Read Gary Waddock's first matchday notes from today's Fleetwood magazine
First and foremost I would like to say how proud I am to be in charge of Oxford United for the first home game this afternoon. It is an honour to be here and it is a challenge I am really looking forward to. Stepping on to that pitch will be a very proud moment for me today.
I would like to thank the chairman and the board for giving me the opportunity here. They have a plan and a vision to take this club forward and want to see a team playing good football while the club also continues to develop younger players.
I like my teams to play attacking, exciting football but you have to have a solid foundation to be able to achieve that. The players have trained hard this week and there is a fierce determination to put things right after defeat at Dagenham last time out. The manner of that defeat was hard to take. We had to change the team just before the game because of an injury to Alfie and then in the last minute we lose to a goal like that. You need a little bit of luck along the way and it wasn’t with us on that day. Now we need to change our fortunes around as quickly as possible to keep us in the position we all want to be.
I am always keen for young players to come through the system. It doesn’t always happen overnight but I have seen two development games here now and there are some excellent young players coming through. I want to help develop a style and a brand throughout the club but that takes time and I will not come in and make changes for changes’ sake - the players have got themselves in a fantastic position this season and we will give it everything to keep the promotion drive going.
Mickey, Andy Melville and all of the staff have been absolutely fantastic with me and I would like to thank them and the players for the way they have welcomed me and the way they have gone about their business. I thought the crowd were very positive at Dagenham. There was frustration afterwards, we accept that, but I thought your support was great. I was here to watch the last home game and I have been here with away teams; when the crowd get going and the team respond here it is a formidable place for any away side.
Where we are in the league table means that everyone knows what we are looking to achieve this season and it is certainly in our own hands to achieve what the club set out to do at the start of the season. It will be a test for us today and I would like to welcome Graham Alexander, his staff, the fans and everyone connected with Fleetwood. I have known Graham for a very long time, since we played together at Luton. He was a very good player and is doing an excellent job at Fleetwood who are one of our rivals for the promotion or play-off places.
We have home advantage though and want to make that count.
Get behind us,
Gary Waddock