Yeltz boss salutes team
Halesowen manager Morell Maison has saluted his developing team's ability to climb into the Southern League promotion shake-up despite two months of upheaval at The Grove, writes Steve Madeley.
Halesowen manager Morell Maison has saluted his developing team's ability to climb into the Southern League promotion shake-up despite two months of upheaval at The Grove, writes Steve Madeley.
The Yeltz began today sixth in the British Gas Business League within touching distance of top spot after an impressive run of league victories through November.
And Maison, who took over from Martin O'Connor in October, believes the results are all the more impressive as they have arrived during a period of dramatic change in the team.
He said: "I am pleased, and it is refreshing to pick up some excellent results while we have been strengthening and rebuilding the team. While we have been doing that the team have remained unbeaten in the league, which is extremely pleasing.
"You sometimes fear that when you have a lot of new players coming in and quite a few going out you can go through a difficult transitional period in terms of results and performances.
"People often talk about a 'settling in period' and I have definitely seen that happen with teams in the past.
"Players can take a while getting used to one another and finding their feet in the team and results can suffer.
"By the time they settle down you can often be so far off the pace in the league that even a good run of results can come too late.
"But the players here have managed to cope with the fact that we have made a lot of changes and carry on picking up results and that is something I'm really pleased about."
And Maison paid a special tribute to his two new full-backs, whose arrival he believes has had a major impact on the team's climb from mid-table into contention for a play-off place or better.
Former Leicester trainee Scott Lycett has arrived to play at right-back, while David Perpetuini, formerly of Walsall and Watford, is now the regular right-back.
With Stuart Pierpoint and Dennis Pearce now established as Maison's first-choice centre-backs, he believes a solid back four has helped them turn the draws of the early weeks of his reign into wins of late.
He said: "I think the run of wins has come since we have had some stability in terms of personnel at the back.
"Scott Lycett and David Perpetuini have made a big difference because we now have some real quality and consistency in the full-back areas.
"We have won a few games now and climbed up towards the top of the table and put ourselves in a strong position.
"I've always thought if we can be in contention at Christmas we will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the season."
