There’s one thing that sets the best coaches apart, whether they were a superstar player or an average journeyman, and KEEPUP’s Roy O’Donovan has seen that close up.
Like most clichés in football, the idea that great players usually don’t make great managers is a lazy generalisation. There is one common trait among all great managers – those I worked with, those I heard about, those I observed – and it’s the thing that makes them most successful.
I’ll get to what that is in a moment but I was fascinated by watching Patrick Kisnorbo in A-Leagues All Access this week, and seeing the manner of his coaching style up close. Although Paddy and I played at the same time in England I actually faced him in the A-Leagues; he was a solid, reliable defender, no airs and graces, whose career had clearly been built on hard work.
That work ethic transfers well into management, which at the top level is all-consuming. Paddy has done an apprenticeship, put in the hours and reaped the rewards. But there is this idea that the truly great stars found it all to easy in their playing careers, and so can’t transfer that brilliance into coaching; especially when, as was said of Glenn Hoddle as England manager, that he was still the best player at training.
I can give you examples from past and present to disprove that. Giovanni Trapattoni was a brilliant player in the 1960s but became an even better coach. Similarly Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, winning trophies as a coach for so long now that people forget he won league titles in Italy and the European Cup as a player. Or Kenny Dalglish, who won the league at Liverpool as player, player-manager and straight manager. Most of all there’s the greatest manager of modern times, Pep Guardiola, who was a phenomenal player for Barcelona and Spain.
What sets the great coaches apart, that one common trait, is their management of people. Some are also great tactical minds as well, but I don’t think you can be a great coach without a de facto degree in psychology. Unlocking players’ potential – or conversely, getting limited players to maximise what talent they do have – is a trait that some people have and others don’t.
Handling the emotion of a dressing room is an artform, which includes your own feelings and those of multiple people around you. The aim is to create an environment where players trust you and want to play for you. That was one of the biggest messages to come out of A-Leagues All Access – that Melbourne City’s players want to play for Paddy Kisnorbo. Whether that stems from fear, pride, anger or trust, players have to rate you and want to carry out your instructions.
A great coach needs great people around them, whether that’s the traditional No 2, the analysts or trusted players. When I was at Sunderland, Dwight Yorke was club captain and a very effective link between the playing group and the head coach. I have no doubt whatsoever that Dwight would carry an understanding of the importance of that role into Macarthur FC now that he is the head coach there. Seeing Sir Alex Ferguson at Macarthur training this week was a reminder that Dwight learnt from the very best at man management.
It all comes back to the understanding of individuals. Most coaches will alter their tactics to suit the playing group they inherit, in the knowledge that they probably won’t have long enough to overhaul a whole squad, but the constant has to be their player management. That’s true whether you were a decorated international as a player, or a lower-league journeyman.
A great example is Aidy Boothroyd, who became head coach of Watford at 34 after serving an apprenticeship at the youth levels of various clubs. He got a lot of criticism for a direct style of play at Watford, but the squad he inherited was long on height and short on technical players – and he took them from near relegation from the Championship into the Premier League.
Aidy signed me twice, and his ability was in managing players as people. He understood what you needed to play to the maximum for him. So when he was appointed England U20 manager, and then of the U21 side, to me it made perfect sense even while people were questioning it from a tactical point of view. The players he was working with were already sensational players, from the academies of big EPL teams or even from the fringes of the first team. They already, too, had money and in many cases, egos.
What was needed was a coach to bring that group together and maximise their strengths, especially in the limited time available to an international coach. That was Aidy.
Where Paddy Kisnorbo goes from here will be fascinating to see. But he has that one trait already from what we can see, the one that all great coaches have.
