Dave Challinor Reveals Key To Stockport County Success

Stockport County manager Dave Challinor believes his team’s defensive rearguard has been the key to their success in recent years.

The Hatters moved to the top of League One last night with an impressive 3-0 win over Port Vale in Staffordshire. It was a game that was done and dusted within the first half an hour thanks to goals from Nathan Lowe, Kyle Wootton and Jack Diamond.

It was an excellent performance and despite racing into a 3-goal lead, they were never really troubled by their opponents. Another excellent defensive showing limited Vale to just 1 shot on target. The result also secured a third consecutive clean sheet.

Attack Wins Games, Defence Win Titles

During Manchester United‘s peak during the 1990s and 2000s, Sir Alex Ferguson famously said, “attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.” It was a stigma he stuck to throughout his reign at Old Trafford, with many of his defenders considered amongst the greatest in their position in Premier League history.

 

This week’s column is on Arsenal’s defence.

Sir Alex Ferguson famously said: “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.”

And, Arsenal have the best one around.

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It appears as if Dave Challinor is taking a page from Fergie’s book, building a side that is tough to break down. Whilst this has been evident over the past few weeks, their return to League One last season saw them concede on average less than 1 goal per game.

This saw Stockport eventually finish third, only to lose out to Leyton Orient on penalties in the play-off semi final. It was no surprise that they entered this season as one of the favourites to secure automatic promotion.

Challinor Praises Defensive Unit

Speaking BBC Radio Manchester after another successful away day last night, Challinor was quick to point out their defensive record:

“We look a lot more consistent and solid defensively, which is something we’ve prided ourselves on over the past four years – (as well as) being expansive and trying to score goals.

“For me, those things go hand in hand. I don’t think we’ll ever be a team that wants to win games 6-4.

“We take pride in how we defend as a team, with everybody involved, and do the same when it comes to scoring.”

 

Stockport are heading to the top of League One. A perfect Monday night out for these fans! 💙#StockportCounty

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Challinor has already won the National League and League Two during his time with Stockport and is hoping to make it a hat trick this season. His team are top of the table, but could drop to second if Bradford City beat Lincoln City tonight. As such, the 50-year-old isn’t getting carried away just yet:

“We’ll enjoy it for what it is right now. We’re 14 games in with 28 points, two points per game, which is a number that over the course of 46 games we’d be happy with.

“But we’re only a fraction of the way through the season, so there’s still a long way to go.”

Writer’s View

There’s little doubt that Stockport are one of the stand out teams in League One and it would be a huge surprise if they weren’t up there come May. Dave Challinor has built a rock solid squad that look capable of beating anyone in the division. This is backed up by their current 7-game unbeaten run.

The Hatters will take a break from their league exploits this weekend when they travel to Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup first round. They return to league action the following week when they welcome Luton Town to Edgeley Park.