Managers might not of reached the goals set during the summer, or perhaps
the players bought in aren’t delivering for one reason or another. If a player isn’t
in the side they get unsettled and start moaning.
All the managers I have
worked with would say ‘If you’re playing well, you’d be in the team. You are
out of it because you’re not playing well`. Unsettled players want to move on
and their mood can affect others.
The clocks will have gone back, the nights draw in. That starts to affect your
evening plans. The weather changes, temperatures plummet, you are suddenly
playing in heavy rain or heavy wind. Pitches become lusher and slower while the
training pitches can get unplayable especially at lower levels. You hunt around
for alternatives, a 3G artificial surface.
Too much training on such surfaces
can affect joints and some players may have to be kept off it. If you want to
lay your own it costs a fortune. In days gone by we trained on anything.
A lot
of league players would train on the car park on a Friday morning and be very
competitive that players would get injured and end up missing the game.
At Wolves
under Graham Turner this was a regular occurrence, while the Aston Villa Centre
Of Excellence took place on the car park at Villa Park for many years.
The football seasons seem to get longer. Evening training, travelling, staying
late after games, going through the range of emotions together all take the
toll.
It can be a 24/7 existence for ten months of the year. You have to have a
certain mindset to deal with it. In the New Year there will be three basic
situations facing you at this stage. You are hoping to go up, avoid relegation
or be somewhere in between. In my long career I’ve have sampled all three.
Fans, however, must appreciate the true goals of their clubs is that there are 88
clubs at Step 3 most will experience a small form of success. A few will go a
bit further and reach the play-offs, a local county senior or the League Cup
Final or have an extended run in a major cup only eight will experience
promotion that is just 15.8 per cent.
In other words the vast majority of clubs will fail to achieve what fans will
see as their primary objective.
Football is so important to
the emotional well-being of our nation. It is really important is the
appreciate the bigger picture that is going on giving youth a chance bringing
through local players progressing five places up the table, scoring 10 per cent
more home goals- these are important steps in building a club’s future. You do
however become obsessed with the game.
A lot of people outside the game have
asked me, ‘why I bother?’ It’s a good question but the answer is that it is in
my blood.
All you focus on is doing well as a team. You want success and are part of the
team that is driving for certain goals. You suffer from tunnel-vision because
if it. I have devoted to much of my time entirely to football and other aspects
of my life have suffered because of it.
Aside from that I have been fortunate to work with some great managers and
players who have not only taught me much about football but provided me with
wisdom that have benefited me in my life.
Not every club can win. But
every club can progress.
Gavin Blackwell
Gavin has been involved in the game for over 30 years and has shown great
dedication during that time as the physio for a handful of local non-League
clubs, most notably Halesowen Town, but also Oldbury United, Tividale,
Stourbridge and Hednesford Town, as well as assisting the Wolves academy and
WBA reserves.
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