Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has set out a vision to build a side with young players at its core as he bids to move the Glovers up the table.
The boss, who joined from Southern League South side Walton & Hersham last month, said he was aligned with the club’s owner Prabhu Srinivasan in his “blueprint” for how he wants to build the club, mirroring the success he enjoyed at his former club.
The Glovers make the long journey to the North East to face Hartlepool United this weekend having picked up their first win in eight matches with a 2-1 home victory over Boston United in Rowley’s first game in charge last Saturday.
Asked by BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah about his conversation with the owner, Rowley said: “He is a very passionate guy, very articulate and grips you when he talks and sells his vision very well. The club is steeped in history and he wants to keep it simple. He wants to build connections with the community through the players, he wants us to play with a clear style and recruit young and hungry players and that is everything I want to do as well as a football manager.
“I value young players whilst not discriminating against older lads but generally a younger lad will run a bit harder and they are hungry and enjoyable to work with. We had great success working with young players at Walton (& Hersham) where we had the youngest team in the league last season and most possession in the league. How (Prabhu and I) are aligned in our blueprint of what we are want to do is very close.”
According to Transfermarkt, Yeovil currently have the tenth youngest squad in the National League Premier Division with an average age of 25.3 years. FC Halifax Town are the youngest at 23.3 years and Brackley Town are the oldest at 28.
Their opponents at the weekend, Hartlepool United (26.4 years, if you’re wondering), are in good form having won four and drawn three of their last seven league games since they sacked Simon Grayson as manager in October, replacing him with interim boss, current squad member Nicky Featherstone. The midfielder was an unused substitute when they held the Glovers to a goalless draw on the opening day of the season at Huish Park.
Rowley said winger Josh Sims was the only injury doubt for the match suffering with tendinitis in his Achilles Tendon, but confirmed full-back Alex Whittle, who was not in the squad for the win over Boston, would be available having overcome illness.
On Hartlepool, the Glovers’ boss said: “They are a solid team, very good at what they do. When you go up North to those types of places it is going to be a real battle, I am not sure the pitch is in the greatest condition which may affect how we approach the game. It is going to be an incredibly tough game for us, an enjoyable experience which I am excited about. We are going to have to be at our best.”
Asked what he hoped to learn about the National League, he added: “I have learnt a lot already, even in the 90 minutes (against Boston) last Saturday, I am watching a lot of games with Darren (Simpson, assistant manager) and Sam (Curry, the club analyst) and I am learning things about the players. You can see the intensity of the way teams do things in transition, attacking and pressing the ball quicker is obvious, so we may have to adapt. One thing I back myself in is being a quick learner, I have been adaptable in my career.”
Having added defenders Dan Ellison and Michee Efete in recent months, the Glovers’ squad is looking less lightweight than when they last faced Hartlepool back in August. Rowley has said he is still assessing the quality of his squad and whilst not ruling out the possibility of bringing in new faces, he appears in no rush to recruit.
He said: “I really like all the lads, they are all good players and we are definitely under-performing and in the last four or five training sessions I have been working with them, I am really excited to be working with them. I am really confident we can go and get some wins with this group, whether that means we do add one or two players in the next few weeks, we are open to that but it is not something we are chasing necessarily. Injuries happen and certain styles might not suit certain players, but it is not something we are screaming for at the moment.“
Rowley says about the owner:
’He wants to build connections with the community through the players’
Are we still training in Bristol?