Welcome to a new addition for the website called ‘View from the centre circle', written by myself Joe Davis – the aim is to give you the fans an insight from within the squad. This piece will be longer than usual as I will be discussing the departing players, new faces coming in, aims for the season, pre season and the start to our season.

Firstly although bitterly disappointed with relegation last season, I along with others see it as one step back two steps forward for the club and that has been shown by the majority of the squad who have stuck around for the season ahead. We can’t begrudge Marley Spindler and Pete Haxell for moving on, with the former signing for Hadleigh United (who we host on September 23rd in the cup) and the latter signing for Witham Town who I’m sure given his chance on the higher stage will shine. We’ve also seen fans favourite Ben ‘Omelette’ Parkin join rivals Clacton Town.

With faces leaving, it was important Mo worked hard to bring in new (some already familiar to the SOBS) one’s and it’s fair to say he’s done a very good job with his acquisitions and increased the average age of the squad significantly in doing so. On a more serious note the new lads have brought with them a wealth of experience but also game management that I feel we lacked at times last season in important games but also having a knack of creating something magical when needed.

Liam Daniels has come in to provide competition between the sticks and impressed in the win against Eton Manor and Burnham, very vocal and showed good organisation skills in a testing first half defensively against them. Tommy Austin has come straight in to the back line and been a commanding figure, hasn’t got a bad left peg and is very vocal – despite missing the win at Haverhill due to picking up an injury in the warm up he was in the dugout playing assistant to Mo helping the boys through especially in the last twenty when we had to dig deep. Owen Bryan has quickly become a favourite amongst the fans with his goal scoring (sometimes with the help of opposition defenders) usually deployed in a more attacking role he’s fitted well in to central midfield and offers us a composed ball playing option in there who will chip in with goals. Owen Bryan’s former Tollesbury teammate Josh Milburn has also made the move over to Broad Lane, having grown up with Josh I know what he’s capable of he’s a tall, quick, powerful wide player who will cause problems to the full backs he comes up against, unfortunate to pick up an injury in the first pre season against Earls Colne. Moving forward up the pitch has seen the return of four players – Firstly, Adam Hampson has joined from local rivals Stanway Rovers and he’ll be a test for any opposition – great movement, attitude and always wanting the ball, which if he gets it he’ll be wanting to make things happen, Hampy can play in a number of positions but having notched 27 times for Braintree Reserves a few seasons back you can expect to see him leading the line. Wherever Hampy goes Karl Andrade isn’t too far away, Karl can either be deployed out wide or down the middle, showed in the pre season friendly against Wembley that he has the ability to score great goals, has good game intelligence. Markel Greenidge has also made a return labelled by a very brave man who shall remain nameless as the ‘Thurlow Nunn Mario Balotelli’ with his personality and ability to wind up the opposition, Markel’s another attacking player that will cause opposition defences nightmares and unlike his comparison I’m sure he’ll score goals for the club. Finally unless you’ve been hiding under a rock all summer you’ll know that former fan favourite and one of the biggest names on the local non league scene Ray ‘Razor’ Turner has returned as player/assistant manager, not just his goal scoring but also his presence and experience will be a massive boost for the club especially the younger lads.

All have come in and fitted really well in to the changing room and the positivity is flowing which is pleasing and along with the gaffer promotion is the minimum expectation for us this season with all of us wanting to end our stay in Division One as champions, you could see it as us putting pressure on ourselves but hopefully we can thrive on it and prove the ‘secret manager’ who in his preview for Division One has predicted us to finish fourth wrong. Not wanting to dwell too much on last season, with the added additions to the squad especially attackingly where we struggled previously it’s a shame we didn’t have this squad last term. There’s definitely competition for places all over the park but that can only spur us on to be better to give Mo a headache when selecting his game day XI – I’m sure he would rather this headache than one where he’s been trying to fill the bench like he has had previously.

Moving on to the actual football side of things, we had a very strong competitive pre season against Border League, Essex Senior League and Thurlow Nunn Premier opposition with our only defeat coming against Stanway Rovers who will be looking to gain promotion this time around. There were a lot of positives to take from pre season moving in to the opening game of the season against Woodbridge kicking off things on a Friday night. It was certainly a curtain raiser, with a big crowd being predicted I think we were all pleasantly surprised to see the turn out although the attendance said 256, I’m sure there was at least 300 on the opening night at Broad Lane and as a squad we would like to thank you all for the support especially the SOBS and the new young fanatics that have been present since our opening pre season victory against Earls Colne for creating an atmosphere many of us hadn’t experienced before and one I don’t think the Woodbridge goalkeeper would like to experience again. As expected with the opening game of the season it wasn’t the prettiest but we played good football at times and after Woodbridge cancelled out Owen’s opener there was still fifteen left on the clock and where we may have grinded out a draw previously we pushed for the winner and it was almost fitting that it was Razor who notched the winner in the last minute heading home a great cross from the young promising winger Hasan and we were able to send the majority of the fans in attendance home happy and hopefully with positives to talk about. From a personal point of view I’m a big fan of Friday night football and looking forward to the other fixtures that have been scheduled for a Friday night. After initially been contacted by Jon to write a piece for the club I said that I’d hold out until Thursday to include the Haverhill Borough fixture with hopefully more positives to talk about and I do. Special mentions to Ben Lampon and Andy Schofield who although not naturally centre halves formed a solid partnership to lead the back line especially to the latter Andy who the previous night played 90 for the reserves found himself making it 180 in two nights due to Tommy Austin getting injured in the warm up. After probably edging the first half we went in at the break one goal up thanks to Owen’s free kick that was deflected in and after originally being given as an own goal that decision has been reversed following his determination and begging to claim it as his own, he has finally been rewarded his second goal of the campaign. A strong start to the second half saw Joe Heron double the lead tucking home Markel’s cross before providing a delightful assist for Razor who tucked home the third. At three nil up we looked strong however the hosts had other ideas and we were made to work for it, firstly pegging one back through a neat finish before reducing the deficit to just one after a scuffed shot found it’s way to an unmarked Haverhill player who knocked it past Ringe. It was another test for us and we managed to hold on, being three goals up is not something many of us have been used to as a team before and hopefully this will be an experience for us and next time we’ll handle the situation better. The performances will come and we’re already showing signs but with our expectations we’re always looking to get better having said that given Haverhill’s aims for promotion this season and it being their first home game of the season we were very happy to make the trip home with another three points and making it six from six. A big thank you goes to the Wivenhoe faithful who made the hour long journey in their numbers to support us at Haverhill, your support is always noted and appreciated amongst us and maybe for the longer away days we can look at getting a coach laid on for the players and fans to travel together as your support is fantastic and can drive us on at times. We are only two games in and with the experienced heads around we’ll be sure not to get carried away and we know every team we come up against will provide us with a stern test and will want to beat us.

Already this season we’ve seen a few players played in positions that may not be their number one choice but we’ve all got that team attitude and wherever positioned you will see us give 100 percent for the shirt and the club.

Finally, Saturday see’s our journey to Wembley begin with the visit of Tower Hamlets and although that’s unlikely everyone loves the FA Cup and we’ll be hoping to progress as far as possible just like with any cup competition we are entered in to. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Broad Lane creating a great atmosphere and hope to make it three wins in three for you.

COYD!