Football: Lang boss expects few games before Christmas

Nov 21 2012 by Kenny Smith, Rutherglen Reformer

Cambuslang Rangers boss Alan Wardlaw fears that his side will be lucky to play thatmany games before Christmas due to the inclement weather.

The Lang - who have won their last three games in a row - are suffering along with many other local sports teams who are struggling to get games played on heavy, soaked grass parks.

And now the gaffer is concerned that with the wet weather having arrived, it’s here to stay for a considerable time - and that’s before the freezing conditions set in.

Alan said: “This weekend we’re away to Newmains, which will definitely be able to go ahead at noon.

“Newmains were able to swap their fixture last weekend to a 3G pitch, and they were in touch on Monday night to see if we’d like to switch to the pitch at Wishaw Sports Centre, so we said yes. We’re delighted to get any games on.

“If the weather stays like this, I’ll be very surprised if there’s any more games between now and the New Year.

“We want to be playing games on a Saturday, not going training or giving the boys the day off, to try and avoid a backlog of games at the end of the season.

“If you look at Newmains, they are a very inconsistent team, but every year they’re always capable of pulling off some surprise results. They’ve got quite a youthful team and I know two or three of them, but they’re always capable of putting on a decent performance and getting a result.

“The important thing is that our players turn up with the right attitude and frame of mind - it’s a horrible cliche, but every game between now and the end of the season is like a cup final for us. That’s what is getting hammered home to the guys, every training session, every week, and we’ll keep saying that to them.”

The Lang had no game scheduled for Saturday, so many of the players and coaching team organised an impromptu stag night for coaching team member Billy Campbell.

Alan said: “I’ve not been too well of late, so had to take a step back, but the rest of the boys had a great time.

“They’ve had a good night out, which is good for the team spirit and morale, and helps them to bond. We’ve got a good bunch of lads and this can only be a good thing for the team, wanting to do well for each other as friends, not just as team-mates.

“We had a friendly last Monday night against Benburb, which we won 3-2. It was a very tough game but we thoroughly enjoyed it and deservedly won it, even though we were playing without Fraser Craig and Thomas Kilmartin.

“We brought in a couple of trialists, which was a very worthwhile exercise, and I must admit I was quite impressed by the trialist forward, a youth lad, who we’re intending to ask to come back and join us in training.

“What was most satisfying was that we’ve been working a lot on the shape of the team, with the back four and the two wide midfielders, but we’ve also been pushing Gavin Rushford into midfield alongside Derek Hewitt. The pair of them are playing really, really well together, and working as a unit.

“What was really pleasing is that stuff we’ve been working on in training is now starting to pay off on the pitch, so it’s great when things like that come to fruition - it’s no coincidence that we’ve been on a bit of a run of late with things like this helping us.”