​”I’m not ‘gaffer’, I’m Simon” – Banbury boss on his coaching ethos

​With so many years behind him at home and abroad as a UEFA Pro licenced coach, Simon Hollyhead has bundles of experience when it comes to dealing with players and bringing the best out of them.

And a lot of it stems from his time studying sport science, as well as when he worked so closely with Warwickshire Cricket Club.

And Hollyhead believes that as well as the obvious importance of tactical nous and footballing knowledge, there is so much more to getting the best out of players.

He said: “For me, it’s all about understanding the person behind the player and coaching how you’d want to be coached – without wishing to sound too corny. Ninety per cent of people improve in whatever they’re doing, simply with the right encouragement.

"Not only that, but creating a strong trust between players and coaches is important too and it’s something that has been a key factor in how we’ve recruited at Banbury so far, and the benefits have been evident straight away.

"Trust is one of the most powerful things coaches can give. A team is a collective of individuals with different life experiences, different training histories and match experiences, as well as different injury histories. What pulls people is the relationships and characters in the dressing room.

"That’s what we’ve had to focus on with the squad reset that was required at Banbury.

"You can have a group of players with medium ability but in a high trust environment they can flourish, more so than those with high ability in a low trust environment.

"There’s a big difference – it’s not always about skills. A player generally doesn’t have the ball for 85 minutes in any game, so it’s what they do with themselves in that time that’s just as important as what they do with the other five.

"Take Bukayo Saka in the World Cup with England – he got man of the match against Holland for how much work he did when he didn’t have the ball as much as he got it for what he produced with the ball.”

As for the Banbury job, it took previous visits to the club to realise the fans and staff were the kind with which he could get on well, and that he’s been proved right so far.

He also explained how he had a great deal of sympathy for the players and for former boss Kevin Wilson given the challenges at the end of the last campaign, and that he wasn’t the only one.

He said: “I came down to the Tamworth game at the end of last season, when the team’s fate was pretty much sealed. There were about 6-700 there with only about 100 of those from Tamworth.

"I walked round chatting to people and there was very little criticism of the players or Kevin, most people were incredibly empathetic.

"One guy said he felt very sorry for them, and that losing [goalkeeper] Jack Harding for the last nine or ten games was a massive factor. He felt they hadn’t had a lot of luck or the breaks you often need and that other coaches had probably had.

"They were up against teams with massive budgets, had seven or eight games cancelled and ended up playing three or four times a week.

"What it told me was that there are informed people there to support the team. To be a fan is one thing, to be a true supporter is different. They recognise the context and recognise effort.

"So when the chance came up to be manager here I thought ‘this is the one for me’ and so far I’ve been proved right.

"There are some fantastic people here – I have a great relationship with the new chairman, Wayne, and I’ve enjoyed every aspect of working with the board members – everyone here brings their own fantastic insight and expertise and that will combine to make something that we all want to create.

"Everyone wants success but you have to have the right people in place, both on and off the pitch.”

On the playing front, Hollyhead has been gradually rebuilding the Puritans squad with a mix of new players as well as some who have been kept on from last season, including defender Tai Fleming.

And whilst he wants to add some more, he’s been thrilled by those he has at his disposal so far.

He said: “We’ve got 18 or 19 now and I want to bring in three or four more with a good bit of experience, but if someone had said to me ten weeks ago when I came in that we’d have a group like this now, I wouldn’t have believed you.

"The team spirit is magnificent. The players are making high demands of each other and they’re walking off the pitch after games giving fist pumps and handshakes.

"I want them all to find ways to improve but I don’t worry I’ll have to manage their behaviour.

"We’re all humans. I’m not ‘gaffer’, I’m Simon, and I’ll care about my players as people. I firmly believe that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

“They won’t be at their max every game – that’s impossible, they’re not robots – and training time is precious at step three but given modern technology now we can still communicate all the time to help them maintain their levels.

"I’m really excited by the challenge, and to see these lads performing excites me even more and I’d love the town to get behind them and support the lads because we’re all in this together and that will be a huge benefit to us moving forwards.”