BRAINTREE TOWN MID-SEASON REVIEW

By RON FOSKER

A FEW weeks ago, Braintree Town chairman referred to the club as being at something of a crossroads.

How prophetic that turned out to be became clear within a very short time as a succession of managers walked out the door.

Glen Driver, in post only since the beginning of the season, offered the club’s finances as an excuse for his departure, but nothing had changed since the beginning of the season and the suspicion was that either he had not realised the enormity of the task when he took it on, or he had lost confidence in his ability to lead the side after a poor run of results.

A 5-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Tonbridge and a 3-0 reverse at Weymouth had been leavened only by a 1-1 draw at home to Maidstone before the ultimate humiliation of a 3-0 home defeat by bottom team Hungerford.

The team then effectively had four managers in three days.

Driver announced his departure on a Thursday, leaving the team to sort themselves out two days before their next match.

Defenders Jake Hutchings and Josh Urquhart volunteered to step up and prepare the team and then, somewhat bizarrely, Tom Richardson, still injured but on the bench, was listed in the programme for the next match as player-manager.

A superb triumph-in-adversity performance led to a 3-0 win at highly-placed Hemel Hempstead but things unravelled very quickly.

Urquhart left to join Billericay, then Richardson departed and finally Hutchings – appointed full-time player-manager after that match - realised that the job was too much for him and resigned after three games in charge and three defeats, 6-2 at Welling, 2-1 at home to Southern League Yate Town in the FA Trophy and finally 4-0 at home to Hampton and Richmond.

His reasoning, that he needed to spend more time with his family and needed a break from football, turned out to be as paper-thin as Driver’s when he turned up two days later in a Leiston shirt – in a team managed by Driver.

When Hutchings was appointed, the club also turned to their former manager George Borg, who had taken them to promotion from the Ryman League in 2006, as first team coach, and an experienced head for the new manager to turn to.

One of the conundrums of that appointment was how a man of Borg’s experience would respond to having a 23-year-old as his boss.

It was a question that was resolved almost before the examiner had had a time to say: "You may now turn over your paper."

That has left Borg to pick up the pieces – with quite a few of the pieces missing.

Since the start of the season, Iron have lost Femi Akinwande, Dipo Akinyemi, Jason Banton, Sean Bonnet-Johnson, Trey Charles, Kyran Clements, Olu Coker, Harry Donovan, Jake Hutchings, Byron Lawrence, Adam Mills, Harry Osbourne, Tom Richardson, Ollie Saunders and Josh Urquhart.

From the team that started the first match of the season only Michael Johnson, Michael Clark and Ade Cole are still with the club.

Of those who have left, Akinwande and Mills are the greatest loss.

With them in the front line, goals always looked a possibility.

Up to that point, goals had not been Iron’s main problem.

Their tally of 34 was four better than second-placed Slough ahead of the Boxing Day action.

Before the disappointing spell of results that preceded Driver’s departure, they had a promising run of seven wins and a draw in nine league matches.

Translated over a season that is championship-winning form, but there was evidence of vulnerability throughout that run and the subsequent dip came as little surprise.

The problems have been at the other end of the pitch where they have conceded 44, the highest in the division.

The loss of Hutchings and Urquhart has not helped that statistic but the opportunistic re-signing of Dan Matsuzaka, the addition of Stevie Sheehan and the return to fitness of Christian Frimpong may help to shore up the back line.

It is something for Borg to work on in his second spell at the helm.

Life has not always been kind to returning managers.

Even Kevin Keegan at Newcastle and Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool did not last long second time round.

How Borg fares will become clearer over the next few months.

At the moment, supporters are just hoping that Iron have enough points on the board to avoid relegation.