“At times the players must think I’m bonkers,” says Gary Bowyer, the Burton Albion manager, volunteering the time he walked into the dressing room with a tennis racket and ball. It is one of the unconventional techniques he has used to convey his message and tap into their psyche. Every week he explores different themes and stories with his squad – be it bullfighting or UFC – and brings them to life through imagery and props, everything from dragons to toy tigers.
He has leaned into boxing and particularly Mike Tyson during an FA Cup run that has led them to a fourth-round tie at home to West Ham on Saturday. “The theme for this week is The Ultimate,” he says, referencing Tyson’s 1987 bout with Tony Tucker to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. “We’ve created this idea of climbing into the ring, the pitch, and away you go. We’re fighting West Ham and we’re going to have to take some blows. What do you do if you get knocked on to the canvas? Get back up or lay there and take it?”
Across an hour of conversation, after Bowyer has taken training on pitch No 11 at St George’s Park, the Football Association’s sprawling hub in Staffordshire, it seems we have only scratched the surface. Bowyer is a gregarious and engaging character. His dissertation on the process of sporting directors recruiting managers was published last year and his coaching methods are the subject of an academic research paper by Dr Matthew Smith at the University of Winchester, initiated by Bowyer’s performance coach, Chris Martin. “We talk about trying to enhance performance, establishing different themes to build emotional attachment. Some of them have been brilliant and really powerful. It has been very positive.”
Burton hope to reach the last 16 of the Cup for the first time. One of the club’s greatest days came in the competition. When they were in non-league in 2006, they pocketed £800,000 from a third-round replay against Manchester United that helped pay for their Pirelli Stadium, where, until a few hours before kick-off, the pitch is likely to remain blanketed by a heated cover to combat the forecast freezing temperatures. In 2018-19 they reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals, though Manchester City killed that tie with a 9-0 first-leg win. Nigel Clough, whom Bowyer got to know while on the books at Forest and remains a trusted confidant, was in charge on both occasions.
Bowyer learned from “genius” Clough Sr the art of simplicity and the importance of having fun. During the World Darts Championship, Burton’s squad stepped up to their in-house oche, each player selecting different fancy dress, stage names and walk-on music. Pat Lyons, Bowyer’s assistant who played for the club, opted for Del Boy. “I was the MC,” says Bowyer. “We’re a unique club and you develop a culture in different ways. We all talk about values and when I first started managing at Blackburn we blazed them all over the walls, but you’ve got to enjoy it. Sometimes it is all taken far too seriously, the reaction of fans towards managers these days … just diabolical.”
He played the theme tune from The Great Escape, one of his favourite films, to his squad in a meeting after they secured their League One status last season; with four months remaining, Burton were bottom and 11 points from safety. At one of the league’s smallest clubs, who are back in the drop zone in a tight relegation battle, Kasabian’s Underdog has been an anthem this season. “When I took the job people said: ‘What are you doing? It’s impossible, they’re relegated.’ We stayed up with a game to spare. So, anything’s possible. But I need some new material. I was quoting from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the other day. ‘No, never seen it.’”
Bowyer recalls fond memories of watching the Cup on Grandstand as a boy. “I don’t think my dad ever got past the third round,” he says of his father, Ian, a staple of Brian Clough’s legendary Nottingham Forest side. “I remember him going to church one week. My mum went religiously but that wasn’t him. ‘Where’s Dad?’ ‘He’s gone to church.’ ‘Why?’ ‘To try and get a bit of help to get past the third round.’ I think they got beat in a replay by Newcastle … I give him a bit of stick, but obviously he trumps me by saying: ‘Well, go and have a look at my double European Cup medals.’”
In recent days Bowyer has drip-fed his squad clips of Cup upsets, including AFC Wimbledon beating West Ham and Stevenage shocking Aston Villa, in which the Burton defenders Toby Sibbick and Terence Vancooten respectively featured. Bowyer stresses his players need to box clever against a side 47 places above them in the pyramid. He pauses a small-sided game. “How did that feel? Intense? Tight? It’s going to be like that on Saturday.”
Then it is an attack v defence drill. “There will be times you’re going to have to suffer. Did anybody watch Forest v Wolves? Just me? Forest had 35 shots and Wolves barely had a kick but could have won the game at the end on the counter.” Later he challenges the left-back Seb Revan and Sulyman Krubally, a 17-year-old academy youngster, to practise suffocating space on the wing in preparation for Adama Traoré.
Bowyer reached the Cup quarter-finals with Blackburn in 2015, Liverpool advancing via a replay at a sold-out Ewood Park. He smiles as he recalls the third-round replay against Manchester City the previous season. “We were 3-0 down and Craig Short, one of my coaches, said: ‘Whatever you do, don’t look left,’” Bowyer says, swivelling his head. “[Manuel] Pellegrini was bringing on Sergio Agüero. Craig starts laughing: ‘I told you.’ Agüero comes on and scores straight away.”
A few weeks into the job, while acknowledging St George’s Park is a world-class facility, Bowyer felt the squad would benefit from a base of their own, so now the players report to the stadium – a 15-minute drive away – before and after training for gym sessions and meetings. The session ends with set-piece routines. Krubally gathers the balls and the players share lifts back to the ground. As Bowyer poses for his portrait, he reveals he has ordered Super Bock and Sagres to make Nuno Espírito Santo feel at home post-match.
When he faced Pellegrini with Blackburn, he plumped for Chilean wine. “I better take my hands out of my pockets; Brian Clough would tell you off for that,” the 54-year-old says, adjusting his stance. Then he is off to finalise tickets for his 15 family and friends who will be in attendance, including his five-year-old son, Leo, a Liverpool and Mohamed Salah superfan.
When Burton’s match at Exeter in November was postponed, Bowyer scanned the fixtures and seized the chance to take Leo to his first game: Forest’s 3-0 triumph at Anfield. Bowyer sat on his hands in the home end beside his father and son as the goals went in. “I’ve tried to convince him Forest is his team, but he’s not having any of it,” he says. “My daughter and my granddaughters will also be coming and it’s brilliant because the FA Cup is about creating memories.”
