Bracknell's brutal week sums up a squad still finding itself

Torn apart on the road

Two games, four days, and about as stark a contrast as you'll see all season. That's been Bracknell's opening week, and honestly it tells you more about a club mid-rebuild than it does about where they'll actually finish come May.

Start with the low point. Plymouth Parkway hammered seven past the Robins on the opening weekend, with braces for both Toby Down and Rocky Neal in a game that was effectively over by half-time. Not the ideal way to kick off a campaign.

A squad that hasn't stopped moving

That absence matters more than it might look. Because if you've been tracking Bracknell's business this summer, you'll know the squad has barely stood still. Eight players walked through the door in one go back in June, another three joined as pre-season ramped up in July, and then Cooksley himself arrived weeks later as part of what's been described as a squad shake-up only three weeks into a change in the dugout. That's a ridiculous amount of turnover for a Step 3 club to absorb before a ball's even kicked competitively. Manager Carl Davies was also replaced in July amidst the chaos, so The Robins are far from settled - something that was obvious in the drubbing by Plymouth.

The response

Then came Tuesday, and a totally different animal. Bracknell beat Gloucester City 3-2 at Bottom Meadow, Ruben Bartlett-Antwi scoring either side of half-time and Cooksley - finally involved, = getting his name on the scoresheet too. Gloucester pulled it back to 3-2 in the closing stages and made the home side sweat, but the Robins held on in front of a near-700 crowd.

So which version of Bracknell is the real one? Neither, probably, not yet. What you're watching is a squad this heavily reshuffled needing games to settle - expect more nights like Tuesday and more afternoons like Plymouth before it beds in properly.

Want To Bet On Step Three Football?