PETERBOROUGH SPORTS MANAGER JIMMY DEAN SPEAKS TO THE BLOG...

 Peterborough Sports Manager Jimmy Dean Speaks to The Mowdog On the Road…

A telephone conversation with jubilant Peterborough Sports manager Jimmy Dean on Monday afternoon was good listening, for he could not hide the pride he felt for his club and his players, who have now won titles in each of his two years as team boss. Never has the UCL witnessed a team winning Division 1(Step 6) then the Premier Division (Step 5) in successive seasons but in his first two terms of actual management, Jimmy has guided Sports to achieve that remarkable distinction.

The manager had been forced to quit playing Southern League football with St Ives Town, where he was skipper, due to injury but he told me unreservedly that he became down and was missing the game he had been so involved in. Offers to join coach Chris Plummer at Peterborough Sports were made to him but he was hesitant to accept at first and only when Plummer proved eager to step aside, the club’s Chairman spoke with him and Jimmy’s wife urged him, did he take on the mantle ready for the start of the 2015-16 season. Better to have a happy hubby than a miserable mitherer around the house, I guess… 

A few players from St Ives Town joined him at Sports but of course being a manager was never going to be the same as being a team captain but Jimmy’s philosophy of not using the typical clichés used by many bosses became his main recipe for success. He knew the types of players that he wanted. He was thoughtful in his approach, he wanted constructive football but didn’t want sideways passes to clog up games, hence looking for wide-players who could run at defenders, like Josh Moreman and Macleod. He wanted a target-man, like Mark Jones and without lumping the ball forward, he wanted his players to move the play quickly, attack the flanks and cross the ball with as much quality as could be attained, something he had appreciated with Manchester United under Alex Ferguson, despite being a Liverpool fan himself…

ER, NO FACIAL HAIR???

Jimmy is known around Peterborough and that in itself has been vital in attracting players to the club and he likes the fact that nearly all of the players are local to the city too. Winning the league twice has set standards high for Jimmy but he spoke with disappointment about an FA Cup exit to Stourbridge, a game in which he felt that his players had deserved better against a team which went on to enjoy a fine FA Cup run.

I asked him about the FA Vase and in truth he sounded really sad that his team hadn’t performed against Newport Pagnell, a team Sports really ought to have disposed of. He did point to a mitigating circumstance though that Sports hadn’t played for a few weeks because of bad weather, when the match had come up in the New Year period. He really felt that his team could have made a splash in the competition too…

The match at Desborough on Saturday had been one he felt his team thoroughly deserved to win, which was true from an unbiased observer’s opinion too. Mark Jones, a striker was included as an emergency defender and the manager was generally pleased with the big lad’s efforts but a late call up to start was forced on Portuguese born forward Avelino Vieira, who would ultimately score the decisive third goal. Jimmy feels that Vieira, a winger originally, has become more of a 6 yard box player, as proved by his sniping finish at Waterworks Field. 

Jimmy felt that Olly Medwynter did steady jobs both at right-back and in midfield during the match, scored the all-important second goal and terrified the home ‘keeper with his long throws which bounced up nastily from the hard surface. For the second time in a week, Medwynter had netted important goals, illustrating his importance to the team.

The surface wasn’t conducive to wing-play, Jimmy noted, despite some decent runs by Moreman, Jordan Macleod and left-back Dave Cobb, for his wingers have tended to prefer winter pitches to the harsh, hard, summer surfaces. Macleod is one player who has great skill and it will be crucial to Jimmy that Jordan makes the transition to Step 4, where Moreman already has experience.

Jimmy felt that he needed more urgency in midfield for the long-ball game of Desborough, for the hosts’ tendency to pick up the ‘second balls’ had caused a problem or two but eventually the lads sorted it out and offered few real chances to the hosts. The home striker John Dean’s pace had worried Jimmy’s defence but apart from his goal, Dean hadn’t been able to add more damage. Jimmy interchanged his wide-players to add variety to the tactics and his only qualm at the finish was that his team hadn’t been awarded the championship trophy at a home game, something he hopes will be repeated for his fans at Sports in the next week or so.

The future could be in any one of three leagues, Jimmy commented; perhaps the Ryman League North, the Evo-Stik Southern League Central or the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League South have all been mentioned and so depending on the travelling arrangements and distances involved, Jimmy knows he has to hold fire on which players are retained and which new faces might be acquired…

It was a pleasure talking with Jimmy Dean and I thank him sincerely for making time for the conversation…

Pete Ray

(The Mowdog…)