Specsavers

WOKING NEWS & MAIL THIS WEEK

Clive Youlton
12:00am, Thu 24th May 2007
SUITS YOU SIR, TAYLOR MADE FOR ROLE

DAVID Taylor has been unveiled as the voice of Woking Football Club having been handed the title ?commercial and communications director? at Kingfield.

The world renowned author of The Naked Leader ? a chief motivational force in the Cards? dressing room last season having earned the respect of former boss Glenn Cockerill and players ? was appointed at a board meeting on Friday, where Colin Lippiatt?s title ?football technical director? was rubber-stamped.

With ?Smithgate? fresh in the minds of club officials ? the poor handling of new Welling boss Neil Smith?s departure from the club proving a catalyst for Taylor?s new role ? the positive thinking guru is seen as the perfect choice by chairman Chris Ingram to improve matters.
While commercial is in Taylor?s title, merely to act as a reporting line to commercial manager Andy Morgan, it is communication that will be his focus and he believes he can make a difference.

?Andy is doing a tremendous job on the commercial side and is starting some new initiatives next season,? he said.

?I?m just absolutely delighted to be allowed to focus on improving our communication. It is something this club needs, as frankly, it has not been organised. We haven?t been in control of it and we will now take control and be the authoritative voice for our fans via our website.

?The press too play an important role in how we should be communicating with our fans and I?m not discouraging direct access to anybody at the club, in fact quite the reverse.

?But whereas others might have the unofficial line, we will be the official voice in making announcements as and when they happen.?

Taylor and his fellow directors are currently working on a vision statement ? the club not having had one since Jon Davies was chairman in the mid 1990s.

?I?m well aware we?ve had three and five-year plans before but I want us to have a vision, a statement, spelling out what this club wants to achieve and we?re working on what that will be,? added Taylor.
?I would imagine it will include things like getting in to League Two, playing attractive football while providing our fans with entertainment, and involving everyone in a club for the community.

?And we have to make our business viable because although Chris Ingram saved this club and has a huge passion for Woking, the day we rely on his goodwill will be the death knell.?

Taylor dismissed reports of recent boardroom leaks as paranoia and added: ?In the past two months there has been talk of leaks but none of us were aware of any and frankly, we were scared to say anything. We began to wonder just what we had said to certain people. We got paranoid and then we all closed up.

?We have to realise that if we don?t communicate with people then they will put two and two together and make five.

?The board members now have clear responsibilities and accountabilities. ?I?m proud to be working with this group of directors who all have different personalities and all bring a different level of expertise to the table.?

The club will make a further announcement imminently about former club captain Smith, with the directors currently looking to recognise his contribution in some way. Taylor added: ?If anyone at Woking Football Club has upset Neil, we would like to apologise.

?We will be in a position to announce something soon but in the meantime, we wish him well at Welling in his new job.?

As for boss Frank Gray, he has worked tremendously hard in the past two weeks in securing players, with Michael Charles, Jay Gasson and Matt Pattison all having agreed terms.
The most recent acquisition has been utility player Matt Gray (no relation to the manager) from Sutton United for an undisclosed fee, who has signed.

?He?s a good footballer, has good energy and pace and can play in various positions,? said Gray, who indicated he is likely to utilise the 23-year-old as a right wing-back. ?I?m sure he has what it takes to make the step up,? he added.

Boss Gray has not yet decided on the number in his squad and he continued. ?I might go for 17 as well as two young lads from the academy last season. It depends. ?I?m not really a believer in squad players. I want 17 or 18 who can all play in the first team when called upon.

?We are bringing in young players but we are not building a team just for one season. We are building a team who can hopefully stay together for two or three years.

?In the past couple of weeks we?ve worked extremely hard and I?m happy with how it?s gone so far. People have said to me there will be a lot of players available on June 1 but if you have players you?re targeting, why wait until then??

With Nick Gindre and Jerome Maledon having signed on Tuesday, they join Ruby, Hutchinson, Marum, Bunce and Gray as those who have put pen to paper, with Green and Sole already on board. Goma Lambu is due to sign today, Thursday.

* CARDS? commercial manager Andy Morgan has Woking fans to thank for putting him top of the list in a voting poll for the NLP?s commercial manager of the year award ? a title he has gained having been in the job just six months.

?The directors are pleased for Andy who has proved he was the right choice for the job when we took him on,? said football director Phil Ledger. ?It is also a reflection of the good work he did at Aldershot Town before he came to us.?

First printed in: Woking News and Mail
Written by Clive Youlton
URL to article:
http://www.woking.co.uk/sport/wokingfc/2011/2011026/suits_you_sir_taylor_made_for_role_

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