SMALL’S GOT A BIG AMBITION!

Bowers can keep learning, says boss

ROB SMALL says Bowers & Pitsea learnt big lessons from their debut season at Step 3 – and he says the long-term aim is to install the fear factor in opponents again.

Under boss Small, the Essex club have been transformed from Step 5 strugglers to a side that is now competing alongside some big NonLeague names in the Isthmian Premier Division.

The 35-year-old declares himself “satisfied” with the campaign that saw his side 14th in the table when the season was brought to an abrupt halt by the coronavirus crisis.

He hopes it will provide the platform to continue their work to becoming an established club at the level – their highest ever – and he says it has been an eye opening experience.

“It will always be the primary objective to keep this status and become a bit of a house hold name at the level,” Small told The NLP.

“Obviously you’re always ambitious. It would be nice one day to be competing at the next level – that will always be the ambition. But at the same time, don’t run before you can walk.

Analysis

“We weren’t one of the best five teams in the league last year. We need to draw on the experiences of last season and learn what’s required and quickly and then try to improve.

“We were respectful of the level before we came into it, but we are even more respectful now. It was a lot tougher than perhaps we anticipated.

“It’s like anything when you step up a division, it’s like you are playing a top two game every week. In the North when we were playing Maldon & Tiptree or Aveley, it’s like having those games every week but the teams are largely still better than that.

“We do a lot of analysis and we were creating between eight and ten chances per game. We were well organised without the ball and we were only conceding two to three chances per game on average. We were getting beat 1-0 and 2-1.

“You’re coming up against ruthless goalscorers. Dan Smith at Bognor, who has just gone to Eastleigh. Joe Taylor at Cray, who won the golden boot and national plaudits - top class players. They only need a sniff of goal whereas the division below is a bit more forgiving.

“Also when you are doing well in the division below and you’re so dominant, you have that belief you’re going to win games and score goals. More importantly, your opponent always knew we were a huge threat.

“Whereas when we stepped up a league, we were the team everyone was expecting to beat. We need to find a way to reverse the psychology and find a way for teams to be more respectful of us and more reason to fear us.”

Confidence

Small admits losing to Chichester City in the FA Cup fourth round qualifying – City went on to get a bye into the second round – took some recovering from.

While lockdown provided the perfect chance for reflection on the bigger picture of how far the club has come, Small is eager to get going again.

He’s planning to keep the core of the squad and hopes to pluck some gems that fall out of League clubs.

And he’s confident the team, and club as a whole, will be better for last season’s experience.

“As a management team and a group of players we will be better equipped to deal with the various situations that arise,” he said.

“We weren’t used to losing football matches. In five years prior to this season you can probably count on one hand the amount of games we’ve lost per season.

“So last season to find it flip on its head, those are the moments you actually learn more about yourself and your players. So, whilst last season was one of the toughest, it was one of the most enjoyable and most rewarding because we’ve learnt so much. Mentally we will be a lot stronger going into future seasons.

‘There’s going to be a lot more confidence now. The players know they can compete in the division and we can look forward, without getting carried away, with some excitement.”