Notts County v Stevenage
Meadow Lane | League 1
4th February 2012 | 3:00pm kick off
Gary Smith's first game in charge was against Notts County last weekend and his first league
game will also be up against Martin Allen's side as Boro travel to Nottingham this Saturday.
Stevenage are still on a high from last weekend's Cup win and the bonus of drawing Tottenham in the
5th round.
Graham Westley is beginning to discover that the grass isn't always greener at Deepdale. The
papers reported this morning that GW has got off on the wrong foot with the Preston players with
text messages at 2am telling players have been dropped and giving motivational messages.
It's fair to say that it hasn't gone down too well in Lancashire.
January was another interesting month at the Lamex Stadium. After an unbeaten December and with
Stevenage now in the shake up for the League 1 play-offs, Graham Westley was a wanted man. GW and
his team were snapped up by Preston North End after weeks of uncertainty over his future. A new era
has begun at Stevenage with Gary Smith appointed as the new manager.
Stevenage will host Tottenham at the Lamex Stadium
Not the draw I wanted at all, but taking personal reasons away and concentrating solely on the
club, drawing Tottenham at home is a very good tie. The Lamex Stadium is almost guaranteed to be
packed to the rafters mostly with Spurs supporters to watch Boro host the Premier League side for
the first time in a competitive fixture.
Luke Freeman was heavily involved in the winner
stevenage 1-0 notts county | stewart (og) 12
fa cup | lamex stadium | 4,439
A Damien Stewart own goal was enough to earn Stevenage a place in the 5th round of the FA Cup
for the first time in their history and gave Gary Smith a winning start as Boro manager.
If you had asked any Stevenage supporter a couple of weeks ago who Gary Smith is, the majority
would have replied 'Who?' It would have been a justified reaction because until his name began to
be linked with the vacant managerial position, Gary Smith's reputation within this country was,
well, non-existent.
Gary Smith is the new Stevenage manager. It doesn't come as any surprise that Smith has been
appointed as he has been the favourite for the position over the last week or so. He was even in
the main stand watching his new side beat play-off rivals MK Dons 4-2 earlier tonight. News of his
appointment broke soon after and the Harlow born coach is set to be the man given the task of
replacing Graham Westley and continuing Boro's promotion push.
Karl Robinson and his Milton Keynes Dons side make the short journey down to the Lamex tomorrow
night in what could be a pivotal match as both sides look to cement their position in the League 1
play-off positions. MK Dons sit one place above Stevenage going into the game, although the Dons
are 5 points clear with the bonus of a game in hand.
In what was a disappointing game somewhat dictated by the poor weather conditions, Stevenage
came away with a well-earned point thanks to a late goal from substitute Darius Charles. Scunthorpe
had taken the lead early in the second half when Garry Thompson latched onto a through ball from
Mark Duffy and shot past Chris Day.
Stevenage are on the road again this weekend as they make a trip up to Glanford Park to face
Alan Knill's Scunthorpe United. Boro are still managerless after Graham Westley's departure last
Friday, but they will be confident going into the game after a run of 10 away games in all
competitions without defeat.
A name that has been cropping up since Graham Westley's departure last week is Gary Smith. In
fact, Smith is currently the favourite for the job with bookmakers and is reportedly on Phil
Wallace's 6 man shortlist along with the likes of Paul Buckle and Paul Ince. However, Smith is the
one candidate that not many supporters know much about.
With several candidates being linked with the vacant managers position at Broadhall Way, I
thought it might be interesting to see who the supporters prefer as their new manager.
Vote below.
Take Our Poll
As soon as Graham Westley had parked his Bentley into the car park at Deepdale, bookmakers
online were offering odds on who will be the next manager to step into the Broadhall Way hotseat.
It's arguably the best management position currently on offer in the Football League. Stevenage sit
6th in the League 1 table, are still in the FA Cup and have a squad full of young, hungry players
with room to improve even further.
It's a story that has dominated the club over the past 10 days or so. Rumours began flying round
that Preston were interested in Graham Westley just a couple of days before the 3rd round FA Cup
tie against Reading. At first it just seemed to be rumours. But the rumours didn't stop. Instead,
they just gathered pace and it became clear at the beginning of the week that Preston were not only
interested in Westley, but that Westley was interested in Preston.
FC Boro has returned. After deciding to call it a day back in August, the desire to get this
place up and running again has come back after the events of recent weeks. It's not totally back as
it was as I've still got a few issues to iron out with the domain name and pictures etc, but the
blog is back, just as Stevenage FC enter a new era after the departure of Graham Westley.
