GabrielBCFC
Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2015
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 17
- Points
- 3
My Accrington Stanley side were a couple of points above the relegation zone in January '16. We drew 2-2 with Portsmouth, which I thought was a decent result, given that Pompey were 4th. For some reason the board said it was a bad result and gave me an ultimatum for the next game against Notts County. We came back from 1-0 down against the Magpies with 10 men to go 2-1 up but I messed up the tactics (should have changed the wide men from ‘winger’ to ‘wide midfielder’ to improve the defensive shape) and we drew 2-2. I thought a draw might keep me on but they sacked me after that game.
My strategy was to take the wage budget down by getting rid of experienced players like Billy Kee and Anthony Barry whilst promoting academy graduates. Sadly, midfielder Harry Blackburn was probably the only youngster that played well for me and I persisted with a promising 16-year-old Jack Little in goal for too long. Because he was only on £100 p/w and Jason Mooney’s £850p/w contract ran out in the summer, I’d banked on Little’s form improving so I could let Mooney’s deal expire and slash the wage bill next season. Little had good shot stopping attributes but he did not command his area so well and that made us vulnerable from crosses into the box. I wanted to trust the youngsters so that I could reduce the wage bill and get players nailed into positions for a long period of time, but that probably cost me short-term results.
I made the mistake of not signing a proper left-back until it was too late. Adam Buxton had an attitude problem and I’d brought Kiye Martin on the cheap in the summer for his versatility, but he was utterly useless at left-back. His one decent game for us came in a 1-0 win against Hartlepool when I played him in central midfield, which in hindsight was his best natural position. I signed veteran Lee Naylor to play at left-back but he didn’t play for me after signing due to a lack of match fitness – I should have got him in earlier.
My tactics were too defensive. My plan was too make up for a lack of quality by getting numbers back to disrupt the opposition and try to grind out results – I often had my wingers assigned to man mark the opposition wingers to protect my full-backs. That had some success, I beat Luton 1-0 on the opening day and beat Portsmouth in September. However, the problem was that the opposition always had loads of the ball in our half and I was banking on our defensive game working perfectly every time. Once the other team scored the game plan was ruined.
I tried to maintain a settled defence to allow players form partnerships. On reflection, maybe I was too loyal to underperforming players like Seamus Conneely, Dean Winnard and Martin. I didn’t have much depth at the back and should have compromised my policy of not signing players on loan. Going forward, we were overly reliant on the goals of Terry Gornell, which makes me think I should have kept hold of Billy Kee. I let him go on the basis of not being tall, not being quick and having a high wage, but he was our best finisher and might have been useful in games where we needed to put a second striker on.
My belief was that I should only have senior pros in the first eleven and fill out the rest of the squad with youngsters. That approach led to a lack of depth, so when first team players were underperforming there was no-one who could take their place. In trying to create long-term sustainability at Accrington, I lost track of the short-term aims.
My strategy was to take the wage budget down by getting rid of experienced players like Billy Kee and Anthony Barry whilst promoting academy graduates. Sadly, midfielder Harry Blackburn was probably the only youngster that played well for me and I persisted with a promising 16-year-old Jack Little in goal for too long. Because he was only on £100 p/w and Jason Mooney’s £850p/w contract ran out in the summer, I’d banked on Little’s form improving so I could let Mooney’s deal expire and slash the wage bill next season. Little had good shot stopping attributes but he did not command his area so well and that made us vulnerable from crosses into the box. I wanted to trust the youngsters so that I could reduce the wage bill and get players nailed into positions for a long period of time, but that probably cost me short-term results.
I made the mistake of not signing a proper left-back until it was too late. Adam Buxton had an attitude problem and I’d brought Kiye Martin on the cheap in the summer for his versatility, but he was utterly useless at left-back. His one decent game for us came in a 1-0 win against Hartlepool when I played him in central midfield, which in hindsight was his best natural position. I signed veteran Lee Naylor to play at left-back but he didn’t play for me after signing due to a lack of match fitness – I should have got him in earlier.
My tactics were too defensive. My plan was too make up for a lack of quality by getting numbers back to disrupt the opposition and try to grind out results – I often had my wingers assigned to man mark the opposition wingers to protect my full-backs. That had some success, I beat Luton 1-0 on the opening day and beat Portsmouth in September. However, the problem was that the opposition always had loads of the ball in our half and I was banking on our defensive game working perfectly every time. Once the other team scored the game plan was ruined.
I tried to maintain a settled defence to allow players form partnerships. On reflection, maybe I was too loyal to underperforming players like Seamus Conneely, Dean Winnard and Martin. I didn’t have much depth at the back and should have compromised my policy of not signing players on loan. Going forward, we were overly reliant on the goals of Terry Gornell, which makes me think I should have kept hold of Billy Kee. I let him go on the basis of not being tall, not being quick and having a high wage, but he was our best finisher and might have been useful in games where we needed to put a second striker on.
My belief was that I should only have senior pros in the first eleven and fill out the rest of the squad with youngsters. That approach led to a lack of depth, so when first team players were underperforming there was no-one who could take their place. In trying to create long-term sustainability at Accrington, I lost track of the short-term aims.