Football: Talbot has to handle burden of expectation

NON-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

MAX GRIGGS, the chairman whose considerable personal fortune has made Rushden & Diamonds the richest and most-envied club in non-League football, knows that his team must bear the burden of great expectations.

"The eyes of the football world are always firmly fixed on us," Griggs said prior to Tuesday's Nationwide Conference match against Telford United, "and sadly, sometimes I feel, waiting for us to fail. There is a lot of pressure placed on us."

The Northamptonshire outfit, who lost out to Cheltenham Town in the race for last season's Conference title, are 5-2 favourites with the bookmakers to claim the championship this term. They have, however, failed to win either of their first two fixtures of the new campaign.

Last weekend Rushden launched their challenge for the title with a 0- 0 draw at Morecambe, which was followed by a 1-1 home draw against Telford on Tuesday. "We're not scoring enough goals," Brian Talbot, the Diamonds' manager, said at Nene Park after the setback against the Shropshire side. "We've got to take more chances. We're looking solid and we're getting on top of teams, but we're not killing them off."

Talbot will be glad when his first-choice strikers are available. Neither the lanky Mark Sale, a recent pounds 30,000 signing from Colchester United, nor Darren Collins, the top scorer for the past four seasons, are deemed fit enough to start matches.

Tuesday's front two were the burly Michael Mison, who scored Rushden's goal but is more at home in midfield, and the lively David Town, a new recruit from Bournemouth who is more of a creator than a finisher. Three other experienced forwards, Colin West, Carl Heggs and Miguel de Souza, are also fighting for places.

The Diamonds' star performer at Morecambe was, according to Talbot, his new goalkeeper, Billy Turley. A pounds 130,000 summer purchase from Northampton Town, the 26-year-old is non-League football's record signing. Asked why he had paid such a fee when there are so many players available on free transfers, the former Arsenal and Ipswich midfielder said: "Because we're a full-time club and we train every day, we wanted someone local. He's a first-class goalie, too."

It is that spending power, which no other Conference club can aspire to, which creates such demand for success. There is a real sense of urgency at Nene Park that Football League status should be achieved sooner rather than later. "We accept that we're favourites every year, whether we're good or bad," Talbot said. "But favourites don't always win."