[Home] [Go to top] [Go to latest news]

Now or Never

Robins boss Taylor sounds 'do-or-die' promotion charge for new look troops

By Mike Crockett

ALTRINCHAM manager Bernard Taylor has announced that he has a 'do or die' attitude towards next season's promotion charge.

Taylor, speaking to SAM sport earlier this week explained that he feels he only has one chance at it.

"The chairman has been marvellous, in giving me the chance, he said. 'And I have only got one chance at it this season, with Brian Kilcline and Nigel Gleghorn around me.

"If we do not achieve what we are aiming for, then it will be time to give someone else a chance. I owe that to the both the fans and the chairman," he added.

Meanwhile, the list of newcomers to Moss Lane is increasing on an almost daily basis, with the club confirming the signing of Gainsborough pair Paul Ellender and Chris Timons; ex-Coventry captain Brian Kilcline and Darren Lyons both from Halifax .

'Brian really is a massive signing for this club. He will be superb for the team, and will be taking part in some training along with Nigel. For a while, we didn't think we would get him, but it has come through and hopes he will be very happy here," said Taylor.

"Paul was very impressive the few games that I had seen him in, and bearing in mind that he can play right up the middle of the pitch, he will he a versatile addition to our squad," he added.

While Timons has come to Moss Lane on a free transfer, the fee due to Gainsborough for Ellender still has to be agreed on, and it is believed that the matter will be taken care of by a tribunal.

An effort to sign vastly experienced Welsh goalkeeper David Felgate has temporarily fallen through, and the club is waiting to hear from him.

Taylor agreed that one of the main problems last season was a lack of depth in the squad, with too small a pool to pick from.

'I need three more players before I'll be happy. I know 21 sounds like a large number, but I won't really he comfortable until we have achieved a squad of that number."

Also, earlier this week, the club announced that they had also signed defender Chris Timons from the same team. Both players are former Trinity Players of the Year.

Chris Timons made 40 league appearances for- Mansfield Town over the eight years he was there before being released by the club at the end of 1995/96. He then joined Trinity, where he has completed two spells, with 3 first team appearances for Third division Leyton Orient in between.

Also amongst the Moss Lane comings and goings is the departure of Stuart Terry.

The 1997 player of the year moved to Northwich Victoria on a free transfer last week and had this to say about his former club;

"I'm over the moon about the move. I wasn't suited to the UniBond but I was under contract with Altrincham for the season and they were asking for an awful lot of money for me, which did scare people off.

I know Phil (Phil Wilson, Northwich Vics manager) made a bid for me at Christmas but it was turned down. I just hoped he would come back for me in the summer."

Terry added, "Rushden made a large bid for me last summer and I thought the move was going to go through. To be fair I was a bit upset about it all because Altrincham came up with a mad fee."

End of season antics at Altrincham FC also included a fans forum with Chairman Gerry Berman, Manager Bernard Taylor, and new player-coach Nigel Gleghorn.

Taking questions from fans, the panel was hoping to clear up any worries the fans had about the team and its future. Gleghorn made it clear that, on a training front, he will be putting the players through their paces.

"We are in the UniBond league, we don't like to be in the UniBond league and it is up to all of us to make sure we get promotion next year," he said.

Also, most of the gathered fans agreed with the point made that striker Keith Russell was worth more than any amount of money clubs were willing to pay for him.

At the meeting, Bernard allayed fears that Russell was not going to stay long, saying, "Keith is our player. He is here on a three-year contract and will remain our player until the right club, in his eyes' comes in for him. As and when that happens, we will not stand in his way."

"Have One on Me"

ALTRINCHAM manager Bernard Taylor has hit on a novel way to thank his team's fans for their support since he became manager last month: he's treating them all to drinks before and after the Robins' reserve team fixture against Lancaster at Moss Lane next Saturday.

"The supporters have been brilliant to me and the lads" he declared.

"I've wanted to find a way in which I can say a little personal thank you, so we have decided to offer bitter and lager at £1 a pint from 12 noon onwards on Saturday, and I'll be picking up the tab."

The celebration will continue throughout the day, with the UniBond League Cup being paraded and the majority of the first team squad featuring in the game (KO 3pm) for which the club is making admission free of charge.

Bernard continued 'I just want to make a bit of an. occasion out of Saturday, so we'll be holding a Fans Forum in the bar at 1pm at which the supporters can meet my new player-coach Nigel Gleghorn.

There will also be a raffle, with prizes including Keith Russell's hat-trick ball from the Spennymoor game and a shirt signed by the Class of 1978

The day will round off with a quiz night, organised by the supporters' association, in which all the questions will be about Altrincham FC in the 1997/98 season just completed.

Hail the Cup kings

From the Manchester Evening News

ALTRINCHAM boss Bernard Taylor hailed striker Keith Russell as "the best signing we've over made--- after his two goals last night ended the Robins' 12-year wait for a trophy, writes TONY GLENNON.

Russell, Alty's record-breaking five-figure capture from Second Division Blackpool, made It 20 goals In 18 starts with the strikes which sank Gainsborough 2-1 In a gripping UniBond Challenge Cup final in front of 1,540 fans at Chesterfield's ground.

He first displayed his opportunism by firing them In front from a seemingly Impossible angle In the 65th minute, then struck again with a, header from Ricky Harris's cross with 10 minutes of extra-time left.

Sandwiched between his goals were a Paul Ellender equaliser and the dismissal for a second bookable offence of Robins' left-back Danny Adams, which left them a man short for the last 40 minutes.

Said Taylor: 'Keith was superb. But every one of our players was a hero -and so were our magnificent fans.

"To be fair, I thought Gainsborough were the better side, but the sending, off seemed to lift us and we just seemed to get stronger and stronger."