Asghar’s blueprint for sporting education
everyone from Dave Brailsford from cycling, former head coach of English rugby Stuart Lancaster, then guys like Kevin Roberts, who was the chief exec of Saatchi and Saatchi.
“He spoke to us about the work they did rebranding the All Blacks when they weren’t at their peak, trying to create a new culture for them.
“Sport and business now run in tandem and you can’t avoid that. It’s being able to take your expertise and apply it to people, performance and strategies, no matter the sport.”
Ultimately, Asghar wants to take what he has learned and apply it in football. He said: “My final dissertation was whether the role of the sporting director could create a successful culture in UK football. “The role is accepted as the norm in Europe but stil l treated with suspicion here and that should change. Clubs in Scotland all have different models. “At Cel t i c , Peter Lawwell has effectively done a sporting director’s job as well as the CEO’s job but now Brendan Rodgers has a lot of the control.
“When you’re successful you can argue it doesn’t matter how the success is being created – it’s how you sustain it.
“If Brendan leaves, what then? Who picks up the slack? Where’s the continuity?
“I look after a lot of managers and it’s not hard to see why they’re getting sacked.
“It’s down to poor leadership at clubs, with new owners coming in who seem to have this culture.
“If you have someone there who’s a constant, who can manage up the way into the boardroom but also support the manager? It works well on the continent.
“So I don’t know why we have an aversion to it in football here.”
Asghar has designs on making a difference closer to home. He said: “I’ve started a consultancy doing diagnostics and top-to-bottom reviews of sporting organisations around the world.
“But I’m also looking to get myself into a club. There have been wee nibbles so far that haven’t been quite right. I’d love to get some things into the SFA in relation to academy football, how they treat players, governance, gambling, doping. I would love to help make a difference.” Burnley’s pre- season friendly with Hannover 96 was abandoned yesterday after travelling German fans clashed with police.
A Turf Moor stand turned into a battleground shortly after Ben Mee had given Sean Dyche’s side a 1- 0 lead.
An element of the visiting support, some armed with knives and with their faces covered by scarves, tried to attack Burnley supporters who were being protected by a police cordon.
Seats were ripped up and flung towards Clarets fans along with other missiles.
It’s understood two police off icers were knocked unconscious and had to be taken to hospital, leaving the match commander to order a half-time call- off.
Police kept behind the 390 Hannover supporters while the home fans were ushered away from Turf Moor.
A Burnley official said: “These are scenes you never want to see at a football ground.”
It’s believed police had been tipped off about the potential for trouble and had brought in extra officers. But they still had to battle to quell ultras who appeared hellbent on causing mayhem.
Dyche, whose side start their Premier League season at Chelsea on Saturday, said: “The police called it early. No one wants anything other than a game of football.” Neymar stole the limelight without even lacing up his boots as Paris St- Germain started their Ligue 1 season with a 2- 0 win over Amiens.
The world-record signing was not registered in time to take part but was given a hero’s welcome on a tour of the Parc des Princes pitch before kick- off.
In the absence of the £199million striker, Edinson Cavani turned home Dani Alves’ cross four minutes from half-time before Javier Pastore converted a tap-in late on in the second half.