|
It was 1.45pm in the cramped Colwyn Bay dressing room and the ghettoblaster pumping out house music was switched off as player- manager and former Chelsea legend Frank Sinclair clambered to his feet to address the troops.
'Match them physically and we've got the better footballers,' he said emphatically. 'Now go out and get yourself a nice win bonus for your Christmas night out.'
This is the FA Cup - but not as Sinclair would have known it in his Stamford Bridge heyday, when he won the famous trophy at Wembley alongside famous team-mates such as Mark Hughes and Gianfranco Zola.
Up for the cup: Colwyn Bay manager Frank Sinclair
It was third qualifying round day and 344 hardy souls had braved a biting north Wales wind to see Sinclair's team from the Skrill Conference North take on Ossett Albion, who reside even lower in the league pyramid. Instructions to turn on the floodlights to lift the murky gloom arrived at 3.20pm.
Glamorous it wasn't but in its own way the occasion was just as important to Sinclair as playing in cup finals for Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit and Martin O'Neill was.
The day had a happy ending as well, a 2-1 win earning Colwyn much-needed prize money of 7,500. More importantly they were in the draw for the fourth and final qualifying round tomorrow. Win there and they will be in the first round proper with the chance to draw a league giant like Wolves or Sheffield United.
'It might make the difference to us being able to build a new stand,' says Sinclair enthusiastically.
The 41-year-old, who named himself on the bench yesterday, had done his homework for the cup tie, telling his players before kick-off: 'Their goalkeeper does not come for anything - get in and around him.'
After 10 minutes, he was vindicated. A long throw was flicked on and, with the keeper rooted to the line, Jamie Ellison headed in the opener. Sinclair allowed himself a clenched fist to celebrate a scouting job well done.
Team talk: Sinclair guides his charges in the dressing room
And the manager couldn't help himself shortly before half-time when Cameron Darkwah added a second with a thunderbolt shot, jumping with delight into the arms of assistant Gus Williams. A second-half consolation couldn't interrupt Colwyn Bay's progress.
Sinclair hopes that will prove just the start to his managerial career.
'This is a great opportunity for me,' he said. 'I spoke to Paul Ince before I took the job because he had started lower down at Macclesfield. He told me it would be a great learning curve.
'He's right because you have to deal with more problems at this level than anywhere else. I want to manage at a higher level one day and this experience will hold me in good stead.'
Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho would have difficulty comprehending the things Sinclair has to deal with in his weekly work. Training is just twice a week - on Tuesdays and Thursdays - and sometimes players cannot make it because of other work commitments.
In the build-up to yesterday's tie, goalkeeper Josh Ollerenshaw left to join League Two Fleetwood and left-back Michael Lea called to say he had to miss the game because his wife was in labour. Sinclair took it all calmly. He has adjusted to life at a club with only five players on full contracts, earning around 200 each week. Everyone else is able to leave with a week's notice.
Success: Colwyn Bay secure an FA Cup third qualifying round win against Ossett Albion
Even so, the manager has worked hard to introduce a more professional mentality at a club who call themselves 'the Pride of North Wales'.
'It irritated me that players would turn up to training wearing whatever they could find,' he said. 'They had all been issued with club kit but some would come in it and some wouldn't.
'I like things to be spot on so I started to fine anyone not wearing the proper gear. They have all bought into it now.'
Yesterday was a good day. The FA Cup dream was still alive for captain Rob Hopley, a bricklayer, and midfielder Gareth Evans, who works at the supermarket Asda. You could sense the relief as Sinclair trudged off after four anxious minutes of added time with a 2-1 win under his belt.
'We're through - that is the main thing,' he said as he walked off. 'There were a few banana skins in the cup today - we weren't one of them.'
It is clear Sinclair, who won 28 caps for Jamaica, has become as involved emotionally with his latest club as he was at Chelsea, even enlisting his wife, Nicola, to pour tea in the boardroom on match days. 'Everyone mucks in here,' he smiled.
Mirror Reader, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 3 hours ago
Leicester City fan here. Another who wishes Frank all the best in his managerial career. As said in other comments he always gave 110%. Known by some City fans jokingly as Sinclair (o.g.) for a number of own goals scored whilst playing for us, he looks as though he's putting his all in his quest for success at Colwyn Bay and hope they get a good draw when it's made tomorrow.