By Chris Jessop

The other day, I, like most football fans, was toying with the idea of doing some football coaching. I mean, a player of my calibre will surely be able to offer a pool of knowledge, wisdom and motivation to children all over the country……..ok maybe not, but getting paid to attempt to teach people how to play football would be pretty cool. And then I realised I had no idea where to start, I mean, I know you have to do various levels of coaching badges, but how easy is it to do that? Or even find information about it? I thought the obvious place to start would be The Football Association, better known as The FA.

On the FA website (www.thefa.com) there is a section called ‘Get into football’ and in there you will find a coaching section. There are various sections, including a page full of update’s on how The FA’s coaching schemes are working wonders, but on the subject of becoming a coach, it gives you a list of local FA’s and says to contact them. The Football Association runs courses for aspiring coaches at all levels, the first two of which are offered by County FA’s. So I selected my county, Northampton (www.northamptonshirefa.com/default.htm) and searched their site and under the development page there is a coaching section that shows all available courses from The FA Youth Awards up to the Level 3 badge.

So what is a Level 1 badge? This is the UK’s most popular coaching course for all coaches with little experience or knowledge. The course provides an introduction to the organisation and trains you to be able to deliver safe and enjoyable coaching sessions. The course provides practical drills that aim to develop players’ technical skills such as shooting, turning with the ball and heading. This course is for all intents and purposes an introduction to basic coaching, and is ideally suited to those who want to work with young players and or/teams at a local or amateur level. The price for the course is stated as £110 and is a one day course.

So you have your Level 1 badge, what’s next? As this is only the beginning, the type of jobs you can hope for are limited to local teams, after school classes and basic community projects with local clubs. Gaining more work experience as a coach is essential if you want to progress to the next level and although the website at www.football-jobs.com is really handy and lists various football coaching jobs, the majority want a minimum of Level 2 coaching badges!

Once you have completed your Level 1 or you’re a coach with a few seasons experience, you may want to start your training for Level 2, as it is still an open entry course you can apply through The FA. Although it is recommended that those taking part without a Level 1 qualification do have relevant coaching experience. The course aims to develop an appreciation of the ethical coaching process and on completion you should be able to plan, conduct and evaluate a series of football coaching sessions. As a coach you will be able to ensure the health and safety of players and those involved and be able to develop greater responsibility for their own learning and development. All of this should be done whilst promoting the sport in a positive and constructive manner. There is no price stated on the website and it takes around 6 months to complete.

So what is available to you with a Level 2 coaching badge? This qualification should lead you into careers along the lines of amateur teams, community roles for football clubs etc and for soccer schools. 

On the county site, it said there were currently being changes made to the Level 3 and didn’t offer any information, so I had to search for information and found it via the 1^st4sport qualification site (www.1st4sportqualifications.com) to find out more about it.

Now those courses are pretty straight forward, so the next step is the Level 3, also known as the UEFA ‘B’ Licence. You will need your Level 2 badge and you should also have to complete an Accident and Emergency Course and a Child Protection Course before being able to start your Level 3. Firstly, you will need access to a team that you can coach, and you will be encouraged to discuss the suitability of the team with a coach educator prior to signing up for the course. You will be able to plan and develop your own football coaching programmes, as well as how to manage, implement and conduct those football programmes.

As a coach, you will also learn how to effectively evaluate your activities and develop a plan for your further development as a coach. This qualification will not only form part of a credible CV for employment in the game, but as a UEFA accredited qualification, it will allow you access to a variety of opportunities within the professional game. You can also become a member of FACA (Football Association, Coaches Association, http://facalive.thefa.com )     which provides advice and support for top coaches. The price will vary to where you do the qualification, and it takes around 9-12 to complete. Other Coaching Associations include;  The Association of Football Coaches www.associationoffootballcoaches.com, The Professional Football Coaches Association (PFCA) www.leaguemanagers.com/search-7.html

Now you’re a top qualified coach, what can you do? Experienced professionals can be fast tracked to Level 3, so you should be in good company. In the professional game, coaches are expected to have at least the UEFA ‘B’ Licence, so if you have gained this qualification you should be looking at coaching at a fairly high standard.

Finally, if you have been coaching for a number of years and want to progress into top level coaching and even management then you will need to apply for your UEFA ‘A’ Licence. The best comparison for the ‘A’ licence is that it is the equivalent to getting a degree. Having this qualification makes you very employable to almost any coaching role available. It takes two years to complete and can only be done if you are working with or for a national FA. The course is centred around two parts, which are split into two-week sessions that are based at Lilleshall Football Academy (National Centre) with various other sessions, including distance learning and support sessions. This licence operates a pass or fail basis and it is now mandatory that all league managers hold a ‘UEFA ‘A’ Licence.

The UEFA Pro Licence is the final and highest coaching qualification available, and follows the completion of the UEFA ‘B’ and ‘A’ Licences.

A UEFA Pro Licence is required by anyone who wishes to manage a football club in the top level of the nation’s league system on a permanent basis (i.e. more than 12 weeks – the amount of time an unqualified caretaker manager is allowed to take control). This applies to both the head coach or team manager, and such a licence is also required to manage in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup.

Each current manager of a top-flight team in Europe was set a deadline of 2010 to acquire the licence, or else face losing his post

I think it is definitely worth going on as many training courses as you can to become as qualified as a coach as possible and seemingly, the FA Level 1,2,3 coaching badges are adequate for you to have a decent go at become a coach. Those that dedicate their career to coaching will be advised to go further and do the ‘A’ Licence. Because, the better you get, and the more experience you gain from these coaching courses, the more likely you are to be spotted as a coach with talent. Another key piece of advice would be to keep up-to-date with current goings on in the world of football (I’m sure I don’t need to tell many football coaches this!) because it is a common ground with a lot of young children who will watch matches, so you will always be informed and who knows, you might see something that can lead to you becoming the next Sir Alex Ferguson!

You can also keep up to date with any new jobs in football by signing up for the job alerts by email, a FREE service from website www.football-jobs.com. As new jobs are posted to the website you get sent an email letting you know there are new jobs for you to look at.

So overall, I found the process of trying to find what coaching badges are available and where to do them, what they consist of, price etc, all very confusing. When it came down to it, you can access most of the information from The FA website, via a number of other different channels, which can prove very arduous. The information is out there and going on any search engine will take you to thousands of coaching sites, it would just be a lot easier if all the information about coaching courses and all existing jobs were available on one site.

About the Author: Chris Jessup is a Sport, Media and Culture Graduate looking for a job in media or Pr in football or sport in general. Find out m ore about him at http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/chris-jessup/23/994/a2a

…“In the eyes of most English managers, football is a game played by passionate ruffians. The harder you kick, the more you care and the less foreign players understand your caring.”…..

This is a quote from Patrick Collins; award winning Chief Sports Writer at the Mail on Sunday and fellow passionate Charlton fan. It is from a column written on Sunday March the 14^th decrying English Managers and singling out Phil Brown in particular. I have the greatest respect for Paddy Collins as a writer but this article is a clear example of how the media seeks to influence opinion and the decision making in the game and often from unsound assumptions and unfounded judgements.

Collins states that “England is not producing its Ferguson or Wenger; it cannot offer an O Neill or a Moyes. Instead it gives us cockney caricatures and people who want the ball belted high long and often”

I don’t suppose Patrick Collins had a wry smile when following his damnation of Brown the Hull manager was sacked within hours; he is not that sort of person. Gary Johnson another Englishman parted company soon after with Bristol City. These actions appear to confirm Collins view.

The extraordinary thing about these two managers is that they have recently led these clubs through the most successful periods in their history. Their track records are sound and they have not become bad coaches or managers overnight. There is no reason to assume that both will not prove to be successful again. Is Gary Johnson a typical English manager because he has a chirpy ‘cockney’ accent and does not have Mancini’s hair stylist or image consultant? Brownie doesn’t fit Collin’s caricature at all; Northern lad, ‘swarthy and smooth’ he looks the part but in a significant section of the media this is ridiculed!

I know both guys very well obviously better than Collins and the other detractors in our fourth estate. Gary served an apprenticeship at Youth level and the lower leagues in England while studying and completing his coaching qualifications, Gary would travel miles to watch others coach and even attended coaching courses when he was not a participant. All ‘badged up’Gary moved to Europe, coaching in Latvia and becoming the National Coach.

This would not be true of Martin O’Neill; Gary brought modern coaching to that country and influenced a nation in much the same way as Bobby Houghton did in Sweden. Gary studied Eastern European methods and competed against some of the outstanding international coaches of that time, a time when sports science and modern fitness coaching had not really arrived in our leagues. I have watched Bristol City under Gary’s influence  several times, they ‘play football’ they pass and move and Gary has been one of the few in his league to play with a sweeper in a 3-4-3 (Portuguese style) and switch tactically to great effect to a 4-3-3 with a player ‘in the hole’  ‘a la’ Messi or Pirlo.

He schooled Marian Pahars, an outstanding player for Southampton and his country. This hardly matches Collins view of belting the ball long and often. Gary has had a good spell at City and took them to the brink of the Premiership. I am not criticising City but it is unfair for  Johnson to be considered a ‘roughneck’ English manager.

As for Phil Brown he is proof that failure enhances experience and leads to improvement and success. No club has a right to be successful and Phil’s tenure at Derby County was curtailed prematurely well before he was able to build a squad and develop an infrastructure such as he had been used to at Bolton with Sam Allardyce. The experience was great way to cut his teeth in management and Hull City has undoubtedly profited from that and may regret ending his tenure at the first sign of trouble.

In 1998 Charlton Athletic were promoted to the Premier League under Alan Curbishly and were immediately relegated. Charlton did not panic, trusted the manager and were promoted again, this time as Champions; they then established themselves for 12 years as a stable Premiership club under the same manager. Over a two year period Charlton then changed Manager 4 times, three in one year, yours truly being number two, and now find themselves in League 1.

The interesting thing is that Phil Parkinson, who was in charge when the second relegation happened, was kept in place and is now leading them in a challenge for promotion! Alan Pardew who was relegated with them from the Premier league is now leading Southampton from a 10 point deficit to an outside chance for the play offs and Iain Dowie has been appointed by Hull to replace Brown and get them out of trouble.

The problem as I see it is one of expectations. David Moyes has been successful and secure because Everton and owner Bill Kenwright have realistic expectations. They are not awash with money and do not compare with Aston Villa let alone Arsenal or Liverpool. Moyes has consistently exceeded expectations and when they have experienced a difficult period they have managed it well within resources and kept the faith. Everton have shown loyalty and this has been reciprocated. In my view Moyes has over achieved whilst Wenger has under achieved. Quite rightly both have received the full unswerving support of their employers. Could both manage the others clubs if the situations were reversed? How would Arsene fair at Hull City and what could Gary Johnson achieve with Roberto’s millions?

We will never know, why? Because Journalists and Pundits have created a perception about English managers compared to their foreign counterparts that is unfair and inaccurate. This impression is embedded deep in the minds of fans, owners and players and has created hurdles over which English coaches must jump that their foreign counterparts do not.

It’s a game of snakes and ladders, If Benitez is fired, as the popular press would like, he will hop off the board and play on a new one, probably La Liga. Wenger will not be fired despite having achieved little in Five years but should it be so, he will go to Spain or Italy no doubt. Phil however has to slide down the snake and start again lower down the board as others kick the ladders away! 

English coaches just couldn’t compete on those other boards could they?  …..who is that topping the Dutch Erdevisie, that bastion of technical coaching and total football?

How delighted was I last week when Fulham overcame Juventus against all the odds to clinch a place in the last eight of the Europa League?

This was an amazing achievement by my old club which ranks amongst the greatest successes of Fulham’s history and sets up a real fairytale possibility of an all English final. I am so pleased for the players and especially the fans who appreciate their team’s success and unswervingly supported the club through two successive relegation battles. It also sets up a rather intriguing situation.

Roy Hodgson is probably the most experienced Englishman on foreign soil and his achievements as Coach at Fulham have been lauded in all quarters, the English coach who bucks the trend. Respected by all Premier League coaches and the coach most feared by his foreign counterparts for his tactical nous Roy is probably the nearest candidate with a British Passport to stand a chance of being employed by a top four club in England.

Fulham will find it hard to hang on to their manager in the summer unless they break the bank both in salary and funds available for transfers. Why would he turn down Chelsea, Manchester City or Liverpool should they come knocking? The answer is simple; because competition for his signature will be strong from abroad. Hodgson was apparently mobbed by Inter fans when he watched them play Chelsea. This will not have gone unnoticed by Mr Abramovich and he is a good friend and mentor to Massimo Moratti anyway.

Should Jose jump ship at Inter for the Sheik’s resources at Man City or be lured to Madrid to build his own team of galacticos, a return to Roy’s beloved Inter is a strong possibility. Real could also take notice of this Englishman’s achievements and Roy would have no problem adding another language to the four he speaks already.

Fulham may have been knocked out by Spurs in the F.A. cup but credit must be given to Harry Redknapp and his team for a terrific second half performance which followed a very shrewd tactical display by Fulham achieving a well deserved 1-0 lead n the first half .

Success in the Europa League will overshadow this result and again demonstrate the credentials of the Cottagers manager and wasn’t it good to see two Englishman competing tactically and not simply slugging it out as many a pundit would have us believe is all we ‘brits’ have to offer.

Of course this all ignores the fact that England may not fare as well as expected in South Africa or if they do that Fabio Capello might decide to cash in on his success and take up the probable vacancy at the Italian Federation or Follow fellow Italian Roberto Mancini at City as he takes the Azzuri  job himself. So, Roy Hodgson – England Manager?

Answers on a postcard please.

Whoever wins the World Cup in South Africa this summer will have had a slice of luck along the way, it is inevitable in a game where the ball and the players can travel in any direction, played on the ground and in the air through 360 degrees and where possession changes with regularity that ‘random chance’ will have a say in the outcome of matches.

Loose balls, knock downs, 50 -50s, rebounds and ricochets play a significant part in the winning and losing of matches. A colleague and former mentor of mine , Colin Murphy, former England Youth Coach used to say” good preparation ensures that ‘Random Chance’ plays for you’. Gary Player is attributed with saying, “ the more I practice ; the luckier I get” and I often use an anonymous Chinese proverb ; “ Luck is the crossroads where preparation meets opportunity”

So the Grove (England’s UK HQ, has been bugged) what are the real consequences of this for Fabio Capello? When I was assistant Coach with England in 1999 during the build up to Euro 2000, Howard Wilkinson and I were working on set plays and defending strategy with the back four. After the practical work, later in the day we had a video session and used a flipchart to debate the options and invite contributions from the players. Tony Adams, Martin Keown, David Seaman, Gary Neville, Sol Campbell etc all had a say and a number of us used the flipchart to describe our thoughts. Inevitably the pages became a mass of Xs and Os, arrows and dotted lines; a mess!  We were playing Poland at Wembley the next day in Kevin Keegans first match as England Boss. We won the game comfortably and the next day photographs of the flip chart pages appeared in  a well known Sunday red top. “Keegans Master plan”  the content was meaningless but the pages had been salvaged from a rubbish bin at the team hotel and provided a headline and a swipe at the F.A. for such a breach of security.

So things have got more sophisticated, electronic bugs and listening devices. OK that’s pretty serious in terms of security and the nature of the discussions that may be personal and private. Will it change things for Fabio? Will he change all his tactical ideas , I doubt it. So what arev the consequences?

Well, it is another spanner in the preparation works for the tournament, it is disruptive, intrusive and a pain in the butt, added to the John Terry affair, the injury problems and all the other inevitable disruptions yet to come it highlights a recurring weakness in England preparation for major tournaments. Is it significant? Yes it is, why? Because we are always one of the least prepared and have been increasingly so since the evolution of the Premier League, the Champions League and the influx of foreign players.

Research I conducted when I was Technical Director at the FA indicated that there was a clear pattern associated with World Cup and European Championship success on a regular basis. Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina and Germany had three things in common. Consistency, Stability and continuity, Spain saw this at the time and began to apply these factors to their development programme and have reaped the benefits most recently, these things were also the hallmarks of the Dutch at the time but as with England and possibly France of late they seem to have meandered away from these elements and subsequently have been less successful.

The established European football nations will suffer as time goes on if these things are not taken seriously in the future. Domestic football in Europe takes its toll on players significantly compared to their counterparts in the East and Far East where National Teams come together on a regular basis for long training camps and friendly matches, tournaments and mini tournaments. In Japan, Korea, Australia, the middle east (Egypt in particular) and Africa the National Team takes significant precedence over the domestic game. The USA is also still in a position to develop its younger players and call on its senior players with a greater authority than England.

Domestic European football will never revert to the scenarios described above. The demands on the big clubs who employ the top players are too great and may become increasingly so. The advantages of the higher standards in all aspects of the game are counter balanced at International level by the lack of availability of players and lack of preparation time. So when there is an opportunity to get together not one minute can be wasted and nothing should be allowed to distract the focus of the coach or his players from quality and uninterrupted preparation. While we are hampered with scandals, injuries and constant distraction during the build up to tournaments we will always be ‘unlucky’ and find that ‘Random Chance is the name on the back of our opponent’s shirt.

So the National Football Centre, designed and planned originally for Sven to prepare (amongst other things) for the 2004 and 2006 campaigns in serenity and seclusion, no bugs or spies, looks like it will be delivered ‘ sometime in the next few years’ only  8 years late! In the meantime the richest National Team in the world will borrow a training ground, travel by coach to and fro everyday and change in their bedrooms, book a hotel and convert other bedrooms into treatment rooms and massage parlours. As John Smith checks out to fly off and do business somewhere in London, Wayne Rooney checks in to the Grove or wherever after the room is swept for bugs, the mini bar has been emptied and the lock has been applied to the adult channels.

The real tragedy is that this is repeated down the line for all National Teams  from under 16 – under 21, whilst their  Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Brazilian and US counterparts make themselves at home in the National Centres where stability, continuity and consistency in what is provided for them and what is expected of them prevail.

Watch this space for ‘Developing a successful National Team’

It was at a summer barbecue 10 years ago in a friend’s garden when my son Daniel dribbled past an array of international defenders, eliminated Mathew Upson playing a one-two with Teddy Sherringham and smashed the ball past a floundering Sasa Ilic in the plastic mini goal. Martin Keown remonstrated with his co defenders and Paul Konchesky simply laughed

“Great goal Scholesy” Teddy shouted and the nickname stuck, this Scholesy was 5 years old. The comparison was probably more to do with Dan’s copper coloured top and freckles than his talent but the goal resembled a typical Paul Scholes strike. Dan also adopted this great player as his idol. Dan is now 15 and gave up football long before Paul Scholes in favour of Athletics, Snowboarding and ‘free running’ and still Paul goes on; Sir Alex has indicated that he could continue at Manchester United for at least one more year at Premiership level. A new contract is testimony to the professionalism, dedication and passion of one of the games true greats.

Paul Scholes came up through the school of hard knocks and street football. A little kid playing with the big lads and developing techniques and skills to cope. This is the story of many of the ‘pocket dynamo’s’ and those with real talent often progress to the very pinnacle of football. Kevin Keegan and Alan Ball were also fine examples of that.

For me our finest is Paul Scholes. Spotted by Manchester City, signed by Manchester united and nurtured by Brian Kidd and Sir Alex Ferguson there can have been no doubts in Manchester that there was a gem in the city. This gem turned out to be part of the ‘crown jewels’

Paul has all the requirements of a top International player, not a sprinter but quick, like a rattlesnake he assesses the situation and then pounces, he reads the game well and these two ingredients make him a great opportunist and therefore a priceless commodity, a midfield general who can make and score goals.

His goals fall into two categories; subtle, with a simple incisive build up and a clinical finish inside the box and spectacular, volleys, half volleys and power drives from outside the box. This is only achieved with outstanding techniques and these are only developed through constant practice and nobody loves shooting and finishing practice better than ‘Scholesy ’

Herein lays the secret of the rest of his play; Character and personality.

I had the pleasure and privilege to work with Paul Scholes and the rest of the squad over a period spanning 22 games as assistant coach with the England Senior team. Paul was never happier than with a ball at his feet. He can’t resist smashing a ball into the back of the net and Ray Clemence and myself often found ourselves hiding the balls away during the warm down to prevent him belting them all over the Bisham Abbey training ground. He would still manage to find them despite our efforts and I am sure Kevin Keegan being of similar ‘cheeky’ character used to get them back out on purpose!

This character manifests itself on the pitch, Paul never knows when to stop and he never gives up always believing there is another shot, another pass or another goal scoring opportunity, this is infectious and it was no surprise to me when Manchester United won the European Champions League in overtime.

For England Paul established himself as a senior player but he got on with his job quietly and efficiently, above all he is a winner and there is also fire in his belly, sometimes this has brought him rebuke from referees but without it he would not have the array of medals he has won.

He is an enthusiastic player who badly wants to win but he is also a nice guy, great dad and family man; a role model in an industry never far from a personal scandal. He has never forgotten his roots and were he not the great International star we know he would still be kicking a ball around with his mates over the park.

My eldest son is a Manchester United fanatic and idolises Scholes I am glad my lads are fans of Pauls , nothing will give me and my boys greater pleasure than to see Paul Scholes ; socks around his ankles with the European Champions league trophy in his grasp. It’s just a great shame it won’t be the World Cup!

Sir Alf would tell you , you can’t win it without a pocket sized red head in the team!

In a tough economy now is the time to develop your people. So …

What is your people development strategy?

Notice it is not professional development but people development.

Professional development sees a person in only one dimension – their job (sport or otherwise). People development looks at that same person as a whole – a sum of specific roles e.g. athlete, partner, business owner and school governor. Ignoring the other roles jeopardizes individual, team and organizational performance and adversely impacts staff retention, costs, profits etc.

People come to work with all their roles. For some, those roles bring with them issues, challenges and distractions. These can adversely affect performance not only for the individual but also across the organization.

To develop your people to their fullest potential and thereby enhance their performance and maximize your ROI, your strategy must be holistic with a role-specific approach. It must encompass the 4 Concepts of People Development™:

The Big Picture

Raise the importance of having a role-specific Big Picture and how it is applied in terms of individual, team and company development.

Peak Performance

Identify what peak performance looks like, thinks like, feels like and behaves like. Establish what Competence, Commitment and the ability to Communicate is required and how that is orchestrated by what and how we think.

The Path to Peak Performance

Establish where your organization is on your path. Determine what is holding you back and what needs to be done to overcome those hindrances. Only then can the Peak Performance concept be fully applied.

The 4 Phases of Role-Specific Development

Establish an awareness of the phases you develop through – Hope to Belief to Knowing to Mystery, where you are as an organization right now and where you need to develop your people in order to enhance performance and attract and achieve growth and results.

Investing in and implementing these 4 Concepts through your people development strategy will always enhance performance and attract the best people – after all people like to know they are valued.  Additionally, these can also be applied across each person’s life roles so you also create sustainable synergy across all roles. A further key benefit is that you also gain market share over your competition because you value your greatest asset – your people -  who are to be protected and invested in to ensure the greatest return.

So create your people development strategy. Your future depends on it!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jackross/2010/01/new_manager_new_methods.html

Jack Ross plays in the Scottish Premier League with St Mirren, after the disappointment of being released as a teenager from the top flight he battled through the junior leagues and 4 years at University to bounce back into the big time and has developed tremendous insight from a player’s perspective into the sometimes crazy world of professional football.  The link above will take you to a unique perspective from a players point of view on the Managerial merry go round.

http://new.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3115098.stm

This link will take you to the profile of Adam Crozier, my former boss at the Football Association, is week named as the new Chief Executive of ITV and currently CEO of the Royal Mail.  As the article says, he seems to have a habit of taking on difficult jobs.

So what is the connection you say?  Well Rossie’s blog talks about the response of players to the appointment of a new ‘gaffer’ and of course the expectations related to Adam Crozier’s appointment will be high and his ability to facilitate change and take the staff with him will make a major contribution to him delivering on those expectations.  The similarities between managing a football team and managing a company could not be more apparent than at the moment of change.

As Ross points out “The test of a successful gaffer, is to impress their methods upon their new players and try to improve on what their predecessor has achieved”

The first team briefing and the first coaching session is usually the moment of truth, reputation and track record count for nothing when you start the balls rolling for the first time, get over this hurdle and you have made a good start but then comes the big test, the first game.  It is not so much the result that matters but the way you handle it.  Players ( and fans) will judge you on how you manage the performance from game planning, preparation and team selection to how well you adapt and deal with the unexpected events that the 90 minute trial throws up.

When Adam addresses his management team for the first time they will be aware of his track record, clearly described in the BBC profile linked above.  They will possess some gossip from contacts in the industry from all of his previous posts.  They will have a picture of him in their heads before he enters the room.  They will have a much clearer picture when he leaves and it is critical that he has delivered his message successfully at that first encounter, I know he will, I have been there.

When Graham Taylor took over at Watford in the old fourth Division he had come from Lincoln City where he had won the league with record points and was manager of the year at that level, that’s why Elton john chose him to lead his club to the First division.  After his first meeting with the players there were no doubts about where Elton, the club and certainly Graham were going, the question was who was going on the journey to glory with them?  The choice for the players was clear; jump on board the rollercoaster and join us or head for the exit.  There were no mixed messages, no confusion, the goal was set, the timeframe laid out, the methods clear and roles and responsibilities agreed.  The culture would change from small time, lower league club that survived to ground breaking, forward thinking ambitious club that would become an exemplar for high performance.  With exception of a few, who were duly rewarded for their previous contribution and ‘excused duties’ the squad and the staff duly obliged and in four years Taylor took Watford to within a whisker of a first Division title and an FA Cup final.

I suspect Adam Crozier’s first address will bear the hallmarks of Taylors first impression on the players at Watford.  This first encounter is the new manager’s opportunity to show he is more than a manager, he is a leader.  This is not about Churchillian speeches and drum banging, I can assure ITV staff that this is not Adam’s style.  This is about clearly mapping out where the company is going, what it will take to get there and how each member of the ‘squad’ can contribute.  This how a good leader turns a ‘competent group ‘of people into a high ‘performing team’.
 Adam Crozier will achieve what every football manger craves, I am sure.

• He will create a positive working environment
• A unity of purpose toward common Goals and Objectives
• Commitment and mutual accountability

He will make people his highest priority and create a team that takes control of the outcomes and reaps the rewards of its endeavours.  He shares a philosophy with Herbert Chapman, legendary manager of Arsenal in the 1930s.

“Employ without exception, the very best type of player to represent the club and reward him well…………….. he must be a clever player who can think out attractive, constructive tactics and he must be wholeheartedly enthusiastic and keen to make progress in the game”

I often use examples of good practice in business to highlight factors of good leadership and management in football in my presentations to coaches and managers.  Business would do well to examine the good practice that exists in the pressure cooker of football management.

Watch this space for more on leadership, motivation and team building from the ‘dugout’

Following my recent post on the National Football Centre, a serious issue is raised regarding the future development of English coaches.  I would suggest that we have decent coaches and many young , enthusiastic coaches. I have observed them in Academies and club community schemes.  I have also seen many cases of good practice at the grass roots level.  Player centred coaches who crave further development but find the current system cumbersome and expensive.

I recently followed up my work in Turkey by returning to train Tutors.  I was given the freedom, as I had been with the UEFA ‘B’ and ‘A’ Licences to develop the syllabus from the good practice I had experienced from around the world and from sound research in the field of Teaching and Learning.  The tutor trainees were specially selected from outstanding ‘A’ licence graduates and were a mixture of grass roots coaches, professional club coaches and youth coaches, teachers and former International players and staff. They were there because they wanted to be and saw it as an opportunity to contribute to the development of Turkish football.  It was all paid for by the Tukish Football Federation on the basis that these people would be committed to work in the development programme for Turkey.

I completed the first ever AFC Special Pro Diploma in China last month. The candidates were mostly former International players now coaching at the highest level; the Superleague.  All coaches and their assistants must obtain this award by the end of 2010 or risk losing their jobs.  Part of the assessment is to identify potential instructors for coach education.  These top coaches see that aspect as important as the professional qualification Paid for by the CFA and A.F.C.

We need to be just as selective, raise the bar in terms of commitment and subsidise coach education so the best people can benefit whatever their circumstances.

I am fed up with the constant references to our coaches and players being no good, there are excellent players out there and highly skilled players, I know because I am out there too and always have been.  As Technical Director I visited the clubs, watched training and took sessions at the clubs.  I watched grass roots football every week as well as Academies and the Pro leagues.  I believed that was my job, who does that now?  Not the journalists who continually ramble on with negativity and a ‘woe betide’ attitude and certainly nobody from the FA!

There is a better way to develop high quality coaches and utilise the talent that already exists. Why can’t clubs become teaching academies for coaches, like teaching hospitals and the newer teacher training schools?  Excellent coach educators developed through clubs from the ranks of practising coaches just like teaching doctors and surgeons and Teacher / mentors in education.  Aspiring coaches could be specially selected for internships to learn on the job at Academies and with the pro’s?

My daughter is just about to graduate with a first class honours degree in teaching and education (fingers crossed) she has done four years training and spent more time in schools than at the University.

Wake up F.A it’s called “Competence Based Learning”.  Real practitioners mentoring gifted, aspiring professionals in the real world, not the simulated tutoring conducted by out of touch ‘instructors’ in the lecture theatre and on the fantasy field!

As for the grass roots the clubs also have excellent Community schemes, many offer coach education but within the current outdated framework.  How about adding a new type of Grass Roots Charter Club?  Extra funding for clubs who are examples of excellent practice to employ Directors of Grassroots Coaching who are specifically trained to organise and deliver level 1,2,and 3 in the grass roots workplace and ensure good practice and who actually work coaching young players?  Get rid of all the Tutor assessors and verifiers and spend the money where it is really productive; inside the grass roots!  I am in the National Training Centre in Kunming (one of three!) giving this advice to the Chinese and developing Coaches for the Chinese F.A. because my own governing body doesn’t want to listen!  I have done this in Turkey, Croatia, Republic of Ireland, Latvia and elsewhere for FIFA and UEFA.  From Level 1 to Pro yet I am considered no longer qualified in my own country!

I cannot be sure but I do not know any member of the League Managers Association; that’s all the current professional managers and all past Managers, who are considered qualified to run a F.A Coaching Course at any level. Remember that’s people like; Sir Alex, Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson through to Peter Taylor, Sammy Lee and includes the likes of Graham Taylor, David Pleat, Alan Curbishly and Don Howe. What a waste of talent and experience! There are many excellent practitioners in Academies like Tony Carr at West Ham, Dave Parnaby at Middlesborouugh and Steve Avory at Charlton who could easily run internships. The possibilities are endless for creative thinkers, perhaps the problem lies therein?

Imagine being one of 12 young interns at Manchester United; coaches, performance analysts and strength and conditioning coaches fresh out of university or former Academy Scholars released from the club. You are managed by Paul McGuiness in the Academy and work in the evenings as assistants in  the 9-16 age groups. You are studying for your, level 2,3,or 4 awards and are mentored by the academy coaches but have sessions with Rene Mullenstein and q & a sessions with Sir Alex as well as sessions with the other performance and sports science staff.  You take part in an overseas exchange programme and spend time at Ajax. What kind of coaches might we produce with such a strategy?

Such ‘out of the box’ thinking would need to be backed up by strong and sound leadership.  Sadly I fear we might be just a little lacking in that area too.

http://www.leadersinfootball.com/column/83/

This link will take you to a fine article by Gerry Cox on the future of the F.A National Football Centre. As Gerry points out the F.A. is of course bidding for a world cup and appears to have done a ‘U’ turn when they have had little interest since 2005. David Sheepshanks, has always been a supporter and the centre played a big part in his manifesto to become Chairman of the F.A. Time has seen Sir Trevor’s view change from skeptic to champion, he was not in favour when the project was mothballed. Having been one of the originators of the project and member of the National Football Centre Ltd Board and succeeding Howard Wilkinson as project leader I am of course delighted at this turnaround.

It was Howard who coined the phrase ‘University of Football’ we had also visited Coverciano, Clairefontaine and the Centres in Portugal, Spain, Holland, the US and others. It has pained me to have been able to work at the centre outside Madrid, the Turkish Centre, Aspire Academy in Qatar, Home Depot and Latvia and know that we were being left behind when once we were pathfinders (Lilleshall National School). Buildings do not develop players, Sir Trevor is quite right to be concerned about the quality of coaching but isn’t that his job? The F.A. is responsible for training and qualifying coaches in this country…or are they?

The counties or licensed, approved coach education centres governed by a company called First 4 sport deliver coaching courses from level 1 to level three. They employ (at the candidates expense) Tutors, Assessors, Internal and external verifiers who monitor the courses. The majority of these do not coach players or teams or have not done so for many years. It is financially more rewarding not to. Other than courses for professional players, delivered by the PFA, all of these courses are delivered by part time tutors. It is these courses that aspiring Academy Coaches have to attend before being allowed to take the Youth Coaches Awards or Academy Directors License. The coaches being trained to coach our elite kids are being trained by tutors who never do and assessed by examiners who never have! This is all done in the name of quality control!! How can that be? The truth is it makes money!

Approved Centres draw down funding from Further Education through partnerships with colleges and add this to the candidate’s fees. The more courses, the more funding. The F.A. does not train coaches at levels 1-3 but they train tutors and it is part time tutor trainers who do this, they too rarely; if ever coach teams.

Tutors have to go through so many hoops to get qualified that they have to spend a small fortune to get there, and then they have to attend Continuous Professional Development Courses to retain the qualifications it’s no wonder they never have time to coach players!

Is it surprising that highly skilled, high quality or even high potential coaches from all levels of the game do not want to get involved? A year ago I attended a two day get together at the Beckham Academy at what was described as in service training for ‘elite coach educators’. This was for coaches selected as potential level four (UEFA’A’ ) tutors. Apart from myself and Martin Hunter ( Norwich, Bradford, Watford, Stoke and England Youth) only Guy Whittingham (Portsmouth) and John McDermott (Spurs Academy) were employed at Professional level. The level 4 course is entry level for Academy Directors and Youth Coaches, there were 35 coaches in the room, were they going to deliver the courses aimed at those who are destined to coach our elite youth? I believe the entire cadre of candidates for one ‘A’ License last year failed the course; make your own conclusions. I hold the world’s highest qualifications and have, of course, not been invited to deliver a course in England since 2004. There are many in the professional game like me. My question then is, erect the buildings yes, but who coaches the coaches?

to be continued…..