i think they just might know what they're doing. The way they have got the team up for it, focused, organised and energised - in a relatively short time - is remarkable really. The man management and general approach is clearly working. Some players look re-born whilst Kennie D will be a revelation. Now i know we're a league lower but this achievement must be recognised (but kept in context). Isn't it nice, two games in, to know that we have the right coaches leading the squad? Well done Herr Stendel and co. Keep it coming. Our problem will be holding on to these guys and that's where the Board comes in.
The challenge for them will be to keep the squad focussed & ensure no complaceny sets in. We’re 2 games into a 46 game season & so many teams start a season like a train only to derail after Christmas. I don’t expect that to happen to us and think our squad depth will be one of our best assets this year. But we don’t want to fall into the Leeds trap of winning the league in August. Onwards and upwards though.
I like this management team so far. I like the way that everything was nice and light pre-season and all about learning and settling in. In recent interviews i think we have seen a higher level of focus from them and now in plan execution mode. Comments like we dont have leadership so will work around it, we can improve more, plan working and performances sooner than expected, not interested in opposition we play our game, importance of squad and game management for style required, high press isnt just about attacking, naming players who fit the style well, not interested in transfers, loans and purely focussed on these players and gameplan, faith in youth are all positive signs. We will have some spells of under performance and will draw and win and lose games. Be interesting to see the response then. However we seem to know every single players role and we arent leaning by trial and error game by game.
The coaching structure and coach education is much better in Germany than in the UK and has been for years. Most German coaches start of at the bottom coaching kids and work their way through the age groups even within their own clubs. There has always been an assumption in the UK that if someone has been a good player they will make good coaches. I know from personal experience this is not the case. I have seen some awful coaching from ex pros. A mate of mine coached in Wednesdays Academy and one of their well known players borrowed my mates coaching plans and assessments and presented them as his own. In my book that is cheating but ex pros get away with it. My mate didn't know he was going to do it he thought he was just after a few ideas. That was for the UEFA B licence. I know very good coaches who were failed by FA coaching assessors and yet ex pros would be allowed a pass. When challenged the answer would be he's played at the top so he must know his stuff. If the club had said we will bring a Manager with little English in from Germany who will play 4-4-2 I think there would have been outrage. The German FA doesn't charge as much to do the badges as the FA does either and they have 10 times more qualified coaches than we do in the UK. So after my little rant I'd say our German coaching team know what they are doing.
Coaching in the UK does need improvement. It’s no wonder most coaches in the P.League are foreign. Just look at Derby. Frank Lampard? I liked him as a player but he’s got the job because he can talk reasonably well and has lots of connections in the game. Bielsa at Leeds taught young Frank a footballing lesson, at Pride Park.
He did but to be fair it's his second game in charge. Big step up - he needs time to adapt to a different role
That’s the problem. Big step from television studio to championship. It’s not like he’s cut his teeth in lower league football, learnt his craft and is now making the stepup. Suppose he’s rich enough he doesn’t need to learn how to coach players. Will see how he does this season. Back on telly next year perhaps or could be a roaring success.
You get taught at school about Albert Mehrabian and his rule for personal communication. Only 7% is the words spoken (which is why our head coach not being fluent in English enough to do press interviews yet isn't affecting results on the pitch), 38% is the tone in which you speak and at 55% body language is the big one. Common sense really because hand gestures to get your point across as pretty universal in any language to understand.
Shouldn't that be 45% spoken or isn't tone speech? What if you are on the phone or in the dark what happens to the body language?
Good point, it can be argued. Point being when communicating with someone, words aren't that important in the grand scheme of things, so having a head coach who's still learning the language, isn't a problem.
His english is actually ok and he’s having 6 hours a week tuition. They elected to do the press conference with a translator because of the potentially more technical nature of these things.
Was it Frank (of Frank Lampard's Derby Fame) or Stevie (of Steven Gerard's Rangers fame) say that ex pros should be fast tracked and jump steps of the coaching badges because they have been pros? Look what good that did for Gary Neville. Time will tell if these two make good managers.