FA TROPHY PREVIEW: STAFFORD RANGERS V FOREST GREEN ROVERS
When Phil Robinson parted company with Blue Square Premier’s Stafford Rangers in November, the board looked no further than their changing room for a replacement management team. Midfielder Kevin Street and forward Neil Grayson stepped forward and have taken over the reins on a caretaker basis. And the learning curve is proving steep.
This Saturday’s FA Cup Trophy Second Round game against high-flying Forest Green Rovers offers an indication of the extent the side have improved, or otherwise, under the player-managers since they lost 3-1 at home in October.
Rangers are currently second-bottom in the table with only 10 points from 26 games and are yet to win at home in the league. Their visitors sit seventh with 42 points from 25 games – three points off the play-off places, with a game in hand.
Street, 40, will start at Marston Road at the weekend, and is finding the demands of his new job tricky. He said: “It is very different and hard, and is an eye-opener, but I am enjoying it. It makes you realise what managers have to go through and the pressure that they are under.
“It’s going well and the side have definitely improved, but the results haven’t come yet.”
Striker Stuart Fleetwood netted a brace for Forest Green when the clubs last met, and Street is wary of the threat that the highly-rated 21-year-old Welshman poses.
“They have got a strong team, with Fleetwood up front, who a lot of clubs are looking at,” he continued. “We know we are up against it but hopefully we can go about it in the right manner, prepare correctly and try and get something from the game.
“We have a depleted, small squad and we have been suffering from injuries for most of the year. We have some strikers coming back from injuries so that should make a difference.
“There are great financial rewards from cup games so we are taking it very seriously.”
His colleague Grayson is suspended from Saturday’s game – which is annoying for him on a personal level, as he played at the Lawn for two seasons before moving to Stafford Rangers.
“I enjoyed my time at Forest Green,” concedes Grayson. “In my first season we had a bad start – we lost the first six games – but we went on to finish ninth, and that was the highest they had ever finished. And I managed to be top scorer that season.
“It’s great to play against your old club so it’s unfortunate that I won’t be able to do it this time – I’m suspended after collecting five bookings.”
The 43-year-old is impressed by his former team’s progress under manager Jim Harvey. He continued: “They are a decent team and are under a good run at the moment so it will be difficult for us.
“But this game gives us a chance to play at Wembley and for a lot of players these opportunities come round very rarely. On Saturday we will be 100 per cent focused on getting a result.”
Meanwhile Harvey, 49, is well aware that league standings mean nothing in cup competitions. The Northern Irish manager is also concerned by a number of absentees. He said: “We have been hit by a bout of illness at the club and I’m not sure who will be available on Saturday – there are a lot of players with niggles and all-sorts.
“The FA Trophy is a great competition and we would all like to get to the final. It’s a one-off game and irrespective of how teams are doing in the league the form book goes out of the window. It’ll be a tough game with them at home.
“The fact that it is a new management team and they want to prove that they can do the job full-time, they will be wanting their boys to go out there and get them some results to help their case. I would expect them to have all guns blazing and put up a performance.”
When Phil Robinson parted company with Blue Square Premier’s Stafford Rangers in November, the board looked no further than their changing room for a replacement management team. Midfielder Kevin Street and forward Neil Grayson stepped forward and have taken over the reins on a caretaker basis. And the learning curve is proving steep.
This Saturday’s FA Cup Trophy Second Round game against high-flying Forest Green Rovers offers an indication of the extent the side have improved, or otherwise, under the player-managers since they lost 3-1 at home in October.
Rangers are currently second-bottom in the table with only 10 points from 26 games and are yet to win at home in the league. Their visitors sit seventh with 42 points from 25 games – three points off the play-off places, with a game in hand.
Street, 40, will start at Marston Road at the weekend, and is finding the demands of his new job tricky. He said: “It is very different and hard, and is an eye-opener, but I am enjoying it. It makes you realise what managers have to go through and the pressure that they are under.
“It’s going well and the side have definitely improved, but the results haven’t come yet.”
Striker Stuart Fleetwood netted a brace for Forest Green when the clubs last met, and Street is wary of the threat that the highly-rated 21-year-old Welshman poses.
“They have got a strong team, with Fleetwood up front, who a lot of clubs are looking at,” he continued. “We know we are up against it but hopefully we can go about it in the right manner, prepare correctly and try and get something from the game.
“We have a depleted, small squad and we have been suffering from injuries for most of the year. We have some strikers coming back from injuries so that should make a difference.
“There are great financial rewards from cup games so we are taking it very seriously.”
His colleague Grayson is suspended from Saturday’s game – which is annoying for him on a personal level, as he played at the Lawn for two seasons before moving to Stafford Rangers.
“I enjoyed my time at Forest Green,” concedes Grayson. “In my first season we had a bad start – we lost the first six games – but we went on to finish ninth, and that was the highest they had ever finished. And I managed to be top scorer that season.
“It’s great to play against your old club so it’s unfortunate that I won’t be able to do it this time – I’m suspended after collecting five bookings.”
The 43-year-old is impressed by his former team’s progress under manager Jim Harvey. He continued: “They are a decent team and are under a good run at the moment so it will be difficult for us.
“But this game gives us a chance to play at Wembley and for a lot of players these opportunities come round very rarely. On Saturday we will be 100 per cent focused on getting a result.”
Meanwhile Harvey, 49, is well aware that league standings mean nothing in cup competitions. The Northern Irish manager is also concerned by a number of absentees. He said: “We have been hit by a bout of illness at the club and I’m not sure who will be available on Saturday – there are a lot of players with niggles and all-sorts.
“The FA Trophy is a great competition and we would all like to get to the final. It’s a one-off game and irrespective of how teams are doing in the league the form book goes out of the window. It’ll be a tough game with them at home.
“The fact that it is a new management team and they want to prove that they can do the job full-time, they will be wanting their boys to go out there and get them some results to help their case. I would expect them to have all guns blazing and put up a performance.”
Labels: Forest Green Rover
