There may be no matches to prepare his squad for at the current time, but our manager is making the most of the spare time by searching for new football talent.
Though the spread of Coronavirus constricts the opportunities to take a look at potential future signings, Glyn says his backroom staff are well up to speed with the latest scouting technology.
“Once the window shuts in January we start looking at the next transfer window,” said Glyn. “We can’t watch any games so our scouts are indoors watching matches on TV. We have given them all a list of targets. This is the best way to do it, we’ve got some good platforms for them to work on, and they are getting on with it all. The analysts are making video clips for us. These are things that we can work on because you can do them well at home.
“We have the WyScout and Scout7 platforms, so that we can watch past games with footage of players and there’s also Huddle, which is a useful scouting tool. There’s always something to do, we are not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs. We are looking at targets and trying to get a database ready to see who is available and the players that fit our profiles.”
Glyn added he’s also been doing his bit in the garden at home – and it has become a real family effort!
“I’ve got quite a big garden now so I can spend a bit of time out there! I’ve been looking at videos and helping with the gardening. All my girls are back: my daughter is back and my granddaughter has moved in with us, so I’ve got a nice house and it’s quite enjoyable. There’s always something you can find to do, we are all out in the garden, but I guess if the weather changes it will make it harder.”
The uncertainty about a date when this season could potentially be resumed has obviously made planning difficult for Glyn and his staff. However, every effort has been made to keep the players ticking over in terms of fitness.
“With the lockdown we have to rethink it all again now,” said Glyn. “The goalposts keep changing and we have to adapt, but the boys are working and they are active. The players have been going to local parks to get their exercise in, it’s mainly stride-outs and long distance stuff. I know a lot of professional players have their own gyms, but I’m not sure that many of ours have that luxury. It’s just about being inventive and while the weather is nice they can get out in their gardens or go to their local parks. It’s just about keeping them active and waiting for the go-ahead to start again.
“In the first 10 days Chris McConnell gave the players programmes to follow, which he has updated now. Obviously, they can’t go out in pairs or meet up as groups. You can see how much work they’ve done by looking at an app called Strava. Athletes are set a certain amount of work and it’s up to them how they do it, but the reports come in and Chris looks at them. He keeps updating and changing things when required.
“Things have changed now in the last week. We had been working towards coming back on 3 April. We had two friendlies to play against Bournemouth and Reading before that date. They were not confirmed because we knew that things could change. We knew that we couldn’t go straight back into playing competitive matches and that’s important, so as soon as we get an idea of dates being reset we will get those matches pencilled in again. Everyone is in the same boat, but it’s just about getting the boys ready to go again.
“You just feel that you are stuck in limbo at the moment, just watching the latest news and seeing the updates. You are keeping in touch with EFL and Premier League meetings and waiting for updates from the government. It’s going to be like this for a while, so we just have to make the best of it and get on with it, something the whole world is having to do at this difficult time.”
Glyn said that this spell is far removed from the close season and players including Scott Wagstaff have their own family situations to cope with at home.
“It’s a lot different to the summer because you know that you’ve done all your work then and you can relax. You have a date to work towards in terms of coming back. You have a well deserved break in the summer. They still get their programmes to do away from the training ground in the summer, so that they come back for pre-season in relatively good shape. All the players are different now from back in the day, they look after themselves in terms of fitness.
“A few of the lads are in isolation because their partners are pregnant. Scott Wagstaff has a baby girl due soon, so he will have his hands full, that’s for sure. The players all have their own situations to take care of at home, but they have to keep one eye on when they are going to come back and play football again.”