Lure To Much To Resist - 10th May

New Bracknell Town joint-manager Steve McClurg admits he found the lure of a return to Larges Lane too much to resist, and the job offer was enough to force him out of retirement.

McClurg stepped down as Binfield boss last week, where he is to be replaced by his assistant Mark Tallentire, and was preparing himself for some free weekends come August. However, when Bracknell came calling, McClurg was talked out of retirement, and agreed to take over the reigns at the struggling club on Monday alongside Richard Whitty, his director of football at Binfield.

McClurg enjoyed 16 seasons at Larges Lane during the 1970s and 80s, and captained the side from centre-half before taking over as player/manager in the early 80s aged 28. He spent four succesful seasons as player boss before taking over as full-time manager and then leaving the role in the late 80s. Whitty, meanwhile, was a successful youth team coach at Larges Lane before taking on the managers role at Binfield, where he was replaced by McClurg two years ago. McClurg has remained an honorary lifetime member at Bracknell, and although he admitted last year when Kerthney Carty left the job that he wasn’t interested in taking the reigns, he believes the time is now right for his return.

In typically positive fashion, he believes the club must be looking to go back up at the first time of trying. “I was going to knock it all on the head but I decided to give it a go, I go back a long way with Bracknell,” he said. “I decided to call it a day at the end of the season but then I had a change of heart. I wasn’t interested at the time (when Carty left), but for me it’s the history of it. It’s going to be hard work, but it’s a challenge. We’ll just have to see how this season goes and then we’ll take it from there. A decent season for Bracknell would be to win the division. I go into everything to try and win it. We aspire to win the league and that should be the aim for every club. We’ll lose games along the way, but this is about building something up. It’s not a five-minute job and we have a lot of rebuilding to do.”

In the meantime, McClurg’s successor at Binfield, Tallentire, can be safe in the knowledge that the former boss will not be raiding Hill Farm Lane for players. However, although McClurg has insisted he will not be tapping up anyone from the Moles, it is understood that his departure has split the Binfield squad down the middle, and it is without doubt that many will follow their former boss to Larges Lane. “We’re not going to ask any players to come but if they wanted to come and play for us that’s fantastic,” said McClurg. “I wouldn’t try to take players away from Binfield, but if they wanted to come and train with us that is up to them. I think Mark will do a good job and Binfield are a great club. I won’t be sad to go back there next season, though it’s what football is all about. I had a fantastic time at Binfield and they were brilliant to me. They’re a really good bunch of people and I can’t speak highly enough of them.”

At the moment, Bracknell stand to be relegated to either the Combined Counties or the Hellenic Premier Divisions. The club have requested relegation to the Hellenic league and this would set up a number of intriguing derbies for football fans in the local area, with Bracknell, Binfield, Ascot United, Wokingham & Emmbrook and Reading Town all set to face each other next season.

McClurg hopes any renewed interest could be benficial for the Robins. “There’ll be some great local derbies next year and that’s what the area needs,” he said. "Not only that, but Bracknell Town, no disrespect to the other clubs, should be the club supported by people in the area and hopefully we can aspire to getting some good support back to the club. Hopefully we can start something good at Bracknell.”

Coach The Coaches - 10th May

Goalkeeping coach and UEFA B badge-holder Steve Hale believes the nurturing of young keepers is often overlooked in favour of outfield players, and he is doing something about it.

The Swindon Advertiser reports that Hale thinks the instruction of goalkeepers in their formative years lacks the intensity of all other positions, and insists adults must be trained in the art of tutoring our future shot-stoppers. “Often the goalkeeper will get overlooked when it comes to training sessions with their team, having to join in as an outfield player and not getting the chance to practise their techniques for a pretty specialised position,” he said. “Any manager or coach, or even a parent involved with the training session needs to get an insight into helping those goalkeepers develop properly.”

Hale has come up with his latest course - ‘Coach the Coaches’ - as a tonic for what he sees as an intrinsic problem within the coaching of the grass roots game. The two-day programmes, aimed at any adult associated in a coaching capacity with a junior side, will be given lessons in the best way to help the star glovemen of tomorrow bring their game along at a pace which matches their outfield counterparts.

“The course offers to teach techniques that coaches need to work on with their goalkeepers and drills to help them do this,” said Hale. During or after the session anyone on the course will be able to ask questions or seek advice in a bid to help our young goalkeepers succeed.”

The course takes place at Ruskin Junior School on Monday, May 17 between 7.30 and 8.30pm. Any interested parties should call 07711275526 or email steve@stevehalegoalkeeping.co.uk for more information.

Martyrs In The Hellenic? - 5th March

Merthyr Tydfil could be playing Western League or Hellenic League football in 2010-1, according to the South Wales Echo

That seems to be the certain outcome unless a new buyer for the club emerges, and that looks extremely unlikely. “We could well have to take two steps back and play at a lower level,” said club secretary Anthony Hughes. “But, if that happens, it may prove for the good of Merthyr Tydfil in the long term.”

The Martyrs, who play in the Southern League Premier Division, went into administration at the start of this season and are being run by the Merthyr Tydfil Football Supporters Trust. They are keen to keep the club running in the English pyramid season next season and Hughes said: “That may mean the football club being dissolved. If that happens our idea would be to carry on playing at Penydarren Park. The football authorities would place us in a league two steps back, probably either the Western League or the Hellenic League. Our plan then would be to work hard within our means to make progress again and take the club forward. We are hopeful that our manager Garry Shephard and his staff would stay. As we stand, the club is being run by the Supporters Trust and steps have been taken to ensure we break even. We will finish this season on schedule. Clearly, we are in staying in close contact with the administrator and decisions about Merthyr Tydfil’s future will be made over the next few months.”

Merthyr would take on West Country clubs in the Western League which could include Ilfracombe Town, Larkhall Athletic, Welton Rovers and Shelborne Town. If they were placed in the Hellenic League, opposing clubs would include Shortwood United from Gloucestershire, Kidlington from Oxfordshire, Hook Norton, Wantage Town and Almondsbury Town.

The Martyrs are now without a win in seven league matches, collecting only one point from a possible 21. Their latest defeat came at home against Truro City in midweek, conceding a late winner after dominating most of the match. They are fifth from bottom in the Southern League and travel to play Tiverton Town away on Saturday. That will be followed by a home match against Clevedon Town next Tuesday.

Cortez Belle scored his 50th goal for Merthyr Tydfil in 111 appearances for the club, having played over two spells. Belle, now aged 26, first played for the Martyrs in 2003-04 and is back having played for Llanelli, Newport County, Chester City, Halifax Town, Northwich Victoria and Chippenham Town in between. Coventry-born Belle is Merthyr’s leading scored this season on 12 goals, one more than Marcus Griffiths.