By Jon Couch
THEY say a week is a long time in football, so 12 months feels like an absolute eternity.
A year ago last week, Aldershot Town fans celebrated the return of their favourite son. Gary Waddock, or ‘The Wadfather' as he is affectionately known at the EBB Stadium after leading the club to the Blue Square Premier title in 2007-08, was unveiled to begin a second spell in the manager's hotseat, following the departure of Barry Smith.
With that, the credits to Wadfather Part II started to roll as his loyal army of fans in red and blue hailed the return of the man they call the Ginger Mourinho.
After three years of hard toil at the wrong end of the National League table since their demotion from the elite 92, long-suffering Shots were beginning to doubt whether the glory days would ever return to north-east Hampshire.
But, the moment the 55-year-old former Queens Park Rangers ace sank back into his old manager's chair sporting his trademark smile, suddenly hope was on the horizon.
Continuity
Within the next few weeks, Waddock set about building a first-team squad from scratch, complementing the arrival of seasoned Conference performers such as Jake Cole, Callum Reynolds, Matt McClure and Scott Rendell with an exciting blend of blisteringly quick youngsters such as Shamir Fenelon, Bernard Mensah and Idris Kanu.
As you would expect with a brand new team, it took time to gel but before long the Waddock formula clicked into gear and after a run of just one defeat in 21 matches since Boxing Day, the Shots had sneaked their way into the final play-off place as the form team in the division.
Waddock's dream died in the first leg in front over 5,600 at the EBB Stadium as individual errors were ruthlessly seized upon by Micky Mellon's Tranmere Rovers, giving the Merseysiders a comfortable 3-0 lead going into the second leg at Prenton Park.
The three-goal deficit then became four, courtesy of first-leg hero Cole Stockton, but Waddock's young side dug deep and battled back for a 2-2 draw on the afternoon, showing their National League rivals at least that they have the stomach for a fight.
“It was disappointing in the end,” Waddock reflected. “It was just those individual errors in the first leg that cost us dear but I can have no complaints, the players and the staff have been excellent, right from day one.
“I knew we had a talented group of players here and a nice blend of youth and experience, but it was difficult to set any targets publically as we didn't know how long it would take them as a group to gel. We had a difficult period in November when nothing really went our way, but from around about Christmas time it all seemed to click into place.”
Indeed, it's a sign of Waddock's satisfaction of the last campaign that no fewer than 14 of last season's squad have put pen-to-paper on new deals for next season.
And with a few tweaks here and there, the gaffer believes they can go one step further and make a charge for a return to the Football League.
“We have such a good group here so we wanted to keep it tight to give us continuity and stability moving forward,” Waddock added.
Expectancy
“The chairman and the board of directors have been very supportive, giving us all the backing we need and if we can bring one or two more in to strengthen us up then who's to say we can't challenge again.
“We over-achieved last season and are ahead of schedule, but with success comes expectation and we have to be able to deal with that.”
Waddock's bid will no doubt be aided by the club's announcement to revert back to issuing 52-week contracts this summer, keeping them in the market for the top players.
Yet despite starting as many people's tip for a title tilt next season, chairman Shahid Azeem says there will be no such expectancy among the board of directors and no targets to hit – they just want to keep the feel-good factor going.
“We are extremely proud of what Gary, James [assistant manager Rowe] and the players have achieved this season,” Azeem said.
“We operated on a below mid-table budget so, without doubt, we have over-achieved. The players have been magnificent.
“The management and the players may have their own targets for next season but as far as the board of directors are concerned, there is no expectancy and no targets set. I speak to Gary on a regular basis and next season hasn't been talked about as yet.
“He's going to go away, take a well-earned break and have a think about it.”
