By James Grayson (Twitter: @jamesAgrayson)
Stability is the key word for Garforth Town head coach Graham Nicholas as he looks to spearhead a successful return to the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.
It is a new beginning at Wheatley Park for the club who were relegated from the Evo Stik Division One North after a turbulent 12 months.
Barnsley-based Nicholas led his first training session tonight (Tuesday) and has to build a team from scratch ahead of next Tuesday’s friendly with the Carlisle United first team.
Nicholas, who holds the UEFA A coaching licence, had this message for Town supporters: “It is very exciting times, but please be patient as it is about providing stability to the club.
“I aim to bring in a philosophy that will be transparent and hopefully the fans will get behind the club and me and the players. It is not about any individual or about myself. It is about everyone pulling together and wanting to move the club in the right direction which is back where they belong in the Evo Stik.
“It is not going to be a quick fix. When you come into a club of this size, the first job is attracting those players who are reliable and turn up on time. It is going take time to get those standards to gel and for the players to understand my philosophy, but the sooner the better.
“The realistic aim for me is to provide stability to the club. I think if we can finish in the top half, that’s a realistic aim. Hopefully we can have a decent FA Cup run as well then I’m sure the fans will be happy.
“The players I’m bringing are not financially-driven, they want to play for the club and are passionate about it.”
Nicholas, 33, has an impressive CV. As a player he played for Frickley Athletic under Phil Sharpe and then Hatfield Main before earning a playing and coaching scholarship in America.
Upon his return the Miners boss has coached at academies for Leeds United, Barnsley, Nottingham Forrest, among others.
He did briefly coach at Town’s Premier Division rivals Athersley Recreation last season, while before that managing Millmoor Juniors in the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League.
But because of his qualifications, Nicholas had set his sights on a management role at NCEL level and was chosen ahead of two other applicants for the Miners job by Garforth chairman Brian Close.
“I applied for the job after the position of head coach came up with the Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy who Mark Ellis is involved with,” he said.
“I applied for that, but it wasn’t right. But then I said that I wanted to manage a semi-pro club. He informed me that Garforth was a club they (RIASA) were interested in getting involved with so I met with the staff here and together (RIASA and Garforth) they appointed me.
“When I had the phone call from Mark Ellis (RIASA director of football) and Brian Close (Garforth chairman) to say that they wanted to appoint me I was absolutely delighted.
“It was a dream come true for me. You stride as a young lad to achieve you’re A-Licence and once you get it you want to use it. I set my standards very high and this is one of the clubs I identified that I would love to work at and feel I could make a positive impact.”
More than 20 players turned up for his first training session where Nicholas worked them for over an hour in the sweltering heat before giving them a tour of the ground.
Nicholas, who has received “hundreds of phone calls from players” since being appointed at Garforth, will have more players available to him through the link-up with the Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy, who are also involved with Division One outfit Eccleshill United.
He is restricted to signing only one player per month from Eccleshill as part of a signed agreement with the NCEL, but Nicholas will be using the resources available to from RIASA.
He said: “From my understanding, the American players will arrive on the 5th August and I would like to watch them in a Reserve game so I can identify those players who will make a positive impact to the lads that are already here.
“I think we are going to have a fantastic mix of players and from what I have seen from the lads tonight, I’m all for giving them a chance.
“I have worked in America for five years coaching a soccer club so I’m very aware that the American lads are very athletic and very technical, but maybe they need to improve on the aggression of the English game.
“I’ve been told I have the final decision on which American players I play. I will have players recommended to me and people like Mark Ellis recommend people, you take that on board and trust his judgement.
“If they (RIASA players) are good enough, they’ll play, but if they aren’t, they won’t.”
Nicholas will be giving further analysis of the direction he is taking the club when he will sit in front of Town supporters at a meet the manager meeting on Wednesday at Garforth Liberal Club.
Doors open at 7.00pm.
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