James Fishlock relishing a new beginning with Pontypridd United
New Pontypridd United Women’s head coach James Fishlock is relishing the prospect of being back in the women’s game after a brief spell away from football.
Fishlock has been put in charge of the team while former head coach, Fern Burrage-Male, is away on maternity leave.
However, the new head coach is delighted to have joined a team that is heading in the right direction.
‘It’s a really good opportunity to work with players and staff there I’ve already got a relationship with’
‘After Cardiff, I wanted to find something which I felt matched my ambitions off the pitch as well as on the pitch’
‘Pontypridd is a club that has got a true one club philosophy and one club mentality.
‘The support from USW is exceptional, Steve Savage has done an excellent job there.
‘Fern has done an excellent job with merging the women’s team, they’ve got the under 19 setup there, the huddles’
‘Off the pitch, it’s got a really good infrastructure, facilities there is absolutely first class. You’ve only got to take a look around USW to see that’
‘There’s an excellent group of players there. The camaraderie and the atmosphere between that group of players is excellent’
‘We’re all on the same page in terms of what we want to achieve on the pitch, and it’s a really challenging environment for me as well.’
Fishlock joins the Cymru Premier side after a spell in charge of Cardiff City Ladies in the FA Women’s National League.
There was some shock when it was announced Fishlock had left the club three games from the end of the season and fighting a relegation battle, but he has no harsh feelings towards the club.
‘It was a little bit frustrating in terms of, I felt that we were falling behind off the pitch, results on the pitch weren’t great and we were close to the relegation zone’
‘I’d like to think we would’ve stayed up if I had stayed for the final three games. I think that’s the biggest disappointment for me, but of course we will never know that’
‘I’ve got nothing but positives things to say about JP (Jamie Phillip, First Team Manager), Josh (Josh Evans, GK Coach), the players that are still there, the support that I did have from the chairwoman and the club while I was there’
‘Certainly no hard feelings from my point of view’
While this is only an interim role for Fishlock, there is no doubt that his relationship with Burrage-Male is incredibly important, especially as the two have previously had a successful relationship when working together in Welsh football.
‘What was key to me is my relationship with Fern. We have got an excellent working relationship, we’re friends away from football anyway’
‘We’ve had a period of sustained success previously with Cyncoed. We had a third-place finish in the league, winning the Welsh Cup and semi-final of the other cup competition that year as well’
‘I see the game in a similar way to Fern, the players are well coached already, there’s certainly not going to be any major changes’
‘Of course, I’ll ask them to do certain things which I feel the team should be doing, which might be a bit different to what Fern had thought, but for the however long I’m here for as the head coach, I’ll be implementing that’
‘And when Fern is ready to come back from her maternity leave, then it’s exciting because we get to work together again and continue pushing Pontypridd United forward’
Ponty finished the Adran Premier in 5th place and reached the semi-final of the FAW Cup. Fishlock wants to help the team to the next level, and a position in the top four is in his sight.
‘For me the idea is to finish as high as possible as we can in the league. Last season the team had a really successful season in terms of getting to the semi-final of the Cup, they finished 5th and a couple of points behind fourth place’
‘We’ve got to say that Aberystwyth had a strong season under Gavin Allen, the top three teams are historically very strong in this competition, but the challenge for us is to close that gap and to finish as high as possible’
‘The challenge for us is to just be as prepared as possible for every Sunday, play to the best ability that we can, be as competitive as we can, and see where we are’
‘Initially in the first six months of the season, see where we are on the 1st of January, and then if we think we are where we should be, we can push on and see where we finish at the end of the season.”
