 FROM THE ARCHIVES JANUARY 1997 |
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| ALL THERE IS TO SAY AND KNOW ABOUT WYCOMBE WANDERERS ON THE INTERNET.... | |
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INTERVIEW WITH JOHN GREGORY
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ASK YOUR QUESTION
What are your first impressions of Wycombe Wanderers, both on and off the field? My first impressions were of the stadium. I had been here a few
times before and when the job came vacant I sneaked in a couple
of times, as you well know, and I was very impressed with the
stadium itself again, because I hadn't seen the new stand over
the far side. That was obviously the first thing that hit me
when I first came into the place, how beautiful it looked over
there, with the executive boxes and so on. I was impressed with
the way the place was run, because even though I had paid to get
in and so on, it gave me a good opportunity to have a look at
things without anyone knowing who I was, and just behind the
scenes. I walked round the offices, I went into the club shop,
I went to the hamburger stand and a couple of the bars and so
on. Just generally had a look around the place and I thought it
was a club that looked to be extremely well run and well
presented. On the field I think it has been well documented
that I saw the good, the bad and the ugly. I saw three matches.
The first was Rotherham which we came from behind to win four
goals to two, I was very impressed with the second half
performance that night. Notts County was the second game when I
think Steve McGavin scored after about 4 minutes then we hung on
for the remainder of the game. Then I saw the disappointing
display at Bristol City. So on and off the field there were
lots of things I had to take into consideration. I felt that
given the opportunity that I could try and improve things on the
field. Off the field everything seems to be running pretty well.
How hard was it for you to leave Aston Villa? It was a big decision. I was very comfortable there, I had a
cushy number, first team coach, I didn't really have any
pressures on me to be in the job 24 hours a day, unlike now,
where basically I never switch off. As first team coach you
don't get to take home the pressures of selecting a side, having
all those major problems. So I was very comfortable there, my
brief at Villa was basically on the training ground, that was my
domain, all the coaching and so on and generally making sure
that everything was running smoothly at the training ground.
Even down to things like in the kitchen, we had a canteen there,
a dining room where everybody eats and even making sure things
like that were ticking over properly. Generally the whole
training ground area was mine. The way we played on a Saturday
as well, obviously all the coaching sessions there. It was a
cushy number, well paid, plenty of perks with it, car and so on,
and all the other bits and pieces that went with it. So I had a
major decision to make that when I was going to step away from
that it had to be to the right club, and a lot of the people
said to me that I must be foolish to leave. I might have been
foolish to leave there to have gone somewhere else, but I felt
that coming to Wycombe that I was going to have a good chance of
coming to a good football club. You've only got to look round
the place here now to know what it's like.
Had you applied for any other positions, and what attracted you to Wycombe? I hadn't applied for any other positions purely and simply
because the ones that became available were out of my reach. I
was very inexperienced as a manager obviously, any Premier
League Clubs that came up would have been out of my reach, and
likewise a lot of Division One Clubs would have been out of my
reach as well, because of lack of experience and so on. Even
though I was coming from a club like Villa, as I said in the
previous answer, I had only been coach. So, in that respect I
hadn't applied for any other jobs. I have sort of already
answered the rest of the question previously.
I have got 2 and half years, so I have got the remainder of this season
and two seasons after that. I think it's a good period for
everyone concerned, particularly for the club because I suppose
they are taking a bit of a risk, well they would be taking a
risk employing anybody I suppose, so we agreed on a 2 and a half year
deal. It certainly gives me a chance, had it been any shorter I
wouldn't have wanted to sign.
What went wrong in your previous managerial position at Portsmouth? I was too young really, and inexperienced. I though packing in
playing which I did just before my 34th birthday and I wanted to
finish on a high and all that. I finished my playing career and
thought I would go straight into management. I felt I had
prepared myself, but I felt I went to the wrong club, at the
wrong time, for the wrong reasons. I went there as an
assistant, but the owner of the club was a guy called Jim
Gregory (no relation to mine) but he was my former Chairman when
I was a player at Queens Park Rangers, so there was bit of
nepotism there I suppose, giving me the job. Six months later
Alan Ball got the sack and he asked me if I wanted the Manager's
job and I took it. I thought I would be able to turn it round,
improve it and I wasn't ready. I wasn't able to buy and sell
and manoeuvre the club round the way I wanted to do it. I
wasn't given a free hand in that respect, so it was the wrong
place. I shouldn't have gone there, I shouldn't have done it,
but going through that experience has certainly put me in better
stead for when I came here. I certainly knew what I wanted. In
an obscure sort of way I'm glad it happened.
Can you run through what is a normal day for you? I normally get in about quarter to nine most mornings and I
spend whatever time it takes to get myself sorted, normally
before 10 o'clock. I try and cut the phones off at 10 o'clock,
that's the last call, whatever that may be. It gives me time
within that hour to get my head sorted, not only for the day but
for the rest of the week. I get to talk to other managers, if
I'm interested in players, or just generally to keep in touch
with everybody, to find out what's going on everywhere to make
sure you're not missing anything. Then probably some staff come
in, we're all making sure we know everything for the day. My
physio will come in at 10 o'clock and let me know exactly who's
fit and not fit. The boys have to be in here at 10.15, that's
the cut-off time for them. As you know, I've inherited quite a
few travellers, so rather than be a complete and utter sergeant
major I set 10.15 as a cut-off time. That gives them plenty of
time to get in from wherever they're coming from. We start
training at 11 o'clock on the dot up at Holmer Green. It's
generally preparing for the morning, making sure we're well
organised, that the boys do come in and we're ready to go. We
know exactly what we're doing, who's training, who's not
training. I've got a board on the wall with all the bodies on
it to make sure we don't miss anybody. I'll organise the
training, who's with who, then when the lads have finished we
wind down a bit in the afternoon. Again, it's office work,
there is a lot of admin we're made to do which is good in many
respects because everything that is connected with this club I
need to come through me so I know exactly what is going on.
Most of the afternoon is taken up with that, appointments with
you guys, that type of thing, the press, the media, not that
there is a great deal of that, but we have to keep in touch with
the Bucks Free Press, anyone else that has shown any interest in
us. Obviously tomorrow night (FA Cup Replay 17/12/96) is a big
night with Sky, so Martin Tyler is coming in today, just making
sure he is fully aware of the players and so on. Very rare is
it the same day one after the other. There is an opportunity
this afternoon to get off and see a combination game, some of
them kick-off at 2 o'clock, very often we get away from here
sharpish, and see a combination game in the afternoon and then
probably nip off somewhere again tonight. Last week myself and
Richard jumped in the car and went off to Sheffield, which is
bit of a slap from here, but it's part of the job. We went to
Sheffield Wednesday Reserves in the first half and then after
half-time we jumped in the car and went to watch Sheffield
United Reserves in the second half. That's fairly normal for
us, stop at a motorway cafe, grab a sandwich and a can of coke
or something, shoot up to Sheffield and shoot back down again,
get home at ten thirty, 11 o'clock. There's always Sky we keep
in touch with through the week, pick up games at night, if we're
not already out there looking. In our present position, and
obviously I'm still sort of new in the job, we're still looking
to improve, so we're spending a lot of time watching games,
covering all angles, and if we see anything that we thing will
improve the club, improve the standard, improve the team, then
we will try and follow them up and see if they're available,
never stand still.
How close do you get to the players both professionally and socially? Socially not a lot to be honest, I don't foresee that ever
changing, but professionally we're very close. I would like to
think we're close. We've got a good working relationship, I'm
amongst them all the time which is good, but obviously I can
only go so close. I was a lot closer as a coach which is
normal, the coach I find always has to be somebody who can get
amongst them, they can get closer than the Manager ever will,
and obviously I had that in the previous job. I learnt to mix
with the players a lot more, not socially, but professionally
you get a little bit closer and they sometimes would rather
confide in the coach than the Manager, or get the coach's
opinion before approaching the Manager, that type of thing. My
professional ethic is a lot stronger now as a Manager. I don't
get quite as close to them as Richard would, but at the same
time I don't hold any fears with them. I never have any
problems with any of them, I am quite happy to sit in here with
them, quite happy to sit out there with them, cups of tea and so
on. We joke and laugh together, but ultimately at the end of
the day we're all aiming for one thing, that is to win each and
every game, so we need to be together in that respect. I don't
treat any of them any differently, anyone not in the side, in my
first team, they don't get any preferential treatment over
anyone else, everyone is treated exactly the same. I don't walk
past people in corridors and ignore them. The fact that they've
had a row with me or something, anything that has got to be said
we say it and then it's forgotten because we all need to work
together. I will certainly never blank anybody. They are all
extremely vital to me, and as you saw in the Barnet game, the
cup match, we were down to the bare bones that day, in that way
I will never stand anyone in a field and ignore them. I need
them all and there might be the one day that I need to call on
somebody that hasn't been involved for 3 months, and he suddenly
comes into the side and has to play. If I've not treated him
particularly nice he won't want to play for me, so I treat them
all the same. They're all my little diamonds!
How much patience do you have with players when they aren't playing well? Not a great deal I wouldn't think, but at the same time I have
to appreciate that not everyone can be 100% every week. They
set their own standards. If someone plays a certain way one
week and he's excellent then he's proved to me that he can play,
so I expect him to reach that same standard because I know he
can do it, but I don't ask things of people that they can't
achieve. If people are not playing well then it's down to me to
make sure that he does play well for whatever reason. One of
our players didn't play as well as he could on Saturday, and he
knows he didn't, but he was the first to admit it, when he came
off he held his hand up and said "sorry gaffer, I just couldn't
do anything right today", I said don't worry about it, it's one
of those days. So I can appreciate that, but of course if that
happens week in week out then they may end up not playing and
will go and play in the reserves side. I have to pick the
players in form. I'm prepared to wait a week or two for an
indifferent performance, but generally I'm fairly impatient. I
want to get there in a hurry, I want it done. It's like I can't
wait for match days to come round because I get so excited about
them, especially the way we've been doing OK in the last couple
of weeks. I'm really looking forward to the game on Saturday at
Bristol Rovers, I want to get up that league. I'm getting fed
up with sitting and looking at where we are. You have to have a
certain amount of patience, ultimately if you know the ability
is there then it's down to me to get the best out of them.
Do you see yourself as a disciplinarian, and if so how hard can you be when required? I set certain standards, certain rules, certain habits that I
expect them to maintain, and if they're not maintained then it's
down to me to put them right. I wouldn't say I was a heavy
handed disciplinarian, but at the same time the players
certainly know how I feel about certain things, and I expect
those standards to be reached. It's been well documented that I
don't like the bare feet thing and I don't like swearing in
public. We use shop-floor language in here, I'm probably one of
the worst people, but at the right time and in the right places,
when we're together on the pitch at the training ground and in
the confines of the dressing room. The lateness thing as well.
They are three things that really irritate me. I can't abide
people being late, I think it's so ignorant to be honest. If
someone says a time then you expect them to be there. Little
things like that, that we need to be on time for things, out of
respect. But disciplinarian-wise, that's about as far as it
goes. I'm not heavy handed with it all, I just like them to
turn up on time, like them to win our matches and don't like
swearing in public. I've got kids and I know how bad it sounds.
I've seen other football clubs as well. One of the biggest
things I find is when we walk into another football club, the
first thing you see is the YTS kids, hanging around outside the
dressing room. I've walked into clubs where the YTS lads are
there, they've got earrings, they've not shaven for a couple of
days, they've all got different coloured tracksuits on, they're
all leant up against a wall with their hands in their pockets.
It portrays such a bad image for the club. I always like to
think that when people walk in here they think that this is
nice, it's well presented with the boys that are standing there,
the YTS lads are well turned out, the footballs are clean, the
dressing rooms are clean, it's well looked after and everything
is where it should be. I like people to go away from here
thinking that not only have we got a decent side, but it is also
a well run club. I like things to be just so in many respects.
I do strive for that kind of perfection. I'm just a bit
old-fashioned in that respect, but I'm not heavy handed and if I
need to get tough on them then I have to get tough. I get what
I want in the end, whatever way I decide to go I get what I want.
How much influence does Richard Hill have in first team matters? Well, a lot really, he's obviously my right hand man. He hasn't
worked probably with the first team as much at Reading as he is
here, so he's on the learning curve as well. I didn't want a
"Yes" man, that was the one thing I didn't want. I didn't want
someone if I said he's a good player and he said "yes boss he
is". I didn't want someone to agree with everything I said.
Richard doesn't do that and that's a good thing. I could
suggest another player at another club and Richard would say "I
don't like him, I don't think he's good enough for us".
Ultimately I can over-ride him, but it's good to have someone
there who can just say to me, are you sure that's the right one,
and, I don't think he's good enough. We watch the boys from the
minute they walk through the door every day, we watch everything
they do, we hear almost everything they say, so we're with our
boys all the time. Richard is the same as me, we walk the job
every day, we're up there, we see what's going on when they
train, we come in here and talk about it, what was up with
so-and-so this morning, he trained well, he didn't, he was
rubbish, he looked like he'd been out all night. We watch
everything they do in many respects. He's my eyes and ears and
of course I need someone to bounce ideas off as well, and we're
a very closed shop in that respect. Everything we do is kept in
this room. He's got a big influence. Occasionally on match days
I'll ask him which team he'd pick and he might have four
different players names than me. I'd rather he did that than
pick the team he thinks I would like. He's a very important
member of the my staff.
What is your favourite type of player and style of play? Well, Platini was really my hero. He just had a certain swagger
about him, he was just something else. He was fortunate in the
role that he played that he didn't really have any specific jobs
to do on the pitch apart from get the ball and then play. He
didn't have any defensive duties. He played in a free role in
many respects. Cantona is another one, funnily enough they are
both French, but Cantona has a role. He has no defensive
responsibilities at all, he can just go and play and enjoy
himself, turn up wherever he likes on the park. They are both
very fortunate to be able to do that. Platini for me was the
one that I got very excited about. McManaman is another one at
the moment, again he's got a free role, he can just do what he
wants and he can hurt you. Then you go to the other side of it,
when I went to Villa all those years ago, Andy Gray was there,
he sort of became an instant hero of mine because of his
attitude, the way he played, he just threw himself around. I
was a Spurs fan as a kid, I was bought up on the double team
back in `60-'61, they were an amazing side, they added to that
the following year. The bought Jimmy Greaves back from Italy so
Greavsie became the hero, he was the idol for me as a kid, he
was the one that I watched. Being a Spurs fan I used to follow
them everywhere I could, so I was an avid watcher of them. The
Park Lane end at Tottenham I used to stand on, all them years
ago. I've seen a few goals from him. He was probably my
boyhood hero, the one I looked up to. Those players would tell
you the sort of style of play I like, I like the free-flowing
football. The French had an outstanding side in the early
eighties, if you remember the `82 world cup when they got to the
semi-final and got beat on penalties. They had an outstanding
free-flowing side, well-balanced, I can't think of the
centre-half's name, the stopper, he was a big out and out
stopper. He had one or two good players round him and as he
went forward there were people like Alain Giresse in midfield,
Didier Six one side, Platini up front, Tigana, they were good to
watch. Being European it was a bit unusual, usually that type
of football came from South America. I would think the French
in the early eighties used to excite me. The Germans were
entirely different, straight up and down, solid, without too
much flair. I like to see a bit of flair. With club
football, Liverpool set standards, `70s and `80s Liverpool
really epitomised everything about the style of play that I
like. They had a bit of everything, but more than anything it
was simplicity, two-touch football, and that's something that
we're striving for here, it will take a while, but they're the
standards we would like to achieve. That's why we're playing in
red!!
How difficult is it going to be to avoid relegation? Extremely. We won the last two home games and you would think
we're in the play-off position. That's the hard thing, trying
to keep everyone's feet on the floor. We've got to win another
eleven matches to make sure we stay up and that's going to be
extremely difficult, and to stay up this season. If we continue
in the same vain that we're in at the moment then we might just
get there, but we're not going to be able to switch off at all.
If we win another eleven matches before the end of March we
might be able to enjoy the last month of the season, but if we
don't get the points in the bag then it's going to have to go
all the way. I'm anticipating, I'm geared up that we're going
to go right to the last game of the season. Anything other than
that will be a bonus. We're expecting a tough time, we've got a
lot of tough matches coming up, but if we win our home games
then we could be safe, but we don't know. It's away from home
that's the biggest problem. We haven't won away from home all
season. We've drawn three lost eight, which is appalling, but
it's away from home where you win leagues, win divisions, win
championships. Home games you're expected to win, away matches
you're not, so you need to get a good away record going. Before
I came here, one of the problems that we always had at previous
clubs was that you had to win that first away match and the
longer it went on the worse it got, and fortunately in the last
couple of seasons we won away first or second game. Otherwise
it becomes a bit of a stigma, you can't win away matches, it
goes on and on and suddenly you get to December like we are now,
and we still haven't won away. You start to become so negative
away from home, you think you're going to lose just because
you're away, and you begin to accept it.
What really annoys you in football? Wasting talent. That's one of my pet hates. People with talent
that you don't get the best out of. Certain heroes of mine are
the boring ones, the Faldo's, the Boycott's, the Steve Davies,
all winners, Borg, people like that really. They have a certain
amount of talent and they maximise it, they took it to extremes.
Davies was one that he won a championship then he would go back
on the table in the morning and practice because he wanted to
win the next one. Faldo is exactly the same, even though he
just won the US Masters, the next morning he was out practising
and he would hit 500 golf balls at half-past eight in the
morning. Boycott was the same, if he got 150 he would throw his
bat across the room because he wanted 200. All those types of
people who even though they won something they wanted to win it
again the following year. Liverpool had that. Liverpool used
to win the league championship one year and were disappointed
when they came second the next year. That was the difference,
they set certain standards they wanted to maintain. People that
are very, very talented and abuse it, don't get to where they
should do with their talent. George Best to me is not an idol
of mine because of the talent that he had and he didn't maximise
it. He should have been European Footballer of the Year for ten
years, so to me he was a let down. He's certainly no hero of
mine. There have been a lot of footballers through the years
that have wasted their talent.
Who, or what, has had the most influence on you as a person, a player and a manager? As a person and a player, various people through my career I
suppose. As a player, people like Arthur Cox, he was very
influential, Terry Venables was as well, but in different ways.
Arthur as a manager made you appreciate how lucky you were to be
doing what you were doing. We would come in and start work at
half past ten, he would just say that did we realise that some
people had already been working for five hours and we were just
starting, I suppose that's where the lateness thing came in. If
some people had been working for five hours, why couldn't we
have been in at five past ten, or even at 10 o'clock, what would
we be like as a milkman or a coalman, was that what we wanted to
be. He just made you appreciate how fortunate you were to be
playing football. He had a major influence in certain areas,
probably more as a person. I was 31 when I went to Derby and he
got 2« years out of me there. I felt brilliant for 2« years and
most of it was down to him. Obviously as a manager I've got
certain influences from him. Venables again was a good coach
and put a lot of my coaching ideas into my mind. When I was
about 25 he told me to prepare for being a manager. He said
don't wait until you're 38 and suddenly think `I'm going to be a
manager today'. I've got reams of books where I just sat down
and wrote training exercises. Richard Hill picked them up in
the office here, they're all stashed away in briefcases and
they're just little books where I wrote down training sessions,
put a date on it and Richard noticed some were written in 1984
and that was while I was still playing. Terry had put a session
on and I would go home, write it down, and I thought if I ever
became a manager I might want to use it one day. We have 200
training sessions a year, 200-250 days where we have to put on a
training session, rather than do the same thing every day, it's
nice to have something different to do for the boys. I often go
through the book, spot something, fetch it back out and use it.
They all played a part at various stages and certainly some of
the bad ones made an influence as well. I used to think
whatever I do, don't ever let me be like that, don't ever let me
talk to anyone like that. I've seen some managers absolutely
humiliate players, absolutely humiliate them in front of a room
full of people, and I would think then that don't ever do that.
It was like standing with a big "D" on your head at school in
the corner. When you're 25, 26 it doesn't have quite the same
effect, you just want to stick one on them. They've played
their part, I won't mention names. I remember one coach when I
played at Queens Park Rangers, he came in at half-time, had only
been with us about a week, and he shouted at us for ten minutes,
and after the 2nd or 3rd sentence you became oblivious to what
he was saying because it's just like somebody shouting at you
for 10 minutes and you just don't want to listen. It's just
garbage, just screaming at you, telling you that you're rubbish,
telling you that you're losing 1-0. You know you're playing
rubbish so you don't need someone to tell you. What you need is
someone to tell you that it's only 1-0 lads, you've still got a
good chance, keep playing the way you're playing, whatever, give
you a kick up the backside, but in the right way.
You have been applauded by many in the game as "one of the brightest managerial prospects in the country", how do you view these remarks? AP built me up when I came to the club. He introduced me at the
Press Conference and I thought "Oh God, follow that!!" So I've
got him to blame for much of that. I'm not young, I'm 42 now,
well, that's youngish. I'd have rather been in this position
when I was 36 or 37, whether or not I would have been able to
handle it quite as well I don't know. It's quite nice for
people to say things like that, but ultimately it means bugger
all if I don't produce the goods. I cannot afford to make
mistakes here, like I said, I'm 42, it's not particularly old,
but also it's not young, I don't think I'll get another chance
if this ones not right. They are nice remarks, but they mean
nothing 6 months down the line, we're bottom of the league and
20 points adrift, they mean absolutely nothing. All they do is
make the people that said it look completely stupid. I've got a
lot to live up to in that respect. I respect things that they
have said, they're very nice, but until I produce some form of
success here I've got a lot to live up to.
What do you think of the atmosphere and supporters at Adams Park, and how to they compare to Villa? It's difficult to compare because of size and numbers, but at
the same time there is a hard core of supporters, the supporters
clubs, and the members of the club. We've got, I think, an
average here of around 4,500 at present, people will only go and
watch successful football and I think sometimes people get the
wrong idea that certain clubs have certain gates because they're
a great club. It's all cobblers. If you're struggling, people
don't want to come and watch. I don't want to watch a losing
team. I would find it hard to go and watch a football team if I
didn't think that they were going to win and the performance
wasn't particularly good. If we can produce a good football
team here, one that is winning first and foremost, people will
come and watch us, if they like the product as well, they will
come and watch us, but I think the winning thing is the
important thing. If they're losing every week people won't go,
no matter where you are. I would say that even the Premier
League after a while if you've got a team that is struggling
near the bottom, people won't come and watch. Chelsea are a
club at the moment that should be packed houses every week,
they're sort of finding it difficult to fill the ground each and
every week, with the players that they have got and the money
that the spend. I think the fans here have been terrific to me,
certainly since I've come into the place. I'm obviously
somewhat unknown to them but they've been brilliant to me, if I
can produce a winning team then I think regardless of who's
manager here, supporters will warm towards the club itself.
With a winning team, a little bit of flair and entertainment as
well, people will come from far afield, we will be able to pull
in a little bit more than we're pulling in at the moment.
You've certainly had a hard 6 months since the start of the
season, not had a good start at all, so people are a bit
reluctant to come if they're not going to enjoy themselves. You
don't want to go anywhere where you're not going to enjoy
yourself. You don't go to the Pictures to see a crap film, if
you know it's crap then you won't go, same as the Theatre, if
it's a crap show you won't go and watch. If you think it's
going to be exciting and so on, you want to be there, be part of
it. We need to improve our winning sequence and hopefully we
will pull in the crowds. Supporters have been brilliant to me
since I've been here, I get nice letters, I've met lots of nice
people and it's a lovely club. As long as my players don't
become too nice I could not be happier!!!
In your career to date, what has been your proudest moment? Well, a personal thing really, without a question, was putting
on the England shirt. I was fortunate enough to get there, but
that has to be the proudest moment. There have been one or two
near misses, but that's got to be the one. I was disappointed
that Mum and Dad weren't there, it happened abroad and they
weren't there, obviously my wife and kids were at home. I
managed to play at Wembley, that was about my 4th game, so they
all managed to make it on that night. Just playing for your
country, there's nothing like it, all the nostalgia bits. Then
you actually get the shirt itself, it happened to me in `83, a
long time ago, you didn't buy the shirts in the shops quite as
much then, everyone wears them now, even wives and housewives,
but all those years ago you couldn't just walk down the
supermarket and buy an England shirt. To actually put it on, it
was the first time I'd even touched one, ever seen one, then to
actually go out and put in on.
WWISC launched a Charter Policy earlier this year, containing an item about the quartered shirts, being that they should wear their quartered shirts both home and away, except when the team they were playing wore predominantly blue. How do you feel about this and also the return to the traditionally quartered shirts? I've lived in this area for 15 years, just down the road, so I
know of the club and it's history, and to me Wycombe Wanderers
has always worn quartered shirts. If you saw one in town you
knew it was a Wycombe shirt, the same as you know a Blackburn
shirt and a Bristol Rovers shirt. If you were anywhere else in
the country and you saw one of those things hanging in the back
of the car, the mini-kits, you knew it was a Wycombe shirt.
When I came to see them play the first time, they ran out in
those blue shirts and for a split second I thought it might be
the opposition, until I looked again and thought it must be
Wycombe because of the Sky Blue. So, in my little mind,
spinning around, if I happened to be successful the first thing
I would try and do was get rid of that awful kit. I knew they
wouldn't be happy with me, the Club, because of merchandise
sales, and so on. I think it's awful, maybe navy shorts would
have been slightly more acceptable, it's just not Wycombe.
Wycombe is traditional quartered shirts. I know all about
marketing, sometimes you have to change a strip because everyone
has got a quartered shirt, you bring out a new one and it's no
different from the one before. I appreciate all those things.
Ultimately that is the route of it all, but to me Wycombe
Wanderers is always quartered, so the sooner we can bring that
back the better. I did suggest it and already I'm reading about
it in the programme, about the red and navy quarters as an away
strip, so we maintain the quartered theme. When someone sees a
red or yellow and navy quartered shirt they will think it must
be Wycombe. I would like something like that, although I've
also seen something with a yellow and navy quarter at the
ground, on a jumper. You can't really come away from the
quarters.
We appreciate your change in team tactics and the lack of the long-ball play, what is your football philosophy? I think it's a mixture of both. If someone has got an
opportunity to knock a 60 yard ball to put someone in to score a
goal, then do it, but I want the ball played through midfield,
taking it whichever way you like to get from there to there, if
it only takes two passes to the goal then do it. I don't think
we should be predictable, but at the same time, first and
foremost, I want us to pass the ball to each other. The way I
spoke about Liverpool, they were the greatest passing side in
the country, and they are getting back that way as well, just
playing controlled football. It's all about getting the right
players to do it, but you've got to build a side, they can't all
be John Barnes, can't build a team with 11 John Barnes, it
wouldn't mean a thing, but there's always room for one, or two.
We've got a few players who are comfortable on the ball and I
shall want the ball passed through the team, but I won't say
that occasionally it doesn't hurt to kick the ball from one end
to the other, you have to have that air of unpredictability
about your play. Generally I want a passing team, I want the
ball played through midfield which is how I always played, how I
thought it should be played. You can look at all the teams in
the country, the world and in Europe and that is how they play.
The long ball game is not for me, I won't change, regardless of
what position we're in.
What team did you support as a lad and do you have a favourite team that you follow? Obviously Tottenham as a kid. I was brought up on them because
they were the best team, well, one of the best teams in the
country. The 1960 FA Cup Final was the first game I ever saw,
not live, but the first game I ever took an interest in that I
can recollect. Wolves beat Blackburn 3-0 I think, that was when
I got the bug. The following year it was Tottenham, they were
winning the League, the double, I just followed them. Then
Greavsie came back, the following year Spurs won the European
Cup Winners Cup in `63, beat Athletico Madrid in Rotterdam,
Greavsie got 2. I just used to follow them full stop,
everything was Tottenham. It was either Tottenham or Man United
then. Today, I always look back at my old clubs. Obviously now
I follow Villa, keep and eye on them. Leicester with Martin
being there, I think we've all got an interest in Leicester,
everyone at the club is keen to follow Leicester's fortune.
Richard Hill is an absolute Leicester nut, not a day passes
without him mentioning his beloved Leicester. My old playing
clubs, Brighton were one of my clubs and they're in trouble at
the moment, Northampton where I started, Queen's Park Rangers
just up the road. I keep an eye on everybody, Derby who are
doing so well in the Premiership this year, to everyone's
surprise
Do you have any superstitions? No, I've grown out of them. As a player I was terrible, left
boot first, I would put everything on the whole of the left side
first, then the right side, then my shorts. I never put my
shorts on until just before I went out of the door. I used to
walk around with them in my hand until the very last minute,
then just as we were going out I used to whack my shorts on.
Stupid things like I would drive to the ground a certain way one
day and we'd win, so I'd have to drive that way the following
Saturday. I'd have U2 on in the car, I'd have to wind back to
that particular track and as I went through the gates it would
be "Streets Have No Name" or something, so I would have to do
that exactly the same as I went through the gates next game.
That was as a player, but then as a coach I started to grow out
of it, it was getting ridiculous. I remember somebody saying to
me when I invited him to a game, he said that we had won the
last seven home games, and he hadn't seen us play at home yet
and he didn't want to come. I said that did he honestly think
that the fact that he was sat in the stand, all our players
would know that he was there and throw the towel in, I said it
doesn't happen like that, so he came to the game and we lost.
We had won seven home games on the trot, he had never seen us
play at home, and we lost. I purposely do the opposites now, if
I wore a certain suit one week, I'll wear something else the
next. There's just one little one now, the Captain's armband.
I put that on on a Saturday when we're getting changed and I
have that on my arm right up until kick-off when the Captain
goes out and I put it on his arm then. So I've got one, just a
little one, but only one at the moment.
How do you communicate with players during a game from the bench? Here it's slightly easier because of the lack of noise, you've
only got 5,000 in the ground and it's a bit easier to talk to
the boys. Really it should all be done on the training ground
Monday to Friday. Communication is important, sometimes I can't
wait for half-time to sit them down and get them to listen to
me. During the game it's sometimes hard, you shout at the
players, you're trying to explain something, then suddenly the
ball has come forward and they go running off and I think "I was
talking to you", so you have to be careful. It's hard, very
difficult to communicate with them. You also can't tell the
left-back to tell the right-back something, it never gets over
there, by the time it gets to them, it's completely the
opposite thing to what you said. More than anything sometimes
you feel you can't stop shouting, can't stop the encouragement,
kicks up the backside, whatever. In many respects you kind of
become a supporter, same as you guys standing on the terrace,
shouting at the players. I'm sat on the line doing exactly the
same as any supporter would. You try and get certain things
across to them, mainly football jargon that they would
understand. You can only talk to the ones that are relatively
close to you.
What do you do in your freetime and do you have any hobbies? I don't really get much freetime now, as I said before, as a
Manager it's rare that you switch off. It occupies most of my
time. I find myself driving home or to work and suddenly I'm
driving through the gates. All you can think of is your team,
getting things right, what the training session will be on
today, and so on. I've got a little girl now of 18 months, we
started a family again. I've got two grown-ups of 22 and 19, a
daughter and son. With my grown-up children when they were kids
I was playing, so I would take them to school in the morning,
went to work, came home for a couple of hours, then pick them up
again from school, so my kids don't know any different, Dad was
always there, he was always home, unlike a lot of other
professions where people tend not to see their kids grow up.
That's why I can't get rid of them now, they don't want to leave
home, cos Dad was always there. They had a brilliant childhood.
To a certain degree with our little girl now, I want to be
there for her, but it's obviously a lot more difficult now. I
don't want to miss out on that. I was desperate for another
child, a little baby daughter again and I was lucky to get one.
I want to make sure I'm around with her, giving her everything
the other two got. Once I'm finished here I want to get home
and be with the family again, it's very important to me, I'm
very much a family man in that respect. That's where I spend
the majority of my time. I'm a music lover, like to get in a
few shows, things like that. I've got a couple of friends in
the music business which helps in getting tickets. I've got
quite a music collection at home which I'm trying to get my
daughter into at the moment. Other than that I like watching
Sky TV, get home from here on a Saturday night and watch the
Spanish football. Sundays is heaven when we're not training, I
watch it all, the Nationwide at 1o'clock, then the Italian, then
the Premier game at 4 o'clock, then the Spanish again.
If you were marooned on a desert island and could take one person with you, who would it be and why, excluding your wife? That's a hard one, if the wife doesn't count, I can't think to
be honest. No, I can't answer that one. Hang on, Bruce
Springsteen, there you go. I could listen to his music and he
could teach me how to play the guitar. His last album was
brilliant, it was a really good one, it had folk music, but he
could even just sing Christmas carols, he's that good. As long
as there was some electricity somewhere where we could get
plugged into. He's God for me.
If you could ask Father Christmas for any Christmas Wish, what would it be? To get to the play-offs and win next May, that would be my
Christmas wish. That's if I could have it next May as opposed
to at Christmas. If I had to take it this Christmas then it
would be for maximum points, to pull us up in the Division,
we're in this one now and I'm obsessed with it, we've got to get
out of trouble. My Christmas wish would be to get to the
play-offs, win and be promoted. I've been there before, as have
you guys, and there's no other feeling. To actually get
promotion. To win the league, the championship would be
brilliant, but to actually have the pleasure of winning the
play-off and being promoted, to do it in that one game.
Final Comment from Mr Gregory - "SKY BLUE ARMY RULES OK!!!!!" Our thanks to John Gregory for sparing the time to do this interview with us. First published in The Wanderer Magazine December 1996 © Wycombe Wanderers Independent Supporters Club 1996 HTML'd by Chairboys on the Net January 1997 |
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