NEW Bodmin Town head coach Gary Jeffery is looking forward to the start of the new South West Peninsula League season, after the Football Association gave the green light to a resumption of action at the beginning of September.

The former Launceston manager was appointed by the Premier West club during lockdown to help manager Darren Gilbert and his assistant Alan Carey.

But the Sport and Participation Manager (East Cornwall) for the Plymouth Argyle Community Trust had to content himself initially with training sessions governed by the social distancing rules.

‘We were obviously very limited to what we could do at the start, but we got our heads together and came up with a training plan to do as many small-scale sessions as possible in different groups, and it has been really good,’ explained Jeffery.

‘It has been quite hectic. I was furloughed from work for such a long time that it was nice to have the Bodmin fix to keep me focused and involved in football, but I am back to work again now, so it is a busy period.

‘We had a set plan to train twice a week in smaller groups up to hopefully August, and now with the announcement that has been made, we can just keep it going.

‘It has been so hard for teams, you didn’t know when to start training, or how to do it, or how it is going to look, and the boys are looking in really good shape as well.’

Bodmin have spent the summer putting together a cracking looking squad as they aim to put behind them a season where they started really well but then went off the boil a bit, which not only left them in fifth place in the table when the lockdown happened, but also saw them knocked out at the first hurdle of all the cup competitions.

They have kept together a number of players from last season’s squad but also added the likes of prolific Plymouth Parkway striker Adam Carter, former Hereford United player Sol Wheatley, who has been plying his trade in America, Liskeard Athletic goalkeeper Ollie Chenoweth, and St Austell duo Tom Chambers and Chris Reski, to name just a few of their new additions.

‘When I first came in and spoke with Darren and Al, they weren’t too far off in fifth place when the season stopped, but they said they were a long, long way away from where they wanted to be, so we sat down and looked at what players would help, and what would fit with what we had planned, and so far it has been tremendous,’ explained Jeffery.

‘Bringing in people like Carts, a player who has still got a lot to show and a lot to give; Ollie from Liskeard who has got great credentials and is a great keeper and I worked with him at Launceston; and TC and Chris from St Austell, and Jordan Trott has now signed for us too, the squad is looking really, really strong.

‘Sol played at Hereford and was over in Florida playing university football, and he is coming back from a knee injury, but he is looking really, really strong and he has been at training. It has been good having Regan Miles in doing fitness and rehab with him, so he is going to be in really good shape.

‘He targeted the middle of August to get back and be in amongst it with the boys, and fingers crossed, that’s going to be on.’

The improvements at Bodmin during the off-season have been both on the field in terms of players, and off the field in relation to backroom staff, with the addition of the likes of Jeffery and Miles, and Jeffery admitted: ‘I have been there where Gilbey and Al have been when I was the manager at Launceston.

‘Sometimes it feels like you are trying to do everything regarding the team, though there are lots and lots of people behind the scenes at every club, and if it wasn’t for them the games wouldn’t happen.

‘But it is difficult and you do get quite disillusioned over doing too much. I think that’s what Darren felt, but he has got the bug back again now and he is really hungry, and that is brilliant for me because I can come in and do what I want to do. Everyone is giving 100 per cent, you are giving your maximum towards the boys, and everyone is going to benefit from it.’

One of the keys to success this season could be the communication between the management triumvirate, to make sure they are all singing off the same hymn sheet and not giving the players mixed messages, but it has all worked well so far, as Jeffery explained.

‘It is so far, so good, but it is easy when you are not playing games, and losing matches, and that is the big thing.

‘We said to the boys the other day, when things are going well it is all fantastic, but you get truly tested when things are not going so well.

‘What has been good is that, because we decided to go back to training so early, myself, Darren and Al understand how each other works as well now. and it has proved good so far, and to be fair, they have just let me crack on and do what I do. Both of them are winners, they have won trophies, so we are all going to learn off each other, which is good.’

Talented

It is easy to forget that Bodmin enjoyed an excellent start to the season, and went virtually unbeaten in the league until the end of October, but they then started to suffer player availability problems.

‘The players there last year were no mugs, and those that have stayed on with us, there are a lot of young, talented footballers there, and it is time they step up now and people take note of what they have got, but bringing in more experienced or been-there-done-it type of players is only going to help, and that is the kind of thing that myself, Gilbey and Al decided to do when we were looking to bring in players,’ said Jeffery. ‘We have brought players in to fill positions where we felt it was needed, and we tried to do it the right way.’

As to the season ahead, what are the targets for Bodmin?

‘Of course we want to win something, that’s why you play football,’ said Jeffery. ‘The cup competitions may not be played due to the late start to the season, we will have to wait and see, but regarding the League, there are some top teams in Premier West. Helston went on an incredible run last year and Saltash have got a solid team, and those two should be thereabouts again, but we are certainly going to give it a really good go, and with the quality we’ve got, there is no reason we can’t push these teams.’

by Nigel Walrond