Thanks to Andy for taking the time to answer this weeks questions.
Thanks to Andy for taking the time to answer this weeks questions.
How Long Have You Supported Kidderminster?
Since I was a child, when my parents moved to Kidderminster in 1996.
Last Season’s League Finish?
16th. It was much more eventful off the pitch than on it.
What Do You Think Of Your (Very New!) Manager?
From what little we’ve heard from Tim Flowers since he rejoined the club for this season, I like him. He seems to come across as intelligent and clearly has a wealth of experience in football. He is also technically unbeaten. We’ll be better placed to judge after the next few games.
Hopes/Expectations This Season?
Survival. I would bite you’re hand off for 20th now if offered.
One(s) To Watch?
Gurjit Singh seems to be our star acquisition for this summer. We signed him from Tipton Town who he joined in January from Smethwick Rangers. He scored 13 goals in 14 for Tipton in a relegation threatened team and is so far our top goalscorer, with 4 for this season so far. Our other exciting young player is suspended for this weekend, but 19-year-old central midfielder Luke Maxwell is one being tipped for a career in the football league.
There was a change in the management structure last week with Whild and Flowers effectively swapping roles. Correct decision(s)?
Something needed to change and I don’t think we could afford wholesale changes. Whild did his best work alongside Steve Burr when he was doing the scouting and coaching behind the scenes. The general consensus is that he was a great number two, but not a good enough number one at this level. It’s Flowers first proper management job and it’s not an easy one, but I think he’s got a big enough character for it. Time will tell.
For the second half of last season you were troubled with financial issues, which resulted in a heavily reduced budget for this. What is the latest on those issues?
They are still hanging around, but our new chairman and commercial manager are working hard on maximising the off field income. Our budget was apparently more than halved for this season, so we lost a lot of players and are using our Academy to fast track players in. I think we may be through the worst of the issues, but we’ve heard that before.
Is there a genuine fear amongst Harrier’s fans that this could be a long season ahead, or a case of lots of new players still getting used to each other and ‘it’ll be alright’?
Some Harriers’ fans are already looking at the permutations of points needed. I think it’s mostly a confidence thing at the moment. We’ve had some great moments and have taken points off Grimsby, Gateshead and Tranmere this season, but we’ve been letting ourselves down with moments of falling asleep. It didn’t help that Kelvin Langmead went off injured at half time on day one and has only just returned as we were missing an experienced head in defence. I think once we get the elusive first win we’ll settle down and will claw our way slowly but surely to 50 points.
Was the signing of players from lower divisions expected given that Whild was regarded as more the talent spotter when working under Burr?
Yeah, we’ve had some misses, but there are some with some big potential, in particular the aforementioned Singh and Maxwell. We’re just craving a new Jamille Matt at the moment.
Top Five Predictions?
1. Forest Green Rovers
2. Eastleigh
3. Wrexham
4. Grimsby Town
5. Woking
Bottom Four Predictions?
Being hopeful!
21. Altrincham
22. Boreham Wood
23. Welling United
24. Southport
Thoughts on Lincoln City?
You seem to have recruited fairly well this summer and Matt Rhead seems to be scoring a lot for you. (Not a fan of former Mansfield players after 2012-13!) I think you’ll probably finish just below the play offs.
Score Prediction?
A solid 2-2 draw. Singh and Styche (penalty) to score for us. Rhead (2) for you. Hawkridge to hit the bar as he seems to have on all of the BT Sport highlight shows so far.
Random Fact About Your Club?
The club was formed by a merger of two clubs (Kidderminster Harriers and Kidderminster Olympic) in 1890. A year before, both teams were founder members of the Birmingham and District League with Olympic winning the inaugural league and Harriers finishing second.
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