Keeping the faith …
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Just reflecting on a couple of threads where a number of contributors to this forum are questioning whether we have the right Head Coach. When I see the emotion-filled post-defeat responses swinging the proverbial axe I tend to just roll my eyes, but reasoned arguments by the more considered do warrant a pause for thought.
I’d offer the following:
The whole club, top to bottom, as we all know, has been in need of modernisation and investment and the football department is no exception.
It seems to me like we have made some real progress in the last 2 years - the development of the academy, the use of data to inform tactics and recruitment, the appointment of coaches who actually coach, a contemporary leadership structure, science-informed training programmes etc etc (I accept there are some assumptions in there).
But I also believe that sustainable progress is not a quick fix and takes time to embed a combination of culture, people and systems.
My impression of our Head Coach is that we have a grower - someone with the attributes to develop into a top class leader and coach - currently inexperienced but demonstrating a knowledge, a passion and a set of skills that suggest he could go on to even higher levels. Like many in football, the challenge may be whether he can balance the necessary resilience and self belief, with the humility to keep learning and adapting when the pressure ramps up.
My view is that the club should stick with him and support him - maybe provide him with some people that can help him (why didn’t we improve the staff team in parallel with the playing squad over the summer?).
I still believe that clubs have the greatest chance of success by taking a medium to long term approach to their decision-making - that does mean that from time to time there will be bumps in the road, that we might appear to be stalling or going backwards, but generally that sort of approach will ensure that you are more likely to achieve your longer term aspirations.
So for me the club should stay calm, invest in and support our Head Coach, keep demanding better but track progress in the medium-term, not over a handful of games.
As a final point, NFL coach Bill Walsh won just 8 games out of 32 in his first 2 seasons with the 49’ers, investing in culture and systems over ‘here and now’ results. In the decade that followed they won 4 Super Bowls.
I’d offer the following:
The whole club, top to bottom, as we all know, has been in need of modernisation and investment and the football department is no exception.
It seems to me like we have made some real progress in the last 2 years - the development of the academy, the use of data to inform tactics and recruitment, the appointment of coaches who actually coach, a contemporary leadership structure, science-informed training programmes etc etc (I accept there are some assumptions in there).
But I also believe that sustainable progress is not a quick fix and takes time to embed a combination of culture, people and systems.
My impression of our Head Coach is that we have a grower - someone with the attributes to develop into a top class leader and coach - currently inexperienced but demonstrating a knowledge, a passion and a set of skills that suggest he could go on to even higher levels. Like many in football, the challenge may be whether he can balance the necessary resilience and self belief, with the humility to keep learning and adapting when the pressure ramps up.
My view is that the club should stick with him and support him - maybe provide him with some people that can help him (why didn’t we improve the staff team in parallel with the playing squad over the summer?).
I still believe that clubs have the greatest chance of success by taking a medium to long term approach to their decision-making - that does mean that from time to time there will be bumps in the road, that we might appear to be stalling or going backwards, but generally that sort of approach will ensure that you are more likely to achieve your longer term aspirations.
So for me the club should stay calm, invest in and support our Head Coach, keep demanding better but track progress in the medium-term, not over a handful of games.
As a final point, NFL coach Bill Walsh won just 8 games out of 32 in his first 2 seasons with the 49’ers, investing in culture and systems over ‘here and now’ results. In the decade that followed they won 4 Super Bowls.