Danny Coyne arrived last summer to 'challenge' Brad Jones and Jason Steele, and quickly established himself as a firm fan favourite.
Small in stature (for a goalkeeper) the Welshman nonetheless made a big impression in the Boro squad, and has quietly been cementing his place in the hearts of the fans by being one of the most frequent visitors to the MFC in the Community events.
ComeOnboro.com's Elle Brunton caught up with Boro's new Community Player of the Year.
EB: Obviously the season ends on Saturday, and Boro did not make the play-offs...
DC: It's not been the season we were hoping it would be.
"The same as the game on Saturday, it would have been nice to finish on a high [at home] but we got a draw in the end, we just feel very disappointed at how its finished.
"But the manager was working on things from day one in training, and now he's looking towards next season to get promotion.
"He is doing as much as he can now, getting ready, we are going to a training camp in La Manga on the 22nd of May."
EB: So it's back to work with your holidays cut short?
DC: Yes, the manager felt it would have been too long a break without playing football, so he organised a weeks training.
EB: The fans are expecting a lot of changes in the squad over the summer...
DC: A few lads are out of contract, and the manager's got his eye on a few players so it won't be a massive surprise to see a few changes in the summer.
"The gaffer's not going to leave anything to chance, he'll leave no stone unturned, we want promotion.
EB: Boro fell short of the play-offs this season, but in some games we did not look too far away...
DC: "I think we probably drew more games than we would have liked, but ten eleven games at home unbeaten... we've got the building blocks to start from next season.
"He made us hard to beat, but we need to stop the late goals, if we had hung on to some of the leads we took, we would obviously be in the play-offs.
"But it's the end of the season, time to reflect on where we went wrong."
EB: And off the pitch, you are the newly crowned Community Player of the Year, was David Wheater devastated about having to share it?
DC: (laughing) Ha, he's great Wheats, and he comes from this community so they love him, he'll speak to anyone and he does a lot [for the community]. This is his third one isn't it?
EB: Yes, He was desperate to get his hat-trick!
DC: (laughing) Well he still got it!
"It's nice to get that sort of recognition but its not for us, its not about getting awards.
"It is something that should be done, its nice too, like today, you can put a smile on their faces, that's a great feeling."
EB: There are rumours that Strachan may bring in a third goalkeeper in the summer, would that be a problem for you or are you up for the challenge?
DC: It doesn't matter who comes in, I'll be here, working hard, that's the way I am.
"I'm just looking forward to next season."
First published on www.ComeOnBoro.com on 29/4/2010
No comments:
Post a Comment