jonh wrote:
Best try I’ve seen in some time.
You know as I do that Pochings message will have been to relax and express yourself, that’s what most new coaches say, not much else you can in five days.
So I reckon we will see a few crackers like that in the next few weeks.
Pochings Job now us to find a way to incorporate that freedom into a workable game plan, especially once the excitement dies down.
He’ll live or die on his ability to do that.
CC did it for a while but from my viewpoint it seemed to be him who got rigid and tense and the joy of the first few seasons evaporated.
I’ve never coached but I have been a manager most of my working life and I’ve been pretty good at it. If I had one piece of advice for Poching it’s this. Know when to shut up and say nothing, don’t get trapped into the idea that you have to show who’s boss on every trifling issue.
Keep your powder dry and make it clear that when it really matter you and only you have the final say. If used sparingly and fairly most respond.
In coaching the way I see it is that you are the assembler of talent who gives a core structure to the teams style of play. Once the players are on the park you have to trust them and give them the belief and the loyalty to the cause they require.
The only difficult task is spotting those players who are not playing as part of the team and getting rid. Some coaches seem blind to this and eventually it catches them out.
Read Alex Ferguson’s biography. The players were never his friends, they were only servants of the club as was he. He liked the players and wanted them to succeed but the moment they stepped out of line, lost fitness or lost their desire they were out. It wasn’t personal, the club just came first. He also rarely got hung up on tactics or preparation, if you were fit and on form you played and within the lose game plan provided you expressed yourself.
He even admits that towards the end of his career he got to caught up in tactics and the squad system and regrets doing so.
Over to you Mr Poching.
