FIRSTLY, can I join everyone else in welcoming our new manager, Mark Robins, to the football club.

Dean Hoyle and the board went through over 50 applications for the job and, after rightly taking their time to make a very important choice, I know they are confident they have got the right man.

Mark has fantastic experience in the game both as a player and a manager and, when he has been in charge at Rotherham, Barnsley and Coventry, he has been very popular with supporters.

I expect nothing less here, and I can tell Mark from years of my own experience that he will get every assistance to make a success of things from all the staff here at the club.

Mark and his new first-team coach Steve Taylor will find it a very friendly environment to work in and I’m sure they realise that being in charge of this club at this time is a very attractive proposition.

Sure, we want to pull further away from the bottom of the table than we are at the moment, but we are a big club that can become established at this level and look to move on from this foundation.

The great thing is that we have a chairman in Dean who has the club at heart.

He is providing fantastic backing for every aspect of the club going forward, and he’ll back Mark to the hilt to keep us progressing from a football point of view.

Some people might disagree with my statement that we are a big club, simply because there are some who are bigger in the Championship at the moment, but we are a big club and we are a very well-run big club, and that makes us attractive from a management point of view.

There are plenty of bigger clubs around, but a lot of them are in absolute turmoil and you wouldn’t want to go near them, so the fact we are well run and have a very stable situation is massively in our favour.

That’s why we had so many good applicants for the job.

We are also well run through the age-group levels and Academy, and I’m sure everyone will join with me in congratulating Mark Lillis on the job he has done both in the Academy and as caretaker.

He loves the club, which is why Dean had no qualms about putting him in caretaker charge, and along with Steve Eyre he has lifted the players, which is a great platform for the new boss.

HEADED goals have always been something I’ve had a particular interest in.

I was lucky enough to get quite a few myself through my career and, when I’m watching games these days, I always like to see a good header flying into the back of the net.

So I have to say the one Cristiano Ronaldo got against Manchester United last week for Real Madrid was an absolute belter.

He hung in the air so superbly – that’s something people said I used to do well – and then he got tremendous power and perfect direction into the header.

You always think of Ronaldo as powering home free-kicks and finishing with skill after beating his markers with a clever run, but not many give him the credit he is due for his heading ability.

He is a big bloke, which people tend to forget, and his timing is just terrific.

It looked when they slowed it down on TV as though he had jumped too early to meet the cross, but he just seemed to stay in the air and he gave the keeper no chance as the ball nestled right inside the post.

The technique involved in that is probably better than any strike he ever puts on a free-kick.

It all illustrates that he is the all-round player, one who is more mature than he was when he played under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and one who his current boss, Jose Mourinho (inset) knows can be a potential match-winner when the second leg is played in Manchester in a couple of week’s time.

Sir Alex described Ronaldo as one of the best players in the world, and he just underlined that with a sublime piece of heading skill.

WE’VE got a fantastic line-up for the Town Annual Dinner on Thursday, March 7.

Steve Kindon will MC the event, which will be a meal followed by an entertaining question and answer session with some of our former managers.

Mick Buxton has agreed to come, along with Peter Jackson and Brian Horton.

Our new boss Mark Robins will also be there to take part as well.

In addition to them, we will have our current chairman, Dean Hoyle, and two of his predecessors in Graham Leslie and David Taylor.

It promises to be a tremendous night for anyone with a passion for Huddersfield Town and we are now taking bookings at the club.

All you have to do is contact Tracy Nelson in the commercial department on 01484 484140 and she will be happy to take all the details.