Danny Cowley was his usual passionate candid self covering a range of topics including agents and grassroots football ahead of the crunch match up with Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday.
Paul Tisdale and Milton Keynes: DC is really looking forward to the toughest game of the season against the side with the best home record in the division. The flip side to that is Imps have the best away record. The match will be played in Premier League standard surroundings. MK have top players who use the space on the large pitch efficiently and revert to a compact unit when out of possession. They like to impart a rhythm and flow to their play. DC does not look at other teams fixtures and scores or make tactical decisions based on that until the last couple of games or so of the season. That would be wasted energy and it is all about concentrating on ‘ourselves’ until that point. On Paul Tisdale, DC stated he enjoyed his encounters with Paul and quipped that PT ruined his (last) summer. At MK Tisdale has done a really good job putting them in a strong position. He does have a better pool of players at his disposal (than Exeter) but it comes with higher expectation where failing to achieve promotion would likely be seen as a failure. Last year in the playoffs Imps had lost their entire left side and were hamstrung by only being able to deploy one style of play. This year city have better personnel allied to more tactical flexibility. The onus is on ‘us’ to ensure the right option is selected.
Player Matters: As usual DC gave little away regarding fitness or selection but did say that key players having the quality of LF and JS are always missed and it had pleased him greatly the run the side had been on bearing in mind their absence. The previous two seasons had seen a crazy number of games by this stage; even so, some players had hit the 40 game mark this time. The challenge for management is to find the right balance between fitness and freshness. Those (players) with a weak mentality will feel tired, those with a strong mentality will feel fit because of all the training and work they have put into the season. Lincoln City has mentally strong and determined players – lots of them. Everything is about the players – only they win the matches and it is they who should be held up for success. Consequently, DC outlined that the Imps have a player-centric environment training them to have the best opportunity that they can be mentally and physically prepared; always putting process before the result. On Mark O’Hara, DC confirmed Imps would have liked to have made the signing permanent in January but for various reasons it didn’t happen. The signing will be re-visited, remaining respectful to there being three parties to make it work (2 clubs and the player).
The Impvasion: With nigh on 6k away fans it will not feel like an away game. It doesn’t matter how many home fans are there, they won’t match Imps noise ‘that’s for sure’. Taking so many fans to a match that is not a Derby in League Two is massive and DC has to pinch himself at such an incredible effort. He cannot articulate how much he appreciates the support as it is never about 11 people. It always requires the whole city and county to be behind the team, making DC feel privileged and humble. The players are aware of the following and they should take credit that through their endeavours in the community with hard work ethic they have made such a connection with the fans. Everyone is aware of how much ‘it’ means to so many people and what they have invested in their support; as such ‘we’ will shoulder that responsibility. Fortunately, large away followings have been a regular occurrence which helps the art of managing big occasions. The players are managed with a view to peak for matches in April and big games.
Agents and the Direction of Football: On the 44k paid to agents DC clarified that City were 9th in the table for fees paid (L2) and hinted ‘that gives quite a good idea of who’s spending the money’. Historically players footed the bill for the agents but now it was typically 5% to 10% of costs either paid by the club unilaterally or split with the player. There are some good agents out there but also some who try to take advantage of the system and game. DC was pragmatic on the role of agents and understood the necessity of their role. Unlike Lincoln City, some clubs behaved unfairly towards players so the agents were required to ensure players had their contracts drawn up and achieved the financial rewards they were looking for. DC respects the role agents play and works with it. His fear of going forward is the amount of money going out of the game via the agents. DC regularly sees Sunday football with the pitches being awful, a disgrace. Everyone has a responsibility to grassroots football otherwise young people will have no chance of developing or improving without decent pitches, facilities and coaching. That is where the money should go along with employing full-time referees/officials. DC knows through 10 years as a part-time manager how hard it is to combine two roles. If ‘we’ want to stop complaining about referees and attract better people then they need full-time training and career path. The ‘game’ needs to re-distribute the finances better. DC is hopeful that Financial Fair Play is starting to kick in with the league sticking by the rules – that may result in a more healthy financial balance.
Writer: hulloutpost
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DC: "I can't articulate how appreciative we are of their support.":https://t.co/QsHEgMHyWA#MKDons #MKDvLIN #ImpsAsOne
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) April 5, 2019
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