Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Mike Carmody is pleased with how his first campaign as Goole AFC manager has gone.
Carmody has delivered on his promise to bring stability to a club notorious for being a graveyard for managers.
The ex-Armthorpe Welfare boss is Goole’s 16th manager since 2012 and also the longest serving since then.
Goole have moved on from their perennial status as strugglers as under Carmody and his assistant Alan Jackson, the Vikings have been fighting for a top half finish from day one.
“It is the most stable season they’ve had for a few years,” Carmody told Non League Yorkshire.
“From the feedback I’m got from committee, at the moment with three league games to play, we have the highest number of league points since 2015.
“We have had the most league away wins for so many years so there’s been bright spots.
“I set my target and I wanted 50 points.
“I still want 50 points and I think we are more than capable of getting there.
“I think it has been (a) successful (season) and I think it could have been more successful because some of the points we have dropped.
“We’re looking like we’re going to finish mid-table and that’s where we thought we would be.
“With a couple more results we could have been higher but then again we have nicked points where we thought we didn’t have any right to.
“It has been a solid season, that’s what I would say and now we’re looking to push on.
“We are a young side and we probably have one of the youngest squads in the league.
“I don’t really look at budgets (of other clubs) and it is about the group pushing on and maturing going into next season.
“The way we have played this year we should be hitting top ten.
“There has not been many times when I have come away disappointed.
“We have been beaten by better teams at times.
“I think top ten is the expectation from now on and as we move forward we have to look above that.”
On the highlights front, there’s a few.
Wins over Eccleshill United, Handsworth and Barton Town stand-out, as does the form of young guns such as James Arnold, Reece Kral, Tyer Williams, Dylan Collington (who has since returned to Pontefract Collieries), Lucas Robinson and several others.
“Certainly development of players (is a highlight),” he said.
“I think we have got six-or-seven lads who have not played at NCEL Prem before.
“They have really stepped up to it so that’s pleasing to see.
“I’m really pleased with the players who have come from Division One or even lower than that and done well for themselves.
“Results-wise, we have enjoyed some good ones.
“You were at one, Handsworth was a great result.
“Barton, yeah, with nine men, it was a great result.
“It has been a rollercoaster but I’ve never felt we would ever collapse and go on a run where we would lose numerous games.
“I don’t think we have the type of people in the dressing room for that.
“They’re willing to work for us and that’s the pleasing thing for me.”
Carmody already has one eye on next season and he says he is realistic about the future.
“We’re looking to keep the same sort of squad and build on it,” he said.
“The vibe around the club is great and I’ve said it all season, if people pull together, good things can happen.
“The supporters are behind us, the lads are behind us, the board are behind us so we need to continue that into next season and grow.
“Trying to predict next year is hard as it is a long way off.
“I think trying to hit top six is difficult because we have only had 35 decent games, that’s all.
“We have done alright and whilst there is stability, I think we need a few good seasons under our belts before we can even be thinking about hitting top six teams.”