It’s been a difficult season for Ajay Ashanike and his Fisher team. At the start of this season, he spoke of their ambition of a top 10 finish, with some players believing they could even push for a top five finish.
With just a month left to play in the 21/22 season Ajay gives his assessment of the season and his hopes for the final run in and beyond.
Disappointing Season
Fisher find themselves in 15th, while still mathematically possible to finish inside the top 10, it would require a footballing miracle to achieve. Ajay himself admits to this season not going to plan “to be honest I think we’ve underachieved. Due to people moving on, injuries, obviously there’s lots of factors that go into it. I’m hoping we can use this last month to build towards next season.”
With six games left in the final month, Ajay is hoping to ensure safety in the division and then build towards next season “I believe we need four more points to see us automatically stay up, providing we get those I don’t see how anyone below could catch us. So from there it’s all about building towards next season, 90% of the players we have now are staying which is a huge positive for me and something we’ve never had at Fisher before”
Inconsistency has been a major issue for the Fish this season, showcased perfectly last month by an impressive 2-2 draw against now promoted Sheppey United followed by a 2-1 home defeat to bottom of the league Lordswood.
Ajay’s hoping to correct that going into next season “I’ve been here three years now and it’s been an ongoing theme, big games we show up, games we should win we don’t. It’s really frustrating as a manager.”
Most recently Fisher battled hard against title hopefuls Chatham Town, suffering a cruel 2-1 defeat Ajay felt it was the perfect example of how good his side can be “top of the league and we narrowly lose 2-1 in a game that, in my opinion we should’ve won. Full credit to them, I hope they do go on to win the league, but I believe we were the better team on the day.”
Giving Youth A Platform
It’s no secret that the teams at the top have a budget to play with, unlike Fisher and many others in the SCEFL, but Ajay relishes the chance to find young talent and give them a platform to play and progress “I’m happy to not have a budget to be honest, I love the job I do and giving young talents a chance. The best thing for me is finding these players from divisions below ours and giving them a chance to showcase their ability and help them progress in their footballing journey.” He went on to say, “we’ve got players who are now playing step 2 (Vanarama National North/South) and step 3, that’s the best thing for me.”
For next season it’s all about getting the consistency right “I’ve got the backroom staff right, I’m really happy with them and all the work they do. I think at the end of the season we need to sit down and figure out how we motivate these players to not just turn up for the big games but turn up for every game.”
Ajay’s already got his eyes set towards pre-season and the positions he needs to address “I think we need an experienced centre-half, a central midfielder and striker if we want to achieve our goals next season. That’s what I’m looking to go get in pre-season.”
Fisher’s next outing is Saturday the 2nd of April against Hollands & Blair, as they look to put a horrible March behind them that saw them winless in six, picking up just two points all month.
