NPL Division One East
Jas Colliver wants to take Ossett United into the NPL Premier Division either this season in the coming campaigns.
Colliver and Mark Ward are gearing up for their first game in charge on Saturday after becoming the new Ossett bosses on Christmas Eve after winning the race to succeed Wayne Benn
Ossett host Brighouse Town and Colliver has his sights set on reigniting their fading play-offs challenge.
That remains the goal this season for Colliver who sees massive potential.
“We have a plan and there’s vision right down from the board to us and we want to be aiming to get in the play-offs this season,” Colliver told Non League Yorkshire.
“I know that’s a big ask and there’s not any pressure on that this season.
“But we are setting ourselves a target of trying to get into the top five.
“Is it achievable?
“We think it is.
“If it is not this season, in a couple of seasons’ time, we’re ambitious and we’re an ambitious club, we want to be playing Step 3 football.
“I think the infrastructure is there and the board are amazing and they have a clear vision with James Rogers’ leadership as chairman.
“Their ambition matched ours.
“It is a big club and it is club that feels right.
“When I met the chairman and the board members for the first time it felt right.
“Some of the clubs I have been at before, just haven’t felt right for whatever reason.
“This does and it feels a perfect fit.
“There’s a huge fanbase, averaging 500 fans for home games and that’s without really trying.
“If they’re flying and if we’re competing and when we’re playing the bigger teams in the Division there’s going to be like 700 or 800 fans in that ground.”
Colliver and Ward’s appointment was a shock to some.
Even Colliver was a self-confessed dark horse when the club began accepting applications.
But the ex-Sheffield FC and Handsworth boss says his and Ward’s pitch for the post was focussed on a vision of substance rather than just a glittering CV.
“I’d heard that there were ex-pros in for it and managers who have achieved more than I have in Non League who had gone for it,” he said.
“To be honest I felt I was probably an outsider looking in but once as I had done my preparation and got the opportunity to have an interview, I always fancied my chances because of who I am.
“You don’t get jobs talking the talk.
“I was myself and I did a lot of preparation for the interview and I got my vision and philosophy over to the club early doors in a different way.
“I felt I needed to do something different for the interview so I prepped really hard and I knew a lot about the club, its catchment and I knew a lot about the team in terms of recruitment and what’s needed.
“I don’t think other managers had that vision.
“By no means was I the favourite for the job and a few people might be surprised we have actually got the job.
“But I have loads of experience in Non League and while we don’t have titles or trophies, we’ve had successes in different ways like producing young players or cup runs or building things from scratch like I did at Clipstone and Wardy at Swallownest.
“We felt if we got an interview we knew we would be strong going into it.
“Wardy has just come from a club where he was the assistant manager on paper but he was doing a hell of a lot for an assistant manager.
“He was overseeing recruitment, taking training and they were sat top of the league 20 games unbeaten and in the FA Cup first round proper.
“Wardy’s record most recently speaks for itself.
“Between us the club are getting two managers, two coaches for the price of one.
“I think the club are going to get good value out of us and we know the level and catchment area.
“We feel it is a club we will work well with it.”
Colliver and Ward are taking training for the first time this evening and are likely to have one new attacker signed on by then.
The new recruit will be the first of a few as the pair look to bolster numbers.
“There’s a local of lads within the squad who we want to keep the nucleus of,” Colliver said.
“We’re not going to rip the squad to pieces but we know areas where we need to strengthen.
“We’ve identified our targets and we have gone for five lads already.
“There’s a lot of players registered but there’s a lot of players who have dipped their toe into it but not been around for a number of weeks.
“We are working with a small squad.
“We were two short on the bench at Tadcaster.
“We know we need to add strength-in-depth but what we also know is we have lads who missed the game on Monday through injury or suspension and will be back hopefully from Saturday onwards.
“I feel key areas need improving and that’s what we’re going to do initially but there’s not going to be a mass overhaul of the squad.”