Grundisburgh manager Micky Squirrell is hoping for better times ahead, starting at Coplestonians today, writes Chris Brammer.

The nine-time Senior Division winners have made a terrible start to the campaign, losing all three of their league games – including an 11-0 hammering at Cranes – and are currently propping up the table.

The club is looking for a new face or faces to come in and work alongside Squirrell, following the summer resignations of joint-managers Karl Baldwin and Stevie Moore, and are also seeking new players.

“We’ve had a pre-season of turmoil,” said Squirrell, who, along with Baldwin and Moore, found many players seemingly reluctant to give up their Saturdays to play.

“I was away on holiday for three weeks, and Stevie Moore and Karl Baldwin resigned.

“The two guys (Stephen Bloomfield and Alex Day) who were brought in to take over the reserves came in and we started the season with only two players from last season’s squad.

“Local football teams in general seem to be struggling to put sides together and there are too many other distractions for players on a Saturday afternoon now.

“The club had to make a very difficult decision as to whether to fold altogether.

“We managed to get enough players signed on but we have struggled.

“We are continuing to look for new players and someone to come in to run the first-team with me.”

Squirrell explained why there had been an exodus, and said: “There were various reasons.

“A couple decided to go to Felixstowe Harpers late in the day and many that left did not see any improvement from last year. We were not getting new players in.

“You can’t blame anyone for leaving, at the end of the day it’s down to the managers to bring new people in.

As for his own future and the club’s short-term chances, Squirrell admitted: “I tried some of my long-term and some new contacts but could not get them in.”

“Perhaps my time in local football is coming to an end, but I am still hopeful we can get a few senior players in to keep us up.

“The result against Cranes looks bad but we were down to 10 men for the final 25 minutes. In the other games Haughley (4-0) and Capel (3-1) we were competitive and didn’t capitulate. The players were not way out of their depth. They’ve kept the club going.”

Contact Jon Trenter on 01473 735377 if you think you could do a job as either a player, or on the management team at Grundisburgh.

Today’s SIL fixtures, see page 77