FEATURE: Cobblers Academy boss Ian Sampson on his first year in charge

Sampson admits there have been ‘difficult moments’ settling into the role, with the Covid-19 pandemic throwing an obvious spanner in the works since early March, but he is looking ahead to 2021 and beyond with real enthusiasm.

And he is relishing the opportunity of trying to nurture and bring through the next generation of homegrown Cobblers stars.

There are few people who know Northampton Town better, or have done more for the club, than ‘Sammo’.

The former central defender is second in the list of all-time appearance makers in the club’s long history, racking up 449 games in the claret and white between the years of 1993 and 2004.

He then took up a role on the coaching staff, before taking the managerial reins in September, 2009.

Sampson did a decent job over the 18 months he was in charge too, with the undoubted high spot that unforgettable Carling Cup win on penalties against Liverpool at Anfield.

Harshly relieved of his duties by then chairman David Cardoza in March, 2011 - Town had lost just two matches out of 12 prior to his sacking and were mid-table in league two - Sampson had to at that point cut ties with the club.

But he continued to live in the town, and kept a close eye on the Cobblers, becoming a regular match-day summariser on BBC Radio Northampton.

As well as at one point managing Corby Town and scouting for clubs including Tottenham Hostpur, Sampson continued to coach in his role at the Stamford-based FCV Football International Academy.

And that experience of having been an experienced senior player, an EFL manager, and the fact he was well versed with dealing with young players meant he was ideally placed to take up the top job at the Cobblers Academy when the role became available in November, 2019.

His appointment was a safe pair of hands for the Cobblers, who had endured a few issues following the retirement of long-time Academy boss Trevor Gould in 2018.

Kieran Scarff was initially hired from Doncaster Rovers, but after a little more than six months in the job he quit to rejoin his old Rovers boss Darren Ferguson down the road at Peterborough United.

Town then agreed a contract for a replacement who was in a similar role at a Championship club, but he decided against the move.

“The academy had gone through a bit of an unpredictable time after Trevor left,” said Sampson.

“They had Kieran come in and then he left, and then they had somebody else lined up and he didn’t take the job, so it had been a bit rudderless for a good 15 months or so.

“They asked me to take over and try and steer it in the right direction, and we have had to change a few things around, but we are getting there.”

Asked about his first 12 months in the job, Sampson said: “You could say it’s been a year, but we have had four or five months in lockdown!

“That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

“I have had some ups and downs and some difficult moments, but I have really enjoyed it and am getting my teeth right into it.

“It has been a bit stop-start, but certainly when we got the go-ahead to return this season it gave me the opportunity to change a few things and try and put my stamp on it, and I think we are slowly getting there.”

It goes without saying that becoming a professional footballer is not an easy thing to do.

And neither is managing groups of young players, from the ages of nine upwards, who are dreaming of making it in the sport they love, knowing that for the vast majority of them it simply won’t happen.

The Cobblers have had a good record in recent years of players coming through the Academy and going on to play for the first team, and beyond.

Luke Chambers, Michael Jacobs and Ivan Toney are just three local lads who have not only played for the Cobblers, but gone on to excel elsewhere as well.

In the current Town first team squad, Academy products include Shaun McWilliams, Scott Pollock, Morgan Roberts, Ethan Johnston and the latest big hope, Caleb Chukwuemeka.

But certainly for that latter group, there is still a long way for them go before they can say they have nailed down a career as a footballer.

And that is where Sampson’s vast experience can help them prepare.

“There is definitely a pathway at this football club, but at the end of the day they have to be good enough,” said the 52-year-old. “Players can be good enough to become a pro, but then are you good enough to sustain that and have a career?

“That is probably the hardest bit when players do go into that environment, because whoever is in charge, whatever manager it may be, whether it be Keith Curle or whoever was in position previously, their job is always on the line.

“It is a tough one for a young professional to go in and stake a claim and then stay there.”

If those young Town players need advice on how to handle that step up, they don’t need to look very far.

As well as Sampson being the Academy manager, Jon Brady is in charge of the Under-18s, and his assistant is former Cobblers striker and title-winning skipper Marc Richards.

They are three men with senior football experience and appearances seeping out of every pore, and Sampson believes they can really help the young players along the way, whether they go on to make it to the professional game or not.

“We have brought Marc in and there is Jon there as well, and we have all been in the professional game at some sort of level, and we know how difficult it is,” said Sampson.

“We try to express our experiences on to the lads, and certainly on to the under-18s, and to the under-16s as they come through as well, because then it all becomes more realistic.

“That’s not just in terms of football, but also in terms of how their life is going to pan out, because not everybody can be a footballer, and telling that to somebody is difficult.”

The harsh reality is that only a tiny percentage of players who reach the U-16 and U-18 age-groups at the Cobblers will go on to earn a professional contract at the club, or any other one for that matter.

And recent experience also suggests that even those who make it that far, don’t always kick on.

That first professional contract is obviously a huge and proud moment for any young footballer, but, realistically, it guarantees absolutely nothing.

“A couple of years ago we had seven who had come through the academy (in the senior squad), but you look at that seven now, and there are probably only a couple left at the club,” said Sampson, referring to the first-team intake that included the likes of Jay Williams, Ryan Hughes, Joe Iaciofano, Sean Whaler and Camron McWilliams, who were all, sadly for them, released once their initial deals ran out.

“The jump from becoming a professional to sustaining a career as a professional, even if it’s for two or three years, is so difficult,” admitted Sampson.

The reality of being an Academy manager or coach, is that no matter how good you may think a player is, or how far you may think they can go, how far they actually get is down to the player themselves - and also the preferences, philosophy and whims of the first-team manager at any given time.

Sampson feels that current Town boss Curle does a great job giving young players a chance, and that he is very receptive to what the Academy coaches have to say on any given player when it comes to them stepping into the first-team environment.

“We still have an influence in the decision making process when the player is 18, because Keith doesn’t get to see the players that much,” said Sampson, who when he was Town manager gave Michael Jacobs his senior debut.

“He has to rely on our experiences on spotting players, and generally he has been good at taking all of our advice on board.

“Ultimately though it is his decision, and there are other parts to that which should be considered.

“Such as what is his budget like? How many players has he already got? You know there is more to it than just saying ‘we have got a great player we are going to take him’.

“Keith listens to us all the time in terms of who’s coming through and who is available, and nobody can knock him with the amount of people he has had involved from the academy.

“I would think it far exceeds what anybody else previously has done I would imagine, and I would like to see the stats on that, but in terms of the numbers he has used it is pretty good.”

It certainly is pretty good, and those players continue to get opportunities.

Last Saturday at Burton Albion there was another league two start for Chukwuemeka, while Shaun McWilliams - surely the most impressive of all the graduates in recent times - was excellent in midfield.

But the fact is it was just another step for the pair on the long ladder that is a professional football career.

For Sampson, it is always satisfying to see Academy players progress into the senior game, but he knows his and his coaches’ jobs are about much more than that, even if that’s not always appreciated away from the PTS.

“The crux of it all is how many players do we get into the first-team environment, that is what you are always judged on,” said Sampson.

“But we should be judged on lots of other things as well, in terms of how we produce just people in general, but we are not.

“From the outside it is just about getting people into the first team, but it is much more than that.”