Luke Imp
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- Jan 17, 2015
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Holdsworth will probably try and appoint himself.I think we need to look at the players we've got, decide how we need to play to get the best out of those players and then choose a manager to suit.
Unpopular opinion I think, as the general consensus among fans and pundits is that would be putting the cart before the horse, that the manager is number one and the rest of the club has to adapt to him, that good manager will get the best out of any group of players and good players can adjust to any system they're asked to perform but I think it would do us good to break with the tradition of thinking that way.
The criticism of Beech was that he had no alternative when the playing squad changed. He did well with a squad last season he'd assembled almost entirely on his own. This season things didn't go his way in the transfer market and it was soon clear that players like Zach Clough and Tristan Abrahams aren't suited to 'Beech ball', or at least not without ball-winning attack-minded players around them like Kayode, Zanzala and Patrick, and not without defenders who could step up and play clever passes that aren't just long-balls; but continuing to try and play Beech ball just ended with us playing aimless long-ball. It wasn't working and you get the usual criticisms of 'no plan B'. Beech isn't the first League Two manager to be criticised for having no plan B and won't be the last.
I would wager, there isn't a single manager down here who has a genuine plan B, only the very best can switch between different playing systems and philosophies and not suffer a dip in form as a result (although some of the very best are even more one-dimensional than the managers down here because they are always able to assemble the right squad). Setting up a team is more complicated than just getting the system down on paper, you also have to know how to coach that system into the players, and how to adjust the finer points of the system to react to things in a match.
Most managers have a system. If any manager has achieved success in the lower leagues then it's because they're good at playing within their system and cruicially were able to build a squad who suit that system. Most managers (particularly those who have shown that they can get a team in good form) are perfectly competent as long as they can play a system they know. Few managers know many systems, few managers can take a randomly assembled squad and get them playing a system though there are many managers whose skill lies not in playing a system well, but in keeping such a random group of players from losing too many games; those are the ones who can keep a troubled team from getting relegated but not much else).
Often this is why senior players can do well in short periods when placed in caretaker charge, because they along with their team-mates know what system they should play... they just don't have the experience to coach it further and react to changes to make it sustainable usually.
We need to loook at who we've got in the building already, what system would suit them, and then go out and find a manager who can excel with such a system. Unfortunately this would require a lot of footballing knowledge and analysis from the person who has to go and choose a manager, and that person for us is David Holdsworth... but who knows, maybe he'll prove his worth.