From the Gaffer's Desk: Spring 2016
There has been enough going on this spring that I wanted to write a post before I told the story of our battle for the Southern Premier League championship.
Every now and then, I'm mentioned as a possible candidate for a job with a bigger club. I'm usually not tempted, but one vacancy did turn my head.
Aldershot Town play in the Conference Premier, two levels above the Regional Premier league where I am now. I took a look at their squad, and they seemed to have a core of players who could play the style of football I've created at Wantage Town--lots of guys with high Work Rate and Teamwork. I was flattered by the speculation, and I came this close to expressing my interest in the job. I decided to stick with the Alfredians, since I've enjoyed building and maintaining our squad over the past three years.
I'm in the process of putting together next year's team, deciding whose contracts I want to renew. The short answer is "almost all of them." No matter how the end of the season turns out, they've already proven they are up to the standard of the Southern Premier Division. I don't want to jinx anything, but I also want to see if I'll need to upgrade my roster if we're promoted next season. We're spending a little more than half our wage budget now, so I can afford to shop for some higher-end talent.
When I take a look at the list of players who might want to sign with us, I notice they seem to want a lot more money than we've been paying so far. My scout often thinks they're better than my current players, but when I take a closer look at the key attributes for the roles I ask my players to fill, I notice something interesting. My lads are every bit as well-suited for my tactic, and in some cases, they're even better fits.
Paul Douglas is a perfect example. My staff think he's our fifth-best striker, and give him only 1.5 stars. But his key attributes for the Target Man role I want him to play are solid, across the board--better than the young forwards, such as
Neil Pelling and
John Nash, who are much more highly regarded. I can't argue with the results Paul has delivered on the pitch, either. And, any forwards with key attributes as good as Paul's are want two or three times as much money as he does.
Again and again, I discovered the same thing. Carefully choosing my players to fill certain roles is enabling me to assemble a winning team without spending a lot of money. The advice I've read about looking past star ratings and evaluating players in terms of how well they fit my tactic turns out to be spot on.
Ryan Ryder is retiring at the end of the season, and
Joe Graham won't accept a role other than Key Player and a corresponding wage packet. Joe has been out on loan all season, so I've decided he's not worth bringing back on the terms he wants. Otherwise, the guys you've come to know will be back for another season.
Mick Hart is now a full-fledged club Icon, which gives me another reason to want to keep him in a Wantage shirt for the foreseeable future. Mick has signed with an agent called
Paul Eagle, who is "known to prefer his clients to remain at their current clubs." I think that's a good sign.
Hart is getting some love from our old boys, too.
Andy is finishing up a successful season with Rochester. It's good to see him following his old club, too.
Mick isn't the only young player who's caught people's eye.
Tom Wilkinson is also attracting some notice from a former Alfredian.
Ashley wants to find work as a HOYD, but he's nowhere near
Luke Noble's class, and he won't accept any other staff role. I wanted to bring him in as a coach, but he wasn't interested.
I don't think it's a good sign that our chairman has sold the club and the new chairman,
Robbie Doyle, hasn't committed to keeping me on as manager. His favorite manager was spotted at Alfredian Park for one of our matches, which makes me wonder if he's looking to make a change. Who knows; I might be looking for a new gig sooner, rather than later.