A hugely disappointing season. I don't think anybody quite knew what to expect, but it wasn't this. If it wasn't for Shay Brennans goals we would have been in the relegation dogfight. I'm a big fan of Jamie Byatt and I think he should be given a fair chance and carry on next season. He does so much more for the club than just run the first team and it takes time to turn around the disaster of the last few seasons.
One good thing has changed, the ridiculous youth policy that put us in this position in the first place, hopefully gone for good. Money is a big factor but not the only one, I don't know Farnhams budget, very big I would think but they still have to know what to do with it, the right manager and staff, the right players etc, not easy putting that together even with plenty of cash. I spoke to the Knaphill manager earlier on in the season, their budget was 600 a week, he'd been there 10 years and look at the great season they have had. So I think its a blend of budget and knowhow, we are short on both. Realistically Adkins is not going to start throwing money at the team, we could change the manager again but without big increase in budget we would be back at square one. Farnham have had a freak season, everything has fallen into place for them, and its certainly not only because of the money, so well done to them. As for as emulating them, no chance of that whilst Adkins is owner, he is the problem, not Jamie.
Unless somebody has a Euromillions win, we are stuck with a tightfisted, disinterested owner so not much is going to change on the pitch. We can only hope that Jamie, now with a bit more experience, can make small improvements as time goes on, and eventually get us promoted out of this league.
Despite how disappointing this season has been, its STILL been better than the last few years, and the toxic atmosphere around the place has gone, so its not all doom and gloom.
In summery, keep Jamie Byatt, try and keep Shay Brennan, keep some faith and hope for that lottery win.
 

In a non league interest perspective it’s been a great end to the season.  In the CCLPS the relegation battle really went to the wire seeing as Colliers Wood and Sheerwater could have gone either way in the last game (how’s that for a fixture?) and in the Isthmian SC four teams could have ended up in the drop zone dependant on the result of the last game.  Everything really went down to the wire on the local scene and at the time of writing we have a very interesting set of playoffs within a short timeline.

As for T&M, I’m not surprised, I didn’t see the team going back up and this is because the club model of a few years now really has knocked the stuffing out of it.  The whole way about the club is nowhere near the staunch Isthmian days where the club would be a powerhouse, keeping its place in the league with its fluctuations over the years.  The approach over the last few years really didn’t fit that.  Things are what they are and we are bound to the CCL for the foreseeable.

Looking at the ISC it’s not that much different, for the sort of teams, locations and general atmosphere this league and that aren’t dissimilar, the proper good days were the Ryman D1 south, balanced games, a good area covered and a fair bit of interest.  The splitting of the Isthmian step 4 into three leagues did a bit of damage on its own.

Edgeoftheb ox wrote:

But get a decent Head Coach who can teach his players how to defend.  Hope we can keep Shay Brennan - I think he has scored around 56% of our league goals this season.  It would be good to see a "high press" system against teams trying to play out from the back!

Brennan has gone across the Hog's Back to Farnham.
 

Don’t do podcasts.  I got the information from the club’s official website logged under July 2024 news.

And, by the way,  my name is Ev.  Please get that right.