SHAMIR ALAM, THE GNP SPORTS MANAGER, WRITES ABOUT HIS TEAM'S 6-0 WIN v HAMPTON...

Your defence must have tightened v Hampton... 

"A lot of focus, time and hard work has gone into our organisation without the ball and stripping defending back down to basics. The defensive unit deserves the clean sheet and I thought 'keeper Wardle was very good at starting some great counter attacks. Bryson was back to his last year's best, Beach and Jason defended well but it was just a shame we didn’t use their width more often. Rhys had a good controlled game. The challenge for the defensive unit now is whether it can maintain the good individual and unit performance next week."

How did Prinzel slot into the team?

"Rob is a very good footballer and played well; his control of passes and intelligence are what we need if we are to control games and it’s something I want us to do. The sharper Rob gets and the more he gets used to the boys at training and in matches, the better he will perform. Corey, tactically, was spot on with his ability to stop counter attacks and build possession. Both aspects of his game were very good yesterday, he chipped in with two assists and this was one of his better performances this year." 

Were Hampton any threat? 

"Hampton have some good individual players and let’s not forget that 2-3 weeks ago they caused us so many issues. It didn’t really matter who we faced yesterday for the boys and management team were ready to put things right after a disappointing result last week and so everyone deserves credit. 

Hammond, Charlie Cook and Gifford got another chance in the side, yet I don’t think any of them played anywhere close to what they can do last week. However, with a good week of training behind all three of them, they played with confidence in both attack and defence. Charlie and Hammond were awarded with their goals and Gifford's work off the ball was summed up when he lost possession on one occasion, chased the player from the centre of the park to left-back won it again and that attack led to a goal." 

More goals for Rawlings, which must have pleased you... 

"I’m running out of words to describe Tommy; he’s had a good pre-season behind him, he’s working hard in training and he deserves all the praise he is getting. 19 goals in 11 Games and he’s the 3rd highest goalscorer in all 4 divisions and that’s only beacuse the other two strikers have played more games than him. Me and Tommy have both said that we won’t be setting him any targets this year and it’s working. My area of improvement for him however is to get more goals using his left foot and trusting it, and if he can do that then it will help the team massively."

Your man of the match?

"Really tough one this week, as I was really pleased with Wardle's speed to create attacks, Jason showed he can be versatile and was in the wars, Prinzel made a difference in the centre and Gifford's changing of his game plus hard work was worthy. Skipper Bryson was a monster at the back and was more like he had been last season but for his 3 goals and 2 assists, it’s only fair that Tommy Rawlings is awarded the M.O.M." 

Next up?

"Bolehall Swifts, who caused us all kinds of issues at their place a few weeks ago. We need to graft at training, get used to another week of our new formation and try to be brave on the ball and play with confidence, plus have fun next Saturday." 

Boldmere dropped points, so this was a good day for GNP I guess?

"We are just focusing on one game at a time, it’s going to be so hard to catch Boldmere because let’s be honest, they should win their next 3 league games by the end of November which will take them to 37 points and they are then only 10 wins from promotion. What a great position to be in by the start of December, when they can start the countdown! So we will just focus on us... 

We then have the problem of Northfield who are the form side in the league, played 6 and won 6. They are going to be on 34 points by the end of November, as I can’t see them losing the next 3 games and again what a great position to be in by the start of December, knowing that you only have to win 11 games to go up..." 

Yours in football...

SHAM THE SHAM AND FOUR OF HIS LATEST SIGNINGS...

Shamir Alam, Manager, GNP Sports...