More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Manager Scott Lindsey has stressed his long-term commitment to Chatham as they chase Southern Counties East promotion.
Chats are third in the table, four points off the top, after six wins in their last seven games.
Lindsey says there’s no pressure to go up this season, as much as they’d like to, with the former Forest Green assistant boss in it for the long haul.
He said: “The club’s moving forward and I want to be a big part of that.
“It’s a great project and a great club to be around. I can see what’s going on.
“To get the crowds we are at this level – 512 last week – is amazing and there’s a lot of things happening.
“I want to play a style of football that the fans and the players are proud of.
“Going deeper, I’d like to get the reserves and the youth teams all playing the same way.
“Carl Laraman, our director of football, will be a big part of that.
“He’s a very experienced man, he had 16 years at Arsenal and seven at Charlton, and that knowledge and experience behind the scenes is invaluable with setting that up and helping me with the first team.
“We get on well because we see things so similar.
“We’ve got big plans as a football club and we’re enjoying the ride.
“There’s no pressure on me to win promotion this season, as much as we’d like to, but we’re looking to move through the leagues eventually. This is a long-term thing.”
Chatham visit Punjab United this Saturday with Lindsey hoping their style of play will make a difference during the run-in.
They play with cool heads and that could make a difference at the business end.
“We play a controlled, possession-based style where I’m asking players to be calm on the ball,” he said.
“I’m not always calm on the sidelines but hopefully playing this way will make the players hold their nerve because you need that when you get to the end of the season.
“If you’re a direct, up and at ‘em team, you can get carried away with your aggression and you end up losing games because you’re trying so hard.
“Where we’re a team who are calm and play this controlled football, it could give us an edge. I’m not saying it will but it could.
“A lot of people rubbished me for trying to play this way in the Kent League and said it wouldn’t work.
“I had the same at Forest Green, people said it was impossible to play that way in the Conference, but we didn’t listen and we won promotion.
“Those comments are from people who aren’t brave enough to do it themselves.
“Would you rather watch a team who just smash it and run after it?
“There’s no right or wrong way to play football but I know what I’d rather see.”
