I'm looking for a good response as we were poor against Merstham, says Whitstable boss Peter Nott

WHITSTABLE TOWN boss Peter Nott says he is looking for a positive reaction from his side during tomorrow’s game at Folkestone Invicta, writes Stephen McCartney.


After winning their first two league games, against Walton Casuals (3-2) and Maidstone United (2-0), Whitstable crashed back down to earth when Merstham won 2-0 at Belmont Road yesterday, a performance that upset Nott.

“It was going alright up until yesterday,” said the former Maidstone United boss.

“I was pleased with the first two games but we were poor yesterday.  We just never got it going at all and deserved to get beat in the end.  We were never in the game but saying that we’ve missed three great opportunities from free headers from crosses and if one of those would have gone it, we would have sorted ourselves out.

“We were poor!  Overall, what’s more disappointing is we’ve started the season so well.  If you look on paper, you think, Merstham’s a game at home you should take three points, but it’s important we get ourselves back on track for the Folkestone game.”

But six points out of nine available is a good return at this stage of the Ryman League Division One South season.

“The funny thing was the first two games we had six (players’) missing in the first game and seven missing in the second game,” said Nott.

“When you look ahead, I work in banks of three to four games and you see what you’ve got coming up and you felt the first two games were going to be tough and if we somehow got four points out of the first two games it would be a great start because of the players’ we had missing – and we took six (points), and yesterday we had three of those players back and we turned in a performance like that!

“The most frustrating thing for me, I would have felt every single player would be on their game yesterday and been on a high as we won the first two games and players’ are returning and fighting for shirts.

“We were just poor all over the pitch.”

Nott takes his side to Cheriton Road tomorrow, to play a Folkestone Invicta side that have also collected six points from their first three league games and are sitting in ninth place, one place below Whitstable.

“Difficult game, without a doubt,” warned Nott.  “Their team hasn’t changed a great deal from last season – or the year before.

“We know that will be a tough fixture.  It’s a Kent derby.  I expect it to be a close affair.  I think it could be one goal either way would decide it.

“I’m just looking for a good response from our guys’ on Monday because they didn’t give me a performance on Saturday.

“Folkestone have gone away (to Whyteleafe) and got a good win.  We’re the opposite.  I’m expecting my boys’ to prove a point to me tomorrow.

“We had strong words in the dressing room afterwards because I felt there was a little bit of complacency has crept it and I can’t understand how as we’ve won only two.  You only become a good side when you string six or seven wins together and we’ve only strung two.

Nott wants his side to get Saturday’s disappointment out of their systems at Cheriton Road on Monday afternoon.

“I think when you’ve had a poor performance like that it’s good to wash it out because I certainly had a miserable night last night,” said Nott.

“I told the players to go after the game and go in the bar, sit down and have a chat together, because we’ve had our words and I said ‘sort it out between yourselves!’

“I’m not having that (performance) again and in fairness they all stayed in the bar for an hour after the game and hopefully they’ve cleared their heads as well. I need to see a good reaction.

“I think the constraints we have on budget and we’ve put together a good team.   We’ve produced results when we’ve had six or seven players’ out.  Now all of a sudden now we’ve only got four players out.  Once we’ve got the team back together we can do very well this year, but in the meantime we have got to grind out results.  The only way you grind out results in this league is everyone is on their game and working hard for each other and we had too many missing yesterday!”

Nott added: “There was only a couple of players’ that came out of the game with any credit yesterday!”

Visit Whitstable Town’s website: www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk  

Folkestone Invicta  v  Whitstable Town
Ryman League Division One South
Bank Holiday Monday, 29^th August 2011
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent CT19 5JU