A sit down with... Aaron Hayer. Manager of Borrowash Victoria
A sit down with...
Aaron Hayer. Manager of Borrowash Victoria and ex manager of Mickleover FC Reserves.
Firstly Aaron thank you for taking time to sit and answer some questions with me. A young coach with big ambitions from your time with Mickleover Reserves now to Borrowash Victoria. I'm looking forward to learning more about the man in the dugout.
From Mickleover Reserves to Borrowash in the off season. How have you settled in your new surroundings?
Afternoon mate. I just wanted to start off by thanking you for having me on, I think what you do for local non-league football is really good and the way you’re trying to expand and get even more exposure for clubs/players/managers is brilliant. You’re doing a great job!
It was a big move for me coming to Borrowash from Mickleover Reserves. Something that I had to take a lot of time to think about. At Mickleover I had everything a young manager/coach could ask for. Facilities, people, support, a production line of quality players. It was so much fun working there and I loved every minute. It’s a great club with great people.
However, sometimes in life you’ve gotta go out your comfort zone and challenge yourself. For me, Borrowash was the perfect club for this. I’ve settled in great here, the local volunteers are amazing, the ground is old school in a good way, gives you that proper non-league feeling and the people at the club are good people who want the best.
A Borrowash team that dropped out the pyramid. What are your ambitions for this season?
For me, I always want to win. I set the highest goals possible and evaluate from there. We have to believe we can win the league and gain promotion. That has to be the main objective. However, this is a rebuild job at Vics. There’s no hiding away from the fact that Borrowash have been through some tough times over the last 4/5 years. So the first thing we have to do is bring some stability to the club. That’s by making sure me and my coaching staff have the right attitude and at the same time making sure we have the a group of players turning up week in, week out, with the right attitude and mentality. That consistency in staff and players is so important in rebuilding the club. This year, we need to earn that respect again. We need to make sure people are talking about Vics in a positive way.
You’ve started with 4 wins from 4 (at the time of the interview). How do you see the NSL going this season?
Honestly, when we found out we were in the NSL I was really looking forward to it. It’s a brand new league for me with teams I’ve never seen play before. So it’s a fresh start, exactly what the club needed. We have started well and that’s down to attitude. The 19 lads who have been involved so far this season have done all the basics correctly. Turning up on time, doing the warm up correctly, competing properly and never giving up. They battle, they work hard, they run and they know when we have the ball, we have to play with freedom and they need to express themselves. They’ve done this so far and been rewarded for it. But, it’s a long season and if we can keep doing the basics correct, I think we’ll have a good year.
Looking back at your time at Mickleover. A place where there is always ex pros. The likes of Clinton Morrison & Pablo Mills playing in your side at time. As a young coach did you take anything from these experienced pros?
To be honest with you, when I first started and I had the likes of Clint, Pabs, John McGrath, Ricky Ravenhill in the dressing room and I was their manager for a game, it was surreal. You think in your head like, what can I say to these guys what they haven’t heard from senior pro’s and World Class managers. It was daunting to start off with. However, after just one game I realised, they are such professionals that i could just be me and didn’t have to overthink anything. Anything I asked whether it was something to do with position, tactics, formation, they would just do it. No questions asked and that speaks volumes on them all. They went into every game for the reserves like it was a Champions League final and that’s when you really realise why they all played at the level they did.
For me, those 3 years was the best experience any young coach/manager could ask for. I thought I knew a lot about football, but being with these guys 3 times a week for 3 years, I learnt so so so much. The fine arts, the difference between semi-professional and professional. Honestly, there’s not enough time and words to explain how much I gained being around not only top professionals, but top people. Even now that I have left, if I call any of them they get back to me and are there for me. Without them, I would never have been ready for this next step.
Alongside the ex pros, you also saw some quality young talent come through Mickleover Reserves. How rewarding was it seeing your lads step up to the 1st team
It was the best feeling any coach/manager could have. Last season, we had 13 lads who went from step 7 to step 3 to play for the first team. I genuinely don’t think there’s another semi-professional club in the country who had something similar with that big of gap between steps.
I was an okay footballer who didn’t really have the drive to train and work on myself. But the lads I worked with have a different kind of mentality and determination. They are fearless and so driven to be the best. I can honestly say it wasn’t me driving them, they did that themselves and in fact they made me want to get even better! It’s great seeing a lot of them playing first team football at step3/4/5, it’s the least they deserve and I know they’ll all be successful.
Speaking more about yourself now. A young British Asian coach with ambitions in football. We’re starting to see more lads progress at all levels of the game with players such as Hamza Choudhury, Zidane Iqbal & Mal Benning alongside clubs such as Sporting Khalsa leading the way. How do you think these role models will inspire future generations of British Asians to play and get involved in football?
It’s massive seeing British Asians getting more involved in football. When I was growing up, I couldn’t tell you of a British Asian playing in the football league, nor could I tell you of a British Asian Football Club who were at a good level. Now we have a fair few. It’s great to see. I think it’s important we have no excuses, as everything is now there now for us to be successful. We have to put that work in and of course you need a little bit of luck along the way, but you got to give it everything you’ve got and you’ll be successful in some way.
Another role you’ve taken on what President of football at Uni of Derby. What exactly did this involve?
Ahhh, where do I start. Being President of University of Derby Men’s Football Club was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Working alongside a committee who were all my mates, we made sure the club who had 5 teams were successful on the pitch, and off the pitch we wanted to make sure we were socially very active! It was stressful, there were lots of things that had to be done regarding, fixtures, finances, fines, standards etc. But, it was so rewarding. The joy that people had and the feedback we got when my term ended will live with me forever. Someone said to me that in any form of management, it’s 80% people, 20% the actual job. I now live by that. The people are the most important aspect of everything and you have to look after them by any means necessary and I believe me and my committee did that.
Footballing Dinner party. Aaron Hayer & 4 guests dead or alive. Who’s getting an invite?
Ooooo, tough one. But, I would go:
1. Arsene Wenger
2. Pep Guardiola
3. Thierry Henry
4. Cesc Fabregas
Your All time 5 a side team of players you have coached?
That’s another tough one. I’ve worked with a lot of good lads. I’m not going to put in the ex pro’s either. I will go for:
1 Keeper - Tom Smith
1 Defender - Ben Lewin
2 Midfielders - George Atwal & Lopes Massampo
1 Striker - Fin Barker
A young coach with ambition and anyone that follows you knows you’ve an eye for tactics. Philosophy is spoken about a lot for coaches. What’s Aaron Hayer’s coaching philosophy?
Well the basics are the most important. If you are to play for my team, you have to run! You have to compete! You can’t give up! These are core fundamentals. After that, my philosophy is based on positional play. Players need to be positioned in the right areas of the pitch, so their team mates don’t even have to think about where they will be, they already know. I want control of games, I want the ball, I want to dominate the ball. People think the modern game is over complicated, but I think having a process and a way of playing is more fun. Whether that’s at step 7 or Premier League. You should have an identity you stick by. All my players know that I don’t care if they make mistakes, they can make as mistakes as they want in a game, but they must never hide from having the ball and if we don’t have it, we RUN! After that, we adjust accordingly with our tactics to the opposition and once again, tactics are fun. Finding a way to beat the opposition is what makes football entertaining for me and then when my lads try to execute it and if they do, what a feeling you get.
I’ll never change who I am and what I believe in, I know some people like it and others don’t. That’s fair. But for me, I believe in it and I want my players to believe in it and most importantly, I want them to enjoy it and be successful from it.
