Two years ago, current Inverness manager, John Hughes, was guest of honour at the CQN Golf Day. For around two hours during the meal he spoke privately to me about John Collins.
Hughes worked alongside Collins at Livingston and regarded our new assistant manager as the most insightful, tactically aware and innovative person he’d met in the game. According to Hughes, Collins could see things hidden to others, including himself. He could spot weaknesses in opposition teams and make telling observations about his own players and formations.
When recruiting anyone to the management team we want to hear endorsements like this. Most of the CQN demographic are old enough to remember times when managers’ and assistants’ most important attribute was their ability to bang his first on a table and yell “Get stuck right intae them” with a legendary level of authority.
This model of the desirable manager is still valued by British clubs, it’s a superstition which has been fed by famous and successful table bangers like Sir Alex Ferguson, but Ferguson’s Fist was not the source of his magic touch. More than anything else, Ferguson’s successful longevity was his insistence on appointing insightful, tactically aware innovators as assistants, who were often more switched-on than he was.
I wanted a student of the game as manager but I also want another strong tactical head as assistant. The last thing a manager actually needs as his assistant is his pal, or someone who is good at shouting, or even someone to be a buffer between him and the players. Whoever puts the cones out at Lennoxtown, like the Scottish physio at Chelsea, can be the players’ pal, cum-go-between, cum-nag.
One of football’s many inefficiencies is the managerial structure. Unlike other industries, the responsibility and wage gaps between the man with the top job and his assistant are huge. There is no reason for this, in fact, it’s mad. You always need a hierarchy but the no. 2 should have duties, responsibilities and pay only a fraction less than his immediate superior. The huge disparities in authority which are common do not give you a functioning team, at best you have a less efficient autocracy.
As we’ve said for years, guru managers don’t exist, but good, properly constituted, management teams do.
Those in the management team, responsible for spending millions of pounds of our money each year, of making tactical decisions against the best teams in Europe, need to be oracles of the game. Anything less and we’re indulging in one of football’s glaring and costly inefficiencies.
John Collins fits the profile. He also doesn’t suffer fools, with strong ideas on training, fitness, laxity, drinking, diet and off-field behaviour. For Celtic, all of this is necessary. Footballers are elite athletes but there is enormous variation in how dedicated they are to their personal development. This doesn’t exist in elite participants in sports like athletics, where you don’t get near the podium without a puritanical level of commitment to your development, and to your coach’s instructions.
You can also forget any concerns about Scott Brown. The Scott Brown of 2014, who as Neil Lennon’s captain was responsible for imposing misdemeanor fines on players, is more like John Collins than he is like the Scott Brown of 2007.
Over the last seven years we have built the sports science, medical, technical analysis and scouting capacity, all of which are particularly impressive, but the management team has always had a homespun feel about it. In 10 years of CQN I’ve never backed a Celtic management appointment, but with the appointment of Ronny Deila and John Collins we have a new type of management team. There are no guarantees of immediate success in any walk of life, and Champions League qualification this season will still be exposed to the vagaries of sport, but I’m delighted we finally have what looks like a properly constituted team in the dug out.
Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his book, All the Best.
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HT
“I don’t think, as I’ve said, that Yogi plays a particularly entertaining style. It can be attacking and it may be expansive. But for me it also shows naivety if you don’t have the quality of player to do that.
It’s preparing to fail.”
I think we are violently agreeing. I would agree that it is naive to ask players to do what they cannot do well. However, that is tied up intrinsically with the point about pressure for results. If fans were willing to wait to see a better aesthetic standard of play with similar or better results, after a passage of a couple of years, then coaches such as Yogi might just work.
There is no doubt in my mind that Yogi’s Falkirk played very attractive football, their interpassing and 3rd player running often had them breaking through Celtic’s more static midfield. I acknowledge that he has been less radical with ICT and we may expect to see more pleasing play from them next year. But will their fans accept any dropping off from two consecutive 4th place finishes. Both Killie & Falkirk were naive in asking their less talented players to pass the ball about the back and try to play out of defence. They shipped goals in doing so; I accept that.
I can separate out applauding the player development involved with the approach and also be grateful that it is another team that is applying those principles allowing Celtic to exploit them when we play against them. I feel it is good for player development to play that way; it is not so good for a team where results are the be all and end all.
“With regards to point 2. I maintain that Yogi gets jobs at those types of clubs because he’s not good enough to get anything better.”
It’s a vicious circle. If you are interested in player development and the long term view, you need an informed Board and set of supporters to buy into this along with you. Knowing how football works, I’d adopt the Harry Redknapp model of buying 3 good players for every position. He boosts the league position of every club he works with. However, months after he leaves to follow his own career spiral, those clubs go bankrupt due to the debt he piled on (Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Southhampton, Spurs and now QPR)
“Anyway, your hedge must resemble a mini Bonsai now :-)”
I have a lot of hedge and it keeps growing
I thought Cahill made a ok soccer play for that goal. Other than the fact that the goal was in the right position at the right time that shot from a poor decision to use his wrong foot would have went past the post. If I was his manager I’d be pure raging!
As for Delloites. If they refuse to sign off accounts then I assume they must resign their position. How many accountant companies would that be who have done Walking away?
Still disgusted at Cahills poor decision making.
MWD says AYE
Travellerbhoy not overtly Celtic but a friend of mine’s place and a good shop to watch football
http://www.bacchusglasgow.co.uk/
my favourite bar in glasgow just up the road great place for the game
http://thegriffinglasgow.co.uk/
STV News burd highlighting Scott Brown’s previous with John Collins….who writes this guff
Chile fans invade Press Area at Maracana
I could do Sevco accounts.
I know about Red and Black. Like their scarves. And I know Red is really good because it’s a bright colour and Black is just bad.
MWD says AYE
Bada bing
I find your use of News Bird extremely offensive! At what point did you feel it was ok to refer to said bird with reference to news.
MWD says AYE
Any chance of an Independence debate wae the BritNats?
MWD says AYE
Just had a response from BBC with regard to BBC Scotland not showing the Jock Stein programme and my complaint that their sports department are biased towards the undead. They claim the programme was only ever offered to BBC Alba and they refute any bias.
As for the first part, I presume the person responsible for the programme expected BBC Scotland wouldn’t be interested. For the second part, well, as Mandy Rice Davis said a long time ago, well, they would say that, wouldn’t they?
Bada
The story of course was actually Ronny Deila busy already adding charity work for under privileged children to his role at Celtic. We couldn’t have that as the only football story in Scotland could we?
STV work very hard on the anti Celtic slant, to the extent they achieve Not the Six O’Clock news.
Bada bing
Huns
Amazing the number of pundits with a CFC connection that are employed when the TV is a nationwide football format
Contrast with the national crap stocked full of stupid Huns …
PFayr
Shhhh! It’s a secret.
MWD says AYE
Ohhhhno Huns turning tellies off as Neil Lennon is commentating on BBC. Again
….pfayr supports weeoscar
19:37 on 18 June, 2014
Amazing the number of pundits with a CFC connection that are employed when the TV is a nationwide football format
Contrast with the national crap stocked full of stupid Huns …
……………..,
Great point
PF
I said that very same thing at work today.
How come we turned down that 6 year old’s application for the manager’s job?
We are, I am often told, a club that is downsizing rapidly and where the balance sheet comes first, second, and last.
You cannot down your size much more than a 6 year old. Yes, I know that 3 year olds are often smaller but, let’s be serious, could they run a football club and remain focused if the ice cream van came?
You cannot look after the balance sheet much better than to employ a 6 year old and pay him in sweeties.
In turning down this applicant, our Board have shown themselves to be a disgrace to downsizers and balance sheet worshippers everywhere.
Only one conclusion to be drawn.
Sack The Board! You know I make sense.
Rob Harris @RobHarris · 16m
Sure when FIFA was formed 110 yrs ago they never imagined the type of water you could take into a stadium would depend on bottle label
Rob Harris @RobHarris · 18m
FIFA security does focus on taking the wrong brand water at checkpoints. Only Coke water allowed in
That six year old brings it all on himself.
SFTB
He talked back too much!
MWD says AYE
HT
I like big Yogi Hughes, paid his own way into watch the Glasgow Celtic in champions league last season – was sitting in seat right behind me, with his Dad (I presume)
So if he played for and watches us, he knows a good bit aboot fitba :-)
Hail Hail
Syd
He’s just a corner toddler
Surely the six year old would play the kids.
SFTB
Wheesht will ya.
In two years from now that post will not be so ironic and the WWF brigade will be stating how satisfied they are that PL is resorting to youth. Those are the ones that need told often rather than having the savvy to work it out for themselves ;-)
HH
Hamiltontim
18:43 on
18 June, 2014
Well done Celtic and Mr Lawell especially.
https://twitter.com/billybhoy88/status/479300319214845952
Ps yes, I did just praise the board :-)
——————————
HT…Some eejits using your login.
my favourite water
https://www.vosswater.com/
Sorry HT..should have been ‘some eejit apart from yourself’
C’mon Spain
I’d like to congratulate Celtic secretarial services for their reply to and clubbing together to buy that wee 6 yr old boy a gift from Celtic PLC shop.
MWD says AYE
Parting shot until the CL qualifiers.
Good luck to John Collins. Keep your ego in check. Stop dying your hair. Put Celtics fortunes above your own no matter how much the plc admires that particular trait. Luckily you have arrived in an ers where you can be dumped with a finger click and instantly forgotten.
Baaah Baaah CSC
HH
HH
Ers=era
PFAyr
Aye, the zombies are having another permarage summer.
To be fair, how could anyone with zombie connections be expected to speak with confidence about full time footballers and modern tactics? The ludges must have issued an order for them to turn down all media invitations.
Btw, hope to meet up at the Ayrshire hootenanny.
HH
Tim’s scoring goal of the tournament
Players blessing themselves
Celtic players on the big stage
Ex Celtic managers and players outnumber pundits from ANY club in the uk
Just as well the zombies are very calm / rational people who ain’t obsessed with Celtic :)
Minx 1888
A truly wonderful turn out for John’s Requiem Mass nearly 500 people, standing room only, and at the end of the service the song that was going to be the first dance at their wedding was played a truly poignant moment and not many had a tear in their eyes
RIP John Aitken and god bless his family
whitedoghunch
Cheers for that bhud
Hail Hail
Wow Chilean fans and players truly bawling their anthem out with vein bulging passion.
Hope the ref has a strong will and a backup whistle.
HH
Ment to say not many had not a tear in their eyes
Ohh Lord spare us ..
We have McManaman and Darke as commentators.
I realize I invented interactive television years ago.
I have been shouting at the thing for at least 30 years.
Mute button activated if I can find the remote (as my legs are having the day off)
HH