CLUB NEWS
Parish seals new two-year contract
The club announced today that striker Danny Parish has signed a two-year contract extension worth $64k. Parish's goal-scoring form in the Isthmian Division has carried forward to the National League, as Parish has scored 17 goals in 25 appearances across all competitions.
"It's always good to lock up your key players," said Drew Welch. "This was a deal that we wanted to get done before other clubs started sniffing around."
Emmanuel set to move on loan to Dartford
Midfielder Moses Emmanuel has agreed to a loan move to National League South club Dartford till the end of the season.
"Moses had come to us looking for more playing time, and we felt this was the best move for his career moving forward," said GM Michael Shaw.
Emmanuel had only made one appearance for Wealdstone this season.
St. Pat's Athletic to sign Smith
Midfielder Connor Smith has agreed to a contract with Irish club St. Patrick's Athletic and will leave the club at the end of the season.
"We made a run to keep Connor because he is a solid piece of the puzzle here, but he liked their offer better," said GM Michael Shaw.
Smith has made 17 appearances across all competitions with one assist as he is typically employed as a ball-winning midfielder.
Wealdstone bring in two loan signings
Wealdstone announced the arrival of two players on loan.
Wealdstone used their connection with Watford again to bring in 18-year-old striker Tiago Cukur on loan till the end of the season. Cukur is a product of the youth academy at Dutch side Az Alkmaar before moving to Watford this season. Cukur is looking to make his professional football debut. Cukur is being brought in to provide cover upfront.
Wealdstone also brought in 18-year-old midfielder Fin Back on loan till the end of the season from Nottingham Forest. Back is a product of the Reds youth academy, and will be looking to make his professional football debut as well. Back could equally operate as both a ball-winning midfielder and a box-to-box midfielder and initial reports coming out of training say that he could easily slot into the starting XI.
Wealdstone dominate National League voting
The National League named Wealdstone striker Danny Parish as the player of the month for the month of January. Parish scored in every league match this month, scoring five goals in five appearances with an average match rating of 7.44. Parish has now taken the league lead in goal scoring with 15 goals.
Attacking midfielder Daniel Green finished second in voting for the award. Green appeared in all five league matches in the month, registering two goals and four assists with an average match rating of 7.50.
Eastleigh striker Ben House finished third in the voting, scoring four goals in five appearances with an average match rating of 7.36.
Fans Choice Voting
1. AMC Daniel Green - 4(1) apps, 2 goals, 4 assists, 0.76 xG, 7.50 rating
2. CB Josh Meekings - 5(1) apps, 1 goal, 0.07 xG, 7.27 rating
3. ST Danny Parish - 5(1) apps, 5 goals, 2.46 xG, 7.35 rating
I came into this job with absolutely zero expectations, and the media also had zero expectations for us. Preseason projections had us mired in a relegation fight and I would be lucky to make it through a whole season.
I mean, my expectations were a bit higher than that. But never in my wildest dreams would I think that halfway through the season, we would be sitting in 3rd place and just eight points off the top of the table.
We could actually win a promotion to League 2. That's a wild thought.