by Sam Elliott
WHO doesn’t get a bit emotional about the game we love now and again? But, by the time the tears of joy that didn’t actually come should have dried, Gary Johnson finally unravels.
The dust has settled the next day after Cheltenham Town did something that precious few do: made light work of the Conference the year they go down.
Johnson may be 60, son Lee may be managing Bristol City, the club dad took to within a stunning Dean Windass right foot of the Premier League in 2008, but don’t accuse him of being behind the times.
This is a man who actively stalks his potential transfer targets’ twitter profiles, to see if they have the correct characteristics and credentials to work within his squad. You can target a win at the casino with Wintingo Online Casino.
Johnson is a manager who demands his team are as vocal on social media as they are on a Saturday afternoon.
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He wants them relaxed in front of the camera and actively encourages fun and games as they rebuild a rapport with fans disenchanted after relegation.
The manager kept it together last weekend as the Robins bounced back to the Football League at the first time of asking, less than a year since they fell into Non-League football for the first time in 16 years.
A day later, however, it was a different matter.
“I’ve not been reduced to tears too much over the past few years, but I was last weekend,” he said. “Not because we won it, or because I had a few too many on Saturday night, but I watched another YouTube video the next day.
“The club’s young players were all together and they taped a message thanking me for saving the academy. If we didn’t go back up, the facts are that, sadly, it would have been scrapped.
“That’s the size of it. A lot of people would have lost their jobs if we’d stayed in Non-League for a second season. It’s the harsh reality. There would have had to be enormous cost-cutting and a high number of redundancies. “It did bring a tear to the eye, I’m not afraid to admit that,” said Johnson. “It was unbelievable.”
They say what goes down very rarely comes back up. Bristol Rovers did it last year on penalties in the play-off final, but with half their gates, the size of Cheltenham’s task was seen as doubly difficult.
More so because Johnson decided to totally clear the decks. Only Asa Hall, injured for all of last season, survived the cull. A fresh start was needed, as were new ideas.
“Did you see my diving header in training on the internet the other day?” asked the surprisingly technology-savvy veteran boss, beaming after nodding one in but deflated that I had missed his glorious moment.
“I love all that. I knew I had to bring in players who could produce – but I also knew it’s the personalities which mix that takes you to where you need to be. That combination creates winners.
“We get them all on YouTube communicating regularly with the supporters and doing things.
“I want them on the websites, even if it’s having fun and larking around. It creates a bond with the fans if they see the players’ personalities come out.
“I think the relationship between team and fans this season has been the key to it all. We needed to repair a lot of damage. A lot of managers don’t like the online thing, but I’m the opposite. We need them on there, building a relationship and winning people round.
“We needed a whole new squad, so you might wonder how we got to find out about their characters before we signed them.
“We learned from outside sources, like their twitter profiles!
“If they are standing there with a pint glass in their hand they may not be the right person, but you can pick up plenty from these online accounts, good and bad.
“Things had been let go a bit. The place was a bit run down. The walls I noticed at the club and training ground weren’t the best. It was all looking a bit flat.
“We said ‘let’s up the standards’ so we got some good brushes and that’s where the work started.
“We bought a table tennis table and a darts board.
“There wasn’t anything for the players to stick around for after training. Now there is, and blimey it gets competitive!”
So then comes the killer question. Are Cheltenham more likely to do a Bristol Rovers – in among the top three in League Two after their Wembley win – or are they like Barnet, more middle of the road but not once threatening an instant return to the division they won in late April last year.
“Our crowds are closer to Barnet’s,” he said. “Bristol Rovers are a big old club and get more than double what we do on a very good day, so we’ll have to see.
“We can only spend 55 per cent of whatever we bring in. It will be demanding but this is a great club with great people.”
Good luck to him…top manager. Worth remembering that parachute payments make vast difference though.