We must not take success for granted: boss
MICHAEL Duff has admitted it may be difficult for Cheltenham Town to better their League One campaign this term, but says the Robins must strive to be “better as a football club”.
The Robins are on course for their bestever finish to a season, beating the 17th place in League One achieved by John Ward in 2006-7, and Duff has spoken in the past about there being a ceiling as to what the club can achieve realistically.
Crewe are the only team in League One with a smaller budget than Cheltenham and after they finished 12th last season, they are now heading back to League Two.
“If you want to talk about history, we are a bottom six League Two team,” said Duff.
“That’s not me doing us down, the facts tell you that over the last 23 years we’ve been in the Football League, most of the time we finish in the bottom six of League Two. It’s important we strive to be better as a football club, all-round.
“People take it for granted and think it’s easy or that we are a mid-table League One team and we are not at all. We’ve never thought that and we don’t think it now.
“We are sitting there at the minute, but everything about the football club is not a mid-table League One club.
“Budget, attendances, the size of the ground, everything. It’s important people don’t take it for granted, or get bored because it is success, where we are at the minute.
“That’s something you have to nurture almost because football is a fickle game. It’s important that we don’t take our eye off the ball or get complacent, or assume things are going to happen because they won’t.
“There are seven points between us and Bolton, who average 20,000 every week and they are a place above us in the league.
“You just need to look at the size of that club and above them are Portsmouth. Look at the teams above them too.
“There has to be a realism within what this club can do because historically and it’s not me crying it in, but this club has averaged 3-3,500, obviously you have the away attendance on top of that.
“How can you compete with teams like Sunderland, Ipswich, Bolton, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday without a financial benefactor?
“Ultimately you can’t. Everyone wants to try and establish the club at this level.
“You want to play as high as you can, the club wants to stay as high up the pyramid as they can so there is hopefully not just on the pitch, but off it too, you are trying to evolve and strive to be better.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are at this club or any other club, or in any walk of life: try to improve and be the best version of you that you can be.”