I’VE LEARNED BOSS’ TRADE
Sills is inspired by Brown and Buckle
TIM SILLS has hailed the influence of Terry Brown and Paul Buckle as he settles into the dugout at Step 5 Hamworthy United.
The 40-year-old took charge in October and guided the Poolebased side to ninth place in the Wessex Premier League before the season was abandoned.
Brown, now chairman at Basingstoke Town, managed Sills at Aldershot before later leading AFC Wimbledon into the Football League.
Buckle, meanwhile, took Torquay to the 2008 Conference play-off final, where Sills scored a late header to seal a 2-0 victory over Cambridge. Now 49, he runs a football consultancy in the US.
“Terry Brown was an unbelievable recruiter,” says the former striker, who also won the Conference with Stevenage in a 707-game career that yielded 233 goals.
“Very rarely did he sign a dud. He wasn’t the greatest of tacticians. He’d leave a lot to his coaching staff. But because he had the players, it made everything else in his job so much easier. That’s why I had immense respect for him, even if we didn’t always see eye-to-eye!
“Paul Buckle, on the other hand, was all about atmosphere. He made sure he got good characters in, not just good players. And he was very positive on the training ground. He built players up to feel like a million dollars and they’d run through a brick wall for him.
Touchstones
“I was also with Steve Sedgley, the old Spurs midfielder, at Kingstonian. Only briefly, but he got my career back on track at a time when I was really struggling. His man-management was incredible.
“There’s obviously a couple who I won’t name – that I don’t want to emulate, especially in terms of managing people. But those three, especially Paul and Terry, are the real touchstones.”
Like Buckle, Sills has focussed on signing players with a professional outlook having experienced the downside of part-time football during his final season as a player at Blackfield
& Langley in 2016-17. “It’s a frustrating level, even as a player,” he admits. “I finished my career at Blackfield in Step 5, and I spent half a season watching people throw their toys out of the pram.
“Players weren’t on contract, so as soon as they got dropped they’d walk out and join someone else.
“Other nights, I would turn up on a Tuesday and Thursday for training and we’d have six people kicking about. I had to travel an hour each way to get there and some just hadn’t bothered turning up. It was like ‘What’s the point?’
Attitude
“Even when I took over here, there were lads who were away for the weekend on a stag do, or a wedding, or something else. Some of the excuses weren’t great.
“Because the money isn’t great, it’s easy for players to say ‘Oh, well I’d rather go out with my mates’ or to the races or whatever.
“So one of the main things I tried to do was sign good characters. To be positive, and make training as interesting and high-tempo as possible. It’s about building a culture where people want to be here and it feels like a family.
“That’s what worked for me at Torquay and Aldershot – that real sense of belonging to a football club. If you can get that into your players, it transmits to the fans and more people come through the gate.
“And we’re getting there. I’ve got some talent there, but everybody in the squad is a real man with a proper attitude. They do it for the love of the game as much as anything else.”
Now Sills is hoping that ethos can help the Hammers attract the best players in Dorset and Hampshire.
“Money doesn’t necessarily talk at this level, but reputation does.” he explains. “People want to enjoy their football. That’s what draws players and it’s what we’re trying to do.
“We’ve already had some enquiries from players who’ve either been injured or aren’t enjoying it at other clubs. If you create a good environment, people soon hear about it.”