HAMMER BLOWS HIT HARD WHEN YOU DON’T NAIL IT
It’s one of those times in management when you remember how fast things can change. six weeks or so ago, we’d won our first three games and I was being hailed as a Messiah. We’ve not won since. Now there are a fair few people who want to hit me with a hammer.
I’m certainly big enough and old enough to take that. the hard bit is shutting out the white noise, remembering what it was that made you a successful manager in the first place.
We’re trying to get by quietly and carefully, getting the blend of players right and getting the mood right. A couple of wins can change the entire feel of a place, like a gust of warm air.
We’ve been through two weeks of major change because I decided I couldn’t just wait for wins to happen. You can’t stand still. You have to act. so I’ve told players they can go. I can’t say that’s always so
WE signed Jonathan Smith on loan from Stevenage and in my press release I said he’s a player who, over the years, has ‘annoyed me and frustrated me and is not someone I’ve liked’. I stand by that. He puts the bite into a midfield that puts opponents — and opposition managers — on edge. In midfield, we need a player who is not there to be liked. difficult. If they don’t want to work for you, then absolutely no problem. Happy to have the conversation.
some of the conversations haven’t been easy, though.
I’d hoped the changes and the players we’ve brought in would bring immediate results but the 3-0 defeat at home to Gateshead last weekend was as bad as I’ve seen a team of mine play.
You might have read my thoughts on that particular game in the column last week. We lost again in midweek but saturday was much better. A spirited fightback from a young side to get a draw at Maidstone, though we lost our wonderful midfielder Charlie Carter.
He might have suffered a recurrence of the ankle-ligament trouble that’s been keeping him out. there are questions being asked about whether I’m the man to see this job through.
No matter how much cost you’ve had to cut after those relegations — I’ve reduced the wage bill by £21,000 a week — it all comes down to the results. We’ve got 12 points from 14 games.
the decision to make so much change was right. Only one of the players I let go is playing regularly in the Football League — and we couldn’t afford to keep him. Only one is playing regularly at our level. And that’s the lot. some of them are struggling to find a club or a contract.
I think part of the problem has been the mindset about being in our division. I’ve had players with the mentality that they don’t like to think they’re in ‘non-League’. We have to get used to it. the stadiums are perhaps not as big but it’s no different. Get on with it. Do your job. Get your foot in and compete.
It takes time. things don’t change with the click of your fingers. some of the players I brought in have done well. some of them haven’t.
But we’re trying to break a cycle of failure here, after back-to-back relegations, and that’s big. the same questions have been asked about the last manager and the last manager and the last manager. You can’t keep adding them.
We don’t have a divine right to arrive near the top of the table but I still believe we will get there. Does it help to hammer people? I don’t think so. But I’ll take it. It’s always gone with the turf.