NASH EYEING A BIG BASH!
CRAIG MAHON isn’t too fussed if people think Curzon Ashton’s play-off push will fizzle out – the player-boss says his underdogs know what they’ve got inside their dressing room.
Nash kicked off 2024 with a 3-0 victory over Southport to end New Year’s Day fifth in the National League North.
It came on the back of a home 3-2 win over Port on Boxing Day and was a third win in five games.
Two defeats in the middle – against Gloucester and Chorley – were a blip and Mahon revealed an open conversation sparked the festive double.
“After the Chorley game we had a bit of a heart-to-heart with everyone,” Mahon tells The NLP. “I’ve been in many-a-dressing room where managers are, ‘This is how I do it’. And that’s worked for loads of managers I’ve been with.
“But I wanted to listen to the players and give them the respect that I appreciate their opinion as well.
“So we talked about formations, setting-up, how we want to look and play. We listened to the players, took on board what we talked about and designed a training session to back that up. We brought it into a game and it’s worked.
“It’s trying to give the lads as much respect as I can. Doing both, I always appreciated managers who respected players and their understanding of the game.
“We’ve got some great players in our dressing room with loads of experience. They’ve been around, played high up at professional clubs. It would be foolish not to listen and get their opinions.
“The lads know, at the end of the day, I make the final call. So they respect my decision and I respect their opinion on how we can be better.”
Mahon, 34, took over as interim player-boss in September when previous manager Adam Lakeland made the switch to King’s Lynn Town.
Management is something Mahon has always fancied. He has his badges, works at Wigan Athletic and, in his career, has often pulled on the captain’s armband. Not that that he expected a long-term move into the dug-out to come so soon.
He admits the first month was tricky as he combined playing and managing, but feels he has got into the groove now.
“When you make a mistake on the pitch in my head I was like, ‘I shouldn’t be making these mistakes’,” Mahon, who hails his coaching staff led by assistants Mark Bradshaw and Jack Salkeld, says. “But we’re only human, we all make mistakes. I say to the lads, ‘If I make a mistake, don’t be afraid to tell me just because I am manager’.
“It’s finding that perfect balance. It’s been a learning curve but I feel I’ve got to a place now where I’m able to balance on and off the pitch.
Environment
“I’d never ask the players to do something I wouldn’t. So, in a sense, I do feel it has brought the best out of me as a player as well. It’s made me step up a little bit more and put that extra bit in.
“As a collective, we’ve just got a really nice dressing room – just loads of nice human beings.
“It’s a pleasure to train, do team-talks, they are just nice people and that creates that environment where people want to learn and be successful in.”
Mahon says that mix of talented players willing to dig in for each other is a big reason why they are still in the play-off chase after Lakeland’s departure.
“That’s what we’ve continued on – we’ve kind of become even closer since Adam left, in a sense, because we wanted to make sure this group sticks together and keeps doing the right things,” Mahon says.
“Curzon’s budget, the way the club is, people don’t expect us to be up there. To be in 2024 and fifth in the league is a massive achievement for the whole club. That goes from the chairman all the way down to everyone around the club. It’s everybody working together.
“Obviously the lads have to put in the effort on the pitch but it’s all them that gives us the support, keeps us going. We will enjoy it as long as we can.”
Not that should be confused with Mahon’s side being happy with their lot.
“We’re fortunate no one expects us to be there so there is no pressure on us,” Mahon says. “People are like, ‘Oh, Curzon are doing well’.
“But, as I’ve said to the lads, because I know what’s in the dressing room and I know that standards we can hit, we should be putting each other under pressure to try to be the best we can be every week.
“Try to be in the play-offs. I do believe we have a good enough team to do it. If people want to say, ‘Ah, Curzon are doing well, they will drop off eventually’, that’s perfect for us.
“We don’t mind being the underdogs and the ones people don’t expect.”