Time With Michael Skubala

Our head coach’s name came from (almost) nowhere. We heard about people like Ian Foster (now at Plymouth) and Des Buckingham (Oxford), but from nowhere, Skubala appeared. Of course, it isn’t really from nowhere – he’s a man with a vast and varied experience behind him, ranging from special roles with UEFA through Futsal to Leeds Under 21s. He’s perhaps what could be termed the new breed of coach, one who comes through a different path to former ex-pros. Under Appleton and Kennedy we have renowned coaches, but also people who had played at a high level. With Skubala, we have a student of the game rather than a former player-turned-student. I know he played non-league, but you get what I mean.

What Skubala needed, just as much as players, was time to get his messages across. The break after Blackpool allowed him to get some minutes on the training ground with the squad to implement some of his ideas. It’s going to be a slow process; changes don’t happen overnight, but I think we’re seeing the outcomes of his ideas.

Football isn’t an exact science. Some games will be ugly, and sometimes the plan won’t work, but I feel that day by day, Michael Skubala is improving our players and taking the team approach to a different level. The recent lift in results can partly be attributed to simply having time with a respected coach on the training ground.