Goalkeeping coach Oakes loving his role
IF YOU think the role of a goalkeeping coach involves chucking some balls around and firing a few shots, think again.
For Paul Oakes, the job at FC Halifax Town encompasses video analyst, psychologist and confidante.
Oakes joined The Shaymen in the summer, replacing Joe Stead when he left to join Leeds United.
“I think the main thing is your man-management,” Oakes said of the role. “Probably the easy bit is putting the session on but it’s understanding your goalkeeper, what makes then tick, getting them to work for you.
“You’ve got your technical aspects but your psychological side is massive for a goalkeeper. Most of them will have the ability but it’s about how they deal with setbacks, so the man-management side is massive, psychology plays a massive part in goalkeeping.”
Oakes was in the army when he was younger and dabbled in coaching during his time in the military, but didn’t initially pursue it when he left.
“I went down a completely different path doing other jobs,” he said, “then I started doing little bits of goalkeeper coaching here and there, did my coaching badges and set-up my goalkeeping academy in Greater Manchester. I’ve got about 200 goalkeepers there, all different levels from kids just starting out to kids in academies through to open age. The gaffer (Pete Wild) rang me just before the season started and was asking for a few keeper coaches, if I knew anyone, because he probably thought I was too busy. Then I put a couple of names forward who, for whatever reason, it didn’t quite happen, and then he said ‘do you want to come in and do pre-season?’ and I said ‘no problem’.
“Then it was like ‘look, the job’s yours if you want it’, and once I’d been in and absolutely loved it, I thought ‘yeah’. I’m absolutely loving it. I’m grateful for the chance, the staff have been absolutely excellent from day one.”
Oakes is currently doing his UEFA B qualification, which has been held up by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“You get a lot of keeper coaches who might want to go down the route of coaching the outfield ones, go into management, but I’m 100 per cent goalkeeping, that’s what I’m focused on,” he said.
Analysing the two players under his tutelage - Sam Johnson and Harrison Davison-Hale - Oakes said: “Sam’s been absolutely excellent, he’s laid back so I don’t think much affects him. He’s a chilled out character. We’ll talk about the matches, what can we do better, what has gone well. With Sam you don’t have to worry about him overthinking things.”
Oakes has no doubts that Johnson is capable of playing at a higher level.
“For this level I think he’s excellent,” he said. “When I took the job I looked at a lot of clips at what we could improve on, what could be better and what he was good at. It’s not just focusing on what could be better, it’s about what’s good and let’s keep that ticking over.”
ONLINE: www.halifaxcourier.co.uk