A SCHOOL minibus on the way to a national gymnastics championship in Stoke doesn’t seem the most likely starting place for the foundations of Braintree Town‘s season.
But, just 48 hours after being appointed manager of the Iron, Danny Cowley and brother Nicky, also his assistant-manager, were doing just that. The pair work together at the FitzWimarc School in Rayleigh.
With Head of PE Danny at the wheel, shortly after talking to The NLP at a service station, Nicky began trawling YouTube for clips of their new club’s previous season.
“Nicky was sitting next to me with his iPad out,” Cowley smiles. “No word of a lie we watched 30 of Braintree’s games from last season. Every minute – and when you already know the score…”
Having spent eight hugely successful years in charge of Concord Rangers, where he guided them from Step 5 to the Conference South, Cowley wanted to be armed with as much knowledge as possible.
“As a manager I think you’ve always got to work out what the DNA of the club is,” he says. “Once you know that, you can sign players who fit into the DNA of the club. It’s so important you find that.
“Having been at Concord Rangers for eight years with a relatively small budget, we did a lot of our shopping and recruitment in the lower divisions.
Feedback
“We felt, as new managers coming into a new level, if we didn’t know the level, we had players that did. If you look at clubs who have success, continuity is a big part. We knew if we could keep the core and the spine, which we did, and add what we felt would support that, then we could have success.”
The challenge is to build on the self-labelled “Pub Team from Essex’s” establishment in Non-League‘s top-flight since promotion in 2011.
On the first night of his appointment, Cowley had meetings with the players and board until the early hours of the next morning, before driving home and replying to every single text of congratulations he’d received.
He finally rolled into bed around 4am before getting up just over two hours later to go to work.
“I remember driving home that first night and thinking, ‘We’ll be alright’,” he says, having “seen the whites of the players’ eyes and what makes them tick”.
We’re sitting in the boardroom at Braintree’s Cressing Road home, not long after Tuesday night’s 2-1 win against Woking that put his side fifth in the table after 12 games.
It’s just a start, he insists, with another 29 points to reach their target of the magic 50 and National League safety.
But already the club are feeling the benefits of meticulous preparation and his belief in methods championed by Team Sky leader and the brains behind GB’s cycling gold rush, Sir Dave Brailsford.
“We always talk about one per cent,” Cowley says. “Dave Brailsford in the world of cycling speaks about it all the time. It’s small marginal gains. You’re looking for all these little things that people perceive to be non-essential but are critical to your team’s success.
“It might be as silly as making sure there’s bottles of mineral water on the coach. But it’s about making sure the players have got the little things that makes their experience better and more positive.
“As a part-time club we’ve got to respect they are working all day. They’ve all got families, they all work. So if we can look after them when they come here – and the girls at the club are great, they do them beans on toast and pasta – then it creates a positive environment.
“I always believe if you create the right environment for the players then they have no excuses. And players will find excuses. Every single player will. So what you’ve got to do as a manager is make sure there are no excuses.”
Cowley says his biggest challenge is maximising the two nights a week he sees his players. In the summer a performance analyst was recruited to give even more knowledge to base decisions on.
“We use an app called Huddle which all the players are signed into,” says the 36-year-old. “We edit the games so they’re able to look at their own individual highlights, they are able to look at highlights in their units – defenders, midfielders and strikers. That gives the players good feedback on their performance and it gives us feedback as well.
“The great thing is – they know this now, but they didn’t – is that we know exactly who’s been on it and for how long. We caught a lot out in the first ten days!
Ambitions
“Is that the difference between winning and losing? No. But I do think all these small things when added up can increase player performance. When you get the absolute most out of every individual you are going to get good value.”
Cowley is making a habit of giving good value. His first game in management was in the Essex Senior League when Concord played Sawbridgeworth Town in front of 62 people.
When he left, the Beachboys were on the map having played, and out-performed, bigger boys on their way up the Pyramid – as was his own undoubted managerial talent.
At school the Cowley brothers’ pupils have won medals at world athletic championships and last year were named as the State Sports School of the year.
It’s why they’re a perfect fit for the Iron, who have ambitions to progress into the Football League and move into a much-needed new stadium – a target they are determined to reach debt free.
So does teaching at a senior school transfer across to standing in front of a group of footballers?
“A lot of management is communication and being able to pass your message and encourage others to believe in your way of doing things,” he says.
“We keep saying we don’t want to be content. I hate contentment. The only time I’m content is the middle of May if we’ve had a good season and I can put my feet up and be pleased with what we’ve done. Until that point: keep working towards success.”
