Andy’s on hand to take the reins at Albion

By Neil Harvey

BOSS: Andy Monkhouse

TADCASTER Albion have turned to former Rotherham United, Swindon Town and Hartlepool United player Andy Monkhouse to turn their fortunes around.

The 42-year-old has served as first-team coach at Ings Lane for three seasons but has taken over after the departure of joint managers Craig Ogilvie and Neil Sibson.

Monkhouse, a former Taddy playing favourite, is the club’s third manager of the season with the club eight points adrift at the bottom of the NPL East with just eight points and without a win from their 21 games.

Ogilvie and Sibson replaced John Deacey in September with only four draws from 11 games.

But the new regime failed to turn things around with Boxing Day’s defeat to Bridlington meaning they had achieved just four draws in almost four months.

Monkhouse began as a trainee with Rotherham United and had eight years with the Millers before leaving in 2006.

After a year with Swindon, he joined Hartlepool where, in over seven years at the club, he wrote himself into the history books as one of only 16 players to make over 300 appearances.

A UEFA A Licence holder, Monkhouse had a year in charge of Pontefract Collieries after retiring but returned to Tadcaster last season to help mastermind a great escape as assistant to Deacey. When Ogilvie and Sibson took over, he stayed on as coach.

A club statement read: “We would like to place on record our appreciation of their considerable efforts to rebuild the playing squad but with the club firmly languishing at the bottom of the NPL East, and our results as worrying as they were back in September, the board felt that steps to improve matters should be introduced now at the halfway stage of the season.”