Ahead of his side's trip to Derbyshire tomorrow, Leamington manager Paul Holleran fielded questions from the press.
Taking charge of his 692nd game in the Brakes' dugout tomorrow, Oogie reflected on the first two thirds of the Southern League season after his side were relegated after a six season spell in the National League North - regularly competing against full time clubs.
He revealed that “It’s been enjoyable. Obviously there were a lot of changes in the summer, it took a while for us to settle down. I think we were trying to find some sort of identity and on the whole we’ve been quite consistent and like all teams there were a few games drawn that we probably should have won but on the whole it’s been good, players have settled in well, we’ve got an identity and it bodes for an exciting final third of the season.
"I think as you head towards February you want to be in the mix, the games get bigger and more important and you want to be at the right end of the table and have a say in who finishes in the top five. We’re well amongst it at the moment."
Saturday's game at Grange Park will be the first in a 21 team Southern League Premier Division Central following the news on Thursday that Warwickshire rivals Nuneaton Borough had resigned from the league, and as a result all of Boro's results have now been expunged meaning our point earned from the 1-1 New Years Day El Warwicko draw will be removed.
“The picture will change in the coming days with the sad news about Nuneaton which has been circulating for a while," the Brakes boss said. "Listen, I’ve gone on record before saying we know some really good people there and you feel sorry for them but when you look at the size of the football club, the fanbase, the ground - everything, somewhere along the line from a number of people over the last few years it’s been completely mismanaged and sadly it’s the people who love the football club dearly that suffer.
“They might have to restart again right at the bottom, just as Leamington did many years ago and look at us as we stand here now having been in the National League North for 8 seasons (after starting back up in the twelfth tier in 2000) and that proves it can be done. It’s hard work but if they now get the right people around it and hopefully they can get going again because there’s certainly people in Nuneaton who want a football club, but that’s that."
The scheduled Birmingham Senior Cup tie in midweek was postponed due to a frozen pitch, which led to the team not being able to train on the pitch on Thursday night. Holleran reflected on how challenging it is when the weather interrupts how the club is run, saying “The weather’s not been ideal, especially when we’re in decent form we just want to keep going but there’s also one or two niggles so hopefully with the break they’ve cleared up a little bit. For clubs like us it’s always difficult, training’s hard and we’re trying to keep going with gym sessions and a running club - you get by. It’s not ideal but you get by."
Saturday's game against Long Eaton is subject to a 9:30am pitch inspection in Derbyshire but in the case that the pitch does pass, Holleran is ready for a challenging game, just as the first game of the season was when a Henry Landers debut goal in injury time secured all three points against a managerless Blues side.
“I think Saturday is probably touch-and-go with the weather, but I think definitely come next week we’ll get going again with the forecast but hopefully we’ll be able to get the game on at Long Eaton on Saturday who gave us a really tough first game of the season," he added.
"They’ve kept going and their last three or so performances have been really encouraging. They’re a bit like Berkhamsted, at home. If you look at the results of any team at home, if you look at the Long Eaton and Berkhamsted results at home they’ve done well so it’s going to be a tough game like any game in this division and sometimes when you’ve had a couple of weeks off it’s just about getting going again but listen, we’re in a good vein of form and confidence is high - we’ve lost only one game in God knows how many so listen, if we’re going to be serious about finishing up there and sticking in the pack we’ve got to be going there and picking up three points.”
You can follow Leamington's trip to Long Eaton on Saturday via our social media, with in-game updates on our X page alongside goal, half time and full time updates on our Instagram and Facebook pages. There will be no BrakesLiveFM commentary for the game.
