A dismal end to the season followed by a botched awards night – things can only get better Sam Pearson and the Sporting Crabs. With just under two months until the Southern Sunday League kicks off, the hard work will start tonight at Peckham Rye as the manager will look to assess his options.
Rumours have been aplenty but there hasn’t been any announcements coming out of the club in terms of new signings. With the retirement of defensive stalwart Adam Hutchings and the lessening availability of John Martin, the heart of the defence seems to be a position The Crabs will need to fill come September. Ali Dewji may have announced his own retirement in an effort to steal Hutchings thunder on the final day of the season, but just as Jay-Z claimed to call it a day in 2003, many sources close to the club expect to see Dewji continue. Dewji may cause the manager ninety nine problems but a centre back won’t be one.
Stories have also been circulating that Liam MacIntyre would prefer to play more regularly in midfield meaning two centre back spaces may need to be filled after the youngster forged such a solid partnership with veteran Hutchings. So one year on after Garvin’s shock departure, Pearson finds himself back where he started – wondering who can lead the Crabs from the back, he may even have to consider himself…
Whilst there may not be much exciting news in terms of new signings (yet), the retained list is looking healthy. Retirements aside, The Crabs have managed to keep a hold of some of their big names over the Summer months. Ashmore enjoyed his first season enough to stick around and former players’ player Ian Armstrong will be hoping to get the goals after a season in which service was hard to come by.
Along with the retired defenders, Matt Bodkin has unsurprisingly not signed on for another season. The forward impressed in pre-season and was set to be a Crabs fans favourite but unfortunately other commitments and injuries meant the Halifax lad only played a handful of games. Similarly George Dalman has been quiet over his future plans. The former two time top scorer’s situation will be monitored by Pearson after a season spent primarily on the sidelines. The striker remains committed to The Crabs but the manager may have to look elsewhere for attacking options in the near future.
After the success of MacIntyre’s debut season, The Crabs hoped to tie down another youngster in the form of Ben Daughtry’s younger brother Gabe. Unfortunately The Crabs couldn’t get the deal over the line and will have to look elsewhere for energy down the flanks.
With training beginning tonight however we should begin to see some new faces at Peckham Rye as club officials have confirmed a number of interested locals. These players will be watched closely by Pearson as he hopes to fill the necessary gaps in the side.
In other news, we are still waiting to hear from winger Rob Hamilton who only made a handful of appearances in the second half of the season whilst rumours are circulating that James Coventry will continue to persuade Riccardo to become a more regular face.
P.s. our thoughts are with former Crab striker Adil who has done his cruciate knee ligament and will be out for up to a year.
Retained list:
Ashmore
Gibson
Martin
Palmer
Pearson
Macintyre
Murray
B.Daughtry
Weyell
Coventry
Wood
Farrell
Curtis
Taylor
Armstrong
Dalman (tbc)
The Daily Crab 