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Up The Chi Interview With Skipper Jack Lee

Up The Chi Interview With Skipper Jack Lee

Ian Worden5 Dec 2017 - 11:21
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December Interview

I take pride in the fact that I'm the captain and lead the team out. On the pitch, I'm the mouthy one. But it's because I'm passionate. I enjoy being skipper.
- Jack Lee

Chi captain celebrates cup win (Picture: Andy Nunn)

We caught up with skipper Jack Lee straight after the FA Vase third round win at Whitstable to talk about the game, the unbeaten run, what it means to be Chi captain and the ultras.

Jack, what are your thoughts after that game?

We're on a high. It was brilliant. Obviously when you come all this way you've got a little bit of a fear that you don't want to make it a wasted journey. But we got a great start and then maybe, in a way, that's what caused us to sit deep. We started well. We got two good goals and just sat deep. We were hanging on and defending for our lives at times.

But over the last five games we've kept five clean sheets. It's great. We couldn't keep a clean sheet for love or money at the beginning of the season. Now we've got five in a row. We've got the win and we're into the next round.

And what do you put that down to? Has there been something that's changed things round?

It's got something to do with the squad I think. I wasn't involved in two of those clean sheets. Ellis hasn't been involved today, nor has Ruben. So this shows we've got six, seven, maybe even eight good defensive players who can work as a unit to keep clean sheets. When you're a defender you want to keep clean sheets.

I think a lot of it's down to tactics. With four at the back and having Pash, who's a defensive minded player, or Ruben in there, has given us a bit more protection. They also win second balls for us. At the start of the season we had forward thinking players in there and at times it felt like we were playing with four-zero-six.

And maybe now it seems like we do die for each other, we do put our necks on the line. I know I'll do that but now there's five or six of us that will. Even Clacky. Going forward he's the best player we've got but now he's doing a defensive job as well. And this makes him even better. So as a team I think we realise we've got the fire power and we've sorted our defensive problems and we've gone on a good run.

What does it mean to you to be captain of Chi? And what do you think you bring to the team?

I take pride in the fact that I'm captain and lead the team out. Some of the boys do look up to me I guess. I'm not sure whether they should though. It means a lot. Even if I wasn't the captain I'd still be vocal. I'd still be the character I am. In the dressing room I'm the loudest. Anywhere we go, I'm the lively one. That's just me. On the pitch, I'm the mouthy one. I'm the one that doesn't stop moaning. But it's because I'm passionate. I enjoy being skipper.

There's a bit of responsibility but the way I see it we've got eleven captains. Everyone is vocal, everyone does a job. It's not one captain to me, it's a team effort.

Don't get me wrong. If we got to Wembley and won the Vase I'd be really proud to go up those steps. To be the one to lift the cup. But that's a long way off yet. We'll have to wait and see.

And now you've got a fourth round Vase tie for only the third time in the club's history I think. How are you going to approach that as a club?

We won't approach it any differently. We approached it the right way last year when we played Buckland but on the day though they were the better side. We got outplayed, outfought by a better team and they deservedly beat us.

But this year there's some Wessex teams and some Sussex teams that have gone through. It's not going to go that far away, it's still regional. I'm looking forward to it. If we get a nice draw then who knows?

Realistically, we'll take a round at a time. It's a knock-out competition and you never know, if you can hang in there, get one bit of luck. We want to go as far as we can and we'll make the most of it.

The Chi Ultras gave you some amazing support today. How helpful was that?

They were great and it was quite something celebrating with them at the end. There's a real sense of community at this club and we're buzzing now. The atmosphere the ultras generate is brilliant. And everything has coincided with our run. They're part of our community now.

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