Back at the club where he became a cult hero with his goals and his connection to the fans, Reyon Dillon is now captain of Mu Maan’s new Casuals. We caught up with him on a match-less weekend to get his take on how things are going…
Interview: Dominic Bliss
Image: Stuart Tree
How do you reflect on your first few weeks back at Corinthian-Casuals?
All in all, everyone’s happy and the vibe around the place is buzzing, every training session, every match. We didn’t manage to win a game in pre-season, which was tough, but we stayed together throughout the whole process, and I think everyone can see how well we are playing and how dominant we have been in games. We’ve just been unlucky, and we weren’t putting our chances away, but obviously that changed last Tuesday at Sheerwater when we were able to do that and get the win. We’re all raring to go and there’s competition for places, which makes it even better, because you can’t get complacent after one good performance.
There’s an irony to the fact that we’re less than a month into the new season and this feels like the most settled squad we’ve had for two years!
That comes from the management team. They’ve played the game very recently, so they understand what it’s like to be a player and when you can relate to the players, I think it makes people feel a lot more comfortable. Everyone is settled, the new boys have come in, the Brazilian boys have been fantastic, and we’ve all made them feel welcome. We’ve all integrated, and it has all been coming together since the start of pre-season. I think you are starting to see it on the pitch as well now.
Does it help that there have been a few returning stalwarts that ‘get’ this club?
Yeah, because it makes everyone realise how big this club is and how much people care, when they see people come back when it hasn’t been doing well for the last two years. We wanted to come back and help get this club back where it belongs, because it’s a fantastic club. It’s about the people around the club that make you feel at home, make you feel wanted. That is so important.
The fans have made everyone feel wanted as well, haven’t they?
Yeah and it’s nice to see some old faces among them as well. When the gaffer, Gabs and Mo came back in, they have shown that it is a family club, and we act like a family on the pitch. The crowds are coming back and it helps when you’ve got the old faces, like Cheks, Haks, Warren and even myself. Hopefully it ups their spirits. It's exciting, and even though it is just the start of the season, it feels like we’ve been together for six or seven months. That’s how much we’ve been through together.
And you got your goal at Sheerwater. You’d wanted that moment, I could see!
It’s been a tough, tough few weeks, with a lot of chances that I should’ve scored. Sometimes it kind of felt like the world was against me, with some of the chances. The boys in the changing room told me, “Just put your foot through it, instead of trying to place it. Just have the instinct that you know you already have.” As captain, I wanted to set an example and lead the squad, so having experienced people telling me that put the confidence back into me and it showed last Tuesday, with an assist and a goal. Hopefully now we can keep the ball rolling.
Interview: Dominic Bliss
Image: Stuart Tree
How do you reflect on your first few weeks back at Corinthian-Casuals?
All in all, everyone’s happy and the vibe around the place is buzzing, every training session, every match. We didn’t manage to win a game in pre-season, which was tough, but we stayed together throughout the whole process, and I think everyone can see how well we are playing and how dominant we have been in games. We’ve just been unlucky, and we weren’t putting our chances away, but obviously that changed last Tuesday at Sheerwater when we were able to do that and get the win. We’re all raring to go and there’s competition for places, which makes it even better, because you can’t get complacent after one good performance.
There’s an irony to the fact that we’re less than a month into the new season and this feels like the most settled squad we’ve had for two years!
That comes from the management team. They’ve played the game very recently, so they understand what it’s like to be a player and when you can relate to the players, I think it makes people feel a lot more comfortable. Everyone is settled, the new boys have come in, the Brazilian boys have been fantastic, and we’ve all made them feel welcome. We’ve all integrated, and it has all been coming together since the start of pre-season. I think you are starting to see it on the pitch as well now.
Does it help that there have been a few returning stalwarts that ‘get’ this club?
Yeah, because it makes everyone realise how big this club is and how much people care, when they see people come back when it hasn’t been doing well for the last two years. We wanted to come back and help get this club back where it belongs, because it’s a fantastic club. It’s about the people around the club that make you feel at home, make you feel wanted. That is so important.
The fans have made everyone feel wanted as well, haven’t they?
Yeah and it’s nice to see some old faces among them as well. When the gaffer, Gabs and Mo came back in, they have shown that it is a family club, and we act like a family on the pitch. The crowds are coming back and it helps when you’ve got the old faces, like Cheks, Haks, Warren and even myself. Hopefully it ups their spirits. It's exciting, and even though it is just the start of the season, it feels like we’ve been together for six or seven months. That’s how much we’ve been through together.
And you got your goal at Sheerwater. You’d wanted that moment, I could see!
It’s been a tough, tough few weeks, with a lot of chances that I should’ve scored. Sometimes it kind of felt like the world was against me, with some of the chances. The boys in the changing room told me, “Just put your foot through it, instead of trying to place it. Just have the instinct that you know you already have.” As captain, I wanted to set an example and lead the squad, so having experienced people telling me that put the confidence back into me and it showed last Tuesday, with an assist and a goal. Hopefully now we can keep the ball rolling.