Cox relishing challenge of taking Barrow AFC to next level

Cox won the title with Mansfield Town in 2012/13 and is one of only two men in the competition this year to have done that – John Still, of Dagenham and Redbridge, is the other, in 2006/07 with Dagenham and 2013/14 with Luton.

That experience should stand him in good stead when it comes to taking the Bluebirds forward this time round, building on a strong finish to the last campaign, which took the side from just above the drop zone to an eventual 11th-place finish.

But, while there are some who are talking about AFC going for the play-offs – or higher – Cox, publicly at least, is more modest with his desires for the upcoming campaign.

He would not turn down a shot at promotion by any means, but his aims are to build on last season – something he has already started on with strong recruitment with the likes of Ross Hannah, Paul Turnbull and Liam Hughes – and for his men to enjoy the ride.

He knows there will be ups and downs in the process, but is well-equipped to deal with whatever the season may throw at him.

“There is a special formula you need to win this league,” said Cox, who was appointed by owner Paul Casson last November when he feared relegation was a possibility and axed previous boss Darren Edmondson. “I’ve won it and there are only two managers in this league next season who can say that.

“There are going to be highs and lows next season. I was talking to the chairman about it and I was saying that in every season you will have extreme highs – I know we are – but there will also be lows.

“As I said when I first came to the club, you will judge the people at the football club not when you are enjoying it and winning games, it’s when you’ve gone through that patch when nothing seems to be going right. It’s then that we’ll see how quickly we can take this club forward.

“Our goal is to improve on last season and to be competitive, but also to enjoy it – I want people to enjoy it. I want to have smiles on the faces.

“We want to be competitive, but the whole thing when I first came to the football club was about building the brand, the Barrow AFC brand. I think we put a little bit of that in motion last year, but consistency is key now in building the brand and taking the club forward.

“Will it happen overnight? “Everyone in football will have the dream of winning the league this year. We are no different, but as long as we are progressing and heading in the right direction, then that’s important for me.”

He added: “More than anything, it’s about building. It’s about building an infrastructure, building a squad of players who are of the right age, the right mind-set, the right mentality and everything else and seeing that grow over a period of time.

“It took Grimsby something like seven years to get out of this division and you look at a club with their size and fan-base. But the one thing there is here is an absolute hunger for us to do well this season. I’m hungry, the chairman is hungry and I think we have brought in some hungry players who have something to prove and a desire to better themselves.”

Cox is certainly relishing the task ahead.

He knows if they have a strong start, then anything can happen – with the Nottingham-based boss having a tendency for his teams to really kick on after Christmas.

But Cox also knows nothing will come easy this year and it will take a concerted effort from everyone at the club, as he said: “I’m looking forward to the challenge. I think everyone around the club should see the season as a challenge. If we crack that top 10 and we are there or thereabouts at Christmas time, then you never know. But first and foremost we want to get in the top 10 and be competitive with some of the marquee clubs at this level of football.

“Anyone who thinks it’s going to be easy and who thinks we can just sail off into the sunset, is in for a rude awakening. There are some massive clubs at this level of football with massive fan-bases and massive resources.

“As along as we – and I need all of us, myself, the staff, the tea lady, the stewards, the supporters – are as one next year, then that is a really potent force. I have seen this club come alive when it’s vocal and we have all got to be working in the same direction. If we do that, then we will be competitive. I have no doubt about that.

“It’s those little one per cents that I always talk about which will add up and give us our rightful place where we will finish. If we get those things right, then who knows what will happen.”

One of the main things among the little pieces of the jigsaw, is the attitude among the players.

Cox does not think money can buy success and both he and chairman Casson have gone out of their way this close-season to stress the club have not been splashing the cash, but rather recruiting sensibly and using nous.

In the end, it comes back to his belief that a good attitude will see the club through sticky spells this season.

“I don’t like to talk a lot about money, because it’s not all about money,” said Cox. “It’s about the mind-set of a football club and when I first got here I felt there was a lack of belief in what we wanted to do. Little by little, we need to change the mindset. Belief is everything.

“Part of that process is down to me. I’ve got to make people believe that in the short, medium and definitely in the long-term, that we are going to be successful as a football club.

“That is going to take a lot of hard work by myself and the players and, it sounds like an old cliché, but it’s not, it’s about everybody singing off that same hymn-sheet.

“We will judge ourselves on our bad times, not our good times. Every year in football, I can tell you that there will be highs and there will be lows. But ultimately I think we will be progressive from what we have done last season.

“It’s those bad times and how quickly you come through that sticky patch – it will happen, no matter what team you are – that count. It might come at the beginning, it might come in the middle, it might come at the end. Whichever it is, we have to sail through it and that is when we have to galvanise the whole football club and that will really tell me how quickly we can achieve our goals.”