By
Sam Timpson, 3rd Team Manager
Hi and welcome to the Star 3rd team season preview for 2010/11. Firstly,
I’d like to introduce myself as the new 3rd team manager for the coming season and am delighted to have been given the
opportunity to manage the 3rd team for their forthcoming campaign. Previous joint managers Matt Harvey and Mark Elliot have
stepped aside and I’d like to thank them for their advice and help over the last month or so during my transition from
player to manager. Both Matt and Mark remain in the 3rd team squad in a playing capacity and their experience and wisdom will
be invaluable as I take on my new role in what will be my managerial debut this season.
I am relatively new
to the club having joined as recently as 2008. A new teaching job brought me to Cheltenham and I joined the club on the back
of some advice from former Star FC stalwart Neil Skelton, with whom I played cricket back in Wales. I quickly established
myself in the 2nd team as a centre-back, relying "heavily" on my understanding of the game to compensate for my
lack of athleticism around the pitch. However, since joining, my Star "career" has been hampered by injury and I
now find myself permanently on the treatment table. Thus, this season I was offered the chance to manage the 3rds by the Club
Committee for the forthcoming season. After careful deliberation following a secret meeting that took place at the Lansdown
Pub I decided to accept the club’s offer.
Pre-season has gone well and we recorded a deserved 2-0 win against
Cheltenham Civil Service on the 4th August, followed by a 6-0 victory away to Sherbourne Harriers. Early indications
suggest that if the new players sign and availability, throughout the club, remains good then we look likely to have
a strong 3rd team this season, which will be more than capable of mounting a serious promotion challenge. New-faces will
have to gel quickly and work hard to impress and cement their places within the starting XI. Rumours circulating that the
management are concerned about a lack of defensive recruits during this summer’s transfer window, along with additional
rumours of a possible goalkeeping crisis, are all unfounded. However, a Kevin Keegan-esque, "we’ll score more
than you" mentality may be adopted as we endeavour to entertain the huge crowds that flock to Bishop’s
Cleeve Playing Fields every Saturday afternoon.
Other staff changes see Graham Withers take on the Assistant
player manager’s role, whilst Ben Slatter has dropped down three leagues and taken a pay cut, following his departure from
Siddington Reserves, to assume the mantle of 3rd team Captain that has now been left vacant by Jon Carpenter's
retirement from the club. Craig Mortiboys has made the step-up to the reserves so I will be looking for everyone to chip
in with goals and, in the process, hope to discover a new goal-scoring gem in our quest for glory this year!
