Prospect's for the new season & Main challenger's

[neil99]

Hi Everyone.


Really looking forward to the new season, and really pleased to see the number of signings that are coming through the door. The friendlies are all about building up fitness, team formation, bedding the team in and giving the manager idea's.

I really feel the club is going place's and is on the front foot in term's of progression, but I think the key is the start and then you gather momentum & team spirit. I think our defence is pretty much sorted, and I know Robbie & Jack have indicated we are looking for a midfielder & a striker to shoulder the load with the number of games that will be coming thick and fast.

I also feel with Robbie his man management skills are superb, and he know's when to do his subsitutions which are key in big games.  Yes you could argue that losing Tommy Leigh and Bradley are a loss but we have bounced back before from losing key players, like James Fraser, Jimmy Muitt and Doug Tuck, and our form before the lockdown curtailed our season last year was superb.

As regards challenger's I think most people would say Worthing, Folkstone, Hornchurch, Carshalton & Cray, but who know's, as I am unaware of the business other club's have done.


Anyhow, be great to have any feedback to the thread and to get people's take on thing's


PS Gotta say great to have Robbo back. One of the best player's I have had the pleasure of seeing in a ROCK's shirt.


Stay safe


Neil

[stuartcoles]

I agree with worthing,cray and Hornchurch as main contenders.i think folkestone especially rely on home form too much and carshalton draw too many but our first opponents bishops stortford for me could be the surprise package.they absolutely battered us on the first day last season although they needed 2 late penalties to take a point.it was definitely the least they deserved on the day and at the time of curtailment were themselves in excellent form.i think the 14th August could go a long way to shaping both clubs seasons.pre season has started well enough for us and I feel we have a squad that if kept relatively injury free will be in and around the play offs.

[Pete Helsby]

Margate may be a surprise this season

[stuartcoles]

Margate were undoubtedly disappointing last season especially as they were the bookies favourites but I think they are another side who seem to get travel sickness.they are clearly a decent outfit on their own pitch but seem to struggle on grass.it is however one of my favourite away days so I hope they do OK except when playing us

[jackswoolyhat]

There is certainly a sense of optimism in the Bognor camp, as no doubt there is at most other clubs up and down the country at the moment.
Jack Pearce and Robbie Blake seem to have assembled a good mixture of experienced players who know what is needed alongside some talented youngsters who all have a point to prove and no doubt would like to play at a higher level.

Games against Littlehampton, Burton Albion and Havant & Waterlooville have provided an opportunity to see in action some of the players who are possible contenders to be in the final cut of about 17 players that I’m guessing we’re likely to be going with.
Saturday’s win at Havant was particularly satisfying when you consider that it was achieved without expected starters Amadou Tangara in goal, defenders Joe Cook and Calvin Davies or new signing Gavin McCallum on the right-wing.

The Rocks biggest vulnerability is the fitness of some key players who have previously suffered long-term injuries, but are now declared fit, as always they carry the risk of a reoccurrence at any moment. If we can successfully go through the season avoiding any major injuries we will have done very well.

With friendlies against Horndean, Portsmouth, Dorking and Chichester still to come there are likely to be a few more trialists to have a look at.
The most glaring need is for a striker who can hold the ball up, link up with our wide players like Jordy Mongoy and Gavin McCallum and also our attacking midfielders, whilst banging in about 20 goals.
To find that elusive player locally who is good enough is clearly a challenge. If we recruit from further afield, like London say, the player would need to travel past about 30 other clubs to get to Bognor who would all also like his signature and in many cases can offer more money.
Where The Rocks do gain is by having a reputation for being a well run friendly club with decent facilities and more importantly play a passing game which most players prefer and enjoy being part of.

So once again like at all other clubs it’s a case of trying to stay within budget, not getting into debt, but somehow finding a way of getting the best players possible.

I’m genuinely very excited by what I’ve seen so far but I will be keeping everything crossed that the various dodgy knees, hips and ankles can make it through the season ahead.
I haven’t a clue what recruitment other teams in the Isthmian Premier have made.
It makes it all the more exciting to find out who the promotion contenders as the results from the first few weeks start to come in.

As a Rocks fan my personal feeling is that we could well be in for a very exciting season, but in fairness I’ve been thinking that for the last fifty years.

p.s. For anyone going to Horndean on Saturday, don’t forget it’s a 2pm kick-off.

[paul]

The management team of Cray (and a number of their better players) have ended up at Lewes during the close season so the Rooks might be challenging at the top end of the division for the first time in a while. If Hornchurch have kept hold of their FA Trophy winning squad (I’ve not checked), I’d imagine they’d start as favourites.

[Goldy]

I’ve seen enough of this level of football to know,if we can be lucky with injuries this season we have an exciting season to look forward. Happily take a play off spot followed by a bloody good cup run.

Worthing favourites 💯 but it’s down to us and others to not make it easy for them. I’ve not focused to much and who other teams have signed,just rather focus more on us.

Hopefully good football at the Lane with bigger crowds would be lovely.

[editorbrtfc]

Programme Ed here -

Personally I see us being consistently inconsistent as we have been since relegation from the National South. In my honest opinion this league has gotten a bit stronger since our year away and at times it looks like we have struggled to adapt. Don’t get me wrong we were very good at times during the first null and Void season(Margate away and Folkestone at home spring to mind) but the way we performed at Hayes in the FA Cup last season was embarrassing at times and had me worried at the time that there was something seriously wrong at the club. Last “season” we were good at home(Cheshunt aside) but awful away from home and that’s not how teams get promoted. I wait to be proved wrong of course but I will say we will finish somewhere between 5th & 10th.

As for the rest the of division. Obviously Worthing will go again. As I’m local to Kent I don’t believe Folkestone have lost many players from the last few years so they should be good again. Expect Margate to be a lot stronger under Jay Saunders this time, he is well respected in Kent non league circles and the news locally is they have a very good squad. As someone has already mentioned, Cray 2017-2020 has now become Lewes 2021 as almost the whole squad followed manager Tony Russell to the Dripping Pan. Danny Kedwell ex Gillingham and AFC Wimbledon is now at Cray and he will have good contacts in the non league game but I don’t expect them to be as strong as they were under Russell. It will be in interesting to see if the likes of Carshalton and Haringey can be as strong as they have been previously? Hornchurch will be strong under Mark Stimson as their FA Trophy run proved last season.

[jackswoolyhat]

Click HERE for link to season preview from a Bishop's Stortford fan

It's always enjoyable to read what's been going on elsewhere.

No mention of any expectation of Bognor challenging.
The longer we stay under the radar, the better.

[neil99]

Completely agree Jacks, let's keep our head's down and get on with our business, take each game as it comes & take it from there