What makes a successful coach

G’day

Remember when I spoke about the importance of player-coach relationship in one of my previous columns? Before going into this week’s offering, I would like to reflect on what is happening in the league. It is so interesting to see how the club, player and coach relationship influence the results because these are some of the key people to dictate the club’s atmosphere. I’m looking at what is happening at different clubs be it in the Absa Premiership, ABC Motsepe League and the lower leagues. It is so interesting to look at things like player movement, players’ attitude, your coach’s philosophy, management’s support and all the things that influence the progress of the team and you wonder if everyone is pulling in the same direction? Is your team exciting? Has it improved? Are the players free or desperate? Are the players eager to fight for the brand and achieve good things? Are certain individuals who have served the team through thick and thin appreciated? What lead me to talk about this is the fact that everyone can see that there are certain things happening at some teams that are obvious for everyone to see. This column is not about influencing certain things at clubs but it is about my observations. Sometimes you get players whose contract is approaching the expiry date and then the relationship with the club is no longer the same. You find that there’s no common ground reached or getting closer to resolving whatever issues may exist. That’s not professional and I would say a lot of things start crippling the club, taking everything good away slowly but surely. We sometimes read or hear about things happening behind the closed doors at these clubs where you find that a certain player will be off-loaded or dropped from the team not because of their capacity to deliver on the field. It is sometimes personal reasons that have nothing to do with the club. You find that a particular coach arrives and, with no explanation, change things around which doesn’t go well with everyone in the team. You must remember that a player-coach relationship is very vital. Players need to be managed in such a way that it doesn’t disrupt their performances. It doesn’t mean that when a particular player falls out of favour with a coach, he should be discarded just like that. There’s a way of handling that kind of a situation where you call the player aside and explain your reasons for dropping him and what he needs to improve on. I don’t know why these things always have a way of resurfacing towards the end of the season when, maybe there’s a change in the technical team or playing personnel. You know, I saw some exciting moments from certain teams over the weekend. When a goal is scored, you look at how the team celebrates with or without the coach. You can tell what kind of a vibe prevails in that club just by watching the celebrations. For example, the win for Maritzburg United on Friday night when they beat AmaZulu 2-1, it was unbelievable. After the game, the interaction between the team and the supporters was marvellous to watch, without taking anything away from AmaZulu. The whole bench joined in celebration after the winning goal and that just goes to show the good working environment that prevails in that camp. That means even players who are not in the team feel part of the team. That speaks to great leadership but the same thing can’t be said about some teams. Coach Stuart Baxter once said to me, “There are no shortcuts in football. Whatever you do, as a coach, make sure you do it 100%. Do not leave loopholes, even if something is not in your favour within the team structure, as long as it benefits the team do it. That’s how you cover your tracks.” That man, at the risk of singling him out, taught me a lot and he also said that statement isn’t just about the coach, it works both way and should be reciprocated by everyone in the team. On paper, I was his assistant coach but within his team and working environment, there was no assistant coach. Whoever he is working with is a coach because he always wanted everyone to contribute and understand how we do things. I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes but I’m merely expressing my views. I was a football supporter before I was a player and then a coach. So I know what I’m talking about and that’s why I can be able to tell that something is not right even from a distance. It is very important that we highlight these things because our coaching courses prepare us for these eventualities. There are areas of focus for coaching success and I will briefly tell you about them because they help a great deal. 1. Philosophy and leadership: That is finding and solving problems, ideals, values and culture. That’s when players need to understand your philosophy and how you want things done. You don’t want players talking bad about you after you’ve left their team simply because they didn’t understand your philosophy. You also need to show great leadership qualities and understand that all players are important, not just the 18 that you take to camp. You don’t want to lose your relationship with your players. 2. Organisation and management: You’ve got to be able to get the best out of the resources at your disposal. 3. Individual participation development. 4. Developing your players’ skills and attitude within your system. At some stage, you might be doing well only for things to change and that’s when your management skills are put into test. 5. Assign roles to each player within the team, work to keep the in those roles and redefine roles as players change. I have learned that most teams, all over the world, use what we call a multi-functional player. That’s someone who can play more than one positions. Like everything else, that has its own advantages and disadvantages. 6. Coaching staff development. As a head coach, you’re surrounded by a technical team that is not ball-players. You’re as good as the people around you and you can’t be the one giving all the time, someone else has to help. 7. Promotion and public relations. You have to promote youngsters and that’s why you have youth development structures and players have to be taught how to handle media interviews as well. It is a pity that space is becoming a problem otherwise I would elaborate more on these tools that make a successful coach.