Training Ground Guru Podcast

Our guest on Episode #67 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Genius Sports, is Andrew Nestor. Andrew is the Sporting Director of West Brom, working under new owner Shilen Patel. When the duo arrived in February 2024, the club's finances were in a "perilous" position. Since then, they have focused on rejuvenating the squad, while being mindful of profit and sustainability rules.  Speaking the morning after West Brom's last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Bristol City, Nestor told us about his role as Sporting Director, his strategy at the Championship club and how he cut his teeth in football as owner, CEO and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the US. SHOW NOTES => 03:35: Andrew's thoughts on Baggies manager Tony Mowbray and the squad. 04:35: How he has found his role so far. 06:02: First impressions of West Brom on arriving at the club. 07:23: The Baggies were known as being innovative before Andrew's arrival - was that the situation he found? 08:16: How he worked on changing the squad, which was the oldest, based on minutes played, and fifth highest-paid in Championship. 10:00: The part the club's Academy plays in Andrew's strategy and extending the stays of younger players. 11:40: His thoughts on West Brom's style of play and how to adapt it. 15:16: Bringing in a data team to support the club's scouting process. 18:40: Planning for life in either the Championship or the Premier League at the same time. 19:25: Why Tony Mowbray was appointed as head coach. 23:57: Keeping a long-term vision for the club despite external pressure. 25:08: Carlos Corberan's departure. 26:52: Andrew's first off-the-field job in football with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. 29:05: His career outside the game before that. 29:41: Success at Tampa Bay and working with Paul Mariner and Paul Dalglish. 31:39: Meeting WBA chairman Shilen Patel for the first time. 32:23: Leaving Tampa Bay to go to Bologna. 34:44: How Andrew and Shilen ended up joining West Brom. 35:42: Shilen's involvement with the club. 36:32: Andrew's first experience of being a Sporting Director. 37:33: His wide remit at The Hawthorns. 39:06: Working closely with Ian Pearce. 39:54: The club's financial situation, largely affected by the loss of parachute payments. 41:52: What are the Baggies' short and medium-term prospects? 43:56: Reflections on the January transfer window. 46:07: Where Andrew bases himself.

Vitor Matos, former Head of Elite Development at Liverpool and now an assistant to Pep Lijnders at Red Bull Salzburg, shares his expertise on player development. He discusses working alongside Jurgen Klopp and how Curtis Jones represents the new generation of talent. Vitor dives into the intricacies of coaching dynamics, loan strategies, and the evolving pressing tactics in football. He emphasizes the importance of nurturing young players within a supportive environment and the impact of tailored training exercises to maximize performance.

Our guest on Episode #65 of the TGG Podcast is Robbie Savage.  As a player, Robbie made 346 Premier League appearances and captained four clubs. After retiring, he became a household name as a TV and radio pundit and appeared on Strictly in 2011. Now he's pursuing a different career, as a Manager, with Macclesfield in the Northern Premier League. Robbie told us why he'd turned to coaching, about his approach to leadership and about his lofty ambitions as a Manager. SHOW NOTES => 02:07: Wishing he'd gone into coaching earlier. How move from Director of Football came about. 06:44: Coaching badges? Starts A Licence next year and then hopefully Pro. Need your badges. Sees coaching as a vocation and ambition to reach the top. 10:58: Engaging with fans. Pitching in. Change in relationship with players when you become Manager. Treat them like he would treat his son.  13:40: Change in man management since he was a player. Becoming less visibly emotional. Calmer. Use of video analysis. Macclesfield expected to win every week.  18:43: Style of play. Preferred formation. Players win matches, not tactics.  24:40: Behaviour on the touchline? Setting the mood or calm and composed? Heart rate going high in technical area.  27:55: Change in style of play in non-league. Guardiola influence. Wants his team to get the ball forward quickly when possible. Not keen on playing out from the back.  32:36: Assistant wears a GoPro because of abuse from fans. Doesn't get paid at the moment. Could change when they go full-time.  38:15: Approach has changed on 606 phone-in. More understanding of Managers. Important to have consistency of messaging as a pundit or Manager. Has had offers as a Manager at bigger clubs.  44:15: Released at Manchester United. Make or break. Coached a team at Macclesfield made up of players who had been released and had great success. Callum West went to Burnley and now at Barnsley.  49:21: Do the Academies prepare players well enough? James Edmondson from Blackburn. Difference between Academy and senior football. Strength of the pyramid.  54:16: Different than he seemed as a player. Pantomime character. More than 350 Premier League games and captained four clubs. Keeps a book about all matches and what the Managers said.   

Our guest on Episode #64 of the TGG Podcast is Paul Fernie. Paul is Sporting Director of SV Darmstadt in Germany. He grew up in Hull and worked in analysis roles in England before the opportunity came to join Wiesbaden. He progressed from Head of Recruitment to Sporting Director and led the club from promotion to Bundesliga 2. Paul told us how the Sporting Director role works in Germany, what it was like to work under Graham Potter and Paul Mitchell and why more English staff should give it a go abroad.

Our guest on Episode #63 of the TGG Podcast is Danny Röhl. Danny led Sheffield Wednesday to one of English football's great escapes last season. When he took over in October, the club were seven points adrift of safety with no wins in 10. By the end of the campaign they were three points clear of relegation. In this episode Danny told us how that remarkable metamorphosis was achieved and charted his meteoric rise as a coach, from RB Leipzig to Southampton, Bayern Munich, Germany and now Sheffield Wednesday, as a manager in his own right.  SHOW NOTES => 02:11: Currently in Leipzig. Family have stayed there while he worked in Sheffield. About to work for ITV as a pundit at the Euros. 05:04: Now looking ahead to next season. Had offers from other clubs but journey not finished at Sheffield Wednesday. Need to improve the club and the squad. 08:15: Reflections on his first season in charge. Wanted an increase in intensity, while being mindful of injuries. Was always positive and believed in the players - something he learnt from Hansi Flick. 13:15: How did he win the players over so quickly? Laid out a plan for how they could be successful: pressing, counterpressing and improving ball possession. Developing players off the pitch as well as on it. "A good coach can change a game; a great coach can change a life." 19:07: Having different personalities and qualities in coaching team. He sets the plan and strategy for the week, but they get ownership of their area. 21:34: Influence of RB Leipzig on his playing philosophy. How this developed during his career. "I am not a manager to cross my fingers and wait."  27:20: Has principles and habits, but decision-making is down to the players and he builds this into his training sessions. Risk and reward in the final third. 29:17: Why did you take the Sheffield Wednesday job? Potential. 32:03: Start of coaching career at RB Leipzig as a coach-analyst. Why this dual role is important. "You cannot be just a tactical engineer on the laptop." 38:51: 6-0 defeat by Ipswich in March - took the decision to be proactive and take risks.  40:16: Ambitions for the future.  42:12: Is the owner fully behind the project? "We dream of the Premier League."

Our guest on Episode #62 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Natasha Patel. Natasha is Assistant Academy Director at Southampton and one of the most experienced women working in men's professional football.  From 2011 to 2019 she was Academy Analyst and then Head of Performance Analysis at Southampton, before leaving to become Head of Performance Analysis at New York Red Bulls for the next three-and-a-half years.

Bayern Munich Head of Coach Development Rene Maric discusses his career journey from blogging to coaching top players, including his time at Borussia Dortmund and Leeds United. He talks about his relationships with Thomas Tuchel and Marco Rose, working with stars like Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, and the importance of using laptops in coaching.

Highly-rated coach René Marić discusses the 'Bayern Munich way', Academy importance, 'game insight', raising entry age to 11, and liaising with Thomas Tuchel. Topics include tactics, Bayern's playing philosophy, Bavarian talent development, player psychology, relative age effect, and academy strategy.

Our guest on Episode #60 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Radhi Jaidi. Radhi is a true legend of Tunisian football, having played 105 times for his country and won every trophy there was to win at club level there. Fans in England will know him best from his time at Bolton Wanderers, where he played under Sam Allardyce and helped them qualify for Europe.  Since 2018 he's been a coach, working with Southampton U23s, Hartford Athletic in the USL, Esperance in Tunisia and now Cercle Brugge in Belgium, where he's assistant. Radhi told me about his tough upbringing, his best memories from Bolton and his experiences and ambitions as a coach.  SHOW NOTES => 02:05: Working as assistant at Cercle Brugge since 2023. Second spell at the club. 04:30: Same ownership as Monaco. How this impacts what happens at Cercle. Recently had a training camp in Monaco. 07:48: Why he chose Cercle. Background in youth development. Balance between development and results. 13:17: Importance of relationship building. 15:26: Duties as assistant manager. Main duties are as defensive coach, especially with the centre-backs. 16:45: Growing up in Tunisia.  21:26: Rare in having gone direct from Africa to the Premier League. 34:09: 15 different nationalities at one stage but gelled together. Importance of Tuesday team meal and being fined for missing his first one! 43:00: Childhood. Father died when Radhi was 11 and he had to grow up fast.  44:43: Are young players too pampered today? 50:30: Differences between the generations. Generation of young players have a big problem with distraction. Malcolm Frame, psychologist at Southampton, had a good mnemonic, the 4 As: Accept, Assess, Adapt, Apply. Generations and environment might change, but core values shouldn't. 55:31: Ambitions for the future - "the ultimate is to succeed with a European team as a Head Coach. I still have the ambition, the desire, the energy, the obsession to make it." Unconscious bias. "The day I get the opportunity I am going to explode." 57:53: Importance of his Muslim faith.     

Our guest on Episode #59 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is Reading manager Ruben Selles. The highly-rated coach gained plaudits for the way he managed Southampton for the second half of last season and there were high hopes when he took over at Reading in the summer. However, an ongoing financial crisis has plunged the very future of the club into doubt. In this episode the Spaniard gives us insights into the challenges he and his players have faced, while also looking back on his career to date and ahead to the future.  SHOW NOTES => 02:07: Challenges as Reading manager. Pre-season with nine pro players. 06:48: Transfer embargo in January window. Will fight to hold onto players. 09:13: Foregoing wages in November along with Director of Football Mark Bowen. "As Simon Sinek says, leaders eat last." 10:41: Having impressive infrastructure at the club, in terms of Academy and new training ground. "Yes, but you can have an amazing house and very cheap furniture. The real thing is to build a culture inside the club and make people feel safe." 12:05: What is situation regarding ownership and potential sale? 12:58: Has the project been what was promised to you? 13:30: Started coaching at 16 and gained Pro Licence at 25. Was it an advantage starting so young?  20:37: Travelled around the world as a young Spanish coach: to Greece, Russia, Azerbaijan, Denmark and England.  25:09: Move to Southampton. Had been tracked by Rasmus Ankersen. Mentored by Matt Crocker. Difficult being parachuted in as an assistant rather than the Head Coach choosing you himself? 30:02: Innovative club: individual coaching/ specialist coaches/ Playbook etc. How did it work? 32:44: Taking over as Southampton Head Coach when Ralph Hassenhuttl and then Nathan Jones were sacked.  37:48: Management is all-consuming. Impact on family. Using psychologist support for both himself and his family. "The kids were suffering." 45:53: Could you have stayed at Southampton after Russell Martin came in as manager? 48:59: Did you get offers from other clubs after leaving Southampton? And why did Reading appeal to you? 50:25: What is your playing philosophy?  54:47: Proving he is a development manager.  56:08: Working with young talented players. Example of Rasmus Hojlund, now Manchester United, at Copenhagen. Convinced he will become world-class. A "mentality monster." 1:00:25: Ambitions: for the rest of the season and remainder of career.