From the sticks to top-flight management
Remember Michel Preud'homme, once one of the world's best goalkeepers and possessor of a famously unruly, shoulder-length mane of curly hair, at least until the latter days of his career?
Well, football fans, or at least those who have not been paying close attention to what has been happening in Belgium, will be reacquainted with him on Wednesday when Dutch champions Twente Enschede visit Tottenham on Wednesday.
All's square so far in Champions League Group A after a pair of 2-2 draws in the opening round of matches. Twente proved they should be in the hunt for a place in the last 16 right the way through to December with an impressive performance against Rafa Benitez's Inter Milan two weeks ago.
Preud'homme became Twente's manager in May after former England boss Steve McClaren decided to seek a new challenge - and a significantly bigger pay packet - by joining German side Wolfsburg after guiding Twente to their first Eredivisie crown.
Preud'homme took charge of FC Twente after success at Standard Liege and Gent. Photo: Getty
These days, the hair is just slightly thinner and a bit greyer than it was but it is still recognisably worn in what could be termed 'Preud'homme style'. That means there will not be any problem recognising him at White Hart Lane.
Preud'homme was the man who wore the gloves during what many would call the last golden era of Belgian football, playing at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups alongside the likes of Enzo Scifo and Luc Nilis.
At the latter tournament, he was voted best goalkeeper and, resuming some discussion started last week, was also judged to be the best goalkeeper in the world that year by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
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As a coach, Preud'homme made his mark in 2008, when he guided Standard Liege to their first Belgium title in 25 years.
However, as a notorious disciplinarian and having rubbed several players up the wrong way, he made a surprise move to modest Gent that summer, consolidating his coaching credentials there by winning the Belgian Cup with them last season, their first trophy in 26 years, and taking them to second in the league, a height only reached once before, more than 50 years ago.
Now it remains to be seen how far he can go with Twente, who have lost key men Miroslav Stoch and Blaise Nkufo but kept hold of impressive Costa Rican striker Bryan Ruiz as well as signing Marc Janko and Emir Bajrami.
Preud'homme was capped 58 times for Belgium. Photo: Getty
Curiously, Preud'homme is only one of very few top goalkeepers to have become successful coaches at the highest level.
Dredging the recesses of my own memory, Italy's Dino Zoff and Brazil's Emerson Leao quickly spring to mind, having been national team coaches for their respective countries after being at World Cups as players.
Nevertheless, I would appreciate any other recent names from the last 20 years or so. I am sure I have missed a few but I don't think there are that many more out there.
Other goalkeepers who made the grade as coaches even if they did not excel as players also include Raymond Goethals, who, like Preud'homme, came from Belgium but mentored a team from over the border in the Champions League and took Marseille to the 1993 title.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding Marseille's triumph that year - look back to my blog in April - little blame was attached to Goethals.
So just why do so few top goalkeepers go on to be good coaches? There are no statistics that I am aware of but it is a lot less than, say, a left-back or central midfielder.
None of the Spanish La Liga goalkeepers I have spoken to have ever expressed an interest in being anything other than a specialist goalkeeping coach.
David James provided plenty of insight into this mystery, if it is one, when he wrote an article for The Guardian last year.
"I'm coaching kids in outfield play and it is years since I played there," he commented. "I've never been able to dribble, run round people or shoot. I wouldn't be surprised if some goalkeepers were to start a coaching course and think: 'Sod this'.
"For a goalkeeper, football is very black and white. Whereas an outfield player can risk a bad pass and expect to be covered, a goalkeeper has no margin for error. It makes us pretty pedantic and intense at times. Anyone who has been on a team with me knows I tend to rant and rave after a bad match. I just boil over. On occasion, I've criticised people very harshly.
"Perhaps all that intensity doesn't translate well into being a good man manager. Keepers don't even seem to like spending time with other people - we are the least sociable creatures in football."
Not surprisingly, the likes of Zoff, Leao and Preud'homme appear to have similar personalities to James.
The words "control freak" and "hotheaded" are some of the most frequently used in any description of the trio, while all three have a reputation of being physically demanding and prizing tactical discipline over pure flair and spontaneous innovation.
However, just like drummers in rock bands, we all know that goalkeepers are different.
Comments on this blog in the space below. Other questions on European football to: europeanfootball@hotmail.co.uk. I don't need your full address but please put the town/city and country where you come from.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~12~RS~)
Hi, I'm Phil Minshull. I've lived in Spain since 1997 and covered Spanish football since the first day I got here. My blog aims to provide some insight into what's happening in La Liga, and there is much more to it than only Real and Barcelona, as well as elsewhere around Europe.
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Very nice blog, made me remind his performances in 1994 World Cup.
On the question of goal keepers and coaching, I find it really interesting especially goalkeepers are creatures that probably in the best position to understand the passage of game and follows it probably more carefully then even managers.
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Excellent blog.
Belgium of the late 80's/early 90's were an excellent side and Enzo Scifo was one of my favourite players, almost up there with my ultimate players including Stojkovic, Prosinecki, Savicevic, Maradona and Hagi. Still not as good as my boyhood hero, Glenn Hoddle, but who is ever as good as your boyhood hero?
Anyway, I hope Twente give a good account of themselves in the Champions League as a whole as it is always good for European football to have new clubs on the block, challenging the established powers. It is highly unlikely they will ever win it or even get close but a draw with Inter in the first game is a step in the right direction. Here's hoping they play well in their other 3 games, excluding 2 defeats to Spurs!
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I am amazed by this actually. I never really think about what position a former player played in when they become a manager.
My only thought is that because the goalkeeping position is so highly specialised, they are required to become goalkeeping coaches in order to train the next generation of keepers.
Just goes to show how important the position is, not only on the pitch but in development as well.
How many former outfield players have become goalkeeping coaches? That will be a challenge for you :)
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I seem to recall Willie McFaul had a few seasons in charge of Newcastle Utd in the mid 80's and Shilton of course had a go at Plymouth. Clemence a short period at Barnet
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Nice and insightful blog, especially since I am a goalkeeper myself and thinking of taking up coaching. However I disagree with the idea of keepers keeping to themselves as I think it all depends on the individual. I would however think that more goalkeepers should be coaches due to the fact that as a player they see the whole field and all the plays and therefore transform this when they turn to coaching
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I wrote this in 2009 after my team lost, maybe it's relevant -
(At a time when we’re mourning another defeat this isn’t an attack on our manager, or any other. It’s an observation. It isn’t always true, but it often seems to be. Or am I an idiot?)
When managers, like Mr Sheridan, are bemoaning a defeat, have you noticed how often they confirm that they are going to stick by their principles and that their team’s playing the game the right way? Have you also noticed that when the media wants to illustrate a manager’s enthusiasm it trots out the phrase, “he kicks every ball”? Do you ever think about the abiding truth behind those clichés?
In Chesterfield’s case it means that the game is viewed and played from midfield, because that’s where John Sheridan’s vision of the game was formed. Defenders win the ball and lay it neatly to him in midfield. He has control and can see a pass. He lacks pace so he loves it in others, particularly a quick wide man as an outlet. Full backs with the pace to go forward are excellent options too. He demands control up front, a one dimensional forward who can’t turn is no use to a passing midfielder, so he’s after mobility, balance and intelligence. It all creates a nice game to watch, but its weakness is forgetting that the primary duty of a defender is to prevent goals and that a forward could be a camel and it wouldn’t matter if he kept scoring, or making goals.
An opposite vision informs the way Sam Allardyce’s teams play. He plays the game from central defence. His defenders are always prepared to get down and ugly. A clean sheet is a battle won. Sam’s in his defence when he looks upfield, he wants an outlet, a physically strong, brave and skilled player who will control an awkward ball, hold it up, engage the opposition and bring in attack-minded colleagues. He found Kevin Davies and it was love at first sight.
The anti-Allardyce is Fergie. His point of vision is up front, in and around the box, that’s where the goals are and that’s all the game’s about to him. His forwards are mobile, create space, wingers come inside and midfielders move forward to fill that space and get into goal-scoring positions (losing their markers). Looking back at his defence he wants it to be able to move a controlled ball forward, but he wants solidity at its heart to get the value from the goals he (almost personally) is set to score. Ronaldo knew where the team was playing to and was keen to get inside to grab all those goals. Nani hasn’t cottoned on, he can’t tell the difference between the show out wide and the dough in the middle. He’s no idea that Fergie’s playing striker.
So why aren’t goalies usually good managers; they see the whole game? Goalies play a different game. They use their viewpoint to translate play into a kind of choreography of positioning, watching out for players who’ll cut in and shoot, go wide and cross, remembering where the players they’ll cross to are, taking account of and communicating with defenders. Goalies, like me, are from another planet. We’re planning every save, catching every ball, not kicking it.
In this context Chris Sutton will be an interesting manager. He could play nearly anywhere; does that mean he’ll be the renaissance man of management, or have no vision at all? And Mourinho, was his vision formed translating for Bobby Robson? So where's the fulcrum of his teams? Centre Back? Whatever. Whether he knows it or not, Sheri’s in the middle of our midfield and he’s making openings for the passes he loved to play. He'll keep doing it, because he can't help it. He's his own prisoner, but if he gets it right, he could still be the birdman of a very successful alcatraz.
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Nice piece. I can't think of any high profile former goalkeeping managers. Ian Atkins was quite successful at Scunthorpe – we'll see how he goes at Southampton.
Mike Walker did well at Norwich.
Umm, Kevin Blackwell...
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Very interesting read. Don't agree with David James saying outfield players can risk a bad pass, speaking as a CB i have little or no room for error with passing and always go for the easy option. What's more interesting to think about then keepers who are loud is those few keepers who are quiet.
Ben Foster springs to mind for modern keepers. He's an incredibly talented keeper and as a United fan who watched him with interest I can confidently say that he's a better shot stopper the his England rival Joe Hart. They both make great reaction saves but Fosters footwork and reading of the game is better. Up until last year I thought he would be pushing Van Der Sar out of the 1st team but his run while the Netherlands goalkeeper was injured showed why he'd never make it. He made some impossible saves, such as one against Arsenal with his feet from close range which was absolutely first class. However he coupled these with a lack of concentration, and a fear of the fans turning on him, the safety of him and opposition players while coming for corners, and most importantly, the respect he had for the players around him.
He obviously didn't feel comfortable bossing around world class players such as Ferdinand, Vidic ect. of the United defense. As a result he was left to face the opposition alone. Any frustration was channeled into himself rather then out towards the defenders as it should be. This interests me as its clearly a battle of mind over matter with him and goalkeepers like him. I'm playing with one at the moment (sunday league so different levels all together but same principle). He's got fantastic footwork and makes every save look easy but at most times he looks like bambi on ice.
As for keepers as managers its an odd one. I couldn't say why they don't make good managers as its mainly about tactics and reading the game, something many keepers should be able to do. I can only blame it on their hotheadedness and them being out of their comfort zone dealing with outfield players. However I expect its mainly just a fear of the unknown, as who can know better where to play it to beat the keeper then the keeper himself.
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Mike Walker ex Colchester United goalkeeper later managed managed Colchester United, Norwich City & Everton.
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Goalkeepers should provide a club with 'a safe pair of hands' when it comes to the management game, but they tend to 'drop the ball' rather too often. Many are a 'little crazy' and few like standing in the 'full glare' of the spotlight - preferring to keep 'a cap' on things. They are confidence animals and don't take criticism very well. When 'things start to slip' they're finished and instead of 'standing up' to be counted, 'they go down too easily'.
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Ballste: "I seem to recall Willie McFaul had a few seasons in charge of Newcastle Utd in the mid 80's and Shilton of course had a go at Plymouth. Clemence a short period at Barnet" All three were great keepers but didn't have any significant success as club coaches.
fearnaught66: "Mike Walker ex Colchester United goalkeeper later managed managed Colchester United, Norwich City & Everton." A decent example and he had success at Norwich as a coach but he wasn't a top class keeper.
What I'm looking for is a top class keeper e.g. an international or someone who won league or cup honours domestically; who then became a topline coach.
All suggestions welcome.
The Manchester City icon Bert Trautmann was the national coach of Burma in the early 1970s, won several Asian tournaments and his team qualified for the 1972 Olympic Games but I'm happy to accept I'm stretching my own terms of reference rather drastically!
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Nigel Adkins was a goalkeeper, for Tranmere, Wigan & Bangor City.
Granted his managerial career only reads Bangor, Scunthorpe and now my side Southampton, but he's still a goalkeeper that has gone into management.
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Tony Waiters did OK at Plymouth way back. Shilts built a good team at Plymouth but when knocked out of playoffs went downhill and .. out. I've always felt that if Shilts team had gone up he would have done well.
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Needless to say, Mr Minshull, that I as a Belgian thoroughly enjoyed reading your excellent article.
In 1998 I swapped Belgium for a life in the United Kingdom. Reason why I am reasonably well placed not to understand the attitude of many English football fans when criticising the EPL or at least moaning about it. Football fans are pampered in the UK. Rightly so, don't get me wrong. The best players in the world, massive attendances (the premier league in Belgium managed an average of 11.680 supporters during the season 2009-2010, compared to 34,150 for the EPL), beautiful & exiting football and last but certainly not least: world-class (BBC) coverage & analyses.
Anyway, Michel Preud'homme indeed oozes professional class. Whether his managerial talents will equal his goalie-heroics, is something we have to wait for and see. But as you rightly mentioned, his off-the-field debuts already resulted in 1 national title and a league’s cup. So far, so very good thus. The fact that he - as a Walloon - seemingly issueless the existing country-dividing language barrier ignores and now fulltime works in Flemish/Dutch environments, is something many Belgian politicians (and members of the royal family) can only dream of.
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Top marks for the keith moon biography. I do enjoy random links.
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What about Walter Zenga? He was GK for Inter and Italy for years, and has gone on to coach in Turkey, Serbia, Romania, and in the Italian Serie A.
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You'd expect a goalkeeper to prefer defensive football perhaps but Preud'homme is the opposite. I as a long-standing Twente fan can safely say that I've never seen my team play more attacking, free-flowing, adventurous football than we are now under 'the Preud' and we are loving it. Don't get me wrong the results with McClaren were great and we'll be grateful to him forever, but Preud'homme unlike McClaren is giving us sheer entertainment. Not afraid to give the youngsters a chance either and more importantly not pushing the chairman to get new buys in. As the Belgian poster before me said: a class act.
As for his hot-headedness: I've not seen anything of it at Twente yet.
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As for goalkeepers turned manager: the tradition for Dutch goalkeepers is that they turn into goalkeeper coach but I can't think of a single one who's ever become head coach. Many of them do stay in football. Theo Snelders (Aberdeen fans will remember him) is now goalkeeper coach at Twente for example.
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I am a goalkeeper, a very ordinary 'sunday league' goalkeeper all of my life. I now live in Oman and I coach amateur goalkeepers in my spare time. I tell my guys all the time that we are different to outfield players and that is why we are considered 'mad', long before Grobbelar was known.
When an out fielder makes a mistake - they just lose possesion, if we make a mistake then we concede a goal - and are blamed. That is the difference. I think that is why few goalkeepers make it into management because we have such a different role, this is not to say we are not intelligent or aware - just that football clubs do not value goalkeepers.
Transfer fees and wages do not equate to the the value of a keeper. As Brian Clough once said (when he signed Shilton), "You start at the back and work forwards", he knew the value of a class keeper. The best footballer in the world is worth absolute millions, but the best goalkeeper in the world is worth let's say, GBP 5,000,000?
We are crazy people who the vast majority of clube do not want to take a risk on.
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I am going to say it Phil...
Nice blog. Factually based.
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Ohhhh my mistake. I thought it was Phil McCulty blog. Most sorry. That explains my surprise. Keep up the good work Phil.
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Well Dino Zoff managed a few Italian clubs after he retired - won a scudetto/ UEFA Cup (with juve?) and managed Italy to the 2000 Euro final as well. That should win me a prize Paul!
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#22
But maybe not for getting your name wrong Phil!
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"What I'm looking for is a top class keeper e.g. an international or someone who won league or cup honours domestically; who then became a topline coach."
There aren't that many outfield players who fit that description either.
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Interesting that when Ken Bates was strongly linked with taking over Sheffield Wednesday before he eventually opted for Leeds he went on record to say one of his first acts as chairman would have been to have sacked Chris Turner as "goalkeepers don't make good managers"!
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Here's a goalkeeper who had success both as a player and a manager....Ricardo Zmora - played for Real Madrid in the 1930s as well as Spain before going on to manage his country in the 1950s
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Goalkeepers, from my experience coaching at amateur level is that goalkeepers dont train with any outfield players (fitness coaching aside) and in some set ups even get spoken to seperately by managers from the outfield players. Bear in mind they are in this segregated environment for longer than any other pkayer as keepers usually have longer careers and there I think lies your answer. That a keeper wont be a successful coach based on experience but talent just like a manager who wasnt a pkayer at all (ie Mourinho).
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Graeme #27, Mourinho played for three clubs, none of them top rank, before deciding that he would be better as a coach. He already had some coaching background, as his dad was a coach and Mourinho used to accompany him to matches.
I note from Wikipedia that Mourinho stated a preference for Liverpool rather than Chelsea, but the reds preferred Benitez! What an error!
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Thanks for reminding me of old Preud'homme. Best GK for me in the mid 80's and he was not short of confidence for a GK either. Did he not say 'I am Preud'homme, I will stop Maradona' just before the '86 WC semis. Unfortunately the second half of that match turned out to be the best ever display of skill and power that any player has displayed in an international match. Maradona was on 'jet fuel', according to Preud'homme in a post match interview!
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Sorry about my earlier post, just remembered it was Paff not Preud'homme! My memory's not as good as it use to be!
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#28 Faustino, thanks for that I'd heard he had played but thought it was only the equivalent to Sunday league but oh well I think its still a valid point though that keepers are not in the right environment for too long to be a manager/ head coach.
And, I had heard when Liverpool first played Chelsea in the CL that he preferred Liverpool as a boy and we did go for Mourinho first apparently but he turned us down for Chelsea. One of reasons why people critisise him for only going to teams with healthy transfer budgets, because he had the choice. If you check, Mourinho agreed to join Chelsea in May 2004 and Benitez Joined us (as I'm a Red) in June. And boy do I wish that Mourinho would've joined us. But would we still have our 5th? :) thats for another debate I think lol.
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You couldn't resist the sideways swipe at Steve McClaren could you? So he failed to get England to the European championships. Get over it! You make no mention of Michel Preud'homme's significantly increased pay packet, or Rafa Benitez's significantly increased pay packet.
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Don Mackay managed several clubs in the 80's and 90's with relative success - Dundee, Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham to name a few. Goalkeepers do have a more balanced view of every position on the pitch and their long ball passes are usually more accurate than those of some outfield players. As one previous correspondent mentioned, how many outfield players could coach goalkeepers?!
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Ricardo La Volpe, Argentina's (3rd-choice) 'keeper at the World Cup in 1978 and manager of Mexico at the World Cup in 2006.
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Ok, so having had a think about it, on wikipedia, these are the goalkeeper I have come up with:
1. Ladislav Molnár
2. Eike Immel
3. Cihat Arman
4. Vasilije Radović
5. Vítor Pontes
6. Alain Casanova
7. Marijan Vlak
8. Max Wosniak
9. Milorad Korać
10.Egon Sørensen
Any of these do Phil?
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Jock Wallace, goalkeeper for West Brom and, famously, goalkeeper/manager of Berwick Rangers when they knocked Rangers out of the Scottish Cup, went on to guide Rangers to two domestic trebles in three years between 1976 and 1978. He also managed, amongst others, Leicester City and Sevilla.
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I'd have thought that the reasons for this were rather obvious. A goalkeeper becoming a coach is not dissimilar to your plumber becoming a coach, in as much as there is so little commonality between a goalkeeper's experience of the game and that of an outfield player. Secondly, the perception that keepers don't make good coaches dissuades everyone from giving them a chance.
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Going back a lot further, there's Elisha Scott, legendary Liverpool goalkeeper [apparently still their longest serving player] from between the 2 world wars, who was a highly successful manager of Belfast Celtic. One of his last acts as manager before the club withdrew from football was to oversee a 2-0 over British champions Scotland in 1949.
And Preston's legendary keeper Alan Kelly Snr briefly managed Ireland and Preston, and was quite successful as a coach in the MLS.
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Amazing to read a blog about the fantastic Michel Preud'Homme here.
As a kid I'd go watch games of my local team KV Mechelen, and the one player I loved most was Preud'Homme. His Passion, his no-nonsense but extremely effective keeping style coupled with a humility few of his quality tend to show won me over completely. But despite this Mechelen side winning the Cup Winners cup and the European Supercup this was still a relatively small team from A small country, and I always wondered if maybe he would've gotten more respect as a goalkeeper if he'd played for a big side like Man U, Real Madrid, or like his predecessor for Belgium Pfaff, Bayern Munich. Even though he moved to Benfica late in his career it still wasn't in that league. Although he also became a hugely popular figure for that club. I still feel playing for a true European top club he'd have made the top 3 goalkeepers in that list a while back. I definitely rate him higher than for instance Cech or Casillas.
When Kv Mechelen went bankrupt and popular tv figure Marc Uytterhoeven launched a campaign to save it, by asking supporters with means to give €10 000 to save the club, despite being a Standard Liege supporter all his life, Preud'homme was among the first to donate.
When he won his league title with his first love Standard Liege I rekindled my admiration for him in his new role as manager.
I was surprised to hear about clashes with the management and some players at standard when he moved to my current home of Gent. But I alerted my Fiancee that the team she's supported all her life had probably signed the best Belgian trainer at that time. And how I loved to be proved right when in his first season in charge he just barely missed out on 3rd place on the final day of the competition, not bad for a Gent team that before had mostly been a good example of "also-rans". And last season I finally had a chance to chant his name again as I'd done 20 years earlier when I saw him play, as We watched Gent win the cup on a big screen in the middle of the city. And again when the players and manager arrived a few hours later to the complete adoration of the entire town. Especially after he had guided the team to a 2nd place by thrashing and subsequently leapfrogging classic rivals FC Bruges 6-2, something my fiancee still reminds me of practically eevry day.
Tonight I'll watch the Spurs-Twente game again rooting for my boyhood hero, but I'm covinced that no matter what happens in London, in a few years we'll see Preud'homme as a regular feature on the sidelines, finally taking that step up as a manager from an already stellar playing career.
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Peter Shilton managed Plymouth!
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Senol Gunes, who led Turkey to 3rd place in the 2002 world cup was also Turkey's national goalkeeper in the 70's! He won 6 league championships with Trabzonspor as a player, and is now their manager again.
In their Europa league matches against Liverpool, or any of their Turkish league games this year, you would see that he is trying to go for tactically fluid team which incorporates a number of flair players. He is thought of as one of Turkey's most tactically sound coaches, so he is certainly worthy of being mentioned alongside the others.
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