20+ years, no wonder I can’t walk! So, What did I get out if it, versus What I put in? I want to reflect on my youth academy coaching and scouting experiences. I also want to sign off with some aspects that I believe could be better.
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| One the best coaches and people I've met & worked with in football Jay Marshall |
Well, no one forced me to do it. I absolutely loved it that’s for sure. On the whole I loved learning, I loved teaching, I loved seeing players improve and achieve great things. I also loved the people, the environment, the laughing and the banter. Overall coaching in a professional environment has provided me with a balanced view of people development, I have evolved as a person in leadership, I’ve improved my presentations skills and confidence in large groups. I’ve learned to be careful with words I use when helping people and how to challenge people without crashing their confidence. I’ve learned how to handle conflict better, I learned that my energy, tonality and enthusiasm was vital, ahead of any technical content. For me, that came first. I learned the fine detail methods of elite development and performance. Most of all I’m grateful for the memories.
I certainly didn’t get
rich doing it. I worked out once that with all the hours you put in, I was
getting paid less than £2per hour. If I was not at training, I was preparing
for training and games, writing player reports, updating the PMA system,
creating session plans and match reports. To this day I wonder how useful that
was. I bet 80% of that admin was never used or seen again. Do we really think
in our wildest dreams that a manager and head of recruitment buying a 19 year
old prospect thinks, lets check what his u14 coach wrote about him? I think most
of it is a nonsense and waste of time to be honest.
With the requirements
of the EPPP system and in line with a clubs syllabus and coaching ethos. If you
were part-time you would be working every day. If I wasn’t coaching I was on my
laptop doing football admin. I didn’t watch films, I didn’t go to the gym. If
games were on TV I would not remember the result the next day. I’d be up late
all the time to try and keep up. I never enjoyed this side of it.
I never really
realised how much time I had given up until this lockdown. It’s been the 1st
year in 20+ that I have not been connected to a club somehow and suddenly I
found other interests. Mainly cooking. I find it relaxing and I guess there is
also the element of learning that perhaps I crave. Equally there is the huge
desire to create something perfect, but so far it has always followed efforts
where I’ve got it wrong and made mistakes. No question, this is the case for
players and certainly the case also with coaching. A concept that I don’t think
is widely accepted.
I’ve seen great coaches working. Steve Gallen was awesome, perhaps the best from a long list. Although watching Steve McLaren coach will always stay with me. Absolute masterclass at work and I also was fortunate to meet him a few times with my work in analysis when he was at Middlesbrough. I was greeted there by Bill Beswick who was working there as a sports psychologist and what struck me was the first impression. What a lovely guy, warm and genuine person. There I also met Gareth Southgate and something struck me the day I drove out of the training ground having met him was the same, absolute lovely guy. In fact I thought to myself, I wonder if he’s ever had a go at someone as he just came across as a really nice gentle person. Clearly hes gone on to achieve the ultimate job on football so huge respect to him.
I’d attended many
in service days and a couple stood out. The late great Dick Bate. For me his
details and energy were superb. Can still hear him. Luton Town had bought in
Chris Cummins and he probably can’t remember, but he did a session and changed
the size in flow. So as not to have the lads standing around waiting but to not
force a session if it isn’t working. To change the tempo, make it bigger, make
it smaller. Change the loads or qty of the players. I never forgot that and
took it with me for years later. Great coach!
These things you
pick up from so many good people changed my approach. I became a deep thinker
about language. For example, we all see coaches clapping their hands and
shouting come on, “tempo”. But actually, when you analyse that why are they needing
more tempo? Is the session challenging enough? Is the session boring? If you
are doing technical development with repetitions, for example, passing and
receiving round a square and moving, guess what? Its boring! I would always
make sessions like that competitive. 1st team back to where you started
sit down. Or 1 minute, how most passes wins. Suddenly, without shouting at anyone, your tapping into the
players natural instinctive competitiveness.
Gregg Broughton was all about details and standards. Everything he did whether it was overall academy management, coaching or recruitment. Everything was clinical in terms of set up. I recall he wanted goals in all sessions and it to be directional. Whatever the topic when you really think, you can deliver all syllabus topics in that way. Thanks to him I also adopted the coaching in sessions without stopping it. Why have 10 players standing still if it only applies to one person? This also helped his challenge of keeping the ball rolling at least 80% of the session. I always aimed for 90%+. I think when your managing senior players you do have to stop the session as a whole more often, but then they need to consider more, their tactical shape in and out of possession.
In the youth
department at Luton I think Gregg Broughton was innovative and had many EPPP things
in place long before any enforcement by auditors. He had a great holistic syllabus
approach to the development of players and unbelievable recruitment strategies
that considering the results that system produced just endorsed his detail and diligence.
But there were also great people and coaches. Dan Walder, Joe Deeney, Adam Balletta, Jay
Marshal, Jon De Souza and Stuart English plus many more. I used to love going
to training. In fact, after I left I would still go back to the training ground
and I always felt welcome!
My technical
analysis work which I still support today, has always thrust me into incredible
environments which helped me learn more. Seeing first-hand the structure and
set up of premier league football teams at first team level. I’d been into most
elite training grounds as a coach with Luton Town, Norwich City and QPR so I
knew how to conduct myself But I did find myself nervous going to Manchester
United. Ryan Giggs was at the desk in reception. “Ryan you have forgotten to
sign this stuff” The receptionist said to him. He replied, “Oh no, I’m so sorry,
let me do it”, The receptionist said “no, no, don’t worry now, I was just reminding
you”. He apologised again and insisted he do it. What struck me was the
manners, the respect for staff. This was clearly a classy environment and in
passing he said hello. Rio Ferdinand went past with the same happy demeanour and
traded nice comments and as the staff offered me lunch, I stood behind Wayne Rooney
in the canteen and again the manners and respect for the staff was so clear to
see. In the meeting I had, all the 1st team coaching staff were there
and I felt absolutely comfortable as we discussed some of the technology to
support there analysis. Rene Mulensteen asked me where I coached and I told him
where I had been. He proceeded to talk to me about some of that tactical
thinking of Manchester United at that time. It was one the most valuable 15
minutes of my football life and for once I just shut up and listened. What an
incredible environment and incredible group of people. To me, it struck me how
important to success the training environment was. That work continued and enabled
me to learn in great places like Blackburn Rovers, inside the innovative war
room at Bolton, Manchester City, Chelsea, Spurs, Fulham and many more. Having
seen 1st hand many of these teams match planning detail I really
developed a keen interest in set pieces. As well as opposition analysis, tactical
positions, phases of play, triggers and pitch geography in multiple formations
I was at QPR when
EPPP was introduced and also experienced a complete management change and
restructure. I was able to learn from some great people there who had
unbelievable experience in the game. I was coaching Gerry Francis’s son and he
would of course be at our games. I was very lucky that he would take me to one
side to discuss things. He sometimes called me and even wrote me a note on a couple
of occasions. It was always ideas and things he felt could be improved and
would help players and I absolutely felt honoured that someone of that level of
experience would take that time, I wouldn’t ignore it. I’d come across plenty
of people that had no professional experience but acted like superstars with a
superstar Ego. Mind you, we really did have some A list children come through
our teams. It was quite funny watching people’s behaviour change around someone
like David Beckham who’s son Brooklyn was in my team for a spell. I guess for
many they only have limited amounts of niceness they can distribute, and they
save that up to use on people that can influence their career or income.
I tried to treat
Brooklyn the exact same as everyone else. Albeit at times a bit bizarre. Not
because of him but some of the other stuff like security staff. Another example
I was being approached by a journalist outside the training ground, I told him
the only people I would talk to about Brooklyn would be his parents and the
academy staff, the same as every other player.
I always felt that
it was important to get caught being yourself. If someone of higher ranking
suddenly walks past your session just carry on as normal. If your acting, you
will get caught out eventually. In some cases that meant I wasn’t ‘coaching’.
Well I was watching and observing but not verbally taking part. I used to
chuckle when you see coaches suddenly burst into life if the 1st
team staff walked past, or the head of the academy, or the chairman. The management
structure change though made me question a lot of things going on. The
environment became divided, and elements were toxic. I stopped smiling and
enjoying it. It became a ‘job’ and I didn’t like that feeling. There were also
little power struggles. This was not healthy for the players and the overall
atmosphere. I remember once during a game, one of the management team walked
past and shouted at a player for closing down high up the pitch. “leave him
have it there and drop back in here” he shouted to the winger. He walked off to
another age group. 5 minutes later the Head of Coaching walked past my teams
pitch. He seen that player drop off and shouted “hey, what are you doing there?
c’mon, get up there and press, work hard”
These sorts of
contradictions became more and more regular and other things started to happen
I didn’t like especially as it affected young people. The turnaround of players
was way too high in my opinion. I also felt that the numbers aimed at were due
to demands of EPPP and this didn’t sit well with me. I questioned aspects of
the EPPP publicly and this became my downfall. I was all for change. I work in
the industry of changing and future technologies. I wanted things to be better.
I just felt that aspects of the structure of the EPPP needed reviewing. I still
do. Its worth saying as well that it can be argued many clubs interpret these
EPPP demands in different ways.
To finally think
about what I achieved, as a result of what I put in, yes, I think I developed
as a person and increased my capabilities for work in many ways. But for all
the effort, we never think about games we won, that emotion had long been
removed. Also. No one cares! So, achievement has to be players that are playing
at the best level they can, that you can hand on heart say, I think I helped
them somehow. It’s not us as coaches alone. Coaches are quick to ‘claim’ the
bragging rights to any success story. But for that person, whatever we did,
worked for them. Now if the stats across football are 1:200 make it, then I can
proudly say my performance is many times greater than that in terms of players
I have coached, scouted and significantly influenced and are playing
professional football. At the last count, it was over 20.
I was at Luton Town
in the Directors box. I was working as first team scout so fairly recently. It
was half time and I stood up watching the players leave the pitch. I had just
watched a terrific performance for the 1st team by a young player I
had coached when he was a boy at Luton. I knew some of the challenges he faced
and how we tried to help him get through them. I honestly felt like a proud
father. I was zoned out and smiling ear to ear as I watched him jog to the
tunnel. “Tony, Tony” I heard, and it was Andy Awford, lovely fella. “Sorry Andy
I was zoned out there”. I said I was just thinking about old times and he said
he thought so. He went on to say a really nice thing about the work I had done
there before his time that he had heard. I was incredibly grateful to hear it. I’ve
seen now many of the players in live games and had similar elation. Many
players in the Premier League and Football League. I wonder if they realise how pleased I am for
them. They did it, I didn’t, but I guess I can proudly say that I had been part
of a committee of people (including their parents or guardians) around them
that has helped and influenced them, so they were able to achieve what they had
dreamt off & worked so hard to get.
That’s why I did
it. That’s what I got out of it.
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