ENCOURAGING a team ethic is a fundamental ingredient in Martin Gray’s management. The Darlington boss wants his players to feel as one, pulling in the same direction, and this week he expanded the approach to more than just the squad.

He invited the club’s youth team coaches, directors, administrative staff and media to join the players for the first training session of the summer at East Durham College in Peterlee on Tuesday evening, though the fitness tests and long runs were reserved for the squad.

Before the players pulled their boots on for the first time in two months, Gray hosted a one-hour presentation, covering a range of issues which varied from analysis on last season, targets for the year ahead and a briefing on the standards he expects from those representing the club.

There was a talk by performance psychologist Darren Sutton, who has been associated with the club throughout Gray’s tenure, and new chief executive David Johnston introduced himself to the players, among them being the sole new signing, Dom Collins, as well as a handful of trialists.

They crammed into a classroom alongside coaches from the under-6s upwards, all invited by Gray to spend time watching the first team train to help with their own development.

“It was great to get everybody involved. It was the players, the first-team coaches, the coaches from all of the youth teams, the directors, the press – all the people we work closely with on a daily basis,” said Gray.

“People need to understand the vision of the football club, from the boardroom level right down and it’s important that everybody feels part of what we’re trying to do here.

“I wanted to help improve things. If it hasn’t helped then all we’ve done is lost a bit of time; if it does help then we’ve gained something.

“I do believe there will be a positive outcome out of it and we’ve got to make sure the message is right all across the board.

“Like every manager, the expectation is promotion, and as from today the mindset is promotion.”

There was evidence of introspection, the manager admitting he had made mistakes last season.

And he also highlighted a weakness in his side, periods in matches when Darlington had shown a propensity to concede more goals than at any other time.

He explained: “It’s important to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and you’ve also got to look at yourself as a manager to see how you can improve.

“That’s something I looked at once everything had settled – over the season what could I have done better? Sometimes you’ve got to hold your hand up and the answer is that it’s got to be better.

“For me, last season wasn’t good enough. We’ll never know what the outcome would’ve been if we’d got into the play-offs, but you’ve got to look at yourself to improve and the players have got to as well.”

Darlington’s first pre-season friendly is next Saturday, at Shildon, by which point Collins may not be the only new member of the playing squad.

“We’ve got some players that we’re close to signing, we’re very hopeful that in the next week or two that we’ll bring one or two in,” said Gray, who has a former National League striker on trial.