Calmness personified, Josh Bowen is relishing his new role as one of Forest Green Rovers’ ‘three wise men’ as the interim coaching trio prepare for this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Chesham United.

Bowen discussed the lessons from the 4-2 defeat to Hartlepool United, the importance of training time, the club’s injury situation, working alongside Jonathan Gould and Yan Klukowski, and his message to supporters.

Speaking at Forest Green Rovers’ weekly press conference, Bowen sat down with Stroud Times editor Ash Loveridge and BBC Radio Gloucestershire’s Paul Furley.

The only place to hear the FULL, unabridged interview with coach Josh Bowen.

Paul Furley: Chesham away in the FA Cup. Josh, how useful has a full week of training been, especially after Hartlepool?

Josh Bowen: “Yeah, it’s been really good. We came in on Monday and actually didn’t do anything on the grass, but we had a really good debrief from the Hartlepool game. We tried to address a lot of the key issues that we think are holding us back at the minute, so it was a really positive day.

“Going into Tuesday’s session, we were trying to focus on a lot of the things that make us good, but also address those key moments in games where we feel we’re not at the level we need to be. At the moment, I think we’re getting severely punished in those moments.

“These weeks are vital. We didn’t get that much time last season, especially because of the National League Cup we were in, so having time to prepare is important.

“Obviously, all eyes are on Chesham, but after that there’s another free week. The time on the training ground is vital.”

PF: How much does it help getting someone like Tom McIntyre fully up to speed? Is this his first full week of training?

JB: “Massively. I know Tom from my time with him at Reading. He’s had an almost broken couple of years compared with when he was at Reading, where he played a lot of games.

“He did some pre-season work with the PFA team, I think, and then he’d been training at Reading. I’d be a little bit wary of throwing him into three-games-a-week scenarios, particularly when he also has to learn about his team-mates, their qualities and where he fits into the team.

“That was important for him last week and will be key going forward.”

PF: Is having the personnel available to work together what’s needed to tighten things up defensively?

JB: “I think the key here is that you’ve got to work at it, work at it, work at it.

“We talk about it a lot. You can see in the team that many of the things we do really well have become habits. We know the type of team we are, particularly on the ball and going forward, and that has come through working every single day and sticking to our principles.

“It’s the same with how we want to defend and how we are without the ball. You have to work on that in training. Games help you put it into practice and see the fruits of your labour.

“We’ve got to work every single day, whether that’s on the pitch or in meetings, and we’ve been diligent in trying to address the issues I’ve mentioned.

“These weeks are key. You hear elite managers, like Mikel Arteta, talking about how they just don’t get time to train because it’s Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday, constantly.

“We’ve really valued the time we’ve got. We’ve also got fixtures to fit in, including the Scunthorpe game, and there will be weeks when we have a midweek game. We have to prepare the team for that.

“But having this time is really valuable.”

PF: Where does the FA Cup sit in the importance of Forest Green’s season? Is it simply the next game, but one you really need to win?

JB: “Yeah, you’ve just said it there. It’s a cliché, but all your focus is on Chesham at the moment.

“All our focus has been on Chesham since late Saturday night. That was the message in the dressing room after the Hartlepool game. Chesham will be gone from our minds once we’re in the dressing room after that game, and then we’ll move on to the next one.

“This game is massive for us. We want to win. We have to win. I think the team and the squad will reflect that.

“We won’t focus on Barrow until this game is done. At the moment, all eyes are on Chesham, and 100 per cent of our workload is going into winning that game.”

PF: Chesham are 19th in the National League South, but they’ll certainly be up for Saturday, won’t they?

JB: “That’s the cup, and that’s the beauty of it.

“We’ll look at them. A couple of their recent home results have been quite eye-opening in terms of the number of goals in those games. We’ll look at ways we can hurt them, their strengths and how we can combat those.

“A lot of it will be about us on the day, but you know that, so to speak, it’s going to be their cup final. I think Jonathan (Gould) mentioned that a couple of years ago they beat Yeovil and progressed past them.

“We’ll look at their strengths, but it’s also about us. We have to be at it. We’ve got to match them and do more than them because it’s their cup final.

“We have to make sure we’re at the races, both the 11 starting and the players on the bench. It’s going to be a real squad effort to get over the line.”

PF: We’ve heard from Yan Klukowski and Jonathan Gould about how things are working with the ‘three wise men’. How are you finding it? Is it your normal job with an extra step up?

JB: “I like the way you put that. I’ll take that.

“In a strange way, not a lot has changed in that sense. The way training is planned and things like that — Yan and I used to lead on a lot of that.

“We’re all really happy with the opportunity we’ve got, and I think we’re all in the same boat in wanting to make it work as a three.

“There’s no one pushing to be the one. It’s us three or nothing, so to speak. We’ve got the backing of the owner, Dale Vince, Asif Rehmanwala and Mark Bowen to really go with it.

“Luckily, I think we’re all aligned in the way we think and the way we want to play. We agree on what our deficiencies are at the moment, for want of a better word, and we agree on what makes us really good as a team.

“The key is that we’ve got to get results now, starting on Saturday.”

PF: You offer continuity because you know the players. A new manager wouldn’t necessarily have that knowledge. How useful has it been being the longest-serving member of the first-team coaching staff since you arrived last December?

JB: “It’s been a real whirlwind. Obviously, I came in around December time. Robbie Savage brought me in and I worked alongside him and John McMahon, which was a really good introduction to the group. John was very experienced, and I learned about the squad.

“We’ve had a bit of a turnaround in the summer in terms of personnel. Going forward, I think there’s continuity in the sense that we know the squad and its strengths and weaknesses.

“But that’s not to say we haven’t almost started with a blank slate in terms of all the personnel. Some players may have felt they weren’t getting minutes or weren’t getting a bigger look-in. We’ve also looked at the structure of the team and how we play.

“We don’t want to take away anything that makes us really good, but we need to address some of our frailties in the way we play and set up, so we can add to what we already have.

“There’s a mix of keeping the continuity and retaining the things that make us really good, while also starting afresh.

“In a sense, the three of us make up one new manager. Everyone has a blank slate. If you train hard and play well, you’ve got a chance of getting into the team.

“There are no preconceived ideas about certain players. We’re all starting afresh, however long it’s been now — 10 days or so, two weeks.”

PF: We know about the long-term injuries, but how is the squad looking in terms of knocks and bruises?

JB: “Pretty good. I think we’ve been really unlucky in the sense that, at the moment, we’ve only got one muscle injury, off the top of my head. Kairo Mitchell has a muscle injury.

“Everyone else has been knocks and bangs, so we’ve been quite unlucky. Emeka Obi is the main one with the ACL, and Ricardo Rees and Joshua Osude have had knee problems.

“I guess all teams get injuries, and in terms of how we can address them and try to prevent them, I think we’ve been quite unlucky.

“We’re probably looking at the next two or three weeks before we get a real bulk of them back, which will massively help the group.

“The players who are injured are really important for us on the grass, but also off it. We’d be buzzing to get them back, but I’m really confident that the players we have fit and available can do the job for us.

“Nothing much is likely to change on that front for another couple of weeks. Ollie and Josh are the furthest along.

“Oli Ewing was another unlucky one. He got injured after scoring, taking a big whack to his shin against Sutton. Oli and Josh are probably the next two.”

“Ricardo was even looking at three or four months, but he went to see a specialist and the timeframe has been reduced a bit. Hopefully, we can get him back within the next couple of months, maybe six weeks or something like that.”

Ash Loveridge: With it being the FA Cup, what’s the situation with the loan players? Will they be able to play, or do you need permission from their parent clubs?

JB: “I haven’t heard anything from the parent clubs or had any communication saying that someone can’t play.

“We’ve got a really good relationship with Liverpool, Reading and the other clubs, so there’s nothing like that at the moment.

“As I said, we’ll approach the game as an absolute must-win and look to go as strong as we can.”

AL: Oli Ewing was just starting to hit the ground running before his injury. He really looked like the player the club brought in during the summer.

JB: “He started the season really well. Oli was here for the whole of pre-season, and in the first couple of games we got some really good results. We tweaked things slightly and found himself out of the team.

“That area of the pitch is somewhere we’ve been really strong. Jayden Clarke has come in on the left wing and has been, pound for pound, our best player so far this season.

“Tate Campbell has been with us since last season, so he has that continuity and knows how we play and what our strengths are. They’ve been excellent.

“I think Oli gives us more in that position and possibly in other positions as well, particularly arriving higher up the pitch and getting into the box. We saw a little bit of that at Sutton, and then, lo and behold, he gets injured.

“Oli is a massive part of what we’re doing. He’s a really great player to have around the group and out on the pitch. He has great quality and drives good standards.

“We’re really excited to have him back. He’s back on the grass and jogging, so hopefully it’ll be another week or so, 10 days.”

AL: How do you deal with the outside noise surrounding a club like Forest Green and a high-profile chairman like Dale Vince? You’ve got people in the media writing things and fans discussing the situation online. How do you deal with that as a trio?

JB: “I’d have to ask Yan and Jonathan for their thoughts, but I think they’d agree that you’re so consumed by the day-to-day work.

“At my last club, Reading, there were issues surrounding the owners, the change of ownership and the points deduction. But I never really saw the managers get too bogged down with that. Noel Hunt and Rubén Sellés were excellent coaches to work under.

“Their sole focus was on the job. Take today, for example. You come in after a day off, training is planned, you look at who can train and what everyone can do from a physical perspective.

“How do we get the right tactical points across to the team, in possession, out of possession and at set plays? How do we work on Chesham, their strengths and weaknesses?

“There isn’t a lot of time to sit back and think, ‘Crikey, what’s happening there?’

“It comes with the territory. Our focus is solely on the team and everything is engrossed in that day’s training, debriefing it and moving on to tomorrow.

“It’s a day-to-day thing. That’s our focus.”

AL: You’ve obviously grown up in a football environment. Was football always what you wanted to do as a career?

JB: “Yeah, unfortunately, I’ve been hamstrung with just that. I’m in a vice with football and have been since about eight years old.

“Despite my own thoughts, I think I may have been good enough now, but I was definitely never good enough to play.

“Once I got that into my head, it was all about finding an avenue to get involved and get into it, because it’s my life and I can’t really imagine anything without it. I’d be lost without it.”

AL: You’ve had a great grounding, haven’t you? You’ve been at Reading and, I believe, Crystal Palace as well.

JB: “Yeah, I’ve had a few clubs now. I started at West Ham, then Crystal Palace, spent a little time abroad, and went to Reading and Stoke City.

“I’ve seen a lot of good and some bad as well. Hopefully, that informs my coaching style. I’ve been around the block a bit and had a good number of experiences under my belt.”

AL: Finally, what’s your message to fans who might be concerned about the current situation and the changes at the club?

JB: “Of course, I understand that. I’m a fan as well. For my sins, I’m a Manchester United fan, so I understand.

“I think it’s so common in football. There’s a manager, and underneath him there’s an assistant manager and coaching staff, so I get the situation.

“The only thing that helps is winning games. That noise would disperse a bit, and confidence would grow in the team.

“The fans were amazing the other night. Even when we were 3-0 down, they massively got behind the team. I was thinking we were going to win the game 4-3, but things happen.

“Results will clear that up. Just like any manager at any club in the world, including my team, Manchester United, if you don’t get results, there’s going to be a bit of noise.

“We take confidence from the fact that we’re very data-driven and stats-driven, and we do believe our league position is false at the moment. But fundamentally, the league table doesn’t lie. We are where we are because we didn’t do well enough in some really key aspects the other night.

“However, I’m really confident in the ability of the group to push on and get to where we know we should be, and where the fans know we should be, which is in the play-off positions.

“I’m confident that we can get to work, starting this weekend. Winning breeds confidence, and that’s why we’re going all out for Saturday. After that, it’s about winning games and climbing the league table as much as possible.

“The stats suggest we’re capable of doing that, given the chances we’re creating and our expected goals, or xG. I won’t go too deep into all that, but the league table shows where we are.

“We’ve got to address the fundamental problems holding us back, but I have full confidence in the staff and players to help us shoot back up the league.”