Dave Challinor’s January update
It’s been great to see the fantastic work going on at SSV first-hand and the progress being made. In any Academy there’ll be different ways of measuring success, be that educational, football results or most importantly, individual development, again, not only football specific but personal and social.
There have been several of the lads who have come up to Carrington with the First Team squad recently to train and or be involved in some fixtures. I’m sure they will all benefit from these experiences and have been an absolute credit to everyone when they have been with us.
We want to give the lads opportunities, regardless of their age, if we see signs that they can step up and it will enhance their development. We’ve seen notable examples of that this month with Scott Holding making his full debut in the FA Trophy game versus Larkhall Athletic and Josh Edwards coming on from the bench. Both handled themselves maturely and neither looked nervous in any way shape or form. To make your debut in front of 3000 fans will hopefully be an experience they remember for a long time and one that motivates them even more to kick on and improve. I would envisage the next FA Trophy game versus Cheshunt next week will also see some younger faces.
The Cheshire Senior Cup fixture at Nantwich last week saw Cody Johnson, Keane Barugh, Josh Osifo and Dan Harrison in the matchday squad. Both Keane and Cody came on in the second half and played a big part in turning the game from us losing 0-1 to winning 2-1 on the night. Progression into the Semi Final of this competition will hopefully give more opportunities further down the line.
Alongside this, there have been others that have added numbers to training when required, Keith Banda, Leandro Tanswell, Kai Johnston, Jamie Walsh, Toby Green plus goalkeepers Niall Jordan and Ollie Brockbank have all been up to Carrington and Tom Sheil who has trained with us up at SSV when we used the facility when the grass was frozen one day. The big thing that stands out with most of the lads is the link to Stockport Town. The majority, at a really young age, are playing men’s football and this will undoubtedly speed up their development and place them in an environment where the objectives are closer to the expectation when they are involved with us.
These are some success stories from over the past month, with hopefully many more to come. Other players can use this as motivation to see that there is a pathway and one that over time will only get stronger, as the Academy will play a key role in the development plan of the football club. Keep up the good work everyone and well done.
Dave Challinor
First Team Manager
