The revealing Christian Edwards Q&A: “Whilst others may see it as the club’s most successful season, we as a group missed out on a few of our implicit goals”

Despite a memorable 2018/19 campaign, Cardiff Metropolitan manager Christian Edwards has revealed that the club missed out on a few of their “implicit goals”, as he previews the upcoming season.

The Archers won a maiden Nathaniel MG Cup, as well as defeating Bala Town in the Europa League play-off final.

They performed admirably in their tie against FC Progrès Niederkorn from Luxembourg, eventually bowing out on away goals despite an impressive win at Leckwith Stadium in the second leg.

So, what did the manager make of the season just gone, and what are the club’s aims heading in to the new campaign?

We spoke to him in detail to find out:

Having earned the MG Cup and qualifying for Europe last season, how do you go about improving on what from an outside view was the club’s best ever season?

This is easy answer to answer, we never rest on what we do. Whilst others may see it  as the club’s most successful season, we as a group missed out on a few of our implicit goals. Those being, not finishing in the top six, not finishing higher than we had done the season before, not getting as many clean sheets as we did the season before.

We are always striving to progress both on and off the pitch and we must always do that. The explicit achievements are there and obvious for everyone to see but I prefer to look at the micro and illuminate how we played for most parts of the season with more than 5 senior players missing in anyone game. Whilst a huge loss we were able to blood youngsters such as Guto Williams, Alex Lang, Rhydian Morgan and to a large degree Harry Owen. Whilst Harry is not young (at 21), this was his debut season as a senior player and he was outstanding for us.

Saying all this, we recognise what we did achieve was great and one that the players and staff are incredibly proud of.

One different approach to the season has been preparing for Europe, before taking a mid pre-season break. Is there any worries at all about a European hangover or instead, do you think the early training will come as a boost?

We have been mindful of this since coming back in. Having qualified for Europe on May 19^th  the players had eleven days off to rest. We came back in on June 1^st and prepared like a professional team, training three and sometimes four times a week in the build up to our games against Progrès.

This training, however, was not the usual long runs associated with gruelling pre-seasons, rather more about the maintenance of player’s fitness (e.g. pool work and spin sessions to reduce impact but keep player load and intensity) and injuries that were picked up throughout the season. Come the games v Progrès , I felt we were in outstanding condition both as a group and individually and this showed in the games that we played against them.

Having gone out of Europe on the 4^th July we again had eleven days off and came back into training on Monday 15^th July. Since then we have adopted the same type of training with a blend of interval training to increase player fitness. The games that we have played in pre-season have been of good quality (e.g. Merthyr, Oxford City and Cefn Druids) and the players good fitness levels have been evident throughout. The key to this has been the conditioning work that we have done and the player’s attention to detail away from the pitch.

However, I am mindful that teams are expecting us to have a European hangover. This has been in the back of the mind all pre-season and we have used it as a driver to succeed this year. Every year the league gets harder and we are under no illusions that this year will be anything but different. Our aim every season is to respect the league, the teams within it and make sure come next May we are still in the league. Over the course of the season we set ourselves benchmarks to achieve and if we succeed in reaching those then we will be successful again I have no doubt.       

The club have lost Adam Roscrow to Wimbledon, with a forward yet to come in and Harry Owen injured, could we see a positional change for a player or will a fringe player be given the chance to impress?

Adam was brilliant for us over the six seasons that he was with us. Scoring over 100 goals for the club in that time. I believe that one of Adam’s biggest assets, as a player for us was his ability to create space for others with his surging runs and turn of pace, he was the spike of our team. In doing so, Adam created lots of space for our creative players like Eliot Evans, Jordan Lam, Charlie Corsby etc. so we scored a lot of goals away from Adam’s goal threat too. In fact, in our three full seasons in the Welsh Premier League Eliot Evans is our top goal scorer in the league and Cup competitions. So, the squad has demonstrated both flexibility and consistency rather than being a one man band.

As always, we as coaches look at the players we have and the qualities that they possess so that we play a system with balance and one that suits their (the players) strengths rather than shoe horning them into any old system. That I believe is evident in our play in recent years where we have adopted systems to suit the players that we have available and this is still the case now that Adam has moved on. The players are knowledgeable and adaptable to quite a few shapes so that can only be beneficial for us.   

David Thomas and Joe Evans are recent recruits from Cambrian, having seen them in BUCS and in the MG Cup, what can they add to this Met side, and do you see the Met ethos in them?

The most important thing about David and Joe is that they have joined Cardiff Met for the right reason – their education. My initial conversation[s] with them both were all about their thirst for postgraduate studies; this was so refreshing for the club and me. I was concerned that with the much-publicised money that Europe has given the club that players would only want to join the club for a pound note or two. You would be surprised at the amount of emails and phone calls that I have taken this summer from players and agents stating that they were keen to join or their player would join for XY and Z pounds a week.

With David and Joe though, this didn’t surprise me as they come from a very good club in Cambrian, with good people with the right values. Dane and the rest of the coaches wouldn’t have expected anything less from the boys either.

From a footballing perspective, they have already added quality to the group. They have fitted in really well and have got used to the standards expected both on and off the pitch. With Cambrian’s playing philosophy similar to ours, they already fit the profile of a Cardiff Met player; both are comfortable in possession, can pass the ball and work hard in and out of possession. I believe we have two very good players that will make the step up to the Cymru Premier this season.

And with Mael Davis signing from Carmarthen, is this perhaps the best squad you’ve worked with in the top flight, given their experience now at this level?

Playing Carmarthen last year, Mael was the standout performer against us. I know Neil was very keen to keep him at the Old Gold but Mael wanted to begin his journey in academia. It also helps that Mael’s best friend, Dion Phillips studies with us and is a member of our first team squad. I was delighted when Mael agreed to join us and a number of top flight managers have commented to me on how lucky we are to have Mael. 

Mael has been brilliant since joining us in May and again has added real value to our squad. Only the other day, I was sat with our coaching team and we discussed this very question. Since we finished the last game of the season v Bala in the play-off final, we know we have lost Adam, who has real quality and a couple of squad players. However, we have added Mael, Jordan Lam, Owen Taylor from Newport County, David and Joe so these are five great additions to the club.

Does this make the squad better than last years squad? Yes. However, last season’s squad have left the shirts heavy (with expectation) for those coming in to fill them. So this group of players must work harder than last year to make sure they are the best squad that we have worked with.    

Going in to what will be the club’s fourth season in the top flight, did you ever envisage being such a household name now in the Division?

It’s an interesting question, when we first joined the league there was scepticism from all quarters about our ability to compete at the level. We were told that we would win the odd game because we were young and fit. Six games into our maiden season and with one point on the board and five defeats in six, the traditionalists were rubbing their hands with joy. I suppose they had a point on paper. However, as we all know football is not played on paper. Over the remainder of the that first season the doubters hid behind their beers and watched us gain a top six finish and Europa Play-off Final spot.

Our second season, we were told that we would be one season wonders and that we “would be found out”. Despite such calls, we continued to work hard in training and apply ‘theory to practice’ in the games that we played. Again, remaining true to our principles but learnt that we had to be flexible within those principles, we achieved again with our implicit goals.

Now we begin our fourth season, we are very proud that we have managed to change (to a large degree) people’s perceptions of who we are and how we go about what we do. Our model is different to every other club in the Cymru Premier but it doesn’t make it better. We learn year in, year out about the league and what it takes to survive and flourish within it. To be called a household name in the Division brings its own problems as teams see you as a target to be better than. We as a club, however, always strive to be better than us rather than better than someone else.

Mind you, if someone had said to me that after three full seasons in the top flight we would have achieved one Welsh Cup semi-final place, two top 6 finishes, three Europa League Play-off off Finals (one win), two Nathaniel MG Cup Finals (one win) and one Europa League Qualifying adventure – I would have taken it. 

(Featured image: Lewis Mitchell/YCPD)