DUO WORTHY OF TAKING A PUNT!
PAT SURACI admits it was a gamble for both sides when he and fellow young boss Joe Lea took the Gosport Borough job – but now they’re in a promotion race and want to stay there.
Suraci, 25, and Lea, 26, are two of the youngest managers around but are already making a big impact.
Last season they jointly took Petersfield to promotion from Step 6 in their first year as senior managers.
That led to a summer return to Southern Premier South Gosport, where they both played before taking the coaching route as well pivotal roles in the academy set-up.
They’re already close to matching last season’s win total and, ahead of the weekend, were third in the table with a game in hand on Salisbury and Chesham United.
And Suraci hopes the duo are repaying the faith shown in them by chairman Iain McInnes.
“I don’t think risk is the wrong word – I’d say it was a risk for everyone,” Suraci told The NLP. “It was a risk for the chairman. Maybe the last couple of appointments hadn’t gone right for him and the club weren’t where we expected them to be. He was putting in two young managers – I am pretty sure two of the youngest managers in any league in England – so that’s obviously a big risk for him.
Fuel
“For us it was a risk because we were coming into a big job three leagues above what we were doing last year.
“Had it not gone as well as it has so far, it might not have looked too good for us. So it was a risk for all parties.
“At the same time, me and Joe are confident in what we do in terms of coaching and management. We back ourselves to go in and make an impact.
“We are aware the outside world looked at the appointment and are expecting us to fail or maybe want us to fail.
“That gives us a bit of fuel to keep going, to make sure we are working hard every day and we are doing everything we can to make this a success.
“So far it has been. But we’ve still got half a season left. The goalposts have probably changed in terms of what the final goal is now.
“At the start of the season it would have just been to improve on their league position last year. Now we’ve been in and around the top three since August so we’ve got to be looking to try and at least get in the play-offs. That’s a tangible goal and an achievable one. We’re trying to do everything we can to get in there.”
Suraci says the team has exceeded expectations so far as the squad embraced a new playing style. But he also believes the whole club is seeing the benefit of a culture shift.
“I don’t think the league position is something we could have expected,” Suraci said. “But, while me and Joe are not experienced in terms of years, I think through our experiences we’ve always managed to change a style of play and culture quite quickly.
“That’s probably one of our real strengths – the environment we set has a big impact in a short space of time. That’s the way we work and apply ourselves.
“When we talk about a new style of play, it’s not necessarily easily to implement that. But if you’re quite insistent on it, you’re consistent with your process and you get buyin from the players, it doesn’t take too long.
“Obviously results and wins help with that. You know what it’s like, people will buyin more when it’s going well.
Culture
“There have been setbacks and I am sure there will be more. We’re into the Christmas period now which is one of the most testing of the year.
“It’s starting to get cold, the pitches are getting difficult and there’s a lot of games to be played. It’s about us keeping our standards high and try and remain up near the top.”
Suraci called time on his own playing career when he discovered the enjoyment from coaching far outweighed that of playing. And that’s formed a large part of his outlook as a manager as well as putting smiles back on faces at Boro.
“Changing the mood at the club wasn’t too difficult because me and Joe have been at the club for years, we know all the volunteers and everyone who works there,” he said.
“In terms of changing the culture within the first team squad, it was more of a mood change. It’s: We’re here to enjoy it, we’re here to have fun. But it’s going to be serious and we’re going to demand.
“I think that starts with how me and Joe apply ourselves. We’re in first, we’re there early setting up, everything is organised. The players see we are serious and want to do well. But when they arrive it is a relaxed environment where they come in wanting to be there, wanting to enjoy it, because they know it will be competitive, it will be intense, but we know when to tone it down a bit.
“The biggest element of football people take for granted is, are people actually enjoying it? If they are, you’re halfway there. There’s a fine line between enjoyment and putting the work in, that our standards are high. As long as that’s there and everyone is giving everything, we can enjoy it as much as we want.”