We're ready
By Adam Summers

Saturday 20th January 2007

NEW Weymouth player-boss Jason Tindall reckons his age will have no bearing on his quest to steady the ship at the Wessex Stadium.

The 29-year-old is confident he has what it takes to succeed in management despite having had no previous experience.

Tindall said: "It is a big step for me and of course there has probably been a few eyebrows raised but it is a challenge I am really looking forward to, and one I believe I am capable of taking on not only for the rest of the season but hopefully beyond that.

"Management is something I have always been interested in getting into and I will be giving it 110 per cent and hopefully I will be a success. I know Steve Coppell (Reading boss) started his managerial career at 29 and if I can follow in his footsteps then I won't have gone far wrong."

The Terras have undergone a bleak two-week period that has seen several stars leave due to a financial crisis. The club's future has now been secured until the end of the season but there is still plenty of uncertainty.

When asked whether he ever thought the crisis would end with him landing the hotseat, Tindall said: "No not at all. I came in as normal to train on Tuesday and the next thing Gary Calder (Weymouth chief executive) called me to one side and said the chairman wants a word with you'. He then briefed me what it might be about and it came as a complete surprise.

"In the end myself and Roy O'Brien (new player-coach) had a meeting with the chairman which went well and when he offered me the position I was delighted and there was no way I was ever going to turn it down.

"I have got my own football academy in Bournemouth, which I have had for two years with Marcus Browning, who is currently a player at AFC Bournemouth.

"We have always enjoyed it and I have always been interested in watching games. There have been times when I have been injured where I have sat in the stand and took notes off my own back just to see what I would have done differently and things like that.

"When I was at AFC Bournemouth I spoke to Sean O'Driscoll (ex-Cherries' boss) and asked `do you want me to sit in the stand and do anything for you?' And he used to give me little things to do that he thought was appropriate for him and the team, and I used to go in at half time and full time with a little report which provided a little extra knowledge for him.

"So, like I said it is something I have always wanted to get into and I just can't wait to get going. Someone said to me yesterday that `every revolution starts with a small step' so hopefully this is the start of a good managerial career for me."

Switching from player to player-manager is always tough but Tindall is sure he can successfully make that step. He said: "My relationship with the players is not going to change. I have got to the position I am in now by being me and I don't feel that is something I have got to change.

"Obviously there is going to be times when I am going to have to make decisions and upset a couple of people. But I have played under enough managers and as long as you put your arm around them and take them to one side and tell them your reasons for doing it and as long as they respect that, you cannot do any more really.

"One thing that is guaranteed is that I will be honest with every single one of them and that I will be here at anytime to sit down with them and listen to everything they have to say."

The Terras were due to face Halifax Town at The Shay today but the game was postponed yesterday due to a waterlogged pitch.

The squad has been weakened by the permanent departures of Lee Elam, Steve Tully, Shaun Wilkinson, Simon Downer and Abdou El Kholti. Keeper Arran Lee-Barrett has also gone out on loan.

Tindall said: "I think with any manager coming in and taking charge of any team, the last thing you want to do is to lose five of your good, quality players at the club but that has happened now and is something we can't change.

"My only concern now is with the players I have got here in terms of working with them and getting the
best out of them. You only have to look around the squad that is left to see that we still have some very good players. They are a good bunch and I hate spoken with them and they are 100 per cent behind me.

"Without a doubt they are all in a difficult position with the future of the club still a bit uncertain. As a player myself, the one thing you want is a bit of security and I am aware that the majority of them have been speaking with other clubs and have got 18-month or two-and-a-half year contracts on the table waiting to be signed.

"However, at the same time everyone is contracted to the club with the majority of them running until the end of the season. So, if all of sudden as a manager I started letting whichever players want to go walk away for nothing then I would be a fool because I would have to replace them and with only a two-week window now that would be extremely difficult.

"I have to do what is best for Weymouth Football Club. Myself, Gary Calder and the chairman will be in contact with everybody and if acceptable offers do come in for these players then obviously the decision might change.

"I want to have as many of my best players available to me as I possibly can have and the one thing I
will say is that from the very first moment I walked into this football club I noticed what an honest bunch of lads it has.

"No matter what the circumstances are and what happens they will always give you their all. They will give me 100 per cent and that is one of the conditions for me taking this job on. I spoke to them all and
explained the situation and asked them all if they were behind me and they said `yes'.

"Had one player said `no, I don't agree with it' then I would not have probably took it because I want all
my troops behind me. If we are all in it together, we will all fight together and if I can get my players to go out and give me 110 per cent every Saturday then I should not have any problems.

`As well as saying that everyone's contracts will be honoured the chairman also said about bringing in fouror five players, which we need because we are down to the bare bones at the minute.

"I am obviously looking to bring in two or three players at least but that is not going to be easy because I only have a small two-week window available to me.

"I am not the type of person who is just going to bring players in for the sake of it. They will only be brought in if I believe they are good enough to be here and to get into the first team."

Several academy players have trained with the Terras over the past week and Tindall believes the club's youth policy is going to be a very important factor in its future success.

He said: "I have only seen most of the youngsters train twice and I don't think it would be fair for me to make a decision on any of them just yet. I have seen some of them a little bit more in reserve-team games and of course they are very much a part of my plans.

`Although my contract is only until the end of the season, and hopefully I will be given the chance to take the team beyond that, I will be working hard on the youth set up because I think that has a massive part to play.

"I have spoken to Gary Calder already about trying to spread that out and getting the youth system more involved, and I think the more time we can spend on that the more it will benefit the club in the long run.

"It is not going to happen overnight because it is a project that has to be organised in the correct way to get it right but hopefully it is something we can start assembling straight away."

When asked whether he will be a suit and tie manager or a tie manager, Tindall added: "I spoke about this the other night with my wife.

If I am not involved in the squad then I think I would have to wear a tie. I have not worn a suit for a long time and I think I have got about 12 of them in my wardrobe, and it would be a shame for them to go to waste so

I think there will be times when the suit will come out."