Josh Gowling: Doubling down to lift Hereford up

Josh GOWLING

MANAGER

BULLS-EYE: Dan Smith scores 's first goal against Lymington and celebrates with Tom Owen-Evans
PICTURE: Andy Walkden

THIS has been the toughest period of my managerial career.

I'd like to think we've been fairly successful since taking over in January 2020 and we've been used to winning games.

All of a sudden, you're going through a period where it's five without a win in the league.

We are unbeaten away. The old adage is if you draw on the road and take three points at home then you're up there. At the moment we're losing our home ones.

That's why it was a relief on Tuesday night to win our replay with Lymington at Edgar . In a funny way, drawing at their place on Saturday was a blessing in disguise. Because we hadn't won at home all season, we were feeling that anxiety. It was nice to win 4-0 and take that away.

Endeavour

Our fans have been brilliant with us. We were 2-0 down to Spennymoor the other week — through our own making — but in the second half we were all over them. They still went away with a 2-0 win but we were applauded off because the fans could see our work rate and endeavour.

I'm not naive. I know that will only last so long if we're not getting results.

The fans want us to kick on and be in the mix for the league. So, no matter how early it is, when you have a start like this there is an anxious feeling.

The reality is we are playing good and playing well. If we were poor and losing, alarm bells would be ringing for me.

We were a bit patched up personnel wise in the opening weeks. Now we've got in two new centre halves and a No 9 — hopefully those performances will start converting into wins.

How do you get through it? I'd like to think I'm a winner so this has been a new experience for me. Players don't go out to lose. Managers don't set-up their teams to lose.

This job, and succeeding in it, is everything to me. When you're not winning, as a manager, it consumes you. You feel like you're letting your family down. You feel like you're letting the fans and the club down.

For me, we have a clear identity and way of playing in and out of possession. That structure means I can go back, look at a defeat and closely analyse what part of that didn't work.

Did we implement our gameplan well enough? If not, we look at why. If the same individual mistakes are being made every week, then they're not simply individual errors. It means something's not right. My job is to find out what — and put it right.

I've played in teams where we've conceded really bad goals week in, week out. It's not always the players.

I always look at myself first. Am I giving them too much information? Am I delivering the information properly? Do we need to dial back a bit because they're overthinking in games?

Determination

We're doubling down on everything. The players and staff are working twice as hard. We've got a really good bunch of players who want to do well and win. They've still got the determination to get on the ball and play.

The reason we've conceded some of the goals we have is because we've almost let it happen. That was a big point we made before Tuesday: Don't let things happen. Get in position earlier, put your bodies on the line.

Obviously as a manager you feel the pressure when you're not getting results. But no one will put more of that on me than myself.

Management is a unique job. You have to be a certain type of person. Single-minded and believe in your process. You can't be rash and rip everything up when you don't win a few games.

I'm someone who thinks about football 24/7. I don't switch off. I can't help it. When I'm with my little ones, I invest in them. But, apart from that, I'm full on.

Football is easy when you're winning. It's a test of character when things aren't going well. We're all staying positive to turn things around. And we will.


IT”S been interesting to note how some of the clubs with traditionally larger supports have stumbled out of the blocks.

You see it not only in our division but also the one above. Is there something in it?

I always felt last year when there were no fans in grounds that it would affect the bigger clubs more. They wouldn't have their support pushing them on in those final stages of games.

With fans back, I thought it might kick-start that again. At the moment it doesn't appear that way. Maybe it's getting used to grounds being full again.

The vibe from crowds definitely feels a bit different. No doubt as we get into the meat of the season, the feeling will shift again.

But, at the moment, each game feels like a celebration, where fans are just so happy to be back watching games.

It's a party atmosphere, as if people can't believe they're back together watching games again. It's almost nostalgic where the result is what it is.

Of course there is still pressure to win games, we all know and feel that.

But football clubs and their fans are like family. It's so nice to all be back together after such a long time.

FOLLOW JOSH ON INSTAGRAM @JOSHGOWLING

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