BUOYED COOPER WILL NOT BE BLUE
JIM COOPER admits this season was a ‘huge learning curve’ but he and Grays Athletic will be better for it.
The experienced manager saw the campaign finish on a low note having started with so much promise.
Cooper, the former Met Police boss for 15 seasons, took over in February 2019 and targeted a play-off finish at least this term, but the promotion push stalled after Christmas.
Grays finished the season in 14th and honest Cooper knows they must do better when football returns.
“It was a huge learning curve,” he told The NLP. “I was fairly surprised by the standard of players at that level and also the amount of money that’s been banded about which is fine and not a problem, because I felt, and still feel, we’ll put together a squad that was capable of certainly making the playoffs.
“It’s prepared me much more for this season. I certainly need to be on my game this season to challenge for the play-off places.
“There’s only one person to blame for our league position and that is myself. Maybe I was in a comfort zone thinking I’d done it for so long. It was a kick up the back side which personally
I needed to reinvigorate my managerial career.”
A seven-game losing streak, which was only ended by the Coronavirus outbreak, was a world away from the form Grays showed in the first-half of the season.
Hindsight
At the turn of the year, Cooper, below, kept faith in his squad but now looks back and accepts he should have changed things.
“At Christmas time we were two points from the top,” he said. “I stuck with the players that had put us in the that position, I was hoping their form would change and make things work, In hindsight, maybe I should have made some changes earlier on.
“But I’ve certainly got faith in the players that were there last year and they will be coming back with a few additions to make it stronger.”
But Cooper is being cautious with his new season preparations and won’t be demanding anything of players or the club yet.
“I’m so surprised some clubs are bringing people in for pre-season training,” he added. “We’ve got no start date and their per-season could go on for three or four months. It’s also the safety of the players and the impact it might have on their families with Covid still around.
“Signing players is a waste of time because the league will not accept signing on forms until July and they could still leave before then, unless they are on contract but then they will be being paid. We’re not in a position to do that.
“We won’t start until we have a definitive date and then we’ll need six weeks to get everything ready.”