Dave Challinor interview: Stockport County manager on expansive football, a perfect December & County’s season-defining run | Football News

No wonder Dave Challinor says he will remember his Sky Bet Manager of the Month award as an EFL manager forever.

Granted, his Stockport side only played three games in December, thanks to freezing conditions that saw swathes of matches postponed across the country over Christmas, but they won comfortably and scored nine goals without reply.

As a result, they moved into the top 10 in League Two for the first time this season – their first campaign above the National League since relegation in 2010/11.

From the outside, it looks as if, finally, it is starting to show why the bookmakers have priced it as the outright favorite to lift the title in the summer, after seven defeats in the first 10 league games of the season.

But those three games only reinforce the hard work of the last five months and get back into the promotional mix that he should have been a part of.

Limiting errors, and learning from them, is the key – and now they are motoring as a result, sitting comfortably in 10th, three points outside the play-off places with two games in hand.

“The positive thing we have to take from the first 10 games is that we didn’t lose a game by more than one goal and we were in each one, but we only conceded a very bad goal that put us behind.”, Challinor explained. Sky Sports.

“Since then, we have eliminated those mistakes, done better basics and felt each other. We had some changes in the summer and became a new group. Even if the results are not visible, I feel that the group has gelled, but there is definitely more for them now.

“We couldn’t have done anything better over Christmas. Of course from outside the club, there would have been a lot of frustration because of the delayed games, on paper, against teams who were struggling at the time (Rochdale and Gillingham). Mid-February, we had to catch up and know where we are at.

“I think we all want to be in a few higher positions – and I can probably count with one hand one game that I don’t think is good – but we are in the position we are in. rail and we are ready to shoot the team above us.”

The new defensive record has been near-faultless and, thus, a significant factor in the rise of County’s, no doubt in part down to Challinor’s 17-year career as a center-back himself; since October 1, they have sent only eight goals in 14 games and kept nine clean sheets.

But there is no special defense-first approach. He is also currently one of the division’s top scorers with 35 in 24 games, heading into Saturday’s trip to Crewe, illustrating how Challinor’s favored 3-5-2 formation is paying dividends.

They are aware of their potential shortcomings, but seem to have the right balance.

“In terms of how we want to do it, we will be open,” he said. “Especially when we play three backs, we have an expansive wing-back who is very aggressive going forward.

“We want a wide central defender to go in with the ball, not just rely on the defense, and that’s a big part of what we do. We want to try and keep the attack and play in the opposition’s half of the field. But at times, you have to defend .

“I always want us to be a different team in possession and possession. We want to win the ball back quickly when we are out of possession and in possession try and get the body in the box and the ball in the box as often as possible with quality.

“Before the season, we didn’t give ourselves a chance. We conceded goals where we should have scored three or four goals to win the game and you can’t do that during the season and expect success. .

“Everyone has talked about, when I was a defender, what I wanted to do when I came here and the easiest way to win games is by making sure you don’t concede, but we still want to be expansive, we still want to entertain and score goals as much as possible, but not at the cost of leaving ourselves open.

“When you lose a game, the finger will be pointed in the direction of the defenders, to get the clean sheet that we did and allow us to score free goals.”

History always suggested that Challinor would be able to turn Stockport’s early fortunes around. He left his first job at Colwyn Bay with a 51 per cent win rate and won more than half of his 415 games in charge of AFC Fylde, as well as avoiding defeat in 65 of his 90 games at Hartlepool.

What’s the secret to a winning mentality that works everywhere?

“You have to control what you can control. It doesn’t matter what level I’m at, I want to do my job as professionally as possible and only add to the higher league. The details you have to do are massively important.

“There are some things you do in terms of what you want from the players and, the easier it is for the players, the more they will do and buy. Here, we give the players a lot of freedom to express themselves on the field, within certain guidelines .

“The big thing is for us to work hard. The game has changed and there are technical aspects, but it’s an athletic game. The last two clubs I played for have a fan base that, especially when you’re at home, wants you. to be on the front foot and want you play attacking, aggressive football.

“We have 9,000 fans in our field who want to see, so you will not tweak your ideal philosophy of what you want and the value of the club. The most important thing for me is to have a group of players who are running. out there know that, regardless of whether they have good game or bad game, they’re going to give it everything they’ve got.”

It goes without saying that they have succeeded in the last chapter. But can he keep it? That’s the million-dollar question, of course, although recent form suggests the answer might be yes.

Win one game in hand and they will almost certainly move into the top seven, because of the superior goal difference for the bottom 14 teams and the top five teams. Win two and the pressure mounts on third-placed Northampton, who were beaten 2-0 last time out.

The business end of the campaign is approaching and Challinor admits he feels the next six games are, perhaps, the most important of all 46.

“The next six games will almost define the season. If we can get in touch with 16, then I think we can start – we have to do it.

“We are fighting a team that can have a direct impact on a team that is a direct opponent to the top seven positions. The top three teams have to go back, but what I am saying is that there are 11 or 12 teams below all of them. Still in and looking to drag people back in, which makes the game competitive.

“Promotion is the goal at the start of the season and after 10 games, if you ask me what the goal is, I’ll still say it, but we’re going to make it harder.

“We just have to make sure we concentrate, hopefully we can press and hope the team above us falters a bit. And if we face it, take the opportunity to take points from them.

“Let’s be clear, we’d love to be in the top three, but if we’re in the play-offs, we’ll take it.”