Greene remains calm despite crowd disquiet (From This Is Local London)

Greene remains calm despite crowd disquiet

11:10am Sunday 25th December 2005 in

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DISGRUNTLED Chesham supporters have lost patience with their side.

Despite signs the team is getting better, the soundtrack to last Saturday's home defeat to Gloucester was a stream of criticism from one section of the crowd.

It is this negativity that, in part, forced Steve Bateman out in October but his replacement remains philosophical.

Dennis Greene said: "You're always going to get comments. If you've got 200 supporters there are going to be ten or 15 people that don't like what they see.

"The majority understand the situation we're in, and that is that we've been here five weeks and have had to get a brand new team together.

"It's frustrating for all of us because with a bit of money we could improve instantly, but we know what our goals are and so does the chairman. Our object is to stay in this league and build for the future. People can try and put us under pressure and say it's not working but we've just got to keep believing in what we're doing."

However, Saturday's defeat made it one point from 15 and, with half the season gone, Chesham need to find their rhythm and quickly.

Greene said: "Points-wise I'm not happy with the speed we're progressing. Saturday was a very big set-back for us. We're perilously close to the relegation zone now but two wins on the spin would see us comfortably in mid-table and then no-one's talking about it."

An opportunity for the first of those comes next Tuesday against fellow-strugglers Aylesbury, before a fourth consecutive home game against Banbury on Saturday.

Greene said: "It's a big month for us. We need to get some results, get some confidence and then hopefully in the last ten games of the season people will see we're getting it right. At the moment we're still building. We've got a team full of youngsters and still lack belief in the right areas."

Derek Payne's arrival from Hemel should partially address that. The midfielder has played more than 200 league games for the likes of Watford, Southend and Peterborough and looked a calming influence against Gloucester.

Greene said: "We needed a midfielder with a bit of experience to settle us down and keep us ticking over.

"Now we desperately need an experienced centre half to organise us at the back, but really all we can afford to do is fill the bench up. We're trying to get a squad together so the players on the bench are good enough to affect a game if we need them to."