"I definitely feel we're in a much better place" - Assistant manager Cooper on overcoming tough times, the start to the campaign and the season ahead

This time last year, FC Halifax Town had just recorded their first win of the campaign at Scunthorpe United - their only win in their first half-a-dozen matches.

Fast forward a year, and The Shaymen have lost just once in their first six games.

While performances have been mixed, it's undoubtedly a better start.

The fire alarm that went off at Glanford Park shortly after the final whistle that Monday afternoon was also a metaphorical warning to Town that, despite a dreadful start, worse was to follow.

They would sink to the foot of the National League table by the start of October following a 4-0 hammering at home by Woking.

It was the culmination of a challenging first three months at the club for assistant manager Andy Cooper.

"We were not getting anywhere near the performance levels and they were really difficult losses," he reflects.

"It wasn't the identity that we wanted to have, it wasn't the playing style we wanted, we needed to look at ourselves first and challenge what we were doing - were our messages clear to the players.

"The responsibility obviously falls massively on our shoulders as staff but what came out of it was the York performance.

"Our backs were against the wall. We met the next day (after the Woking defeat), on the Sunday morning, I remember it vividly, me, Milly and Sarg (Joe Sargison, first-team coach), and we went through where we were and how we needed to get out of it.

"We put real strong emphasis onto the players in terms of what we were going to change and how we were going to play, and I thought that 1-0 win against York was a turning point.

"It was brutally low but in that low moment we got massive support from the chairman in terms of time, in terms of someone that Milly could talk to.

"Whilst there's always huge pressure in professional football and the job Milly has, he got the support he needed and was able to get that across to the staff as well.

"But from that lowest point, which was really tough personally, we were able to do some much better things and kick on from there."

Progress since then has been undulating.

Good results and performances have followed bad ones, and vice versa. There's been a Jekyll and Hyde quality to The Shaymen that is proving difficult to shake off.

All of which means Cooper and Town boss Chris Millington can never afford to think they've cracked it.

"There's a friend of mine who works as an assistant manager at a Championship club and he told me that he always leaves a cardboard box next to his desk because it's such a short-lived industry," Cooper says.

"So putting your feet under the desk is a bit difficult in professional football but one thing we know is we've been given time to develop our working relationship.

"Our professional relationship has grown, as with all the staff - Pogs, Sarg, Aaron, Jack and Dylan - they absolutely work their socks off to support each other and support the lads, going above and beyond.

"That provides me and Milly the time to make sure we've got clarity on how we want to play and to use the resources we've got.

"I definitely feel we're in a much better place than we were a year ago when we got the first win of the season at Scunthorpe.

"The buy-in of the players later last season, when we were a bit more settled in team selection and identity and the way we were playing helped.

"The cup run and the success and the backing we got from the supporters in the lead up to the Trophy final and then the pre-season events was absolutely superb.

"People understand the resources we have compared to some other clubs means we have to be frugal in how we approach signings and get players and have a young, hungry squad that has a point to prove in many cases, with experienced pros in there as well who can drive the standards daily.

"We're in a much better place. We've had to go to some tough places initially, early last season and then that period after Christmas, which was really testing professionally and personally, not getting the results or performances we wanted.

"It's hard, we faced the criticism head on, we took the challenge on, we made changes in personnel but we stuck to what we believed in and what we thought would get us through it and out the other side.

"Nine points from the first six games is a reflection of that but it's only the start, we definitely feel there's areas we can get better at.

"There are areas as a staff where we're growing and evolving. We don't get everything right, we're humble enough to know we've got improvement in us and we need to keep reflecting on the team, we reflect on every training session, analyse them by recording them and having feedback on what we did.

"We're very serious about what we do and treat it with the utmost respect, working for the club.

"We've just got to keep pushing on and making sure we keep challenging each other, I think that's been a healthy part of the relationship.

"The staff aren't just 'yes men' to Milly, he demands more from the staff, he wants to know our opinions, he likes to be challenged and he likes to discuss things."

Cooper is pleased with how things have gone over the first month of the season, and feels there's been a lot of progress.

"It's a year since we got our first win of last season at Scunthorpe, so I think there's been a lot of progress since then, especially in the first month of the new season, bedding in new signings," he says.

"We've got nine points from six games, five points off the top.

"Clearly there's still areas of work we need to address and get better on but overall it's a steady, solid start.

"We're a young team with a lot of new signings and lads we've managed to retain who've helped to bring on the new lads and embedded them into the team quickly.

"We're pleased, we know there's a long way to go.

"It's been wide open when you look at some of the results, especially over the last couple of rounds of fixtures.

"So to stay in touch and be picking up points is pleasing, although there are aspects we want to improve and work on.

"We've been putting out the youngest team in the National League, the squad is probably third or fourth youngest as well.

"We've got loads of young lads getting experience but also I think they've had an impact straight away.

"Off the back of the strong finish to last season, we've been able to continue some of the stuff we were working on that really had an impact late on in the season at the start of this one.

"So a pleasing start, not in any way what it could have been, we've let slip some points here and there but we've also had some outstanding performances, the second-half at Solihull where we could have ended up with all three points against a team who are flying, and the Oldham game, which was more about work-rate, energy and commitment to the game-plan which we got a lot of buy-in from the players on, and the crowd were absolutely brilliant that night too in getting behind the lads.

"We're in a much better place than this time last season, we've got to address a few things but we're in the mix, we've been able to grind out results when we've not been at our best."

Amid the fluctuations of results and performances, Cooper says characteristics like energy, organisation, hard work and resilience under pressure must be constants.

"We know, regardless of what people think, there are momentum shifts in games and there are times where we are under the pump in the National League, when you go to teams like Boreham Wood or Solihull, there'll be different tests," he says.

"As long as, when we don't have the ball, we've got that work ethic and that organisation, which is obviously the job of the staff to prepare the lads, but then it's the work of the lads to go and execute it, and be resilient in those tough spells, like at Oldham when we were under the cosh for periods.

"We need to have a real clear identity when we've got the ball and that's something we're working towards.

"We need to improve and that'll take hard work from the lads and the staff, to be more creative when we've got the ball and play forward with a purpose and hurt teams when we get them in their defensive third and create more opportunities.

"We're very good one to 11 without the ball, we've heard assessments of us saying we're an honest, hard-working side that are really hard to break down, we get that from a lot of managers.

"But we've got to continue to progress on the ball, be more demanding when we've got it and keep it for longer spells.

"We still want to be organised, have loads of energy and be resilient during what is a long season."

September should see Millington and Cooper facing some selection headaches as the squad gets replenished by those returning from injury.

And Cooper says that should help The Shaymen develop as they go deeper into the campaign.

"I only see continued improvement in the group, the lads have bought into everything we're trying to do," he says.

"We've had a relatively small squad to select from because of niggles and injuries, so we've got lads coming back that the fans have yet to see like Kane Thomson-Sommers and Florent Hoti, obviously Milli Alli's been missing and Festus Arthur is recovering ahead of schedule.

"So the next evolution of what we're trying to do will be real competition for places hotting up and that can only steer us in the direction of improvement because lads will want to be getting that starting shirt so standards will have to continue to rise.

"We can kick on even more, we can use the foundations we had at the back end of last season and that we've built on over the summer and the first month of the season.

"There's no real let up in this league and there's no games we target or runs of fixtures where we think it's going to be more easy, people are beating everyone at the moment.

"We've got good competition for places and we've had some new signings come in.

"People like Jimiel (Chikukwa) might have been looking for a loan move straight away to get some men's first-team experience but if he trains well then there's an opportunity to put pressure on for a starting berth in the front line.

"We've got lads who are into their second season of National League football and who are establishing themselves, who just over a year ago, a lot of people hadn't heard of.

"There are new lads who have settled in well, others who are finding their feet and we've got players who've played at a good level before."

Cooper had individual meetings with every new signing before the season started, chatting about Town's playing style, learning about their background and their ambitions and discussing how the staff can help them to improve.

"I asked each player what would be a successful season and most of the lads, and I agree, said they want to push for the play-offs, they want to be really competitive in that top seven," he says.

"We've got a foundation to try and kick on, although we can't get too far ahead.

"We know it's a gruelling, demanding season but I've no reason to think we can't compete with teams that are going to be right up there.

"I don't think we should fear anyone in the league in terms of playing style or resources.

"We've got to remain as competitive as we can but I've not doubt we can be a competitive team and we can beat anyone on our day."

There is no cardboard box next to Cooper's desk at Town's training ground. There's too much to be getting on with.

"We don't rest on our laurels at all, we've just got to keep doing what we can do and control what we can control," Cooper says.

"What I know from my year and a few months here is that there is stability, there is support, there is progress.

"We have a very clear structure, the lines of communication are very clean and we've just got to get on and do our job.

"It's up to us to progress and it's up to us to produce, to develop young, hungry players that then represent the town, that's what we want to do.

"We want to be a team that represents the people who follow it.

"You can never think you'll be in a position indefinitely.

"Within the walls inside the club, it's not really a discussion that happens.

"Internally, around the training ground, every day, there's just so much graft and hard work going into reviewing the last game, preparing the next, what's on the radar, as we're talking now the scouting reports are coming back from our division, the division below, two divisions below on potential players for the future.

"It's constantly ongoing so you can't afford to start thinking 'am I secure, am I not?'.

"You've got your family maybe wanting a bit more in terms of saying 'how secure are we?' but me personally, I don't look at anything other than just trying to get better in my job, trying to be the best assistant manager I can, trying to continue to build tight relationships with the staff and the players to perform, and whatever will be from that is out of my control.

"Never look too far ahead, never be too high or low. That's advice I've had coming into the senior game from working at under 23s and academy management level, where it's a bit more about development and the pressure can be off from being results-based.

"In a first-team environment, you're judged on results so we've got to manage that but also make sure we're not too high or too low."