Latics team taking shape

Athletic manager DAVE PENNEY introduces our Latics pre-season special
I’M far from fazed that this is being hailed the toughest Coca-Cola League One for many years.

It was not long ago that the three relegated teams — Charlton Athletic, Norwich City and Southampton — were gracing the Premier League.

That was also the case for Leeds United, who are still in League One.

It is great for players and fans alike that we will be visiting places like The Valley, Carrow Road, St Mary’s and Elland Road.

They are far different to most of the grounds you normally go to in this division.

Those four clubs will be a force, while the likes of Huddersfield, Swindon and Brighton have been throwing money around.

While we cannot match many of those clubs financially, the challenge is to be able to compete against them — and I believe we will.

It is no use complaining about money. I have been given a budget and I have to work to it, something I have had to do elsewhere in my managerial career.

And at the end of the day it is 11 v 11 when the players cross that line on Saturday afternoon, however much they are paid.

We have to make sure that we are well organised and, if we can achieve that, I believe we can have a successful season.

I have been here for three months and I am pleased with the way things are taking shape.

There is a new look to the team and I have been satisfied with the players I have been able to bring in.

I have been especially pleased with Dean Furman, who has been the pick of the new players.

He is bright and he has great energy. He looks quality. He also has the prospect of perhaps winning a place in South Africa’s World Cup squad at the end of the season if he does well.

We are slowly getting there and it is a case of the players becoming used to what I want from them.

Pawel Abbott and Rob Purdie are the only two players with whom I have worked before and who know how I operate. I want us to defend from the front.

I am getting through to the players, who have been excellent and have all settled in well.

It is work in progress and I am always looking to improve. Nobody should ever be satisfied and I would still like to add one or two more players to the squad.

I have been pleased with the way things have gone in pre-season.

I like to have a six-week build up which is initially about increasing fitness levels. Results are not that important.

I described Middlesbrough as out first ‘proper’ game and I was pleased with the tempo and intensity of our play. That was more like the way I want us to play

I want us to play a high-energy game and get in plenty of crosses and shots which I hope the fans enjoy. It also gives them something to shout about.

If things don’t go well, as sometimes happens, you can be rest assured it won’t be for a lack of effort as a strong work ethic is something I demand from my players.




READ Latics’ prospects for the season and team news in our Latics special in the next few items in today’s sports news.

And subscribers can read the supplement in full in the E-Chron