Wish the new management team well in their new positions, Paul Ogden’s 40 years experience should certainly count for something. I’m a big fan of Macca’s and believe he was one of the best players we have had at the club in recent years, a proper box to box midfielder with a good engine. Has a natural instinct of being in the right place at the right time, in either box.
I can’t say that I have ever sat there and aspired for Witton to be more like Leek, very little in the way they play football honestly has ever impressed me, perhaps apart from their physical strength. It will be interesting to hear from Paul why he feels that managing the side is a good move now after turning it down before Gary was appointed the first time around (5 years ago). It will also interesting to hear what he thinks we were missing last season, what his approach will be and how his management style will be better than that of Nigel Deeley and Gary Finley. Also what he thinks we need to get out of this league and back to the Prem and what a realistic expectation should be in his first season.
What I would expect Ogden to bring are solid plans and good discipline to the team. As we have seen before it takes physically strong teams to get out of this league and that might mean sacrificing some of the ‘nice’ players we have seen over the last two or three seasons.
Having only just been appointed he may not know at this stage how many of the players he intends to keep, and indeed whether he saw us play last year. This might mean that the first couple of months of the season might be finding out what we have and don’t have in the squad. He needs to be afforded the benefit of some time to make these decisions and it will be interesting to see what contract length he has been given. I think we have to be looking for solid progress, built on decent foundations, rather than chopping and changing for quick fixes.
I wish both Paul and Macca well, they need time and support in the job. Hand on heart I can’t say I am thrilled and excited by the appointment, but I also recognise where are, what we have got and what we need. I think it’s a reasonably safe appointment and to build for the future that is far from a bad thing, I certainly cannot argue with the logic and it is important we all get behind the new management team.
Good luck to the new team and lets all get behind them for the new season!!
Thanks for the “PM” offer ELI but I thought better not, I might have blabbed! It does show the sheer folly of not telling us though when its published elsewhere perfectly legitimately before we knew, plain daft.
the coming season has started to be promising. so all you stay away fans get behind the team from the start and help us out of this league and on to better times.come on THE ALBION.
Just having Macca back as a player is brilliant. That in itself is a quantum leap forward from last season.
I can see Oggie being the iron fist in the dressing room and Macca being the ‘players man’ that we didn’t have under Gary Finley. Hopefully this is a combination that will work.
If all goes well and Macca cuts the mustard as a coach he is maybe envisaged as Paul’s long term successor when he hangs up his boots? (Not for a couple of seasons at least I hope)
Must’nt get ahead of ourselves but I do feel very positive about these appointments.
The words Over the Moon, Fantastic, Marvellous, Brilliant, superb etc all spring to mind. Oggie had gone off the scene and I thought retired but him coming to us is a real shot in the arm. Here is a guy with 40 years experience who knows what he’s doing!! He won’t put up with players who please themselves when they turn up or keep getting sent off. In short he’s a motivator and a discplinarian who knows what he’s doing! The real bonus is Macca who is a fans player as well as being a good player. He’s better than anyone who played for us last season!! Quite frankly he doesn’t need to think about the retained list as I’m personally not bothered if any of last years team stay. Pritch is a give and I’m sure Oggie will know this. Oggie has the contacts so I think he’ll more or less start again and we’ll have new faces.
Well done to Mark Harris because the last two management decisions were not good and I said so beforehand. Mark lad you’ve hopefully got it right this time so brilliant weel done. This is a good solid appointment which should hopefully see us heading in the right direction and hopefully quite quickly too. Oggie and Macca are the kind of personalities we as fans can get behind as we’ll know they’ll be giving it 110%. Oggie would also be good in the boardroom with his experience and contacts which might be good for the ground move scenerio. Onward and upward. can’t wait for the season to start now not even bothered about the World cup. Pual Oggies red and White Army and Macca get the beers in how refreshing from whats gone on before did poor old Gary ever smile!!. Yippee!!
Excellent news and the fans response is great.
I’m feeling very positive about the situation.
Tonight will be very interesting and hopefully very well attended!
With the exodus starting over the canal perhaps Ryan will come back and create a great midfield partnership with Macca.
His return as a player is fantastic news, not only is he good but he plays with a smile on his face
Heard from a friend that went to the meeting tonight that you have signed Josh Hancock from Winsford. Hes only 19 and could be a good player for Witton. He was our only contracted player last season so you can see what our club thought of his talent, most of our fans knew he would leave to play at a higher level and obviously Witton got there first in signing him after his contract ran out.
He is a right-footed player who plays on either wing and through the middle if needed and even upfront but not as effective here. Best attributes include pace and skill but he can be greedy at times, although maybe that comes with the inexperience. He was our top scorer last season with 16 goals and may have won our Player of the Year as I believe he had a large number of votes, although the results of that award are yet to be released.
I am confident he can be an established player in the Evo-Stik leagues and good luck to him, he was not a Vodkat League player, he belongs higher. Hope he does well for you.
I thought that all the guys spoke very well last night and there has clearly gone a lot of thinking into the structure of the first team management and bringing players through the ranks. It is going to take time for this to bed in and to yield results, but it has to be the way to go. There are a lot of talented younger players that may not make academies of larger clubs but still might have a future in the game. Remember Adam Warlow was let go by Crewe before coming to us and has done very well since.
Well done to Mark (and the board) for some very considered and thoughtful plans for now and the future.
Having the legend and Macca as part of the first team management is going to be a big benefit. I know the big fella is very happy with the relationship and upbeat as to what we can achieve.
I wasn’t able to make the meeting last night - but by all accounts it went really well. A good turnout and everyone very positive.
If we have the right attitude, commitment and energy there is no reason why we can’t have a good season, so please draw a line under the negative comments and let’s focus on doing the best we can do, enjoy supporting our team - and then see where it takes us.
Was a great meeting imo, it felt just right for Witton and our future, as Mark said though there is no guarantees, I think we might need to be patient ! but as long as we can see Witton going in the right direction thats fine with Me, already sounds a decent midfield heler, macca, broadhead and Hancock - size pace and aggression ? get pritch fit and build around that we wont be far off, interesting to hear that not many will be left from last season - suprised a few, I would have kept maylett and mcallister maybe but its early yet lets wait and see - I certainly like the approach of the manager we dont want players only interested in money but players who want to play at the club because of the history, facilities and because thay have the right attitude - great stuff, lets hope it works im right behind it and will look to that little bit more because I feel a bit more enthused get behind the new team everyone and we can overtake the V–s as senior club before too long :woohoo:
I think you’ve answered your own question CJ regards the first of the names on your list and I understand the second name maybe a part of the team, discussions still taking place.
Good post and points made.
You only need to look at the achievements of Ian Holloway and Blackpool to see what can be achieved with a team of ‘nobodys’, winning attitude and playing for the team and not your wallet makes a big difference. You can honestly say that players like Gerrard and Rooney would be playing pub football every Sunday morning if they were not superstars, they never want to miss a game, never want to be substituted and always give 100%. We need to find some non-league local versions and I honestly believe they exist. Ryan is a classic example and a very good local player, Murph’s can certainly find one or two. I understand that he had previously recommended players to the former manager who was not particularly interested. Also don’t underestimate how important Pritch will be in the management team, he has an encyclopedic memory of every player we have ever played against and knows a good player when he sees one, plus he can be hugely influential on the coaching and drills for the lads, let’s face it he will have seen a lot of good and bad in all the managers he has played under at Witton!
The new structure will take time but is absolutely key to the development of this club from the ground up, the link to Mid Cheshire’s School of Excellence arguably the best of all initiatives. That link alone was worth six figures of FA Cup revenue to the arabs last season.
indeed Eli