UEFA•technician focus on respect for coaches

The issue of respect for coaches and the coaching profession, an interview with Howard Wilkinson – the last English coach to win the English domestic title – and UEFA's help for out-of-work coaches in France are focal points of the latest edition of UEFA's coaching publication UEFA•technician.

The dedication and hard work put in by coaches and coach educators is worthy of greater respect and recognition that is often the case, writes UEFA's chief technical officer Ioan Lupescu. "It is disheartening when a member association tells us that there have been more than 30 changes to the coaching teams of the top division clubs in a single season.

"Enquiries about the situation in other leagues produce equally disquieting replies, about 50% of the division teams having changed their head coach during the season. Many clubs ended their domestic championship with their third boss of the season."

Coaches, says Lupescu, are faced with a tricky dilemma – trying to reconcile team-building and player development with the desire of many clubs for short-term "quick-fix success". "What can coaches do," Lupescu asks, "to command respect from the people who hire and fire? For the coaching profession, it is a worrying fact that a high percentage of technicians who are dismissed from their first job are never given a second chance.

"There is no easy solution to the situation," Lupescu concludes. "UEFA has been – and still is – encouraging national associations to offer coaches a level of education which makes them highly qualified to do the job. In other words, we need to 'educate the educators' so that the coaches of the future are prepared in the best possible way for the realities of a very demanding profession."

The keynote interview in the latest edition features a technician who knows about both working as a coach and educating coaches. Howard Wilkinson led English club Leeds United AFC to the domestic top-flight title in 1992. He has also worked as the English Football Association (FA) technical director, and coached the England senior and Under-21 national teams. His dedication to coaching sees him serve as chairman of England's League Managers Association (LMA), and as a UEFA technical instructor. He is also a former member of UEFA's expert JIRA Panel.

Alongside a fascinating appraisal of his career and a wealth of experienced views on coaching, Wilkinson is eager to praise UEFA's role in coach education's development. "UEFA's work in coach education over the past 15 years has been enormous yet sometimes unnoticed, a bit like the swan that's gliding gracefully across the lake but pedalling like mad below the water," he says.

"Since I joined UEFA I've seen an enormous change. What UEFA set about doing was basically to try to raise standards right across Europe … The difference now across the whole of Europe is huge. I would honestly argue that, if it weren't for UEFA, coaching in many parts of Europe would still be struggling to find its feet."

UEFA•technician asks what a coach does when he/she is out of work, and emphasises that technicians should pay heed to this issue, given the profession’s volatile nature. UEFA is supporting a project organised by the French coaches' union UNECATEF, backed by the French Football Federation (FFF) and professional league body LFP.

The project is entitled "Ten months to find a job", and a group of coaches 'between jobs' came to the UEFA campus in Nyon for an invaluable week of educational sessions ranging from match analysis to language classes. "It's all about professional reintegration," said Frank Ludolph, UEFA's head of football education services. "And this starts with putting a smile back on the faces of people who, for the moment, find themselves without work. UEFA is definitely glad to be contributing to the project."

UEFA's Coaching Convention has helped raise coaching standards over the past 18 years, and a revised, simplified version is coming into force, reflecting the most recent developments in the coaching and coach education sector.

"The basic objectives of the UEFA Coaching Convention remain unchanged," UEFA•technician explains. "To strive for the best possible quality of coaching; to contribute to European integration through the mutual recognition of coaching qualifications; to create unified minimum coaching standards; and to enhance the status of the coaching profession as a whole."

The latest edition also focuses on the new specialist UEFA-backed licences for goalkeeper and futsal coaches that form part of the updated UEFA Coaching Convention – the recipient of accolades from a variety of renowned technicians, including the experienced Turkish Football Federation (TFF) football director Fatih Terim, who was special guest at a recent UEFA coach education student exchange course.

Finally, UEFA•technician – a must-read for Europe's technical community and those interested in the coaching world – reports that the drive is on to attract more women into coaching, in particular former elite players to develop youngsters who may look up to them as role models. "I'd like to encourage [women] to try a coaching role," explains Wales national team manager Jayne Ludlow, "and I think some of them will flourish."

UEFA•technician is available in English, French and German.