These are my first official notes as Manager of Clitheroe FC so I would like to take the opportunity to thank Anne Barker and the committee for the opportunity to manage this great family club.

I believe it was important that we gained some sustainability in the squad and the team so keeping together Dave Mannix, Rick Ward and Sophie Lomax to complete the management team was a priority and I was delighted that they all agreed.

Whilst as caretaker I wanted to make sure we did not have a mass exodus of players before thinking about the role and with the players backing I spoke to Anne after the Colwyn Bay game and offered my services. Thankfully after the great win in the cup midweek after making 6 changes we were offered the role and with no hesitation we accepted.

I can assure you all that I will be doing all I can for this club during my time here and from where I have taken over we will improve.

The three games in the first week are a step in the right direction in my opinion. We are playing some better football and there is some smiles amongst the dressing room that have been missing recently.

We understand that we are conceding too many goals and six in three games is still not good enough but we are working towards improving that and I believe that its not the players that need changing
but the way we play and the way we manage games.

The average age of the squad is 21, so there will be times when we struggle to do that, and experienced players come at a price. My philosophy is to work with these young players and develop them.

Zehn Mohammed has been outstanding for us in his loan spell from Accrington Stanley and his final match will be at Chasetown on Saturday. Zehn is a great lad and a very good player who has the potential
to play at a high level and I personally wish him all the best in wherever his journey takes him next.

The draw at Ramsbottom on Saturday was a good point away from home. At 3-1 with 25 minutes left we should be winning the game but as I said above, we don’t fully understand how to manage games yet, but we will. We changed formation 3 times during the game to try and get a foothold but it wasn’t to be. At least you are seeing goals!!

We now move onto tonight’s game and after the League cup game last week when I made changes, we need to decide how many changes to make for tonight.

It’s another competition low on the list of priorities but with a final at the Macron stadium the prize, its a competition we want to do well in.

We cannot take Atherton LR lightly, their players have a point to prove so its important we show the correct attitude and application to give a good account of ourselves.