STEVEN RUDD: We’ve come a long way

First-team assistant manager Steven Rudd says Reds have come a long way since he and Danny Grainger took charge, following the pair signing new contracts at the club yesterday.

Ruddy, who was first involved with the club as a teenager, extended his stay at Borough Park by committing to a new two-and-a-half-year deal.

Speaking yesterday, Grainger’s right-hand man discussed the news along with a various other topics, including new signing Iyrwah Gooden.

“At the moment with all the uncertainly due to everything that’s going on, it’s good to get some stability in terms of, you can start thinking ahead to the future,” said Ruddy.

“Football will come back at some point, it’s just about being ready and, hopefully, this is the start of the process so that we can crack on.”

Having teamed up with Grainger in the summer of 2019, Rudd was able to reflect on the eventful period as a new chapter begins.

“On the pitch, we’ve come a long way since that first game against Pickering [on the opening day of the 2019/20 season],” he explained.

“We’ve also come a long way off the field; the club’s going places and it’ll be good if we can marry both on and off the pitch together to, hopefully, have as successful of a next two years as the previous couple.”

With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, the start of the 2021/22 season is not yet in sight.

Nevertheless, Rudd and Grainger are still preparing, and the assistant has hinted at a freshening up of the squad.

“When we plan, we always plan for the league above,” stated Rudd.

“That’s A: where we want to go as quickly as possible and B: should make us successful in the league we’re in.

“We’re always looking ahead and this summer, we’ll probably freshen it up a bit – not wholesale – we’ve already got Iyrwah in, he’ll be a good addition.

“There’s no guarantees from what you’ve achieved in the past two seasons so we just need to start again and make sure we’re up there.”

On the ‘good addition’ Gooden, Rudd revealed what he thinks the 20-year-old forward will bring to Reds once we restart.

“Iyrwah is different to what we’ve got; quick on the ball, runs in behind and can go one-on-one with his athleticism.

“Rueben [Jerome]‘s a presence, Scott Allison’s got a bit of everything and Dav [Symington] with his deliveries, so he’s different.

“You’ll never have complete squad but if you’ve got three or four different options – and hopefully we’ll have Nathan Waterston around – no team in the league will want to defend against speed and pace.”

You can watch Danny Grainger’s interview on our YouTube channel here.