Rather than run through a list of names that are being endlessly linked to the vacant Cobblers manager’s job I thought I would run through a check list of what I think the brave new man (or woman if you believe some rumours regarding Hope Powell!) should have in their locker before even thinking about taking the helm at Sixfields…
– Have a knowledge of the town/club…
It sounds an obvious one but this is about more than the potential manager searching for the Cobblers on Wikipedia. We need someone who can relate to the supporters, to unite us to the club once again. Too many floating fans have been lost in the last few months but if there’s a steady head at the helm that appears approachable and a decent fella/fella-ess then it would be a hell of a start. It also means they would get more patience with us when a bad run of form hits. Sammo’s sacking came after six draws and a defeat in a run of seven games and you won’t find many who will deny that it was still a bit early to send him on his way. Gary Johnson did little to endear himself to us and paid the price. He said we were ‘restless’ too quickly but you have to have that bond with the figure head of your football club or it’s doomed from the start.
– Know what League Two is all about…
There’s no point in someone coming in with a decent record at a higher level if they don’t know the insides and outsides of all that League Two is. You need to know how to scrap out a 1-0 win on a cold Tuesday night in Macclesfield and you have to know the type of character that will get you out of the division the right way. All of that is harder than it sounds and just as it takes a special kind of person to follow a League Two club around the country it takes a strong character to lead a team through the roller coaster of a league that we currently reside in.
– Give this squad a chance…
There’s been a lot of talk about bringing in a new man in time for January but there’s plenty of time before then to get things looked at before automatically bringing in a whole new group of players. We have a lot of talent at our disposal already and though some of Johnson’s signings have been poor there’s still a lot of good players at the club. With a good month to get to know what’s already here it’ll be interesting to see if there’s any changes in the likes of Jake Robinson and Paul Turnbull – both Johnson signings who lost their confidence a bit since joining in the summer.
– Respect your players…
Again this should appear to be obvious but there was a harshness about the previous manager that you get the feeling translated onto the training ground through a stubborn nature. Players at this level are, in many ways, more passionate about what they do than players higher up the league ladder and overly criticising on and off the pitch doesn’t always lead to positiveness in the end. Simple respect for the players and for the fact that they don’t mean to make mistakes should translate into more positives on match day. A mutual respect from the players would also help to create the perfect blend in the dressing room.
– Get us out of here!
Much easier to say than do is this last one but we REALLY need to get out of this league position. Even if it’s simply to get into mid-table obscurity we need results to ensure that the promise made by David Cardoza that the situation at the end of last season would never happen again. Whatever style of football the new boss wants to play we just need some wins to lift the spirits again and if that means lumping the ball up the pitch and nicking a last minute winner then so be it!
Your Tweets…what is the one quality the new ntfc manager should have?
@jamesfarrier Proven results turning clubs around rather than big reputations with already well-assembled teams.
@Iest_ntfc play players in the correct position!!
@Babie_Bear common sense,that’d be a start!
A Load Of Cobblers 