Not for nothing was Gareth Ainsworth known when he played for Wimbledon and Queen’s Park Rangers as Wild Thing. Sporting a piratical mop of heavy metal hair, this was a player who put himself about on a football pitch. And now he has moved into the dugout his attitude has not softened. As manager of Wycombe Wanderers he has a warning for Aston Villa ahead of their FA Cup third-round tie this lunchtime.
“There’ll be no underhand tricks, but rest assured, we’ll make it very, very tough for them,” he says. “My pre-match talk is easy. My boys are more than motivated to get stuck into a Premier League side.”
Indeed, for those romantics seeking a third-round upset, Adams Park, Wycombe’s cosy stadium in the shadow of the Chilterns, is the best place to head. Rémi Garde’s side, without a win since August, cast so far adrift from the rest of the Premier League the club shop could do a good line in branded binoculars, will arrive bereft of confidence. Villa look an accident waiting to happen.
“A lot of people are saying to me: 'You couldn’t have met them at a better time,’ ” says Ainsworth. “But it will be a nice escape from the Premier League for Aston Villa. They were cup finalists last year. It’s a big club. The idea it’s a shoo-in for us is ridiculous. To beat them we are going to have to be extra special.”
Gareth Ainsworth (right) was known as Wild Thing as a player
Throughout his playing career, Ainsworth relaxed by singing in semi-pro rock bands. These days, his hair trimmed from its busby-like glory, he does not have the time he once did to devote to his music. And there is nothing remotely rock and roll in his approach to coaching. This is a manager committed to the virtues of collective discipline.
His senior player has a story that illustrates the Ainsworth way. The last time Wycombe played Villa, in the League Cup in 2005, they were 3-1 up at half-time. As Matt Bloomfield, the only member of the playing staff that night still at the club, recalls, the then manager John Gorman told the team in the break that if they got a fourth they would kill the game.
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“We went looking for it and got killed instead,” Bloomfield says. “We ended up losing 8-3. There is absolutely no way the current gaffer would let that happen.”
Ainsworth’s Wycombe are renowned in the division for their staying power. His preferred tactic of fast-paced pressing, of harassing opponents into making mistakes, took them into the play-off final at Wembley last season, where they were within 90 seconds of gaining promotion to League One. He is not about to alter tactics for this tie.
Wycombe's FA Cup opponents Aston Villa are bottom of the Premier League
“Yes, we play in a certain way. We’re going to press, go high energy,” he admits. “But you have to remember Villa can play a bit. These guys can handle the ball. They can play a possession game that can tire you very easily. So we will have to be careful.”
As thorough as he has been in his approach to this game, there is one thing Ainsworth cannot counter: the financial chasm between the clubs. Wycombe are so financially stretched they have no youth system, no reserve side, just a first-team squad. Villa, he reckons, have more members of their transfer committee than he has players.
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“The gulf is enormous,” he says. “They’ve got players with squad numbers of 50 something on their back. I can only dream of that. But I like tight groups, I like tight numbers. It gives us that extra edge. We have a culture, an ethos here that you leave everything on the pitch, no matter what. So I’ll be expecting my boys to be up for the challenge.”
While the live television appearance fee and the full house will generate welcome funds, he does not anticipate seeing any imminent increase in his resources.
“I never knew how to do a spreadsheet until I came here, now I’m red hot on Microsoft Excel,” he says. “I know down to the last 5p how much this tie means to us, how much more we’ll make on the kiosks, how much the club shop will make. But the club has got a huge debt. People keep thinking we’re out of trouble – no way. You won’t find me knocking on the chairman’s door on Monday asking for a big transfer kitty. We’ll be sticking to the budgets.”
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And Ainsworth’s is a budget so restrictive it requires him, even at the age of 42, still to be registered as a player, just to buff up the squad numbers. Which must make it rather tempting to select himself for this biggest of occasions.
“I left myself off the bench at Wembley so I think I can resist that temptation,” he smiles. “I’m still registered, have to be in case of emergencies.
“But it would be pretty desperate if Ainsworth was on the teamsheet. Until we get down to only two on the bench, my shirt will stay safe in its locker.”
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