Notes from mid-season team meeting

Date: Friday 14 December 2007

Venue: Jarrod and Rawlins, Ampang

Present: around 16 - 17 members of the squad

Friday was the day of the testimonial match that never was.  The wet weather put paid to our friendly on Friday night so we all decided to just focus on drinking beer and whisky instead.  And drink we did.  But before we all got too inebriated, we did have a rather lengthy mid-season team meeting.  The notes of which I have attempted to recall and scribe below:

Discussion of Season So Far

After some steady improvement in the pre-season and very good performances in our first two league games (and the friendly sandwiched between them), the quality of our football has dropped.  We're not making as many good decisions with the ball, the quality of our passing and movement off the ball has dropped.  Additionally, we've been talking to the ref too much and having a go at our teammates.  This is not why we play football.  We play to win and also to enjoy it.  We appear to be trying a little to hard and putting too much pressure on ourselves.  In 2008, we should relax a little more, be confident that if we play our football we'll beat every team in the league.  Let's focus on enjoying our football and playing the passing game we excel at for the remainder of the season.  

Team Goal, Philosophy and Approach

Andy rightly requested a "remit" as he put in with which to coach the team.  We spent much of our time discussing points relevant to this.  It's clear - and frankly to be expected -  we're never going to reach a complete consensus on all the details of squad selection, recruitment, team selection, tactics, subs etc.  We had much discussion on these points and whilst many of us agreed on most things there was quite often one or two people that had a different view.  As such, complete agreement on all points was elusive.  We did though agree that - as the appointed coach, captain, vice captain and manager - Andy, Ian, Terry and I would run the team on behalf of the players and make decisions as we see fit.  We'll run the team in the way that we believe that the majority of our players want.  This is effectively a continuation of the approach and philosophy we have used to date.  To re-cap, our goal and approach is as follows:

Goal: Win each game we play

Squad selection: Approach to squad selection is as previously communicated. 

Match day team selection, tactics, and substitutions: will be done to maximize our chances of winning matches.  

We should all realize, not all the decisions we make will please everyone all the time.  Additionally, we're all human and whilst we'll always try and make good decisions we will sometimes get it wrong.  You can each reasonably expect to be unhappy with decisions we make at one time or another.  However, it is our belief that we can run the team in the way that agrees with the majority of people most of the time.  We agreed that if a significant number of people feel strongly against the way we're doing things, we can organize a meeting to discuss the problems and adapt our approach accordingly; or, if this is not done, the team has the option to change us.  

Having a go at the refs and our teammates

We all agreed that this had risen in recent weeks and does us no good whatsoever.  We re-iterated the point that was agreed in our pre-season AGM that anyone who has a go at the ref or a teammate can expect to taken off the field.  (See AGM notes: http://asterixreds.blogspot.com/2007/09/minutes-of-agm.html).  This was agreed because we consider it to be counterproductive to the team.  And as such, this agreement will be strongly enforced for the remainder of the season.

Appointment of Social Secretary

We all agreed on the need to do an increasing amount of social activity.  Nominations for a Social Secretary were requested.  Stuart Cavens was unanimously voted into as the inaugural Social Secretary for Asterix reds.  We all welcomed Stuart into this role and look forward to a healthy social calendar in 2008.   

Team Pre-Match T-Shirts

We discussed pre-match t-shirts.  Since club funds are insufficient to pay for them, if we are to have pre-match t-shirts, we have to pay for them ourselves.  We put this to vote and agreed that we should proceed to get pre-match t-shirts with each player contributing MYR60 to the cost.  Please pass your MYR60 to Mark Jones on the first game of 2008.  Aidil and I will try to source the t-shirts.

Departing players

We honored all three of our departing players with words from various team mates.   All three have been great servants to the club and we wish Alan, Stef and Tony well in their moves to Shanghai, Beijing and Queensland. 

With all that out of the way, we proceeded into town.  I won't attempt to recount any of the activities that occurred thereafter; I'll leave that to you boys.  Although I must say that I thought Alan was a veritable "rose among the thorns" whilst dancing amid the ladies on the bar.  

Happy Christmas and here's to a 2008 filled with success for the Asterix Reds!

Asterix Reds 0 - 1 Mancis United (SSLKL Premier Division)

We went into this match full of confidence having won a game we probably didn't deserve to last week and with Mancis struggling to get their season going. 

We started poorly, allowing Mancis too much time on the ball. This allowed them to pick their passes and they really tore us to shreds. Some last gasp defending and a couple of saves from Alan (in his last competitive game for Asterix after 8 seasons) meant we were able to maintain the 0-0 scoreline. Eventually however our luck ran out as Mancis' striker latched onto a backpass which failed to reach Al, 1-0 Mancis. The goal was dubious as the striker appeared to take out Alan as he lifted the ball over his head. Still we couldn't complain about being 1 down.

We continued to play poorly until half-time and I was disappointed to see more of the arguing between players that we saw last week. We really have to eliminate this from our game, we all know that it doesn't help anyone to play better. We need to praise and encourage our teammates much more. 

At half-time we brought Dave Jones onto the right wing and this seemed to tighten us up a bit in midfield. For the first 20 minutes of the second half we really controlled the game and I really felt we could go on and get a win. We kept the ball much better and started to play a few more simple, short passes. We utilized our wide players much better and had a few good crosses into the box. However, not enough players supporting the two front men meant we didn't have enough bodies in the box to attack the ball. 

After 20 minutes we began to make a few more mistakes again. This was partly due to the ref who up until then had had a pretty good game. Stefan made a great tackle at one point only to be told it was dangerous and the small matter of fact that he had won the ball wasn't an issue to the referee. We then felt aggrieved 3 minutes later when Stu was carved down inside the penalty box by a very similar looking tackle – apparently this one wasn't considered dangerous. This started Stu off in a "Quirkie like" rage which he took out on me 5 minutes later when I took him off! 

For the next 10 minutes both teams cancelled each other out with no real chances being created. With 5 minutes to go we were awarded a penalty after the officials held an enquiry and decided the foul WAS inside the box. Terry stepped up but unfortunately the keeper made a solid save to his right. We pushed on in the last 5 and put Mancis under some pressure but never really created another good chance. 

All in all it was a very disappointing result. I feel Mancis were there for the taking yesterday and I thought we deserved a point after our display in the second half. All we can do now is forget about that game and concentrate on giving Alan, Tony and Stefan the send off they deserve on Friday night.   

Asterix Reds 2 - 1 Bar Flies (SSLKL Premier Division)

In an incident packed encounter, Asterix Reds played the last 35 
minutes with 10 men yet still triumphed with a 2-1 victory after a 
brace of goals by Adam Scott.

Bar Flies came into this game on the back of two wins, the most 
recent versus last year's champions. Many Asterix players were 
unavailable and we called on the depth of our squad for this 
fixture. 13 players - with more than a few carrying various 
disabilities (some mental, some physical, some both) - lined up ready 
for action. We started with an experimental 4-5-1 formation. It 
worked with all the effectiveness of a chocolate teapot and Bar Flies 
put us under the cosh in the first 15. Some poor finishing by the 
Bar Flies and a few inspired moments in defense kept the scores 
level. We reverted to our more traditional 4-4-2 about midway 
through the first half which helped us settle. We pushed forward and 
created a couple of decent chances. However, we didn't break the 
stalemate and 0-0 it was at half time.

Shortly, after the restart the Asterix Reds Management Team decided 
to make an inspired tactical change and revert to the rarely used 
4-4-1 formation. (OK, I got sent off after 5 minutes; enough 
already!). Playing with 10 men inspired the Asterix to dig deep and 
pull out a performance to be proud of. With about 20 minutes to go 
and chances at a premium 0-0 was the bookies favourite. However, 
some good work down the left released Stuart Cavens who's low shot 
could only be parried by the keeper into the path of Adam Scott who 
finished neatly. A great poachers goal. 1-0 and ever-so-slightly 
against the run of play. The goal sent the watching spectators (all 
3 of them, notably a record low crowd at EP this season) into 
raptures. The Bar Flies came back at us but we held firm and limited 
them shots from outside the box. Frustrations grew on both sides and 
some challenges, more meaty than the JnR steak sandwich, were served 
up by both sides. Tempers flared with about 15 minutes to go 
resulting in a 22 man melee on the edge of our box. Most amusing was 
the lad who tried to wade in but met the not insubstantial shoulder 
of one of our centre backs. This resulted him in hitting the floor 
and writhing in apparent agony. A few of our players went over to 
put a comforting hand on his shoulder but this apparently only seemed 
to worsen his pain. He was rolling about like he'd been shot by a 
sniper from the hills behind the goal. It was a performance that 
Rumpole of The Bailey would have been proud of. The match eventually got started again and Bar Fools did level with about 5 minutes to 
go. With the wind in their sails they must have felt that they could 
push on for the win. The Asterix Reds were having none of it. With 
about 2 minutes to go, we sealed the game with a fine goal. The move 
started as Roy Schofield picked up the ball off Sugu. His long ball 
released Kisho up the right wing. Kisho did very well to beat 
several defenders and with the goal at his mercy decided to square the ball to Adam. Adam settled himself and pushed the ball into the 
back of the net to seal a fine victory. This sent the crowd (which 
had now swelled to 4 and a half people) wild. The final few minutes 
were played out and the 3 points were confirmed.

We can rightly complain about the way the Bar Flies approached this 
game. And for a while, such was their willingness to fall at the 
slightest of contact, I thought there was an Orang Asli on top of the school hall shooting blow darts at them. We can also complain about 
the ref who seemed to have a new whistle and was intent on ensuring 
it worked OK. However, the important thing to focus on is our 
performance.

We lined up with squad of 13 that hasn't played together before and 
for sure we didn't play anywhere near as well as we can. Our 
passing, movement off the ball, decision making and communication 
were all below the standards we've set for ourselves. It was not 
helped by an opponent who came to con the ref and a ref who didn't 
see it. Nonetheless, I can't fault us for our effort and fighting 
spirit. We dug deep and won ugly. For the last 3/4 of the game our 
defence was very solid limiting them to only one good chance. When 
it mattered we got our feet in the way and challenges in to keep them 
out. Going forward, we didn't create a lot of chances but did score 
two good goals. And we should very proud of that. It's well known 
that s sign of a good team is one that plays poorly yet still wins. 
And that was us today. 3 points. That's what matters. Well done.

Next week, we have Mancis; last year's champions. It's sure to be a 
very tough game and we'll need to be at our very best to win. I'll 
send the evites out for the match and for training. The training 
seems to be helping our fitness; we've been strong in the second half 
of the last 3 or 4 games. If you've not been attending regularly, 
please come along this week.