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Jack
13-09-2010, 01:22 PM
Every now and again there's a thread suggesting our managers should have an ‘advisor’, not a director of football but someone with experience who can talk with our management team about how things are going.

In the past I’ve suggested someone who maybe doesn’t want the day to day rigours of club football but has that wealth of experience that's difficult to ignore.

Our current manager is a young chap with limited experience, limited in that this is only really his second managerial job, he hasn’t yet put the years in of recognised ‘greats’ and nor could he have been expected to have done so.

In all walks of business the leaders of our largest organisations have mentors, there's no reason football should be any different.

IMO our last couple of managers could have been a success with the right type of mentoring. They’ve been taught the basics with the coaching badges – now its time for the masterclass.

Nobody could deny John Toshack’s pedigree;

Wales
AS Saint-Étienne
Besiktas Istanbul
Deportivo de La Coruña
Wales
Real Sociedad
Real Madrid
Real Sociedad
Sporting Lisbon
Swansea City

The very type of person I meant in these earlier threads.

I want Yogi to be the Hibs manager for a long time, he has a passion for the club that would be nigh on impossible to find in another manager. Like his predecessors he’s at the start of learning his trade. The appointment of John Toshack as our management teams mentor could be the difference between Yogi being leading a good management team or leading a fantastic one.

In terms of investment what Hibs have achieved is superb. Now it’s time to invest on the playing/coaching side of things. Hiring John Toshack would be peanuts in comparison with costs elsewhere at Hibs.

magnificent_seven
13-09-2010, 01:32 PM
I would love to see something like this happen but unfortunately, the chances of it happening are highly unlikely. I doubt that it would be peanuts Toshack would be looking for.

Andy74
13-09-2010, 01:44 PM
He doesn't need a formal mentor. Hughes has plenty of contacts in football and speaks to people regularly for fresh ideas and advice.

I do always find it slightly entertaining that guys on messageboards with a fleeting knowledge of football (me very much included) want to point the way to people who have forgotten more about football than they'll ever know.

bighairyfaeleith
13-09-2010, 01:56 PM
He doesn't need a formal mentor. Hughes has plenty of contacts in football and speaks to people regularly for fresh ideas and advice.

I do always find it slightly entertaining that guys on messageboards with a fleeting knowledge of football (me very much included) want to point the way to people who have forgotten more about football than they'll ever know.

We'll just give up then will we?

Is a forum not somewhere for fans to talk pish, are we not constantly told to do it on here rather than at ER on a saturday?

Joe's ice cream
13-09-2010, 02:02 PM
We'll just give up then will we?

Is a forum not somewhere for fans to talk pish, are we not constantly told to do it on here rather than at ER on a saturday?

Yep and some are clearly better at it than others!!!!!

Jack
13-09-2010, 02:35 PM
He doesn't need a formal mentor. Hughes has plenty of contacts in football and speaks to people regularly for fresh ideas and advice.

I do always find it slightly entertaining that guys on messageboards with a fleeting knowledge of football (me very much included) want to point the way to people who have forgotten more about football than they'll ever know.

I’m not suggesting my ‘fleeting knowledge of football’ is anywhere near as comprehensive as Yogi’s – I’ll bet the difference between Yogi and Toshack isn’t that close either???

Leaders of the world’s largest organisations think mentoring is important – and they are already at the top of their area of expertise. Mentoring promising young managers is common place. Is football so arrogant to think its so unique and cannot learn for other organisations? Surely there must be a benefit of learning from someone who has managed one of the biggest clubs in the world and spent a considerable time managing in one of the most competitive leagues in the world.

magnificent_seven, Hibs have spent 10s of millions on the infrastructure, investing goodness knows how much in bringing through young talent (I read recently Hibs have over 200 young players on the books). I don't think Toshacks fee would be that much to invest for cost of bringing through a young manager. Indeed failing to nurture Yogis talent would be a sin in the light of investment elsewhere, particularly given Yogis fundamental role that is central to the whole organisation that is Hibs.

NORTHERNHIBBY
13-09-2010, 06:40 PM
Wasn't Tommy Craig meant to be John Collins' mentor? And old experience head? That ended up just plain ridiculous.TBH, if there was money for a mentor or a DOF, I would rather see it spent on a centre-forward.

No.4
13-09-2010, 07:56 PM
Toshack at Hibs... I like the sound of that... If it was my first name that preceded it.

Otherwise, why not just get a decent manager in and pay him a good wage rather than employ 2 people for one job?

I like Yogi and I don't question his passion for the club but I don't think a mentor/DOF role is really the way forward for us. Yogi should be using his contacts/speaking to experienced managers for mentoring already IMO. If he's not good enough, lets just inrease the manager salary budget and get the right man in.

Maybe with a higher paid/more respected "known" manager in control of the team, rather than someone learning their trade, we could instill a bit of discipline that the dressing room seems to have been missing? (if the stories on here are to be believed!)

ScottB
13-09-2010, 08:49 PM
Why does Hughes need a mentor? He's got plenty experience as a manager, I would see his current flaws as being near permanent now.

Secondly, being that he is an experienced manager, if you parachute a guy in above him you will cripple a guy already on the edge by the looks of his recent behaviour and interviews, may as well fire him instead.

IF we had a Collins type in the job, then maybe he would need a mentor. Hughes has been a manager for years, he doesn't need a mentor to fix him, he probably needs the sack to snap him out of his habits.