Ready to RISE AGAIN
Graham Alexander worked his way from the very bottom to the biggest stage as a player. Now he has been hand-picked to plot a path to glory for Gary Neville’s Salford project
WITH seven games to go of his second play-off promotion charge with Scunthorpe, Graham Alexander became another statistic. He was the 43rd managerial casualty in England’s four divisions since August. The sack race had topped 60 contestants by the time Paul Lambert left Stoke on Friday.
It can’t be easy to stand out from the crowd. But some influential people and smart football judges were watching. Gary Neville and his Manchester United ‘Class of 92’ comrades recognised Alexander as different from the pack.
So the former Scotland international was perfect for Salford City, appointed on a four-year contract last week and charged with the job of hoisting the club Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt part-own into the Football League.
‘There’s no connection,’ explained Alexander. ‘I played against them at Burnley in the Premier League for one season but, apart from that, I didn’t know any of them. We’re probably a similar age. They had slightly different careers to mine.
‘But, when I speak to Gary, he’s seen the values I’ve carried along in my career as player and manager and they are in tune with how they see Salford as a club. My playing career started at the bottom. I fought and competed my way to playing in the Premier League and international football. It’s a path the club wants to tread now. I guess they’ve seen the quality of the work I’d done at Fleetwood and Scunthorpe.’
That work was rather overlooked in March when Alexander lost his job. An eight-game run without a win was sufficient for Scunthorpe chairman Peter Swann to pull the plug on their partnership with the team in fifth place in League One. They had finished third the previous year. The Iron went unbeaten at home in 2017.
‘It hurt because I felt that I had one good go at promotion, breaking records in an unbelievable season and unfortunate to lose out in the play-offs,’ said Alexander. ‘Leaving the job when we were fifth, which is where they finished, is going to leave you with a sour taste in the mouth.
‘Fourteen-hour days, living away from my family for two years and still in a position to be successful. I can’t say it was a nice experience to leave. I certainly wasn’t happy. But I’m pretty good at trying to box things off and concentrate on what the future holds.’
So Alexander describes the past week as one extreme to another. From eight weeks of time on his hands to not having two minutes to himself and signing up to run a team for Neville, a man who says he is a difficult character to work for.
All part of the appeal, according to the 46-year-old Scot, whose work ethic as a player spawned over 1,000 appearances for Scunthorpe, Luton, Burnley and Preston — and a 40-cap international career in his 30s.
‘When I first sat down, I was blown away by Gary’s ambition, energy and enthusiasm for the job,’ said Alexander. ‘He’s really straightforward, no grey areas. He understands the difficulty of managing. He’s not oblivious to the challenges and pitfalls we may face.
‘I have limited experience of chairmen and owners but my previous ones had ambitions too and wanted success. ‘I believe I delivered. I don’t see the working relationship between myself and Gary any differently.
‘It’s a bit left field. It took a little bit of thought to drop out of the league because my whole career has been at least at that level.
‘After sitting down with them and looking at everything they’ve done and what they want to do, it
was quite an exciting one.
‘When I asked myself if we could get success and thought about the people I was working for, all the answers were positives.’
Although Alexander took over Fleetwood in League Two in late 2012, he is well-versed in the story of the Cod Army’s rise from the North West Counties League Division One to League One. That’s a hike of seven tiers. Alexander lifted them up the last rung in 2014.
Salford are on three promotions in four years, although winning their latest title last week to gain a place in the Vanarama National League led to a parting of the ways with management team Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley.
‘My first job was at Fleetwood and they paved the way for the idea of a club like Salford to go through the leagues and establish yourself as a league club,’ noted Alexander, whose old Fleetwood captain Nathan Pond is one of three swift signings made in the past week.
‘I went there when we started in League Two and there was little infrastructure. The team had progressed at a greater pace than the club. That’s what’s happened here at Salford. I can see where we need to improve off the pitch.
‘They want to go as far as we can. There’s so much scope in Salford — a real catchment area, great location in Manchester. All the ingredients are there. So you go with the gut instinct. They’ve already got a good team here, so I need knowledge about the squad before improving.
‘I have to educate myself about the division. It’s a level I’ve never been at. But it’s the same game and the fundamentals apply. The National League is the hardest one to get out of. Only one automatic position then six teams in the play-offs. A lot of big clubs have dropped out and found it difficult to get back in.
‘The club has made rapid progress and doesn’t need to slow down now. But we’ll have to work really well. We’re not shouting from the rooftops about what we might be in four years. We’re a National League club and focus is on the here and now. But the project is to grow as big as we possibly can be.’
I was blown away by Gary’s ambition, energy and enthusiasm