Rams out to build on welcome win
RAMSBOTTOM manager Lee Donafee will be looking to make it back-to-back wins when his side return to action on Saturday with a trip to 1874 Northwich.
The Rams were without a game last weekend, offering Donafee a chance to take stock and assess what had gone before over the last few weeks.
To say it has been a tough period for the fledgling boss would be an understatement, seeing his side go seven games without a win and score only two goals in the process prior to the complete turnaround in form against Newcastle Town last time out.
That 4-0 victory boosted morale and confidence in the dressing room – it was very much needed.
There was an impassioned team talk prior to the Newcastle game, longer than his normal one.
“My talk normally starts about 1.50 before the game but last week I started at 1.30 and I had messaged some of the lads the night before as well.
“One of the coaches said that my team talk made the hairs on the back of their neck stand up but I wanted to get the message across, getting them to believe in what we are doing. Sometimes you have to go backwards before we went forward.
“There were five lads in that room who were Rammy lads, and I wanted them to be proud of the shirt and representing the town, but we also needed to go back to basics. I do feel that we are getting better as we go along.”
The signing of frontmen Hugo Rodriguez and John Murphy proved the trigger the Rams had been waiting for.
“I have said for a while that all we needed was a number nine and signing two in the week was really important,” said Donafee.
“We built on John Murphy’s early pressing, which was great, and we were very disciplined. And to see three new signings score, we deserved it.”
Donafee felt that the Pickering Town defeat in the FA Trophy was his lowest point in football and it took him a while to get over it, especially as club chairman Harry Williams had a quiet word afterwards too.
“The relationship that I have with Harry is really great, there is a lot of respect there but after that Pickering game, I felt that there was a lot of pressure on me.
“I am not the sort to put that pressure on the lads or the other coaches, I take that all on myself. I spoke to Harry and said what we are trying to achieve but when the results aren’t coming then he will question what we are doing.
“But I think that the transition from Chris (Willcock) to myself has been harder than I expected. I had two weeks prior to the first game to get everything in place.
“Losing players like Richie Baker and Jamie Rainford hasn’t helped either nor seeing James Murphy or Dale Jennings come and go so quickly.
But I am not going to use those as excuses, that’s football at our level and I think Harry realises that.
“We are giving opportunities to keen, young lads who some teams might not have thrown in. Players like Will Hall, George Wyatt, Owen Collinge and Sam Twist, all teenagers and exciting players like Luke Barlow at 21 and Tom Hartley, who has really impressed since he came back to the club.
“If you coach these lads well, they will run through walls for you.”
While feeling a real high after the win seven days previously, he knows he must keep his feet on the ground as it is “just one win” but he wants his charges to build on that next weekend when the Rams tackle 1874 Northwich for the very first time.
“Training has been really good this week and we will go hard again next week ahead of the game at Northwich, but we know that one win doesn’t change everything, it helps but we have to build on it.
“Getting Hugo [Rodriguez] and John in has really given us a boost and there is a real feeling that they could both play up front and Tom can also play there too. That’s what we need, to make it hard for the opposition and their defences.
“We knew we needed proven strikers at this level. Getting Hugo and John in gave us that – John’s someone I have tracked for a while at lower league level, and I know what he can do.
“Everyone played their part (against Newcastle); I don’t want to single anyone out really. But we need to keep that high going.
“The fans have been great in their support for me since I have come in as manager, and during that time when we were struggling.
“I have a long term focus for this club, giving lads a good go in the side and I want the supporters to enjoy watching these lads develop. There are some exciting young lads, along with the older heads in the squad and we all want the same thing – results for the club we love.”