Former Swindon Town, Walsall and Newport County AFC boss Michael Flynn on Cheltenham Town challenge, 2024/25 aims and career so far

Cheltenham Town begin life under Michael Flynn’s management with a home match against Newport County AFC on Saturday afternoon

“The amount of turnover is crazy,” Flynn admits. “In an ideal world I didn’t want to sign this many, but everyone has left, so for us to be competitive we had to do it and there’ll probably be a couple more. Once a bid was accepted from a League One club for Freestone, they are going to be able to pay significantly more. Others had offers to go like Sercombe and Longy – those are the players you want to work with – and I certainly didn’t expect so many staff members to go, but we have some good people here.”

After dropping from the third tier, Cheltenham have previously ended up 14th and 21st in 2003/04 and 2009/10 respectively. “We don’t want to be doing that,” Flynn insists. “Ideally, it’ll be a top-half finish, but we have to consolidate, get to the 50-point marker as quickly as possible and then we can see where it takes us. This club has been through some ups and downs in recent years with promotion and relegation, but we need a steady state now, build what we can and keep improving. We need to stick together.”

Flynn left Swindon Town in January and when Cheltenham came calling following the departure of Darrell Clarke to Barnsley, the 43-year-old knew it was the right time to return to the touchline. “I don’t take any notice of the bookies because I’ve been favourite for the Cardiff job four times and never even had an interview!” he laughs.

“But contact was then made, I had a look and I wanted to get back in. The location is good and although it’s a tough job with the turnaround and the money other teams are spending, I believe in myself. It’s a club that needs to be patient and they usually are, which is a big thing for me. They are open and honest and you won’t hear me moaning about the budget because it is what it is. I’ll ask for a bit more, of course I will, because every manager would be the same, but I respect how they run the football club and I will give my all to try and make them successful and make them money.”