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the
manager
Winter 2011
— opinion —
England I couldn't really understand
it... which made things a little difficult
when it was so popular.
Now, more than 30 years later, I
have not only played across the world,
I have also managed in a number of
countries... England, Japan, Argentina,
Mexico, Paraguay, Israel, Saudi Arabia
and Croatia. I have found that working
across a number of different countries
with a huge variety of languages,
cultures and religions is challenging,
but it can also be very enriching... as
long as you are prepared to accept the
differences and adapt to them.
It helps if you know what the
cultural differences are before you start.
Latin people can overreact to criticism,
while the Japanese are very structured
and organised – this may not sound
like too much of a problem (and
usually it isn't) but it does mean that it
can sometimes be difficult to do simple
things such as change the time of a
training session. Perhaps the biggest
culture shock I encountered was when
I worked in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia;
not only was it so hot that we couldn't
start training until 8.00pm, but we had
to take regular prayer breaks during
training because religion is such a
major part of their society.
Ultimately, you realise that
management is not really a question
of nationality, colour or race...
every player is an individual and
even if you share a language, you
still have to find a unique way
to communicate with each of
them. If you accept that there will
be differences and concentrate
instead on the common link that
binds you all together – football –
you can overcome all of the other
barriers and start to move towards
a common goal.
Which brings me back to those
650 young men playing football in
what, for them, is a foreign country.
Regardless of how much they may
earn, overseas players need an awful lot
of help when they arrive. The time they
spend on the training ground and on
the pitch – if they're lucky enough to
make the first team, of course – is
fine; during that time they
can do what they do best.
It's the other things that
aren't always so easy... even
something as simple as
going to the cinema takes
on a whole new dimension
when everything around
you is foreign.
Hopefully, the players that
arrive in England for the first
time in January will go on to
enjoy their time in England
as much as I have... but try to
remember when you next see
them play that some of them
are a long, long way
from home.
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