November 2024

November 2024
During the month of November, Yeovil Town F.C played 3 League matches and 2 Europa League matches.

Premier League: MD11
"Professional and just what we needed after a spell of three tough fixtures. James Ward-Prowse got his start today in midfield after returning from injury. As it was only his fourth appearance of the season, I think we can forgive the penalty miss. Besides, he grabbed 2 assists—one of which being a corner for Reece. Our corners dried up last season, so it's good to see us become a threat from them again with his return. I think CM really suits him and today he had a great partnership with Dru who did a lot of the dirty work.

Against Rangers, we will really mix up the squad so that we have a mix of first-team players with the second string. We've not shown our best form in Europe this season so I would like to set a marker with this game as 3-points means we can progress to the knockouts."

Europa League Group Stage: MD4
"It's not exactly what I was hoping for, but we kept our first clean sheet of the group stage which is good enough for us. It does mean that Pellegri, Ward-Prowse, Oxford and Ruben Blanco won't quite be 100% for the weekend fixture against Brighton, but it was worth it to effectively mean we can finish top of the table and lose our next 2 matches. Isaac Hayden played one of his best games in a Yeovil shirt today, with nobody else completing as many passes (41/47) or made as many completed dribbles (31/35). He was our engine that started most of our transitions and kept them at bay as we earned the clean sheet!

If we didn't score that early goal today, this could have been 0-0. They sat deep with 5 at the back for the majority of the game, but we got lucky hit them on the break when we did as we knew we had enough to handle them. But with qualification out the way, we can turn our focus back onto the league until February. I do hope we can make a good run out of the FA Cup this season too."

Premier League: MD12
"So that was eventful! It was the first return for Amari'i Bell and Derick Osei Yaw and I don't think they miss us! I don't think there was any malice in Derick's tackle on Ward-Prowse but he is badly injured. I honestly think that might his season finished. Which is a shame because he has only just returned to the side and had netted himself another assist from a corner for Dru's first goal. He went off shortly after that and I am honest sorry for him. In two league games since his return, he bagged 3 assists. That tells you everything you need to know about his quality.

But moving on, I think Osei Yaw had a good game against us and I was grateful he went off after an hour. Joint third in the race for the golden boot is impressive. But a hattrick today for Pietro pushes him one goal behind leading scorer Martial! He is a complete Striker and considering the twelve million we paid looks like the bargain of the century! Yearwood was equally as impressive today. Since returning from injury a few weeks ago, he has been in fine form!

Stoke City next. Sitting bottom of the league, it should be a cut-and-dry win for us. But you never know with football."

Premier League: MD13
"In the end, that was probably smoother than we anticipated. We flew out of the gates and the game was effectively finished by half-time. With Dru Yearwood missing two sitters, Callum Hudson-Odoi hitting the bar after coming on from the bench and a host of other good opportunities—it wasn't our finest display of precision.

This was a nice return for Lasse Sorensen. Having become our record signing half-way through our Championship season, for £2,600,000, he is worth at least 6 times that now! Only recently 25-years old too. He has come a long way since leaving Stoke. With his assist today, he proved what a lot of their fans already knew—he is a fine passer of the ball."

Europa League Group Stage: MD5
"Always the hard way. Granted, I can be blamed for my selection. But we started with Pellegri and Hudson-Odoi. Surely those two alone have enough to help us score one goal? In the end, this was frustrating. But finishing top of the group is within our hands assuming that we don't lose heavily against Stuttgart to go down to second on goal difference.

Rhian Brewster is back in training, so we'll have a great player back in our arsenal to take control of these sort of games as well as changing games from the bench. We could have done with him tonight."

YeoLaTengo Monthly Review
A clean set of results tarnished by a dreary night against a spirited Austrian scalp collector who slain VfB Stuttgart earlier this month. Group J is shaping up rather symmetrically. Finishing top of the group is in our hands. Goal difference is on our side and just need a draw to keep Stuttgart at arm's length. That's coming up early next month!

In the league, we kept two clean sheets! Given the lack of a threat and poor form of the opposition, we needed to maintain our record of the best defence in the league. Which is something that doesn't get talked about enough! Granted, we still look susceptible in Europe at times, but we've qualified for the knockout stages so what does it matter!

December, as always, is packed full of games. A trip to Fulham on the 1st before we play Palace, Stuttgart, Southampton, Burnley and Spurs to round off the first half of the season! Then we have two other Premier League fixtures and likely an FA Cup tie for good measure. Thankfully, we're back to clean bill of health minus James Ward-Prowse who is out for the season, so we should be able to rotate the squad accordingly!

YeoLaTengo Player of the Month
Pellegri and James would be back by popular demand for this award after some fine form this month. But we're going with Dru Yearwood. Since returning from injury, his performances have taken a step-up! 2 goals and 2 assists in total and using his fantastic engine run the midfield almost singlehandedly at times. He has become a true box-to-box midfielder and one of the best in the league. At 24, he can still get so much better!

League Table Preview
A snapshot of Yeovil Town in the Premier League, with the teams in close proximity.