Our current manager

[Nesty]

last 5 league games W2 D2 L1

just thought I would start a thread on our current manager !!

[horlickfanclub]

Hooray to that.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Yup doing a great job.

I have said before, no reason why the Torquay thread can’t be moved to other footy and have the subject changed.

Duff’s methods finally paying off. Bringing a bit of Premier League fitness and thought to training and matches. As we are becoming more professional in mindset, we may well see some of more the amateurish back room and training moved on.

Good to hear Duff talking about numbers and levels a lot. Distance run, sprints, heart rate and power output are key metrics in all professional sport, and I felt we have had a reluctance to focus on these leading us to fall behind.

[DWx3]

The Eddie Howe of Cheltenham. I've said for years that all I want to see at the club is some long-term thinking. Gary Johnson did a decent job but you can't put your future in the hands of a manager of that age - especially if their health is not 100%.

Burton, as an example, built their success on a succession of managers of a similar mould: players who had played at a high level and looking to make their mark in management.

If Duff acheives success then he might not stay with us for the long term like Howe has done with Bournemouth. Success will inevitably lead to better job offers but the idea of continuity is to have a replacement in mind before that happens and make sure it is someone who can pick up the baton and continue the good work rather than ripping things up and starting again.

We've been a stop-start type club ever since John Ward left and sometimes I feel it is an achievement in itself that we have not slipped to where the likes of Torquay and York are now.

If we have the correct blueprint in place then we can grow steadily regardless of who is at the helm.

For now let's get behind the new chairman and manager look to the future.

[Jerry St Clair]

If we have the correct blueprint in place then we can grow steadily regardless of who is at the helm.

This is a superb observation and is precisely the approach that Watford have taken. They decided that they would put in place a strategy for the club and managers would have to fit in with that rather than they other way round. Too many clubs go through upheaval every time they change manager which is a recipe for failure. Having a longstanding backroom team and clear, settled vision from the board is the way to go.

[Jerry St Clair]

The only other observation I'd make on our current manager is that the UpTheDuff hashtag is genius. Kudos to whoever started that!

[Ihearye]

As RCS has commented, the worrying aspect is that our fitness was so far off what was expected. Maybe it was ok at conference level and that sense of comfort had set in and became the norm?
As sad as it is on a personal level, it is good to see MD sort out from the bottom up. We need fit injury free players and need the backroom staff to achieve this. Just now need to become a 90 minute team. But that aim could be applied to every team! In all leagues

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

As RCS has commented, the worrying aspect is that our fitness was so far off what was expected. Maybe it was ok at conference level and that sense of comfort had set in and became the norm?
As sad as it is on a personal level, it is good to see MD sort out from the bottom up. We need fit injury free players and need the backroom staff to achieve this. Just now need to become a 90 minute team. But that aim could be applied to every team! In all leagues

I back Duff to get a squad up to L1 fitness and intensity levels - that is a sure fire way to succeed in L2!

[SHANDY VOR]

I think that a focus on fitness and intensity is a mistake for any ambitious footballing club, its going back to another age; otherwise Bullet Baxter would be Chelsea Manager. These elements are essential but not the things that will give you an edge over your opposition; if anything the fitness aspect should be a given and something any self-respecting sportsman will ensure of themselves.

Football is much more about how a team is set up, its tactics, how it manages its players in between games (sports massage etc v intensive training), practising technique and more and more importantly sports psychology to get the best out of individual players.

[DWx3]

Post subject: Re: Our current manager
DWx3 wrote:

If we have the correct blueprint in place then we can grow steadily regardless of who is at the helm.


This is a superb observation and is precisely the approach that Watford have taken. They decided that they would put in place a strategy for the club and managers would have to fit in with that rather than they other way round. Too many clubs go through upheaval every time they change manager which is a recipe for failure. Having a longstanding backroom team and clear, settled vision from the board is the way to go.

Indeed, Watford acknowledged that the average tenure of a manager is +/- a couple of years. Whether you're a Watford or a Cheltenham Town, if a manager does poorly you get rid and if they do well they move to a bigger club. People come and go but principles last. That's how the biggest organisations in the world maintain themselves and always have an eye to the next CEO.

All credit to Paul Baker for what he did over the years but look at the appointment of Johnson as an example. It worked wonders to get us back to the FL but where was the plan for the next step?

[SHANDY VOR]

A plan always has to be realistic and achievable, so maybe there was a plan and this plan was to stabilise, by maintaining league football for 5 years and start reassessing then. In which case your club's strategy has been successful. The problem is with many plans is that they all too often are pie in the sky panderings to fans/commercial coming from the heart not the head. How many times have you heard lower league clubs trot out their 'In the Premiership in 5 years' promise.

I agree with the previous poster though in terms of the manager matching the club - the Liverpool Boot Room was synonymous with that approach and brought success for many years before they ran out of boots.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

I think that a focus on fitness and intensity is a mistake for any ambitious footballing club, its going back to another age; otherwise Bullet Baxter would be Chelsea Manager. These elements are essential but not the things that will give you an edge over your opposition; if anything the fitness aspect should be a given and something any self-respecting sportsman will ensure of themselves.

Football is much more about how a team is set up, its tactics, how it manages its players in between games (sports massage etc v intensive training), practising technique and more and more importantly sports psychology to get the best out of individual players.

Recovery and psychology is what I include in fitness. Using fitness instead of saying sports science. And distance run, the right time to sprint, when to recover and lower heart rate during matches are all part of the tactics and set-up. Duff could have the tactical edge and set up the team to beat the opposition, but if for either leg or lung reasons a player can’t make a sprint needed to make that system work in the last minute it could cause a goal to be conceded. And if recovery isn’t good enough for players to perform as the system requires for a game three days later then tactical plans must be changed.

[SHANDY VOR]

RCS - you have completely missed my point, and are so far wide of the mark with the rest of your comments that you could well be a Sunday bottom league striker.

In which case I would take you aside and develop your technique of relaxing in front of goal, taking a touch where you have time, shaping your body correctly before shooting, and putting your foot through the ball.

Alternatively you would have taken yourself off for a 15 miles run over the Cotswolds.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

RCS - you have completely missed my point, and are so far wide of the mark with the rest of your comments that you could well be a Sunday bottom league striker.

In which case I would take you aside and develop your technique of relaxing in front of goal, taking a touch where you have time, shaping your body correctly before shooting, and putting your foot through the ball.

Alternatively you would have taken yourself off for a 15 miles run over the Cotswolds.

Well obviously basic skill and quality is important. Taken as a given. But no use if you can’t get the ball or players in the right position at the right time.

[DWx3]

A plan always has to be realistic and achievable, so maybe there was a plan and this plan was to stabilise, by maintaining league football for 5 years and start reassessing then. In which case your club's strategy has been successful. The problem is with many plans is that they all too often are pie in the sky panderings to fans/commercial coming from the heart not the head. How many times have you heard lower league clubs trot out their 'In the Premiership in 5 years' promise.

I agree with the previous poster though in terms of the manager matching the club - the Liverpool Boot Room was synonymous with that approach and brought success for many years before they ran out of boots.

Your points are all very valid. What I have felt has been lacking isn't so much a plan but an established culture and definition of who we are as a club and what we stand for. Plans and strategies are fluid by their nature subject to constant change in reaction to external events but a philosophy, culture, blueprint (call it what you like) is set in stone.

[Shade]

I think our identity is a nicey-nicey family club, and that's been it for too long. Maybe a bit too much so, as we forgot how to fight for a while.

[Ihearye]

I think that a focus on fitness and intensity is a mistake for any ambitious footballing club, its going back to another age; otherwise Bullet Baxter would be Chelsea Manager. These elements are essential but not the things that will give you an edge over your opposition; if anything the fitness aspect should be a given and something any self-respecting sportsman will ensure of themselves.

Football is much more about how a team is set up, its tactics, how it manages its players in between games (sports massage etc v intensive training), practising technique and more and more importantly sports psychology to get the best out of individual players.

Indeed, but then you counter your own argument there. Our tactics are now to play a high pressing game. You need the fitness to do that surely.

[SHANDY VOR]

Professional sportsmen should be fit enough to play any style - that should be a given. It is the training practice in playing these formations, so they become second nature, that requires most time investment.

Just my opinion - I sometimes think football gets held back in England by its cleches, rather than adapt to new ways and keep up with the best. I would call it Baxterism, if you asked me to name it.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Professional sportsmen should be fit enough to play any style - that should be a given. It is the training practice in playing these formations, so they become second nature, that requires most time investment.

Just my opinion - I sometimes think football gets held back in England by its cleches, rather than adapt to new ways and keep up with the best. I would call it Baxterism, if you asked me to name it.

They should be and ours weren’t. Hence the praise for Duff.

[SHANDY VOR]

And personally this is why I think Duff will be a good manager for you. He is the thinking man's footballer who will bring new ideas, styles and approaches to your club but needs time to affect a clear out of anything or anyone who doesn't fit his approach. To use RCS parlance, to get all his ducks in a row.

As a City fan it pains me to say it, but after you survive this year (in a much better position than you currently occupy) I think you'll be pushing on for promotion next. Some of you will be even more unbearable.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

And personally this is why I think Duff will be a good manager for you. He is the thinking man's footballer who will bring new ideas, styles and approaches to your club but needs time to affect a clear out of anything or anyone who doesn't fit his approach. To use RCS parlance, to get all his ducks in a row.

As a City fan it pains me to say it, but after you survive this year (in a much better position than you currently occupy) I think you'll be pushing on for promotion next. Some of you will be even more unbearable.

Especially unbearable if City’s winless slide to the Southern League continues.

[SHANDY VOR]

Yes, I was waiting for someone to raise this but I guess you had your own concerns to assauge before you could move the spotlight down the Golden Valet.

I am concerned that now we are supposedly just about to finally get back to Meadow Park we may well be doing it as a Southern League club, so rather than build on the good work in exile we will have lost momentum on the pitch. However, I have learned over the years not to write us off, we have come back from some ridiculous positions to maintain our status at this level. The difference this year is that it would be with a new manager, and one who has been with us about 3 months and yet to experience a win. But you'll not find the same headrollery that other club's fans indulge in, we are the prozac gang and if there is footballing heartbreak around the corner then we are going to do it with a smile on our faces.

[asl]

Do you have a date for moving back to Gloucester, Shandy?

[Malabus]

Do you have a date for moving back to Gloucester, Shandy?

When Evesham finally boots them out and they have to share with Tuffley.

[SHANDY VOR]

Do you have a date for moving back to Gloucester, Shandy?

No

[SHANDY VOR]

Do you have a date for moving back to Gloucester, Shandy?

When Evesham finally boots them out and they have to share with Tuffley.

No chance of that my eight fingered friend. A friendly and hospitable club, and one of the two beneficiaries of my enormous estate should I decide to die, along with Jeremy Corbyn.