Thierry Henry - A step into management

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LeedsUnitedAndProud

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Small fish in a big, big pond

Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona and New York Red Bulls. I've had quite a career, I've played for the biggest teams, I've been part of the biggest accomplishments in all of football's history. I'm an invincible, I'm an all time record top goal scorer, I'm a Champions League winner. You look at my CV there's one **** of a list but there is one thing missing... Management. I've played on the biggest stages, I've been part of a punditry team for the biggest games, I've won the World Cup. Now it's time for a new chapter in my career, now it's time to dip my toes into being a manager. No longer am I the big fish firing in goals left, right and centre, I am now the small fish in a big, big pond looking to find a way to be one of the greats.

Unlike most I have the contacts to ask for help off a lot of people, I am not alone as I take my first steps into management. What I do need to do myself though is get the experience, I was an international footballer with a hot eye for goal, now I am just an unemployed manager carrying a Continental B license.​
 
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We're in October 2014 and I have had talks with a couple of chairmen and those talks have not been as promising as I had hoped, I've had brief contact with Arsene Wenger and although he did not say much he offered one key bit of advice "You have to be patient in football, you don't always get opportunities given to you on a plate. Just wait, keep learning and your opportunity will come." That has stuck in my head ever since we have had that chat and whilst I am still waiting, I am really optimistic something will come around.
 
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My first official interview, I think it went very well and I hope I find my first job here at Newcastle. I must say though I'm not too keen on the prospect of working under Mike Ashley and I can see that being problem! For now though if I do get the job I need to suck it up and get on with it no matter my dislike for the owner, besides Newcastle have some of the most passionate fans in the country.
 
It's Sunday morning, I was up late last night. I had appeared on Match Of The Day and got back very late. Whilst on the show Gary Lineker asked about my steps into management and whether I have had any offers since announcing my intention to manage a team. My answer was a simple no, as far as he is concerned he doesn't even know about my job interview with Newcastle United. I was extra enthusiastic about the Newcastle highlights when they were shown and more on my game when I was analysing how they performed. This squad could be mine in a few days time so I wanted to get a brief idea of what I'm working with, from what I saw it was not a good display they lost 3-1 to Chelsea and they looked lost without a man in charge, they desperately need someone in charge whether it's me or not if they want to keep their season alive.

It's 10:28 am, I'm up later than usual due to my late night last night. I went to check my phone whilst I was eating breakfast and noticed I have two missed calls of Mike Ashley, I immediately rang him back:

TH: Hi am so sorry Mr Ashley, I was on Match Of The Day last night and had very little sleep, is there anything you need?

MA: Yes I saw, I loved your passion in the Newcastle game yesterday and it made me think you gave us a very impressive interview and you clearly understand the game despite your lack of experience I would like you to be the new manager of Newcastle United.

TH: Wow that's great, I would love the opportunity to manage Newcastle. Would you like me to come down to the office?

MA: I'm in Scotland at the moment but we will discuss contracts later today. You can take a look at the facilities today and begin to plan and tomorrow you can take charge of the first team.

TH: Okay I will be down soon, thanks again Mr Ashley.

MA: No problem, as a final reminder in the future you will need to sell to buy, we are still a business and we need to look to keep money in the club.

TH: Okay good bye, speak to you later.

MA: *Hangs up*

It seemed odd, he seemed a lot happier today than he was when we first met, he certainly wasn't as friendly. I am still not too keen to work under Mr Ashley but right now I have just put my first step on to the managerial ladder and what a club to begin with!


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Nice start! Is this likely to be journeyman style? Somewhat?
 
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I'm taking hold of training for the first time today getting ready for my first match against no other than Arsenal, it's my first match in management and it will be a day I will always remember whilst managing against my old club. It's been tough and John Carver has been a big help to me and I will be keeping him on until the end of the season to see how us both perform together. He's been speaking to me going through previous training sessions and the key players for Newcastle he pointed out the following


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Tim Krul - A great goalkeeper who has very good reflexes and he has looked very good in one on one scenario's he is 26 and looks to be a very good keeper to have whilst I am in charge of this side.



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Daryl Janmaat - A very strong right back, I've been told he is solid in all areas - he can attack and defend and can be key to how I set up my side.



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Moussa Sissoko - He has really caught my eye in training today, he is strong fast and powerful, he is good on the ball and appears to be very good in all departments. He also looks to be very versatile and I may look to use him on the wing from time to time.


John Carver said there's a lot of quality in the main eleven but a lack of depth with quality which he said I need to address, he however did point out one more player.

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Ayoze Perez - Skillful, fast, finisher and good off the ball he seemed like he could be the perfect striker and he definitely could be under the right management he definitely looks like he could be a star in the future and at 21 he has a lot of time ahead of him.




John Carver was saying a lot of names who could be key but I stopped listening as such when I got caught looking over at the U18s training, two players caught my eye and I interrupted John and said "who are they?" Whilst pointing in the players direction. He said that's Adam Armstrong and Segun Owobowale, Segun has just joined the club and Adam has just made the step up to the U18s he knew what I was thinking and said "It's too soon to bring them in yet, leave them where they are, they are not good enough" I said "Nonsense, bring them over, they're training with the big boys"

The two players looked like they really fitted in and was the stars of training, do I involve them yet? It is way too soon to tell.

Segun Owobowale
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Adam Armstrong
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PatrickLFC said:
Nice start! Is this likely to be journeyman style? Somewhat?
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Yes hopefully, I was caught in two minds whether to start at a club and try and stay there but I always enjoy the type of story when people move around and try somewhere new, who knows though I may get attached to a club!
 
Will be leaving updates for now, felt my writing skills drop off quite a lot during last one, I'm off to bed! Will hopefully be more tomorrow
 
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Pre-Match

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It's my first game in management and what a team to begin against, it is going to be emotional and I can not wait to get into it but until the end of the match I have to forget about my past and just solely on getting the three points for my new club.

Anyway I know Arsenal very well and I can use that to my advantage, they are a very good passing team and look to keep possession of the ball and then will turn it into a quick attacking passing move, my aim is to stop that today. I'm planning something rather unorthodox, my plan is to keep them in their half as much as possible with a lot of pressure and to force them into a mistake or for them to hit the ball long. We should be demanding any aerial duel although Giroud can be a very good player in the air. I am expecting my players not just to shut out Arsenal, I am expecting a very good performance from my team, with the way I have set us up we should be playing nice football and we should be attacking in 6/7's, it is very risky we will be exposed but with the amount of players we have pushed up if they get the ball our players will be that high up the pitch they will hopefully have no where to go.

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Looking at the teams I was fairly happy, unless a change of formation we could manage to control this midfield. We are at home so we have that slight advantage, it will take the pressure off the players to play this new style whilst at home, although if it doesn't work the eyes will definitely be on me.
 
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What a win! We played great throughout the match and thoroughly deserved it, an early volley placed right into the corner by Cabella set us up for a pretty comfortable match and a nice cool finish by Pérez finished it off in the 66th minute. Our plan worked we didn't give Arsenal any time on the ball and wasted it most times they got onto it. It is still only my first game so we can not get ahead of ourselves, it's our second win of the season and hopefully the wins will continue to come.
 
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Another good win and can continue our good run of form in the cup, at times Everton tested us a lot more than Arsenal did but we never looked like a side that was going to lose that match, Brendan Galloway getting sent off did definitely help us win that match but throughout we was always the best team. What I think we need to improve on however is our ability to stay onside, we had three goals disallowed today and that can not happen if we want to be winning the majority of our games.

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We went for the same formation but we made some changes to the side to give other players a chance, Armstrong was given his full debut but failed to impress and was subbed at half time, it was a hard first game to start him in so as long as he trains hard he will get another chance. Cheick Tiote was in full control in midfield today and was there to stop most attacks. The player of the match for me today was Moussa Sissoko, he came on at half time and what an inspired substitution he was, he may not of assisted or scored but his ability to pick up the ball and run 50-60 yards was absolutely breathtaking, he can be a key player to our side this season.

View attachment 278189So that is us done for the month done, my first two games in charge resulted in two 2-0 wins, we go ahead in full confidence into the next four matches which I believe are four very winnable games if we play at our best.

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The win vs Arsenal moved us clear from the relegation zone for now, we are currently firmly in mid table we are only nine games in so we need to stay on top of our game to try and move up as far as we can
 
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I haven't really had many successful stories before, if anyone reads this and feel that it could be improved. Please let me know
 
By the way I may change how I do my updates, I'm not sure. Shall I do an individual game at a time or do a monthly updates.
 
Good reading so far. The layout is pretty easy to follow.

As for updates, it's your choice. I do game-by-game updates because I like writing a little bit about the goals, tactics and may be link a video to the goal. I, personally like to read those details as well. However, if you like to sim several games in one sitting, unlike me, then a monthly update might be a better choice to save yourself some work.

Just my 2 cents. :)
 
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mask0991 said:
Good reading so far. The layout is pretty easy to follow.

As for updates, it's your choice. I do game-by-game updates because I like writing a little bit about the goals, tactics and may be link a video to the goal. I, personally like to read those details as well. However, if you like to sim several games in one sitting, unlike me, then a monthly update might be a better choice to save yourself some work.

Just my 2 cents. :)
Click to expand...

I am liking the game by game updates, it makes it feel like I'm sharing it to all of you in real time, so if I wrote a pre match press conference, it is actually a pre match thing as I won't have known the outcome of the result yet and not scripted in anyway, I didn't really know how to explain that haha
 
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