Football has changed a lot in 16 years, but my style has never changed, says Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey
Football has changed a lot in 16 years.
On and off the pitch there have been developments and advancements which has seen changes tactics, nutrition, laws, admin and much more. But how much has Scott Lindsey changed in that time?
In the build-up to the Notts County game, Lindsey highlighted the fact he did his A license 16 years ago alongside the Magpies boss Martin Paterson. Also on that coaching course were the likes of Eddie Howe, Chris Sutton, Neil Lennon and many more.
Since then Lindsey has worked in a coaching or managerial capacity at Gillingham, Forest Green Rovers, Swindon Town and MK Dons, as well, or course, at Crawley Town over two spells.
We ask Lindsey how he has changed as a coach and a person in these 16 years.
“As a person, I'm a lot calmer for sure,” he said, “although I think that players will probably not say that.
“I think that sometimes you have to understand that as much as you want, you can't kick every ball for them out there. Sometimes football, no matter how well you prepare your team to play against an opposition and you want it to look in a certain way, sometimes football doesn't allow that.
“Not through anything you've done wrong as a manager or a coach or the players have done wrong, but it's just the state of the game might be different. It might look different, might feel different. The referee might have made a couple of decisions that have swayed the start of a game and now we can't get a foothold in it. I understand that there's so many variables that can happen in a game that change the course of a game and the course of a result. And what I do on the training pitch is only a real small part of it.
“There's so many things that can happen that can change that and I'm not in control, basically, is what I'm trying to say. You can only control the controllables. Basically, I suppose what I'm trying to say is make sure that I coach my team as best as I can to make sure that that bit is ticked off and then it's over to the football gods a little bit.
“I think that's probably what I've learnt over my experience of doing this job. It was just how a view changes as a coach and a manager as well.”
Everyone knows when they watch a Scott Lindsey side play, they know what they are going to get and that will never change - but certain aspects might.
“From a coaching point of view, I think you evolve as you go,” said Lindsey. “I think I've always wanted to have all the ball, all the time. I think that there's certain things - me and my analyst Connor, was talking today actually and he asked me a similar question about how you evolve your style of play. I think there's always tweaks you can make.
“You look at certain aspects of the game and you think, I was convinced that a certain action works every time and having reviewed it, it doesn't. Therefore, we don't have to do it every time. We probably have to do something different.
“You're always watching and reflecting on the team, looking at actions, how we can look real smooth playing through the pitch.
“You're always learning. You never stop learning in football. I think that my style of play has never really changed, but I've evolved it with certain little bits and pieces inside it, if that makes sense.”