Ahead of tomorrow’s clash at home to St Albans City, our main talking points with our manager were the importance of substitutions, attitude above all else and more…
Here’s what he had to say on the following subjects…
On the current mood amongst the squad:
We’re enjoying our football and growing as a group. The games are coming thick and fast, and Tuesday’s game, like all matches, has taught us a lesson. Now we need to keep building on our positive moments, but we can only do that if we stay humble, keep working hard and keep showing the attitude that we’re currently showing.
On our ever-increasing standards:
The demands the players and staff put on ourselves is that we want to win matches; we feel that we’re good enough to do that. The frustration that our lack of wins is a positive one. We know that we’ve been very competitive in most of our games, alongside how close we are to turning these draws into wins, after turning our narrow defeats into draws to start with. But, as I’ve already said, the main thing is to keep working hard and keep striving to improve.
On Corey Jordan and Charlie Rowan leaving the pitch:
With Corey, we’ve had to manage him conservatively over the past month over a light issue, so he was only down to play 60 minutes anyway. Whilst he did feel a bit of a knock, we’re hoping it was only due to impact and that he should be okay.
Charlie felt a little bit of tightness which we didn’t want to take any chances over. We’ll assess him before tomorrow. But, overall this shows just how important our bench is.
On Jaiden Bartolo’s wonder goal:
We’ve seen a few long shots fly into our top corner this season, so it was nice to see one go in the other net for a change. It’s certainly the icing on the cake for Jaiden who has been excellent for us since he’s come in. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.
On our competition in attack:
Brandon Goodship came on in stoppage time on Tuesday, which was a huge positive. I have Keelan O’Connell getting back to his best, Jordan Maguire-Drew in top form and I’m still waiting for Mal Linton to come back. We have a lot of attacking players capable of producing magic moments, and the more minutes they get on the pitch the more of these moments we’ll see.
On increasing overall squad fitness:
We don’t have a fully fit squad yet, but right now we have the highest number of available players that we’ve had all season. Long may that continue.
On managing team selections:
Every player in my squad is just as important as each other. Some might get frustrated at not starting, but it’s up to them to change that when they get the opportunity, and they’re just as important coming off the bench as the starting players, if not more so sometimes. The new rules of five substitutions keeps energy levels high on the pitch, and it helps keep them involved. No one can afford to take their eye off the game, because they can be thrown in at any moment.
On the impact of the new substitution rules:
The game has changed, especially with these rules. Now more than ever, it’s not about how you start a game, but instead how you finish it. Football is truly a squad game now, and you can see that is every level of football, from non-league to the Champions League. It’s crucial to keep energy levels high and make tactical tweaks, as they can make such a difference.
On the group’s attitude:
This group never stays down and out, and they could have done a long time ago. They get up and fight no matter what is thrown at them. That’s one thing I’ll always be delighted about.
When I recruited these players to the club, half of them I knew and the other half I didn’t know too well but liked the look of, but these are players I’m learning more about every day. I know I have the right characters here.
On attitude versus tactics:
Attitude needs to be at the forefront of everything that we do. With the tactical and technical side of the game, those things come afterwards. Awareness, body language and intensity, those are the things I want to coach into my players above all else. Without those things, the tactical side cannot be performed. As much as I love coaching that side of the game, and we work on that aspect often, they have to be built on the mentality of the group, which is the core of everything we do.
On St Albans City:
They have a very talented and experienced team. On reflection, they probably don’t deserve to be where they are in terms of how they play. They’re like us where every game is close and they haven’t quite got the rub of the green. We need to give them the respect they deserve and make sure we execute our game even better than on Tuesday.
On managing this month’s busy fixture schedule:
This is where our plan and process is important. We’ve remained the same since the start of pre-season, so it’s business as usual for us. Nothing has changed. Our expectations and demands remain the same. We know how brutal this league can be, but hopefully this month we can keep our group fit and together.
