Pacquette on the move ... again

See this week's Pacquette Advertiser Maidenhead Advertiser for more details ("It does get frustrating when you can't keep players because of the budget"; "We just can't compete financially" etc., etc.):

Short-termism ~ "Smell what sells"

Short-term memories - and short-term outlook - at York Road

In the recent episode of The Apprentice, the two remaining teams of three were given £250-worth of wholesale goods and told by Lord Sugar that they would need to identify their best selling products and reinvest in those items to sell and increase their profit margins. "Smell what sells" was the phrase he used.

I was immediately reminded of this when I read the following day's Maidenhead Advertiser ...

Hot on the heels of the Eastbourne Borough manager Garry Wilson stating in their local paper that ...

"We didn't offer a deal to Richard Pacquette ... He closed the door on negotiations at an early stage saying he wanted to be at a full-time club, and that's the end of it as far as we’re concerned"

... the 'Tiser confirmed rumours that Pacquette is training with the Magpies ...

Boss Johnson Hippolyte says any sort of deal is a long way off for the talented striker, but did not completely rule out bringing him to York Road for a second time.

He did admit, however, that it would only come about if one of the Football League clubs who are interested in Alex Wall agree to sign the young United forward.

"I'm not saying that we're going to sign him, but if Alex was to go and we got a transfer fee then we might be able to get someone like Richard"

ALARM BELLS!

Firstly, some disclaimers:

• I accept that there are a fair few 'ifs' and 'mights' in the article 
• I accept that Pacquette is an excellent player (at Blue Square South level, at least) 
• I accept that Notts County, or whoever are apparently interested in Wall, will possibly not follow up with a concrete offer 
• I accept that it's Peter Griffin's money, Peter Griffin's football club, and he can and should do what he thinks is best

Those out of the way, I will continue ...

Officially Maidenhead United's record fee received remains the £5,000 Norwich City paid for Alan Cordice in 1979. I suspect that this was actually surpassed, by the 'undisclosed' amount paid by Havant & Waterlooville for Mustafa Tiryaki, some thirty years later. The similarities between Tiryaki and Wall are notable: raw, hot-headed young strikers plucked from obscurity (semi-professional Turkish football, in Tiryaki's case, Wall from Thatcham Town Youth) who, to various degrees, terrorised vastly more experienced Blue Square South defenders with their hard work, relentless running and physical play. 

Wall is, IMO, Tiryaki-lite but it is no surprise to me that he could follow the Turk in becoming one of the few Maidenhead United players that someone has paid a fee for. If so, why on earth would you consider spending any cash windfall on someone like Pacquette who, if not able to find a full-time club, will presumably still be looking for someone to pay him as close to a full-time wage as possible?

"Smell what sells"

The problem with quoting Alan Sugar in a football blog is that Hackney's finest was hardly a resounding success when in charge of Tottenham Hotspur. A prime example, one could say, of a successful businessman who floundered in charge of a football club. A businessman who hasn't floundered in charge of a football club, however, is Dave Whelan at Wigan Athletic (the caveat to this is that Whelan was a professional player, of course, before entering the world of retail).

Now, I'm not Wigan's biggest fan - I'm fed up of seeing rows and rows of empty seats on TV, when they play at home, and view them as a noddy, no-hope club with little history or fan-base who are only where they are thanks to the millions pumped in by their Sugar Daddy owner (sound familiar??) - but, fair play to Whelan, he went about things the right way, IMO; building the JJB Stadium as early as 1999 (the Latics weren't promoted from Division Two until 2002/03, having won the Division Three title in 1997/98). He realised that the infrastructure - the stadium - had to come first, before the promotions.

Is Peter Griffin - MUFC Ltd Chairman, benefactor and successful businessman - more Sugar or Whelan? His "I would rather spend money on players ... than on the ground" response - to a suggestion from MUSA, in the summer of 2009, that a fixed percentage of the budget be set aside for ground improvement - does, I think, provide an answer.

The summer of 2009 also saw Pacquette depart the club after sweeping the end-of-season awards. The 2008/09 season had been one of Dale Binns, Ben Surey and Ashley Nicholls as summer signings. A 'superstar' strike force of Pacquette, Rocky Baptiste, Manny Williams and Lee Newman (with Tiryaki out on loan at Potter's Bar and Godalming!). A playing budget that was far from streamlined. No one seemed to care, though, as we flew high in the table (losing a top-of-table clash with Chelmsford City, at York Road in November, in front of a 782 crowd). Club Director Mark Steward imposed on a MUSA meeting ,early in the season, to ask that supporters urgently sponsor new seats as York Road didn't have the required amount for play-off participation/promotion. It still doesn't.

Then, around February, the recession hit and the budget was slashed. Binns - who we had been told had signed for reasons other than money (haha!) - was the first to bolt (for HAYU). Pacquette was sent out on loan to Histon. Baptiste left quietly (not before time!). Youngsters such as the promising Gavin James (who would horrifically break his leg, in two places, at Dorchester Town in March), the not-so-promising James Hamsher (where is he now?), Aryan Tajbakhsh and Tiryaki were given chances to impress. The latter hit a purple patch of six goals in six games (forming a devastating partnership with the returning Pacquette) and a late season rally saw us finish 6th - six points and one place from the play-offs (that we couldn't have competed in anyway) - our highest position ever yada, yada, yada.

As MUSA set up a ring-fenced ground improvement fund, MUFC Ltd vowed to operate thereafter within a strict playing budget. Drax moaned (still does) - as is a manager's prerogative - but the following season was, IMO, our most enjoyable and satisfying in the Conference South; a predominantly young, inexperienced, cheap (no player was, apparently on more than £250 per week) and seemingly tight-knit squad - lead and epitomised by captain Mark Nisbet - recovering from an inauspicious start to finish comfortably clear of the relegation places.

Then Ashley Nicholls returned (he's since gone again) ...

Now Manny Williams is back ...

And Richard Pacquette is being talked about as a possible signing ...

Yet York Road still doesn't have the required seats for us to compete in the play-offs, even if we were to reach them!

We're playing at one of the most decrepit, ill-equipped grounds in the division in front of one of the lowest average attendances ... but are apparently considering spending any potential transfer fee we get for a young striker on the wages of a 28-year-old who is looking, ideally, for a full-time contract and has played for nearly twenty clubs in his career??

There has been much talk that Peter Griffin will, if we are ever in the play-off hunt again when entering the New Year, pay for the new seats to be hurriedly shoe-horned in (probably onto the Bell End terracing). That would be typically-Maidenhead United; a short-term, make do, botch job.

Drax would naturally love to have another promotion on his CV. Peter Griffin would presumably love to be able to tell his business associates that he is the Chairman of a Blue Square Premier side (and the national exposure would be great for our shirt sponsors; Pharmalink Consulting). Those in MUFC Ltd blazers would no doubt love to munch on the better quality of biscuit offered in the boardrooms of Luton Town, Cambridge United and Stockport County. Heck, supporters such as I would certainly love (initially at least) away days to the likes of Gateshead, Lincoln and York. But, being altruistic for a moment, would promotion really be in the best, long-term, interests of the club? How do St Albans City fans, for example, look back now - with the benefit of hindsight - on their season in the sun?

As things stand, we are playing in a division that we can't get promoted out of and would, in all likelihood, have to finish rock bottom of to get relegated from. As such, our squad should be more 2009/10 (£250 per week players with everything to prove) than 2008/09 (£500+ per week players with nothing to prove). Any transfer fee for Wall should be reinvested in another young, hungry, up-and-coming striker who will hopefully thrive and also be sold ("smell what sells"). Money saved on the likes of Pacquette should, IMO, be spent on improving - rather than merely maintaining - the ground and encouraging youngsters to the games (as we have done previously, with discounted entry).

Improve the infrastructure ...

Look to the long-term ...

Fat chance, it would seem.

KSA gone

Kieron Lloyd J. Minto St Aimie. What a name! What a player? No. Not yet. Possibly not ever.

I first saw KSA in a Maidenhead United shirt during a pre-season friendly at Holyport in July 2009. A quick Google search, when I got back from the game, indicated that he had started out as a highly-rated youngster at QPR (apparently scoring a wonder goal on debut, in a high-profile friendly with Celtic) before embarking on short and largely unproductive spells at Oxford United (loan), Barnet, Grays Athletic (loan), Stevenage Borough (loan), Lewes (loan), Thurrock and Hitchin Town. Prior to joining the Magpies, the club he'd made the most appearances for was Barnet (13 games, according to the ever-reliable Wikipedia).

While he didn't really stand out against Holyport (unlike Dereck Brown's son, Daniel, for example) he was signed by Drax and featured regularly throughout last season (sometimes out wide, or in central midfield, but often upfront), chipping in with some valuable goals. He was, though, a frustrating player. Despite having seemingly all the desired attributes (tall, quick, decent touch etc.), he often appeared lazy - as if going through the motions - and lacked a killer instinct. I vividly recall the match-up at Woking in September 2009 where, in front of a 1400-plus crowd, he clearly had the beating of Cards centre half and captain Tom Hutchinson, but never took the game by the scruff of the neck, with his final ball/ shot seldom hitting the mark.

Obviously I haven't seen much of him this season, but I have read and heard that the 'flatter-to-deceive' performances have continued. Still, it was something of a surprise to learn today that he has been released by the club. It was clear to me, at least, prior to the season that we were going to struggle for goals and, with Cliff Akurang recently having departed for table-topping Braintree Town, Sam Collins lacking fitness and form and so loaned to Hornchurch, the ill-disciplined and raw Alex Wall about to begin another suspension, and the hardly-prolific-at-the-best-of-times Kieran Knight getting (presumably) ever slower, I'm not sure that the shipping out of KSA is going to help matters. I suppose his departure frees up a bit of the budget for another striker (a hard-working one, who is a more consistent goal threat), but how much is debatable.

As for KSA and his future, I think there are parallels with another ex Magpie striker: Richard Pacquette. Like St Aimie, Pacquette has all the physical attributes and was a promising youth prospect, who didn't quite make the grade at QPR (for whatever reason). Pacquette's descent down the football pyramid, following his departure from Loftus Road, took in a whole host of clubs: from Stevenage and Thurrock, like St Aimie, to Hampton & Richmond Borough and Worthing. Somewhere along the line I suspect Pacquette had a 'eureka' moment, when it dawned on him that he was no longer the hot-shot young striker who could coast through games, relying on natural talent and instinct to get the goals and the glory; instead, he would have to knuckle down and work hard for himself and for his teammates ... or risk wasting his footballing abilities.

After successful spells at Havant & Waterlooville (where he scored at Anfield in the FA Cup) and at York Road (he initially joined MUFC on loan to help stave off relegation, before firing us towards the play-offs the following campaign, dominating the end-of-season awards), Pacquette made it back to the Conference (with Histon, then York City, and currently Eastbourne Borough). While the national league may be slightly too high a level for him, he was easily one of the best strikers in the Conference South during his time with the Magpies (forming a truly formidable partnership with Mustafa Tiryaki towards the end); a Hampton supporter I spoke to, for example, simply couldn't believe that he was the same player who had laboured upfront for them, three years or so previously, the turnaround in his effort and application being so marked.

Hopefully KSA will have his own Pacquette-like 'eureka' moment sometime soon. If so, I would expect him to be scoring goals galore in the Conference South (and possibly above) not long thereafter. He's only 21, so time is certainly on his side. I briefly spoke with him once, during the halftime interval of our pre-season friendly at Burnham last summer, and he seemed like a decent bloke (if somewhat shy and introverted; perhaps a lack of self-confidence might explain his inconsistent play?). As such, I wish him all the best.

Anyway, one less Maidenhead United player with his own song (there can't be many more left!). All together then, one last time, to the tune of 'Que Sera Sera' ...

Kieron St Aimie
He's quicker than you and me
Will probably score two or three
Kieron St Aimie

Kieron St Aimie
He's better than Wayne Rooney
And won't shag your granny
Kieron St Aimie