SHRIVENHAM FC NEWS

Convinced Of Improvement - 20 January

John Fisher is convinced that his side will improve on their woeful display last weekend, when they host Kidlington tomorrow.

The Rec side were defeated 2-0 at Wantage but have the ideal chance to return to winning way, in the Hellenic Football League Premier Division, at home to the lowly Greens.

Fisher said: "We can't be any worse than we were last week, it was dire. The only saving grace for them was the whole lot of them were the same, even the subs. Things can only get better for us. I can't see them getting any worse, but you can never tell."

Kidlington are desperately trying to avoid getting dragged into the relegation places but have lost their last four games in the league, conceding 21 goals in the process. "Last year they were nearly in the top six and now they have hit a real bad patch," added Fisher. "We'd be looking to get three points as they are dropping a little bit. I'm not being disrespectful, but we'd be disappointed not to get the win."

Shrivenham are without the suspended duo of Aaron Maximen and Chris Flanagan, but Liam Williams, recently signed from Witney, returns to the fold.

Lady Luck Smiles - 9 January

Shrivenham boss John Fisher admitted his side rode their luck in the first half before coming out 3-2 winners over Wokingham & Emmbrook in the Uhlsport Hellenic Premier.

The visitors were on top for much of the opening period and made their advantage count to take the lead, but Shrivvy hit back as a poor attempted header back to the goalkeeper fell kindly for Steve Robertson who fired home. Chris Flanagan put Fisher's side 2-1 up at half time, before Ryan King added another after the break to secure the victory despite the visitors pulling another goal back.

Fisher told the Swindon Advertiser it could have been very different after Wokingham controlled the first half, but was happy to secure the win. "I probably would have taken going in at half time 1-0 down to be honest, they had that many chances," he said. We have to say we were fortunate to go in at 2-1 because they had a lot of the ball and had a lot of good chances which they probably could have scored. We played well for the first 20 minutes, but we did very well to cope with them. We could have had another one at the end too, when Steve Robertson went one on one with the keeper, but I think tired legs got to him. We are still unbeaten this year, which has to be a positive."

Fisher was able to give a debut to new centre back Liam Williams, who has joined the club from Witney, and the manager was happy with his new signing's display. "He gives us something different and tightens us up, because he is a big strong lad. He is an out and out centre half because all he does is defend," he said. "He did well on his debut and is getting on with all the lads, so I am sure he will turn out to be a great signing for us."

Chase Successful - 6 January 2012

A month long chase has borne fruit for Shrivenham after manager John Fisher secured the signature of Witney's Liam Williams.

The Shrivenham boss has been after the centre-back since well before Christmas and has now finally got his man, with the Swindon-based player set to go into the squad for tomorrow's Hellenic Premier meeting with Wokingham & Emmbrook at the Rec.

"We've been trying to get him for a month or more," said Fisher to the Swindon Advertiser. "We approached him before Christmas but he decided he was going to stay there. Witney have got a new manager now, things have changed, and it looked like he wasn't part of their plans, so he's come to us. He knows a few of the players as he is 21 and we've got quite a few who are 21 or a bit older."

Meanwhile, Fisher has challenged his team to remain in a midtable position for the rest of the campaign, the boss admitting that several bad results could land his side back in trouble. "It will be good if we can finish roundabout half way, that's what we aimed for at the start of the season," he said. "We've got a new set of lads so midtable will be fine for us, then maybe next year we will kick on again. You've only got to lose a few games and you're back in trouble. The magic number is 40, if you get that you're going to be safe. We've got to get nine points from 13 games and realistically that should be comfortable to do."

Shrivenham emerged victorious on their recent visit to Wokingham in December, but Fisher admitted the Satsumas do try to play an attractive passing game. "They are nothing special but they look to play when they can," he said. "It's all a bit hit and miss really, they do well against the top sides and seem to drop points against the bottom sides. We beat them 2-1 away so I don't see why we can't beat them again on Saturday."

Striker Aaron Maximen is banned for Shrivenham tomorrow while Kev Tate is doubtful with an ankle injury.

Noisy Neighbours - 23 December

Shrivvy boss John Fisher thinks his side will be going into the Bank Holiday Tuesday football fixture against Highworth as underdogs.

But he is expecting his side to put in a wholehearted display against their 'noisy neighbours.' "We will be asking them to get involved and make their presence felt, because we want to keep our noisy neighbours quiet. It is a game we are all looking forward to, and I guess they will probably have a slight edge because of their league position, but we will be giving it our best."

Both sides go into the game at close to full strength, although Shrivenham will be without Russell Byrne who is suspended.

The kick off on December 27 is 2pm,

Partly Right? - 5 December

John Fisher predicted he would not enjoy his trip to Wokingham & Emmbrook and believes he was partly right, according to his post match comments in the Swindon Advertiser.

The Shrivenham boss labelled, Larges Lane 'the worst ground in the league' ahead of Saturday's Hellenic Premier contest. Those comments caused a stir at Wokingham and Satsumas boss Roger Herridge hit back on Twitter, stating that Shrivenham's Rec ground 'isn't exactly modern'.

However, Fisher yesterday claimed that the changing room toilets at Larges Lane were flooded on Saturday, meaning his players had to lift their kit off the floor to stop it getting wet.

Putting that episode behind them, the team gave Fisher something to smile about as they notched up a 2-1 victory, with birthday boy Mark Stevens netting around the half-hour mark. Ryan King doubled the advantage soon after the break and although Wokingham replied midway through the second period, Shrivvy held on.

Fisher insisted that he did not need to apologise for his pre-match comments following the win. "I think I upset a few people, but it's got us back on the map again," he said. "It's not great when you have to lift your bags off the changing room floor, is it?"

Fisher's Assessment - 2 December

Never one for a charm offensive, Shrivenham boss John Fisher has given to the Swindon Advertiser a brutally frank assessment of Wokingham & Emmbrook’s facilities ahead of the teams’ league contest tomorrow.

The Rec chief is not a fan of Larges Lane and was typically withering in his verdict of the setup, which Wokingham share with fellow Hellenic Premier side Bracknell. “I’m not being rude to them, but it’s horrendous,” he said. “The pitch is awful and the changing rooms are falling down. It’s probably the worst ground in the league.”

However, Fisher is focused on getting three points tomorrow and believes his players must concentrate on keeping a lead, which they have failed to do on a number of occasions this campaign. “I’ve lost count of the amount of games we’ve been winning but have thrown away,” said Fisher. “Only the players can deal with it , if they are good enough to go ahead then they should be good enough to hold on. It’s about whether the players can get themselves sorted attitude wise. Wokingham have had a couple of good results recently, but we can get something from the game without a shadow of a doubt.”

Fisher has no new injury worries and is able to welcome back central midfielder Russell Byrne from injury.

When Saturday Comes - 26 November

Shrivenham boss John Fisher is glad to be playing on Saturday again after suffering another midweek defeat.

Shrivvy lost 3-1 to Cheltenham on Wednesday, meaning they have won just two of their 10 midweek league games this season.
"We can't seem to win in midweek," said boss John Fisher, whose side meet Oxford City Nomads today. "I'm going to put it to the league secretary Brian King that we don't play midweek games any more."

He added: "It will be difficult against Oxford, they are going well and I'd be happy with a point."

Goalkeeper Anthony Betterton is back from injury and should take his place in the Shrivenham side

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Goals A Plenty - 18 November

Shrivenham manager John Fisher has predicted plenty of goalmouth action in his side's home clash with fellow midtable side Ascot.

"They are going quite well of late, they are very lively football up front and have Jon Bennett who scored four last Saturday, so he's a man to we've got to watch out for," said Fisher. "I don't think they are that great at the back, but they have a lot of pace going forward. There will be a few goals on Saturday and we're just going to try and outscore them. If people want to see some goals then they should come to the Rec."

Dane Moulden (knee) is among several players sidelined for Shrivenham, but Fisher is not far away from having a full squad available.

Fiery Encounter - 11 November

John Fisher is anticipating a fiery encounter against Fairford in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division, but expects his team to bounce back from their 6-0 humiliation at second place Ardley United last time out.

He said to the Swindon Advertsier : "The players knew exactly what I thought of their performance after that one, and they know we need to play a lot better to get anything out of Fairford. It will be a tough game with a bit aggression in it, and I would be worried if it wasn't like that. They have picked up and got some good results of late, and if we had played them a month ago I would have expected an easier game, that will not be the case now."

Shrivenham have played three games more than Fairford, and Fisher knows his side will need to pick up points to avoid being sucked into relegation trouble. "We need to beat teams like Fairford, and our next two games against Ascot and Cheltenham Saracens are winnable too. You have to beat the teams around you, especially in heated derby games like Fairford.

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Purring Fisher - 4 November

Shrivenham boss John Fisher might have been left purring at Manchester City's brilliant Champions League football in midweek, but he says his team won't be trying to imitate it at Ardley tomorrow.

City won 3-0 at Villarreal in a superb display of passing football and Fisher found the constant changing up of player positions irresistible. But he said: "We won't be trying any of that player rotation, we have a job understanding 4-4-2 let alone rotating around. It's not going to be the easiest match at Ardley and if we get a point we'll be happy."

Fisher is still without a string of players this weekend including the likes of Kev Tate and Dane Moulden

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Smiling Deities? - 28 October

John Fisher is hoping the footballing gods will start to smile on him soon and give him his first-team players back.

The Shrivenham manager was without five of his starting eleven at the time of writing and he is concerned that the lack of fit personnel is affecting his team's results.

Shrivvy welcome Slimbridge to the Rec in the Bluefin Insurers Challenge Cup tomorrow, the side they lost 4-2 against in the Hellenic Premier on Tuesday, and Fisher will certainly not have a full squad at his disposal. Centre-back Kevin Tate picked up a groin injury in midweek and goalkeeper Anthony Betterton is among the other players struggling.

"The trouble we've got at the moment is we can't get the same group of players on the pitch twice in a row," said Fisher.
"That happens in football but it seems to be happening every week to us. Now and again some of them have work commitments but all the rest of it is injuries. It's not that we don't have the players, but every week we've not got consistency of selection."

However, the boss hopes to welcome back Dane Moulden and James Lewis this weekend.

Wish You Were Here - 1 July

Shrivenham boss John Fisher dislikes pre-season so much that he has taken the ingenious approach of booking a holiday to avoid it.

The Rec outfit begin training next week but Fisher has lined up a fortnight in Cyprus slap-bang in July to he can soak up the rays before the campaign starts in earnest, which he freely admits is double standards given that he is no fan of players doing exactly the same thing.

"You don't get a lot out of pre-season friendlies, they are a waste of time," said Fisher, talking to the Swindon Advertiser. "The players you've got aren't under contract and half of them end up going away on holiday. You can go into a friendly with six of your players from your starting line-up unavailable and it becomes a bit of a nightmare really. It's possible to get to the first game of the season and your first team haven't played together, but you have to play the friendlies because that's the only way to get fit."

Some local football managers are so committed that they will take a holiday in June specifically to avoid a clash with the start of pre-season, but this is a mindset Fisher has little time for. "July is the best time of the year to go to Cyprus as I want to go there when it's hot," he added. I don't want to go to Cyprus in June and I'm going to miss most of pre-season so I've timed it well. Not being disrespectful to other managers and if they want to go away in June then fair play to them, but if your life is going to be dictated by the Hellenic League then you don't just need to be seriously looking at yourself, you need to be checking in at The Priory."

Meanwhile, Fisher admitted he had been frustrated in his attempts to launch a triple raid on demoted Wootton Bassett, having had his approach rebuffed by the players in question. But he is still upbeat that he will begin the season with a competitive squad that will improve on last season's lowly Uhlsport Hellenic Premier showing. "I tried to grab a few of them (Bassett players) but I think they thought they were going to go straight back up," explained Fisher. So fair play to them if they think they are going to, I've got no problem with that, it's their life not mine. It's not my problem they've got no ambition, is it? I think we'll keep most of the squad we had last year but we need a few others, but we won't know what we've got until two or three training sessions in. Towards the end of last season we had quite a good squad but we do need a few more, so hopefully we'll get that."

Shrivenham play their first pre-season friendly on July 16 when they host Oxfordshire side Clanfield.