The hard-fought draw against Oldham Victoria was a crucial psychological victory. It had proven to the players, and to me, that we could compete at this new, higher level. But it had also been a stark, sobering lesson.
We had been outplayed for long periods. We had been reliant on a moment of individual brilliance from JJ to salvage a point.
We had survived, but we had not thrived. And I knew that if we were going to achieve our ambitions, if we were going to challenge for promotion, we needed to be more than just a solid, counter-attacking team. We needed more quality. We needed more depth. We needed more options.
The problem was, we had no money. The merger with Moss Side Athletic had given us a home, but it had not given us a budget. We were still a team of amateurs, playing for the love of the game. We couldn't go out and buy the quality we needed. We had to create it.
And that's when I decided to launch The Youth Project.
