Source: Northern_Echo
Caretaker Liddle will give youth a chance
CRAIG Liddle plans to give youth a chance this evening for his first game since being appointed as Darlington’s caretaker manager.
The first match since Colin Todd’s departure sees Quakers take on Rochdale at The Northern Echo Arena and Liddle is to include a selection of youth team graduates in the squad.
The former defender is the club’s head of youth and played a key role in fast-tracking striker Curtis Main into the first-team squad.
Main can expect a start this evening, as a replacement for David Dowson, after scoring a late equaliser in Saturday’s draw at Grimsby Town when fellow teenagers Dan Riley and Dan Groves were on the bench.
“There’s one or two changes that we’ll make,†said Liddle who is being assisted by Quakers’ centre of excellence manager Neil Maddison.
“Curtis scored on Saturday so he’s pressing for a recall and we’ve got one or two people who come into contention.
“There’s the young lads who I work with on a daily basis so I know what they’re all about and I can trust them so you might see one or two of them included as well.
“I spoke to Colin before about the kids but he thought it wasn’t right to give them a chance – and understandably so because things have been tough. But we haven’t got a great deal to lose so why not chuck one or two in and see what they can do?
“Young boys don’t have that fear that older professionals have. They are coming into the situation fresh so I’m hoping, if I do include one or two, that will be the case.â€
Liddle explained he was sorry to see the back of Todd who last week agreed with chairman Raj Singh to step down by mutual consent if Quakers failed to win at Grimsby.
So he leaves with Darlington bottom of the table and without a win in their first nine league games, but he was at Quakers’ Durham training ground yesterday to say farewell to the players and his staff.
“Colin came in this morning, had a chat with everybody and wished everybody luck,†said Liddle.
“I’ve seen it happen before in my career, the manager leaving, but I’ve got an enormous amount of respect for Colin. I played with his son, Andy, at Middlesbrough so I’ve known the family for a long time.
“I am very disappointed to see him go because he’s a fantastic man and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him.â€
Liddle is likely to also be charge for the visit of Macclesfeld Town on Saturday, though he is sure to be interested in becoming the club’s permanent manager.
He was a huge crowd favourite during his eight seasons as a regular at the heart of Darlington’s defence and now he hopes to see Quakers record their first win of the season this evening.
He said: “I feel nervous, excited, frightened. Every emotion is going through my head. But I’m looking forward to it, it’s not every day you get this kind of opportunity.
“Hopefully I can get a win or two and then we’ll see what the club decides. If they decide to appoint from outside then that would be fine as I thoroughly enjoy my job with the young lads. I’m just planning to enjoy the experience and then we’ll see where we go from there.
“I think we need to get the situation sorted out quickly because time is running out, we need to get points on the board.
“But it has got to be the right decision, the next manager has got to be somebody that can do the job well and that job is to get us out of the relegation places.’’ He added: “I’d like to think the fans will show their support.
I had a fantastic relationship with them as a player so hopefully they will be back us because we need the support now more than ever.
“If we can get the supporters on side and bums on seats it can make a huge difference to the players.
“People often go on about wanting young local lads in the team, so I think the supporters will appreciate the effort and determination of the young lads and they will be proud of them.â€
