FC Halifax Town: “We’re here for the fight” says Wild on race for the play-offs

Wild has guided Halifax, who travel to Barnet on Saturday, into promotion contention since taking charge just 10 days before the start of the season.

The Town boss inherited a half-finished squad when he was appointed, with Halifax expected to be closer to the relegation places than the play-off spots.

But The Shaymen start 2020 with ambitions of a top-seven finish, and Wild is relishing the challenge.

“We’ve not been out of the top half of the league all season, and we’ve been fighting at the right end of the league all season,” Wild reflected.

“Patience is key. We’re all learning, this group of players is learning how to fight at the right end of the table, I’m learning as a manager what it takes to get out of this league, what I need to do, what we need for each game.

“We’re all in this together, we’re all learning, we’re all fighting.

“Stick with us because we’re firmly in for the fight, we’re here for the fight, but it won’t be an easy fight, it’s going to be an absolute dog-fight to the end.

“Come the end of April, if we’re in that dog-fight, then this group of players deserves immense credit.

“If we make those play-offs, we have unbelievably hit the jackpot. But that’s what we’re aiming for.

“If we can hit the jackpot, every Town fan should be singing every one of this squad’s names to the high hilt because they deserve immense credit for what they’re doing.”

Wild says his side have over-achieved so far this season, but is not getting too carried away.

“We had 41 points going into this New Year, and at that stage last year we had 30,” he said.

“So we’re 11 points better off this year. We’ve all got to remain grounded and remember that when we walked through the door it was ‘please keep us in the league and sort out this turmoil’.

“We’ve done that. Alright, we’ve not had the best of runs lately, I appreciate that, but the lads continue to punch way above their weight, and way above where this club generally finishes.

“What we’d like from the New Year is to keep picking up points, keep chipping away, stay in that top half as long as possible, and the longer we do that, let’s see if we can get over the line.”

Wild says his ambitions have not changed from the start of the campaign, despite his side performing above expectations.

“There’s still three things for this season. Number one, get to 50 points as quick as we can, number two, stay in the top half of the league as long as possible, and number three, can we break into the top seven?

“Those will never change.

“This squad keeps punching way above its weight, everybody’s got to remember that.

“My job is to work with the players we’ve got, me and Chris (Millington) on the training ground, keep trying to make them better, and see how many points we can pick up.

“There’s not a lot of wriggle room in terms of budget, so I’ve got what I’ve got. If there’s a chance I can get a free or a loan in, I’ll nibble at it. If there isn’t, I’ll work with what I’ve got.

“People have got to remain patient with that. Sometimes it won’t go our way, but all in all, we’ll keep what we’re doing because I think it’s working.”

The Halifax squad could look different come the end of January, with three players’ contracts believed to be up for renewal.

“If people come in for our players we’ll have to look at it,” said Wild. “Hopefully they don’t.

“There’s two or three lads’ contracts up, and I need to have a think about that and whether we freshen it up or whether we stick with what we’ve got.

“Some mornings I wake up and go ‘stick’, some mornings I wake up and go ‘twist’. That’s for me to fathom out.

“Obviously I brought in Shawn McCoulsky and unfortunately it’s not worked out the way I wanted it.

“From what I’ve seen of him over the years, and even Neal Ardley (Notts County manager) said to me the other week ‘he’s scored goals wherever he’s been’, but it’s just not worked.

“Every manager will get some right and some wrong, and we’ve got to learn from that.

“Maybe we’ll bring someone else in, or Dayle (Southwell) might come back a different player having played four or five 90 minutes and got a couple of goals and we push forward with him, that’s not out of the question either.”