at form guides and we assume that trends continue and those winning must continue to win whilst those on a losing streak must continue to lose. But, thankfully, life and football is not like this. Change and growth is achievable assuming the right process goals are achieved and that these goals lead, directly, to the desired outcome.

Looking at Fleet Spurs Men’s First Team on the morning of Saturday 5th October 2019, I am drawn to this idea. The team is four league losses from four and many people will assume that this trend will continue. Many people will assume that Fleet Spurs will stumble to the end of the football year as fodder for other, winning, sides. I thoroughly and wholeheartedly reject this idea. There are two reasons for enthusiasm and positivity around Fleet Spurs.

Firstly, the processes that Fleet Spurs has implemented are the right ones. The management team coaches and guides the team properly, selection is based on merit and consistency, players fight and compete for their places and all wins and losses are candidly reflected upon. In other words, the structures around the team are the right ones and this will lead to growth. Furthermore, the club has structured itself in the right way to deliver success. The senior and youth clubs have merged, they communicate and share resources and they have a clear vision for what the club will become. The online presence of the club, including this very post, has grown dramatically and Fleet Spurs will grow its local footprint as this trend develops. Finally, within this first point, the players themselves are working hard and are committed to the club.

The second reason that things will change is that things do change. “Things go from bad to worse” should be rejected by all players and officials at the club and be replaced by what follows. Whilst it may not be typical in a football environment to reflect on poetry, I wish to share with all readers a poem that stays close to my heart all the time. As an individual who takes risks in life and in businesses and hopes for the very best for Fleet Spurs, this poem leads to bravery and an acceptance that being out of my own comfort zone is a good place to be. I hope it means something to you too:

Sometimes - Sheenagh Pugh

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse.  Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss, sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen:  may it happen for you.

Apologies to Chessington and Hook Utd that this match preview was a little abstract and didn’t talk about you at all. You will be very welcome at Kennels Lane this afternoon.