COVID HAS BEEN THE ULTIMATE LEVELLER
FC HALIFAX boss Pete Wild has a simple message for his players ahead of the National League play-offs – cut out the blunders.
The Shaymen, who finished fifth in the adjusted final table, will travel to Boreham Wood for a first round eliminator.
Survive that, and Yorkshire rivals Harrogate Town will await in the semis before a Wembley final against Notts County, Yeovil or Barnet.
Factors like form and fatigue, usually pivotal to the outcome of any playoff competition, have been rendered irrelevant by the 15-week hiatus imposed by the outbreak of Covid-19.
Yet the break has also robbed clubs of the sharpness and organisation that would normally be instinctive by the end of a long campaign.
And that, says Wild, is why his players will be going back to basics in preparation for their trip to Meadow Park.
“What’s happened is an absolute leveller,” says the 35-year-old. “Look at the Premier League and Football League games taking place now.
“Lots of mistakes, set pieces leading to goals. Everybody is trying to feel their way back in, and it’ll be the same in the play-offs.
“It isn’t about the quality of your players. The team that imposes themselves, makes the least mistakes and excels at set-pieces is the one that will come through.
“If you do the simple things well in any football match, you’ll generally have a chance. That’s our mantra. That’s what got us to where we are now.
“And if we stick to that, I’m massively confident in our ability to perform. At the same time, we know that if we’re half a yard off, we won’t compete because there are some big boys in there.”
And some small ones, too. Like opponents Boreham Wood, Halifax were priced at 21-1 for promotion at the start of the season and were widely tipped to struggle after losing manager Jamie Fullarton on the eve of the season.
But shrewd signings like Liam McAlinden – now at Stockport – and a knack for grinding out gritty results saw the Shaymen safely into the top seven.
“We’ve punched above our weight all season,” says Wild, who previously managed Oldham Athletic’s academy before enjoying a successful caretaker spell in charge at Boundary Park.
“Everybody had us nailed on for a relegation place, and that helps us. There’s a lot of pressure on the other five teams, who’ve thrown a lot of money at getting where they are. Of the six, we’ve probably got the least riding on it.
“Now that we are there, though, we want to give the best account of ourselves possible and hopefully end up in the Football League.” For now, though, it is about getting match fit, and Wild admits he was relieved when his squad returned this week devoid of lockdown blubber.
“We sent the programmes out,” he says. “But as the weeks go on, they do become monotonous. So I let the leash off a little bit and said ‘Just keep yourself ticking over’.
“I trust them, but you have that nervous anxiety. It was like ‘Oh my God, how are they going to come back?’
“But no. To a man they’ve been sharp, strong, quick. I’m delighted with how they’ve looked after themselves and we look to be in a very good place, mentally and physically.
“For the staff, it’s been about remembering the protocols and making sure everything is done properly. That way the players only have to worry about football. There’s nothing in their minds other than getting the job done.”