Yeovil Town interim manager Richard Dryden has said getting belief back in to the club’s players has been in the key following the impact of their Bank Holiday disaster and the sacking of former boss Mark Cooper.
The Glovers’ coach has been given responsibility for first team affairs following the dismissal of the man who brought him to Huish Park which followed a dramatic 4-3 home defeat to Gateshead, a match which Yeovil led 3-0 at half-time.
He and assistant manager Chris Todd will now be charged with guiding the side whilst the search for a new permanent boss continues and it begins with a trip to FC Halifax Town on Saturday.
Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset’s Josh Perkins on Thursday ahead of the trip to West Yorkshire, Dryden said: “Five games in to the season does not really reflect (the quality of the side) because if we had won on Monday (against Gateshead) we are in the top seven.
“Everyone wants to look at the top half of the table and see their name there, but it is early days and I am confident with the players we have got, we will be fine. There was nothing but positives for the first 45 minutes, but the second half was like chalk and cheese.
“Not many teams will play well for 90 minutes, but if we can try and turn that first 45 minutes in to 70 minutes we are going to cause a lot of teams a lot of problems. It is just a case of getting enough belief in the players to believe we can do it, that is the only problem we can try and solve.”
He admitted it had been a busy few days since the exit of Cooper and paid tribute to the former boss who oversaw a relegation in to the National League South in the 2022-23 season, followed by an immediate return winning the division the following season. Dryden arrived at the club in the summer to reunite with Cooper who he had previously worked with at five clubs including Forest Green Rovers and Notts County.
The 53-year-old said: “It is never great when the manager leaves, my phone has not stopped and it has been meetings after meetings trying to sort things out and it is sad when a manager goes. You have to remember what Mark (Cooper) did not the club has been immense, you cannot forget he got the club promoted (out of the National League South) and stabilised the club in a very good league last year, that should not be forgotten. And there are other things he has done which people will never find out about, he has been a credit to a club.
“(Mark and I) have known each other since we were teenagers, he was at Bristol City and I was at Rovers, his dad (Terry Cooper) took me to Exeter, so it is a long relationship and that friendship will definitely stay.”
He confirmed that winger James Daly, who Cooper revealed on Monday will be missing for “six to eight weeks“ through injury, will not feature at Halifax, but said that midfielder Charlie Cooper, who has not featured in his father’s final two matches in charge, had returned to light training.
Dryden said: “It is the first day of training (on Thursday) and we have had a couple of meetings, gone through a couple of sessions regarding Halifax and the good and the bad bits about Monday and there were a lot of good bits. You have got to remember that they are all in their 20s apart from one – I have t-shirts older than most of them! So, it is tough for them when you play so well for 45 minutes and then (you are beaten in the last minute) and it happens for reasons – we went low, they went high with nothing to lose and we have to counter that if it happens again.
“Everybody who was involved on Monday has trained today. James (Daly) is going to be a bit longer, Charlie (Cooper) is going to do some light stuff (in training on Thursday) which is good because we have only got a small squad. (Midfielder Jacob) Maddox is hopefully coming out of his protective boot this week; I have not seen him even train let alone play, so it will be good to get him involved in the next few weeks.”
Asked for his message to Yeovil fans making the trip to Halifax, he said: “Just ‘keep the faith in the young players we have got’. We are trying to pull together as a group and the blame when we do not score or we concede goals, so the blame goes on everybody – from the dug-out to the player who comes on in the 90th minute.“