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** LATEST NEWS **
- 29 August - The Reserves opened their Central
League campaign at Hull's Boothferry Park, and lost by the only
goal of the game.
The X-ray's of Lee Ayres have shown that he has broken bones
in his toe and he faces between 8 and 10 weeks on the sidelines.
- "Words fail me" - Jan Molby
28 August - Harriers' young defender Lee Ayres,
last season's Young Player of the Year, faces up to six weeks out
of action after picking up an injury at Hull yesterday. If the X-ray
has shown that he has broken any bones in his foot he will be out
for some time whih will cause Jan Molby some selection problems as
Parfait Medou-Otye is also going to miss the next three games through
suspension.
Molby was not very happy with the defnding that led to both
goals in yesterday's match, "Once we got level and they were down
to ten men you would have thought we could have gone on and won
the game.
"But the way we defended for the second goal is incredible and
words fail me. The first one is the same and they've no one
in the box until their lad comes in and heads it in from 15
yards with no challenge".
Harriers also have a new face on the board of directors, Barry
Norgrove has stepped into the gap left by the resignation of
Tom Murrant. He also has a family connection with the club as
his father was trainer between the wars.
- 27 August - Harrriers were on the recieving end
of an injury time goal as they lost 2-1 to ten-man Hull at Boothferry
Park. After a goalless first half Hull went ahead thanks to poor
defending, Tony Bird's fourth of the season, from the penalty spot,
brought the Harriers level before even worse defending allowed The
Tigers their late winner.
- "No-one touched me" - Drewe Broughton.
26 August - The referee again came under fire
after yesterday's game. Both managers were mystified by the
award of the penalty which won the game for Harriers. Torquay
boss Roy McFarland said, "We were not beaten by Kidderminster. Sadly
we were beaten by the officials. We had enough chances to have
won but we were not clinical enough". Harriers manager Jan Molb
agreed, "The penalty is a mystery to all of us, it completely
baffled me. You take those decisions but then afterwards you
have to sympathise with Roy McFarland, his players and their fans.
Roy McFarland came in the dressing room afterwards and Drewe was
honest and said 'No-one touched me', but there's nothing we can
do about it".
Molby also hinted at changes to the team for tomorrow's trip
to Hull. "I didn't quite know how they would come out after
Tuesday but we didn't come out of it well. We had a little spell
in the second half but we never looked like scoring apart from
the first ten miinutes when we had two good chances. Tony Bird
hit the crossbar and Stewart Hadley should have scored with a
header, but apart from that there was nothing.
"Apart from Lee Ayres and Stuart Brock, I don't think any of
the other players who took part did themselves any favours and
I've told them so. They give me licence to do whatever I want to
do with the team on Monday against Hull. I could leave any of them
out and none of them could have any complaints."
Harriers will have a full squad to choose from as Danny Williams
suspension is now over and he could make his debut in the centre
of midfield. With changes likely to be made, I expect the following
Harriers line-up at Boothferry Park: Brock, Smith, Stamps, Davies,
Hinton, Ayres, Bird, Williams, Broughton, Corbett, Shilton.
- 25 August - An injury-time penalty was enough
to give Tony Bird his third goal of the season and Harriers victory
over Torquay at Aggborough.
- 24 August - Paul Webb has joined Conference side
Hereford on a one month loan. The move is to give the veteran
player more match practice than he will get playing in the
Reserves, Hereford have eight games in the next month.
Harriers entertain Torquay United tomorrow, and will hope to
continue the form they showed in the midweek Worthington Cup loss
to Preston - some of the best football the have played for ages. Torquay
have not had the best of starts to the season losing their first
two league games, however, they did beat Bournemouth in the Worthington
Cup at Dorchester this week.
With the exception of Webb and the still suspended Danny Williams
Harriers have a full squad to choose from. There are slight doubts
about Tony Bird and Adie Smith although both should be available,
Dean Bennett has recovered from the illness that has kept him
out for the last few days. I expect the following Harriers line-up
to inflict more misery on The Gulls: Brock, Medou-Otye, Stamps,
Blake, Hinton, Smith, Bird, Davies, Hadley, Foster, Shilton.
- 19 August - Harriers entertain Preston tomorrow
evening in the first round of the Worthington Cup. The game will
revive memories of Harriers' famous FA Cup victory over Preston
in 1994 when a Delwyn Humphreys goal sank our more illustrious
visitors. One man who will not be looking for a repeat is current
Preston manager David Moyes who played in that game. Harriers will
be looking to bounce back from Saturday's disappointing defeat, Jan
Molby will probably make changes to the team. Drewe Broughton
should figure after he wasn't risked at the weekend, Danny Williams,
however, is still suspended. Preston have not had the best of starts
to the season after reaching the Play-Off Final last season. They
opened the season with a 5-0 defeat at Gillingham, and followed
that up with a 1-1 draw at Walsall on Saturday. Tomorrow's game
will be played to a finish, extra-time and penalties will be
used if necessary.
I expect the following Harriers line-up: Brock, Medou-Otye,
Stamps, Blake, Hinton, Smith, Bird, Davies, Hadley, Broughton,
Shilton.
- "The game turned on a controversial penalty
decision" - Jan Molby
19 August - Jan Molby left Feethams angry with
the penalty decision that turned the game yesterday, "The game
turned on a controversial penalty decision. Without the penalty
I don't think they would have scored. I don't know whether we
would have scored either but the penalty changed the game. We had
contained them well at that stage. It didn't look as if any of
their players claimed for it except the player who fell over.
"Their player had got absolutely no chance of getting the
ball but he ran into Parfait and then threw himself to the ground.
It's very disappointing. I felt we were just starting to get a
hold of the game. We had a great chancce a minute earlier and
should have scored and then they got a penalty from nowhere".
- 18 August - A disappointing result for Harriers
in the north-east as the fall to two second half goals, losing 2-0
at Darlington. Parfait Medou-Otye was sent off and now faces three
games on the sidelines.
- 17 August - Harriers return to the scene of one
of last season's triumphs tomorrow. Last October two goals from
John Durnin saw Harriers end Darlington's long unbeaten home run.
Harriers will be without Danny Williams who is still suspended
but Drewe Broughton is elligible after missing the first game.
However, Broughton has only returned to training this week after
his hamstring injury and as he has had no match practice yet he
probably wont be risked. Jan Molby is likely, therefore to name an
uncanged side, although he may change the formation a little to
suit the opposition. Darlington will be looking to kick start their
season following last weekend's defeat at Southend and will give
Harriers a tough game. Harriers have a good record against The
Quakers, in five previous meetings three have ended in Harriers
wins and only one has been won by Darlington. Most memorable of the
previous encounters was the Confernce game at Aggborough in 1989,
Darlington neede a draw to take the League Championship but a
last minute Mark Whitehouse goal gave Harriers a 3-2 win and put
the visitors' celebrations on hold.
I expect Harriers to line-up as follows: Brock, Medou-Otye,
Stamps, Blake, Hinton, Smith, Bird, Davies, Hadley, Ducros, Shilton.
- 14 August - With the Reserves' first fixture of
the season being called off, Scarborough dropped out of the league,
Harriers were hoping to arrange a friendly to give match practice
to Drewe Broughton and Ian Foster. With both Wolves and Birmingham
having reserve team games already, the plan has been dropped, Broughton
may, therefore, be thrust straight into First Team action on
Saturday at Darlington. The striker missed Saturday's opening game
through suspension and has not played a friendly since the Halesowen
Harriers game on July 16.
- "We can play better" - Jan Molby
11 August - The season opened today with a win,
Andy Ducros' 61st minute free-kick enough to ease Harriers past
Scunthorpe. An even game saw the visitors have the best of the
first half and Harriers the best of the second, although Scunthorpe
made a late assault which Harriers did well to weather.
- 10 August - Harriers begin the season
tomorrow with the visit of Scunthorpe. Jan Molby has a full squad to
choose from with the exception of the suspended Danny Williams and
Drewe Broughton. Andy Ducros has recovered from a foot injury and
Ian Foster is also fit enough to be included in the squad. Harriers
will be looking to record both their first victory and the first
goal against Scunthorpe, last season's meetings were the first between
the clubs. Scunthorpe won the first encounter 2-0 at Glanford Park
with the return at Aggborough ending goalless. The Iron have
made relatively few changes to their squad, although former Everton,
Stoke and Bradford star Peter Beagrie has joined.
I expect the following Harriers line-up to record a narrow
victory: Brock, Medou-Otye, Stamps, Blake, Hinton, Smith, Bird,
Davies, Hadley, Ducros, Shilton.
- 8 August - With Lee Hughes set to complete his move
to Coventry, Harriers chairman Lionel Newton has warned that there
will not be a spending spree with the cash that is due to come in
as Harriers' cut of the deal. Instead he will wisely use it to
pay off some of the club's debts and contribute towards the building
of a new stand next summer and in so dooing protect the long-term
future of the club.
- 7 August - Former Harriers striker Lee Hughes
has been allowed to talk to Coventry as the Sky Blues have made
an offer for him "in excess" of £5000000. A clause in the striker's
contract allows him to talk to clubs who make such an offer. Albion
are not happy, however, as they feel that Lee is worth far more. Despite
rejecting the bid, Albion will be forced to sell if Hughes and
Coventry agree personal terms and he passes a medical. The deal
would be worth around £750000 to Harriers as part of the deal that
took him to The Hawthorns, taking the total fee received to over
£1million.
- 6 August - Goals from Andy Ducros and Sam Shilton
gave Harriers a 2-1 win over Halesowen Town in their final warm-up
game before the season begins in earnest on Saturday.
- 4 August - With the reserve team game at Banbury
being called off, Jan Molby took the opportunity to rest players
for today's game at Conference side Nuneaton. Nearly all of the
players who are likely to start next week against Scunthorpe were
left out and their replacements held the hosts to a 1-1 draw.
- 3 August - The signature of Sall Abdou has finally
been secured.
- 2 August - International clearance has been gained
from the French FA for Sall Abdou, an the player is expected to
sign a two-year contract before the end of the week.
- 1 August - Harriers suffered their first defeat
of the summer when sloppy defending gifted Birmingham two goals
and allowed them to come from behind and win 2-1.
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