NPL Division One East
Dave Frecklington feels Frickley Athletic now have the tools to pull away from danger.
The recent win over Stocksbridge Park Steels has raised confidence around Westfield Lane and provided slight respite from the relegation battle they find themselves in.
One league win in 18 prior to the Steels win plunged them into that situation but recent signings have given Frecklington optimism.
Among them are goalkeeper Jordan Pierrepoint, striker Kieran Wells and on loan Doncaster Rovers youngster Bobby Faulkner.
“I said to the lads, ‘when you work hard, the worm will turn, it always does’,” Frecklington told Non League Yorkshire.
“We are in a better place now.
“We feel we now have a squad that can be competitive and that was shown at Liversedge where we were super competitive.
“We could have been 3-0 up before they scored a free kick.
“We said if we could keep performing with that intensity, desire and commitment then we’ll win games.
“We carried it on into the Tuesday game against Stocksbridge and we beat them comfortably 1-0.
“It is just disappointing the game at Sheffield was called off as we were in great shape and it would have been the first time this season I would have named the same eleven.”
“We now hope we can keep this group and we feel we have a group who all want to be here and all want to fight and scrap in the same direction.
“We have 12 really big games now and it is game on.
“We have Sheffield to play twice, Pickering to play, Bridlington to play, Lincoln at home, Tadcaster to play, Ponte at home, Dunston at home,
“We have teams in and around us to play.
“We had a chat before the Stocksbridge game and we said ‘look we have 13 games left, we are going to Shildon on the last game of the season and they’ll probably need to beat us to get in the play-offs, we don’t want to go needing a win to stay up’.
“We have 11 games to make sure we are safe.
“I really believe it will be the case as we have far too much quality in there to not be safe.
“We didn’t see ourselves being in this position when we won the first four out of five so we have to make sure we finish the season strongly to give ourselves a lift going into pre-season.”
One of the reasons for Frickley’s struggles has been the constant exits of key players throughout the season and Frecklington says his side went into certain matches in the past few months literally hoping for the best.
“We did go into games fearing the worst and as a manager that’s not what you want to be doing,” he said.
“You want to be going into games knowing you have your strongest eleven and strongest bench.
“So yeah we were going into games thinking ‘this could be anything today’.
“That’s not a disservice to the players but you’re bringing people just to make up your eleven or 15 because you have no numbers.
“That was the issue, ‘who are we losing this week’?
“We have had seven day approaches (for our players) right, left and centre.
“We lost both centre-halves to Worksop and Ossett.
“We now hope we can keep this group and we feel we have a group who all want to be here and want to fight and scrap in the same direction.”
Despite their lowly fourth-bottom position, Frickley have one of the best defensive records in the league.
Frecklington has done a superb job with the defence and it is probably the reason why they have kept their heads just above the water.
“We have only conceded 39 times,” he said.
“I’ve managed for ten consecutive years and you build your teams on a strong defence.
“We have had six goalkeepers, 15 defenders and to still have a good defensive record it is credit to the players who have bought into what we have tried to do.
“Our achilles heel has been scoring goals.
“We have scored 17 goals.
“You look at Lincoln United above us.
“They have conceded 40 more goals than us and they are a point above.
“That’s how crazy this season is.
“We would have conceded a lot more goals if we had been more wide open.
“I look at Brighouse, they have a good defensive record but if you look at their front four you can be more attack minded because you’re probably going to out-score teams.
“If you’re a Marske you are going to out-score teams but you also have the best defensive record in the league.
“We haven’t got the finances to go out and get the best forwards in the league so we have to set-up in a certain way and work on it in training on a Tuesday and Thursday.
“We feel it has worked.
“We play a certain style that we have adapted a little bit and that was evident in the Stocksbridge game when we not only kept a clean sheet we limited them to two-or-three opportunities whereas we had six.”
Some are possibly surprised Frecklington is still in the Westfield Lane dugout, given results this season.
Certainly at other clubs, managers have been sacked for far less.
However, Frecklington says his club’s supporters and board understand the predicament they have been in because many factors are out of the management team’s control.
They are also supportive towards him and assistant Leon Mettam.
“Those outside the club probably have (expected me to leave in the last month),” he said.
“Don’t forget I’ve had offers from higher levels to leave.
“I turned them down to stay and people forget or probably don’t know that.
“When I sign a contract, I’ll commit to that length of time so it is down to the football club to stick to their side of the bargain.”
He added: “We have had seven consecutive defeats where a lot were by the odd goal.
“We were dominant against Yorkshire Amateur when our centre-midfielder gets sent off at 1-0 up.
“Your centre-half then gives away a penalty and then your third sub comes off the bench and gets injured with his first kick.
“You’re down to nine men and lose the game 4-1 after being 1-0 up.
“They are not management decisions, they are individual decisions.
“People who watch us every week see that.
“When the players are putting effort, desire and commitment into it, as a football fan that’s all you want to see.
“If your team is giving you everything week-in-week-out and they can see you have pride in the badge and shirt then that’s what you want.
“If you’re not and you’re getting turned over week-in-week-out and you’re not competitive then we’d be the first ones to say ‘go get yourselves a new manager, this isn’t working’.
“We have another 18 months on our contracts so it is decision for the board but everyone can see that we’re not far away.
“We have nobody on contract, that’s the problem.
“You look around and teams have players on contract.
“When (those teams) set (their) stall out at the start of the season, that’s (their) team.
“If somebody comes in for your players you have to buy them.
“All ours (are subject to) seven day approaches so you’re always seven days away from losing them.
“That’s something we need to address as a football club because if we want to go forward we need a spine of the team (who are tied to the club) and we can build around.”
The task does not get any easier this week, weather-permitting, as Frickley are away at title-chasing Marske United.
Attention then turns to a home game against Dunston the following week and Frecklington admits staying in the league would be a fine achievement considering how hard the campaign has been.
“It is the toughest time I’ve had a manager,” he said.
“It was a bigger achievement keeping Gainsborough Trinity up.
“That was the biggest achievement of my career so far.
“We were five points adrift with five games to play in the Conference North and we stayed up on goals difference and we had to beat teams like Salford, Kidderminster, Brackley who were fighting for the championship.
“This (with Frickley) would be up there because of the adversity we have had to deal with a constant day-to-day basis.”