Tom, thanks for talking to us. It’s been just over a week since we welcomed Mark Molesley back to the club. For someone like yourself, who is attached so closely to the club, what was it like to have him walk through the door?
Once I found out that Mark was coming back to the club, I was instantly looking forward to it. I’ve never worked under him before, although I witnessed the success he had when he was first here. The relationship he has with the club is very positive; hopefully, we can use that to make our own memories together.
Games have come by thick and fast recently, so you haven’t been able to train under Mark as much as you would have liked. Have you still had the chance to get to know him and what he wants from the team?
We’ve trained once together as a group. It’s not a lot of time together, especially as we’ve had two back-to-back games very quickly, but I feel like he’s working hard to get what he wants from us. We all get on well with him. That’s what I like. It’s totally new and a completely different style of football. A new challenge.
Being the captain, was there anything he particularly discussed with you after he arrived?
When I first introduced myself, we spoke briefly about how I was feeling, but then, straight away, we started talking about the small details we needed to crack down on as a group. Talking to him, I felt like there was mutual respect between us. We definitely wanted the same things for the club going forward.
As the skipper, what’s your role when a new manager comes in?
How do you keep the squad calm and relaxed?
These things happen in football. Players and managers come and go. All of the lads are experienced, so they knew how to deal with it themselves. The main thing is that we stay positive as a group.
Mark’s return hasn’t been the ideal start, results wise. However, that certainly isn’t down to a lack of effort. It seems like the squad is remaining calm and confident that we can turn things around.
100 percent!
As I’ve already said, we’ve trained once. However, I’m not using that as an excuse; we still took on a lot of new and valuable information. We’re all calm and we believe in each other. It’s a complete change and people adapt at different speeds.
Mark has told us that he feels a lot of the players are yet to realise just how good they are. How does it feel for a manager to come in and immediately show faith in you?
When you know that the gaffer believes in you, it fills you with confidence to be able to carry out what he wants. That’s what we need to do as a group now. Use Mark’s trust to fully commit and believe in the new style of football.
We saw Mark’s previous Weymouth teams, and how they played. The thought of playing beautiful and attacking football, that must excite you.
Of course. Looking at the players we have, our squad is full of quality, attacking players. Hopefully the style of football will bring the best out of all of us, and then the goals will start flowing.
The season is now drawing to a close, what are your hopes for the rest of the campaign?
There’s not many games left now until the end of the season, but that doesn’t mean we stop working and building as a team. We still need to secure as many points as we can.
How much are you looking forward to next season?
I’d love to have the chance to work with Mark and his staff for a whole season. Pre-season is the most important part. It’s the time to get as fit as possible and nail down all the small details. Not only will he make sure we’re doing both of these, I feel like he will 100 percent make me a better player.
