These kids are the future of our club, says Cugley

FOLKESTONE INVICTA manager Neil Cugley praised the club’s loyal fan base for their patience and support during the club’s troubled times both on and off the pitch, writes Stephen McCartney.

Invicta performed well during yesterday’s goal-less home draw against high-flying Sittingbourne and could have won the game if it wasn’t for visiting goalkeeper Matt Reed pulling off stunning saves to thwart midfielders Kieran Byrne and Jimmy Jackson.

The club’s aim at the start of the season was to clinch promotion back to the Ryman Premier League at the first attempt, following the club’s heartbreaking relegation on the final day of last season.

Things were going to plan for Cugley until the club announced that it had a crippling tax bill to pay and many players on lucrative deals quit the club last November.

Cugley has since had to rely on loyal players sticking by the club during it’s troubled times and a whole host of youngsters that have been thrown into the deep end.

Cugley, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk in his office on the bottom floor of the Wilf Armory Suite yesterday, says his side, now 13^th in the Ryman League Division One South table on 32 points from 23 games, need another eight points to avoid a crippling relegation back into the Kent League - but he wants the men at the top to tell him what’s going on.

“We’ve got a meeting, they’ve got a meeting with the taxman, I think it’s the week after next,” he said.

“I think it’s a bit of a nightmare when we’ve only had two (outfield) subs today and it’s a bit draining and sometimes it gets you down.

“But the young lads give you that bit of spark and that gives you a bit of hope for the future.

“Eight or nine today live in Folkestone and the subs were all local lads and that’s the way we’re going forward, it’s the only way Folkestone will survive short or long term.

“Because of those lads they’ll give you a bit of hope and it’s pleasing to see them getting better and better.”

Cugley, now in his 12^th season at the helm at Cheriton Road, says this is the hardest ever season that he has to endure as a manager at any club.

“I’ve been doing it for 20-odd years and it’s certainly been the hardest I’ve ever had,” he said.

“The young lads give you the hope to go on and keep at it, otherwise you get fed up with things.

“I’m not sure what’s going on upstairs, there’s been a lot of comings and goings up there and it’s not helped the club at all. That’s been very sad to see a club that you love and want to do well not progressing but having more disagreements up there.”

Despite off-the-field financial problems, Cugley was full of praise for his players, who came in for training on New Years Day.

“We made it an option if they wanted to come in here and sweat it out and they came in and trained for two hours,” he revealed.

“I’m pleased with the performance today because they are showing they are getting better and people like (Josh) Burchell, Dicko (Liam Dickson) and Friendy’s (Liam Friend) definitely improving and (Kieran) Byrne.”

Cugley says he wants to tie these players down to the club on contacts, but that can only happen when the club pays off it’s debts.

When asked about the club’s future, Cugley said: “That’s a bit frustrating because you’ve got players there that I’d like to see tied to the club next year. We’re trying to do a pre-season now because all the players have gone and we’ve got a whole new side.

“We’ve got to try and get more balance and shape and that’s slowly coming.”

Cugley paid tribute to the support coming from the terraces during these troubled times. It has been 443 minutes since they’ve celebrated a league goal and striker James Dryden has now gone 546 minutes since he scored his 14^th goal of the season.

Scott Lindsey waved goodbye to the club after yesterday’s game as he takes up a youth coaching role at Coca-Cola League Two side Gillingham, joining former Invicta coach Mark Patterson at Priestfield Stadium.

The player-coach was one of three unused substitutes yesterday as Cugley lost three players due to injury prior to the game.

“It was great to get him back in the summer,” said Cugley. “He’s a bubbly character and a very, very good coach.

“We’ll miss him, he’s a good lad, I’m really, really pleased for him to get a chance with Gillingham. It’s something that he’ll excel at and everybody knows him in Kent and knows what a good lad he is and it’s tremendous for him.

“They’ve got Mark Patterson up there, it just shows that everybody I get as my assistants seem to go on to better things but I think it’s nice for our club that it shows we can help and develop.”

Cugley says he cannot afford to bring anybody new in, but three experienced players will do their bit, along with assistant manager Micky Dix and Gary Towse.

“I’ve got Micky Dix, who helps me, Gary Towse and also people like Jimmy Jackson and Darren Smith about and to be fair, Lee Spiller, whose injured and not been involved in the club much, has said he’ll come down and take a few coaching sessions.”

Upbeat Cugley is confident his side can defeat Whyteleafe at the Buzzlines Stadium on Tuesday night and get closer towards their target.

“I think we’ll need 40 points so we need a couple of wins,” predicted Cugley. “We’re more than capable of doing that but we’d like to score more goals.

“You’ve got the (league) table in front of you and I think there’s only one team (Walton Casuals) that have scored less goals than us and I think that’s a bit of a problem, no denying that.

“That’s disappointing because you want to entertain the fans. But people like Kieran Byrne and that if they keep improving like they are, then who knows?

“To be fair, the fans are very loyal here, I’d give them their due. They don’t get onto players, especially the loyal lads. I think they get behind them, they don’t criticise them at all.

“The lads few weeks, although we haven’t scored any goals, they haven’t been getting on my back or the players backs.

“The board, have been, or whatever board we have got, they have been honest and they know the boys have been doing it, some of them for nothing, so give them some credit.”

Yesterday’s performance was encouraging with 23-year-old local lad Byrne showing his promise and Cugley wants his players to carry that on against Whyteleafe.

“What we want to do is take on what we done today because we’ve played some good football and that’s what we want to do now,” he said.

“We want to keep playing good football and hopefully we can keep doing that on Tuesday.”

Visit Folkestone Invicta’s website: www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk

Folkestone Invicta v Whyteleafe
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 6^th January 2009
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Buzzlines Stadium, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent CT19 5JU