During his three years in charge of Manchester United's under-23s, Neil Wood could focus on the bigger picture. It was performance rather than points that counted, success judged by the players who went through his side and played for the first team.
The Stretford-born former United academy graduate knew his hometown club inside and out and he could point to plenty of players who made the jump to senior level, both at Old Trafford and to careers throughout the Football League.
There will be more to follow, with Wood, who joined United in 2014 as an under-15s coach, reserving praise for Alvaro Fernandez and Alejandro Garnacho when speaking to the Manchester Evening News this week. But he isn't holding court at Old Trafford now, or at Carrington, but in a small room off a corridor at Partington Sports Village, training base for Class of 92-owned Salford City.
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After cutting his teeth in academy coaching, the 39-year-old made the leap to senior football himself in the summer, becoming the latest manager to try and get Salford City out of League Two. After 20 games they are two points and one place off the play-offs, but why was this summer the moment he decided to leave United, a club so close to his heart?
"I think the time was right. I'd had a good few years with the 23s at United, we managed to get quite a few players through to make their debut, the 23s were playing good football at times," said Wood.
"[But] I wanted to test myself, the opportunity was right, the right club, right timing, right location. Part of me wanted to see if what I'd been doing over the last four years was possible to do at a league club and get success from it.
"I really enjoyed my time at United, I enjoyed working with the young players there and it isn't something I'd rule out for the future, but at some point, I think most people want to see what it is like on the other side."
Wood had the advantage of having some connections with Salford City's owners, particularly Nicky Butt, who had seen his work up close when Butt was head of the academy at United, before becoming head of first-team development.
But it was as much about presenting a vision to the Class of 92 as it was about them selling the club to Wood, who are now into a fourth year at this level having seen their rise up the leagues stall.
Now he is in position, that contact remains regular. Butt, who recently replaced Gary Neville as chief executive at the club, and Ryan Giggs, are in daily to catch up with Wood, while Paul Scholes has a hands-on role with recruitment, alongside director of football Chris Casper.
It's an impressive model for a fourth-tier club, but on the pitch, Wood has occasionally had to remind himself of the shift in focus compared to his previous job.
"Coming through the academy you're looking at performance first, you can get beat and it can be a successful game because what you've been working on or what you've been trying to improve a player on has happened," he explains.
"For me there is still that element of it, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I want to play well and win. It's been hard sometimes for me to enjoy it when we've won and the performance hasn't been as good as I expected."
When he was offered the job one of Wood's briefs was to bring a clear playing style to a club that has gone through four managers during their spell in the EFL. He has done that, with the Ammies playing some attractive football at times, but results are also the lifeblood for managers at this level and Wood describes the target at the start of the season as "play-offs, minimum".
"It's a tough division, it's a division where anybody can beat anybody on the day, a little bit of luck or a mistake can really change the tide of a game," he said.
"It's difficult because in my position there have been two or three managers before me that have brought in players so you have a real mix of players, you're slowly trying to change a way of playing and a style, that took a lot of work on the training ground in pre-season.
"There have been times this season when it just didn't click, it didn't work, that's down to me to evaluate it, the players to go back to the drawing board on the training ground and try and get it better.
"If somebody had said after five months I'd be in this position, two points off the play-offs with a big December and January coming up, in my first job, I'd have taken it."
The challenge is made more difficult by the fact Salford are seen as a scalp in League Two, the side everyone wants to beat because of their owners and the hands-on nature of their involvement.
"We've had that playing at home, away teams sell out their full allocation, we've had some unbelievable celebrations off teams who have just drawn against us, teams that have beat us at home the celebrations are unbelievable. We see that, we know people are raising their games against us, we feel that," said Wood.
"That's part of what makes it difficult to play for Salford. You have to have a really strong character to play here, you do have to go against that, it can be difficult, especially at home when you perceive it as a home advantage and it is not always the case."
To try and attract more fans through the gates at the Peninsula Stadium during a time of economic difficulty, the club have launched a season ticket for the remaining 13 home games of the season for £145 for adults, £88 for concessions and £48 for under-16s.
"I think the home gates have slowly been rising, which is a positive. If you're winning and doing well people are curious and they want to come and watch," said Wood.
"We want more people in, we want more support for our players, so I would encourage any young fans or anyone thinking of coming down to do it."
Despite his attention turning to Salford City and attempting to win a promotion, Wood keeps a close eye on his former charges and his old club. He's been back to watch the under-21s this season and has had a few messages from some of his former players.
"The way United view the success is who they get through to the first team. At the minute Garnacho is the one who has come through and done really well, but Alvaro Fernandez is doing very well on loan at Preston, Ethan Galbraith is doing very well here, Amad is doing really well [at Sunderland]," he said.
"There are boys I've been around since they were 12 or 13, you follow them all the way through, watch them if they're on TV, you never stop looking out for them and hoping they do well and their career progresses and helping them out if they need it."
The conversation ends with Garnacho, with the 18-year-old Argentine emerging as the jewel in the crown at United this season. He flickered for Wood's side last season and was the star of the show in the FA Youth Cup win.
But Wood is still a little taken aback by the speed of his development this season and the impact he has made at senior level.
"I'm a little bit surprised [at this season], he always had the potential, you watch him in youth games, even the year before the Youth Cup when he was playing for Neil Ryan's under-18s, he was showing some glimpses of some real high-level stuff. You knew there was a player there but it would take some time with his physicality and mentality," he said.
"He finished last season really well and I thought his next challenge would be to really stand out in 21s games, but he seems to have bypassed that. The main thing for him is he's taken his chance, that's the main thing for any player coming through there, you look back at Marcus [Rashford], he took his chance when it came. It's the type of club where they will always get an opportunity and if you can do what he's done and take your chance you will get more chances. It's been good to see him do that."
Garnacho has been on the end of some tough love at United as well, with Erik ten Hag and Bruno Fernandes critical of his attitude in pre-season. Those public comments were a sign of how highly rated he is as well, and Wood is hoping the teenage winger takes the advice on board.
"I know there's been a lot of messages from Bruno and the manager, I just really hope he takes that on," he said.
"He's a good kid, I do think he wants to improve, he loves his football, when those guys are saying that you've got to be wise and take that on the chin and digest that and make sure it doesn't get thrown at you again. I really hope he does that."
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