Harleston Town boss Danny Crow labels season ‘a failure’ after side miss out on Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division play-off place
After results this week meant their push for a Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division play-off spot came to an end, Harleston Town boss Danny Crow admitted his side’s season has been a failure.
Despite collecting four points from a 6-0 hammering of visiting Brantham Athletic on Saturday and a 1-1 draw at home to champions Mildenhall Town in midweek, the seventh-placed Magpies are eight points off a top-five spot with two games remaining after Thetford Town’s victory at Kirkley & Pakefield.
Following a third-placed finish last season, after promotion to the Premier Division in 2021/22, Crow wanted his side to avoid second-season syndrome this term. Alas, Harleston will not be given a shot at promotion this time around.
“Too little too late I think is how we feel. From my position as manager, I know the players can do it. To not have it enough this season from everyone, staff included, is the most frustrating bit,” said the former Norwich City striker.
“I always said to everyone, at the start of the year, the aim is to get into the play-offs and get a cup run. As manager you look at it, is it a failure? Yes, because the goals we set out, we didn’t quite reach for various reasons.
“It’s a hard one to take. I’m a person who when I set myself a goal, I want to try and do everything I can to reach them.”
Injuries have proved a problem for Harleston this season, shown no better than by the Magpies currently having 10 players fit for tomorrow’s trip to sixth-placed Downham Town (3pm), but Crow was not using this as an excuse for his side’s underachievement.
Nathan Stone netted a hat-trick, Robert Turner bagged a brace and Aedan Oliver got in on the act in their 6-0 win over Brantham at the weekend, before Jeremiah Dasaolu cancelled out Mildenhall’s first-half opener on Tuesday five minutes from time.
It has been frustrating for the Recreation Ground outfit to see themselves picking up results in recent weeks when they are down to the bare bones. Hard-fought performances with a depleted squad raises the question as to why this could not have been the same level of performance all season?
“I just feel like in certain games, and I’ve said this to the lads, too many times this season we’ve had too many people (performing) below a six out of 10. That’s our issue,” said Crow.
“When everyone is a seven out of 10, we do what we do against Dereham, Newmarket and Mildenhall. As a team we haven’t performed and we’ve been carrying too many players.
“In a game of football, we can’t be carrying six people who are playing less than a five out of 10.
“Sometimes I might be less than a five out of 10, with the substitutes I might have made, but as a collective we need to have at least seven players playing at least a seven out of 10.
“The message is ‘show us you can do it on a consistent level if you want to be here next year’.
“Whether I’m here or not next year, and I hope I am, I’m going to sit down with the chairman next week, show everyone you can do it consistently.
“The positives are that we’ve had some real standout performances this year. Joe Manning has been brilliant, George Barber has been exceptional, Asa (McGeachy) coming two leagues up, but it’s just the consistency over the season that we need.”
