New boss Kelham O'Hanlon had had a frustrating start since his appointment was confirmed over the festive period with the weather has also affecting the teams training plans. " It's been a disastrous couple of weeks weather wise to try and get any practice in for the lads. We have had a couple of practice matches lined up but they have also fallen victim to the weather. In the meantime I have spoken to all the players individually and asked them to keep themselves fit down at the gym to keep them in shape."
O'Hanlon is looking forward to his time as AFC Fylde as he settles into the role. " It's a new beginning for me and I'm looking forward to the challenge. The club is in decent shape, I wouldn't have taken the job if it wasn't and I've been very impressed with the whole set up at this level. Behind the scenes we are building an infrastructure for the future and the club has ambition to progress up the pyramid. We are confident can continue to move the club forward and we know what the ultimate goal is longer term. In the short term we will look to improve things little by little as the season progresses and plan for the future."
O'Hanlon has spent much of his career in the Football League as both a player, coach and assistant manager but has been impressed by what he has seen in Non league football. " I've been really impressed with the quality of football at this level. There are a lot of quality players who have fallen out of the professional game but they have got to have the desire to get back there, that is the hardest thing for them to adjust to. Of the teams I've seen FC Halifax were a very good side at this level, Skelmersdale played some great attacking football and Lancaster City have impressed me too so we know what we have to aspire to. We have some quality players at the club and we will give everyone of them an opportunity to impress. We'll be looking to strengthen the squad over the coming weeks but the lads in the squad now know that they hold all the cards at the moment. I have been impressed with their attitude and commitment in training and matchdays and if they continue to show the right attitude we can improve things and look to finish the season well."
Finally he had a word of comfort for Fylde's supporters. " We have a loyal group of supporters who follow us everywhere and we appreciate their support. I know this team have won everything in recent seasons but right now we need everyones backing more than ever, I'm sure they realise we are playing at the highest level in our history and we will put a team out which will give everything and entertain people. I hope we can all pull in the same direction."
We will speak to Kelham later this week about his plans for getting involved with grass roots football and building the club's community links ...
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