[20 JAN 10] CRUSADER NEWS

Alvin Scott Interview

By Adam Manning

CRUSADERS under 18 Mens Head Coach Alvin Scott highlighted the extent of how much his youngsters are under achieving in this year’s Midlands Conference, by claiming that his side “should be sitting at the top of the table”.

Scott had been hoping for last year’s batch of under 16 stars to “continue the momentum” at under 18 level this season after last year’s post Christmas period which saw four wins in the space of a month, however half way through the new season he now finds the same group of youngsters second form bottom in the league with just two wins from eleven league games.

“I don’t think this team’s gone the way I wanted it to go” Scott said.  “We’ve had spells where we’ve done well, but overall with the talent we’ve got we should be sitting at the top of the table in my calculations of what we’ve got and what other teams have got”.

“Building from last year we had a good team where we really started to gather the pace after Christmas and it looked like we were going to continue that momentum. Now we’ve brought in some other juniors, and I think attitude and some other things haven’t nested together, and we’ve lost some of that upward momentum and killer instinct” he added.

“So overall I’m fairly disappointed with the team, there are a few individuals, especially the younger ones, who are coming through and improving slowly, so it may well be a rebuilding year for next season which you never like, but we have to play with what we’ve got”.

The Under 18’s go into this Saturday’s home game with Birmingham Mets after a heavy 65 point home defeat to the unbeaten Leicester Warriors last weekend, their heaviest defeat since the under 16s lost 38-104 to Leicester Blaze last February. Yet Scott is confident that his side will bounce back this weekend with an improved, winning mentality against a side that are just two points and three places ahead of Coventry, showing the tightness and unpredictability in the 11 team Midlands Conference.

“I’m not really bothered about the other teams, I’m more bothered about our team because I think we just give games away, the other teams are there for the taking” declared Scott.  “But losing’s a habit, and winning’s a habit, and at the minute we have a losing mentality and we have to change that. How are going to do that? It’s going to be difficult but it’s down to character, hard work and a bit more attention to detail and we’ve got to pick ourselves up and come again”.

He also reflected on the standard of this season’s competition so far, saying: “The league is quite even and I think most games are winnable for us, the two Leicester teams are at the top but they may be possibly out of our reach at the moment, but with all of the other teams I think they’re winnable. We’ve not really had any blow out, maybe 15 or 20 points”.

You can see if Alvin Scott’s men bounce back at 2.15pm at the Coventry Sports Centre on Saturday 23^rd January. Before that, the Under 16’s begin their first of three consecutive home games at the earlier time of 12.15pm when they try to jump above league rivals Walsall Wizards.

 

  Main Menu | News | Alvin Scott  20 JAN 2010