All posts by Liam

The appointment of David Flitcroft as the head coach of Bury FC has proven to be the correct decision as the English manager was capable of guiding the League Two club into the 12^th position after they were at the brink of being relegated. This occurred in the previous season and things have only been getting better for Bury as the club is now located in the top spots of the English League.

Neil Lennon was appointed as the head coach of Bolton Wanderers on October 12 but before the selection was made, David Flitcroft of Bury was one of the managers that were continuously being linked with the vacant managerial position of Bolton Wanderers.

Whenever Flitcroft was asked if he was taking into consideration making a move to the Championship League club, the English manager quickly denied all of those rumors as he ensured fans of Bury that he is going to continue in his current position for the long run.

Before David Flitcroft had taken up the coaching position at Bury FC, he had been sacked by Barnsley and the Englishman explained just how big and important it was for him to coach another club as he pledged his future with Bury FC.

“One thing the Bury fans know I am about is loyalty. I was in a dark place before I came here. When you get sacked as a manager from your first job it is a tough experience to take and I don’t think I really reflected on it until after keeping the club (Bury) in the division (last season).

“I really do love coming to this place to work, I have got a fantastic staff and a fantastic group of players, so I am just enjoying working for my chairman and the board because they are good people,” Flitcroft added on.

Bury returned to winning ways after a 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle to put themselves as one of the contenders for an automatic promotion spot. Even though they started the season with a defeat against Cheltenham Town, Bury have since recovered and now sit only a few points away from the top of the table. This has partly been because of other top teams also dropping points in the League Two this season. Bury could only manage a 1-1 draw with Luton Town last weekend and there was a really rough three points going into the match against Plymouth.

Bury, spurred on by the home supporters, managed to get a two-goal advantage inside 15 minutes. Tom Soares and Danny Rose were on the scoresheet for the home team. Even a penalty scored by Reid in the second half could not prevent the home team dropping yet more points. Bury may have conceded three goals in four league matches so far, but manager David Flitcroft says that he is happy with the club’s defensive performance. One of the key attributes of Bury this campaign has been their pressing game and this has allowed them to win the ball back in dangerous areas on several occasions.

Flitcroft has been employing a three-man defence featuring the likes of McNulty, Mills, and Cameron.

“I’d go as far as saying we’ve got three of the best defenders in this league. But because we keep the ball for long spells you’re limiting the number of opportunities a team’s going to have against you. People talk about our passing but the way we pressed Plymouth, they couldn’t handle it. We’re having a lot of the ball but when we give it over on the transition, they don’t half work hard to get it back,” said the Bury manager.

Barnsley’s head coach Danny Wilson has added Ken Hemmings to the squad but that is not the only change the club has seen in this summer as the League One club has announced to the public their extension with their current and main sponsor CK Beckett.

The new deal will begin at the start of the upcoming season and will last at least 2 more campaigns as CK Beckett signed a new shirt deal with Barnsley which includes having the company’s name on both the home and away kits.

The new contract is going to see Barnsley giving away more than 100 complimentary tickets to schoolchildren every single week.  Ben Mansford is the chief executive of Barnsley FC and he went on to the media expressing his satisfaction about the new deal that has been made between both parties.

Mansford said: “Barnsley football club have enjoyed a special relationship with CK Beckett for more than six years now. We’ve developed a truly great partnership and we’re thrilled to have a local company as our principal sponsors.”

The managing director of CK Beckett spoke in the name of the company as he went on saying just how much of an honor it is for them to continue working with the English club.

Kevin Beckett, managing director at CK Beckett, added: “It’s a great honour to be able to extend our sponsorship and partnership with Barnsley Football Club. The football club is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, brand in Barnsley and being the club’s main sponsor is a brilliant opportunity to get the CK Beckett name out there.

This deal will continue allowing CK Beckett of having enough exposure with the club that they consider being one of the biggest in their region.