“This club has something that I want to be a part of.” Craig Denton’s first interview

The Swans enter a new era on Saturday as Craig Denton takes charge of his first game with the club against Eccleshill United.

The former Worksop Town manager was unveiled as the new Swans manager last Saturday and is ready to go against an Eccleshill side who won comfortably against Bottesford Town in midweek.

Barton’s Media Manager Aaron Irwin caught up with Craig ahead of his first game in charge at the Easy Buy Stadium.

AI: So what was it that made you want to come to Barton Town?

CD: “Since resigning from my former club I have been itching to get back involved in football. I have always said I wanted to go somewhere where I felt the infrastructure is in place and works for me. The amount of travelling was never an issue for me. Once I had contact with the club I wanted to really pursue that. For me it is a well ran club, Mark the Chairman comes across as a real honest and professional guy, the feel of the club is right. This club has something that I want to be a part of. They’re experienced at this level.”

I’m a big believer in talking about what we’ve got and then it’s down to us. We’ll do our preparation and go into the game confident.”

Craig Denton

Have you been able to do your homework on our side and is it going to be easy to instil your philosophies on the side?

“We have done our homework yes; someone watched the cup game against Liversedge a couple of weeks ago and last Saturday we were impressed with the effort and commitment shown by the lads. On paper there’s some experienced players and the performance was impressive. In terms of philosophy I don’t exactly have a blueprint as I feel that personally doesn’t work. We want to work close with the players and see where they can improve. I don’t want to do it all my way. There’s some very experienced players here, Craig Disley, Plummer, Pete Winn. It might take us a couple of weeks for us to get up to speed and make an impact.”

We play Eccleshill at the weekend, have you had a look at them and how we can play against them?

“I’m actually outside their ground now to watch tonight (Wednesday’s game against Bottesford), they have some good individual players. We’ll do some digging about what formations they play, but I’m a big believer in talking about what we’ve got and then it’s down to us. We’ll do our preparation and go into the game confident.”

Lastly could you tell us a little about the team you’re bringing in to help you.

“Rob Watson, previous Winterton Rangers manager. At the start of the season I lost my assistant at Worksop as he managed to get a full-time job at Rotherham United. I knew Rob from his Winterton days, he works with Barnsley FC and I wanted to get him involved, keen to bring him in. He’s an A-licensed coach and will come in as a joint assistant manager.

“Wayne Thompson has managed at NCEL level with Hallam and Athersley Recreation and scouted higher up. He stuck with me at Rainworth and Worksop. He’s a great motivator, he’s knowledgeable and experienced at this level which is vital.

“James Humphreys has lots of experience in Academy football. He’s worked at Boston United and Lincoln City and has also managed in the NCEL. He will come in as a goalkeeping coach as he did that for me at Worksop. We will also be retaining the physio (current physio Andrea Winter).”

We all wish Craig the best of luck with his tenure at the club and hope his reign begins with three points. Come down to see how he and the Swans get on against Eccleshill on Saturday at the Easy Buy Stadium.