Interview with newly-appointed Elgin City manager Allan Hale - part 2
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00:00 We always look at things not in a long-term view.
00:03 I think you've got to try and break your targets down.
00:07 We won't give too much away in terms of that, but we'll introduce a few things as we move forward.
00:12 The one thing that we will do is we'll be quite demanding in terms of that's just how we are.
00:17 We demand a lot from our players, but hopefully it's an environment that the players will enjoy working in.
00:24 And hopefully together we can help keep moving the club forward.
00:28 In your last job there at Huntly, of course, you've steadily brought improvement to the club, left them in a good place.
00:33 And I know you'll talk fondly about your time at Huntly.
00:36 Yes, I'm forever indebted, first and foremost, to Gordon Carter for giving me the opportunity.
00:42 Me and him have developed a really close friendship over the past three and a half years.
00:46 And for me, I think it extends far beyond the football pitch and just being at Huntly Football Club.
00:52 And then also to the players, we've developed a really close friendship within,
00:56 close relationship as well where we're forever indebted to them because without them,
01:01 in terms of what they've put into the last three and a half years, in terms of the progress that's been made at the football club,
01:06 without them doing that, we probably wouldn't be standing here in terms of getting the opportunity today.
01:11 So, yes, I leave Huntly as a fan and I think that speaks volumes for the football club in terms of not just the players and the supporters,
01:20 but I think the people connected with the football club.
01:23 It's a real family-orientated club and there's so much people behind the scenes that we've developed really close relationships with.
01:30 And it's sad to leave them behind and it's sad to see how disappointed they are that we're moving on because you do get close to people.
01:38 But it's football. Football can change very quickly, as it has done in this situation.
01:43 But the opportunity to come to a club like Helgen and hopefully play a part in helping them forward
01:50 and potentially the objectives that they want to achieve, hopefully we can play a part in helping them achieve.
01:57 Their ambition is still there and that's the important thing.
02:00 You take people at face value and we've had a lot of positive discussions with the board in the last week or so.
02:07 And their ambition hasn't waned.
02:10 They still want to improve year on year.
02:14 They want to progress through the pyramid, if at all it's possible.
02:16 And then my job is to try and come in and help them achieve that.
02:20 Now, whether it's a long-term thing, whether it's a mid-term thing, who knows?
02:23 But we'll work really hard, both with the board and the squad of players and the staff that's already in the door.
02:30 And collectively, if we all work together and stick together, then success can happen.
02:37 That's for sure.
02:38 Having that engagement with supporters is really important and it's something I've always tried to do wherever I've been.
02:43 And one thing you'll get from me as a manager is I'll always be honest.
02:46 Not always when I feel things are going well, but also in the bad times where you'll pick up a few disappointing results.
02:53 All I can do as a manager is stand in front of people, whether it's a player, whether it's a board member, whether it's a supporter, whoever it is,
03:00 and give my honest opinion on how I saw things at that particular moment.
03:04 It's obviously then my job to go and look at things, analyse it and rectify it.
03:09 So, yeah, that's always important, and especially with the younger generation as well, making sure that we've got that engagement.
03:16 But there's a great community set up here.
03:19 You can see that with the youth development side, meeting the community, people involved in the club.
03:23 You can see that there's a real connection towards that.
03:27 So, hopefully I can help support that and I'll be involved as much as I can.
03:31 Although, obviously, my main focus at this time will certainly be on the first team and trying to support them, certainly in the short term.
03:38 And it's a young first team as well.
03:39 There's a lot of young players here, a lot of teenage players.
03:42 You've got a lot of experience in developing young players.
03:46 Yeah, yeah.
03:47 And yeah, I mean, I think that's wherever we at every club, Maud, Keith, Fraserbury United and then Huntley,
03:55 we do kind of have that knack for taking young boys in and developing them.
04:00 It's not just down to us, though.
04:01 It's down to the player as well and their attitude and what they put in.
04:04 We can only guide them and support them the best we can in terms of how we want the game to be played and how we see it.
04:10 I also think here there's a real core of real experienced players, players that have been around the league a long time, been around the club a long time.
04:19 But regardless of that, in talking to them, they've still got the drive and they've still got the hunger and the ambition to help the club and keep moving that forward.
04:26 So for me, I think there's a really good mix.
04:29 And as I've said to you already, there's plenty of spirit, there's plenty of togetherness and plenty of fight in the dressing room.
04:33 So really looking forward to finally meeting them in person, desperately looking forward to getting on the training pitch and working with them in that sense.
04:41 It'll be really difficult to introduce our ideas for this week, obviously.
04:46 But as the weeks come on, hopefully we can start to drip feed some stuff through and the supporters will see that we'll start to have our own identity in terms of how we want the team to play as well.