It is a privilege to work in an industry that you love, but as in any walk of life you have to keep evolving with the demands of the environment. Coaching in sport and the world of football is not all glitz and glamour, there can be many ups and many downs, which are apparent from just watching ‘SKY Sports News’, or reading any sports section on the internet on a daily basis.
When trying to achieve those positive aspects more frequently, you have to continue to evolve with change and that’s not just on the field but also off it. As a coach you will find there are many other aspects and areas designed to enhance individual and team performance, in turn trying to maintain optimal success.
Celebrating Premier League promotion with Head Coach Brendan Rodgers
The coaching team comprised of four or five individuals in the early 2000’s, now the Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT) includes Coaches, Assistants, Sports Science, Strength & Conditioning, Sports Psychology, Diet & Nutrition and Performance Analysis to name a few and have all have enhanced the football world at amateur and professional levels in the past 25 years. What does this mean to me as the coach? Well, additional knowledge and understanding of these areas when liaising with the specialist, does assist with the preparation & implementation of the technical, tactical, physical & psychological coaching areas to be delivered. This certainly doesn’t guarantee success but it certainly does support you as a coach.
It is important that you are adaptable as a modern coach. As the demands of the game change your methods may also need to adapt. This is also true when working under different managers/head coaches who may have conflicting philosophies themselves. Being adaptable and flexible to the requirements of a managers style of play and system of play certainly assisted me as a goalkeeper coach/assistant coach as I have been fortunate to experience different coaching methods in the Professional club environment with managers including Paulo Sousa, Brendan Rodgers, Michael Laudrup, Sam Allardyce, David Moyes & Chris Coleman.
You have to be prepared to take many things on board and continue to be open-minded within your coaching. I see there to be “no right or wrong way to coach”, but you need to be efficient, and affective in your environment with the individuals in your care.
Good Luck & Enjoy the Site, ‘ TUCKS ‘
