Alan Clark
Black Leopards coach Alan Clark may not be familiar to many Premier Soccer League fans, , but he comes with a fine pedigree and fresh ideas on the game. He has worked with Pitso Mosimane at Bafana Bafana, helped to nurture Percy Tau at Mamelodi Sundowns a
The Black Leopards coach has a big task ahead to keep Lidoda Duvha in the Premiership as he details his fascinating rise to the dugout.
KICKOFF: Where did you start in the game and were you a player before you moved to coaching? Alan Clark:
My passion for the game definitely came from my family, my father in particular. He was a very good sportsman and actually played volleyball for South Africa. Like me, he was a school teacher and very passionate about sport. From a young age I was always involved in cricket and soccer, and I did quite well in both. I played for my local club Old Benonians for a number of years and I think I still hold a record there! It was a junior record in the Under-9s in what is now the Ekurhuleni league for the most goals scored in a season. I think it was something like 22.
Sounds like you were a striker!
It’s funny actually, the older I got the further back in the formation I moved! I was a striker when I first started out, then as a teenager I was more of a central midfielder. I then had the opportunity to go on trial in England at Crystal Palace and Reading around 1998-99, and there, because of my build, they suggested I played as a right wing-back, so I switched to that and played there for a while.
But then your career came to a very abrupt end …
Yes, I developed reactive arthritis in my right knee and that meant every time I played or trained, it would swell up and become very painful. I had numerous operations and treatments, but in the end had to concede defeat. Even today if
I overdo it on the knee, it comes up. I can feel it.
So you threw yourself into coaching …
Exactly, I started studying my coaching licenses through SAFA. I now have a SAFA Pro License and a CAF A License. I would like to get my UEFA qualifications, but that is more about time and opportunity. I have actually been in touch with a friend of mine at UEFA to see if they will recognize my CAF A License, because then I can go straight for the UEFA Pro. Aside from that I still try to attend as many courses as I can and am constantly trying to educate myself on new trends. Whether it is a course by Dutch coach Raymond Verheijen, or a webinar by someone else. I just want to keep learning.
“HIS PHILOSOPHY OF ATTRACTIVE, ATTACKING FOOTBALL IS SOMETHING WE SHARE.”
So who have been your coaching influences?
I do try to take a little bit from everywhere, steal a little bit from here and there, and there are a couple of managers that I like a lot. Locally, you can’t look past Cavin Johnson, who I have worked with for so long and has helped to shape my career in a lot of ways. His philosophy of attractive, attacking football is something we share, as is his way of coaching. Internationally I am a big fan of Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United and have been for some time. Being a Tottenham [Hotspur] fan, I also really like their former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who I think is also a disciple of Bielsa. The way they set up their teams to play and their manner is something I admire. Of course, I look at the fantastic achievements of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp and you have to admire them. But I follow Bielsa and Pochettino the most I would say.
I guess you have to take the best parts of what they do and adapt it to the local environment?
For sure. You have to adapt things for the environment you are in and the players you have, as well as their understanding of things, and tactical knowledge. It is also how you interact with the players in the PSL that is important. We have seen time and again coaches come to South Africa from Europe with great knowledge and experience, but they don’t do well. For me, that is because they can’t express themselves to South African players in the way that they will understand what he wants from them. A lot of people think the bigger the vocabulary, the more intelligent you are. But a wise university professor once told me