Mycampusplug
News Report:King’s Lynn Owner’s Controversial Statements on Joe Taylor, David Beckham, and the Club’s Survival
There’s a lot riding on this, our season’s last home game. It’s also our academy day, so we’re celebrating by having all of our player age groups, from our under 23s to our under sixes, do a lap of honor at halftime.
It’s a proud moment for their parents and grandparents to watch, as they accept the applause they so richly deserve. I’m happy for Joe Taylor, who graduated from our program, as he received Lincoln City’s League One Player of the Month award yesterday.
Joe is a huge King’s Lynn supporter, therefore I have no doubt that he shares my sadness that he did not play more for our first team. Our manager at the time, Ian Culverhouse, and I had a conversation where I practically begged for his inclusion in the team.
In answer, Culverhouse questioned “if I knew more about football than him.” I said that wasn’t the point; all I could see was that he was being deceptive. As they say, the rest is history.
The important thing was that Joe was eager to join our academy; he rescheduled his summer vacation so he could be a part of it when it started, and he put in a lot of effort every day on the training field. He didn’t make much money, but what mattered most to him was the chance to play, be coached, and grow; everything else was secondary.
He will undoubtedly develop into a premier player. Continuing with this topic, this week I examined David Beckham’s initial contract, which revealed wages of £210 per week in January 1993 (equivalent to £3432) and £270 per week (equivalent to £556) at the beginning of the 1996–97 season.
While I’m sure he quickly secured a better deal, this illustrates Beckham’s mindset that football comes first and money is secondary. When young players sign a contract, money should be the last consideration; the coaching, the route to the first team, and the environment they enjoy play a bigger role than a weekly paycheck, which will take care of itself if they perform well on the field.
Let’s go back to the game today. It’s a derby, of course, but both clubs need a point to win to stay safe. Numerous combinations are possible, but safety will be guaranteed if we score or if Blyth or Farsley do not score the most points possible from their games. Rory McCauley, Ryan Fryatt, and Michael Gash will all be making their way back to their spiritual home, and I’m sure our final home game of the season will draw a respectable crowd.
Lastly, we should give our manager Adam Lakeland and his helper Sam Walker recognition for their work. We had eight points from ten games, or 0.8 points per game, before they arrived, placing us in 22nd place.
Our current point total stands at 55 from 44 games, or an average of 1.25 points per game—a gain of more than 50% over our previous record. It hasn’t been simple. I have no doubt that altering the team’s emotional makeup has been just as difficult as its physical makeup.
It is difficult to have a positive attitude when a goal goes in against you and you are losing the game because players tend to become complacent and expect that the other team will score. They persisted and so did the team, putting in the effort to become difficult to defeat.
Next season will be a different season and I am sure that whilst it is not a lesson that anyone at the club will want to take again, everyone will have learnt a vast amount from this one. We will be stronger as a team the following season as a result of it.
