Thetford Town manager Matt Morton urges players to use last season’s title disappointment as fuel for another challenge in 2023/24
On the eve of the new campaign getting under way, Matt Morton is hoping that last season’s disappointment will help to ‘spur on’ his Thetford Town players.
The Brecklanders looked to be well on course to being crowned Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division champions for much of the previous term.
Their lead at one point was as big as 15 points, but Ipswich Wanderers - armed with multiple games in hand - finished in imperious form and they eventually reeled in Morton’s men to get their hands on the top prize.
And Thetford’s frustration was compounded when they came up short in their second bite at the promotion cherry, losing 2-0 to higher-league Barton Rovers in an inter-step play-off encounter.
But rather than suffer with any sort of hangover, Morton has encouraged his charges to implement the lessons they learned in those tough moments.
He said: “I think the emotions of last season can definitely spur us on. These players do not want to experience those types of feelings again. They don’t want to be the bridesmaids again.
“I’ll certainly be playing on those feelings as a manager when it comes to motivating the squad when it gets tough.
“I’m a firm believer that you learn a lot more from your failures than from success. People might criticise me for calling last season a failure because we did very well, but I always felt we were good enough to win the league and ultimately we came up short.
“In some ways it was an incredible experience, especially for the young members of the squad. The big difference I felt was that the Ipswich squad had plenty of players that have been there and done it, whereas we only had a couple in our ranks.
“But now we’ve got that disappointment to spur us on. I’m sure in the big moments we’ll make different and better decisions because of those experiences.”
And while he is hopeful that his squad has taken last season’s ‘experiences’ on board, Morton is also quick to point out that he is not immune from making changes to how he goes about his job.
Up until this point the player-boss has been operating with a relatively small squad and consequently when injuries and suspensions started to bite during the run-in, results also took a turn for the worse.
It has caused a rethink, with Morton adding Ryan Haylett, Callum Olpin, Shaun Avis, Kieran Money, Hugh Cullum and Archie Galley to the ranks this summer alongside successfully retaining the majority of his runners-up.
“I learned a lot from last season, especially the fact that we need a lot more strength in depth,” added Morton, who will take his side to Mulbarton Wanderers tomorrow (3pm) for their season opener before heading to Ely City on Tuesday (7.45pm).
“We largely relied on 13 or 14 players last season and that’s ok while they’re all available but if you look at successful sides, they tend to have 16 to 18 they can call upon.
“All it takes is a couple of injuries or suspensions and it can become very tough. We saw that first hand last season and so it’s something we’ve looked to address.
“It hurt us a lot when it mattered but hopefully if we can get in a similar position this season we’ll have the depth to cope with any issues.”
Of the clutch of new signings, perhaps the most eye-catching was Avis’ arrival.
Thetford were the Premier Division’s top scorers last term with 102 goals, so you could be forgiven for assuming that bringing in a new striker was not high on Morton’s list of priorities.
But as the boss has explained, Avis, who recently went beyond the 100-goal mark in Lakenheath’s colours, will provide more than just a clinical touch.
“Avo has been fantastic so far and he’s taken to us like a duck to water,” said Morton.
“He talks, he leads and he’s a bloke after my own heart in many ways. He’s a great person and a big part of what we’re going to do going forward.
“And it might sound crazy but bringing Avo in is not about his goals. We scored more than any other team in the league last season so we weren’t desperate for more goals.
“Yes Avo will score us 20-plus goals and that’s a huge bonus, but it’s his hold up play and the type of player he is that makes him so important to us.
“When you look at our other forwards they are fantastic, but a lot of the time we are a side that runs in behind (defences) and that makes us a little one-dimensional.
“There’s not many in the league that are better than Shaun with his back to goal. He’s good in a physical battle, he’ll make life difficult for centre-halves and he’ll help to get us up the pitch.
“Shaun’s a very intelligent player and when you factor in that Cameron King should get 15 or so goals, Dan Gilchrist will probably get 30 or so and Diggers (George Diggen) will get 20 or so, we now have some well balanced options going forward.”
With Avis providing a fresh impetus at the front end of the pitch, Morton is also hopeful that his backline will have a new look.
His long-term central defensive partner Nathan Clarke retired earlier this summer and at the age of 37, Morton is also looking to take on more of a dugout role.
He said: “I played 44 times last season but that’s because I felt like I had to play with the small squad we had.
“Nathan suffered with a couple of injuries and suspensions as well so that made us even more reliant on me to play.
“Nathan has left some big boots to fill. He’s been one of the best centre-backs at this level over the last 10 years or so and he’s been a brilliant partner for me.
“I was lucky that we landed a couple of our defensive targets on the same day so it means we’ve not only replaced Nathan, it means I can also take more of a backseat.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve retired and I’ll play if I’m really needed, but hopefully that doesn’t happen too often. I guess you’d call me semi-retired.”
