Mike (Sutton Podcast - 10:01 AM): Hello, and welcome to another episode of Sutton United Talk Time on Podcast. It's the Sutton Podcast in association with Lucky Star Gin. I'm your host, Mike, and with me today, I'm pleased to introduce Josh Coley. In this episode, we're going to be covering Josh's background, his hopes for the future, and we're going to be very briefly talking about last season.
We'd love to hear from you. Please join in the conversation, stay connected, share your thoughts at Sutton Podcast on all socials, talk to other fans, and let us know what you think. We're going to dive right in. Josh, thank you very much. I've put volunteering in inverted commas for joining on the show. Hope you're well, and I do hope this isn't yet another conversation I end up with you or the family that I end up having to explain.
Josh: Back, back, back. No, yeah, all good. All good this way. Pre-season's been, it's been enjoyable, to be fair, to get used to a full new squad and I kind of enjoy that part when you have a load of new players coming in or you go to a new team with a load of new players that you don't know and it's all about getting to know each other and how each other play. You can tell so far, I think, in the game.
We're starting to gel, maybe not so much on Saturday's game, but the games before that, you know, patterns are getting picked up and, you know, I think it's promising with the group that we've got and something to be excited about." Definitely, yeah, definitely.
Mike: Yeah, I mean, you need these games to just know each other's weaknesses, not just their strengths because it's going to go bad at some point. So, but just sort of stepping back when I sort of find out a bit about you and your background, tell us about your early life and how you kind of got into football.
Josh: Early career, probably best to go back to 18, I think, 18-19 when I went to Hitchin Town. So I think they were in the Evo-Stik Prem, I think it might have been back then. And my dad used to play for them. So I think he played with the Gaffer, Birkey and Parks that were there at the time. So I sort of went there on like a pre-season.
Type of thing, just to get involved in men's football coming out of college and obviously was relatively young for men's football back then. That would have been nearly 10 years ago now. But it was one of those where I went there and then ended up going on loan to like another team a bit lower. So I was at a team called Bulldog Town.
I just had a really good season with them. We got promoted, we won a couple of trophies and I ended up getting, a scout came up to me and we were then talking from March onwards about a trial for Norwich. So I ended up going there in that summer, being 19, 20.
I was lucky enough to get offered a contract really, kind of a fairytale type story if that makes sense, coming from solo to be offered a contract, so that was a really proud moment for myself. I think I stayed there for a year, they offered me a new deal halfway through
champ at the time, and that was the year before COVID hit, so I was only there until January, went back to Norwich in Jan, then obviously COVID started hitting, my contract ran out, wasn't offered a new deal during the COVID period, which is then when I took myself to Maidenhead for that very weird COVID no-fans year. I think I would have been 21, 22 then, then had a really good year there again, not so much statistically, just in terms of performances and stuff like that. And then I got picked up by Exeter at the end of that year, spent another two years there, and then finally landed myself here at Sutton."
Mike: So it's always dads that come for the glory bit, but the mums has to do all the dirty work. Um, so is there any, apart from Seinfeld and Norwich, which we'll come on to, but is there any memorable moments from your youth career that sort of stand out for you that you kind of often think back to?
Josh: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think when I was in school, so obviously I was born in Stevenage, but I moved up and lived with my mum in York until I was 16. So I think I was there from the age of two to 16. But I always wanted to be a footballer from when I was very, very young.
I'm still on the path, I'm still on the journey now. But it was one very memorable moment for me was I went to a school boys trial type thing for York school boys and I didn't get in and I was gutted. And a couple of my friends from school got in and I was absolutely devastated.
And I think I would have been 14 turning 15 at this time. So yeah, I think I was year 10. And I had a phone call or my mum had a phone call two days later after I didn't get in that was for the actual York City who were in League Two I think at the time. And this was when you asked...
I think Ben Godfrey was playing right before he moved to Norwich as well. I ended up getting a trial there and I got in to the actual York City rather than the school boys. And I remember going to a few sessions and it kind of being a turning point that I remembered maybe three years later when I was 18. But I just didn't like it. I just couldn't get to grips with...
...the academy side of it. And it just wasn't for me. I wanted to have fun whilst I was playing and because it was a professional environment... ...at that age I'd never been around sort of that professional type system. So I'd gone from having so much fun to having to really concentrate on like a five yard pass or... ...the detail on a turn and I just wanted to have fun with my mates.
...leaving. Which now looking back at it, knowing how hard it is to get into an academy or to get into a professional setup... ...probably something I took for granted quite massively. But it was just one of those where... ...because I was so young, I remember it so vividly and I told my mum I'm not going to training. I'm going to call the coach and tell him I don't want to go anymore.
Mike: Do you get a chance to go and talk to the academy kids and tell them these kind of things?
Josh: You know what? I haven't. And I spoke to my agent about it, about doing it and I think it's all different types of experiences. Especially if you've come from not being in it to being thrown in it or if you've come all the way through an academy. It's always nice for... Sorry, that was my fault. It's always nice to hear both sides, you know, of...
Mike: Yeah, because there's gonna be kids out there at the academies feeling that they're the only one thinking this isn't for me this isn't for me and like I don't see that other people have been there and So you've kind of mentioned you've moved around a little bit and you were you had your disappointments But then ended up going to a bigger thing anyway but what was What was it like and I said very very proud, but what what was the differences like between?
Josh: Um, I would say that the main differences would have been the environment you're with. When I moved to Norwich, I was instantly thrown into a changing room full of boys that I think maybe only one or two of them had not been involved in an academy for a while. So, I know that.
The Maida when I was there, who's obviously now with the first team, cut on a consistent basis or obviously he was on loan at the Celtic. He just came from Ireland, I think, maybe a year before I'd arrived. So, he hadn't been there for that long. I think it was the same with another boy, Simon Power, who's gone back to Ireland now. But you're instantly in an environment where everybody wants to be a pro, they don't matter.
If they hurt your feelings, if your mates are not bothered, they just want to go to the top and it's all like a mindset thing. So, I would definitely say environment and mindset, that was massive for me that I had to adjust to very quickly. And I sort of found myself for the first six to eight weeks, I would have said I was running just off pure adrenaline of being there.
Because I was only supposed to be there for a week's trial, and then they told me, so I was there on the Monday for a week, they told me on the Wednesday, we're going to give you another week, so the week turned to two, and then on the Friday they asked me if I had a passport, which I didn't, I had to go and do a Peterborough same day passport, because they wanted to take me on tour two weeks later, so it was just pure adrenaline, I was running off, and then after I'd signed, I think it was a bit two, three weeks, where we played Man United, we played Southampton, and we played Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, and I was like, yeah, this is crazy, this is absolutely ridiculous, and then after that, I just started falling, like in terms of, it just started going, body started
catching up with me, from doing these sessions every day, to double sessions, triple sessions every day, and then I went for a period of, like I felt, saw out of my depth for a good four weeks, whilst I was trying to get back up to speed, which was, I think, I remember, the gaffer at the 23s was Matt Gill, who's now Russell Martin's assistant at Southampton, I remember he pulled me with the sports highness, and said like,
basically been waiting for you to drop, like it was only a matter of time before it was all just going to go the opposite way, because it was such a high rush, but yeah, definitely the mindset and the environment are the two massive things, I would say, is the difference between the setups, and for fun, I guess."
Mike: Yeah, because um like you said it to Jimmy the other day and he It's always a dream that everyone wants to work in football some people aren't quite good enough But then the more I get close to people who work in football the more my anxiety would have never coped with this at all It's absolutely amazing that Even when you finish playing and you think you're settled. It's something up. Nope all gone and so
Josh: Yeah.
Josh: Obviously the most memorable was getting promoted with Exeter from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1. That was my first season when I was there. Obviously not the biggest part I played in terms of statistically. I think I only played 23 Ligue games, 6 or 7 starting.
More than enough for me to be happy with my first visit to the league and coming out with being part of an unbelievable team that managed to get promotion and probably should have ended up winning the league if it wasn't for that last day. I'm pretty sure there was something that went on when we started on that last day as well.
Mike: Yeah, we'll talk about that last day in a minute Yeah, yeah there was there was actually
Josh: No, that was probably the most memorable, but in terms of experiences, I've been pretty much all over the globe in terms of the United Kingdom. Obviously we've been up in Scotland and stuff and it's one of those where each club's obviously given me certain personality traits that I've probably taken with me to the next club. Obviously when I was in Scotland it was massive for me because I was...
We're talking nine hours away from home, on your own, and I was lucky enough that I was with two other boys that were from York, even though I wasn't living in York, they were from York who we sort of bundled together with in this three-bedroom apartment which was class. And, you know, at times it probably saved me from my own mind, in terms of exactly what you said, like my anxiety was through the roof."
You know, you sort of have some stages where you potentially are missing home and you don't want to go nowhere. And at that age, 21, 22, I think there was times where I thought this football thing isn't for me, being away from home. So, yeah, obviously take negative experiences from some, positive from other, and try and bundle them together to try and be the best person I can at the next club.
Lucky enough, when Exeter picked me up, I was able to show some of that and I showed some of it in Harrogate, didn't play as much there. But obviously, regarding last season, it was a disappointment, I think, for everybody and no one was happy with it. And you try and take it, the negatives from that and some of the positives from that with the new gaffer coming in and the new system and the new system.
Mike: Yeah, so that last day, all we needed was for Forest Green or Exeter to win the game. Everything was happy, but no, you all went, we're not bothering with that. No one wants Sutton in the playoffs, get out of it. So, you've joined Sutton.
Josh: No, it was mental that day, couldn't believe it.
Josh: Well, you know what, I think the first thing that I need to state, I think, is that I've always hated playing against Matt Gray's teams. Always. Never enjoyed it. Didn't enjoy it at Maidenhead. I think I got slumped 3-0 twice that season that you lot got promoted with the old gaffer.
With Jase from the National League, I think it was 3-0 on the first day of the season and 3-0 away from home when Louis John scored from the halfway line in that COVID season. So, I've always hated and I always thought about the wingers that were there when when Tants was obviously playing and David was playing. And I just thought I'd love to be."
Mike: Yeah.
Josh: That winger, that would be really enjoyable for me because every time it was relentless, relentless, relentless. So, the main thing was I wanted to come here and play games, which technically I did, but not to the standards that I would have liked. But we can all be honest. Last year, we all wanted promotion.
Whether it was from a playoffs or whatever point of view, the goal was to get playoffs because that's where the club was heading the first year. The second year, I think, started that way and kind of dropped after January. But that was definitely something that the gaffer said, this is what we're going for. And I was all for it.
Obviously, things don't work out. I think it was Crawley who was touted to go down last year. So, obviously, it's a massive shock. You say if you catch it at a different time, it probably doesn't happen. But things happen and the only thing we can do now is get ourselves out of the league with the way it is."
Mike: Yeah, every single person was crawling.
Mike: I mean, we definitely signed the players last year, it was kind of, the way it was announced it was like a little stacking, every single player you're like, oh, blimey, oh, blimey. So yeah, I did say a couple of times on paper, this is the best team we've had and they wouldn't let me walk in and cover the pitch in paper because apparently that's not allowed, but we got off to a fantastic start.
Josh: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike: 5-1 and that must have been fantastic, I mean, I think you have two assists I think, or one assist in that game and it was like, yeah, we are going to be really at this. When did you start personally feeling something wasn't quite right?
Josh: We played, we played lots of County and we won and then we played Cambridge at home and we won on penalties. So we were thinking, we've beat the team that's touted to go straight to League One. We've now beat a League One team. So the buzz was pretty high for us. And then I'm pretty sure the game after that was the Barrow game.
Away from home. And I think when we played Barrow away, I think there was still a slight hint that we could make it work, even though we lost Smudger very early. Obviously, Lianne Goal went on to score. And I think it was two late goals. I want to say like the 85th and 89th.
So even coming off of that pitch, we were thinking we've been done here because we've got 10 men, but we've still managed to make it a game that they have to win rather than a game that we lost, if that makes sense. But I think after that, when we played Newport away and lost 3-1, I think then you started to see signs of...
Mike: Yeah.
Josh: when we were conceding goals, we weren't really conceding good goals and then we started conceding them on a regular basis. We played Gillingham at home on a Tuesday night, lost 1-0. Yeah, and you look at the goal that... Yeah. Yeah, but again, you look at the goal that we conceded, you think minimum you come out of it with a draw.
Mike: Shouldn't have lost that though. Scotty's goal wasn't offside. It was from a throw-on, it couldn't have been offside.
Mike: So, I mean, what was happening wasn't just one goal, it was often two goals, three goals in quick succession. Did you have any thoughts of what the problem was? Obviously I'm not asking you to stick it to anyone, but did you have any thoughts of what the collective issue was? Or was everyone just struck in the head going, what the hell's going on?
Josh: Yeah, yeah.
Josh: I don't... Again, every time we used to have meetings, it was just always about the goals we were conceding and how regularly we were conceding them. So it was sort of like, if we can stop goals, we'll be okay. But we never really got down to that. I think it started to slowly go down when the gap came in, but we were scoring more goals.
Mike: How does it affect um?
Josh: Well, I mean, it's an hard one, because I've always been a player that when I'm playing I'm usually firing, and I sort of wasn't, if that makes sense. But on a personal thing, I started off the best I could possibly start with two assists and a 5-1 win.
But it was one of those where, after the first one, the rest wasn't coming. I think it happened with my goal as well, when I scored against Bradford, and obviously we spoke, and that was a burden that was weighing on me for a while, because I hadn't scored a league goal. I'd scored in every other division, but not in the league. So I was thinking, I need to get this.
And then once I scored against Bradford, I think it might have been the next week or the week after I scored again. So it is a tough one, because I do feel like at the time, with everything that was going on, you just, once you concede the goal, your head would start going down, even though you know you could probably get back into the game.
Mike: Yeah, because obviously from the fan's point of view, we're seeing, we're letting in goals and you've got this back four of, okay Joe was an unknown, but he's quickly becoming very good. We've got Coby who's player of the year, Louie player of the year, Rob's like a stalwart for a long time. It's like, how is this back four letting in so many goals? And it didn't make any sense.
Josh: Yeah, yeah, no, it didn't and especially, like you said, with the players that were there at the back, and I think the biggest thing I had noticed in my career, I've never been so attached to a back line that I think is as good as it is. Because a lot of times, like you said, I've played with two of the players of the year.
Mike: Yeah.
Josh: You think, yeah, this is unbelievable. You sort of let them do what they do. But it was the first time that every time we conceded it was, I couldn't put my finger on what was going wrong. And obviously, like you said, I don't want to stick it on nobody because we all had our part to play. And sometimes when we were going forwards, we just weren't creating enough or we weren't scoring enough. And sometimes I think you could tell in the boys' heads.
Once a goal was scored, even though we knew we were good enough, the pressure started mounting on a lot more. And it wasn't just to see out a win, it was to see out a win so that you could build from there. Because once you got that first win, we always thought you'd get a second and you'd get a third, but you just never seemed to come.
Mike: Yeah, I mean, I think there was a moment, I can't remember the game, but Cobi seemed to turn around and go, what else can I do? And it was like, yeah, that was everyone's feeling. But like, oh, Cobi's going, I don't know what to do now. And we're like, oh, we've got no hope. So...
Josh: No, but that's what I mean. When you've got players like that who would just make things look so easy in certain situations. And I think we were working on stuff in training and you just couldn't sort of get around, like how is it that we put so many bodies on the line and it was still finding a way to the back of the net? That was the worst part.
Mike: Well, the fans were very similar. We got to a stage where every time we conceded a corner, we were like, okay, it's a goal then. We're not going to... But it's going to go. And like it was just like we were going down for, as soon as the corner happened. But, I mean, we turned it around in the end, got a couple of wins and were you aware of what was going on?
I think you were on the pitch in the end for the last game, but were you aware of what was going on elsewhere?
Josh: No, yeah. Yeah, I remember being told about the potential of it and I remember saying like, it's got to be one of those where it's got to go in our favour. We've just got to win our game. And it's just one of those where obviously when the final whistle goes, you just...
Josh: start looking around at each other and thinking we've done it. Obviously it's been a bad season but we've stayed up, you know, we haven't gone down. And then I think after that the relief sort of takes over and then once that's calmed down then you think about what we could have done better throughout the season. But the main thing was to stay up and to build from there.
Mike: Yeah, I mean I'm fairly certain with you, because you play on the other side, you didn't get quite as much stick. But I know on the family side of the pitch some of the fans, they weren't angry but you could feel them going come on, just like for f**k sake, come on. But when the season ended and we're all back, how does it feel knowing that you've got the potential of a fresh start?
But there's the hangover from last year as well. How does that sort of... I mean, I was struggling to ask about it, but how does that feel for you guys as players? Because obviously you're starting fresh, but you've got it in the back of your mind.
Josh: Yeah, you do start fresh, but you have got that in the back of your mind. I think you try and obviously reflect on the things that you did well and you try and bring it into the new season and then obviously with a load of new boys coming in and obviously the first part of pre-season was really enjoyable and everyone was buzzing and stuff like that.
It was just one of those where you just wanted to get to the first game of the season as quickly as possible. Because you sort of don't want that overhang to be lasting too long. You don't want to be going into the second game of the season thinking the same things. You want to try and get it out of your system as quickly as possible.
And I think a lot of us felt that way. And as much as it was a bad season, it did finish on a high for us because we stayed up. And so you try and take that positivity into the first day and the gaffer was very much the same. It was, we've done it now, this is where we're at, so let's start fresh. And that was his sort of approach with us boys. And obviously like you said, for some of us that have got that overhang,
we probably do need that fresh start to kick on now.
Mike: Yeah, and as you said earlier, this is now becoming your senior players, so how are you finding your sort of role within the group now? Because you've got your kind of seniors, but you can be an old man now as well, so how does that feel?
Josh: Yeah, it's nice. I like it. You can sort of see, and as much as we have got the senior players in the squad, we've got a lot of young, hungry lads who want to play at this level. And the lads that we brought in have been fantastic. I've enjoyed playing with all of them and they seem to have taken the challenge by the scruff of the neck.
And I think the main thing that you sort of get with young lads is that they need a lot of reassurance to start off with and they need to understand that they are good enough to be here because obviously that's why they've been signed. And then as they start to understand that and you sort of guide them and help them, you start to see the qualities that they've got.
And then for me, when you're one of the older lads, it's just one of those where you're happy for them to go on and do well, you just want to make sure that they get the confidence to go on and do what they're good at.
Mike: Yeah, I mean, you, you also kind of come in with a bit of the same background, so you, you came from lower levels and then, and then worked your way up, so you know exactly what they're going through and just like, come on, you can do this.
Josh: Yeah, definitely. And obviously the boys that have come from, from lower leagues, we've had a few in and it's nice because obviously you sort of have that relatability with them where you can speak to them about certain aspects of their game that you've gone through, and they obviously feel a lot more comfortable because they're coming from where you've been.
And it is nice, it's enjoyable to see, because when they do show their true qualities, you sort of sit back and you think, yeah, this is why they've signed, you know, and we've got, we've got boys that have come in who have been class and they've obviously had to learn the way of a different level of football from what they've been playing at, but you can see the hunger and desire that they've got.
Mike: Yeah, I mean, what I do love about watching you play is you are always just that little bit of a swagger about you, even if things aren't going your way, you still, you're still looking like, you know what, I'm gonna, I'm gonna beat this guy. I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it, don't worry about it. And I think that, that transmits to the fans.
Because we see you, you see you're gonna do it, so we're all like, yeah, you could go on, Josh, do it, do it. So it's always, it's always great to see. So I, I mentioned this to you before, but when I was going through, a lot of people did send me messages and every single one mentioned the Stockport game.
Josh: Yeah.
Mike: From your point of view, we knew we were never gonna win that. We weren't even going to get a chance to win that because they were just at a different level. Was there any difference for you? Was it just that you were like, okay, this is just relentless?
Josh: Yeah, and you know what, I think the, I think the most disappointing part of that game was the fact that we had no one behind the goal for us, if that makes sense. Like, we were, we were down there. I don't think we had a shot on target that game, you know, and we all spoke about it after and even though, like you said, there was the understanding that it's a different level.
I think the, the annoying part for us boys was that we, we couldn't even put our best foot forwards in terms of, we were pressing and chasing down and there was just no point. They had plan B, C, D, all the way through to Z. And it was one of those where you come off the pitch and you feel so deflated because you think, you know, there's a lot of players in that squad that want to go and play at the next level, myself included, and you think...
We haven't really put anything out there to sort of show that, yeah, this is why we want to go play at that next level. So, I think that was the most disappointing part and I think after that game, when we was on the bus home, I think we all sat there and was thinking, that was the one that we needed to get a result from.
And then obviously, I think it was the home game after that, you think, yeah, we should have beat them, and we should have beat them, and we should have beat them. And I think that's the part that all the boys start regretting."
Mike: Yeah, well, we, as fans, I think we could all feel for you, because there was no, there was nothing we could do either. We were just like, I remember sitting there with Danny and we were just like, right, so I hope this doesn't, this isn't too bad.
Josh: Yeah, no, honestly, you look at the players, you look at the quality they had. And it's one of those where you sort of say it to the boys, like, listen, we tried our best, but they were just relentless. And like you said, different level of players, different level of recruitment. They just, they sort of knew what they needed to do.
Mike: Yeah. So, so moving forward, what, what sort of aims and ambitions for the season, both from a personal point of view and for the, for the team?
Josh: I think personal point of view, obviously, like I mentioned, it was one of those where I wanted to come here to play games. I know I didn't get as many as I would have liked to have played last year. So that would be one of the ones to try and get as many games as I can. And then, obviously, it would be to get us back in the league. I think, I think...
That's probably the normal one for any aspiring player. You want to be playing league football and five years time, if I can still be playing, I want to have played at the highest level that I could have played at. And I think that's the main ambition for myself. For the team, it's very much trying to push up as high as we can. I think...
I don't want to put too much pressure on anybody because obviously we've had a bad season last year, but I think that's what we all want to do is get as high as we can. So I would say that's probably my two.
Mike: Cool. And any sort of messages for the fans? Because we are, obviously it's disappointing, but the fans are just super important, as you know.
Josh: Yeah, no, of course. And like you said, I think the fans, especially when I was at Exeter, they play a massive part in getting us over the line, I think. Especially now that we've got the home end, I think you can feel the energy from the fans that is just specifically Sutton. And I think, yeah, it's one of those where if they can keep supporting us and they can keep being as vocal as they have been, I think it will play a massive part for us in the way we play.
And I think from us boys, it's just, yeah, stick with us, because I think whether it's the first week, first four weeks, first five weeks, we'll work it out. And I'm sure once we get to that, then we'll get up and running. But yeah, we just need that support to be there and obviously go from there.
Mike: Thank you very much, Josh. I really appreciate your time, and hopefully, as you said, we'll have a much better season to talk about next year.
Josh: Yeah, definitely.
Mike: Thanks very much, and take care. Goodbye.
Stay Connected with Sutton United & Sutton Podcast
Join our community on social media for the latest updates, exclusive content, and engaging conversations. Don't miss out on the Sutton Podcast for in-depth match analysis, player interviews, and more!
Bookmark our one stop page for all updates
Follow Us:
Listen to the Sutton Podcast: Catch our latest episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all other platforms.
Contact: If you have any questions, feedback or comments please reach out on any of the socials with @suttonpodcast
Share this post