Big Test for the Lads
"Things are looking okay so far. The players look fit and strong which is the important thing, and we have to try and get used to playing again and playing together but so far so good. A few players were a bit stiff the day after the Radcliffe game which is to be expected, but it wasn't so bad that they couldn't train which is the best bit really".
"Huddersfield is going to be a big test for the lads, they have a strong side and they have a new manager in Stan Ternent and we are expecting a different game not like on Tuesday when we had most of the possession. Really we just have to do our best and trying to stay fit. We will be three games in after the match on Saturday so some of players will be getting around 60 minutes or so and some won't, and then as pre-season goes on we will mix it around a bit more so then the players have all had a fair amount of minutes before the season starts".
"The most important thing about pre-season is being fit and not getting injured, but it's still good to win and not to lose. Last season we turned that around, and we had to learn that it wasn't expectable to lose and we have to keep drilling that into them. Even though it is pre-season and there are other issues you still don't want to lose. If some new faces come in they will not necessarily be from the group of trialists we have in. We still have a couple of weeks yet to get some more people in and have a look at them. I think it is important that even though we do have people in we should still keep looking for better, so it is up to the trialists now to impress and to make me stop looking for better and choose them but until then we have to keep looking".
"We have a few injuries after training today, Scotty stud on Steve Haslam's toe, and Cresswell has shin splints which are a bit sore at the moment so it's just a matter of resting, and Wayne Brown has been out visiting his Grandmother who has been ill but he is back and he will train tomorrow and will play Saturday. To keep the feel good factor we have to keep up our performance. If they are playing well it usually keeps up their spirits, and obviously we need to add to the squad. So if we add a few players that can keep up the attitude, but the main thing is performance so then when we play we do so to the best of our abilities. Paul Morgan has gone out on loan to Macclesfield. He plays as a sweeper and we don't use that position. He is at that age were sitting on the bench is no good to him and is no good to us so when the opportunity came we took it. Keith Alexander obviously knows him and he plays with a sweeper so it was a no brainer really that he went, and we will get some money back which can be used elsewhere".
"I think the financial climate was a bit healthier when Stan Ternent was here and they achieved what they did which was a big help. Stan had a great work ethic and a great team and I suppose that is where we want to be and where we want to go and hopefully we can achieve that. I spoke to the Luton manager Nick Arthur the day before they got the points deducted and he was okay, but the day after he wasn't too good and in that situation you just have to do the best you can but it is very difficult. I think though that they were right to deduct points, not that many but it did need some punishments. It's too easy for football clubs to into administration, once is okay but to do it twice in one year is poor and something needs to be done. I would expect that teams like Rotherham and Bournemouth will be pretty worried at the moment. If you have to cut wages then you have do to keep the club going, and if you overspend and pay wages that you know you will not be able to pay in a year then it is mismanagement and it deserves punishment. It is going to be tough for them to survive and they are a pretty big club and they have a big fan base. The thirty points are definitely a marker and for Nick and the new board there was nothing they could have done. It is too easy for clubs now to say 'we will go CVA and then next year we will do it again and take the ten points'. You can't do that and you can't get away with it and it is bad business".
