We all know he possesses one of the sharpest brains in football. Guiding Belgium to a World Cup semi-final is proof enough of that.
But what about Roberto Martinez's key contribution to Scottish rugby? Yes, that's right. Rugby. Scottish rugby.
Gregor Townsend needs little excuse to reveal all, laughing as he recalls calling Martinez out of the blue — and playing on the Spaniard's marriage to a Scot in order to get his foot in the door.
Gregor Townsend has spoken about his days observing some of the best football coaches
In truth, the former Everton and Wigan boss could hardly have been more accommodating. Or more useful to a coach transitioning from the club to international game.
Townsend has always been a seeker of wisdom from all over the sporting world, regularly looking to soak up the teachings of coaches in rugby union, rugby league — and football.
Given half an opportunity, then, why wouldn't the Scotland head coach wangle an invitation to watch Manchester City train, then grab an illuminating half hour with 'inspirational' Pep Guardiola?
Should Martinez be willing to spend a full day talking shop with a fellow professional eager to exchange insight, who would turn that down?
The best ideas always seem obvious, in retrospect.
'I've been really lucky,' confessed Townsend. 'I've always been curious and tried to learn from the best.
'That has meant getting into different environments with the best rugby teams, the best rugby league teams.
'And I always thinks I'm really lucky to get in there. But the best coaches actually want people to come into their environment, want people to share things.
The Scotland Rugby head coach spent a day with Belgium manager Roberto Martinez
'I did think it would be tough, though, getting in to see Pep and Roberto.
'So Roberto was the first manager, in the last 12 months, that I tried to see.
'I knew he was married to a Scots girl so, when I got his number, I thought: "That's my in. I'll mention Scotland."
'He was brilliant. He picked me up at the airport, we had a full day together and he dropped me back at the airport at the end of it.
'It was great for me because he had been a club coach for most of his career but, just in the last year, had changed to being international coach.
'There were a lot of similarities about how to bring a team in, how to get cohesion straight away, how you get people enjoying the environment.
'I got a lot of ideas from that meeting and it was great following them in the World Cup, when they came pretty close to winning the whole tournament, very unlucky to lose to France in the semi-final.'
If Martinez was generous with his time, the other big name on Townsend's 'must-see' list delivered a more concentrated burst of information — but still left the former Glasgow Warriors coach bowled over.
'Pep was slightly different,' he said. 'But just as inspirational.
'I had been at Barcelona three years before. He had already moved to Bayern Munich but I learned all about the culture he set in place at Barca.
'I had always wanted to meet Pep. So I went through a guy called Graham Hunter, the Spanish football expert I knew from when he wrote for the Scottish Daily Mail; he got me in to see Pep at Manchester City.
Townsend also had a day set up for him watching Manchester City and Pep Guardiola train
'I actually only had half an hour chatting face-to-face with Pep. But it was such an inspiring half hour.
'He was so passionate about the process of coaching and I could see that when he was coaching. He loves rugby, too. Seriously. The thing he loves about rugby is how we use the ball.
'He said to me: "I love the fact that you guys pass the ball backwards but you are always looking forward. That's my philosophy! I want the guys passing backwards to someone looking forward I wish we could do more of that".
'It's brilliant, just great, to see someone at the top of their game, working in the best facilities with so much money to spend — but still what differentiates Pep from other coaches, I believe, is his passion for coaching and how close he is to the players.
'I'm very lucky to get those experiences. And you always pick up something that you might do tomorrow or makes you think: "Right, if I'm ever faced with that in the future, that might be worth trying".
'Or there are things that just seep into your subconscious.
'It's important that this gets modelled into our players as well.
'We're telling them: "Look, we're not the finished article, we're still going out there to learn new things and improve as coaches, so we can improve you guys".'
Townsend was speaking on stage in Glasgow last week, giving up his time to keep around 150 generous rugby fans entertained for well over 90 minutes — all to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.
Like many, he has been inspired by Doddie Weir's reaction to being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.
Townsend has extolled the virtues of different sports sharing ideas on coaching methods
He was speaking at a event which was raising money for the charity of Doddie Weir (above)
The stories he told about his old team-mate, mainly involving the pranks Weir would play on Townsend while touring, had the crowd in bits.
As much fun as Toonie is, though, it's the serious insight that interests many rugby folk.
And, as it turns out, plenty of aspiring football coaches.
The former Lion explained: 'Every two years, the new intake of the UEFA coaching licences with the SFA, I get invited along to present.
'I think, with the first one, they were a little bit dubious about this rugby coach coming along.
'But there are so many similar things we go through, managing people.
'It's not as simple as them playing with 11 and us playing with 15.
'It's about dealing with certain situations that, to be honest, I'm still looking for the answers to myself — and we share information.
'I've really enjoyed the links with football, not just visiting coaches but having football managers come and spend time with us.
'Jack Ross, who was St Mirren manager, came in during England week and brought us good luck last season.
'Alex McLeish is very good. He's a rugby fan, he used to come to Murrayfield.
'And Gordon Strachan was out talking to us with Glasgow a few times.
Townsend has also had visitors from football at his training, including Sunderland's Jack Ross
'I got Alex on the phone to talk about support staff when they were going to South America, where we ended up in the summer too. That was helpful, I think.
'We have a great facility in the west of Edinburgh, Oriam. It's world class and it's shared by the SRU and SFA.
'You are bumping into coaches there all the time and we have a really close relationship with football, something I've never seen before.'
It's working for Townsend, certainly. Quick, someone book McLeish a visit to the next All Blacks training camp. It couldn't hurt.
To donate to the Doddie Weir Foundation, visit www.myname5doddie.co.uk/donate — you can then give via Virgin Money, Just Giving and BT Donate or send a text. Text DODDIE to 70970 to donate £5. Text DODDIE to 70191 to donate £10.
Link articlehttps://hienalouca.com/2018/09/06/gregor-townsend-on-being-mentored-by-guardiola-and-martinez/
Main photo article We all know he possesses one of the sharpest brains in football. Guiding Belgium to a World Cup semi-final is proof enough of that.
But what about Roberto Martinez’s key contribution to Scottish rugby? Yes, that’s right. Rugby. Scottish rugby.
Gregor Townsend needs little excuse to ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Sport HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/09/05/23/05BC6836000003E8-0-image-a-29_1536185689373.jpg
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий