The most successful modern coaches are those who get the pick of the best club jobs. The shrewdest often have the knack of picking the most talented back-up staff, experts in specific fields, content with a lower profile.
They know modern management is a multitask profession, which may explain the relatively low conversion-rate of coaches from long-serving trusted, reliable deputies to serially achieving bosses.
At Craven Cottage on Wednesday night, two Premier League coaches whose reputations as assistants to legendary managers have played a dominant part in establishing their credentials, leading them to their current positions, meet in a London derby.
It is a crux moment for both. Andre Villas-Boas, of Tottenham Hotspur, has made a poorer start to the league season than most expected, given the £100 million-plus (Dh602m) spent on new players, and he feels keenly the focus being trained on how he responds to the gathering pressure. Rene Meulensteen, meanwhile, is the Dutchman appointed to take charge of Fulham only three days ago.
Tonight he makes his debut as the frontman on a Premier League bench. At 49, he has a significant body of experience behind him, but none as a senior, No 1 manager at a level comparable with English football’s upper tier.
Pressure? There will be plenty. Fulham brought a new man in to replace Martin Jol because, after six successive losses, they are adrift in the relegation zone.
Yet one curious aspect of tonight’s collision is that the noisier suspicions, accusations even of inexperience and naivety are being levelled not at the debutant Meulensteen, but at his opposite number, a manager who has won a treble, including the Europa League, with Porto.
AVB, as he is affectionately known, is not enjoying an affectionate phase with sections of the British media. After the 2-2 draw with Manchester United at White Hart Lane on Sunday, he engaged in an unedifying, public quarrel with an reporter whose newspaper had displeased him with recent coverage.
Four days earlier, he had asked stewards to remove from the stands a spectator who barracked him during a Europa League win at Tromso.
A thick skin would be high on the list of most managers’ recommendation of the assets required for sustained achievement in the job: Villas-Boas has lately appeared a little too sensitive. In a 36 year old, that can easily be categorised as a symptom of immaturity.
Earlier this season, he was derided as acting like “a child”. The taunt came from a Premier League rival, his senior Jose Mourinho, of Chelsea. The Special One used to employ AVB as his “Special Two”, a trusted deputy, and showed faith in the precocious Villas-Boas’ football instincts from AVB’s mid-20s.
They worked at three clubs, in three countries, but the relationship cooled once the apprentice asked to be promoted. Mourinho would not alter the structure of his back-up staff, so Villas-Boas moved on.
The rest is history, and a career path for the younger man eerily similar to his old mentor’s: sudden, sweeping success at Porto, then headhunted by Chelsea. Villas-Boas lasted less than a season there, however, his man-management instincts questioned, his flexibility as a tactician cast into doubt.
Meulensteen, like the younger AVB, is recommended chiefly because of his association with one of the sport’s giants. He worked for several seasons with Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. He is lauded by United’s Ryan Giggs – “full of good ideas” – and Robin van Persie, who calls Meulensteen “one of the best coaches in the world.”
That earns him the right to be judged on something other than his precedents as a No 1 coach in club football: those have either been in very different settings from the Premier League, or startlingly brief. Meulensteen has previously worked as a head coach in the Qatari league, and passed in and out, rapidly, of one mid-table role in the Dutch Eredivisie, in the Danish top flight and most recently, Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia. His stay there lasted 16 days.
Carefully, he previewed this evening’s match by name-checking none of those experiences but citing the most impressive precedent on his resume, the part he played in Ferguson’s later United years.
“My experience at United tells me it is good thing we now have a big, tough game to try and respond to the last few setbacks,” he said of Fulham’s immediate challenge.
His, and even AVB’s challenge, is to show they are more than just intelligent theoreticians, but can talk the talk, turn fortunes around in a match-day dressing-room, like a Ferguson or a Mourinho habitually can.
sports@thenational.ae
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The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
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David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
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Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
Man of the match Harry Kane
bundesliga results
Mainz 0 Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 1')
Schalke 1 (Caligiuri pen 51') Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Miranda og 81')
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MATCH INFO
Norwich City 1 (Cantwell 75') Manchester United 2 (Aghalo 51' 118') After extra time.
Man of the match Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
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Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
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If you go
The Flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.
The trip
Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5