And here’s to you…

Steve Davies gives us his thoughts on the moving sideways / upstairs or Alan Lord

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And here`s to you?

I wasn`t shocked when I saw the news that Alan Lord (or Lordy as he`s affectionately known) had sidestepped but I was disappointed.

Part of me wanted him to be the man to take us up the ladder to the conference – but I also was guilty of getting frustrated with the results and tactics of late.

Having only met Lordy a handful of times, my opinion is that he`s a really nice chap and is county through and through.

Since he took over we have seen a steady improvement of the team and he has brought in and shipped out a fair few players to form a semi decent squad.

Some of the online criticism he`s come under recently is very unfair and I have touched on this in previous articles but I don`t want this article to be influenced with negativity.

He has a knack for finding young talent and we could see a lot more of his influences within the next few years especially more so now that we have a new youth team and reserve team coming into play.

Whoever now comes into replace him has a very difficult job on their hands as we as a club (and as fans) are demanding promotion as a must next season.

I for one wouldn`t want that expectation hanging over me.

Maybe he has just gotten out in the nick of time?.

When I got invited to a sponsor`s event last season I met Alan for the first time and in all honesty I didn`t know what to expect, my first impressions were that he looked standoffish and that I wouldn`t want to be on the wrong end of a rollicking.

How wrong I was.

He was a perfect gentleman and I watched him work the room and not rush a single conversation with any of the people who attended, he was respectful and polite to everyone and signed bits of memorabilia with general chit chat.

I also had the pleasure of standing behind him during the 2nd half when we played Runcorn away this season (I wasn`t invited in the dug out – it was just cause Runcorn`s ground is really small).

I did this for two reasons; one was because I wanted to see a game from the manager`s perspective and the other because I wanted to hear what he told the players.

He seemed again really professional and gave good encouragement to the players especially the younger ones, I also saw some of the older players listening and relaying this information onto the others.

You can tell he has leadership qualities.

Considering that realistically the only managerial experience he has had was with ourselves as caretaker – I for what its worth think Alan has done a immense job under the conditions he inherited.

Personally I would like to say a thank you to Alan Lord for all the work he has carried out this season and last season and I hope he stays involved at the club for many years to come.

And here`s to you Alan Lord?Stockport loves you more than you will know.

Steve Davies