BOSSES HELPED MAKE GUY WISE
WHO inspires the inspirations in the ever-changing world of football? Which traits stand the test of time?
In the latest in our series we pick the brains of one of the core members of the team that put reformed Nuneaton Borough – then known as Town – back on the map.
Crowd favourite Hadland had already enjoyed league title triumphs with Hinckley United and Brackley Town before helping Boro, sent down to Step 4 having gone bust, to three play-off successes in four years, culminating in a return to the top flight of Non-League football.
A late bloomer due to career-threatening injuries, Hadland soaked up lots from various managers and a mix of those experiences stay with him to this day as he plots a route to success for the Canaries.
WHO WAS YOUR GREATEST GAFFER AND WHY?
I didn’t really hit my peak until I was about 25 and the decade I had after that gave me my greatest times as a player. In that time I had three managers who were all very influential.
Dean Thomas at Hinckley was a real taskmaster who really challenged me in every single second, to a point where I would either really like him or really not like him. That made me be decisive and take ownership of things myself.
Roger Ashby was the first person who said ‘I want you to be my captain’ when I was at Brackley.
That was the first time I was properly backed and when I went to Nuneaton with the backing of Roger – he told Kevin Wilkin ‘you have to sign him’ – Kev gave me that backing.
We were up against adversity at Nuneaton but out of all of them, Kev was the one who didn’t say too much. He was a difficult man to read.
He told me my job was to make sure it was all okay. That might not sound like a lot of information but to me, that meant responsibility and I took that on board. He understood me and backed me.
In training he would ask for my thoughts and then went with them, not all the time but he took my advice on board.
WHAT IS YOUR TOP MEMORY FROM THAT ERA?
There are small things that stick with you forever and the big one was getting sent off in my first game under Roger.
He said: “Well done, you’ve ballsed it up and gone against the game plan but you are starting next week.”
That really stuck with me because when it happened
I thought ‘I’m in trouble here’. Ahead of the second game Roger singled out a player for me to pick up, called him a problem. It was against Bedford and it was a centre-half who would come forward and I had to do a job on him. In terms of achievements it would be at Nuneaton. I was there for four years and we went up via the play-offs three times.
We had six points deducted which took us from second to sixth in Conference North. We needed a point from Blyth away on the last day to get fifth place. Kev knew I was carrying a knock and asked whether or not I could start. He made the decision based on what I said.
It was a decisive moment. He did not say he needed me, it was enough to ask whether I could start and that was a big call. The way he backed me was a real testament to him.
HOW HAVE THEY INFLUENCED YOUR STYLE OF MANAGEMENT?
None of them tolerated bad attitudes in the camp and I am the same.
Something I have recognised from their management is that no matter how good your structure is, your style of play or whatever it is you are trying to influence, you cannot deal with people who do not want to buy into it.
The first thing is to get the character and culture right. I am a very assertive person, I know what I want and I need people to buy into that and back me.
You need people to challenge you but in the right way, not people who are just going to be awkward.
Anyone who does not buy in or understand the direction we are trying to go in won’t be around me for long but if you do and you are prepared to be patient, I will back you to the hilt and all three managers were very similar in that respect.
I had two very big injuries when I was young in both knees, they put me out for 12 months. I came back but unfortunately I had a crushed vertebrae after another six months.
That stopped me from playing for another 18 months which took me to the age of 24.
At that point I questioned whether or not I wanted to play again and it was Dean Thomas who told me that I would be a long time retired.
If he had not pushed me I would never have had the career that I had, I would probably have just stuck to a bit of cricket or golf.
I worked so hard to get back and that was the biggest thing but I also went into a team that won the league straightaway so you get the bug.
There is nothing better than winning, that is something I try to tell my players, winning something creates hunger and that is what we need to create here at Barwell.
You only create that by witnessing winning. I have been very lucky to win cups, leagues, have FA Cup runs and that creates a habit, the sort of habit I need to create here.