Open Forums
Open Forum: David Cardoza and General Manager Tony Clarke.
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Nov 17, 2005, 20:00

On Thursday evening, Chairman David Cardoza and General Manager Tony Clarke attended the latest Open Forum, held after the conclusion of the NTFC Supporters Ltd AGM.

For those who were unable to make the meeting, a brief resume can be found below;

The Open Forum was preceeded with a presentation from NTFC Supporters Limited to Mr Tony Platt, who had just been elected as President. General Manager of NTFC Tony Clarke made the presentation to Tony, in recognition of his work to date on behalf of NTFC Supporters Ltd and his support over many years for NTFC.

The Open Forum commenced:

Q: How concerned are you with the lack of progress on your 5 year plan to climb up through the Divisions and can you put any more resource in to the team?
DC: This 5 year plan was never actually said by me but it is something that has been attributed to me. We will always put as much resource as we can to help the team progress and make it happen. We are also a business, and we will not be reckless. We feel we offer a good budget and we will continue to provide the Manager with as much support as we can.

Q: I read in the media that Fred Murray has had a set back, what’s the
latest, and do we have any plans for when the Transfer Window opens?
DC: Fred picked up an infection after his operation and that has set him
back a few weeks which is a big shame. On the second point, when the
Transfer Window opens and the right player comes up then we will consider that then. We have extended the loan of Junior Mendes for another couple of months and that is obviously good news. His loan will be up when the Transfer Window is open and we will see what happens then.
TC: Football is always about options. With the Transfer Window your mind is always open to completing dealings at a certain time. Not many of us like the Transfer Window but it is here to stay. Colin Calderwood has a budget to work to like everyone else and he can spend it as he sees fit. We are always looking for new players and working to bring new players in and we will always support him as best we can.

Q: How is Ashley Westwood progressing?
DC: He is back in full training this week and this is an important time. He
is a model professional who is working as hard as he can to get himself fit and the Doctors and physios cannot speak highly enough of him and his attitude.

Q: Fans like to see home-grown talent come through and play in the first
team. Is there any chance that we will develop more local players?
TC: I recall the LDV Vans Trophy game where Scott Cross was the first
Northampton born player to score for the club for a few years. We have had a barren few years, apart from the odd glowing exception, but one of the joys for me is that Colin Calderwood, John Deehan, David Kerslake and David Watson are prepared to give young players a chance at both first team and reserve team level. I spoke to a former youth player a few weeks back who said that in his entire Northampton Town career under a former manager he was only given 5 minutes in the reserves and that was it. We are working hard to make sure that local lads like Luke Chambers, Scott Cross, Liam Dolman, Tom Bonner and the rest continue to progress. This year we have a handful of youth players who could go on to become professional players and that is unheard of in recent years. Credit must go to Scott McLachlan and Ian Sampson. The FA Youth Cup over Mansfield win shows the strength we now have. We are proud of the progress we are making.

Q: What is the biggest success and the biggest disappointment since you arrived?
DC: The biggest disappointment was losing to Mansfield at the end of the first season. Had we won that semi final I think we would have gone up and things could have snowballed quickly. As for the biggest success, well I don’t feel too successful as we are still in this Division. If I was pushed I would say our community work has improved ten fold since I arrived and that is great, but any club is measured by the success on the field and I am confident we will go up this season.

Northampton Town Football Club and NTFC Supporters Ltd would like to thank all supporters who attended the event.



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