"What an exciting project this could be": Morecambe manager looks to the future
Ashvir Singh Johal has spoken about his long-term ambitions for Morecambe, saying he wants to take the club forward on and off the pitch.
The new manager enjoyed a winning start to his time in charge at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium with Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Altrincham.
He has had to hit the ground running, bringing in 13 players so far and assembling a new backroom staff with the arrivals of assistant boss Lee Tomlin and goalkeeping coach Jonathan Stewart.
Nevertheless, Johal says he is looking to instil plans and processes to take the club forward ‘over the next four to five years.’
He said: “We want to be a team that is brave and dominates the ball, and we want them to be really intense when out of possession – and we saw that on Saturday, even though we had only had two training sessions.
“I feel like we are in a really exciting space and I am looking at what this team looks like in four or five years’ time.
“My thoughts are on how we can grow every day to not only build a team but build a club.
“We want to build sustainable processes in terms of recruitment and getting really good players in, and then developing them so they can go to the next level – so we can make money from them, which we can reinvest.
“We want to have a consistent style of play from the academy to the first team and we want to make that relationship as integrated as possible.
“This club could achieve really big things. It could be painful at times and we are not going to win every game, so I want everyone to support what we are doing and the processes we are putting in place and, in four or five years’ time, we will see where we need to get to. Don’t judge us season by season.
“Let’s try and make the club sustainable, then let’s try and maximise commercial opportunities that this club has got because, by doing that, you can get the best football team.
“If we bring everything together, what an exciting project this could be.”