How John Coleman and Josh Windass are inspiring Accrington's early League Two charge
Wednesday 30 September 2015 21:15, UK
Sky Sports' Fraser Dainton finds out how Accrington are exceeding early expectations - and gets the lowdown on a player who's proving a chip off the old block.
As the start of the League Two season came around, many experts made the usual predictions, including for Accrington Stanley to be involved in a relegation battle. Having finished 17th last year, and 15th the year before, perhaps that wasn't too unfair.
But with 10 games gone, some people are beginning to re-assess. Stanley have won five, and drawn four, succumbing to just a single defeat. They sit fourth in the table on goal difference - two points behind the leaders Wycombe.
Manager John Coleman is doing his best to keep everyone's feet on the ground.
"We're not getting carried away, it's early days," he says. "Anything can happen in our league. All the teams are capable of beating each other, but I'm really pleased with the appetite we're showing for the game.
"We've got a young squad and they are all really hungry to do well. They're all bouncing off each other which is great."
On Tuesday night Accrington beat Yeovil at home 2-1 to make it four league wins on the trot. Coleman admits it's a cracking start - but that's all.
"We're still not out of the woods yet, but we thought we had a good pre-season," he adds. "We were quietly confident going into the season, we turned in some good performances, and we knew we had a young squad that were capable of working hard and playing well.
"But you've got to keep that going for 46 games - there lies the problem when you haven't got a lot of money and you need to add reinforcements in January to cover injuries and suspensions. We need a little bit of luck along the way, but we're enjoying it at the moment."
'Riches'
Stanley have never been a wealthy club and the early success will no doubt bring some unwanted attention from other clubs when the transfer window re-opens.
"One of the problems that you've got is because all your players are doing well, they'll be touted round," Coleman says.
"The big problem is keeping them all happy and focused on what they are doing - and not maybe about the riches that might lie elsewhere."
It's just over a year since Coleman returned to Accrington for his second spell in charge.
His first stint lasted just under 13 years, during which Stanley went from Football Conference to Football League. But in 2012 he left for an ill-fated year at Rochdale. A year at Southport and four months at Sligo Rovers, before he eventually returned to Stanley.
"There were still some good players at the club when we came but, we maybe had to change the attitude of how they were going to play," Coleman says. "We wanted a higher tempo, a higher pressing game, based on a healthy work ethic, and that's all started to gel together."
Having settled back in, Coleman and his assistant, Jimmy Bell, set about making sure everything was worked out well in advance of the new term.
"This is probably the first time since Jimmy and I have been here that we've been able to work with the squad from day one. So we haven't had a whole host of triallists in all summer, looking at them, maybe getting in the way of what we were trying to do. We've been able to coach them from the first day of training, and I think that's paying off for us."
'Limelight'
And Accrington have found something of a diamond in Josh Windass.
If the name sounds familiar, that's because he's the son of former Hull striker Dean. The 19-year-old has scored six times so far and Coleman believes the youngster is destined for great things.
"Josh has worked hard in the summer on his fitness," Coleman says. "He's got a lot to learn, but he is learning by the week.
"He will always get compared to his dad, and he will always be in the limelight because of that, but he is a player in his own right. People are quickly realising that. He's very athletic, he's very quick, he's got good feet, so he can be whatever he wants to be."
Hard work
Of course, a league season is the proverbial marathon. All teams can expect to have a bad patch, and Coleman is waiting for the seemingly inevitable.
"It will be interesting to see how they react. Things are going well at the moment, and they are bouncing off each other, but they have to be prepared that it's not all plain sailing.
"Confidence is a good thing, but there's no room for them to get complacent or blasé. The one thing that we do try install in them every day is hard work. I pointed it out to them after the win over Yeovil; it's always better to achieve something with hard work than with someone giving you it. And they are certainly working hard for the points we're getting at the moment."
This weekend, Accrington take on Oxford United, who sit just two places and two points behind them. It's another test of Stanley's potential promotion ambitions. Coleman knows it's now a matter of belief.
"People who are champions, or get promoted - they believe they're going to do it," the manager says.
"It's a fine line between having a swagger and self-belief, to over confidence. But we've got to act like we're a top team, and eventually the teams we come up against will start giving us respect."
