Who said cornwall was full of tourists?...... The life of the Truro City Manager

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Landreth

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My football playing life was finished at 34, As i boy i dreamt of playing at my boyhood club Torquay united (humble as it may be!). Apart from trials at Forest Green Rovers, Truro City and Bath City (all which were unsuccessful), The closest i came to my dream was 3 seasons in the Southern Premier League with Oxford city followed by 4 seasons at Yate town in the Southern Divison one south west section. As a no nonsense midfielder i was not known for my goalscoring or even my flair but for my hard but fair tackles and my never say die attitude.

At the age of 32 my Yate contract expired and i was released, I was drawn back to my roots back to Cornwall. Football was the last things on my mind and it was finally dawning on me that i would have to get a "proper" job, Through habit more than anything i went to watch the local football team one saturday afternoon which was Bodmin Town, I couldnt help but noticed the passion and skill even down at this level. After the game i got chatting to a few of the boys who said i should come along to the next training session if i fancied a bit of a kick about. For the next 2 months i enjoyed my Tuesday night training sessions, Then one night after training the Gaffer came up to me and asked if i fancied a run in the team, Safe to say i bit his hand off and the following saturday ran out for Bodmin against Launceston Town in a local derby , A 3-2 win later and we were off and running, I played every game for the rest of the season while becoming the unoffical assistant manager. At the end of the season the gaffer said he was finished with Football at the age of 54! and left Bodmin Town F.C for good it seemed.

A few weeks after this i was offered the job of looking after the team for the next season, Even at this level i was ecstatic. The entire squad came back for the following season with a vigour for the start of the season. Although we lost the first 4 games, the season picked up and after a good run in the FA cup where we knocked out 3 0 by Truro city no less!, The season charged on with the boys stepping up the gears and before i knew we were in a title battle with Plymouth parkway and Penzance town but after a hard season we had won the league!. I couldnt quite believe it, My first season and i had won the league (Not a major one but a league is a league!), Sure enough me and the boys hit the pub that night!

The following morning i was awoken from heavy sleep which wasnt caused by too many pints of cider the night before i may add!. I answered the phone with a gruff "hello" expecting it to be the wife or one of the boys. Instead i was greeted by a deep voice saying "Hello Mr Merrett, my name is Kevin Heaney and i am the chairman of Truro City, I was wondering if you had time for for a chat with me this afternoon at Treyew Road?", I struggled to hold back a snigger with my first thought being that one of the boys from the club was trying to pull my leg, But there was something in his voice that seemed genuine. I responded with "Of course il come for a chat, Il see you at the ground later".

After the 30 minute drive down the A30 to the ground, I was greeted at the door by Kevin who greeted me with a firm handshake and took me through to the boardroom, He wasnt wasting anytime "Afternoon Scott, hope the journey went ok?" i responed with the usual pleasantries. Then straight out of the blue he said "Scott, Kevin Hodges left us 2 weeks ago for pastures new, I know you had a brief trial here years ago so you know your way around here quite well. You have done a good job up at Bodmin, i like your attitude with your players and the type of football you play. I want that style here at Truro City".

I didnt really know what to say to this?, Was i being offered the Truro city job?, This would be a big step up for me it ment jumping up 4 levels of the football league pyramid!. Mr Heaney then came out and said "I want you as our new manager, im willing to offer you a two year deal on £350 pw", Before my i could even think i saw my own hand out shaking his saying "I accept Mr Heaney, I will become the new manager of Truro city"


I know its a quite a bit of background story, But my aim is make Truro a stable league 2 club within 5 years and perhaps go on even further if i can :) , Im planning on updating most days ( My christmas holidays started early this year!).

I hope you enjoy the introduction, and hope you come back to look at the updates.
Any suggestions or comments are very welcome

Scott
 
The following day I met up with Kevin again to discuss a few details before the press conference, We came to an agreement that a top half finish would was the minimum that we both wanted this season, The wage bill was currently at 4.4k a week and I have a budget of 6k a week and 16k to spent on transfers, Having money to spend on transfers was a new thing for me and I was looking forward to getting my Harry Redknapp cap on and finding some real gems.

I decided to go and see the back room staff who will be my eyes and ears when im not around, So I enter the training area to find them all sat there seemingly expecting me. The first person to greet me with Dave Newton who was my assistant manager after years at Plymouth he joined Truro in 2004 and has been assistant manager and manager over the years and would be a valuable member of the team. I greeted the other coach and goalkeeping coach, along with the physio and scouts, I was impressed with the apparent love for the club as well as there professionalism, Although I felt we needed another coach and hopefully a fitness coach (if I can stretch the budget that far), So I put a notice out that I was on the lookout for staff.

I took a seat in my own office with a strong coffee, looking through a scouts report to keep my mind ticking over before my press conference.
The press conference was arranged and as I entered I was greeted by a small group of journalists from BBC Radio Cornwall, The Non League paper and Pitchero Non League paper sat there ready for the next few minutes.

First question up was
Journalist “You sit here as the new Truro City , how do you feel”
Merrett “I am pleased that the Chairman has trusted me with this position and cant wait to get to work”

Journalist “New managers often bring change and upheaval, Some people may worry for there jobs, Do they have to worry?”
Merrett “Everybody will have a change to prove they are worthy of playing here, I want the players to give as much to this club as I am going too”

Journalist “How involved do you intend to be in the day to day running of the club?”
Merrett “ I’m going to be involved as much as time allows me but my background team are going to be there to pick up the strain when needed”

Journalist “Some managers are very hands on and some have a more reserved style, What’s your approach going to be?”
Merrett “ I think the club is going to run best when the players feel valued for everything they do, Not just on the pitch”

Journalist “What’s your tactical approach to the game”
Merrett “ I like attractive football and that’s what I am going to bring, I like the ball on the floor, I am not a fan of the long ball football of yesteryear”

Journalist “Agents will be sniffing around before long, Is there any area you are looking at?”
Merrett “I’m not willing to discuss transfers today as I need time to evaluate everyone at the club”

Journalist “You join the the club with reports that your goalkeeper Tim Sandercombe is on his way to Farnborough or Eastleigh?, Is there any truth to this?”
Merrett “Tim is a fine player and l will be doing everything in my power to keep him here”

After this Mr Heaney stopped questions and I went back to my office to finish my days work and preparation for the following season


I am planning on doing updates in weekly sections (Weekly FM times not real world), Thanks for reading once again!


Scott
 
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Thursday 7th​ July 2011 to Wednesday 13th​ July 2011
I enter the office to start my first full day in charge, First thing is to get changed and get on the training ground, As I walk out I see the lads appearing for training.

The first person to come for a chat after training was Barry Hayles even now at 39 you could still see glimmers of his quailty shining through, With 16 years experience including 3 in the premier league and 8 in the championship his expirence would be vital.

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While watching some shot stopping training I deciced that I need to keep Tim Sandercombe here, At 22 years old and at 6ft 4 he had all the right attriubutes for a decent keeper, Starting off at Queens Park Rangers he has been to various clubs including plymouth and notts county. A good all round keeper who will hopefully be keeping many clean sheets

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Finally I noticed a few familiar faces in the shape of 2 ex Torquay players in Joe Broad a handy central midfielder who will be a excellent squad player, the second player is Steve Adams at 30 he should be a major player for us and our main central midfielder, And finally a current Torquay youngster on loan in Ed Palmer a 19 year old defender with a bright future.

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After chatting to the rest of the team, I felt a sense of relief to find that they are all very serious about getting this club moving in the right direction.
As the day worn on, I deciced that a basic 442 with traditonal man marking is the tactic that we will try and master.

Later that evening a hastly prepared friendly between the first team and the second team was arranged.
The first team won 1 nil with a nicely taken goal by midfielder Les Afful, should have been 3 or 4 nil but a win is a win after all.

After the game my scout informs me that a defender is avaliable for a trial if I agree to it, He tells me he is called Stevland Angus : A 30 year old jamaican defender who earlyer in his carrer had been at clubs like Torquay, Bournemouth and Cambridge but found him self released, and now looking for a new club

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Friday morning starts with a quick chat with the chairman about hopefully getting a parent club to get some excellent youngsters in cheaply. After a few minutes of me telling him that we wouldnt have to pay wages and we may even get some money off them every year he was in, and he was off to find me a parent club.

Even after two days of training I can see that we are lacking in the wide areas, Luckly my scout has already been out looking and given me a fair few names to look through.
After many phone calls and many many cups of coffee, A few deals were on the table. Tommy Black a former arsenal trainee and Crystal palace first teamer started talks about coming in for the season to add some much needed width. Even at 31 im sure he will be a danger at this level.
Second on the list was Tony Bedeau again being in his early 30s, Bedeau is a bit of legend in Torquay, and His pace on the right wing could cause serious issues and with the bonus of being capable as a striker if needed.
And finally Raphael Nade a bit of a journeyman attacking midfielder in the confrence, Been offered a trial for the pre season, We will see how he does.

The following day Tommy Black is here papers in hand and ready to go!, A great first impression there, As he goes off to meet his new team mates.

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As the training continues my scout informs me that Stevland Angus, Raphael Nade and Tony Bedeau will be joining us on trial from tomorrow morning, Looking forward to seeing them in action.

Another hard day of pre season training, and the team are getting that little bit sharper with each passing day. Bedeau and Angus impressed, Unfortunalty Nade didnt seemed that interested considering he is playing for a contract.
A few of the youngsters were impressing me with that enthusiasm and plain youthful energy,
Rob Sollis a 17 year old striker born in Truro is showing some quailty, Along with a defender called Matt Morgan who only 16 is one for the future without a doubt, But may see first team action before long.

On the transfer front Stevland Angus has accepted my transfer offer and will be joining the club on a pay as you play basis, Really glad to have him with the club.
Tuesdays training passed without any incidents, I received a phone call asking if I would like to attend the England Trail days, I felt that my time would be better used on the training pitch, So I sent my scout to look for any decent players.
 
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Thursday 14th​ July to Wednesday 20th​ July 2011
Another hard days training is finished, While im here with team doing this my scouting team are going to the England trial day.
Friday morning and my scouts returns from the trial day and unfortunately didnt find any players that would suit our team at the moment. So an experience for him but nothing else of any note to be taken from it.

Saturday morning I find a email waiting for me with detials of 5 people who have applied for the fitness coach position going at the club, I invite them all in for an interview later that day.
After an afternoon of interviews I think I found the person I was looking for in Chris Stammers at 34 years old and not holding a job in football coaching before there was a certain something about him that I liked so I offered him the chance of a years contract, Which he gladly accepted.

Our first proper pre season friendly was here, A home game against plymouth Argyle no less, A total of 1069 came to watch the game in which the Argyle won 1 nil, A freak goal by their midfielder Lewis Zabek in first half injury time, We had a near equal portion of the possesion and a the same amount of shots on goal,Neither team was showing much quailty in front of goal, With plymouth having 2 shots on target to my 1 on target.

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Sunday morning came and i wandered on to the pitch as the groundskeepers were hard at work, The head groundsman asked me if I was happy with the state of the pitch and if I would like any changes made to it, This is one of those strange moments I was expecting when I took the job, At Bodmin I was lucky if the goal posts were up an hour before kickoff, Now im being asked if the pitch needed to be redrawn lol, I assured him that it was near perfect and nothing apart from matienance is needed. After a half day training the players left and im left with the assistant manager and scout looking for further players to add to the squad.

Monday Morning broke after a successful evening of discussing players and discussing other such important things as Whisky and top gear, We bought up a shortlist of 2 players that would really help us move forward
Firstly is Daryl Knights of Newport County, Starting off at Yeovil, He moved to Kidderminster before Newport, We are not sure if he wll be willing to drop a league but hopefully he will be impressed with our ambition and at 23 he has many years ahead of him
Secondly my scout remembers seeing a central midfielder playing for Lowestoft town a few months ago in a cup game called Andrew Fisk again at 23 years old, He is the right age for my team and an enquiry is made.

Monday afternoon saw a bid of 12k put in for knights later that same day Newport came back asking for 160K I almost fell out of my chair laughing, Knights is NOT coming to Truro City, The huge price tag came as big shock, Surely only high end league one teams and above will have this type of money.
We also put a bid of 3.5 for Fisk to Lowestoft town and hopefully this will be more successful.

Tuesday comes round with another good training session followed by a backroom meeting
In the meeting a few things were discussed such as a group of youth players who are in line for ther first pro contracts, and finally the idea of a new club captain in Stevland Angus, Although he is a newcomer he has all the attriubutes of being a fine leader for the team and as our current captain Jake Ash is on the transfer list by request i think this could be a good idea.
As I leave the ground I recived a letter with names for new coachs, But none of them seem to have the IT factor im looking for and i decided to continue without an extra coach for the time being.

Wednesday was a day off for my players so I took the quiet time to work on tactics and also deciding if the 4 players on pro contracts in the reserves are good enough to be moved up to the first team or if I need to get them off the wage bill, After a while, I decied that 3 are on the transfer list, And the final player was on a month by month deal so he left as of today. Hopefully this wont upset any of my other players.
I also recieved permission to talk terms with Fisk this afternoon, they seemed to go quite well, With a fair contract being agreed. So if nothing unexpected happens he should be with us in a few days.
 
Oxford City, wooh! :p

That's a lot of writing mate, but I've skimmed through and it's good. Hope you can get to the Premier League!
 
Thursday 21st​ July to Wednesday 27th​ July 2011
Thursday morning dawns and before I can even get to my office, I’m told that the Chairman wants to see me in his office!, Slightly concerned that he was going to turn round and tell me I was the wrong man for the job I made my way there, But was greeted with him beaming from behind his desk and offering me a coffee, everything is ok I tell myself.

Mr Heaney tells me that he has found some parent clubs for us and wanted my opinion on the choices were Barrow (Not interested was my first thought), Rotherham, Hartlepool (Either of these two I thought) and finally Aldershot town. I say to him that I would like to make a partnership with Hartlepool United, They impressed me with there youth setup which after all is what we would be using. A friendly would be played once a year which would bring in a few grand, And the real bonus they would pay us 10k a year, It may not seem a lot of money but it would pay our wages for 2 weeks which is a bonus. I bid Mr Heaney goodbye and got myself ready for training as always.
As I was about to leave for the day, I had a email telling me that the youth players I offered contracts to have accepted which is a excellent news.

Im awoken by my phone ringing, I pick it up while looking at the clock and see its 5.46 and thinking who could be ringing me at this time of the day.
It was my scout “Sorry to call so early boss, but this couldn’t wait I was in Bristol yesterday looking at Bristol Rovers youth players and some trial players they had there, the match ended and I got chatting to a certain Pablo Counago” Before I could think I said “Please say this is going somewhere Matty”, Matty said “Of course boss, We got talking and he is out of contract and wants a club, I know its not my job but he would be quality at Truro so I offered him a trial for the pre season”, I roared “YOU DID WHAT!!, o god I bet he has never even heard of us!”, Matty continued “Boss calm down, he knew of the city due to a long weekend he took here a few years ago, He coming down!”
With this I shot out of bed “Your methods are odd Matty, but you may of just got us a 25 goals a season man, Well done” with that I hung up and got ready to go to the ground.

Tim Sandercombe signed a new deal with us to stay on for the next two seasons. A good end to a Friday it has to be said.

Saturday was just a half days training for the boys with no injury’s to speak of I was happy with there fitness levels and with the news that Andy Frisk would be with us from Monday, I could feel the team becoming more and more complete. And later on in the evening was informed that the supporters trust was very happy with my “Bargain” buy, Topping off a great week.

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Sunday and Monday passed without anything of note, That was in till late on Monday evening, I was told that Pablo Counago was here in Truro and would be joining us at training tomorrow!, If only I could get him on a contract.
Tuesday saw the team train and I was let in awe at the level of understanding that Counago and Barry Hayles seemed to have from the off set, It was scary. Playing at the higher levels was beginning to show with these two, I knew I needed to make Pablo a fixture here.
I wasted no time after the first session I sat down with him and offered him a contract, It would make him the highest paid player in Truro City history, but I felt that it was warranted to get this type of player here. And on 600pw he was making a £100 more than the next player, But the contract was offered and hopefully he will sign.

Wednesday night saw our second pre season friendly against Tiverton Town, A solid 4 nil win was just what the doctor ordered. We limited them to one shot on target all game, And with Fisk getting a goal on his first game for the team and two of the youngster Cook and Solis getting on the score sheet as well a good all round performance.

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Scott
 
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