Tom Dodds interview

I’d say on the balance of the game, Tooting & Mitcham probably had a bit more of the action, maybe a few more chances, but compared to our recent performances it was like chalk and cheese really. We were so much better – we played as a team, fought for each other, and I think we can look back at it and be disappointed not to come away with anything. Probably a point would have been a fair result, but still, we can at least take positives from the performance.

 

I think you’ve definitely got to draw a line under those 6-0 and 8-0 defeats and move on and not dwell on it, because that won’t help anything. Of course, though, you do also have to take the opportunity to learn painful but valuable lessons where you can from it. It comes as no news or surprise to anyone that we were extremely under-resourced, travelling with I think 11 outfielders on both games, lots of key players missing through injury, illness etcetera, but regardless of that we shouldn’t be losing 6-0 or 8-0 with whatever squad we go with really. We’re better than that, and I think everyone’s got to move on but also use it to spur us on to better things.

We’re talking ahead of the Thatcham game which on paper I guess looks like a game we can win. Hopefully our resources should look far stronger for that game. I mean, it’s still early in the season: I don’t think we’re quite at halfway in terms of the number of games played yet, but it is almost getting to that stage of “it’s a must-win”, and with them being one of the teams we need to try and overtake to get out of the relegation positions, it’ll be an important match. It’s great to have people coming back soon, key players as well, and hopefully that will give us a bit of depth, but also a few more dimensions in terms of how we can set up and play, hopefully bringing opportunities to go forward and attack teams a bit more.

We know about the players we’ve lost this season, Charlton, and Faz for example. With Faz, we lost him at a time where he was just starting to get back into great form. Our start to the season was really strong, and that’s something we need to take heart from going into 2023.

If you take those two games out of the equation and look at the rest of the games this season, I think there’s maybe only one or two others where we’ve been properly outplayed. We’ve had a lot of games against teams at the top of the table at the time, and competed very well, so I definitely think that we’ve got to take heart from that, and there’s no reason why we can’t put a decent run together. We just need to be in it all together, all committed, and hopefully have a settled squad, then we can put a couple of results together and that will build confidence.

Looking for positives, one of the players we have missed in December is Sam Murray, which is testament to how he was starting to adapt to this level, and hopefully he can come back strong, and he can be a key player for us in the next four months. I think the last three or four games that he played before his injury, he made a massive difference to us as a side. He gives us the out ball and we can have a more direct way of playing. He’s got an eye for goal, and also his work rate sets the pace from the front for the whole team I guess from the front. I’d say that him missing the last few games has definitely hindered us as a team, and it will be great to have him hopefully back and firing.

 

Another player who has stepped up this season and slowly game on game has showed he can make an impact at this level is Danny Hale. He scored his first goal a couple of weeks ago now, and it’s important that he can take confidence from that goal and kick on and use that as a springboard. Danny’s another one who has got all the talent in the world, one of our most talented players, and he’s committed this season which is great. His goal record at the moment doesn’t do justice to how good a player he can be for us. If he can start adding goals as well, great, but I think what we’ve missed as well sometimes this season is people who can carry the ball up the pitch, the likes of Charlton, Faz, Ross, who are quite good dribblers as well, so he’s been great from that sense too. If he can add the goals we know he can get to his game, then hopefully that will help us kick on as well.

At the other end of the pitch, it’s been a baptism of fire for Tom Vaudin coming in. I think he’s only missed one game this season, so that shows that he’s taken the opportunity and is making the most of it. He’s played in a number of positions, whether that be centre back, left back or even in midfield, so credit to him and hopefully he can look back at the end of the season at a really positive year.

 

Vauds has stepped in and adapted to the level straight away and looked comfortable. It’s never nice losing 6-0 and 8-0 but I guess you could argue that you learn more from that sometimes than from winning or having easy games, and he’s the sort of person that you know will learn from it for sure. He has also shown that he can play in many positions which is a trait that you don’t often get in younger players as well, so for him to come in and look comfortable doing that at such a young age, I’m sure he’ll be around for many years in the future.

 

It does feel a bit strange sometimes at my age to be looked upon as one of the most experienced players in the team! I still consider myself quite young. That experience is important though. You have to say that it’s in many ways a completely different game playing English teams compared to playing locally, and so you do need that experience. I don’t think it’ll necessarily change anything in terms of my role in the team though, because I’m not really someone who is going to scream and shout and order people about on the pitch. I’ve always just tried to lead by doing the right things, on and off the pitch, and I don’t really see that changing. I’ll just carry on giving 100% when I’m out there and set a standard that hopefully everyone else follows.