Bring me laughter

Sumo fronts the Farm's ‘Fun Boy Three’!

‘The Sumo’ is back! 
Six years after he last occupied the Low Farm “hot seat”, Sean McLaughlin returns to succeed the man who succeeded him.  And first impressions would suggest the natives are quite happy with the appointment.

Pleasingly, among those extending their best wishes for the future was the man he’s replacing; pleasingly too, these wishes were much appreciated and reciprocated by the incoming boss.  It’s no secret that there has been plenty of acrimony in the past between both so any potential thaw in relations is welcome!

It’s not only Dave with whom Sean hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye in recent times.  It took a party at New Year 2011 to help me and our "new" manager settle our particular differences, following several football-related disagreements.

Sumo's speech has Nige counting ball panels (Burt Graham)

But all that’s in the past.  It’s time now to look forward and from the feedback received after last Saturday’s first training session, it would appear we have reason to be cheerful.

Sean’s appointment was confirmed last Wednesday (4th) with the Committee opting for the former boss ahead of several other candidates, following advertising of the post locally and via the internet.

One of those losing out in the final reckoning, Nicho, had his disappointment cushioned by the alternative offer of a coaching role in the new-look set-up.  Meanwhile, club captain Andy Graham – seen by many as a future Eastenders boss – has taken his first step on the ladder by being appointed asst-mgr.

Sumo has been quick to set out his stall to the players, saying he wants them to begin enjoying their football again after what was a difficult 2011/12.  Not surprisingly this went down well - with the exception of an unnamed goalkeeper who, it would appear, would prefer to win while not enjoying himself!?  Or perhaps I’m being harsh. 

That's it...put a smile back on faces! (Burt Graham)

Anybody who interpreted Sean’s comments as a lack of ambition is greatly mistaken.  His previous honours at the club stretch way back to the ER County League Division 3 and 4 titles he helped win as a player back in 90/91 and 95/96.  Cutting his management teeth with the Reserves yielded success in the 2000/01 ER County League Junior Cup and immediate promotion to Division 2.  As assistant-boss to the legendary ‘Mickey Bo’ Wilson, he shared in the 02/03 South Holderness Cup and Withernsea Carnival triumphs, along with a hitherto unprecedented top five placing in the HPL that same season. 

Then came the coup de grace as Sean celebrated promotion to the role of First Team manager in 2003/04 by achieving a runners-up position in the league, alongside the HPL Cup and the two local trophies previously won as Bo’s number two. 
I think it’s safe to assume therefore that no team of Sean’s will simply be allowed to go through the motions!

A turn for the better? (Burt Graham)

There were some interesting faces on show for the first pre-season session at the Farm and, although history has taught me never to believe anything until there’s a signature on the dotted line, chances are that the appointment is already having an effect in terms of recruitment.

Whether we are blessed with new players will become more apparent when the lads take to the pitch for their first friendly in just over a week’s time.  This comes on 24th July when HPL side Crown provide the opposition on the impressive 4G surface at South Holderness School.
The first chance the Farm Faithful get to see Sumo’s side in action comes on Saturday 28th July when Sculcoates Amateurs, one of the leading sides in local football, are the visitors.  They are followed by the East Riding County Juniors Rep squad (Wed 1st Aug) before the locals wrap up their pre-season schedule a week later, away at Long Riston from HPL Division 1.
Why not come along for the ride - it promises to be an entertaining one...

Hats off to ‘Harry’

The departing Dave can leave with head held high

Mack: now watching from the sidelines (Burt Graham)

Having had little chance to blog in recent weeks (see previous post), it would be remiss of me to return to duties without a piece about Dave Mack’s resignation from the post of First Team manager at Easington United.

The most important thing to say is that Dave deserves an immense amount of credit for what he achieved during his six-year period in charge. 
Along with five pieces of silverware, he steered the side through several periods of reconstruction as well as what has proved to be a tough move from local to regional football.

Dave stepped up from assistant-manager to take the reins in January 2006.  It came in the wake of an embarrassing seven-goal mauling at Hutton Cranswick in the Humber Premier League and manager Sean McLaughlin’s subsequent resignation (due to overriding work and family commitments).

Despite an improved performance at home to Pocklington Town, the team failed to give Sean the send-off he deserved and so when Dave took charge of his first match, at Hedon United on Saturday, 28th January, the Eastenders had won just once in eight outings.  Ironically this - a rare success at Sculcoates Amateurs - had come under Dave’s stewardship while Sean was away.

Hedon's Drapers Lane ground was never the easiest of places to go but thanks to a Gav Thurkettle strike, the new manager got off to a winning start.   And despite a 0-1 defeat at Hornsea Town in the following week’s league cup clash, the run to the end of that first season proved a successful one.

Five wins and two draws in the remaining eight league games secured a creditable top six finish, while a resounding 4-1 victory over Withernsea at Saltend clinched the Eastenders’ seventh South Holderness Cup success.  Things were looking up.
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Pride of Holderness again - August 2011 (Colin Brammer)

In the following season Mack’s men secured a top five finish and retained the South Holderness Cup, thanks to Steve Harrod’s extra-time winner over Hedon Rangers. 

When pre-season then saw Tanton Cup winners Hornsea Town defeated on penalties in the inaugural Holderness Cup Winners Cup, hopes were high that another tilt at the HPL title could follow.  Instead, the 2007/08 season saw Dave confronted with the biggest challenge of his fledgling management career.

It had all started well enough and the Eastenders travelled to Sculcoates on 6th October as unbeaten leaders, having won six of their opening nine games.  However, a 3-1 defeat ensued and prompted a dramatic slide down the table.  Only five of the remaining 21 league games were won and United’s eleventh place finish was their worst in five seasons.  Defeat by Hedon in the South Holderness Cup semi-finals completed a disappointing campaign.

Dave’s cause wasn’t helped by the loss of several key players and he finished the season by blooding youngsters such as Anthony Barnett, Jamie Cousins, Chris Frost, James Mee, Paul Morrow, James Robinson and Luke Smith.  It was very much a case of "in at the deep end".

In a way, the manager thrived on such situations. One accusation that could never be levelled at him was lack of fight. Refusing to get downhearted, he simply regrouped and went again the following season, leading the Eastenders to an excellent fourth-placed finish in their final season in the HPL. Not surprisingly, it was some of those same youngsters who came to the fore.

In 2009/10 we came within one win of gaining promotion in our first season in the Central Midlands League and the following year we ended our recent barren run in the South Holderness Cup; victory number nine in the competition coming in front of a home crowd at the Farm.

Victory in last August’s Holderness Cup Winners Cup gave Dave his fifth piece of silverware but, much as it did in 2007, it proved something of a false dawn for what was to follow.

Last season was one beset by off-the-field problems that did much harm to First Team prospects. Indeed, just before Christmas it appeared possible that the team may even have to resign from the league. Thankfully, backed by loyal assistant Nicho, Dave again showed stomach for the fight and the tenth place finish – the club’s highest ever in terms of the Football Pyramid – proved testimony to that.

Like father, like son (Burt Graham)

So why did it all come to an end?

Well, the South Holderness Cup semi-final defeat at Withernsea (our first at the hands of our rivals in 21 outings) didn’t help.  But it was the reaction to it inside the Eastenders’ camp that really hurt.

Without wishing to open up old wounds, I was shocked by what I saw and heard that night, not to mention what was posted on a certain social network site later on.  We all knew there had been simmering resentment for much of the season among some members of the Second Team, and there had been distinct lack of communication at management level between both camps.  However, the apparent gloating at the senior squad's demise by some supposed clubmates was quite disgraceful.  It was enough for me to offer my own resignation as well as making Dave think long and hard about his own future. 
Having struggled to carry everyone with him during the campaign just gone and with plenty of whispers as to who would actually be there when the current pre-season came around, not only was Dave forced to question his position but it was also reviewed by the club's committee.
It was this uncertainty that prompted me to have a couple of long conversations with the manager, during which we discussed whether either of us wanted to face another nine months of not knowing just how many people were behind him.
For me it was a no-brainer.  My "revised" role meant I would no longer be directly involved with First Team affairs.  But for Dave it meant walking away from a job it was plain to see he cared deeply about and felt was far from finished.

In the event he tendered his resignation to the Chairman on Sunday, 10th June 2012.  It was accepted by a meeting of the Club’s management committee two days later.

The 1997 South Holderness Cup - where it all began! 

Mack’s resignation brought to an end not only six years’ involvement as manager but an association stretching back to 1997 when he made his playing debut in the club’s first ever South Holderness Cup Final success!  His last of 260 Easington appearances came as a second half substitute at Ollerton Town on 25th February this year.  

I have had many disagreements with Dave during the six-years we worked together at management level.  At times I thought he blurred boundaries between the position of manager and being "one of the lads", while there were other things he did that I would probably have handled differently.  But Dave knows this and we've always been able to talk through any such differences.  That's probably why we got on so well!  And what has never been in doubt through it all has been his willingness to tackle problems head-on in pursuit of what he saw as the right way forward for Easington United football club.  And for that he deserves the utmost respect of all with the club's interests at heart.

Player losses, fallouts over selection and an amazing turnover in backroom staff were just three of the issues that he was confronted with during his “reign”.  In addition, he had no shortage of personal matters to attend to, yet not once did he let these stop him performing his match day tasks to the best of his ability.  If there's some solace to be found in the split, it's perhaps that there should be more time now for Dave the dad to pursue son Cameron's weekend interests?

Pointing the way forward (Own photo)

To those players who stayed loyal to ‘Harry Hill’ (as they affectionately dubbed him) another thing they could be assured of was his determination to take the team as far as it can go.  This wasn’t surprising given that, as a player, he’d been one of the main cheerleaders behind the decision to enter the HPL.   Not surprisingly, Dave was also fully behind the move to the CML and would love to have been the man to take the club to the “promised land” of the Northern Counties East League.

Instead, he can only watch as the club enters another new era.  Ironically, this is under the stewardship of the returning Sumo, completing a full circle.  It's a mark of the man that Dave has set aside his own personal disappointment to wish Sean the very best.
It's to be hoped he doesn't become a stranger to Low Farm for Dave Mackay-Dundas really does deserve the gratitude of a lot of people involved with the club, some of whom should perhaps feel a tad uncomfortable with their part in his departure. 
I know I do.

Peaks and Troughs

Highs & Lows of a holiday in 'the Euro Zone'

These holiday flings never last

Mrs Slush couldn’t concentrate on her latest ‘must read’ (and before you ask, no it wasn’t 50 Shades Of Grey or some other similarly styled “clit-lit” offering).  Apparently, my “restlessness” was affecting her concentration.  I’d been like this for the previous two hours.
It had even been noticed by the Slushettes who’d both commented – en route to bed – “Dad’s in a strange mood tonight isn’t he Mum?”

But then it was over.  I suddenly stopped feeling all anxious and instead sat motionless, unable to speak.  Prompting this “calm after the storm” was Italy substitute Alessandro Diamanti who stroked his penalty past Joe Hart to confirm another competition quarter-final exit for England.  I could at last relax.  Again.
Don’t get me wrong.  It was still that same gut-wrenching disappointment I'd first really felt when Maradona’s hand had done for us back in ’86 and that has been repeated too often since.  But this time something was different.  It may sound daft but this actually felt more like the beginning of something rather than the end.  “In Roy We Trust” perhaps?  I think so.

Home from home

I watched the final chapter of England’s Euro 2012 campaign from the comfort of Lodge 16 at Darwin Forest Country Park, near Matlock in the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District.  In the event, the coinciding of our Slush Family holiday with the quarters and semis from Poland and Ukraine proved a masterstroke.  For instead of having time to dwell on England's latest failure to compete with the best in international football, I was too busy having fun with the family (although I did manage to find time to watch the midweek semi-finals!).

Having arrived on the Saturday, our first stop-off on a week’s tour of the sights and sounds of the picturesque Peaks was Crich Tramway Village.  There, to my delight, I discovered it was “Rock ‘n’ Roll” weekend complete with a cruise past of Fifties cars and performing live bands.  Sadly we’d arrived a day too late to see the previous night’s headliners The Jets but I did catch the Sunday afternoon set from Rockin’ The Joint.  Ah, it took me back to those heady days of Hull’s Goodfellowship Inn in the early Eighties!  

Monday morning took us to the lovely little town of Bakewell for Market Day.  This included a first ever trip to a livestock auction and concluded with tea in The Peacock, mine being washed down by a glorious pint or two of Peak Ales "Summer Sovereign".
(Later Peak Ales to be enjoyed in bottles included "Chatsworth Gold" and "Bakewell Best Bitter" - both come highly recommended)

Chariot of Fire

Prior to this first real “taste” of the Peaks, we’d revisited the glorious gardens, the farm and adjoining adventure playground at Chatsworth; blessed - unusually for this summer – with pleasant sunshine.

The weather also behaved itself as we rode the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway from Wirksworth up to Ravenstor then back down to Duffield.  And it was of a positively Mediterranean variety the day we assigned to Alton Towers, while even the wet bits couldn't detract from an intersting tour of Caudwell's Mill!

We enjoyed drives to Buxton (which boasts "the highest elevation of any market town in the country") and dropped deep into Darley Dale, while regularly sweeping through Matlock (passing the neat Causeway Lane home of Matlock Town FC & Matlock CC) and its smaller neighbour, Matlock Bath – home to seemingly hundreds of motorbikes every Sunday and Wednesday? 

It was in Matlock Bath where we sat atop The Heights of Abraham and became part of the once-in-a-lifetime event that was the arrival there of the Olympic Torch by cable car.  It provided the perfect end to a near perfect week.

Reasons to be cheerful - parts 1 & 2

Arriving back on the Humber Riviera in time for the Euro's final allowed me to catch up on some of the post-England exit reaction in the media.  Some of it made me thankful I’d relied mainly on Ceefax for company throughout the past seven days!

Of course, the better hacks like the Telegraph’s Henry Winter offered his usual well-thought out advice on how England can learn from Spain's approach to international football to help them move forward under Hodgson.  In fairness, he wasn’t alone in this and while Rio Ferdinand chose the opportunity to bash the boss, Phil Neville offered a rather more upbeat appraisal of the National team on BBC 5Live's 'Sportsweek'. 
Unfortunately, I read and heard similar sentiments in the immediate wake of England's embarrassing World Cup exit at Bloemfontein two years ago…only for all interest to subside as soon as the Premier League resumed the following August.

Hopefully, this time will be different.  Certainly the new manager himself appears to have made an immediate favourable impression on both players and supporters – nobody could accuse the 2012 England of not playing for their boss.  The long-awaited opening of St George’s Park will also help, while the performance of some of the England age-group teams continues to offer hope (the U19s being the latest examples). 

Watching the defining stages of the Euro's aside, I just about succeeded in ensuring this summer would provide me with at least two weeks free of all football.  This was no mean achievement given that in addition to England and the arrival of Steve Bruce at the KC Stadium, there was the small matter of a management vacancy at my own club to occupy my thoughts...