''Our vision welcomes change & passion''

The past few weeks at Amaranth U16s has been the toughest time for me so far by quite a long way. I believe that the players, parents & supporters are getting to know me a little bit better more recently & the team changes myself & Ade are now implementing within the squad are beginning to hit home hard, which i do realise may cause a few internal problems,especially to those who perhaps are not involved in football for the exact same reasons as us. Clearly some of our boys seem startled by so many changes in a short space of time, but i'd like to assure you that sometimes immediete change can be a GOOD thing in the long term. I promise that the teams past approach to games, attitude & technical ability will over short time be further improved, meaning that we have a better chance of successes on the field. But these things do take time to set in properly & my own philosophy has always been to 'Start as i mean to go on'        

In my last column i stated that my said coaching personality was that of a 'Firm,but fair' coach. This has been the case for many years now & i have absolutely no intention of treating 15 or 16 year old players as if they are just out of U10s. I believe that football should matter at 15 & 16 years old, but if it doesn't matter, then maybe you're at the wrong kind of club,given the new Amaranth vision for success that myself & Ade hold. I simply will not compromise my personal football beliefs just to keep players happy & yes - i do realise that this may be a massive shock & may cause a few issues to those that do not welcome positive change, or to those who are in a comfort zone on the field at present. The word 'team' should mean exactly that. We TALK about football issues together,without being embarrassed to air our views & we DISCUSS how we can make things even better on the field. It's certainly NEVER personal, it's football thats all. A team play for each other, without favouring their friends. We win, lose or draw without any individual blame, but also play with real PASSION of a want to be winning youth footballer. But most importantly we welcome positive CHANGE, whether it be on or off of the field,or whether it be immediete.     

There are many players in our current squad who we will look to keep involved next season. There are also a few that may need a bit more working on, but i look forward to this challenge if you all still want me around & i honestly do believe that the squad will be much better off next season for these changes. We do have some real potential here, but potential is no good without passion,a winning TEAM attitude & good team ethics to back it up.