Horrible shame to lose that way, and a shame the final was such a dull affair compared to the exciting advert for non-league football that was last weeks semi final.
I've felt all season that if we made the playoffs it would be deserved, but if we got promoted or even got to the final that it would be through luck. Like others have said, we are a season too soon and promotion would have showed our flaws next season. The squad we have isn't quite ready for it yet, we need to keep as many of the core squad as we can, so they've then had 12-18 months together and have ironed out their negatives. Crook may have cost us it, but someone was going to be at fault somewhere, just not ideal that it was in such a glaring fashion.
Now begins the period of making sure we keep our key players, reaching out to those who have been released from higher clubs or those at our level, and use our scouting links to strengthen. Give Crook the summer to work on his confidence and consistency, and put a solid defense in front of him.
Hopefully next season we can lower the high number of player turnover and have good squad depth from the start, mount a serious charge for the title early on, and maintain a top 2 position. On the back of that let's hope this sees a steady increase in gate numbers and the club beginning to see some new regular fans come along, whether it's down partly to the new stadium or not, we need to see numbers go up to reflect the performances and show the club that we will be ready to compete and hold a place in the conference premier in 2 seasons time.
