October 2008 Archives
The axiom 'A week is a long time in politics' immediately sprang to mind when Wrexham manager Dean Saunders remarked today that he had spent a total of just seven days on the training ground since he was appointed Brian Litle's successor.
The result to date is a run of three straight victories and begs the question just how good the Dragons might be when they have had the benefit of seven weeks work with the former Wales international, who has certainly hit the ground running in his first crack at being the boss.
Having hit all the right notes at his introductory press conference on October 2, Saunders has continued to demonstrate a sure touch by naming a well-respected No 2 in Terry Darracott and using his influence in the Wales set-up to engineer the postponement of the match with Histon.
And on the early evidence there's no question either that the recruitment of midfielder Joe Allen and central defender Ashley Westwood has strengthened his squad, bringing creativity and stability in those areas that had been the cause of much concern to supporters.
Central to everything, though, has been the Saunders personality. He doesn't do doubts, negativity is an alien concept to him and is now banned at Colliers Park.
Unlike his predecessor, who went with horses for courses, he wants to breed thoroughbreds and if the current stable proves inadequate he will do whatever it takes to bring in new blood.
In short, he is a winner and as long as the Dragons continue to grind out results we can expect to see the bubbly personality with a ready smile on his face.
Last week in Moenchengladbach, however, I witnessed a very different Saunders after Germany's 1-0 World Cup win against Wales, who had played very well for no reward.
An hour after the final whistle as the squad made their way to the coach, John Toshack's assistant manager acknowledged nobody as he brushed his way through the throng and only a face set in thunder betrayed his his deep disappointment - even anger - with the outcome.
It was a side to his character one suspects that Wrexham players would do well to avoid for as long as possible
Inspired choice or a final throw of the dice from a chairman desperate to make it third time lucky?
It's too early yet to pass any sort of judgement on new Wrexham boss Dean Saunders, but my initial thoughts are that club owner Geoff Moss let his heart rule his head by bringing in the untried former Wales international without even considering any of the other applications he told us he had received.
Don't get me wrong, Saunders has plenty of coaching experience and is as highly qualified as they come. And he has said and done all the right things in the first few days to enthuse not only his players, but the fans as well.
There is absolutely no doubt that Saunders is desperately keen to do well in his first stab at management and no-one would be happier than me to see him take the Dragons by the scruff of the neck and transform them into a side capable of mounting a promotion challenge this season.
But Rome, as they say, was not built in a day and unless there is a significant turnover of players between now and the end of the January transfer window, even Sir Alex Ferguson would be hard-pressed to rebuild a team in the space of a few months.
For Saunders, whose background has been the Premier League and international football with Wales, frustration will never be far away as he bids to drum some sound habits into footballers who are currently playing at the level they deserve.
Frustration's ally is disillusionment and one wonders whether Saunders would be prepared for any length of time to put up with the sort of abuse heaped by angry supporters on his predecessors Brian Little and Brian Carey when things were not going to plan on the pitch.
On the other hand, the evidence thus far is that few if any of Wrexham's Blue Square Premier rivals are showing the consistency of performance necessary to establish themselves as genuine promotion contenders.
The Dragons defied the odds and the weather to give the new boss a winning start at Forest Green Rovers and, although talk of back to back wins is a touchy subject down at Colliers Park, tomorrow's visit to the Racecourse of York City, followed by another home match with Histon on Saturday, represent a superb opportunity for Saunders and his players to build up a little head of steam.
A previous Racecourse boss Brian Flynn used to say: "Confidence is gained by the inch, but it can be lost by the yard," so two decent performances in the coming week could be just the catalyst that Saunders needs to make his players believe in themselves, to say nothing of making his job just a little bit easier.
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