Excitement tinged with a little fear!
CHELTENHAM BOSS MICHAEL DUFF WARY OF CITY THREAT
THE breathless nature of League Two means there have been other priorities for Michael Duff since the FA Cup draw but Manchester City have not been allowed to drift entirely out of sight.
The glimpse of a Kevin De Bruyne poster on a bedroom wall. The City crest on a duvet cover. Pep Guardiola gazing from the pages of a magazine or his eldest son wandering around in branded clothing.
‘We’ve got City bedsheets in the house, we’ve got the kits and hoodies,’ said Cheltenham Town manager Duff, as he details the allegiances of his two sons, born in Manchester when he was playing for Burnley.
‘Tommy is 12 and he’s a City fan and Jack is 10 and a United fan. They love their football — they’re like encyclopedias.
‘I’d like to think they’re both Cheltenham fans this weekend. The eldest is in a win-win situation. If City win, he’ll be happy and if somehow, however unbelievable it is, Cheltenham win, he’ll be happy as well.’
Duff’s wife Jess filmed the family as they watched the live draw for the fourth round. ‘We were the first tie out of the hat and the boys were jumping around like mad. I’ve gone, “Ooh, that’s a good draw” but very quickly I’m thinking “Ooh, no, they’re very good”.
‘They can make a team look very, very silly. We recognise where we are in the food chain. They beat Burton 9-0 in the League Cup a couple of years ago and we don’t want that to happen.
‘So all the excitement is tinged with a bit of apprehension. Maybe that’s not a bad thing. We wanted a plum tie and this is probably the biggest in the club’s history.’
Duff has a long affinity with Cheltenham Town. He was 17 when he arrived at Whaddon Road having been rejected by Darlington, Nottingham Forest and Swindon.
‘I was at college and they offered me a trial,’ he said. ‘At that point, I had no aspirations of being a professional footballer. I thought the dream had gone. It was just a nice club and quite big on the non-league scene.
‘Luckily, Steve Cotterill came in as manager and the next four or five years were unprecedented. Three promotions and I kept going up the leagues. I was in the right place at the right time.’
Duff scored the goal to clinch the Conference title in 1999. ‘It was a night like this would have been,’ recalled the 43-year-old. ‘Yeovil at home and if we won we were up. The place was packed to the rafters with kids in the trees and every vantage point taken.’
The game was poised at 2-2, deep in stoppage time when Duff won it. ‘A header. Not the best, but a vital goal and the place went bonkers. To score the goal to realise my dreams, it will live with me for ever.’
Burnley paid £30,000 for Duff and a dozen seasons as a player at Turf Moor included two years in the Premier League and contrasting experiences with Manchester City. Their destructive power was clear in a 6-1 defeat when City were 3-0 up inside seven minutes, but he has beaten them, too, in 2015, when George Boyd scored the only goal.
‘Highs and lows,’ said Duff, who accepted the offer from Sean Dyche to begin his coaching education in Burnley’s Academy before Cheltenham offered him his first managerial role in 2019.
‘A lot of things lined up,’ said Duff. ‘My wife is from Cheltenham and we have family here. It’s a small club but, historically, not a sacking club and I thought I might be given a chance.
‘I didn’t want to reach 50 and think, “I could’ve done that” having never tried. I’m still new to it, only 100-odd games in, still in League Two with loads to learn but I’m enjoying it.’
Duff (below) has made an impressive start. Cheltenham reached the play-offs last year and are chasing promotion again. Now it’s time to think about City.
‘I speak to lots of people including Dychey and Steve Cotterill but I haven’t rung anyone to say, “How do you stop Man City?” Most of the time, the answer would be, “You don’t”.’
To maintain Covid protocols at Whaddon Road, City will change in a lounge named after Jamie Victory, a former Cheltenham player. They will go outside and down the tunnel to reach the showers in the away dressing room. But they are promised a warm welcome at a ground now named after a local limousine service and a playing surface to satisfy Guardiola. ‘The pitch will be great,’ said the former Northern Ireland international. ‘They’ll be able to play their football on it. We won’t go digging it up. We’re not into the dark arts. When we’re at our level we try to play half-decent football. ‘We’ll work as hard as we can, give it our best shot and see where it takes us and when the fanfare disappears on Monday, as I imagine it will, we’ll crack on as normal.’