Former Barnsley striker Nathan Jarman is convinced Barton Town is a rocket ready to be launched.
The new Barton manager is four weeks into the job – his first in management – after replacing Rob Watson and he sees massive potential in the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division outfit.
“Barton is a massive club and it is there for someone to go in and take it up,” Jarman told Non League Yorkshire.
“For potential it is massive and I’m just excited about it and I can’t wait to get going.
“It is a project that has already started, but the footings are there for the team to go up and up, or at least one step.
“They have got backing, the supporters are coming in, the stadium and the facilities are brilliant, the pitch is first class and the people behind the scenes are really good.
“Being a manager is a dream come true and being manager of Barton is a brilliant opportunity.
“I’m hoping we can take Barton into a higher league and challenge ourselves in a higher league.
“The directors and chairman have set me no targets. There’s no promotion or bust or anything like that. As long as the club see progression they will be happy.
“Me being me I’m as ambitious as anyone and I want to go up and up. I want to make a good go of it, but there’s no pressure from above.
“They just want to see progression and they want to see the nucleus of the team stay together. They know they have got good young players and they want to see me develop and nurture them as best as I can.”
Jarman began his career with Barnsley and he played in the Football League for the Tykes and Grimsby Town before dropping into Non League.
He won promotions with Alfreton Town and Chester as well as the FA Trophy at Wembley with North Ferriby.
Gainsborough Trinity and Frickley Athletic have been his last ports of call and all the experiences stand him in good stead for his first foray into this dugout.
For the moment -until the first pre-season training begins – the phone is where the work is and he’s fairly content on the recruitment front.
“A few have moved on from the squad I have inherited because I couldn’t commit to them money-wise because I didn’t know them as players and people,” he said.
“I said to them I needed to meet them and assess them myself and a few have said they are not willing to come on trial.
“So we have lost a couple of players, but the vast of majority of the squad, I think 11 or 12, have stayed from last season.
“I’m looking forward to adding a few bits of quality and maybe tinker a little bit with the formation, philosophy and the team identity.
“By all accounts in the last few years they have been a footballing team and it has been football, football, football.
“I’ve said this to the chairman and some of the lads, some of the teams I’ve been in which have been successful have played football in the right areas.
“I don’t want it to sound negative or that it is boom-ball, but we’ll be playing in the right areas. We won’t be tippy-tapping around in our 18-yard-box.”
The formation could include a Mezzala, a Carrilero, inverted wingers and false nines if Jarman adopts any of his Football Manager tactics.
Jarman is a self-confessed Football Manager addict, and he was recently a hit on social media for his tweet referencing his move into real-life management.
“I’ve played Football Manager since it was Championship Manager,” he said.
“I used to room with someone called Jonty Loukes, a Sheffield-lad, in our digs at Barnsley. He never made it as a professional and he’s out in America now.
“I’d be up all night playing Championship Manager 03/04 and then Football Manager 2005 the year after.
“I’d be sat on my laptop all night and I’d get a few hours sleep and then in for training the following day.
“Jonty was in the bed opposite and I’d be shouting if a goal had gone in or goal hadn’t gone in.
“I still buy every version and I have it on my laptop now although I don’t play it as much now with family and businesses.”
His assistant Danny North is also a regular Football Manager user.
Having played for professional clubs they are also part of the game since they were in their teens. Thousands of people across the country have probably signed either of them at some stage.
For one unlucky FM user, Jarman missed a penalty in a Welsh Cup Final which cost his team glory.
But who was the most better player on the game?
“Northy was a bit of a hero on LMA Manager 2002 or 2003, I’m sure it was that game, it might have been a bit later,” he said.
“He was 15 or 16 at Grimsby and he went onto to be a world-beater.
“In my younger days at Barnsley I used to be good on it. My finishing rating was ridiculous, it was like 16 or 17.
“When that tweet got retweeted on Instagram it got 4,500 likes.
“People were putting comments like ‘he used to score goals for me back in the day’ and ‘he got me to the Prem’.
“I’m going to say I was better than Northy on the game.”
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