So far so good – and we’ve still got two key players to come back
Beating Chelmsford 4-0 was another great result but again the thing I’m most pleased with is the clean sheet. To not concede against Dover or Chelmsford speaks volumes for the discipline we’re trying to instil.
I’m happy with the goals too – we’ve been creating chances from day one really, and we’ve still got Luke Williams and Louie Soares to come back in. They are, arguably, our best players so that will be a big plus for us.
We’ve got quite a young squad – most are in their early 20s and some of them are teenagers.
They’re getting to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, who can be trusted to hold the ball up in the channels, who can win the high balls – that sort of thing – and it’s starting to show on the pitch.
Last week we trained on the grass at the Sharda Glass Stadium. The lads have been training on 4G but there’s no substitute for the feeling of grass.
The pitch is cut and marked out now so it was good to put them through their paces on it. Most hadn’t seen the stadium from the pitch either.
We go to Havant this weekend and they’re a bit of a wounded tiger after Saturday, when they conceded two late goals – including one in the seventh minute of injury time – to lose to Bishop’s Stortford.
Lee Bradbury is a good manager and with the way he likes his team to play, it should be an attractive game rather than a ding-dong non-League battle.
But I don’t really worry much about the opposition because if we’ve prepared right, we will be a match for anybody.
One thing I was interested in was where our strengths and weaknesses may lie.
In pre-season I employed an independent matchday analyst to do a report on us and find our weak links.
It was done in the final friendly against Arlesey Town, which we won. There wasn’t anything in the feedback that surprised me but it did confirm one or two things for me.
As a manager new to a club, you have to learn things about your players. I’ve had a bit of practice at that in my role as an agent.
The characters in non-League football are very different to the professional game in that they need a little more attention.
That can be to keep them motivated, or to put an arm round them, or give them a kick up the backside.
The coaching methods we use may be tried and tested, but it’s the man management where you earn your stripes.
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