Alan Devonshire Reflects On The Season So Far

Alan Devonshire gave an honest reflection of the campaign so far as we enter the second half of the 2024/25 season. 

 

The Magpies sit 21st in the Vanarama National League on 23 points, but it remains a hotly contested affair down towards the relegation zone with United only two points behind 18th-placed Aldershot. 

 

“[It’s been] slightly disappointing with the results,” said Devonshire. “Not really with the effort from the lads, but, because we’ve had a lot of injuries this year, we haven’t been able to do anything now until January. So, bringing in an extra couple of players I like to think will help, but at the end of the day they will take time to settle in. So yeah, hopefully the second half of the season will be better.” 

 

Despite a few days to forget across the season, recent performances have shown a marked improvement. The Magpies put in a valiant display against a Solihull Moors side who had a man advantage for more than an hour just before the festive period, with Boxing Day yielding a belated Christmas present of three points after beating Wealdstone. Despite a defeat on New Year’s Day at Woking, United performed well and multiple strikes against the woodwork indicated luck just wasn’t going to go Maidenhead’s way. 

 

Asked on promising signs after a string of improved performances over the Christmas period, Devonshire noted that there were opportunities for an equaliser against Eastleigh as well. 

 

“It probably wasn’t the best game at Eastleigh, but we still had chances to get a result,” Devonshire added. “We need to just push on and get results; we’ve got to play with intensity – that is the way we have to play – and if we carry on doing that, we’ll be fine.” 

 

The gaffer’s confidence comes amid two new signings over the Christmas break. Winger Ricky Korboa is set to join from Livingston, while 20-year-old Noah Stewart joins from Northern Ireland’s Ballymena United. 

 

Devonshire remained tight-lipped as to whether York Road could be welcoming even more new faces in the coming weeks. 

 

“We could do, we could do. We will look at things,” Devonshire said when pressed on making further signings. “We’ve brought in Ricky, who will hopefully play off the right. We’ve missed Jadyn [Mitchell-Lawson] since he’s been injured, and we’ve tried other people and that, so I like to think he could fit in there. Noah will come in and give us another option up top because we’ve only got the two boys at the moment with Tobi [Sho-Silva] being out long-term with injury. So yeah, listen, at the end of the day, we know what we’ve got to do, and the boys are up for it.” 

 

The 12th man can make all the difference on a matchday, and with our interview drawing to a close, Devonshire gave a rallying call to supporters. 

 

“Get behind the lads,” he said. “[The supporters] were great at Woking; we’d lost 3-1, and they still clapped us, and they knew how unlucky we were. But, at the end of the day, we need points on the board; we need you to get behind us – it gives a big lift for the lads when you’re behind us – so let’s get the results we need.”