Nearly all of Altrincham's 18-man squad were at Moss Lane on Saturday evening, along with manager Lee Sinnott and assistant boss Neil Tolson, for a "Meet the Team and Management" event, open to all supporters.
The evening started with the players and management being available in the bar for supporters to meet. Manager Lee Sinnott and assistant Neil Tolson meanwhile moved around the room talking with groups and individuals.
Nicky Clee then suggested to TASC chairman Brian Flynn that a "Question and Answer" session be held and he proposed a panel comprising captain Shaun Densmore and new striker Ryan Brooke, who has quickly established a reputation at Moss Lane as what one of his team-mates termed, a "soft lad"! Ryan preferred to describe himself as someone who likes to liven up the dressing room with his banter. In his recent matchday programme article, Shaun had described Ryan as "He’s got to be the oddest man I’ve ever met. Really strange, but funny. Turned up for the first game, looking as if he had just rolled out of bed. Looked like he was wearing pyjamas. Didn’t get much better on Tuesday night, when he fell asleep during the manager’s team talk! Honestly, I thought Reevesey was laidback, but Ryan takes it to a whole new level".
Responding to these allegations of falling asleep, Ryan insisted he had merely closed his eyes to reflect on the game.
The management team of Lee Sinnott and Neil Tolson joined Ryan and Shaun on the panel and it was Neil who dropped the first bombshell. The former silky Football League front man announced his retirement from competitive football, having been registered last season as a player at Moss Lane, though he had only figured as an unused substitute.
Asked about the coming season, Lee said that as well as the "usual suspects", namely those teams which had done well last season and those spending money this campaign, you could always expect one or more of the less fancied teams to "emerge from the pack". Hyde had been a prime example of that last season.
Shaun Densmore was then put on the spot as Lee mischieviously suggested that the Alty captain should give us a 20 second resume of each of the new players, which Shaun gamely did. Describing Matt Doughty as "My hero, my fellow full-back", he bracketed "Buzz" alongside his other full-back hero, Leighton Baines. Unfortunately, one attendee whose name will not be mentioned, mis-heared this reference as being to Wes Baynes, the former Alty winger, which caused some consternation in the room.
Amongst the revelations about the new players was the information that Carl Rodgers had cleaned Matt Doughty's boots whilst both were at Chester City! Discussing the three players (Adam Reid, Duncan Watmore and Sam Grimshaw) who have joined the first team from the youth squad, we heard how Sam's bright red plimsolls had created quite an impression on manager Lee Sinnott in particular.
After defenders Scott Leather, Luca Havern and Danny Hall had been subjected to Shaun's analysis, striker Danny Mitchley was described as "the oldest 22 year-old in the world" and Ryan Brooke was characterised as "never shutting up". Shaun also welcomed Paddy Lacey, Alty's most recent signing, in his absence. Shaun portrayed the signing of this "Scouser" as part of his plan for the "Liverpool Mafia" to take over control of the dressing room, which he thought was currently in the hands of the Yorkshire contingent - presumably Nicky Clee and Damian Reeves!
Apart from Paddy, the only players not in attendance were Damian Reeves, who had been sent home to nurse a bad throat, and goalkeeper Stuart Coburn, whose stated age increased each time he was mentioned by his team-mates as the evening progressed. On the subject of age, compere Brian Flynn apologised to Adam Reid for stating that he was 19 in his recent NL Paper match report; Alty's young keeper has, in fact, only recently had his 18th birthday (29 June). Adam will again keep goal at Mossley on Tuesday night.
Discussion about individual fitness indicated that James Lawrie and Simon Richman were the chief candidates for the title of most physically fit player at Moss Lane. Simon had even brought his dog along to the pre-season game against Nantwich with some suggestion being made that he had actually outpaced his canine whilst running to the ground.
The adjustment from full-time to part-time was raised and Neil made the point that full-time footballers, as he had been, were cocooned from reality but, once a player went part-time, he appreciated the game more. Matt Doughty supported this view, saying how each Tuesday he looked forward to that evening's match from the moment he got up to go to work at 6am.
Asked about Damian Reeves, Lee Sinnott and Neil Tolson both indicated that they would be happy if each of the club's strikers got 20 goals this season as they felt that expecting Damian to repeat his haul off 44 strikes would place unfair pressure on the him. The management also stressed that Damian's achievement had owed a lot to team-mates creating chances in addition to his individual skill in putting the ball in the net.
Lee explained that he and Neil had assembled a squad of 18 players and acknowledged that it was a younger group than last season. He said that he was "looking to build something that is fresh, combined with a measure of experience". This season only Stuart Coburn (36) and Matt Doughty (30) are 30 years old or more.
Lee added that it was vital that the 18 man squad worked as a unit and he concluded by pointing out that he and Neil had "many permutations" available to them, given that so many of the squad could play in a variety of positions on the field.
The players, based for the weekend at the Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham, were then released to enjoy the rest of the evening before they were due to return on Sunday for further pre-season preparations.
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Meet the manager and players evening.
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