Tadcaster currently sit 14th in the Northern Counties Eastern League Premier Division after 25 games, but have struggled to find consistency throughout the season for a variety of reasons.
O'Connell's team suffered two postponements due to the recent flooding at Young Guns Arena, as well as injuries, illness and player withdrawals that thwarted their hopes of making the playoffs earlier in the season.
O'Connell still has hope the team can finish the season on a positive note despite early season struggles, with Taddy frustrated at how things have developed in three months. is recognized.
“We're far from satisfied. We're very inconsistent,” O'Connell told the press.
“We started the season really strong and I thought we had a really good team, but in September it completely died down.
“This month we lost nine first-team players to absences, injuries and illness, and it felt like we spent the whole of September without much of a team.
“It had a huge negative impact on us, on our performance, on the team and on the result, and it carried over into October and mentally and into November.
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“We never really recovered from that. We started getting back into shape in December and just when you thought we had turned the corner, we became much harder to beat, resilient, tough , and appeared to be wearing something of steel again.
“We were creating chances but against Gules we had probably our worst performance of the season.
“It was frustrating, to say the least.”
Tadcaster has seen a number of key players leave the club, including Ethan Caciosa to Pickering Town, Alfie Dean to Ilkley Town and Ben Tweed to Ossett United. , the manager explained that they are struggling to compete with some clubs financially. The offers that the players are receiving.
With that in mind, O'Connell hopes to balance the squad with negotiations underway for a player on the left wing, while the club continues to look for a leader to join the group.
O'Connell hopes he can put an end to the rift in the fixtures, starting with Saturday's away game against Winterton Rangers (3pm).
The Albion manager continued: “It was a very difficult situation. The players who left us left for financial reasons. They went to the club for three times the amount we could offer them.
“That's the situation we're in as a club.
“We bring them players and as soon as they start performing well, they get offers from other clubs.
“Unfortunately, 50 percent of that is driven by money and the other 50 percent is driven by development, so they can't sustain it. But they look at the big picture, so they can't sustain it. You can.”
“It's really difficult, especially at this level of football now with money involved and it's really difficult to keep players.
“That comes from striking the right balance within the team between attack and defense, defense and attack.
“There was a period where we were conceding too many goals, so we've tightened up that part of the pitch a little bit, but obviously it's like if you tighten up at one end of the pitch you lose it at the other end. ” at the end of the pitch.
“So it's kind of like trying to find a balance between defense and attack, and I think we're getting close to it, even though we're still a few players short of getting there.
“We don't have the kind of left-sided, left-footed player that we want in the market. We're trying to get that player and we're talking about it as we speak. We're trying to do that.” Please cross the line.
“We're missing a bit of leadership, we're missing some experienced players who can lead by example but also really take control of the group and lead.
“There are moments when you need a leader, and this season as a whole we were really lacking in that department.
“We have experienced players but they are not leading us, so we need the right leader to come in and lead the group in difficult moments.
“We're in the market for that, we're in the market for a left-sided player, and if a player comes along who can come in and help us directly, we're always going to have those conversations.”
The main positive for the Brewers this season has been the form of striker Elliott Andreu, who has scored 19 goals in 18 league appearances so far.
The former Nottingham Forest Academy hitman has impressed his manager who believes there is more to come after growing into the Tadcaster set-up.
“He was fantastic. He had a serious knee injury and was out of football for about two years, so it took a long time for him to get back into shape.
“Physically and mentally, he's a better player now, and he's definitely better mentally.
“He listens, so I think by this time next year we're going to see a much better, more well-rounded player than we have at the moment.
“He can improve many aspects of his game, but one thing is he's a very good finisher.”
Reporters previously spoke to Tadcaster chairman Andy Charlesworth about flood mitigation plans and how recent flooding has caused problems at Young Guns Arena.
Last season hit the club six times and this season has already had to be postponed twice, with Tady's finances taking a hit as a result.
O'Connell also admitted it was clearly not ideal for him and his players and implored supporters to sign a petition that can be found on Tadcaster Albion's social media channels.
The Brewers manager said: “It’s obviously not ideal to miss games, those games are rescheduled for Tuesday night so it’s difficult.
“You want to be involved in games and you want to get points at the end of the season when the competition gets intense.
2 We want to maintain a consistent level of performance every week and create competition for position.
“When you're not playing, it doesn't matter what you do outside of game days. You get them in, you train as much as you can, but you can't recreate the intensity that a game brings. Ideally. That's far from it.
“Hopefully the Environment Agency can pull that information out of the council and put flood defenses in place. That's not only needed for Tadcaster Football Club, but for Tadcaster as a community.”
“It’s not just affecting us, it’s affecting the whole community.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Tadcaster needs this, so we hope that as many people as possible will take to our social media, register and sign the Cross the Line petition. Masu.”
“Hopefully they will start working on it over the summer so the flooding at Tadcaster Football Club will subside for good, unfortunately.”
