One of the first decisions you had to make as Dagenham manager was selecting a captain, which obviously seemed like a difficult choice. I wanted to know why you decided to pick Nunny given that you didn’t get to see him throughout pre-season. What convinced you he was the correct option?Well, I think my mind was made up probably even before we came back for pre-season. I spoke to all the players before they trained and before they came back. I knew Nunny was 28 and had played so many games in the National League but I also knew we’d have quite a young team, so I needed somebody who was vocal - Nunny’s definitely that. He’s a good lad, a very good player, and we’re all frustrated that he’s injured. He’s definitely a good captain because I think he’ll have a go at his team-mates if they’re letting their standards drop and that will be helpful for me. It’s a shame that he’s not fit but we’re hoping that with his and the medical team’s hard work that he will be back soon. As a manager you have a diverse range of experience varying from the very top right down to non-league. How can that help you in this job? I think it just means that I know what I want but am realistic with the group of players that I’ve got. I’ve been very fortunate to manage at the top level but have also managed your Dartfords, Dovers and Enfields - teams like that. I know that there’s all different levels and I have to be patient at times because if I have the attitude of expecting from these boys what the England boys were producing, then I’m going to get frustrated so that’s not realistic. As you quite rightly say, I’ve been involved in many different levels and thankfully have enjoyed every one of them. I’m just realistic and I know what the players are doing. No matter who they are, whether they play for Dagenham & Redbridge or England, I’m going to test them and always want them to get better. You mentioned your brief stint with England where you seemed to place faith in a lot of youngsters. Now you have another youthful squad, do you think you’re the right manager to bring the best out of them?I certainly hope so. I think the players have confidence and believe that I’m going to give them a chance. If I was a young player, all I’d want is that because, if you’ve got that chance and you take it then you can kick on from there. If you don’t take it then you’ve got to look at yourself and get better so that in the next game you play well. The impression I’m getting from the players here is that they feel I do like young players and will give them that chance. WHERE DO YOU ENVISAGE US BEING BY THE END OF THIS SEASON? DOES SURVIVAL REMAIN VERY MUCH THE PRIORITY?That I’m still guessing but survival is still very much the priority and I won’t be kidding anybody on that. What I do know is that this team will be much better in 25 games’ time because we’ll be used to eachother and know what we’re doing. We’ve only been able to work on fitness on very hard ground so that hasn’t been handy, but the longer we play and more training sessions we have, we’ll get better and better. It’s important that the supporters keep faith with the boys because the last thing we need is for the team to drop their heads after some bad results,which will happen. So far the two performances have been good, but will you change anything if we have a bad run of games when things don’t go for us?I think you have to look at every situation and look at the game. Is it because of the system that you’re not playing well? Is it because of the players that you’re not playing well? You can change the system and the players could make exactly the same mistakes. You could think about changing a formation defensively but aren’t giving goals away from open play. You could defend a corner and regardless of systems you’d defend it exactly the same way. That’s the job of the coach - looking to see how you can increase the percentages of winning a match. DO YOU SEE THIS AS A LONG-TERM OPTION, OR ARE YOU PURELY HERE TO STEADY THE SHIP?I hope that I’m here long-term. I’m getting a very good feeling about the club, I’ve always liked the club but since being here am liking it even more. I get a good feeling that people know the situation and are realistic, for example the supporters when we came off the pitch against Maidstone were magnificent. I’ve had too many clubs, I don’t want any more clubs, I’ve had enough of clubs!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
WRITERArchives
January 2024
|