Let's get New Year off to winning ways, says Seager

MARC SEAGER says his wife thinks he has parted company with Whitstable Town - as he’s spending so much time with her in their family home at Rainham during this cold snap, writes Stephen McCartney.

All 33 Ryman League games were frozen off this weekend, and the Oystermen haven’t played since losing 3-0 at local rivals, Sittingbourne, on Saturday, 27^th December 2008.

With his side just one place and three points above the Ryman League Division One South relegation zone, attention now turns to the third round of the Ryman League Cup on Tuesday night, when Tilbury visit the KRBS Belmont.

The Essex side are sitting in ninth place in the northern division, and for Seager, he just hopes the temperature rises so that his side can get back to winning ways.

“After the poor defeat and performance at Sittingbourne, you just want to get back on the playing field as soon as possible, so you can put the last game behind you, but because of the recent freeze, we haven’t been able to do this,” said Seager, when speaking to www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk.

“I think my wife thinks that I’ve got the sack, because she’s certainly not use to seeing so much of me around the house and keeps asking me why I’m not out at matches.”

Three of Whitstable’s games have been postponed since their debacle at Bourne Park over the Christmas period.

And Seager said: “Since our last game the players have trained very hard, especially in the week leading up to the Ashford game, when even on New Year’s Day the players trained flat out as we all wanted to get 2009 off to a good start and I know how disappointed they all were when the Ashford game was cancelled.

“Although the big freeze has hit Southern England in a big way, we have to make sure that as semi-professional footballers we apply ourselves correctly, showing good attitudes to make sure that we are ready for the next game, whether it’s tomorrow, next week, or even two weeks. We must be ready and I’m confident that’s exactly what we will be.”

At least the cold snap has enabled players to shake off flu bugs that have gripped the entire country.

“One positive though to come out of the recent cancellations is the fact that it has allowed Liam Quinn, Marcos Perona, Dylan MacVicar and Ian Pulman to recover from illnesses that would have seen them miss matches,” said Seager.

“The lack of matches has also given time for Rob Thomas, Clint Gooding and Jake Gess to continue their recoveries from injury, without missing too many games.

“These illnesses and injuries have given opportunities for James Duffy, Gareth Cornhill and Shan O’Donovan to elevate themselves to being around the first team after producing good performances for the reserves.

“Since taking over the helm as reserve team manager in the summer, Glenn Essam really has done a good job with his players and it’s imperative that we continue with our tradition of producing home grown players, something this club has always done.

“On a personal note, I would like to congratulate Glenn’s son Conor, who was on the bench for Gillingham last week against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

“Not a bad way for a sixteen-year-old to start the new year and I’m sure that there were no prouder people at Priestfield last week when Glenn and our own reserve team goalkeeper Callum, who is Conor’s older brother. Hopefully this is the start of a long professional career for this young lad and I wish him all the very best."

Seager and his management team are always out at matches doing their home work on their future opponents.

“After the disappointment of the Ashford game being cancelled, it would’ve been easy to have the day off, but in management you never switch off," said Seager.

“I’ve got a good team around me, who work hard for me. A great example of this was shown last Saturday when after being notified of the referee’s decision not to allow the Ashford game to go ahead, Greame and Laney made their way to work alongside Glenn with the reserves, whilst Simon (Halsey) and myself made the journey down to Eastbourne to watch them play Burgess Hill Town, who at the time were two of our next four fixtures. Like I say, we never switch off.

“Hopefully, fingers, toes, legs, everything crossed we will be back playing Tuesday night finally allowing us to get 2009 underway at the KRBS Belmont and hopefully with it, a winning start to the New Year would give everyone on and off the field a big lift.”

Quotes courtesy of www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk

Whitstable Town v Tilbury
Ryman League Cup Third Round
Tuesday 13^th January 2009
Kick Off 7:45pm
At KRBS Belmont, Belmont Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QP