Wycombe Wanderers legend Matt Bloomfield left his post as Colchester United head coach to return to Adams Park after Gareth Ainsworth left for QPR on February 21; in an interview conducted in early February, he discussed enforced retirement, learning from Ainsworth, his philosophy and more
Wednesday 22 February 2023 17:13, UK
Given Gareth Ainsworth's history as a player at QPR, it was widely accepted that the day would eventually come for the man affectionately known to Rangers fans as 'Wild Thing' to return to Loftus Road.
That day finally arrived on Tuesday, February 21, when he signed a three-and-a-half year deal to take over at the west London club, relinquishing his status as the EFL's second-longest serving manager as a result.
In a similar vein, given Matt Bloomfield's 19-year association with Wycombe, it was always a case of when, not if, he returned to Adams Park after taking his first steps into management with Colchester United at the end of September.
It is unlikely, however, that anyone envisaged it would be just 145 days before he was back at his old stomping ground, leading the club where he became a legend as a player.
But this is exactly how it has panned out.
No sooner was Ainsworth's departure as Chairboys boss confirmed when news of Bloomfield's appointment was circulated. Transitions do not come much more seamless than that.
It has been a transformative 12 months for the 39-year-old, who started the 2021/22 season as part of Ainsworth's Wycombe squad, before his playing days were brought to an abrupt conclusion.
Team-mate Joe Jacobson took a quick free-kick in the first half of a Carabao Cup match against Exeter, which accidentally struck Bloomfield on the back of the head and gave him concussion severe enough for doctors to advise his retirement. On February 2 2022, he announced he had hung up his boots.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports - conducted after he had been named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month for January - he explained how he dealt with the life-changing news.
"I was getting less and less football, but my only thoughts at the start of last season were to prove to the manager that I wanted to keep playing," said Bloomfield.
"I wanted to get a place in his team and I wanted to prove to everybody and myself that I could still do it at League One level. That wasn't to be - and I was comfortable with that as well. I'd reached the pinnacle of my career playing in the Championship the year before and I'd played a big part at the football club over many years.
"After the concussion, I had contradicting feelings. I was gutted to have to hang my boots up, but at the same time, I was ready. I was ready for the next challenge in life, the next adventure.
"I had big ambitions in terms of what I wanted to go on and achieve in the rest of my life. I was ready to crack on with what was to come next and excited and energised by that.
"Had it come a few years earlier, I think it would have been a lot tougher to take, but with the age I was and the experiences I'd been lucky enough to have while playing, I'd ticked off a lot of what I wanted to achieve."
Eager not to leave him out in the cold, Wycombe integrated Bloomfield into the coaching staff, where he worked for the next seven months, as the club reached the League One play-off final for the second time in three seasons, where they were eventually beaten comfortably by Sunderland.
As on-the-job experience goes, that was right up there.
"I really enjoyed that time," Bloomfield continued. "Of course, there were intricacies to work through, in terms of going from a player to a coach and what that meant with coaching players I'd been sharing a dressing room with and had close moments with as a team-mate.
"But I'd experienced that from the other side because Gareth was a team-mate and room-mate of mine before he became manager. The respect that we had for each other and the honesty we'd always had in our relationship was an indicating factor as to how to approach the situation.
"I always tried to approach the role with honesty and sincerity. If I needed to do something to help the players improve, I was comfortable in doing so; as long as things were said with respect, I feel like they received that information really well and that enabled me to take that step into the coaches office.
"It was fairly seamless, if I'm honest. It was almost like a natural progression in my life I knew was incoming at some point."
There aren't many better teachers than Ainsworth to learn from, are there?
"Most certainly not. His man management and the culture he's created and cultivated at Wycombe over a number of years can only be admired," said Bloomfield.
"I really admire him both as a man and as a manager. I think he's an incredible guy who's had an absolutely fantastic managerial career at Wycombe and he's been given time to create an environment to be proud of and that is successful. Time is a precious commodity in management and he's been able to pay that back in terms of the success he's brought.
"There have been a whole host of messages and lessons that I've taken from him that I hope to be able to use in my career, but at the same time, I'm not trying to be a total copy. I've got to be authentic and try to be myself at all times."
On September 30 2022, Bloomfield took the bold move to go it alone and was appointed Colchester head coach, which allowed him to move closer to home with his family having moved back to his hometown of Felixstowe in Suffolk five years earlier.
He replaced Wayne Brown, who had taken just six points from the first nine games of the season, but did not have much luck in his first month or so, with United slipping to the bottom of the entire EFL.
"I genuinely believed our performances were better than our results at that point," he said.
"We were coming so close, but getting on the wrong side of 1-0 and 2-1. I felt like we were always in games, but we were losing games we didn't deserve to and I felt, if we kept up those performances, it was only going to be a matter of time before that changed.
"I was questioning everything at that point in terms of the service I was providing to the players, but we had a slight change after Christmas, going from three to four at the back, which we believed would help us.
"I wanted us to not only become an improving team, but a winning team as well. A relentless desire for improvement every single day - and hoping for a little bit of luck along the way - helps results go in your favour."
From Boxing Day onwards, he got his wish. Junior Tchamadeu's first half goal secured a fourth win of the season and, over the 11 games that followed, Bloomfield's men took 18 points.
Midway through the resurgent run, he picked up the aforementioned Manager of the Month award, which he was delighted with. "It just gives me more energy and hunger and desire to succeed because there's no better feeling than winning football matches as head coach."
By the time he left the Essex club, they were 19th with 35 points, nine points clear of the bottom two and 14 off the play-off places with 13 games left to play.
At Wycombe, he faces a totally contrasting challenge. The Chairboys are seventh in League One, having won five matches in a row, and are three points outside the top six with 15 games left to play.
So what should Wycombe fans expect as a familiar face takes on new responsibilities?
"My philosophy is player-centred. I want players to be happy and comfortable in their surroundings and their environment. I want to have a demanding environment, but also a supportive environment.
"I want to create a culture and environment for the players to work in every single day where there are demands put on them and they are held accountable for their performances, but where we are also highly supportive in terms of helping to coach and educate them in all parts of their lives.
"At Colchester, I saw a group that cared, a group that wanted to buy into something fresh and new and I approached it like I do anything in life, with energy, enthusiasm, with a smile on my face and deep desire to try and succeed and see what was needed to try and change things around."
There is no denying Bloomfield should have a simple job on his hands to get the players to buy into his ideas, but will a managerial change at a crucial point in the season take its toll? Only time will tell.
