It’s just deserts for Mo!

By Matt Badcock
MO EISA didn’t even make the Ryman South Team of the Year in 2016-17 – now he’s been sold to the Championship for more than £1 million!
Cheltenham Town had seen enough of the Greenwich Borough striker to take a punt at the end of that campaign where he had scored 20 goals.
Then 23, the League Two Robins signed Eisa on a one-year deal. By the end of August his contract had been extended to 2020 as he went on to score 25 goals in 50 games and pick up the players’ player, supporters’ player and sponsors’ player of the year awards.
Next season the former Dartford and Corinthian man has landed a £1.5m move to Bristol City – managed by Gary Johnson’s son Lee – as his remarkable career trajectory keeps rocketing.
Gary Alexander was Eisa’s boss at Greenwich and he remembers the day he ran riot against his side in the Southern Counties East League.
“We played against Corinthian and it was a case of: We’ve got to get him in,” Alexander tells The NLP. “He quite literally tore our team apart, he was frightening that day.
“He came to us and he would have moments where he could spin a game on its head. He could glide past people and, as we’ve seen this year in the League, curl the ball into the top corner from the angle.
“He’s got good pace and training every day has obviously been a massive help to him. Full-time has probably helped him get that bit stronger and quicker and get that bit more knowledge from training every day with seasoned pros.
“He’s really kicked on. He’s so humble and he deserves everything he gets that kid. He’d ask how he could improve, we’d try to help him and I’m sure Gary Johnson has now. He must have taken it all on board because now he’s going to be playing in the Championship.”
Having had a long Football League career with Millwall, Leyton Orient and AFC Wimbledon, Alexander – now boss at Bostik South East Ashford United – knows what it takes to succeed in the pro game.
No-brainer
And he’s convinced clubs should keep looking right through the Non-League Pyramid.
“Some people disrespect the level but they are out there,” Alexander says. “It’s getting that opportunity to go and train full-time. Some boys can develop into top players, like Mo has.
“These boys deserve a chance. They work all day, they come to training and they put all their life into football. Mo deserves it, so full credit to him.
“In Non-League you’re playing against men and it means something – you’re playing for trophies. In the academies, every now and then you’re in the FA Youth Cup and competitions like that, but this means something. There’s promotion and relegation on the line. You have to give your all.
“Hopefully we can find another one and get them on their way. We had Jack Barham at Greenwich and now he’s gone to Barnet. It’s these kids’ dreams but they need to realise the commitment it takes. It’s the doers who have the best chance, not the sayers.”
Alexander is now focusing on the new season with Ashford United, who he joined towards the end of last season before taking over as boss ahead of a busy summer of freshening up the squad.
“It takes time and the club realises that,” Alexander says. “They came up from the Kent League and realised how tough the Bostik is. When I left Greenwich I was lucky enough Jason (predecessor Jason Whitmore) called me up and asked if I wanted the job for the next season. It was a no brainer. It’s a big club with potentially a massive fanbase for the level.”
Meanwhile, Cheltenham have dipped back into Non-League to sign Manny Duku, who scored 39 goals for Hayes & Yeading last term