A Quick Update

Author: Unknown - Fri 1 May 15
May I firstly again offer my congratulations to both the management and the players for their truly incredible Great Escape. It seemed to everyone that we were dead and buried but the transformation has been phenomenal and they should all be proud of the turnaround in results.

Mission impossible accomplished!

But Liam and I both said though that Stalybridge Celtic should not be celebrating avoiding relegation by the skin of our teeth. That is not what this club should be about and it is the boards and the management teams objective to be celebrating in a different way next season.

Let me start by addressing what I frankly think has become a disproportionately passionate issue amongst the fans. The part time vs full time debate. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion - mine is that the concept is an excellent one, but mistakes were made along the way. One glaring error was the lack of an experienced spine. The principle of getting talented, really hungry kids who want to make it in the Football League I believe is a good one, but even Jim Harvey eventually admitted that we needed more experienced players to guide the younger ones. Physicality is another issue. Adam Pepper was a supremely talented lad who I loved watching. If he had a different physical stature, hed be a Football League player.

If you look at our league table position over the last 4 years, there have been times when weve been in the play-off places and there have been some exceptional performances but sadly, not enough of them. Our principle has been adopted elsewhere and there have been successes.I do not for one second believe that it is a flawed concept.

To me, the key is leadership. Sir Alex Ferguson may not be on my Christmas card list but he is absolutely right in saying that the manager is the most important person at any football club. Jim Harvey and Briggsy were great coaches, that is clear, but given Liams astonishing track record over his years in management, I cannot believe that if Liam had been manager over the past 4 years, wed have been struggling to avoid the drop. With that in mind, Ive found myself agreeing with someone whose Christmas card list I am not on, i.e. B.E.G, when he said that whatever Liam wants, we should do.

As it happens, although Liam has been both part time and full time, Liam would prefer for the club to return to part time training and he already has a number of players that he has in mind to bring in. We have discussed names and although, for obvious reasons, I cant divulge more at this stage, I will say that I am very, VERY excited about next season and that is not marketing hype or baseless words.

So, the lads will train on Tuesdays and Thursdays and training commences on Saturday 27^th June. The players will be kitted out in new tracksuits, polo shirts etc that have been sponsored by Mary Gibbons and her company MG Domestic. We are massively grateful to Mary for her continued support of the club.

The players who turn up for that first training session will be a mixture of old and new. At present, Liam has 6 that have now effectively signed up, and one who has been offered terms and is under 24. The 6 signed up are Matt Regan,
Matty Hughes, Oliver Crowley, Alec Mudimu, Aidan Chippendale and Peter Wylie. We have also offered Ben McKenna a new contract and we very much hope that he will take the opportunity with both hands and be part of the push for promotion next season. We thank all the departing players for their endeavours over their time at Bower Fold and we wish them all great success in their careers.

The pre-season will be tough and a typical no-nonsense Liam Watson affair and we hope to hit the ground running in August. There are 8 pre-season friendlies arranged. The 4 away games are at Hyde, Witton, Runcorn and Salford. There will also be four home friendlies. The two that we can announce are Altrincham and Halifax and we have two other friendlies that we cannot announce yet, but look great on paper, but they are not City and United.

The academy will hopefully go from strength to strength. We are about to conclude a new deal with Hopwood Hall and we hope that we can increase the numbers of students up to 55 by September. That means that we still have a few select places available, so please contact the club if you know of any potential candidates. We hope that there are many more Alex Mudimus that will come through the system in the years ahead.

There will be further announcements on the academy over the next week.

In terms of all other things Celtic, the root and branch analysis will continue. The number of hours the board put in during the close season is often greater than when the season begins and we have much to assess in how we can make Celtic leaner, meaner, more commercial, more productive and a better organisation. The board will work on that incessantly throughout the summer.

We hope to make further announcements on non-playing matters over the course of the next month or two.

In terms of the squad, Liam knows what he wants. The first priority will be to get a really strong, experienced spine. We need a quality keeper, a big physical experienced centre half, a quality midfielder and an excellent striker. Hes already made numerous phone calls and we will, of course, keep everyone up to date as soon as anything is officially signed. As Ive said before, although one or two fans think that we never give them timely information, sometimes, with social media, some people jump the gun and release something before anything is official. Ive been a fan on the terraces and I always craved information. Although Ive clearly failed in some eyes, I actually feel proud that this board has kept the fans informed quicker than any of our counterparts.

Liam himself is very excited about the prospects for next season. He thinks that we are in quite a healthy position and we now need to add some serious quality to the nucleus that weve already got. There is so much more that Id like to say but cannot right now, but what I will say is that we have a clear goal for next season. Promotion. Not top half. Not the play-offs, but promotion. Of course the board needs to back that up and Liam and Dom need to perform their usual magic, but were starting a new chapter in the Stalybridge Celtic book and I am desperate to be the 5^th notch on Liams bedpost!

Roll on July!