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| Thursday 5th July 2007 | |||||||
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Coach impressed by league vision
Johnson was right-hand man to Mick Jenkins, who was dismissed from the manager's chair at the Blue Square South outfit last month. It was thought that Johnson would leave the Avenue Stadium. But Magpies' director of football Shaun Brooks has persuaded Johnson, who also works for the Football Association as a development officer, to continue with the club. "I met Shaun and he invited me to come alongside him to work and take the football club forward," said Johnson. "With my FA work, he asked me to come along on a part-time basis and my bosses (at the FA) have agreed to me doing that." Johnson has been impressed by the vision - to bring Football League soccer to Dorchester - shown by Brooks and new majority shareholder Eddie Mitchell. "The way Shaun and Eddie have painted a picture of the way they want to take the club forward is fantastic," said Johnson. "It is a huge opportunity for the club to move forward. They could easily throw all their money at the playing side but that counts for nothing if you have not got the structure to support that. "Shaun's mandate is to look at everything at the club in terms of football from the youth team upwards. He is very conscious of that and is going to put coaches into that as well so it becomes a clear pathway into the first team. "You have to look at the bigger picture and they (Mitchell and Brooks) are conscious of not running before they can walk. They have to ensure the club is sound structurally to be able to move forward in terms of the football." And Johnson discovered he and Brooks have similar ideas they want to put into use at the Avenue Stadium. "Shaun and I have a lot of common ground," said Johnson. "When we discussed the future of the football, I liked what I heard from him and he did likewise from me in terms of the ideology of how the game should be played alongside the coaching. "We think we can work together closely - and with some of the players becoming full-time players, these are very exciting times. "One of my main concerns last season was we did not have the opportunity to undertake the coaching we would have liked to have delivered. "We were very limited because we could not go on the (Avenue Stadium) pitch because the club are very protective of that. The facility which we had did not allow us to do too much because it was a bit of a cow field and a three-quarter-length pitch and never conducive to a good learning environment for the players. "Now the players will have a facility which will allow us to give them an environment which is conducive to their learning. "There are other ideas. There is the possibility of disbanding the reserves because we do not think it will be able to support the first team which will then allow us to train on the pitch as there will not be such a burden on it. "The transition will then come from a good youth policy. Shaun and I have enough local contracts to drum up a friendly fixture if we need one." But Johnson believes he will link up with Jenkins again in the future. He said: "Mick has wished me all good fortune in terms with what I am doing at the club and I am sure one day our paths will cross again and we can work together. It was a little bit unfortunate with the way things went. "Mick has probably been treated harshly but, by his own admission,
that is football - you can take nothing for granted in this game." |
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© 2008 Dorchester Town F.C. All Rights Reserved. |
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