Colin Todd: We won’t set targets
May 27 2009 by Steve Brown, The Journal
THEY could not field a team tomorrow, lest Colin Todd play himself. But the new Darlington manager insists he will assemble a squad come the start of next season strong enough to take the club forward.
It looks likely too, he said, that it will contain captain Steve Foster. Big earners have already left and more will follow, with Alan White possibly among them and Dean Windass less likely to arrive, but the positive upshot of that is the opportunities it will hand to youngsters like Curtis Main, Josh Gray and Corey Barnes.
Todd means to fashion the Quakers in the vein of Middlesbrough, leaning on local talent, with some hoped-for assistance in the shape of season-long loans from the Teessiders, as well as Newcastle and Sunderland. He appealed for fans to return in numbers too, in the hope of improving the atmosphere in a cavernous stadium but while refusing to set targets, he also urged patience as he sets about trying to make Darlington play their way out of League Two.
Oh, and he needs a kit man... “There’s no groundsman, kit man or physio,” Todd joked. “That comes under my umbrella, so if anybody wants to do the kit...
“We wouldn’t be able to play tomorrow – I would have to call on Craig Liddle, Neil Maddison and myself! That’s not the important thing, though. We start pre-season on July 2 and then we have another five weeks to put things together. I took the job on knowing there were going to be problems but I can assure everybody that there will be a squad assembled that hopefully can take the club forward.
“We need stability and continuity but fans must be patient. The big earners will have to move on but I hope the likes of Steve Foster and Ryan Valentine will stay. I spoke to Steve and I think we’ll come to an agreement. We would have liked to have held on to a few, unfortunately we couldn’t. The good thing for the future of the club is that four or five youngsters are going to get opportunities as well.
“A club like Darlington needs to nurture its young talent. Four or five have played the odd game, they will come training with us as first-year professionals and that augers well for the future.
“The only trouble is that if they do make a big impact, you have to sell. But there’s nothing better for a club than to have local players doing well.
“There’ll be a good balance. We will get players and I’ll get a squad together and if we can get that camaraderie, team spirit and togetherness then that goes a long way to helping what goes on on the park. I’ve seen it before, it’s happened before – but we will get results. I can’t tell you how the season will pan out because I haven’t got my squad together yet but once I do then we can assess the whole situation.
“It’ll be important to bring some year-long loans in from the North East clubs. We do need help, hopefully I’ll get it.”
Calling on fans to show their support by voting with their feet, Todd added: “One of the biggest problems is creating an atmosphere in the ground. It’s a beautiful stadium, so hopefully our supporters can come back and see a team playing decent football.
“I think it’s wrong to set targets at this time, we’ll assess as we go along and see how we’re going after 10 games. The one thing I can guarantee is that we’ll be trying to win. We’ve got to put a smile on people’s faces, be positive, bright and look to encourage people to come along and watch. If we pull together in the right direction, we’ll be fine.”
