Training Ground Guru Podcast Training Ground Guru

Our guest on Episode #66 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 #65 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, 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 #64 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.

Here is Part 2 of our interview with Bayern Munich Head of Coach Development and Playing Philosophy Rene Maric. In this second half, Rene told us how he kickstarted his career with the tactics blog Spielverlagerung, about coaching Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund, and about his brief spell as assistant at Leeds United. 
SHOW NOTES =>
01:44: Reaction to announcement last night (February 21st) that Thomas Tuchel would be stepping down as Bayern Munich manager at the end of the season.
03:44: Start of his relationship with Tuchel, via his Spielverlagerung blog.
11:11: Meeting Marco Rose - a pivotal relationship in his career. Approach to social media and content creation nowadays.
18:24: Experiencing the Red Bull philosophy at RB Salzburg.
24:50: Onto first-team staff at Salzburg at 23; then onto Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund. 
27:15: Being one of the 'laptop coaches'. "It would be pretty stupid nowadays if you don't use a laptop."
28:03: Working with stars like Dominik Szoboszlai, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland.
36:08: Joining Leeds United in July 2022.
38:06: Jesse Marsch seemed a great fit after Marcelo Bielsa. Why didn't it work out?
43:36: Ambitions for the future?
45:50: 'Tactics don't exist, you have decisions of players.'
50:03: What type of Head Coach would you be?

Our guest on Episode #62 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, is René Marić.
The Austrian is one of the most interesting and highly-rated young coaches in European football. He made his name by founding the cult tactics blog Spielverlagerung and went on to become Assistant Manager at Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and Leeds United.
Now he's Head of Coach Development and Playing Philosophy at Bayern Munich. In Part 1 of this Episode, René told us about the 'Bayern Munich way', why the Academy is fundamental to the club, the importance of 'game insight', the relative age effect, raising the Academy entry age to 11 and liaising with manager Thomas Tuchel.
SHOW NOTES =>
02:41: Role as Head of Coaching and Playing Philosophy explained. The 'Red thread' that runs through the club.
08:36: What is the 'Bayern Munich Way' of playing?
11:55: Now the Head Coach of the U19s and Youth League team too! How has that been?
16:25: How important is the Academy at 'FC Hollywood'? 
19:42: 'Game insight' and why legend Thomas Müller and young pretender Alex Pavlović are great exponents of this.
28:38: Relative age effect and why Real Sociedad are outliers in this area.
33:28: Raising age of entry to the Academy to 11 years old.
37:00: Transition to the first team and liaising with Thomas Tuchel.
39:05: Structure of the Academy/ different age groups.

Our guest on Episode #61 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.