Director’s warning shot

MIKE NEWTON: “we have people who are resilient and possess technical skill.”

Results must improve now, insists Newton
ATHLETIC director Mike Newton has warned that positive results are essential in the short term, if the club is to avoid being dragged into the npower League One mire.

The New York-based financial trader is urging that the players focus on the task of gaining points as quickly as possible in order to push up to the relative safety of the upper reaches of mid-table.

Athletic are due to start a sequence of what manager Paul Dickov says contain plenty of “winnable” games with the visit of Walsall to Boundary Park tomorrow (7.45pm kick off, see panel).

“Winning games is the manager’s responsibility and we don’t second-guess him,” said Newton, who came on to the club’s board for a second time in November.

“He is given resources and we ask him to win games — it is as simple as that. I am confident we can do that.

“When I go to work trading, I am confident I will make money. But nothing is guaranteed in life.

“I have spent a lot of time on the training ground and have no doubts about the work ethic and competitive streak of the players.

“You only have to look at someone like Shefki Kuqi for an example of that. There is no doubting Dean Furman’s will to win, or Paul Black’s toughness in coming back from being in and out of the side.

“We have people who are resilient and who possess the technical skill that we need.

“But I can praise the players all day long. The cup competitions have gone now and we have to focus on making sure we do not get sucked into a relegation battle.

“It is crucial we get some wins under our belts. The reality is, we are close but have just been unable to execute.

“It is true that we have had some outstanding results this season. But we have not quite come away with what we feel we should have.”

The postponement of the Brentford away-day on Saturday means Athletic, still 16th in the table, have played out only one league game in a full calendar month — the goalless home draw with Exeter.

Though cashflow issues which can stem from such postponements have been eased compared to this time last year thanks to the six-figure revenue generated by the Liverpool FA Cup-tie, Newton says the club is still in great need of extra sources of income — which could come from selling promising young players.

“Postponements are unhelpful, but we are fortunate that we have the revenue from Liverpool and that we have been able to call games off early, meaning we have avoided having to pay the visiting expenses of the opposition, as well as saving on other aspects such as in not printing programmes,” he added.

“It has made the damage not as significant as it otherwise would have been.

“The club runs a structural loss every season and finances are always a concern.

“We are extremely grateful for our core of around 4,000 fans who come to the games and give us great support.

“For a club like ours, there is always going to be a shortfall. The only way to get past that is for the directors to put money in, or through selling players. With having no games, it is difficult to put guys in the shop window.”