ROGER HERRIDGE insists he still has the belief to turn around Binfield’s stuttering season.
At the turn of the year the Moles looked in a decent spot to challenge near the top end of the Hellenic Premier Division table if they could win some of their numerous games in hand.
However, a run of just one win in 10 games, which came in the Floodlit Cup on penalties, have derailed Herridge’s men and seen any hopes of a title challenge vanish.
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Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at Windsor leaves the Moles without a league victory in 2019 and sees them down in 11th place, 18 points off the top four having now played the same amount of matches as many of those above.
But Herridge, who replaced Mark Tallentire as Binfield boss in 2014, remains determined to steer his side back in the right direction.
“I’ve had some tough runs as a manager before and there’s better sides and better managers than me who have had equally tough runs,” Herridge told The Wokingham Paper.
“If I came away from any game not hurting, that would be the time for me to step down, move on and let somebody else take it on.
“But I’ve still got that belief in myself and I’ve got the belief in the players.
“At the end of December we’re looking at it and thinking if we win our games in hand, we’ve got a great chance of winning the league.
“We’ve obviously blown that and we’re closer to the bottom of the table than we are to the top, so we need to start winning games.
“Anybody can beat anybody in this league but as a manager it is tough and we’ll see what the next couple of games bring. My view on it might change come five o’clock on Saturday.”
Binfield’s cause has not been helped by losing some key players throughout the campaign.
Just four of the 11 who started the first game of the season, a 4-1 win at Ardley United, are still available to Herridge now with many moving on or picking up serious injuries.
Sean Moore and Chris Grace have been snapped up by Bracknell Town while Khalid Senussi, Jack Thomson-Wheeler and Jeff Brown are all recovering from long-term injuries.
And Herridge admits he has not adequately replaced the players he has lost in recent weeks.
“I look at our dip in form and losing Jack Thomson-Wheeler was massive,” said Herridge.
“We beat Wantage at home (in December), so that tells you the potential of the side if we can get our strongest side out.
“But losing Thommo at right-back has been massive. We’ve conceded too many goals down the sides of us since he’s gone.
“Gracey going back to Bracknell, we’ve missed him for a few games. We’ve got Dave Lyons in now who has done very well, I’ve been really impressed with Dave.
“Even the Sean Moore thing. Losing Thommo and Sean, they were two very key players to us.
“You’d have to say that as a manager I’ve failed to replace them at the minute. Stephen Peacock has come in and done well. He’s added something to us but Sean on his day is unplayable and Thommo consistently is up there with one of the better right-backs in the league, not many players go past him.
“You can always make excuses and we can all do things better but we’ve lost some good players at key times with injuries – Thommo, Khalid Senussi, Jeff Brown, Damien Smith.
“As a manager I’ve failed to replace those players really. But the players don’t grow on trees unfortunately.”
Another player Herridge lost recently was Will Shaw.
The winger has been filling in at full-back in recent weeks but left to join Eversley and California having played 28 games for the Moles this season, the fifth most of any player.
“Will’s done a job for us at full-back and he knows himself that’s not his position but he’s done reasonably well there,” said Herridge.
“But over the last few weeks he’s probably sensed the frustration in the dugout and I think he probably got frustrated with himself.
“Certainly the way he exited I’m disappointed with, but he’s been a good lad to manage.
“He’s reliable, he trains well, he’s available for every game. If he feels a step backwards is a step forwards eventually for him, good luck to him.”
He added: “I wish Matty Angell all the best at Eversley and he’s got himself a good player there in Will Shaw.
“I don’t believe Matt has done anything wrong, but if Will’s feeling a little bit sorry for himself or a little bit down in the dumps, he needs to show a little bit of maturity and come and talk to the manager rather than letting things fester.
“Hopefully he’ll learn from that as his career progresses.”
Binfield go to Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the league on Saturday (3pm).
