Cheltenham Town made the correct decision in keeping Michael Flynn despite having started the season poorly.
After three wins in 12, some fans had lost their patience with the man in charge at Cheltenham Town, Michael Flynn.
With four wins on the bounce, the fortunes have changed quickly, with some fans regretting the claims they made.
But why was it the right decision?
After the departure of Darrell Clarke to Barnsley, it was time to begin another managerial search. The Newport man was the chosen one to lead the Robins forward, and he suited the club down to the ground.
He was available after being sacked from Swindon Town in January and has a history of being able to operate on small budgets, something which fit the Gloucestershire club perfectly.
Despite a scrappy win against Accrington Stanley who were towards the bottom of the table, things weren’t clicking for Flynn and fans had started to call for change if things did not improve. Losses to Barrow and Swindon followed but sticking with him proved to be the right choice.
It Was Too Soon:
After 10 games it was far too soon to be thinking about terminating his contract and whilst a poor run of form is not good enough, there were a good set of fixtures coming up where he could turn things around, as the visit to Colchester United proved to be a good sign of where the club was at.
A typical ‘smash and grab’ victory was must-needed for the Robins and a Jordan Thomas brace from a total of six shots compared to Colchester’s 18 secured an important win.
That win helped them get onto a good run of form, with one of the best results being an upset against League One side Rotherham United in early November.
Embed from Getty ImagesHis Track Record:
Another reason to why they needed to stick with him, as the manager market is a tough place at the moment, and it would be difficult to find a replacement that suited them as well as Flynn does.
Especially with the FA Cup on the horizon, the competition in which the former Newport man has an outstanding record in, it was expected that he would produce some magic.
Patience was needed from Cheltenham fans as his success at Newport is very similar to what he can produce at the League Two outfit in the long-term.
More Patience Is Needed With Managers:
In the modern game as many boards at football clubs seem to act too fast and forget the idea of building a project. A perfect example of this is Coventry City with Mark Robins, a manager that was able to build the club from League Two to the Championship play-off final and an FA Cup semi-final. Robins was sacked this week to the disagreement of many fans.
Whilst it’s very unlikely that Flynn could take the club to the Championship, he needs time to build something and patience is something which needs to be considered more.
