Published: Thursday, 31st July, 2008 13:00
Walton warns his underperforming side
By Charles Watts
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Robins boss Byron Walton has been extremely disappointed with what he has seen from his new-look side.
BRACKNELL Town manager Byron Walton has slammed his side after their poor start to pre-season and warned that time is running out for his players to prove they are worth a place in his squad.
Walton brought in several new faces over a busy summer in a bid to avoid a fourth successive relegation-threatened campaign at Larges Lane.
But so far his side have lost three and drawn one of the pre-season friendlies and Walton has been left shocked by the performances.
He blasted: “We’ve been very poor so far. Some players just aren’t performing at the moment, in fact, there’s only a few of them I’m happy with.
“Everyone needs to do a lot more or I will get players in who will. At the moment we don’t look as good as we did last year – on paper we’re better but we’re not performing on the pitch.
“They’ve had four games to show me what they can do and I’m not going to wait on them forever. We should be able to roll over the teams we’ve been playing.
“The players have got a lot of ability but some of them are working and some aren’t. At the moment we look like a team who’s good in training but we need to start doing it on the pitch.”
Bracknell’s pre-season campaign has seen them lose 2-1 at Molesey, draw 1-1 at Binfield and then lose 3-2 at both Hayes & Yeading and Flackwell Heath.
They travel to Egham Town tonight (Thursday), before travelling to Badshot Lea on Saturday and then welcoming Maidenhead United to Larges Lane on Tuesday evening (7.45pm).
It is a hectic schedule for Walton’s side and he admits he is still looking to bring in new players, despite only last week hinting that most of his transfer dealings were done.
He said: “I’m probably looking at getting in another four or five. Hopefully I will have a striker signed on by the end of the week.
“It’s a bit of change of mind but results don’t lie, the performances haven’t been good enough. If players aren’t going to perform now they won’t want to on a cold day in December when you need them to.”
On a brighter note for Bracknell, goalkeeper Chris Goodchild could be fit to start the season despite picking up a nasty looking injury in last Saturday’s defeat at Flackwell Heath.
The former QPR stopper was taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle after an accidental collision but scans have shown that he has only suffered ligament damage and could be back between the sticks within three weeks.
Walton said: “It’s good news. They thought it might be a break but fortunately it wasn’t. Andy Keen has been speaking to another keeper and hopefully he will sign and be playing against Egham.”
* The Robins have been drawn at home to the MK Dons in round two of the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup.
The game against Roberto Di Matteo’s side will be played at Larges Lane by Friday, November 7.
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