Source: TheGuardian
Gareth Ainsworth: ‘It’s a unique model but it works for Wycombe’
Wycombe Wanderers have no academy, reserve team or goalkeeping coach but the club have gone from turmoil to second in League TwoIt is Tuesday, just after midday at the Wycombe Wanderers training ground, where an end-of-session shooting drill is coming to a climax. Gareth Ainsworth, the manager wearing a pink bib, smiles after missing the target. “I still join in,” he says at ease in his office before lunch in the canteen. “But I’m way gone now of keeping up with the boys.”At 44, Ainsworth, technically, is the player-manager but the success of his small squad, moulded over five years, means his swansong at Northampton 18 months ago is likely to be permanent, though he would play if he “had to”. Ainsworth’s team is a hybrid of “generals”, seasoned professionals and youngsters, many enjoying their first taste of regular football. Wycombe are second in League Two, unbeaten in eight games and have scored 21 league goals this year, more than any team in the country. Related: Ryan Sessegnon and January arrivals keep Fulham’s dream alive | Ben Fisher Continue reading......read full article
