Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper hailed the role of Frank Nouble to Yeovil Town’s play after the striker moved in to double figures with a goal in tonight’s 3-1 home win over Slough Town.
The 32-year-old slotted home from the penalty spot with eight minutes remaining to ensure three points which restored the Glovers 13-point advantage at the top of National League South.
Speaking to our man Ian Perkins after the game, Cooper said: “We have got some real one-v-one exciting players and Frank is pivotal to that because he holds his position in the middle of the pitch with gives them licence to do what they do.
“The reason we have those players is because of their movement. The way we try and play like we do is to try and get in certain areas to hit those balls in behind for those quick, young players to run on to.
“Frank attracts a lot of attention from defenders, pulls them out and leaves those spaces. He’s pivotal to what we do. He’s the guv’nor in the changing rooms and experience is vital for us.”
The late penalty, following a foul on Jordan Young inside the box, saw off any chance to a comeback from the visitors who got themselves back in to the game after two early first half goals from captain Matt Worthington and Young put the hosts in control.
Worthington started the game at right-back in place of the injured Michael Smith, but his manager said he never had any doubts about his skipper.
He told BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins: “I knew Worthy would be fine out there. He got a good goal and his athleticism made it pretty straight forward for him.
“His goal came from complete calm. There was a lot of screaming for us to get the ball forward, but it’s not for us. We have to control the opposition and put them where we want them, then play the ball forward and kill them with a great finish.”
The boss revealed that they had tried a new warm-up technique at the start of the second half to try and overcome some recent slow starts, which he pointed to following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at St Albans City.
Cooper added: “Our stats shows we don’t start particularly well (in the second half). We have tried lots of things and tonight we tried something different, came out a bit earlier, did some work with quick feet, balls, cones, I thought there was a helicopter landing on the pitch because there was that many cones for them to do an extra warm-up. So, we’ll keep doing that.”
Calmness and control was at the heart of the manager’s post-match comments. He added: “Their manager’s comments before the match was this was the ‘biggest free hit the world’, they are usually direct and aggressive and tonight they played football without any pressure. That becomes dangerous and difficult, but I thought we controlled that.
“When we did go long, that is what gave them a lift in the game. When we played short, backwards, sideways and forwards, that is where the goal came from. We killed them and controlled large parts of the game.
“Some of our play was brilliant, the players deserve immense credit because the pressure tonight all about ‘it’s our game in hand, we need to win, we have to be 13 points clear’, that subconsciously is always on the players’ minds. So for us to give such a calm, controlled performance under that pressure, all credit to the players.”
Asked about shouts to get the ball forwards from the Huish Park stands, Cooper said: “The players know the game plan and we are not going to change, we play our game not what other people want us to do. The reason we are clear at the top of the league is because we play our game. We won’t change that.“
Whilst I agree that on the ball then Nouble is good. However, after an attack breaks down he is so, so lazy getting back to an onside position. Suppose we have to put up with it but it is frustrating to watch him stroll back