Rookie Stevenage boss Alex Revell sets his sights on survival
NEW BORO BOSS ALEX REVELL
STRANDED at the foot of the EFL, staring relegation to the National League in the face and with games running out – the Stevenage manager’s job doesn’t look an enticing prospect.
But rookie Alex Revell reckons it’s a ‘perfect opportunity’ to showcase his managerial credentials, and wants his players to believe they can conjure up a great escape.
After calling time on a two-decade long playing career last summer, Revell was keen to begin learning the coaching ropes at Stevenage, his final club, this term. Yet he couldn’t have expected a season as turbulent as how it’s turned out to be at the Lamex Stadium.
Originally U18s coach, he stepped up to the assistant manager’s job under former England Women’s boss Mark Sampson when Dino Maamria, now in charge at Oldham, was sacked early in the season.
A few months later, he was a first team coach when former Stevenage boss Graham Westley replaced Sampson in the hotseat. But even Boro legend Westley couldn’t turn their fortunes around and he resigned last weekend after a sixth straight league defeat left the Hertfordshire club seven points adrift at the bottom of the table.
Now the 36-year-old former Rotherham striker has been given the top job, tasked with hauling Stevenage out of the brown stuff – and he clearly doesn’t reckon it’s mission impossible for a team who, pre-weekend, had won a meagre three out of 34 league games.
“It was a difficult time when Graham came in and he tried to steady the ship,” he said, “but unfortunately results haven’t gone as well as he would have liked.
“You don’t want people to lose their jobs and he worked very hard, but, having done all my badges, you want that day to come when you have a chance. You have to start somewhere and this is a perfect opportunity for me to come in and show people what I’m about as a person.
“I want to have a long and successful career as a manager. I made my decision to retire last summer and people may have thought I could have carried on playing, but I felt it was the right time.”
And Revell believes he can draw on the experiences from his playing career to help a Stevenage squad who have become accustomed to losing this term.
Screamer
A man of many clubs, he worked his way up from NonLeague to the Championship and is probably best known for his two goals, including a longrange screamer, in Rotherham’s dramatic League One play-off final victory against Leyton Orient in 2014.
He said: “I had an amazing career and I reached highs that I never thought I would when I left Cambridge at 20. Wembley was the pinnacle and I have great memories. At every club, I gave everything I’ve got. I had that enthusiasm to be the best I could be and that helped me to get to where I got to.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all been great. I’ve have bad experiences and suffered probably more lows than highs, but that makes you stronger.
“I look back now and it’s given me a lot of experience that hopefully I can pass on to the players in terms of helping them.
“Hopefully they will have that memory in the future of keeping the club up from where we are right now. It should be a burning desire for them to do that.”
Revell has brought in the vastly experienced Russell Slade as a managerial consultant and believes he will be a positive influence in the battle against the drop.
“Russell has come in to be a mentor, someone I can lean on,” he said. “He’s seen it and done it all. The way he talks to and treats people is second to none. He’s going to pass on his experience and guidance, and he’s been great for me.”
Revell played under Slade at Leyton Orient and Cardiff, just one of a multitude of bosses the targetman had in his playing career. Two other colourful bosses he name-checks as positive influences are his former Rotherham manager Steve Evans and Non-League firebrand George Borg.
“When Steve first came to Rotherham, he said I could leave,” recalled Revell. “I didn’t want to go, I wanted to fight for my place and a couple of years later we were celebrating at Wembley.
“I still speak to him now and he’s so passionate about football – sometimes people forget that about him. He has success and if you can’t learn from someone like that, you’re not giving yourself the best chance to succeed.
Enthusiasm
“And if it hadn’t been for George Borg I wouldn’t have been in football. At Braintree, he brought back my love of football and went the extra mile. He had great enthusiasm.
“You can have all the qualifications and coaching badges, but the one thing you need is the enthusiasm and desire to help players get better.”
So what has been the problem with Stevenage’s players this term? Are they work-shy chancers or are they decent
At every club, I gave I’ve everything that got. I had to enthusiasm best I be the could be Alex Revell
I don’t see any negatives, I see positives. We can reduce the points deficit and get out of trouble Alex Revell
players down on their luck? Revell insists it is the latter.
“You can’t accept losing, but once it keeps happening it can become a habit that’s difficult to get out of,” he said. “When you are down there, you need confidence, belief and to get the enjoyment back of playing football.
“When you are a kid, you want to go out and enjoy kicking a ball around with your mates. Sometimes the pressure of every week and results not going for you means the enjoyment can be lost and people play within themselves.
“It’s not a lack of effort, it does affect them, but they are excellent players – they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. It’s finding a team spirit, a togetherness, a work ethic. It’s going to be ten weeks of pure commitment and we have to play to our strengths.”
If Revell can pull off a miracle, he will deserve all the plaudits that come his way and the chance to continue in the hotseat next season.
“This is the start of me as a manager with a team around me I trust,” said Revell, who will have Sampson as first team coach and Stevenage legend Ronnie Henry helping out at training. “It’s a difficult situation, but I don’t see any negatives, I see positives. We can reduce the points deficit and get out of trouble.”