DARLO TEST BIGGEST YET, SAYS STEVE
STEVE Watson has described facing a relegation battle with Darlington as ‘the biggest challenge’ of his career.
The former Newcastle United and Aston Villa star was named as successor to former Quakers boss Josh Gowling last month and has been given the sizeable task of keeping the northeast club in Step 2.
A dismal run of form under his predecessor means the 49-year-old inherited a squad languishing deep in relegation trouble and facing the very realistic prospect of dropping into the Northern Premier League for the first time since 2016.
Watson remains defiant in the face of what feels a perilous situation at Blackwell Meadows and has called for unity as he looks to pull off an unlikely escape act.
He told The NLP: “There aren’t many clubs I would have taken it on for. Being a north-east lad, I am old enough to have played at Feethams, I’m a football traditionalist and Darlington is a big, big northeast club.
“Once I get to a place, I only know one way to work and that’s by getting my sleeves rolled up and working hard.
“I’ve done it two or three times, I’ve
gone into a club at the wrong end and tried to turn it around.
“This is probably the biggest challenge, it’s probably the least I’ve had and probably the most adrift I’ve been – but the lads and everyone at the club has to pull together and believe we can do it.”
Amid calls for unity and support, the Quakers faithful have already risen to the challenge after continuing their remarkable efforts with the club’s ‘Boost the Budget’ initiative.
Launched earlier this month in the wake of Watson’s appointment, Darlington supporters have already raised around £29,000 and that has enabled their new manager to step into the transfer market for the first time.
Watson has reunited with his former Gateshead and York City defender Scott Barrow and also completed the addition of former Blyth Spartans and Marske United attacking midfielder Matty Cornish.
There have been departures after defender Blaine Rowe joined Mickleover on a month-long deal deal and on-loan midfielder Brad Williams returned to League Two club Harrogate Town after his temporary stint with the Quakers came to an end.
Work to improve his squad is an ongoing process and Watson has hailed the efforts of Darlington supporters as they look to play a significant role in helping their club in their battle against the drop.
“What Darlington do is quite unique,” he explained.
“The Boost the Budget in January could be the difference maker because if we hadn’t done that, I think the budget was pretty much done.
“That would have meant the only way we could make changes would be to sacrifice players to bring new ones in. Don’t get me wrong, players will still leave, but a lot of that will be to do with it being a mutual thing.
“Now, it’s good we don’t have to force the hands and we can make decisions on bringing in two or three that can make a difference.
“If we can achieve this, if we can stay up, the fans deserve to take as much credit as me or the players because we are all doing this together.”