We're sure John Gregory's departure was as big a shock to you as
everyone else. How much of a surprise was it to you that you were asked
to take over even though Richard Hill was First Team Coach?
I think the speed of it was a surprise - it wasn't a massive shock because I'd
been speaking to someone before who'd seen an article about John in one of
the Aston Villa programmes. I think that at the time John left they were all talking
about a big name at Aston Villa, but I think John was just perfect for steadying
the ship. He was well respected there and I half had the thought when I'd heard
Little had gone that maybe John might be in line for that. I then forget about it
and put it to one side when I read the newspapers like everyone else and I think
Ruud Gullit, Terry Venables and quite a few others were mentioned, so I was
quite shocked at the speed with which it happened.
Were you disappointed not to get the job the first time around?
I'd have to say yes I was, although I didn't actually apply for it last time round, but
I was asked to go for it anyway. I was one of the three people at the final
interview and to get that far - at the time I was disappointed, and I thought that
maybe whoever came in would see me as a threat, but it didn't work out that
way. I actually decide to go back to the Youth Team myself so that the person
who came in knew I wasn't intending to be a threat. I think that anyone who
came in as manager was going to want to work with their own man and my
thinking behind it was that there was no way I would have had someone pushed
next to me as my assistant. You've got to be comfortable with that person and
it's normally someone you know very well.
Was it a surprise to you that you were asked to take over the First Team
even though Richard Hill was the coach?
It was one of things that when the chairman asked me to look after the club he
had already spoken to Richard who had decided to do something else, and I
don't think it was a question of the Chairman asking Richard to do the job. Last
time, when Alan Smith left, Dave Kemp went too, and after watching that
happen, the No 2 going as well, I remember the Chairman's favourite statement
that he'd like to start with a clean piece of paper.
Did you find it difficult to motivate the players after John left?
No, I wouldn't say difficult - I would say that they were all very professional in the
way they approached the games toward the end of the season and we weren't
safe when I took over by any means. When I got the job to look after the club,
my initial reaction was to look at the games coming up, and it was quite a difficult
run-in towards the end of the season, and in some respects self-preservation
motivated the players as much as anything. They were very professional in what
they did, and I didn't find it hard - I enjoyed motivating them. They're a good
group of lads. When Alan Smith came in, he had a massive group of Martin
O'Neill's players, and he changed it a bit. I've now inherited the situation where
I've got some of Martin's players, some of Alan's players and some of John's
players and in the main they mix very well. They do get along very well,
obviously not all the time, that's impossible in a work situation, but they're all
very professional.
You knew you had the job permanently before it was announced to the
supporters. How did you feel when you were told and in what
circumstances?
The Chairman called me in one day and told me the Board had decided to give
me the job, and did I want to announce it. At that point we weren't
mathematically safe of staying up, so I didn't want to do that - I wanted to get the
job done first. I was very happy - I could have been caretaker again and not got
the job. It would not have looked good on my CV, you know having been
caretaker on two or three different occasions people would start asking why no-one would give me the job, so in the end perseverance and patience won out. In
the end, unless you're a Kenny Dalglish or a Kevin Keegan, when they're at the
pinnacle of the game and everyone knows they'll be managers if they want to be,
becoming a manager is a more about being in the right place at the right time.
There's not much chance of someone coming up to you and saying "I want you
to come and manage my club" No-one knew if Chris Waddle or Glenn Hoddle
was ever going to be successful, but someone was always going to give them
the opportunity because of their name. I was never in that situation, so I knew I
was going to have to work to prove I was capable of doing the job.
We've read about the break up between yourself and Wayne Turner in the
press, but there is a lot of speculation on the terraces that the return of
Terry Evans may have had something to do with it - is this true?
No, nothing to do with it. Terry was coming back in the summertime as I'd asked
him to come back. He's got a real involvement with the Youth Team physio side
and he's very committed to that - he does like that part of the job. He's been
working as a fitness instructor at a gymnasium. I've known Terry for a long time
now, and he's gradually taken more of an interest in the injury side and the
physiological side and bodybuilding, and why you build your body up. It seemed
a logical thing. I actually think this club hasn't had enough coaching staff in the
past. For three people to manage three teams of up to forty players, to do
scouting and to go and watch games is hard. Other people come here and
wonder how we manager with that number of coaching staff, so for me, Terry
was coming in at the right time to help with the kids so we could progress the
Youth Team and improve the quality. I also knew that with Terry being a football
person he'd be able to put his expertise to use around the place. I know what
sort of person he is, so for me that decision was already made before I made the
decision to part from Wayne.
Was it an amicable parting?
It was, yes. I'd have to say that from the time I took the job last year as caretaker
I was in a very difficult position to bring in x, y, or z as my assistant. Both Wayne
and I worked at the end of last season knowing that we may not be getting the
job permanently. I couldn't ask anyone to come and leave a job to be next to me
knowing I may not get the job. I'm not saying we fell out, but it just didn't feel
right for what I had in mind. Wayne had been at Luton, and had more control,
and virtually did a lot of what the manager does. He came here and was
frustrated. I was frustrated, as I couldn't offer him what he wanted. This is a
small club and the staff needs to know what they can or can't do. Wayne wanted
more involvement in the first team as regards what went on, but I think only one
person says that. We got on quite well during the time we were together, he was
a very hard worker, but in some circumstances things just don't work out - the
chemistry wasn't right. In this job - and it is a high-pressure situation - you do
have to be compatible with the person next to you. For me, it wasn't correct, and
it was a gut feeling as much as anything.
So what about Terry's role?
He'll stay involved with the Youth Team. I want to get him more involved with the
Youth Policy, profiling the lads, improving their fitness and quality of the team,
but I will involve him more with the other teams as well. When Martin O'Neill was
here, he had John Robertson, Paul Franklin and Wally. From time to time they'd
swap their roles, and take a different team. I don't like pigeonholing people - we
all need to pull together. I need to be able to come in some days and take a
back seat, and be able to say to Gary Goodchild can you take the pros - I need
that flexibility. I'm told that Martin O'Neill spent a lot of his time going to matches
with John Robertson, and spent very little time on the training ground - he left
that very much to the others.
Can you give us a career resume?
I started by signing as an apprentice at Crystal Palace when I was sixteen. I
spent a long time there, under quite a few different managers before I went to
Brighton when I was twenty-three, and while I was there we played in the FA Cup
Final and the replay. After Brighten I went to Watford for about eighteen months,
then Reading, and then Gillingham as Player/Coach. I spent a couple of
summers playing in America, which I think was the making of me as a player,
but I always went back to Palace.
How difficult has it been to assemble a squad with no cash to spend, and
what problems have you encountered so far?
In assembling a squad, it's a case of working with the ones that we have. I did try
to get one or two in the summer. It's no secret I did try to get Carlo Corazzin, but
we would not have been able to match his personal terms at the time. I've
inherited a team that's got some of Martin, Alan and John in it, and the shape of
it. John wanted three players at the back, and we never really replaced Mickey
Bell. 1 like playing with width, and at the moment it's about playing the boys in as
comfortable a position as you can get them, putting round pegs in round holes.
Chris Vinnicombe's played in the wing back position a few times last season, but
it's not really fair on him, and Gary Wraight, if you remember, made his home
debut in that position marking David Leach, and it virtually destroyed his
confidence for the rest of the season. I've kept with the system so far, there were
one or two players out there that I would have liked to bring in, but I've not been
able to. That's just part of the job, I'm afraid.
The main problem is not being able to meet someone's pay demands even
when they're on a free transfer. This was the first season of Bosman, and the
transfer list in the summer had lots of names on it. Quite a few players were
wanted by their own clubs and by quite a few other clubs. To the public, they
may look like a free transfer, but they're not. You may have to pay a larger
signing on fee, even if you're not paying a fee to their club. It's a situation perfect
for agents, who are getting involved in all sorts of things. The agent gets a large
slice now, and the players that are quality are earning more money. At the
bottom end some are losing their jobs, and in between there are some that are
asking a lot of money that aren't worth it. You've got to consider the club and ask
yourself if you're saddling yourself with a huge wage bill that later on you may not
be able to afford, and in some respects that's what the club is doing. From a
manager's point of view, it is difficult, because you see other clubs spending a lot
of money. I picked up the paper today and Gillingham have just had a £900,000
bid for Asaba turned down, and this club's record is £175,000, so that puts it in
some sort of context.
How long do you estimate it will take before our YTS Policy begins to earn
revenue for the club?
It's doing well - in many respects it's ahead of itself. When Alan Beeton and
Maurice Harkin came into the side we'd only had TT's for two years, so we were
actually way ahead of ourselves. In days of old, you made your decision to go to
a club at sixteen. Now kids are signing forms at eight years old and playing for
that club for a number of years, and it's very difficult to poach people from other
clubs unless you're a very wealthy club and can afford to pay compensation.
Even lower down, if you haven't got the best players when they're thirteen,
fourteen years old, then it's very difficult to find them, so what then happens is
that at fifteen or sixteen you haven't got any players for your Youth Team. How
long will it take? Well, I spoke to Dario Grady recently, thinking it would take
about five years, and he said it would actually take about seven years, because
the boys that are twelve now are the ones who will eventually come to your club
as the sixteen year olds. Even when they get to eighteen they're not certain first
team players, so it's a very gradual process, and this club's playing catch-up,
basically. We're very lucky to have a couple of lads in the side in such a short
space of time, and there's a couple coming on. There's a few in the under
sixteen's now that I've got high hopes for, but you can't push them until they're
ready. We've all just got to be patient really, but it's all going in the right
direction.
If funds or players became available to you, in what areas would you like to
strengthen the team?
I think you've always got to be looking at a centre forward because they're the
ones that can make a difference in a game. The better they are, if you can get
two up front scoring twenty a season each you can guarantee a place in the play
off. I think we may need to strengthen the mid-field as well.
What qualities are you looking for in a player?
I want players that give 100%. 1 want pace allied to ability that's as high as I can
put it, athletic players with ability.
How much of a disciplinarian are you and how do you expect the players to
conduct themselves?
I want the players to conduct themselves correctly for the club. I like certain
standards of behaviour, when it comes down to being a disciplinarian. There are
rules around the place to be observed. I actually want a group of players that
think about discipline for themselves - that are self-disciplining, self-motivating,
players that can make decisions on their own. Someone like Keith Ryan is a
great advert for this club; you don't have to tell him anything.
Has it been a surprise to you that no one's come in for any of our players
yet?
A little bit. Someone like Keith, I'm surprised there hasn't been an offer for Keith.
Also there's been a lot of interest in Mo, a lot of people watching him.
How much research do you carry out on the opposition?
We watch them a couple of times, go to see them just before we play them so
that it's relevant.
How's team spirit at the moment?
The lads are in fine form at the moment. It would have been nice to have got a
result away at Swindon. I think we went through a very difficult pre-season, we
had three very tough games with competition from the top league. I would have
preferred to play Kingstonian before Crystal Palace, but it didn't work out that
way. I can't ask any more from them than to give 100%, and I think we've got a
good chance of getting a result against Swindon at home. We showed we could
give them a game. They'll be told if I don't think they're giving 100% - you can't
fool the supporters. I've worked with players all my career that have only had a
modicum of ability, but the crowd have loved them because they've given
everything and I think that's what supporters are looking for. Yes, they want
something special, they want Mo running at people, they want exciting players,
but the bedrock of the side are players that give their all every single game.
Even Mo and the others with real ability, they've got to work hard, otherwise
we're not going to be a good team.
How do you see the season going on from here?
I think the boys need a couple of decent results, which hopefully we'll get over
the next few games to give us some confidence. If we can get our confidence
going, get some belief in ourselves then who knows? My nerves and the player's
nerves won't take the stress of last season again - a relegation battle is not the
sort of situation you want to be in. We'd love to be higher than we were, but
we've also got to be realistic. Reading has virtually bought a whole new team,
has a new stadium and is certainly not working under a budget, so it's going to
be hard. Manchester City's visiting support could probably fill our stadium two or
three times, and Stoke is an enormous club too. Those three teams, with
Fulham and Gillingham, who have spent millions on their teams. I'm not saying
money does it all, but money can buy you the better players and it all helps your
chances. It's all there for us all to have a bite at, and with our stadium and
facilities, the set up is there for higher level football.
What have been the high and low points of your career?
Playing wise, I'd have to say the FA Cup Finals. Low points, it's funny but when
you're a footballer, there are lots of highs and lows. In actual fact there are
probably more lows, but you learn to enjoy the highs when they come along. Low
point - not playing as many games as I wanted to at Watford, being relegated.
Being promoted with Brentford was a high point, when they came out of the
Third Division for the first time in thirty-eight years because it was the first time
they'd ever done it, then I got injured, which was a low point. An obvious high
point was getting the job here as manager - there's many highs and lows along
the way. It's what I try and tell the players. This is a fantastic game, and players
are very, very lucky today to be professional footballers - they're earning
fantastic money, certainly at the higher level, and not doing too badly at this level
either. It's a wonderful profession, with some clubs you end up playing abroad,
and I think it's a privilege to be involved in such a marvellous sport.
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