Interview: Happy New Year from the Gaffer

It's that time of year again. Christmas is over, festive celebrations have ceased for another 12 months and it's back to the training ground for Stratford Athletic. It's only right that the first interview of 2013 go to the gaffer himself, so here are his thoughts on tables, transfers and training.

New Year, same manager. What can we expect from Mike Earll in 2013?

Happy new year all! You can expect to see a new and improved Mike Earll in 2013. Looking back on the first half of the season there are things we could all improve on and I’m no different, 2012 made me learn a few things about management and my team. I feel I have grown as a manager since my appointment in the summer and I hope to continue building my legacy throughout 2013.

It's fair to say it wasn't the best ending to 2012, but the team could move up to fourth with a win on Sunday. How important would victory be?

Yes 2012 couldn’t have ended any worse for us but I see that game as a one off, getting a win would be nice to erase the memory of that 5-0 thrashing that was given to us just before Christmas. Victory is vital if we want to be challenging the top 4 rather than just sitting in the middle of the division. We need to win and start the year as we mean to go on!

As the transfer window opens again, will it be hard to hold onto Elliot 'Boyo' Greening after his goalscoring form in 2012?

I cannot wait till the transfer window is shut and all this speculation stops. Ellsy has been a key player for us in 2012 providing many stand out performances not only with his goals but his all round play, but as he’s top scorer of our division we have to accept there will be other clubs interested in him. Also it’ll be hard to keep other players like Fred Stanley. I heard that a div 4 team are interested but I think it’s important to keep a big squad so we need to keep our back up players like Fred.

This year could see the return of Will Winthrop between the sticks, if he's available would you consider rotation for the cup?

Will is a bottler, I can’t see him making a return to the first team fold. The latest news from talking to him the other day is that he’s too scared he might bruise his knee again. Also I want to keep a bit of continuity and our present keeper has been on a great run of form so I have no reason to rotate at the moment.

Club legend Paul Nicolaou has promised to make an appearance in the Director's box this year, would that be your proudest day in charge?

Welcoming a legend like Mr Nicolaou back will be a great honour for myself and the team, it's people like him that make this club special. I would be so proud if on that day I could deliver him a victory to make his appearance worthwhile and memorable for him. He was also a mentor to me in my early days at the club, I don’t think I would have got this team’s first victory without his influence.

There were rumours that double-header games would start soon, are you a fan of these ties?

I don’t think anybody is a fan of double headers, I would rather avoid this type of situation if I’m honest. If it does come down to this though we will be prepared. Hopefully we can have a large squad that day and we can do some rotation during the ties to get the best out of the team. This is why it’s important to keep my back up players like Fred in the club as I previously mentioned.

The fans are expecting big things from 2013, are you the right man for the job?

Yes.

Thanks boss.