DENNIS KUTRIEB has a simple message for his Ebbsfleet United promotion chasers ahead of this afternoon’s semi-final with Chippenham Town – just enjoy it!
The German bossshas guided the Kent side to third in the National League South table in his first full season in charge, having seen his first paign terminated early for Covid.
A squad packed with talent has long been tipped to have a big say in this season’s promotion race and so it is proving as the club look to return to Non-League‘s top flight.
And Kutrieb wouldn’t want to be doing it with any other squad.
“That’s what I said when we did the recruitment and at the beginning when I came here, I want to work with people I can appreciate and enjoy doing my job,” Kutrieb tells The NLP. “Even if you’re sometimes under pressure as a manager or as a player, you don’t have a good game as a player or whatever it is, we still have the best job in the world.
“I think, first and foremost, everyone should enjoy what we’re allowed to do and what we love most.
“Sometimes, in general, you can see the enjoyment and happiness to be in this circus comes a bit too short. I try to remember myself, and for the boys as well, people are up at 6am going to work. You can turn up and play football. That’s easily said, play football, but at the end of the day do what you love – so enjoy it and make sure you enjoy you leave everything on the training pitch or, on a match day, on the pitch.
“Work hard every day, be honest with what you do. I believe when you don’t cheat or not try to not make a run, if you work hard and can look in the mirror you did everything, then you can get the reward. Maybe not in one game or even one season, but in the long term, you will get your rewards. That’s what we try to do.
“I try to do the same myself. For example, last Tuesday I watched Chelmsford against Concord. They weren’t playing for anything. It wasn’t the best game of football I saw in my life, but I wanted to do everything I can which was to watch out next opponent live.
“We prepare everything 100 per cent because we don’t want to say after the occasion we could have done this or that.”
With his family at home in Germany, Kutrieb is immersed in the task.
Desire
“I love it,” Kutrieb says. “It’s a big challenge, a great challenge for me. No one can really feel how it is to come as a stranger to another country and try to bring different ideas.
“To get the feeling the boys more and more understand – at the beginning my English was terrible, in my view – what you want. That takes time even if you come from the same country.
“It’s a great experience for me. I am still in the middle of this experience but I am enjoying it because I can learn so many things for my whole life. Not just training, matches, the play-offs, in general you learn so much for your whole life and that’s what I really love.”
Kutrieb was at Dartford on Thursday night to see their opponents in the flesh and was impressed by Chippenham’s fight – not that he needs much introducing to a regular opponent since his arrival!
“They have desire – you could see that against Havant (on the final day), that’s what you could see against Dartford,” Kutrieb says. “So we don’t have to doubt anything about it. They have been at our place two weeks ago and got a 2-2 draw. Even there they showed desire and heart. It was a good game.
“We didn’t manage to get a winner. We had a massive last-minute chance – if we get the winner there they wouldn’t be back on Sunday. So sometimes football is meant to be because two weeks later we see them.
“We are very familiar with them. I don’t know how many times I’ve played against Chippenham in the last 18 months – it’s unbelievable! We had them in the FA Cup, the FA Trophy, the league, now the play-offs.
“It means we are familiar. That’s good for the management team but that doesn’t mean anything for Sunday. The players need to be ready, up for the challenge to try and get a result.”
