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GRAHAM UPBEAT
Alty joint press officer, Joh Edwards writes:
"Graham Heathcote delivered an upbeat appraisal of Altrincham's prospects and insisted they were 'not a million miles away' from reasserting themselves as a competitive force in the Blue Square Bet Premier.
Desperately unlucky to be left on just one point, after missing a string of chances and conceding a hotly-disputed penalty that handed Kidderminster an undeserved 2-1 win, the Alty boss is hoping for an overdue change of fortune at Gateshead on Saturday.
Confirming that he is as committed as ever to turning round Alty's fortunes, he said: 'The penalty was absolutely ludicrous, and I asked the referee afterwards how a defender (James Smith) is supposed to get out of the way, when the ball is blasted at him from six yards.
'The key word with any handball decision is "deliberate". In that split second, did a hand move to the ball? I've looked at the DVD, and there's no evidence of that whatsoever. Referees need to give themselves a moment to collect their thoughts and get a mental picture of what has happened, in these situations, rather than give a knee-jerk reaction. There is nothing wrong with delaying a decision for a second, if it means getting it right.
'The encouraging thing was we created chances. That's half the battle, but you've got to convert them, and we are still not showing enough composure in that department. It's the one area we are still falling down on. We are looking for answers, and there may yet be one within the camp.
'The danger is, it can become a mental thing with the players, the longer it goes on. But training went really well last night (Tuesday) and the atmosphere in the dressing room is fine. I've no worries on that score.
'I know Gateshead played on Tuesday night, and beat Southport in the last minute, but I'm not worrying about anyone other than ourselves. My focus is 100 per cent on preparing us for Saturday and making sure the players understand what we want from each one of them. It takes time to get the message across when you've got so many new faces, and the main thing, while you're doing that, is to make sure you keep them all positive.
'But I've never doubted my ability to get players up for 90 minutes of football, and I know Ken (McKenna) and I can take care of that side of things and make sure everyone remains motivated. The surest way to give everyone a lift is for some of our chances to start going in, and maybe we need the sort of break Kidderminster got with that penalty.
'When things aren't going your way, you tend to be on the receiving end of those decisions. One in our favour, and it could help turn round our fortunes. It sums up the whole situation for us, though, that you've got to dig deep for a striker whose going to give you 25 goals a season. Crawley are supposed to have paid York £275,000 for Richard Brodie, if you believe what you hear.
'That's a different world, but we will keep working with our players and hope they develop a better understanding of what is required in each position and, as a consequence, improve as the weeks go by.
'We have to find an answer to being more composed in front of goal, but we are not a million miles away from the teams above us, and when you look at the nucleus of what we are doing, it's not exactly disastrous.
'There was the added bonus against Kidderminster of James McCarthy making his full debut and doing well. He's got good feet, and an awareness and touch that bodes well for the rest of the season.'
Heathcote described his disappointment at Dale Johnson's failure to fulfil his potential in an Alty shirt after signing him two years ago and declaring he had the ability to attract the interest of Football League clubs. The big striker, a handful for any defence when the mood took him, was released and allowed to join Hyde United after scoring just six goals in 40 starting appearances, plus 18 as substitute.
'There is no doubt Dale is a good footballer and excellent target man on his day,' said the Alty manager. 'It was the "on his day" bit that was the problem, though. When you look at his scoring ratio, it wasn't his day often enough. You would also have to question whether the hunger and desire you want from your players came through often enough.
'If he gets that side of things right, then you've got some player. But we need to find an answer to our scoring problems, and I had to make a decision. For a striker in our division, his scoring record just wasn't good enough. If he had a prolific marksman alongside him, you might look at the way he holds the ball up for others and say ok, we can live with that. But he hadn't, and it was becoming a problem.
'I've always said with Dale that it's a case of whether he wants to make the most of himself and use his ability to reach the level he's capable of. It's a shame it hasn't worked out here, but I wish him all the best at Hyde.' Alty's injuries ae slowly but surely clearing up, with Chris Denham and Nicky Clee the only doubts for the trip to Gateshead. Clee is expected to be fit, while Denham will be assessed nearer kick-off time".
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Graham's back
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