Halford sets out goals for Mossley

Mossley FC new manager Steve Halford with assistant Steve Band

NEW Mossley boss Steve Halford says the Lilywhites have under-performed this season and has challenged his players to claim a top-10 finish in the Evo-Stik League Division One North and Manchester Premier Cup glory.

Towering centre-half Halford (31), who is registered to play but plans to observe from the sidelines, inherited the Seel Park hot-seat from Gareth McClelland, who resigned at the weekend to join FC Halifax in a coaching capacity.

In his first game in charge he oversaw a 4-1 victory over Abbey Hey in the Manchester Premier Cup quarter-finals — before demanding 17th-placed Mossley replicate their knock-out competition form in the league.

He said: “Time and again this season we have thrown away matches from promising positions and dropped far too many points.

“We should be at least 10 or 12 points better off, but it is down to us to do something about it.

“Looking at the table now, with 13 games remaining, I would like us to finish in the top 10.

“We also have a great chance of winning some silverware after making it through to the last-four of the Manchester Premier Cup, so hopefully we can go all the way.”

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Halford, who was offered the job just days after being released by the club due to cost-cutting measures. He was signed by McClelland last summer.

Halford was on the verge of signing a playing deal with another non-league club when he was contacted following McClelland’s surprise departure.

“It was all a bit strange I suppose because in my final week there, Gareth told me they were tightening the belt and it would be difficult to meet my demands, so I would have to look elsewhere,” he continued.

“I was gutted because I like it at Mossley. I left, and was talking to five clubs about my next move when I got a call. It became clear Gareth had left the club and Mossley were interested in talking to me about the vacancy.

“It is a big opportunity for me to show what I am about and I look forward to the challenge.”

Halford, who will be assisted by Mossley centre-half Peter Band, is no stranger to the manager’s dug-out.

In April 2011 he and former Athletic defender Scott McNiven took on the seemingly thankless task of bossing FC Hyde, only to save the relegation-haunted Tigers from the drop in the Blue Square Bet North on the final day of the season.

Many eyebrows were raised when the Ewen Fields outfit opted to let them go in favour of appointing Curzon Ashton chief Gary Lowe — and Halford is happy to admit the experience motivates him to make Mossley a success.

He added: “I wanted to keep the Hyde job and I believed an agreement to be done and dusted, but they went a different direction in the end.

“Now I have been given a chance to prove myself.

“To be fair, Hyde are flying. It is in the past and I am focused on the long haul here at Mossley.”