The appointment of manager Billy Rowley as Yeovil Town manager on Tuesday morning probably took a lot of fans not plugged in to the Huish Park rumour mill by surprise. Dave gives his thoughts on what at least appears to be a man with a plan.
What a difference 24 hours makes. On Monday morning we were all feeling down in the dumps after a drab goalless draw at Morecambe last weekend stretched our winless run to eight matches in all competitions.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning and the appointment of Billy Rowley as manager has lifted the mood at Huish Park. In a way he didn’t have to do anything except be himself – energetic, excited about the challenge he’s taken on, and with a clear vision for what he wants to do.
The echoes of Danny Webb’s first interviews as manager are unmistakable. The face may be different, but the vibes are undeniable and you only have to look through fans’ comments on social media or even this website to see it’s changed perceptions in a stroke.
Let’s give it 11 days though just because……well, you know? But seriously, if vibes are the only difference between Tuesday morning (before 10.25am) and now, that feels a darn sight better!
What do we know about the new man? Honestly, unless you have been paying close attention to the Southern League, not much. But, from what I can see, Rowley has built a reputation of practicing what he preaches – he’s built a good, young squad there and they are playing good, attacking, winning football. He leaves them two points clear at the top of the Southern League South with 40 goals in their opening 16 matches of the season.
Yes, it is two steps below the National League Premier Division and, as he says himself in his first interview, he is “going to have to learn this league” and there’s no doubt he will make mistakes. But, this feels like a direction of travel which simply has not been there – except for maybe 11 days in September – for a long time.
I hope he is given time – by supporters (yes, the Gloverscast included), by the ownership and by his players – because if it comes off, it could be exceptional. A gamble, undoubtedly, but it feels a lot better than it did 24 hours ago – and vibes will have to do for now.
The video update from the owner Prabhu Srinivasan posted just half-an-hour before the announcement of Rowley’s arrival was made was interesting as well. He spoke about how his family had been reactive rather than proactive since taking over in May, something he says they are not used to being. This does feel like a proactive move rather than a reactive one.
In their short time in charge, the owners have made mistakes as much as they have been hit by bad luck, but credit where it is due for a thoroughly ballsy move. The future of Richard Dryden, who I still believe to be a thoroughly decent bloke put in an unenviable situation, and Jerry Gill remains to be ironed out following the arrival of Darren Simpson, Rowley’s assistant as Walton & Hersham.
For us as supporters, we need to carry the optimism we are feeling in to this weekend’s home game with Boston United, a team who are level on points with us in the table. Every minute, hour and day between now and then will be learning curve for the new manager as he meets his players, and this Saturday will tell him even more about the group he’s taken charge of and the club he’s at – let’s do our part to make it as positive an experience as we can.
Welcome to Huish Park, Billy, give us a reason to dream and we’ll be with you every step of the way. Up the Glovers!
I’m feeling as positive about this as I did when David Webb was appointed manager back in the day.
That worked out really well, although we’ll need to hope the new manager sticks around a bit longer!
I liked that stuff he mentioned about his previous side: “plenty of movement on the pitch” & wanting “highly intelligent players…”
We’ve rarely, if ever, seen movement off the ball at Yeovil, even when we were in the Football League.
The lack of awareness of our players has been plainly evident just over the last 18 months.
Now, we just need to hope he doesn’t think penalty taking is a lottery!
We might just be in for some exciting times at Yeovil.
It’s been long overdue.
Echo almost all of that but your ‘no movement off the ball’ paragraph is overstated. Maybe you only started watching us when we were in decline…
Can’t say this is a proactive appointment.Prabhu was ‘ reacting’ to last 8 games .Remember he was backing Dryden in his previous interview less than a month ago. .Maybe it was true to say the quality of applications post Cooper wasn’t that good. Proves the point that club needs a knowledgeable behind the scenes ” football person”, someone who identifies/ goes after a coach/manager , which appears someone did in the case of Billy Rowley. We all wish him well in what isn’t going to be an easy task to retain NL status.
I will admit that I didn’t know much about Billy Rowley, but what I hear from fans who do is that he is a promising manager who had football league clubs enquiring after him. I’m quietly optimistic for the club’s longer term future. In the short term, it is all about climbing the league and not having to look over our shoulders. Relegation is still a worrying reality.
However, I will give credit where it’s due to the owners. I was as convinced as others that it was a false dawn and that Prabhu and his family would stick with Dryden until it was too late. They’ve been reactive, but they have shown with both Cooper and this situation that they are willing to listen to the fanbase, and to make decisions quickly and decisively. They have made mistakes but they have helped silence some detractors with this move.