GNP SPORTS' MANAGER SHAMIR ALAM COMMENTS ON HIS TEAM'S 1-7 VICTORY AT PROMOTION RIVALS BARTESTREE...

"A lot of work went into picking the right system, style of play and the players to exploit any Bartestree weaknesses but all that planning means nothing if the players aren’t able to stick to a game plan. So the boys deserve all the credit on Monday for playing with confidence in such a big game. 

We talked before the game about not being wasteful in front of goal. In every game we must create ten to fifteen chances and whilst I know most managers would be happy with averaging four to five goals a game, I want us to be devastating in front of goal and be ruthless each week. After Bank Holiday Monday's performance, I can say that that was the best half I have seen my team perform this season...

Strangely, Adam Knight should have had seven goals, on reflection. His class in front of goal was extraordinary, there’s no discussion about that. He will take this team to the next level and that’s the reason why I have been after him for the last 5 months. The scary thing is that that’s just his second or third 90 minutes in months, so he will get better with training and with more minutes under his belt. He scores a good few goals with his left foot, using his raw pace but we didn’t see any of that on Monday, so there are certainly more headlines to come from Adam Knight and GNP in the coming weeks! 

Oh, it goes without saying that he was the M.O.M. yesterday...

Bartestree kept the ball better after the break and despite us getting the 7^th goal, I didn’t think we pressed as a team and we sat too deep, but I can’t be too critical. The second-half was frustrating to watch, as we didn’t test their defence enough.

My game plan is always to exploit the opposition and the good thing with this squad is that we can play two or three different systems and have two styles of play but the work rate and quality around Adam Knight played such an important role in the first-half performance. The work rate from Stoute in attack, the quality of deliveries and the pace we attacked with, really blew Bartestree away.

The ground conditions were fine and fair play to Bartestree for getting the game on.

We have been on a fantastic run defensively, breaking Coventry United's, Burbage's and everyone else's record with 7 clean sheets in a row. The record was always going to go sooner or later but I just hope we can replicate it!

The squad is banned from talking about promotion, the title, and the Cup Final. There are still 6 teams that can mathematically catch us, so we will just focus on beating Continental Star and let everyone else worry about us. Continental Star was a team which scored 3 past us before and at one stage were winning, so the players know I will not settle for anything less than a perfect performance this Saturday.

I think it’s impossible to keep everyone happy. I like going into games with a squad of 15 and when you have a quality squad of 22 like we do, that’s each week half of your squad not happy because they are not starting. We did have issues previously but those players were quickly shown the door. I totally understand it from a player's point of view, they see me as someone who is trying to make them better. I'm talking to them each day, building those relationships, to then be left out on a Saturday but all I ask is that their behaviour is perfect and they show the right attitude and support their team mates. The 22 man squad I am left with actually does that, they see each other as brothers which makes my job easier.  

We now go into a period of 9 games in 35 days, so playing every 3-4 days will mean plenty of game time for the fantastic squad we have...

Yours in football..."

Shamir Alam, Manager, GNP Sports...