After the tense victory over Brightlingsea Regent on Saturday, Finlay Stubbs caught up with Casuals’ skipper for the day Ricardo Thompson to discuss the victory, the influence of new manager Justin Fevrier and the togetherness within the newly formed squad.
Ricardo, that was a great win against Brightlingsea Regent. What are your thoughts on the game?
Honestly, we made hard work of it, but as the game went on we grew into it as a team and started to take in what the manager told us to do, which was to get the ball moving through the thirds and try to punish the opposition as much as possible. I think, as the weeks go on, the team will start to grow more as there have been a lot of changes with new management coming in, and things will start to progress from there.
How was the atmosphere in the changing room after that comeback?
It was crazy! Literally everyone was there singing. Obviously, we haven’t won in quite a while so it was a big win for everybody especially with where we are in the league and where Brightlingsea were as well, that wasn’t even three points for me; that felt like six points.
You started on left of the back three today rather than your favoured midfield position. Is that the first time you have played there and what challenges did you face?
I have played in many positions while I have been at Casuals and throughout my career. It was a bit of a different challenge having to deal with more one v one situations in wide areas, so that was my most difficult challenge but besides that it was pretty standard for me to play out of position.
Members of Fiel Londres were at the game, meaning we had backing behind both goals throughout the second half. How much support do they and the local supporters give to you and the team?
At Casuals, the 12th man is so important for us and without them it would have been very difficult for us to get the win. Especially when we are struggling, they are constantly cheering us on. When they come down to watch, with the drum and the chanting, it definitely drives us on, 100 per cent.
At half-time, you found yourselves 1-0 down. What was said in the changing room to motivate your team to win today?
That we have got to do better, literally. Across the whole pitch, everything just needed to be a lot better. We knew in ourselves as well that we weren’t making the right passes, the quality of the passes weren’t the greatest and the intensity we were playing at wasn’t good enough. The manager literally just came in and said to us, “We need to do better if we want to get anything out of today’s game,” and that is what we did in the second half.
How much has Justin helped the team and how much are you enjoying playing under him?
He’s given a lot to the team. Obviously some players have left, some players have come in. His mindset is about the culture of the whole environment the players are playing in, and literally just working from there. If he thinks that a player is not fitting into the culture and how he wants us all to play, they won’t be with us any longer and, as you can see, some players have left unfortunately. He has brought in some good players as well and I think having them here and having that consistency is important. If someone isn’t doing the right thing or taking responsibility, he will pull you up on it. By having this mindset, things are going to get better quickly for us as a team.
How much pride do you take as captain after a big win, and how much are you enjoying the responsibility?
I take a lot of pride in being captain. Obviously, Tucks (Jack Tucker) is injured right now, and he is the captain, I’m just vice-captain. While he’s injured, I take a lot of pride in it because as much as playing for Casuals is a big thing for me, being captain is a big responsibility and I help to carry the team through each game. Sometimes it does get frustrating, especially when you are not winning – you are thinking what I can do better. But each game I try to lift the Casuals’ spirits, especially with the new players that haven’t been here long, I just try to get them involved as much as possible.
We are back at home Tuesday night against a strong Bishop’s Stortford side. Are you looking to build on this win and start to climb the table?
Definitely. Bishop’s Stortford is going to be a difficult game – we played against them last season and they have a lot of energy. If we can stop their energy and match it, the rest will all follow and we can start to put a run of wins together.
I see you are wearing a Christmas jumper. Is it a big night tonight?
Yes! Tonight is our team’s Christmas night out, so we are going to have a few drinks at Boxpark in Croydon. Especially after today’s win, we will have a good night and enjoy ourselves – obviously not too much as we are fully focused on the big game Tuesday night!