VIEIRA INSPIRES A NEW GENERATION
MAGNO IS ON A KIWI MISSION
MAGNO VIEIRA is looking to use lessons he learned during his career in England to help the next generation on the other side of the world. The 37-year-old enjoyed a glittering career in the English lower leagues, winning promotion to the Football League with both Carlisle United and Fleetwood Town. After three years at Forest Green Rovers, the striker then moved New Zealand in 2015 and currently runs the youth section at Waikanae FC. The Brazilian previously held senior managerial positions at Kapiti Coast United and North Wellington but has now developed a programme to help nurture junior players, largely built on things he feels could have been improved in his own playing career. “When I was at Wigan we had a chef cooking breakfast and lunch and it was perfect, but when I went to Carlisle for example, my breakfast was a cup of tea and a pack of cookies before going to training,” Vieira told The NLP. “I wish I had looked after myself a little bit better. “I played with guys like Glenn Murray at Carlisle who were completely dedicated. “I also wish I had looked after my body a bit better in terms of stretching and maybe I wouldn’t have had as many hamstring injuries when I reached a certain age. “I’m using those experiences to pass onto the kids here.” Vieira arrived in England from Brazil in 2003 after progressing through a youth academy ran by 1970 World Cup winner Jairzinho. The original plan on being scouted, twas to trail at Liverpool but Vieira instead made his way to Wigan Athletic, alongside friend Thiago Cunha. Cunha left after a matter of weeks but Vieira was determined to make it and got his first taste of the professional game on a loan spell at Northampton Town before a season in the Conference with Carlisle gave him the platform to announce himself. He netted 10 league goals for the Cumbrians on their way to the play-off final, where they beat Stevenage Borough 1-0 to secure immediate promotion back to League Two, “Paul Jewell came to me and said it would be good for me to go to Carlisle and play in an attacking team for a few months,” he added.
Clinical
“I really enjoyed my time there and the players looked after me. I was a shy kid trying to get to grips with how it worked. “I scored a few goals and at the end of the three months I got voted Player of the Month. “Wigan wanted me to go up to the Football League to keep developing but it felt right to stay. I was living my dream there playing in front of thousands every week and I was so happy there so I stayed. “I helped the team get promoted and that was my first taste of being involved in something like that. It was so special and I loved it there.” Vieira travelled to China to complete a move after scoring 16 league goals for Ebbsfleet United during the 2009-10 campaign, but when that and a trial at Wellington Phoenix didn’t work out, Fleetwood came calling. He picked up where he left off by firing in 22 league goals in his first campaign at Fleetwood – Vieira’s most clinical during a 12-year stay in England – before scoring another nine in the title-winning run of 2011-12. “I was thinking who and where is Fleetwood?” he said. “I remember going from the airport straight to the training ground to meet the chairman (Andy Pilley) and that guy is awesome. “You hear a lot of talk in Non-League but you meet the people involved and think it’ll never happen, but with him I knew he would make it happen. I ended up scoring a lot of goals and we got to the play-off semi-final and got thrashed by Wimbledon. “The second year the club went one step further. They started bringing in all the top guns like Richard Brodie and Andy Mangan and after a few games we brought in Jamie Vardy. We had a fantastic team and I don’t know if there will ever be a better team in the Conference. It was scary how good that team was.” Vardy, inset, was the star of that side, scoring 34 times in 40 appearances as Fleetwood were crowned champions after amassing 103 points. “I remember driving to training with Nathan Pond and he said we had just signed Jamie Vardy and I had never heard of him before,” he recalled. “His speed and endurance was so impressive, he never got tired and his finishing was brilliant. “Watching him in training and in matches, I just thought he was something else. His finishing was awesome on both feet but he would run at the same speed from the first to 90th minute. “I knew he was special and we had a brilliant team to back him up.”