THANKS once again to all the Salisbury City supporters for supplying questions for our regular Ask Nick! feature.

This month you have put Nick on the spot regarding the progress of the ground development, next season's kit, the Setanta TV proposals, City's FA Trophy exit, Salisbury's loan players, Saints' chances of promotion and even the choice of music played at the ground on matchdays!

Anyone wishing to question Nick for our April feature should e-mail their question to mike.turner@salisburyjournal.co.uk before noon on Friday, April 13.

Ground developments...

Q. Are you still confident all the ground developments needed to ensure our smooth passage to the Conference (should we win promotion this season) will be completed in time?

A. As of now we are on time, despite the weather. Our inspection will be in early April and barring deluges we should be fine.

Q. Does the club have any plans to name the new stand that's being built or will the naming rights be available for sponsorship?

A. We will be naming the stands and will also look for sponsorship help.

Q. With the 60th anniversary celebrations being planned, you could name the new stand after a former player or manager! The Nick Holmes stand might be nice!

A. Definitely not managers or players!

New kit...

Q. What's the latest news on the first team kit for next season? There was a report that the club would have a special retro kit to commemorate the 60th anniversary. Is this going to happen and will replica kits be ready for the start of the season?

A. Tom and I travelled to Italy last week and looked at new kit possibilities. We are having samples sent over within the next few days all embroidered and numbered up, and final decisions will then be made. It will not be similar to one of 60 years ago.

Q. Will the new kit still be predominantly white and black?

A. Yes.

Club shop...

Q. Well done on getting the club shop on line. Any plans for more official City merchandise? A. Hopefully we will be working with one manufacturer next year and there will be plenty more choice in the shop.

Special badge...

Q. Are there any plans to change the club badge to commemorate the 60th birthday?

A. We did speak of it some months ago, but will continue to use the same badge for the time being.

Hall of Fame...

Q. Love the idea of a hall of fame - any chance of getting some of the oldsters involved in a charity match to commemorate the anniversary?

A. I am not sure there will be enough fit ones to get a game up.

Club book...

Q. When is the club's anniversary book published and will it be available at Waterstones or other bookshops or only from the ground?

A. I believe that Waterstones and other reputable book shops will be selling the book when it's published in July.

Bus service...

Q. Is there any hope of Wilts & Dorset ever laying on a special bus to the Ray Mac for all City home games and not just for the big cup ties? As well as those of us who don't have cars, it would also be a useful for visiting supporters who head to the ground via the railway station. You could even sell a season ticket with a pre-paid bus pass attached to those who needed it.

A. Trevor Cross, our commercial man, is looking into this for next season.

Loan players/reserve team...

Q. How are players like Chris Knowles, Charlie Knight and Gary Middleton getting on with their loan clubs?

A. Chris has had a successful few months with Bashley, and has shown great improvement when involved in reserve friendly games. We would like him to be around next season, but the final decision will be down to him. Charlie scored his first competitive goal this week. He will be at Chippenham Town till the middle of April, and has been making good progress as we expected. Gary is star man at Andover and is definitely capable of playing at a better standard.

Q. Is Simon Browne's loan spell at Dorchester Town likely to result in him moving there on a permanent basis?

A. We have no intention of the move becoming permanent. We feel Simon's experience is too beneficial to lose.

Q. Why are the reserve team matches being constantly cancelled or postponed?

A. The weather has caused most of the problems either directly or indirectly. Most teams have had rearranged first team matches put on or around scheduled reserve games and nobody has enough strength in depth to get sides out.

Conference South standard...

Q. Now you've had a chance to see most of the clubs in the division at least once, what's your view on the standard of football played in the Conference South?

A. It is definitely a much better standard than we were at last year. Fitness and speed is marginally better, but organisation is massively so.

Q. In your opinion, how far away are we from being able to compete week in, week out with Conference clubs. I thought Woking and Southport were both poor when we played them in the FA Trophy, but Stevenage were a class act and I can see them going on to win the Trophy.

A. I do not think we are far away in competing with the Conference, but competing and winning are very different.

TV Coverage...

Q. With the proposed TV coverage of the Conference next season by Setanta, how important is it to make sure we win promotion this season?

A. We do not budget for TV coverage and never will. The money would be great. Promotion is important to us because we want to be successful.

Q. Should we get promoted, how would you feel about playing games on Thursdays and Sundays to fit in with the Setanta scheduling? It's hard enough for some of us with kids to get out of the house on a Saturday and Tuesday as it is!

A. Setanta is another subscription channel, and I do not know what that costs. It is an exciting concept, and playing on different days of the week will be different and something we would soon get used to. I must admit to being a traditionalist and liking to play at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, though the Premiership and other full time leagues used to say that and they now have had great revenue from TV.

Q. Do you think there's too much football on TV already, never mind Setanta now proposing to show non-league games?

A. There is too much TV! I do not think you can ever tire of having football on the TV. We are all more selective in who we watch.

FA Trophy...

Q. Well done with the FA Trophy run. Though it would have been nice to progress, it's still a great achievement to reach the quarter-finals two years running.

A. We were all bitterly disappointed to have lost at Stevenage, though over the 90 minutes we could not complain over the result. Only the way it was officiated.

Q. Do you think exiting the Trophy may yet be a blessing in disguise? Two semi-finals would have meant two more postponed league games and an even more hectic end of season fixture pile-up. A. It would have been more hectic, and it may have affected league outcome, but I would have liked to have had the chance!

Discipline...

Q. Although Matt Tubbs can consider himself somewhat unlucky to have picked up four red cards this season, do you believe he has to change his ways if he is to progress (i) as a player and (ii) to help the club?

A. Yes he does have to change his outlook, but not by much. Staying on his feet and counting to ten occasionally will suffice.

Q. How concerned are you at the apparent lack of discipline being shown on the pitch lately not just by the players (Matty Tubbs and Robbie Matthews against Dorchester and Stevenage in particular) but also by Tommy and Barry's antics in the technical area?

A. Passion and winning is something I do not want to take from any of my players and staff. Everyone at this club has it and it comes out in different ways. If I feel that somebody has let the club down through their discipline, they are fined.

Q. We've had a lot of suspensions recently - Matt Tubbs, Robbie Matthews, Danny Clay and Matt Robinson - are you actively working on improving our disciplinary record?

A. When I look at other teams in our league and their disciplinary records, ours is not bad. It is very easy to be yellow carded for being competitive, and the majority of our yellow cards are for that reason.

Injuries...

Q. How frustrating is it when you bring in a new player and they get injured almost straight away? I'm thinking of Mike Fowler and obviously Marvin Brown.

A. Of course it is frustrating, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles. We have to get on with it behind gritted teeth!

Match announcer/pre match build up...

Q. Any chance of us employing a professional matchday announcer at some point in the future? Some of the announcements given out are just plain amateurish.

A. Thanks for your views and I will pass on your comments.

Q. Who chooses the music that's played prior to kick off at home? Some grounds we've been to this season create great atmospheres prior to kick off just by the music they play.

A. I would not have a clue what is played. Why don't you let me know what you would like and I will pass it on.

Southampton FC...

Q. Do you think Saints have now blown their chance of going back to the Premiership this season? A. They still have a chance, but they have to improve defensively.

Q. Any chance of Saints' first team playing a pre-season friendly at the Ray Mac before the new season?

A. A possibility, and we have had favourable responses from other league teams.

11:24am Thursday 22nd March 2007

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