Big City dreams

“Where do you want to coach?”

That’s what an FA tutor on my A Licence course asked me when I was 21.

Back then, I never would have thought I’d coach Mumbai City, part of the City Football Group (CFG), to the Indian Super League title. Or become the youngest ever A-League coach. Or take New Zealand further than they had ever been at an Under-20 World Cup, before sealing qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

I had lived in Oxford all my life, and was happy coaching at Oxford’s academy and working as a teacher. So I said to the tutor: “What do you mean?”

At that time, in the early 2000s, the only real pathway to full-time coaching was in first-team environments. The academy structure wasn't necessarily in place; it was part-time work. 

The tutor said: “Everyone’s in a rush to get to first-team football. However, along your journey, you may find that you are the best Under-12s coach, or that you’re a better Under-18s coach. If you can work through the full spectrum, you may still find that you want to pursue first-team football. No problem. But on that journey, you may actually find that you are a very good specialist in a certain area.”

They were wise words, and I was fortunate to end up getting that range of coaching experience. 

"It ended up that I was enjoying coaching more than playing"

I started playing football late, aged 12. I went into Reading as a 15-year-old, then to Oxford at 17. There was no hard-luck injury story with my playing career, though. I did my badges while I did my scholarship. My youth coach at Oxford, Mickey Lewis, took me under his wing. He’s the reason I got into coaching, and I found myself really enjoying it.

The way Mickey was able to engage, to make you feel, fascinated me. So I started three part-time coaching jobs: one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and then at Oxford’s academy in the evening.

It ended up that I was enjoying coaching more than playing. Then Oxford said they weren’t going to renew my contract, so it was a natural transition into a coaching career.

I’d fallen into a supportive environment, where I was working between Oxford United and a college I had attended as part of my scholarship. When Mickey went to Doncaster Rovers with Dave Penny, I was offered his job at the college.

That turned into a four-year, full-time position, coaching at the college and getting qualified as a teacher. I was able to combine teaching with coaching the Under-16 to Under-19s at the college, then academy coaching every evening.

Oxford brought me in full-time, coaching the youth team and teaching the BTEC Diploma and NVQs for scholars. The Elite Player Performance Plan was then brought in, and there was a requirement for clubs to structure things in a certain way. So I moved into a head-of-coaching role, aged 23.

"In the English Football League especially, there weren’t many 29-year-olds in first-team environments"

Then, when I was 28, Chris Wilder gave me a wonderful opportunity. Just before the start of the 2013/14 season, one of the first-team coaches had fallen down some stairs and couldn’t take sessions. I was asked to step in for him.

We beat Portsmouth 4-1 away, then won the next two league games, and I think Chris didn’t want to change too much. He was very supportive in those early stages, which really allowed me to settle into the first-team environment. I also knew a lot of the players, because the club wanted ex-academy players to make up at least 30 per cent of the first-team squad.

I had come from more of a development role, into one where the emphasis was on winning. I got the taste for it.

Around that time, we had an audit done on the academy. Steve Brown, who became lead talent ID co-ordinator at Arsenal, was involved. He pulled me aside and asked: “What is it you want to do? You’ve had 10 years here, your CV and qualifications are very strong. You’re working across multiple areas, which is wonderful because it gives you a wide array of skill sets. But where do you want to go?”

I’d really just been enjoying what I’d done up until that point, but I said to him: “I want to be a head coach.” I was mindful at the time that I was still only 29. In the English Football League especially, there weren’t many 29-year-olds in first-team environments.

“Okay, look at what you think you need to be a head coach,” Steve said. “Are you going to get more experience here, or might there be opportunities elsewhere that will allow you to be better positioned for when that opportunity comes?”

"we were bottom, but we ended up missing the playoffs by one place. it was a dramatic change"

I had the qualifications, and I had the experience in terms of coaching. What I didn’t have was experience of managing staff or budgets, working with the board, doing media and all those things.

So I started looking at jobs, and the responsibilities that came with them. Owain Prosser, who had coached the Under-12s with me at Oxford, had taken a role as New Zealand Football’s grassroots development manager. He sent me a job spec and it ticked pretty much every box I’d been looking at. So I applied, and was offered the job as football development manager.

I did that job for a year, and as part of the role I had a meeting with A-League club Wellington Phoenix. Their assistant coach was leaving and they said: “Could you come in and help for a couple of games?” Then they wanted to make it full-time, so I went full-time.

Halfway through the second season, the head coach Ernie Merrick stepped away. The club offered me the job. At 31 years old, I was the youngest head coach in A-League history.

We were bottom of the table at the time, but it wasn’t about going in and trying to change everything that Ernie had been doing. He was the most successful coach in the A-League, in terms of championships he’d won elsewhere. This time, though, something hadn’t worked for the club to sit where it was sitting.

It was about working with the players and staff, utilising their experience and knowledge. To recognise the good things that we had, and change a couple of things. We ended up missing out on the playoffs by one place, so it was a dramatic change.

"We set about trying to change the playing style, to compete and win"

Soon after, Gareth Jennings at Stoke City got in touch and said they were looking for an Under-23s coach. I felt like I’d got what I needed from the New Zealand experience, and it was the right time to come back and work at a Premier League club. Mark Hughes was head coach, but he got sacked. Paul Lambert was brought in, but couldn’t save the team from relegation.

I had already left before the end of the season, however. New Zealand phoned up and offered me a job that combined being Under-20 head coach, Olympic Under-23 head coach and assistant coach of the national team.

I was mindful of jumping from job to job, but the opportunity to get the Under-20s to a World Cup, and the Under-23s to the Olympic Games, was something I couldn’t resist. 

Previously, New Zealand had gone to major events to not lose. The technical reports after these tournaments always highlighted good team spirit and high work rates. There was never anything about their game play. We set about trying to change the playing style, to compete and win. At the 2019 U-20 World Cup, we took New Zealand to the knockout stage for the first time, changing the perception of what the players could do.

Then Covid hit, and New Zealand Football made staff cuts. I wasn’t out of work for long, though, because an opportunity arose within the City Football Group. Ceri Bowley – one of the lead tutors on the master’s degree I had done – had become head of methodology at CFG. 

With my degree, I had shared with him what we were doing with New Zealand. He was able to see what we did and how we did it. There was a lot of crossover between what they looked for at CFG, and what they had seen from me.

"when I looked at the structure of the club and what they wanted to do, it was too good an opportunity to turn down"

They offered me the opportunity to go to Melbourne City as assistant to Patrick Kisnorbo. The idea was that, if successful, there would be the opportunity for progression within the group. It was learning about the City way of doing things.

We ended up doing the A-League and Grand Final double for the first time in the club’s history. The plan was to stick around in Melbourne, but the Mumbai City head-coach job came up. 

I’d never thought about India as a place to work. But when I looked at the structure of the club and what they wanted to do, it was too good an opportunity to turn down. When you’re supported the way that we are in this group, I knew I would be trusted.

There are 13 clubs across the group now. It allows you a great network, to speak to other coaches within the group, and access knowledge you wouldn’t get as a standalone club. 

In the off-season, I visited New York and Yokohama, two clubs that are also part of the group. Doors were flung open to team meetings, staff meetings, training, match days, to give me the chance to see what they do and how they do it. Plus there is the support that we get from Manchester – as well as Ceri, Brian Eastick has been very supportive from a coaching perspective.

Then there is the way they want City Football Group teams to play. The idea is that, if you flicked the TV on and you weren’t aware of the team you were watching, you’d be able to look and say: “That is a CFG club.”

"Our approach is always to go out to win a game, in the way that we say we want to do it"

There will be differences across the clubs. We can’t play like Manchester City, but what we can all do is follow similar principles. That fits strongly with how I want to coach.

Pep Guardiola’s involvement with City was definitely a factor in me joining the group. I grew up admiring Alex Ferguson, and how he led and managed. Or Arsène Wenger, who came in and almost changed the idea of what football managers look like.

Now it is Guardiola. He has had continued success, but he is still evolving and forever trying new things.

That’s inspirational, and I am pleased we’ve been able to have success at Mumbai City. In 2023 we won the League Winners’ Shield, unbeaten at the time. We achieved a record points total and scored more goals than anyone’s ever scored in this league.

We’re very clear on how we want to play. We’re a team that will always have around 60 per cent possession. We’ll always try to outpass our opponents, to outshoot our opponents. Our approach is always to go out to win a game, in the way that we say we want to do it. Attacking football.

It’s about putting a framework around what we’re trying to do, people being clear on what that is, and allowing players to showcase what they can do within that. It’s more principle-based coaching than formations or specific details, game to game.

"Collaboration and empowerment are important to me. I also like to stay calm"

I’m 38 now. I know more than I did when I was 31 in the A-League. But I’m also conscious of how little I do know compared to some of the staff we have here, some of the players we have, and certainly some of the people I come into contact with in the group. I feel I’m strong in some areas. Where I’m not, I allow others to do it.

Collaboration and empowerment are important to me. I also like to stay calm and take time to factor in as much information as I can to make decisions.

I want to coach at the highest level I can. Right now, that’s at Mumbai City.

What I do know is that you need to do a good job in the job you’re in and I’m in an environment where I’m supported, trusted, and have potential progression within the group. That’s all I’m looking for at this moment. The job is affording me some wonderful opportunities to learn and test myself.

At the moment, the club and the group project have been successful. And we are always hungry for more.