Laying Woking is the Thursday night Setanta bet

Non-league / Editor / 27 November 2007 / Leave a Comment

Legendary Non-League manager Frank Gregan gives us the lowdown as Woking host Ebbsfleet

Woking entertain Ebbsfleet in the live Conference game this Thursday. Woking have been good to us during their previous appearances on Setanta, performing in the manner expected and providing us with some much needed dinero! They have been predictable thus far, let's hope the trend continues.

Their manager Frank Gray must be looking over his shoulder at the teams occupying the relegation zone and trying to keep them at bay. Frank is a seasoned football man but relatively new to the non league game although in the past four seasons he has been at the helm of Farnborough, Grays and Woking. He is probably enduring one of his sternest tests at present and needs to come up with some answers quickly if he is to get Woking back on track.

The trouble is, they are not doing a great deal wrong. I've watched them during all their live games this season and they look perfectly okay. It's that awful dilemma that managers occasionally face when the team is performing well enough but just not picking up the results.

It is so difficult to quantify and managers have to be careful what they say in these situations, a "Colemanball" is never far away and that in itself can lead to the sack. I remember Paul Fairclough when he was in charge at Stevenage and lost a cup tie 4-0 saying "There was nothing between the two teams. Take away the four goals and it was an even game." He was sacked.

The point he was trying to make is that big moments change games. You need the big moments to go your way, the ball fizzed across the six yard box and hits the recovering defender, does it go in or go wide? An innocuous trip two yards inside the box, the ref puts his whistle to his mouth, does he blow or on reflection does he let it go? The ball strikes the inside of the post, it will either go safe or go in and that one incident will determine the outcome of the game. We call it "the rub" and it is without doubt the most important ingredient in a successful season. The cliché is that "these things even themselves out during the course of a season." Not in my fifteen years of managerial experience. You get lucky seasons and you get ones where you can't buy a bit of rub for love or money.

The manager must never lose the faith. Woking have gone eight games without a win but they have drawn four of those and lost two by a single goal. Frank Gray will be telling the players to keep believing, get the basics right, keep putting the ball in the right areas and to continue to work hard for one another. All great managerial clichés, but you know, sometimes when you're not getting the rub it's all you can say. Sadly more often than not it's not enough - lay Woking at [2.66].