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00:00 Your face lights up when you saw the FA Cup as you walked in.
00:02 Was it nice to get that close to it?
00:04 My face is always lit up.
00:05 Yeah, it just shows the magnitude of what a group of players have done.
00:13 They've brought the trophy here.
00:16 I know it's here, but we've not won it.
00:18 And it's important that they can take photos with it.
00:22 But we have to be mindful because we have to play
00:27 a great side in Coventry, well-marshaled by Mark Robins.
00:32 Let's not forget they were
00:35 nearly in the Premier League last season, missed it by one penalty, I think.
00:40 So, yeah, it's nice to have this in our environment.
00:45 And we have to ensure that it
00:47 inspires us to maybe run that one more yard.
00:54 Coventry still have to play again before you get the weekend off.
00:58 Does that mean you require a big advantage in the match?
01:00 No, I don't think so.
01:03 You know, they are a championship side and
01:05 at the same time, they must have a wealth of squad to pick from.
01:10 Whoever Mark Robins and his management team does decide to select,
01:16 then it's important that we prepare and concentrate on ourselves
01:22 and have our players ready for what's going to be a historic game at our football club.
01:27 Hi guys, you've both played in the Premier League,
01:34 you've both had brilliant careers playing.
01:37 Can you both explain what this game,
01:40 what this hat-round has meant for you as you're starting out in your coaching/managerial careers?
01:48 Listen, it's a massive achievement, both young coaches.
01:52 I say young, I'm 41 years of age, so not so young.
01:55 But listen, it's been a great journey for the whole group, for the whole club,
02:01 not just ourselves, just the fact that we've got to this point in the Cup.
02:06 Nobody would have bet on us being this far in the competition.
02:11 The lads have done tremendous.
02:13 Yes, maybe a little bit of luck in the last round where Ipswicher bit the post twice,
02:18 but if you look at the quality of both our goals that day,
02:22 we deserve to go through.
02:25 It's changed the area, not just obviously for ourselves,
02:28 but people are talking about Maidstone as a community, as a football club.
02:33 In the league games after the Cup run, you see more young kids with Maidstone shirts on.
02:39 It's just something different than what this club is used to.
02:43 So, long may it continue.
02:45 Hope we do get through or get a win or even a replay.
02:50 We just want it to continue as long as possible because it's putting Maidstone on the map.
02:55 Yeah, Craig has touched on a lot of the points there,
02:59 but it's an incredible achievement, not just for ourselves,
03:04 it's for our community, Maidstone United as a whole.
03:07 Yes, our fan base, but also we've gained so much admiration globally,
03:13 how we've gone about the FA Cup run,
03:16 how we've approached it as a football club, as a community.
03:20 Because how I see it as a manager, how we see it is,
03:24 it's a community thing like Craig touched on it.
03:26 Now you get a lot of young kids coming up to us,
03:30 or we want to be one day, we want to emulate what the group of players have done in the FA Cup.
03:35 They want to be involved more in football.
03:38 And it's not just that, it's also the older generation,
03:42 they are so inspired by this moment.
03:44 What our group of players have achieved is just, it's historic.
03:48 And, you know, a lot of the people I meet in the city centre,
03:54 around, even in my area where I live, they're not connected to Maidstone,
03:58 but they are connected to Maidstone.
04:00 They've told me personally, their new team is Maidstone United Football Club.
04:04 So that's just to show you what our group of players have done.
04:08 Like Craig touched on it, we deserve to be in the fifth round of the FA Cup,
04:13 how we've gone about it as a group, as a community.
04:16 And, you know, I know everyone is saying luck, yes, luck does play a part,
04:21 but also it's that togetherness and that belief that we've instilled in this environment.
04:27 And hopefully we're going to go on Monday against a good side in Conventry,
04:31 and we're going to try and compete and showcase ourselves as a community, not just as a team.
04:37 And the old chestnut of penalties, could go to penalties on Monday.
04:41 Have you been practising? I mean, is there any point in practising?
04:46 And what advice have you given your players who may want to take penalties?
04:51 No advice just yet. It's about concentrating on the next training session.
04:55 When we get closer, you know, we'll explain to them what the game is going to look like.
05:01 I know some of them might be thinking there's going to be a replay.
05:04 No, there are no replays. So the squad is going to be utilised on the day.
05:08 We're going to make sure the players are ready.
05:12 Whatever the outcome, listen, penalty, we all know how it is.
05:15 It's a lot free. And at the end of the day, the ones that step up to take the penalties,
05:21 they should be confident. And if they pick their spot and they hit it and it goes in, we celebrate.
05:27 If they hit it and it's a good save, not a problem.
05:30 So it's a day for no pressure. We are a Meston United football club.
05:36 There shouldn't be any pressure on us. We will go there. We'll enjoy the occasion.
05:40 It's a historic day for our football club.
05:43 Thank you.
05:45 [inaudible]
06:03 Firstly, we have to pay every bit of respect to Coventry City, their fantastic championship side.
06:09 High flying at the moment. We know the magnitude of the game.
06:13 We're going to be coming up on Monday. The team we're going to be playing.
06:17 But for me personally, like you said, touching on it, it's a huge moment for myself.
06:22 It's a huge moment for my community back in Cameroon.
06:26 It's a huge moment for our football club.
06:29 But for my community, you know, for Africa as well, it's huge.
06:36 The FA Cup is regarded as one of the best competitions in the world.
06:40 And for Meston to be in the fifth round of the FA Cup against a championship side in Coventry, full of history,
06:48 then, you know, it's an inspirational moment for myself.
06:51 And I'm ever so proud to be the leader of Meston United football club.
06:56 Obviously, I've got a great management team behind me that supports me in this journey.
07:01 And our group of players, they've been magnificent.
07:04 And yeah, so it's not just for myself. It's an inspirational moment for everyone.
07:09 But yeah, it's a fantastic, fantastic achievement for myself as an individual.
07:14 Obviously, a young manager like Craig Tosh, a young management team, first full season,
07:20 and we're achieving something of this magnitude. So it's brilliant.
07:25 One of the huge bonuses of the FA Cup is the sport.
07:28 It means to the history and tradition, but also in cash terms for clubs like yours.
07:34 What sort of difference does it make in terms of prize money, in terms of TV, cash revenue?
07:41 It's transformative for the club, isn't it?
07:43 Yeah, I really wish I could speak of what it means to our football club,
07:48 but I'm sure our owners have touched on it.
07:53 You know, my director of football, Bill Williams, has touched on this financial incentive that we've had.
07:59 But it's not for us to just look at it. It's for us to be sustainable.
08:04 It's huge for a club of our size.
08:07 We're representing the National League, National League South, all the way down to grass level,
08:12 the non-league clubs, everyone. We're representing Kent.
08:17 But it's important that we look at all the financial gains that come our way.
08:21 It's going to help us fix one or two things in our environment.
08:25 It's not just going to be spent on players.
08:27 This is the legacy we're going to be leaving behind.
08:30 Hopefully, one day we all can turn, if this can help us replace our pitch,
08:35 then there's a legacy our players have left behind.
08:38 And it's just bigger than just the squad itself.
08:42 It's a generational thing.
08:46 We're looking at helping the community, and if it does help the community,
08:50 it will help the younger people. It's going to inspire them.
08:54 Hopefully, they're playing on a brand new turf next season.
08:58 The community can enjoy this.
09:01 We can enjoy seeing things being put in place here at the stadium
09:05 to uplift the place a little bit.
09:09 I'm not in a position to tell how the money is going to be spent,
09:14 but every bit of financial incentive does help our club be sustainable for the next year or two.
09:23 Thank you.
09:24 Jadon, to regard this as a result of Monday night, whoever lifts that trophy at Wembley,
09:29 their team won't have won more games than you have in this year's FA Cup.
09:34 So, does that make you guys one of the more winners of this year's competition?
09:39 I never thought of it like that. It's a great stat.
09:42 I never thought of it like that.
09:43 But, listen, we'd like to think this.
09:46 We started earlier than anybody else in terms of the rounds.
09:49 The rounds are there for a reason.
09:51 It's to make it exciting, obviously, give people a chance to get through.
09:55 But we've earned the right to be where we are.
09:58 So, whatever happens in the result on Monday, we've earned the right and respect from others,
10:05 I think, in our league, in the league, obviously, above conference.
10:09 League two, obviously, played a team in league two, then league one,
10:13 championship the previous round.
10:14 So, yeah, I'm sure we've gained some admirers, like the manager said.
10:19 So, yeah, if we do lose the game, which we won't be trying to do,
10:23 I'm sure, like I said, we've got people's respect in the way we've gone about things.
10:27 And obviously, as well, there's one London club left at this stage of the competition,
10:32 Chelsea. Can you guys talk about all the things that this team represents?
10:36 This community in Maidstone, but also in Kent as well.
10:40 A council like Kent having the same number of teams in London at this stage of the FA Cup, George.
10:45 What does that mean to these boys and what they've achieved?
10:48 Going to your first question before I answer this.
10:51 Can we have an invitation if we do lose on Monday night to the finals?
10:55 Put us in a nice little good box with our players so we can watch the game.
11:00 Yeah, no, it's all about the respect.
11:02 It's all about making sure we look at how far we've come in the competition.
11:07 We've treated it with the utmost respect that it deserves.
11:11 When we played the lower teams, we were the big dogs, as you put it.
11:17 They were the underdogs and we showed them every bit of respect in our preparations leading to that.
11:22 And obviously we became the underdogs playing against, coming up against a good side in Barrow.
11:29 We showcased ourselves as a football club, as a community.
11:34 You know, we were lucky enough to progress on the day and then we came up against a good side in Stevenage in League One.
11:42 Done exactly the same thing in our preparations.
11:44 And it was about now, can we go that one more step against Ipswich Town,
11:50 which was a fantastic occasion for everyone connected to football, to be honest.
11:57 And it was a day that none of our community and I'm sure us all in this room and globally, we'll never forget that moment.
12:07 And now it's about making sure we represent our community again, our group of players.
12:13 We go out there and do our best and enjoy and enjoy the occasion.
12:18 It's a historic day, like I keep going back to it.
12:21 And what's not there to enjoy, what's not there to savour?
12:24 We need to make sure we go out there and prepare the players, put no pressure on them.
12:29 Whatever the outcome, they just need to believe in themselves and enjoy the day.
12:33 And our job as the management team is to ensure that that happens.
12:37 But yeah, it's an honour to be compared in such light of, you know, the great Chelsea,
12:45 because like you say, London-based, they're the only London-based club still in the competition.
12:49 And yeah, we are the only club in the National League representing everyone.
12:55 So again, we know that that's the pressure we put on ourselves as the management team, but not on our players.
13:01 And we have to make sure it's about readiness and making sure we send our players out there to enjoy the occasion
13:09 and see where that takes us as a football club.
13:11 [inaudible]
13:34 Yes, definitely. That's the respect coming up against a man like Mark Robbins.
13:40 I know him, I've played against his teams before when I was playing.
13:43 I know how thorough he is. I know he's a man that sets his team out to be very, very structured.
13:50 They play in a certain way, very high intensity, in possession, out of possession, tactically.
13:58 Got the right personnels, set them out right.
14:01 We saw it, they were that close to being promoted to the Premier League last season.
14:05 And they've just, they're charging as well now in the championship as well.
14:09 So what's not to admire about that?
14:12 Our jobs is, like I said earlier on, I've always said this, I am a young manager.
14:18 I'm still learning my trade. We are still learning our trade.
14:21 We know the Finnish article, we don't get carried away.
14:23 And every club that we play, we come up against the management team.
14:28 We like to have that conversation with them.
14:30 If we are invited into the management or the staff, the manager's room after a game or before the game,
14:37 we have that conversation and you ask those questions.
14:40 It's part of the learning curve and it's going to be an honour to obviously speak to him before the game,
14:46 just like I did with Kieran at Ipswich.
14:49 So it's going to be a day where you try to pick as much as you can.
14:56 You try to take every positive out of the day and that's one of the assignments.
15:00 So thank you for reminding me.
15:01 I'll put that on my diary to make sure I do corner him and try to get as much advice from him.
15:09 How he went about it during the crisis, how did he manage that crisis, because it's important.
15:15 I may face that one day in my career as a manager and how am I going to navigate myself in that situation?
15:21 So, yeah, thank you very much. Great question.
15:27 When you look through your squad of players and look at the players,
15:30 many of you have different journeys to get to this point, setbacks, disappointments.
15:34 How proud are you of them that they have got this far and also that they're going to enjoy these moments at Ipswich
15:39 and then obviously on their way to work?
15:41 Firstly, extremely proud of our group of players and how they've gone about this journey.
15:48 There have been so many of them that's contributed.
15:50 Some are not with us today in terms of us letting them find new environments.
15:56 They've all contributed and they know that.
15:58 I stress this over and over and I have to repeat that in our review meeting this morning with our players.
16:05 But it's just to see the shared joy they had, the tears, which was happy tears with their families,
16:14 with our fans, our supporters, and how they've been received by our community, our fans.
16:20 They are local heroes.
16:21 They are superheroes in the eyes of our supporters and they richly deserve it.
16:27 Every day we come in, we are intense the way we manage in terms of trying to drive the right standards.
16:34 When we see them not navigating it the right way, it's our job to try and remind them
16:39 and bring them back on the right track in a very, very positive way.
16:43 They just want to do well.
16:45 They want to do well for themselves.
16:46 They want to do well for their teammates, their families, their friends.
16:50 And they want to do well for the entire Maidstone community.
16:53 And now they understand the magnitude of that victory against a fantastic side in Ipswich.
16:59 And they're just hungry for more and they just want to go out and do their best.
17:02 And, you know, so I'm so, so proud of our group of players.
17:06 I can't tell you, like I said, we are vying for life, you know, so no one can take that away from us.
17:13 We are history makers and every time I look back on this moment, every time I've got photos,
17:20 we've had photos in the office, we look back and we just see in terms of the sheer,
17:24 the gravity of the celebration, it gives you goosebumps.
17:29 Like you're looking at them celebrating individually what it meant to them at the time.
17:34 And what it means to them now, you know, that's why we go out and work as hard as we can.
17:38 We know we are the underdogs and we know we have to be lucky on the day.
17:42 But it's important that, you know, we show that gratitude to them.
17:45 So I owe a lot to them.
17:47 They are history makers and, you know, I respect what they've done for this football club and for themselves
17:53 and for myself and the management team.
17:56 What do you think it says about the quality and the strength of non-league as well,
17:59 to be a National League South side at this amount of competitions?
18:05 I think coming down for the Leagues, I think it's improved in terms of the standard.
18:12 We spoke about it on Monday in our previous game.
18:15 It's actually quite funny that you've mentioned this question.
18:17 Sometimes it might not be technically why players are at this level.
18:21 It's sometimes that they've got to put a performance back to back.
18:25 You go to the Premier League, they can do it week after week after each other.
18:29 So sometimes our lads will do it one in three or one in four,
18:35 but the best players do it week after week, training session after training session.
18:41 So we've been looking at the sense that in the Cup games,
18:45 our lads have stepped to the plate and done it at the right time.
18:49 It's about just finding that in our league where we are,
18:53 finding that consistency and reaching that level all the time.
18:57 So the standards are obviously a lot better than it was years back in the Conference.
19:01 They're more athletic now, play football a hell of a lot more.
19:04 The pitches are better.
19:05 There's more free-G pitches, which means there's more football.
19:08 So the standards have improved.
19:10 So that means that when we do play league clubs, the jump between Conference,
19:14 Conference South to League Two, then League One is a lot closer than what it was,
19:18 than it has been in the past.
19:20 Yeah, I'm on to that.
19:25 Have you found that the leaders representing against
19:31 the Planetary Institute, you know, they set up different things against you and that respect that you've got?
19:38 Yeah, just touching on what Craig said about the league being more,
19:43 more football being played because of the pitch surfaces.
19:48 But also there's more athletism within the league now.
19:51 Players are looking after themselves a little bit better.
19:54 The coaches are quite good.
19:56 The managers are good tactically.
19:58 They said they do their homework on you, scouting reports.
20:01 So all of that plays a key role in how teams set up against us.
20:06 Plus, Maidstone United is making the headlines.
20:10 And that's a motivational tool for the teams that we've come up against,
20:17 because they've raised their game by 20%.
20:20 Before, it was Maidstone that got relegated from the National League into the National League South.
20:25 Teams raised their games by 10%.
20:27 Now, because of this FA Cup magnificent run we've had, they're raising their games by another 10%.
20:35 So our job is to remind our group of players to raise their game.
20:41 If they did at 100, now we've got to do it at 120,
20:44 because we've got this massive, huge target on our backs that everyone is aiming at.
20:49 Because, you know, like on Tuesday, on Monday gone,
20:54 every day celebrated like they've won the league.
20:56 And rightly so, they deserve it,
20:58 because they've just beaten the team that is going to be playing in the FA Cup fifth round.
21:04 What's not there to celebrate?
21:05 So yes, teams do raise their games and their performance levels against Maidstone United Football Club.
21:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]