Veteran managerial duo Dave Pace and Aeon Lattie are as committed as ever, and despite a succession of midtable finishes still believe the Bloods’ luck is bound to take a turn for the better.
The aim for next season is not only promotion but the Evo-stik NPL first division title. Assistant-boss Lattie says it would be unacceptable to aim for anything lower, commenting: “We always plan to win it. Because of the success we’ve enjoyed here, I can’t say anything else.
“In the season just finished, there were times when we were doing all right. I was probably satisfied until around Christmas but a little bit disappointed with the last ten games when I felt we could still push for something.
“I think the turning point was when we lost 1-0 at Mossley on New Year’s Day. We played pretty well but lost to an own goal.”
Pace is well known for his willingness to rip up the team sheet and start again whenever he sees fit. He never shies away from making changes if he believes them to be right. Yet Lattie, who is always supportive of his manager, acknowledges there are drawbacks to having a constant flow of players leaving and joining the club.
He believes that if Droylsden can retain most of the current squad, using them as a base to build on, the club could be among the promotion challengers in 2020.
“The key to having a good season is making a good start — the first ten games are massively important because they set you up for the rest of the year,” Lattie explained.
“In the last few seasons we’ve struggled to get that start because we’ve always been starting from fresh. We haven’t been at full strength, we haven’t known our best 11, and the players probably haven’t been fully fit because we’ve only had six or seven games to work with them pre-season.
“It would be good this year if we could retain a nucleus of the team. If we can keep a core we wouldn’t be starting completely fresh, we’d have players who already knew our style. We wouldn’t be rebuilding, we’d be fine-tuning, and that would give us a chance of that crucial good start.
“But it’s keeping that core. There’s a lot of clubs around the Tameside area and they tend to have first pick of the talent. Once, a gentleman’s agreement would suffice, but these days players will text you to say they’re leaving or just not answer their phone. If they can get more money somewhere else they’re likely to be off.
“Dave met the players yesterday (Monday) to see who’s planning to stay and who wants to leave.”
When the new season starts, it will be Pace’s 24th as Butchers Arms manager since he took over from Dalton Steele at the end of 1996. There’s always talk that’s he’s had enough and is preparing to stand down, but Lattie said he knows nothing of such plans.
He added: “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no truth in the stories. I know there are groups that aren’t happy with results but they need to be careful what they wish for. Nobody loves this club more than Dave Pace.
“Dave and I take whatever comes at us — rough or smooth. We just want Droylsden to be successful again.”