LIONS CHIEF GETS READY TO ROAR
ENGLAND C boss Paul Fairclough has a message for Non-League players aspiring to play for their country: We’re watching you!
Non-League’s Three Lions travel to Llannelli Town on March 19 for the now annual showdown with Cymru C.
The hosts will be looking to avenge last season’s 1-0 defeat to Fairclough’s side, five of which moved into the EFL in the summer.
Fairclough, assistant manager Mick Payne, a cohort of scouts and analysts are already filing reports on this season’s talents.
And, with the squad set to be open age once again, the long-serving boss is expecting some tough decisions.
“We’ve been out and about – we’ve got a small army of scouts,” Fairclough told The NLP. “It’s really exciting – the door is open for so many players. From young players – even to players we’ve had in the past.
“This weekend we will have more than half of the National League covered with people physically at the game. On top of that I’ve already got a really interesting factfile and database of analysis of performances of hundreds of players.
Information
“I am not data driven, as such, but it can’t be ignored. You can go to a game and the player excel, the next game he might not.
“When you’ve got that data in front of you, you can tell whether you saw him on one of those days where he was on fire, but normally he’s not – or quite the reverse, that he had an off day that game. It’s the way clubs do it these days. At the top in the Premier League, they’ll have analysts – they will know what time he went to sleep, what time he eats.
“But they will also have, how many successful interceptions does he make, how many tackles does he win, how many passes does he complete? They will have the whole information. I’ve got access to that information.
Expert eyes
“There’s nothing better than a pair of expert eyes too – and the lads I’ve got out there are experts at analysing players. It’s like my eyes out there.”
Last season’s squad saw an England C first as Fairclough picked no more than one player per club at a busy part of the season – and he may go the same route again.
“I’ve got to decide,” Fairclough added. “Do I go for a full England side, like Gareth Southgate would do? Or do I get realistic and respect the situation that it is one game a year at the moment?
“This league now is so intense for the clubs and so important for them. I’ve got a picture of one of the England C teams and it’s got four Barnet players from when I was manager. That was fine – it was a young side and they would bite your hand off.
“But there are players out there who haven’t played for their country and thought they missed the boat.
“When Harrogate manager Simon Weaver was playing, he used to get in touch at least once a season to give me a nudge: Don’t forget me. It was lovely.
“So it’s going to be a great opportunity for so many players. I am really excited about the game.”