Jumping for June-joy

Posted on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013

It was great to end the season on a real high, to end the season with the King Cup trophy back in our hands.  Over the course of the past season, I believe our new side has played some excellent football at times, scoring 99 goals in 44 games and achieving 15 x clean sheets (which equates to a 34% shut-out rate).  However, perhaps it’s fair to assume that failure to win a trophy would have left a black mark, cast a shadow over our 1^st year at the helm.

Thankfully despite the late set-backs of losing John Grant & Ross Gilpin (on top of Whatley, Bremner, Seeley and Flockhart all already out injured) in the build up to the last game of the season, the players produced a performance level worthy of lifting the trophy against a very good Berwick Rangers Reserves side.  In the words of Jim Telfer “it’s performance that matters”, however, in the famous Everest team talk of 1997, he also states “defeat doesn’t worry me, I’ve had it often”…it’s the nature of sport that we cannot win all the time.  It’s also the nature of things that you can’t and won’t please everybody all of the time.  For me, staying focused on the process and performance levels is key.

I believe our players deserved to put a trophy on the board…44 x competitive games is a long season in E of S terms.  Coming together as a new group, responding to different thoughts, ideas and methods can be challenging and uncomfortable at times.  The players have worked so hard and deserved a tangible reward.

On a personal level, the coaching staff and I have learnt a great deal this past year…I’ve thoroughly enjoyed coaching this talented group of players.  However, as with any Club at this time of the year, some players will move on (for a variety of different reasons), whilst others will be brought in as we continue to manage a transition stage in preparation for what we hope will be a Pyramid structure in Scottish football in the near future.  The introduction of the Lowland League would be a welcome first step.

On Saturday night our players enjoyed the end of season POTY Dinner.  In a close 2 horse race, Willie Bremner edged out Mark Whatley for the ‘Player’s Player of the Year’, whilst Gary Cennerazzo won the ‘Coaches Player of the Year’ and our ‘Supporter’s Player of the Year’.  Other notable performers over the season included Sivvy and Danny O’Donnell,  both of whom excelled in the 2^nd half of the season in particular.

Playing games up to and including last Saturday has meant full blown signing talks for next season had been on hold.  However, I’m delighted to announce that the following players have already signed on for another year – Kevin Sivewright, John Grant, Mark Whatley, Willie Bremner, Alistair MacKinnon and Gary Cennerazzo.  With several other meetings lined-up for the rest of this week, further announcements will be made over the course of the next few days and beyond.  Sammy