Managers Blog... 1 of 4

1. Matt Carmichaels thoughts....


24/07/13

A new era begins.

So after weeks of waiting, constant calls, text messages and emails sent, the new season is almost upon us. This year will be my first as solo manager in a time when a new era of HPFC begins. I will save that info for another blog but I will share the now common knowledge of our new signings. Jordan Heath returns to us in a pivotal season in the clubs history. I believe Jordans hunger to succeed will drive him on to emulate his heroics of 2 seasons ago. He will be a major addition, the same can be said for Bobby "the body" Bethell, Ive known Bob for a number of years and you know what you get with him as a player, He will bring experience, passion and with his Gas Rec experience a winning mentality. We also signed Matty Mcgowan Harvey who has shown some exciting skills and attacking play and some much needed flair. We also captured Danny Claxton who is a versatile left sided player, Danny brings a wealth of experience at sil level to the club. I believe Danny will be a major signing and could help take us back to the Thurlow Nunn league.

We have a host of tough friendlies to test ourselves at a level I believe we will return to, Clapton visited Saturday in a match where both teams tried to play the right way. The match was entertaining and a good workout for us and although Im biased i felt we just shaded it. Results are not always important in pre season but I was impressed with new boys Harvey and Claxton. I felt they made an excellent statement of how we are trying to improve things on the playing side. Special mention to Sam Quinn who helped us out in goal, I think all the lads agreed after at how well he played and Im hoping "quinny" will push Scott Wass hard for the number 1 jersey. The whole squad has re-signed from last season and we are looking a lot fitter and sharper in training. Michael Hammond has been stand out in the weeks gone by and I believe if we can get him fully fit "Ham-Dog" will be a huge plus for us. Finally we welcome my old reserve co-manager Chris Rose back to the 2nds setup alongside co-manager John Fidgett. These guys have brought a new sense of excitement to the reserves set-up. Im sure their passion will stand the 2nd string in good stead for the upcoming season.

Thanks for following

Matty