This week, we spoke to our under-23s Head Coach Franklyn Clarke…

 

During our conversation, he told us about the importance of “clean sheets,” how our youngsters can learn from the first team, and more…

 

on what the youngsters did well last week at Christchurch:

I think they just keep up their performance levels from the week before. They played good football, created good chances, and worked hard off the ball, too. We were almost disappointed not to score more.

 

on the importance of “keeping clean sheets:”

It’s the most important thing. It’s the foundation to a good side. The more clean sheets we can keep, the better. Important as it is to score goals, sometimes you only need to score one to win a game. Being solid at the back is step one.

 

on the players’ “mentality”:

They’re a good group, and they’ve all got a great mentality, so they’re very easy to work with in that sense. After we beat Gillingham it was a case of saying, “here’s what we did well last week; can we replicate that?”

 

Matt and I mainly like to challenge our players to replicate the good things they did the week before, and improve on the things needed to be improved on. I think we managed to do that against Christchurch; the amount of chances we created were really impressive. The players are starting to understand each other a lot more.

 

On what it means to have the importance of having first-team players feature in the youth games:

I was really pleased to have Ezio and Keelan with us last week. Their professionalism and the way they approached the game was first-class. Whenever we have first-team players with us, it’s always fantastic for the younger lads to watch how they operate. How they warm up, conduct themselves, and move with and without the ball, that sort of thing. It’s a pleasure for me and Matt. The players not only can watch the first-team lads, but play alongside them, too. There’s nothing better for them than this. It shows them the level required to get in the first-team. The players should be looking at the seniors and think: can I match that?

 

on how they can set an example to the younger players:

They can set an example without even speaking. It’s mainly about taking things seriously, such as the warm-up, the preparation, and then they can talk the players through the match once it starts, and help them with decision-making. When to pass, to drop off, attack the space, lots of little things.