Ahead of the fixture against manager-less Oxford United, Mark Kennedy spoke candidly about the pressure of being a head coach rather than a player.
You can discuss what Mark Kennedy has said ahead of this match HERE, as well as get involved with our pre-match threads: Post your Score Predictions, discuss the Starting XI, and Predict The Attendance.
NEW QUIZ: Oxford United (h): Last Time At Sincil Bank: We have also published a quiz about the last time the two sides met at Sincil Bank, which can be found HERE, or at the bottom of the page!
Oxford United: With the ‘U’s being between managers MK doesn’t know how they will set up or what effect the dismissal of Karl Robinson will have on the club. He does know they have really good players/coaches and as such is surprised to see where they are in the league. Overall he doesn’t expect to see an outlandish or vastly different game plan from them.
Joe Walsh has had a successful operation that everyone is happy with and as expected he remains sidelined for several weeks. Adam Jackson is on course for recovering from his calf strain and is expected back from next week onwards. The TJ Eyoma injury is still proving difficult to ‘recreate’ (the pain) on the physio bench so it will need to be monitored over the coming days, whilst being seen as a short-term injury.
MK was disappointed on a personal level for TJ, somebody he enjoys talking with a lot and has become friendly with. TJ is outstanding in training, emerging as a group leader. “When he’s on it he’s a Hell of a player” MK cited the player’s strengths as a one v one specialist, dominant in the air who handles the ball well including in short spaces. Going forward he is looking for TJ to improve his concentration and ‘long’ game. TJ has found himself in a position where there is notable competition for places – good for the coach, not as much for some of the players. Even so the attitude of TJ and others like Tashan Oakley Boothe has been exemplary.
The absence of TJ makes the return of Lewis Montsma all the more timely. MK is very glad to have him back; the team have won 2 and drawn 1 of his three games this season. “Lewis being part of that is not a coincidence”. Without a doubt, LM is a real asset and a grade-1 player.
The Difficulties and Pressures of Coaching: The disappointments felt by a coach are 20 times harder for MK than those he experienced as a player.
“I’ve never experienced pressure like it…..but I’d never change it. You take results harder, you take them personal. Tuesday was really difficult for me because I was quite angry after the game but then the lads have given their all. They were excellent”. Within the MK Dons game the structure, discipline, and defensive play had been excellent.
Coming off the back of such a late set-back MK candidly explained how difficult he found conducting the press interviews minutes after the game at such an emotional time. He was aware of trying to balance himself and come down having been embroiled in 90 minutes of high-energy, volcanic action only moments away from being 11th in the league table.
MK reminds himself to concentrate on the bigger picture, that of the process, what the aims are and not to get side tracked by one goal. MK observed that after 70 mins fans (617) were singing his name and after 94 minutes he was getting heckled by a fan behind him. That happens of course because some people (not everyone of course) get caught up in the result but that is football and what makes it great.
Whilst MK sees victories as being a collective, his job as head coach is to protect the players following a defeat. For example he reflected after the Burton (away) defeat he could have helped them more and he doesn’t see shouting and screaming at players in any way conducive to getting the best from players. People don’t improve with that approach. He would rather seek to turn a negative into a positive.
MK feels invested in caring for the players, something that comes with age, maturity – fatherhood even. He does not want the players to waste a single day (a message he re-enforces with them regularly) and would like them to replicate the experiences he and other staff members enjoyed during their playing careers – it is their time. As such MK feels he takes a balanced approach to what he does.
“Ultimately we all want is the best for the players, best for Lincoln”.
Approach When Taking the Lead: MK certainly does not shut up shop when the side goes ahead but is very clear with the players that they are not to chase the game either and reassures them that with patience a second goal may come. He doesn’t worry about hanging on in games or fear conceding the clean sheet. The reality is that no matter how well the team play, the opposition will have opportunities and there can be the occasions where there are freak goals as seen against MK Dons.
The actual problem is clear: The defence and associated statistics are incredible and don’t require repeating. “We have to, have to, have to get better at killing the game off…what I’m really pleased about is I think we’ve created clear-cut chances to do that (in a succession of recent games). The next thing is putting the ball in the back of the net”.
MK aims to improve that through work and coaching over a period of time and hopes to see the improvement accordingly.
Writer: hulloutpost
MK: "I think we've created clear-cut chances to do that."https://t.co/6J3E0IQFYN#ImpsAsOne #WeAreImps #OUFC
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) March 3, 2023
