LFW’s tame Burton Albion fan Steve Eyley returns, white handkerchief in hand, to bid Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink a fond farewell and give the QPR fans a few pointers on what to expect.
How do you assess JFH's time in charge of Burton?
SE: He’s been absolutely excellent. He’s certainly taken us to a different level since he came, using much the same style as his predecessor Gary Rowett who’d also been successful here. The players work hard and run through walls for him. He has a restricted budget for players so we are overachieving with the lot we have, top of League One presently, which is mainly down to him and his tactics. We actually play a little bit more football than we did under Rowett.
You seem to win a lot without scoring many goals, how would you describe his preferred style of play?
SE: We’re very tight and disciplined at the back and in midfield. We create plenty of chances but haven't been taking them this season. Defence is definitely the key for him though.
There was a stat last month that we have created more chances than any other team in the league but taken the lowest percentage of them. For a former striker of his calibre, it's an oddity that we only have three strikers in the squad, and two of those haven't scored yet.
Main strengths and weaknesses...
SE: He’s very committed and diligent. The players seem to love and respect him and are very keen to play for him. He’s very detailed in training and tactics. The only weakness, perhaps, is he doesn’t play enough attacking football at home as he doesn’t want to concede. He hates conceding goals.
In the pre-season just gone Jimmy said we would have to put the onus on defence in the first few games until we'd got the measure of the league. Having got the measure of the league, and seen the defensive tactics prove so successful, we’ve stuck with it. Personally I would like to see a bit more attacking intent but it's working well so there’s been no need to change it.
What's his record like in the transfer market?
SE: His record on signings has been a bit up and down: some good, some failures. No prolific strikers but all strikers have to work really hard closing down. To be fair he hasn’t had a lot of money to play around with and get hold of expensive strikers so has done really well with what he has signed for the money available. The onus in the summer was signing defenders.
Is he likely to bring any staff with him, who does he work with at Burton? Any players he's likely to come after?
SE: More than likely he would bring his assistant David Oldfield who is highly regarded. The only players he might bring are possibly the keeper Jon McLaughlin (reliable, commands box), centre back John Mousinho (been a rock this season and last since converting from centre midfield) and a Dutch/Moroccan winger/striker called Nasser El Khayati who came from Dutch lower leagues and played well last season and has made the step up to League One. Has skill and touch and can go past full backs easily on the edge of area and either cross, pass or have a shot. Decent finisher usually.
There's a perception that, to some extent, he's benefited from taking over the good work Gary Rowett did, how much truth is there in that?
SE: Yes he did take over a decent squad who were doing well. That said, we were actually on a fairly bad trot when Rowett left for Birmingham — we’d lost seven of the previous ten in all competitions. Jimmy immediately started winning and took them on an amazing run to promotion with no real setbacks along the way. Credit to Rowett initially but huge credit to Jimmy for making us more professional and getting there. There was certainly no stumbling over the line, as there was when Clough left just as we were about to win the Conference.
There's also a perception that Burton are a well run club over achieving, and he may struggle with the omni-shambles at QPR - any thoughts?
SE: I think he will organise you better and make you hard to beat and you have Austin up front to nick goals in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Don't expect Dutch-type flowing football immediately as he seems more interesting in keeping it tight and goals out. He is going from a small, well-run club where he has a great relationship with the chairman to a bigger club with some well-documented problems to address so it will be a challenge.
He’s only been at the Albion a little over a year so is still learning but it's been all success so far so a good signing for you guys.
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