Talbot sets his target
Last updated : 12 March 2004 By The Chairman
Brian Talbot, who has signed a contract which will keep him at Boundary Park until 2007, has jumped in and issued a challenge to his new players. He wants 50 points as soon as possible to stave off any lingering threat of relegation.
He said, “Fifty points is usually enough to stay up. There are 12 games to go, and 12 more points are needed to get us there. You realise something needs to improve as soon as you flash up teletext and see the league table, so it’s down to John (Sheridan) and myself to do what’s required. It isn’t going to be an easy few weeks, but I’ve been in this situation before and hopefully the results will come along very quickly. I’m sure nobody expects me to wave a magic wand, but I like to think a new manager coming in will bring a good reaction among the players.”
“I don’t know John very well yet, but we will put our heads together and do our most immediate job, which is to win the points needed to remain in this division. I’ve seen the team twice against Rushden and Diamonds this season, plus in the draw at Blackpool when Scott Vernon scored, and I like to think we are good enough to get out of trouble. John will have to advise me for the Colchester game at weekend because I’m only taking the players on Thursday and Friday and he knows them a lot better than I do. I look forward to seeing them on the training pitch so I can put names to faces and see who my better players are. We don’t have a lot of bodies here and I’m sure John will have the best idea of who should be out there on Saturday afternoon.”
“The problem is that we don’t have long to sort out our league situation, so things need to happen quickly and the lads need to show a huge amount of determination. John and I want to encourage passing football, but there are times when you have to battle and stop the opposition from playing too much. We need to show big hearts in the next few weeks – times like this are when you find out what players are made of.”
