First steps along new path
This week I’m writing the column from Dublin, which makes for a very nice change.
Not that I’ve been at home putting my feet up. The FAI have arranged a combined Uefa A and B course here for international players and we’re very grateful for all the hard work by the association’s coaching division which has gone into making it happen. They’ve had to liaise a lot with Uefa to get clearance for this special course, but thankfully it has all come to fruition.
I’ve tried in recent years to get onto coaching courses but, with our hectic club and international schedule, it’s very difficult to squeeze them in. I’ve written here before about life after football and how I’ve always had one eye on the future. I do have other interests, as I’ve previously outlined, but football is my true passion in life and, as I’ve got older and more experienced, it’s something I now know I will want to stay involved in when eventually I do hang up my boots.
Hence, the value of a course like this which is both very interesting and intensive and has certainly taken us out of our comfort zone in some respects. For a start, I haven’t really been in a classroom-type environment for 15 years or so, so there has been a high level of concentration needed to make sure I didn’t miss anything over the course of long days during which we have covered many different aspects of the game.
I’d actually brought my dog over with me from England for the week thinking I’d be able to bring him for a nice walk on the beach in the evenings but, such has been the workload, poor old Buster has had to put up with watching me preparing training sessions or analysing teams on DVD every night. And there was me thinking I’d finished with homework a long time ago!
We took three training sessions each by the end of the week and that was a little nerve-wracking for the obvious reason that it’s something we simply aren’t used to doing. We’ve been coaching the lads on the FAS training course and they’ve been a joy to be around. As we’ve taken our first steps in our fledgling coaching careers, they’ve given us lots of respect and shown plenty of patience and we’ve appreciated it. We’ve also been impressed not just by their attitude and character but also by their playing ability. I hope they persevere with their dreams of being professional footballers as there has been an abundance of talent on show.
We’ve also been fortunate in the people we’ve had involved in the course. Basically organising everything, Greig Paterson has been our coach education manager, while our tutors — Niall Harrison, Colin O’Brien, Stephen McNutt and Tom O’Connor — have been mentoring us all week. We also had guest speakers who lectured us on subjects like psychology in sport; the importance of video analysis and how to use it efficiently; strength and conditioning; and, of particular importance, the transition from being a player to a coach.
As a player, you really only have to look after yourself, but when you become a coach or a manager then obviously things change drastically. All of a sudden you have to consider the needs of a squad of maybe 25 players as well as staff. We’ve worked on aspects of the transition from a player to a coach and how to make it easier.
As someone who’s played at a high level in my career I’m very fortunate to have gained valuable experience from playing with and against top players and working under a lot of coaches with their different styles and philosophies. But while I know this is a rich resource, the flip side is that there are certain things you need to leave at the door.
Personally, I feel a big reason why a lot of top players don’t become top managers is because they let their egos get in the way. To a degree, it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done as a player when you start coaching. Because you have to do the same as you did when you started your journey as a player — that is to say, you have to serve your apprenticeship. And I think some players find this tricky.
Meanwhile, none of us are ready to hang up those boots yet, not by a long shot. Tomorrow will see all the lads meet up in London to begin preparing for the upcoming international games. Unfortunately, I’m not available due to injury, and to say I’m frustrated would be a bit of an understatement. The main reason is that I relish playing for the country, but I also genuinely love meeting up with this set of players and the staff.
There’s always a lot of negativity about end of season internationals on the part of club managers and, occasionally, players. And, yes, I can understand the reservations of managers who feel their players really need a rest. But if end of season friendly games aren’t the ideal scenario from their point of view, then it’s vital for clubs to have a good relationship with international managers and their medical staff so that, between the relevant parties, they can arrive at a sensible outcome for all concerned.
As for the players, it’s not hard to tell which ones pull out of these trips for less than genuine reasons. In the Irish camp, I’m glad to say, we don’t tend to get too many withdrawals and I think that is simply down to the fact we have a group of players who are very patriotic and who genuinely get on well with each other.
The game at Wembley will be a momentous occasion, as we don’t face England very often. It’s a special venue that I’ve had the pleasure of playing at and also lifting a trophy in. This time, I will be at the game as a fan on Wednesday and I’m really looking forward to it. After that, there’s another friendly back here in Dublin against Georgia and then it’s on to the World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands.
And that’s the one end of season game, it almost goes without saying, that we really need to win.
