Season Review

[Sparrow]

How did your season go?
Started really well. Injuries to key players around Christmas killed us. Staged a recovery in the run-in but it wasn't quite enough. Overall, the third consecutive season of improvement (12th - 9th - 7th) so highly impressive.

Best moment
There were many. Scott Rendell's goal at Wrexham, Gez's free-kick at Aldershot to win 1-0 for the first time in ages, Gez's incredible free-kick at Halifax on BT Sport, turning around a two-goal deficit at half-time against Torquay to win 3-2 and keep us in the hunt for the play-offs, Josh Payne's late wonder goal at Chester to edge us even closer to 5th spot and scoring twice in the last two minutes of the season with ten-men to beat Halifax 3-2.

Lowest moment
Defeat to Telford at home was disappointing. Late defeat away at Macclesfield followed by being beaten by the wind at FGR on the following Tuesday really started our bad run of form over Christmas. Defeat at home to Aldershot - they were awful and, somehow, we were even worse. The real killer was Dover's last minute winning penalty on Easter Monday to put a massive dent in our play-off hopes.

Funniest moment
Giving it the big one at Dartford as they all started leaving after 85 minutes - we'll never play you again.
Handing Welling a point during the run-in to aid their survival and Alfreton's relegation.
Josh Payne only scoring good goals.
Chester's H Block still being a thing.
Riot police being called in away at Barnet.
The Worst Grimsby Team Garry Hill Has Ever Seen At Blundell Park.

Funniest 1FF moment
Any one of the FGR fans' meltdown.
The creation of the Tinpot Thread.
Winding Cardsfan up about his AGENDA regarding Dean Morgan.

Best player
Scott Rendell. 24 league goals says it all.

Best opposition player
I guess Akinde for scoring loads.

What is needed for next season?
The re-signing of key players/spine of the team which has pretty much happened. Would like to add McNerney if he doesn't find a League 2 side.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
Hopefully somewhere in the top half, again. A cup run would be nice too.

 

[Si Robin]

How did your season go?
Fantastic for 5 weeks, then we started dropping, and dropping, and dropping........you know the rest.

Best moment
Probably beating Swindon 5-0, although I boycotted the game due to it being made a Category A game (£2 extra on top of normal prices).

Lowest moment
Hearing that Hartlepool were 2-1 up when we were 1-0 down to Shrewsbury on April 25th and knowing that with about 30 mins to go, nothing was going to change.

Funniest moment
The reaction of some of the players after the aforementioned Shrews game when they appeared genuinely surprised that our fans weren't happy with relegation.

Funniest 1FF moment
Only became a member on the day we were relegated, but I feel I'm learning a lot about Eastleigh's VISION!

Best player
Trevor Carson got it by default. The rest were shocking.

Best opposition player
It sounds silly, but we were so shite, I genuinely don't recall any standout performances against us.

What is needed for next season?
A squad of players that want to be at the club, that are prepared to give their all, and engage with the fans.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
Minimum expectation is playoffs.

 

[Shotsfan1993]

How did your season go?
August - Good
September - Crap
October - Average
November - Good
December - Awful (except for beating Woking)
January - Dreadful
February - Good
March - Good
April - Average (we didnt bother for the last 3.5 games of the season)
So yeah, very much an up and down season - December and January were shocking, the rest was inconsistent.

Best moment
Has to be Mark Molesley's half yard screamer against Portsmouth in the FA Cup replay and the atmosphere at the Rec during the 10 minutes afterwards - a brilliant night in what was otherwise a very dissapointing season.

Lowest moment
Losing 1-0 at home to Burgess Hill in the FA Trophy, where I can't even remember us even having a shot on target!

Funniest 1FF moment
Eastleigh's fan trying to convince everyone that they have a "vision" and are not being bankrolled.

Best player
Brett Williams

Best opposition player
John Akinde

What is needed for next season?
Since we only have 4 players, of whom 1 is injured and 1 is the assistant manager, some more players might help

Prediction/expectation for next season?
Top half finish

 

[Clarkey_GTFC]

How did your season go?
2/3s of it went like every season. Slow start before picking up and settling into a play-off place. This time though we actually looked like we might upset a few teams and take the title but we unfortunately just ran out of steam. The rest is cemented in devastating history.

Best moment
Funnily enough when the bloke got kicked out for having a blow up ball it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Fans rallied together like I've not seen in a very long time and it translated onto the pitch, we went on a hell of a run.

Lowest moment
JP's penalty clearing the bar. Many hearts sank.

Funniest moment
No idea. Probably Baxter scoring an own goal for Gateshead prompting Neilson to laugh in his face.

Best player
Will give it to John-Lewis for his improvement and how he somehow managed to win over the fans who not long ago would boo him for taking a penalty.

Best opposition player
Didn't make a lot of games last season but the only side I saw that impressed me was Bristol, so anyone from them.

What is needed for next season?
A half decent striker to put away all the chances we create.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
Win the league, no excuses.

 

[BeesKnees]

Am I still allowed to take part?
How did your season go?
Amazing start derailed by FA cup, never reached the same heights again but hung on til the end thanks to some good late signings.

Best moment
Last day

Lowest moment
Home defeat to Grimsby. I genuinely thought title was gone, the FGR loss felt like confirmation that it was true.

Funniest moment
Woking players own goal from almost the half way line

Best player
Akinde

Best opposition player
Ricky Modeste

What is needed for next season?
Some centre backs, we currently only have one signed up.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
Mid table

 

[MWS]

How did your season go?
First 3rd of the season was pretty good. We lost our first two games (to NFU and Guiseley) and then after a last minute win away at Tamworth we went on a very good run which saw us peak at 5th. However, as the season progressed, we seemed to lose our more influential players (Milligan, Baker, Gregson - to injury.) and things started to go downhill to an eventual 11th place finish.

Best moment
FA Cup 4th Qualifying round match vs Chester at EP. Over 4,000 in the crowd when Scott Spencer unleashed a sensational half volley to equalize after we'd been blown away by Chester in the 1st half. Epic feeling I've not had in a long time.

Lowest moment
Losing 3-0 at home to Chorley near the end of the season. Showed just how far we'd fallen and how much better we needed to be to get back up the league. We were totally outplayed that night.

Funniest moment
Glenn Belezika's random tantrums when things didn't go his way!

Best player
Danny Hurst - Mr Reliable between the sticks.

Best opposition player
Ben McKenna for Stalybridge or Oli Johnson at Guiseley. Both tore us a new one.

What is needed for next season?
A revamp! We need to stop playing kids and bring in seasoned campaigners who know how to win at this level. Players with strength and energy that allow us to play on the front foot.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
Play Off's at the very least

 

[Aberstone]

How did your season go?
Started off terribly with the step up, took us until the 10th game of the season to record a win (at Whitehawk). Things started to turn around in mid-November/early December reeling off 4 wins in a row. We were undefeated from November 17th until the 7th February, then form became erratic again as we finished the season mid-table.

Best moment
Probably was that 2-0 win at Chelmsford on the Monday night to kick start that short winning streak. Wonder goal from Elliott Godfrey, a defensive blunder which gifted our 2nd and a fantastic sing song in the rain.

Lowest moment
The FA Cup replay defeat at Concord. That sparked a huge crisis in the club, many thought we were down and wanted Gordon Bartlett out.

Funniest moment
This one's easy. 3-0 down at Hemel at HT and coming out of the bar to find that the game had been abandoned due to a frozen pitch. Made funnier by the reaction from Hemel players and supporters alike.

Funniest 1FF moment
DSL's continual whoosh moments are amusing.

Best player
Jonathan North. Swept our awards night, one of the best keepers in NL football.

Best opposition player
Aiden Palmer (Ebbsfleet), Scott Donnelly (H&W) or Nathan Ashmore (Gosport)

What is needed for next season?
A lot - new full backs, new wingers, a defensive midfielder who's not slow and has some technical ability plus two new strikers.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
I'll take mid-table again and a cup run.

 

[JE93]

How did your season go?
Great season all in all, although would have like to see us make a little more headway in the cups. Culminating in promotion via the playoffs (2nd promotion in 3 seasons). Which was the aim 3 years ago starting off in the northern league. Started the season well, before a little blip back end of September and into October. Then went on a 20 odd game unbeaten run till February winning around 18 of those games. Season came undone a little after the defeat to Salford in Feb. Some silly defeats in March coupled with Salford bringing in 7-8 players from the league above twisted the momentum. Finished comfortably second which meant home playoff ties, beating local rivals Spennymoor late on and overcoming Bamber Bridge 2-0 in the final.

Best moment
Has to be David Dowsons 89th minute winner against Spennymoor to put us 3-2 up having trailed 2-1 in the 80th minute.

Lowest moment
4-2 defeat to Kendal, 3-0 down within the first 15 mins giving Salford a great chance to challenge for the title.

Funniest moment
Martin Grays celebrations after the Spennymoor win. Grabbing the ball and charging into the net infront of the home fans

Funniest 1FF moment
only a new member but I am very interested in this 'vision' Eastleigh fans seem to have haha.

Best player
Tom Portas, How this guy isn't playing at a higher level than the evo-stik i don't know. Great first touch, solid defensively and a good passing range. everything a CM should be. Always exceptional.

Best opposition player
Gareth Seddon (Salford) - This guy drop way too far down the leagues. Could easily have been playing in the Conf North from what I saw of him. Although im sure money played a part. Salford have a similar 'vision' to Eastleigh and have even more money to back it up.
Alastair Waddecar (Bamber Bridge)
Andrew Stephenson (Spennymoor)

What is needed for next season?
A GK who can challenge Jameson for the No.1 spot. And maybe a RB but the core of the squad has all played at the level above so should be able to compete.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
It'd be disappointing if we finished outside of the top 5. So i think we should be aiming for playoff, even though promotion isn't a must. Hopefully we can go on a bit of a cup run too, would really help fund further development work to our new ground.

 

[SamScfc]

How did your season go?

Awful. We finished mid table in the Conference North. Part time. Regional Football. We're Stockport County and that's not good enough. We were genuinely rubbish for most of the season, I don't think we improved that much from the season before, rubbish away from home, good at home against the shit teams, shit at home against the good teams. We really were shocking.

Best moment

The season ending.

Lowest moment

I don't know to be fair. I didn't enjoy much of last season so basically all of it was pretty low.

Funniest moment

The standard of football in general. The officials are shocking aswell, the linesman was flagging for offside for about 5 minutes and the ref didn't even realise.

Funniest 1FF moment

N/A. Barely on here.

Best player

Danny Hurst, one of the best keepers in Non League, easily our player of the year and the only player our new manager wanted to keep, O'Halloran a close second but he's left.

Best opposition player

Oli Johnson for Guiseley, ex County aswell beat us on his own when we lost 3-0 at home (they also had a men sent off!) Connor Hughes for Hyde is also a decent player.

What is needed for next season?
.
A complete overhaul, which we're getting. Last season we were tactically shocking, we had no midfield as we let Milligan go and never replaced him, then Baker go and never replaced him, leaving us with kids in midfield and an injury prone Tunji Moses, we also had about 5 strikers who were all similar too each other, we hoofed it to strikers who were barely 6ft and had no width to create chances, we really were poor last season. Our new manager has let everyone go who was out of contract and transfer listed everyone who was under contract apart from our keeper and brought in 3 experienced players in Sean O'Hanlon. Gareth Roberts and Karl Ledsham with Clitheroe's captain also joining, and a big powerful striker upfront, the signs so far are good but this is County and I'm not getting carried away. We need experience, wingers and a proper, proven striker.

Prediction/expectation for next season?

I can't make a prediction yet as we have 6 players but if we don't go up it's another failed season.

 

[Pliny Harris]

How did your season go?
July through to September was absolutely boss and we appeared to be one of the league's best sides. Then October to mid-February was all about compromising a bit and hoping instead for that fourth playoff spot, then performances went from largely unenjoyable to downright distasteful as we didn't show any enthusiasm in the final five games. From Arab Spring to ISIS, as a mate put it.

Best moment
Being top of the league for a little while was magic, but nirvana was achieved in the first half against City in the Cup. Very few contenders for our finest moment finished as such though, which leaves a bitter taste.

Lowest moment
The flaming dog's abortions that were Southport away and Dartford at home back-to-back are hard to beat. However going into the final two home games as a mid-table side wasn't exactly hard to take even given the start to our season, but doing so without any competitive urge hurt, and the way the club itself sapped out any residual pride put me off them for a while.

Funniest moment
It's been a bit bereft of humour, but we had a good laugh as a group for Braintree at home before Jamie Jackson scored our first ever goal against them in four attempts in injury time. The South Stand rang out with "0–0 and you fucked it up".

Funniest 1FF moment
Lots of Tinpot thread stuff but I can't remember a particular moment. Had a good laugh at mnb089mnb's post about the Aylesbury hedgehog museum today though.

Best player
Ours? Marc Roberts. Clever man. Lois Maynard more lovable though.

Best opposition player
I barely notice opposition players. I just see them as a collective force for evil. The likes of John Stead did their typical League 1 duties for Bratfud City though.

What is needed for next season?
A sensible audit of all the players we still have. I want them all to do well as Shaymen but it's not clear for many of them whether they're what we need. There could be a few main contributors to the lack of morale in the team over the second half of the season, and another few players while talented may not be suited to the way we're managed. Entertainment also suffered from the big 'n' burly approach we took, so I'd like to see us winning games with exciting lower league wildcards like in the 2013/14 season. A couple more gifted youngsters from lower down would help, and some experience in the engine room. Conversely, I think we've also suffered from having a high player turnover.

Prediction/expectation for next season?
Top half combined with a team that never gives up.