Peterborough United manager Luke Williams held his first fans forum at the Weston Homes Stadium last week.
The forum was held three days after Posh narrowly lost 3-2 to Huddersfield Town.
The club also had a quiet transfer window in January, which rankled with some fans, so Williams was perhaps expecting some difficult questions.
The tone was upbeat, however, reflecting the positive impact he has had since his arrival last October.
Williams and his assistant Ryan Harley discussed a range of topics, including the future of midfielder Archie Collins, the Posh boss’s first impressions of chairman Darragh MacAnthony, and his favourite formation.
The Posh boss spoke honestly about Archie Collins’ future. The 26-year-old is expected to leave London Road this summer, and Williams confirmed this.
‘Archie feels that his journey at Posh has come to an end,’ he said. ‘And we of course respect that decision.
‘I was amazed at how much Darragh was prepared to offer Archie, but if he leaves he will go with our best wishes.’
Williams admitted it will be hard to replace Posh’s star midfielder.
‘It will be hard to find another Archie, as let’s face it, he is irreplaceable.
‘He’s a one-off so what we must do is get a player in who probably has different strengths and characteristics and mould him into the player we want.’
He added that Collins’ replacement could already be at the club.
‘We do have a couple of players already who could play in his role, given the necessary time and work.’
Williams revealed that his first meeting with Darragh MacAnthony about the vacant Posh job was a surprising one.
‘I’d spoken to a few clubs before I had a Zoom meeting with Darragh,’ he said.
‘Sometimes you deliver presentations to 200 people, but this was just me and the chairman.
‘I listened to him eff and blind and show obvious passion for his club. Then when I spoke, he just sat back, lit up a cigarette, and told me not to worry about league position.
‘I just listened to this man who clearly loved – and had so much passion – for his club and I realised that this is the place I should work at next.’
He praised the club’s promotion and development of younger players.
‘What we have, to our advantage over the wealthiest clubs, is our reputation with younger players. ‘We give young players an opportunity. We are not scared to give them a chance. That’s an attractive selling point.’
Williams revealed that his preferred formation is actually 3-4-3, not the 3-4-1-2 system that he has deployed at Posh.
The 3-4-3 formation has brought him success in the past, but there is a reason he hasn’t been able to use it yet at Posh.
‘That formation with the right players is very difficult to play against,’ he said.
‘It’s a system that wouldn’t work here because we have too many full-backs. You have to have a system that suits the players rather than the other way around.
‘The way we are playing now suits the players we have.’
You can watch the forum here.
