Dick and Aidy - the same issues still

Stuart Watson

Dick and Aidy - the same issues still

By Stuart Watson

AIDY Boothroyd plans on becoming the most successful manager in Colchester United's history.

The U's boss attended a 'Legends' Lunch' at the Weston Home Community Stadium earlier this week where he mixed with various managers and players of the club's past.

And now the ambitious 38-year-old wants to use the history of the club and Colchester in general as a way of taking the Essex club into a new era.

“I think every club should respect its history,” said Boothroyd. “I like history and I like to find out about the places where I'm working.

“Colchester has got 2,000-plus years of history and I think we should make use of that as a football club.

“You don't dwell and live in the past, but you use history to take your club forward.

“We have an action plan of where we want to go next. The chairman has a vision for the future and I'm totally in line with that.

“I know what the best ever league finish is at this club and I want to better it.”

That finish was achieved by Geraint Williams in the 2006/7 season when the U's, in their first ever season in the second tier of English football, finished a credible 10th.

Colchester are currently fourth in the League One table and Boothroyd has got his sights set on promotion back to the Championship in his first season in charge.

He said: “The statistics show that you've got to take four points from every two games to get promoted and we're doing that at the moment.”

One man who made a particular impression on Boothroyd during the aforementioned lunch was Dick Graham - the man who managed the U's from 1968-1972 and led the club to their famous FA Cup giant-killing victory over Leeds in '71.

“I spoke to Dick Graham and it was interesting to see that nothing has really changed,” said Boothroyd.

“Here was this 88-year-old guy who is a legend at this club telling me about the same things I'm now dealing with.

“It made me realise that nothing is ever new in this game; it's just the same issues reinventing themselves.

“I'm now hoping to get Dick along to some training sessions in the near future.”