Managing NICELY
Bartley can’t bear grudges with an Easter Road boss who reminds him of his early mentor Howe
PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM can’t have known what to expect when Marvin Bartley knocked on his door for a farewell chat.
The new Hibs boss had, after all, barely selected the veteran midfielder following his appointment in February and made no effort to stop him seeking his fresh career opportunity at Livingston.
Yet Bartley had a surprise message for the Yorkshireman.
‘Hibs have recruited a very good manager and when I left I thanked him for everything,’ said Bartley. ‘He asked what I meant by that and I told him, in a really short space of time, I’d learned an awful about coaching and how to be as a manager.
‘I hadn’t played under him so it would have been easy for me to go the other way, but he was excellent and the club will keep going forward with a man like him at the helm.’ Hibs were eighth when Heckingbottom (above, left) took over but embarked on a run of form that carried them to a fifth-placed finish, just outside the European spots.
It was as a youngster at Bournemouth that Bartley, now 32, first developed an appreciation for the transformative effect a good coach can have on a club.
‘Eddie Howe would be the biggest
influence I’ve had,’ he continued. ‘He gave me my opportunity, then took me to Burnley with him.
‘Howe (above, right) was the first manager I had who kind of went against the grain. What a lot of managers are trying to be now, he was doing it a decade ago.
‘The depth he went into — he knew everything about the 11 players you’d be playing against, all their subs, their coaching staff and manager. He’d tell you each individual player’s quirks, how if he dropped a shoulder this is what he’d do next, what way he would go, all that kind of thing.
‘His attention to detail was massive but he also gave us a specific way of playing which worked for us.
‘He took over and saved us from going out of the league after we’d been given a 17-point penalty in administration — we survived on the last day of the season, then the following year we were promoted automatically in his first year as manager.
‘We were on a shoestring budget with a bunch of boys who came from non-league football, so it speaks volumes about the guy.
‘I genuinely think he could end up doing any job he wants. I think he’ll manage England one day.’
Bartley offers no such bold predictions for Heckingbottom but believes Hibs are in safe hands.
‘Heckingbottom will be excellent for Hibs,’ he continued. ‘They have some talented young players in there like Ryan Porteous, Fraser Murray and even Oli Shaw, who’s maybe lacking confidence.
‘There’s a good player in there and the manager will spend time with him after training and help him.
‘Again, going back to Eddie Howe, that’s something he made us do when we were younger.’
Bartley has begun working towards his own coaching qualifications and his investment in a course at Napier University is just one of the reasons he chose to sign for a club close to Edinburgh. ‘I’m settled here — I had the chance to go back south and to go abroad, but I’m happy where I am, it’s home and I’ll be here for another three years minimum. ‘I saw Livingston against us and on TV and I think we’ll be a great fit for each other. I’m 33 this summer, so really it’s important I play more than I did last season. ‘I also wanted to stay in Edinburgh because I love it here. My ambitions will need to adjust — I’m going from top six and looking for Europe to wanting to survive but that’s fine, I’ll embrace being a part of that and wanting to beat this season’s points total. ‘I’m doing my ‘B’ Licence as well as the Football Management course with guys like Christophe Berra, Steven Whittaker and David Gray. ‘My heart is set on this path. I’ve worked with some very good managers, so I like to think I can take my experiences on both sides of the border and put my own spin on it, be my own man.’