ILM Level 2 Award in Mentoring, Dubai 2014

A few pictures from our 3rd ILM Level 2 Mentoring course, run at Dubai English Speaking School, UAE

www.britishschoolofcoaching.com

How Manuel Pellegrini's coaching style won Man City the Premier League

A common factor in all successful athletes or sports teams is that they had a fantastic coach. 

Football in particular is a sport which puts a lot of focus and emphasis on the role of the coach.  Not only do they have to pick the team, but most are heavily involved in training, tactics and many other administrative aspects of the club, e.g. transfers. Many top international players have commented about their coaches and how they helped them become the best player they could.

Enter the Chilean Maestro Manuel Pellegrini.  Manchester City’s new manager joined the club in 2012, faced with a tough task – turning an underachieving team of huge egos into a championship winning club.

On a simple talent level Pellegrini inherited one of the most talented squads the premier league had in Manchester City with world stars such as Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero amongst its ranks. 

However this was a very similar squad to the one that lost out on the Premier League title by a massive 11 points only one season before. 

Arm around the shoulder:

Pellegrini inherited a squad full of bruised egos (and top international egos at that!) He identified straight away that he did not need to completely revamp the team or start a revolution. With a characteristically calm demeanour, he merely put an arm around the players’ shoulders and told them they were the best and that they would win the league.


This painfully contrasted with the style of previous manager, Roberto Mancini, who ,may have operated with a much more brusque style when communicating with his players.
Top professional athletes do not expect criticism from their coach in the public eye and Pellegrini understood this. 

In fact a Coach should be reviewing performance and asking the right questions.   When the media tried to he acted like a father figure, defending them at every opportunity. The Manchester City players respected this and gave their all for the Chilean Manager.

This success was shared when they won the title making Pellegrini the centre of attention.   This is an exemption must Coaches work in the background and successful clients may honour you with accolades but more commonly a client offers quiet recognition of the Coaches contribution to their success.

Willing to adapt and admit to mistakes:

As a Coach one of the most difficult  traits is that of being unwilling to adapt and change, which seems difficult to understand given the work is more often than not about change.  However some Coaches work with clients who but their services for exactly that wanting what you, (the Coach), has done before, in this case with other football team.  

Manchester City’s home form all season was phenomenal but by October their away form was threatening to ruin their season. Rather than sit and hope he listened to what his players were thinking and adapted.

This led to an amazing run of away form which guided them to the title. 

Being decisive:

Top coaches make tough decisions when they have to. City’s English International goalkeeper Joe Hart was clearly struggling for form and a series of mistakes saw him heavily criticised by the media. Many coaches would have let their number one get away with it and not improve, but Pellegrini did not. 

Understanding Hart’s personality, Pellegrini immediately dropped him from the starting 11 – a highly unusual move in modern football -  and explained his reasons for doing so. 

After a couple of months in the reserve team, Hart returned with a hunger and motivation not seen for a long time. It is often said that a poor builder blames his tools, but Manuel Pellegrini did not do this. Instead he motivated his players and got the very best out of them.

A charming man:

Manuel Pellegrini is a very different breed of manager to any other the Premier League has seen. Throughout the Premier League campaign unlike many other managers he has not become embroiled in childish spats or taken part in the media game of blaming referees after the game. 

Rather than aim pointless abuse like many other coaches do Pellegrini has proved to be a true gentleman preferring to only talk about his players in a positive light and no others.
Pellegrini broke down the walls of division in the Manchester City squad by being calm and collected. 

Manchester City’s midfield maestro David Silva recently said “Pellegrini’s calm manner gave them as players’ joy and freedom to express the talents they had”. Silva went further to suggest “that if you see the manager being edgy on the side-lines then that translates to the performance on the pitch”.

Honesty:

Perhaps it is a rare trait in modern workplaces, but Manuel Pellegrini’s coaching style is entirely based on honesty.  Players have spoken of his willingness to tell hard truths so they know exactly what he wants and why he has made certain decisions. 

His own honesty in publically admitting personal mistakes rather than displacing blame has fostered a deep respect from his players.  

One of Manchester City’s most controversial and outspoken players in Samir Nasri said “the players appreciate his honesty and that he made the players want to put their egos to the side to work for him and the team.”


In any team sport one of the coach’s greatest jobs is creating a sense of team unity and making every player want to give their all for the team. 

Pellegrini’s coaching style of being calm, honest and willing to adapt has brought respect and a willingness to play for the team from a clearly very talented group of athletes. This charming man has become a coach who many could learn from and one whose coaching styles will be copied for many years to come. 

Remember international coaching week starts on Monday 19th May 2014.