Picking up nine points last month in their bid for promotion from League 2 was enough for Annan Athletic Manager Jim Chapman to pick up the Scottish League 2 Manager of the Month Award for February.
The Galabank side defeated Queen’s Park twice as well as seeing off Montrose to embed themselves in second place behind Peterhead and Chapman thanked everyone at Annan for his Award.
Chapman said: “It is quite humbling to win this. I am a great believer in what my mentor Willie McLean said, that managers never win anything, it’s always about players. Managers only lose when things going wrong.”
“It is a great award for the effort of the players, my staff and also the club.”
Chapman is happy to acknowledge the hard working ethic at his club as he explained: “Anyone who has been down at Annan recently will have seen the efforts that have gone in and the work that’s gone in behind the scenes. So this Award is for everyone at the club and for the way it is going.”
“Look at the terracing behind the goal and the new roof that’s on it and all that. The work carried out off the park is fantastic and that’s the challenge to my players to show the same work ethic on the park as those do off it. If we do, we will do alright.”
After establishing themselves since their arrival in senior football in 2008 it would be fair to say that just being amongst the big boys is no longer enough for Annan.
Chapman said: “Six years and one Play-Off place? We’ve never entered a competition to be second. The club wants to progress but they’re realistic enough to know it must be step by step. One thing you have to guard against is moving too quickly. But we’re getting things right off the park and starting to get them right on the park as well.”
“When I spoke to the chairman last January about taking the job, their ambitions and plans excited me. They also suited me because I’m a great believer in the development of the club and its structures, about breeding your own and getting a vibrant youth policy going.”
“We also have the club’s charity set up and have a good community programme. It’s just a model I firmly believe in and when I was at Dumbarton we put that all in place. Annan want to replicate it and I know it is difficult to do it on a part-time basis but that is want we want to do.”
Chapman added: “The club has progressed brilliantly since 2008. We won the league there in 2009 with Dumbarton but there has been a lot of transformation since then and there are plans for more. There is a good youth system getting established and we have a new pitch as well as the new terrace with a roof on it as well.”
“It helps as there are no egos at Galabank and everyone mucks in. They are not frightened of hard work and if someone from the club can save money by driving a mini bus as opposed to hiring a bus, it gets done.”
The shadow of nearby Gretna still looms over Annan with Chapman saying: “There are dangers of going too quickly. Expectations when you go up a level are that you stay there. But you have to look at the resources to support everything you’re doing. That’s why it’s important to get your structure right. Everyone is well aware of the financial situations not just at our club but within Scottish football.”
“We live within our means. The chairman and his committee don’t have any major financial backing, it’s all done themselves. We are financially well managed and there is no debt. If they can do something they do it and if not they work hard to make it happen.”
“When you step up the expectations are that you have to try and get the better players and if you don’t do that, as past records will show, you will struggle. If you go too quickly and the results don’t happen then all the work you have put in place tends to be under-valued and you might end up regressing. You sometimes have to go back to go forward but this club makes progress every year and if promotion happens we’ll have to deal with it and I’ll have to manage the expectations.”
Chapman was asked about how growing a youth policy fitted with Annan’s geography and he said: “It has to be self-sustaining. There is also an untapped market across the border. Since I came in we have made some useful contacts and we got Josh Todd in on loan from Carlisle who now works closely with us. They see the facility we have as an excellent one during the winter months and the clubs have struck up a relationship.”
“We had Steven Logan in from Newcastle as well on loan. The geography sometimes makes it difficult because there’s just not enough quality of players to sustain the four Youth teams but we have to be fighting in our own area. The most important thing is to make sure that any local talent comes to Annan.”
“We compete with Queen of the South and although Dumfries is a big catchment area I don’t know if there is enough quantity of quality there for everyone to share so we have to use everything we have. I think it’s a real untapped market for Annan and we’re starting to exploit it.”
“If you get the right structure you can progress as a club.”
Chapman has worked on producing talent for many years now and is a great believer in giving youth a chance as he said: “Players are better educated now than they were when I first started. I worked with the SFA for years and there has been talent around for years but structure at the top does not always allow them to progress.”
“I believe that playing in a lower league gives players a chance. It is not and should never be a playground for pocket money. You need players with ambition and if you get a young player with that ambition to prove themselves there are good coaches about to help them develop.”
“Players need to learn their trade – you wouldn’t just get to start building a house you need to learn. The good thing is that as a country we are still producing players. There is a lot to be positive about but room for improvement over how we do things over issues such as the attrition rate of young players and loan systems.”
The building blocks are there for producing future Annan players and management with Chapman saying: “John Joyce who is my assistant manager is a great developer of talent. We brought Peter Weatherson in from Morton as a player and as someone who could use his B Licence in coaching.”
“We have a pathway off the park as well. That helps us to attract players who want to get into coaching. Other experienced players in Chris Jardine and Kenny Arthur are getting developed as well. We are preparing for a time when I am not there, either positively or negatively.”
Chapman started his career at Albion Rovers and he was an interested observer of their Scottish Cup clashes with Rangers, saying: “I am delighted for the players at Albion Rovers even though their replay put one of our games back a week. There are good players and coaches in League 2 and they showed that by going out there and meriting a draw in the first game at Ibrox.”
“It was my first job in management there as they went from full to part time. It was challenging and a great experience as we were working with hardly any resources. We built up a squad and progressed things before moving on. During that time and since then Frank Meade and Robert Watt have done a great job.”
“Their draw was good for League 2 and not a real surprise, on their day anyone can beat anyone as Annan proved last year by winning at Ibrox. I had a wee chuckle as we beat Rangers on March 9 and Albion Rovers almost did it on the same day. Scott Chaplain is now unbeaten in two games at Ibrox and he was almost involved in two wins.”
Albion’s fine William Hill Scottish Cup run could give Chapman’s Annan a further push for promotion as he explained: “Their run highlights that there is quality in League 2. However by getting the replay it might mean that Albion Rovers have great resources next season so we need to be in a different league from them.”
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