PATIENCE IS IN ORDER FOR LAW
Poppies chief is no fan of summer hustle and bustle
DOES Marcus Law enjoy the off-season as a manager?
“I hate it if, I’m honest,” the Kettering Town boss says. “It’s the rumour mill, players don’t really want to commit, they want you to commit, at our level contracts are few and far between so you don’t want to spend all your budget on contracted players.
“You’re travelling all over meeting players so there’s a lot of commitment to time that, at times, feels very unproductive.”
Despite only being 42, Law is leaning on 20 years’ of coaching and management that started with Racing Club Warwick and Quorn before his all-conquering Barwell side led to a chance at Step 1 with Kettering Town.
He later moved to Tamworth, who reached the FA Cup third round at Everton under his stewardship, before returning to the Poppies in 2015 after a brief spell at Chasetown.
The summer, he acknowledges, is a crucial time for all managers but there has to be an element of patience.
“I’m probably not as busy as I used to be,” Law says. “Experience tells me that. Don’t get me wrong, there are targets I earmark and I go after.
“But there will be a group of players trying to get in the National League, North or South who don’t get the deals. Then they want to find the next best thing.
“That’s where you’ve got to be savvy and in the loop. It’s hard work. Your phone is constantly going, you’re trying to get hold of people, get numbers, arranging meetings.
“It’s a tough time for everyone. It’s a tough time for players as well because nothing is ever secure.”
August will soon roll around at Kettering, in the new Step 3 Southern League Central divithe sion, aiming for promotion.
Last season they finished fourth on 97 points having scored 122 goals, but were beaten in the semi-finals by the eventually promoted Slough Town.
Deficiencies
Law says his time in the dugout means he now looks at games like that with a less emotional eye. On the night his captain Brett Solkhon failed a fitness test, top scorer Aaron O’Connor limped off, and his side made defensive mistakes that led directly to goals as a ruthless, and talented, Slough outfit made them pay.
In the blink of an eye, a season – where the top five all got 97 points or more – was over. But, overall, big steps forward were made.
Kettering kept a club record 24 clean sheets and were the country’s highest goalscorers at home but when they did concede, it was too often more than once.
Law says that’s an area that needs addressing as they look to once again challenge at the sharp end.
“Win as many games as we can, be as close to the top as we can, if not the top,” Law says. “That’s the remit and if I’m not getting anywhere near the remit I’m sure the powers that be will make the decisions to get the club get to where it needs to get to. “I always think it takes three years to build a team. There were a few deficiencies in the side that we’re trying to sort out for this year. A bit disappointed with the goals conceded, but 122 goals – which we also did at Barwell a few years ago – can’t be smirked at. “To pull out that amount of points and that amount of goals, other than fact we didn’t get promoted or go through the play-offs, is a relatively successful season. It’s just the outcome of the league we’re in was unfortunate.
“We’re working hard to keep the core. I don’t carry a big squad, for reasons which suit the club and the way we go about our business.”
Backroom staff John Ramshaw and Mitch Austin have moved on, while Law says he may become more hands on when it comes to training as opposed to opposition watching.
Of course, the new Step 3 division will take them to new places – and, for Law, some familiar ones.
“The new division will make a massive difference,” he says. “There’s four Tuesday games gone. Travelling, not so much on Saturdays but Tuesdays, has an effect. We had Tiverton away, Gosport away, Merthyr away last season.
Zombified
“The fatigue doesn’t really kick in until the second day. You’ve had to miss half a days’ work to get the coach and you’re just hoping the game doesn’t get called off.
“Then all the repairs and diversions kick in on motorways which can add an hour. You get home ridiculously late and the time for sleep is minimal. Sleep is always hard after a game anyway and then you’re in work zombified. Normally by Friday you recover! So the new league will undoubtedly help that.
“But it’s kind of a reunion year for me. Barwell and Tamworth, a few Midland Alliance teams from when I first started out like Stourbridge, Alvechurch. Managers I haven’t seen for many a year like Gary Hackett, John Hill at Halesowen, Rob Smith at Hednesford – so it’s going to be good when the footballs finally come back out.”