DJ's programme notes
By Ray Simpson
Saturday's words
Here are DJ's notes from Saturday's programme v Gloucester
It’s been a frantic couple of weeks since we parted company with Alun.
We received some very good applications for the vacant role, out of 30 genuine applications in total. Some of them were well-known names, and with good experience in the game, but the man we appointed, Josh Gowling, stood out. Josh was very impressive in the way he put across his ideas on football philosophy, coaching, training methods, organisation as well as fan interaction, our academy and working with the community. Our four-man selection team, who interviewed eight people on the shortlist, unanimously made him their best choice, and after I spoke to him last Sunday, fully agreed with them.
Josh was very keen to get going. He signed everything in time to meet the lads for training on Tuesday night, after he’d done the PR in the afternoon.
We were also pleased to bring in Danny Rose as Josh’s assistant. Just like Josh, Danny has a UEFA A licence to go with the extensive experience he has gained throughout his playing career, and he is already familiar with the club, having spent 18 months previously with us. He was player-coach last season, and obviously gained some experience with the lads. Since he left us, he’s been playing for Cleethorpes, so we’re very pleased to have him back.
I would like to thank the three senior players, Will Hatfield, Jake Lawlor and Tom Platt, for looking after the team while we were searching for a new manager.
All three of them put a huge amount of work into the games, and they deserved the victory in the FA Cup against Workington. It was clear that all the other players responded to them, and everyone pulled together to win the game. I spoke to all the players in the dressing room before the start of the game, and they were all very positive, which was great to see. They all deserved the ovation they received at the end of the game, and it’s great that we got another home tie in the next round.
We are determined now to climb away from the relegation zone, and we have told Josh that we will support him as much as we can, given the constraints of the budget. He has already indicated that he has got a wide range of contacts which he has accumulated during his playing career, and he is going to use them as much as possible to bring in players, but only after he has assessed the current players. He has told us that he doesn’t think that much is wrong, primarily they need more organisation and structure.
I would now like to urge all our fans to support Josh, Danny and the players as much as possible. We start with an important game today against Gloucester who are one place above us, and then next week we have our FA Cup tie, in which we have the chance to pick up some prize money and a place in the fourth qualifying round.
Finally, I would like to welcome our friends from Gloucester, and wish them a safe journey home.