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#Post#: 57334--------------------------------------------------
Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young coaches
to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: Quintron
Date: January 22, 2021, 2:46 am
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HTML https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2021/01/22/paul-gustardsharlequins-axe-illustrates-need-young-coaches-strike/
#Post#: 57335--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: flapjack
Date: January 22, 2021, 2:56 am
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Can you post the text please?
#Post#: 57337--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: Quintron
Date: January 22, 2021, 3:29 am
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Got the butler to do this so it better be ok
'A few years back, I wrote a column stating there were too many
old coaches knocking around and it was time for the new order.
We sort of saw that happen, with people like Paul Gustard
(Harlequins), Geordan Murphy, Steve Borthwick (both Leicester),
Stuart Hooper (Bath) and Sam Vesty (Northampton) being
appointed. Young coaches finally taking top roles. But the one
common denominator I've found with almost all those young
coaches is they feel they have to work 16-hour days in order to
be a success. I don't think it brings out the best in them.
The best luxuries a head coach can have are either a lot of
money at your disposal, or a lot of talent in a squad when you
arrive which you can then develop. Or, most important of all, a
lot of time and the buy-in of the board. If you don't have those
three, or a combination of those three, then you need to find
your way and be a bit more creative. And to do that, which has
been the case at Leicester and Harlequins recently, those young
coaches feel they have to work really long hours. But, to be
frank, accountants work long hours, and they are not the most
creative. What you have to do is build energy. Have a plan at
the start and then ability and confidence to see that through.
Look at Gustard, who left Harlequins on Wednesday after fewer
than three years. When he was a player, he was proper fun to be
around, a good laugh, always had a story. I remember meeting him
the first time in a while after he became England defence coach.
All he spoke about was rugby. "How's the family?" I would ask,
and he would reply by telling me about the nuances of the
breakdown. You speak to Borthwick, he is obsessed about the
game. Murphy was the same, to a slightly lesser extent. The work
takes over, and you don't get the creativity or the space you
need to grow from a young keeno into a coaching Yoda.
I spoke to Geordan at one point when he was in charge of
Leicester and he told me he got in at seven in the morning and
left at seven in the evening. I thought he was mad. "I've got so
much to do", he would say, when really, all you need to do is
get the team happy, hungry and ready to play. Often at those
clubs, because the coaches have been so methodical and detailed,
they work too hard and lose a bit of their ethos.
Harlequins, a bit like Stade Francais and Racing 92, have always
been the "show" club. They always have the best shirts - if
you're a non-rugby supporter, you buy a Quins shirt. The club is
filled and built around flair, fun and champagne. Whereas if you
look at Leicester in the late 1990s, when Gustard was there as a
player, it was full of people looking for a fight. That's what
did for Gustard in the end at Harlequins, he was unable to mix
those two mindsets. I’m sure he will already have a job lined up
somewhere else, because he is very good and maybe this will help
him reinvent the fun factor.
As for his replacement, I think Harlequins need Dean Richards
back. He very nearly turned them into the perfect club; with a
bit of dog and a bit of flamboyance, it's the perfect mix. The
ability to shock in games wins you matches, look at Finn
Russell. But the Jouer Jouer needs occasionally to be reined in,
so if you have that 70 percent dog to go with 30 percent
flamboyance, you get the right balance, which Dean was able to
do.
Enjoyment too is crucial. Having an extra four-hour analysis
session does not make you enjoy playing more on the weekend or
more likely to win. I watched the 2005 British and Irish Lions
documentary for the first time the other night, and it made me
realise what a mess Sir Clive Woodward made of that trip by
taking way too many people, and trying to follow all of these
management principles. Rather than just a core team. There must
have been 60 backroom staff on that tour. The whole operation
was too bogged down in detail without focussing on enjoying the
game on the field.
Those young coaches like Gustard work so hard that there's no
space for creativity. I feel bad for them. That portrays a
slight lack of confidence. They're going into something they
have never done before, and therefore they don't back themselves
fully and believe working all hours of the day is the answer,
until they burn out and are out of a job. Perhaps it's only when
the second big job comes their way that they learn there is way
more to life than rugby and more importantly that they are good
enough to be the big dog.'
#Post#: 57338--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: Albig
Date: January 22, 2021, 3:38 am
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Think this hits the nail on the head. Under Deano and COS we
focussed on our game and our game plan. Too much recently we
have altered so many small things and game plan.
I still think he could have been good if given more time. But
maybe we need a bit more old school! Not ME old school though.
#Post#: 57340--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: Monte
Date: January 22, 2021, 3:38 am
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Austin Healey some makes good sense but some tongue in cheek as
well (Deano) me thinks.
#Post#: 57341--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: T-Bone
Date: January 22, 2021, 3:50 am
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Pretty decent article
#Post#: 57343--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: The Absolute Quintet
Date: January 22, 2021, 4:24 am
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Healy talking sense!
Gustard’s reported daily regime of up well before dawn, long
drive around the M25 in the dark to the ‘office’, then his
personal gym session, then to work before anyone else arrived,
struck me as a level of drive and intensity that might be
difficult to be around for long.
All work and no play......
#Post#: 57344--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: TomBuckQuin
Date: January 22, 2021, 4:37 am
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--- Quote from: The Absolute Quintet link ---
>
> Healy talking sense!
>
> Gustard’s reported daily regime of up well before dawn, long
drive around the M25 in the dark to the ‘office’, then his
personal gym session, then to work before anyone else arrived,
struck me as a level of drive and intensity that might be
difficult to be around for long.
>
> All work and no play......
>
--- End Quote ---
Except I seem to remember that Pat Lam has almost the exact same
routine - seems to be serving him pretty well. So whilst I do
think Healey's point has some merit, I think it's more than a
little reductive to put Gustard's demise down to that. I just
get a very different "aura" from Pat Lam - that calm
assurance/confidence that enables him to conduct the energy of
his squad - very different to how Gussy always came across.
Although obviously most of us haven't seen what goes on on the
training pitch day in, day out so it all feels like conjecture
until we get a view from inside the camp... Maybe next Wed on
the BBC pod.
#Post#: 57345--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: January 22, 2021, 4:40 am
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Eddie Jones famously barely sleeps and is a "in the office at
5am" kind of guy so I don't think it's true across the board,
that's for sure.
I think Healey has his pet theory and likes it a lot. There's
probably a bit of truth to it. I think it raises a few
questions: do experienced coaches simply work more efficiently?
Do they delegate better? Do they just realise some of this
detail simply isn't needed? Is it more about whether you make
everyone *else* do the same hours as well?
#Post#: 57347--------------------------------------------------
Re: Paul Gustard's Harlequins axe illustrates need for young
coaches to strike balance between work and fun
DIR By: MaidstoneQuin
Date: January 22, 2021, 5:12 am
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I think the main thing with PG is he over complicated things,
and maybe tried to be too clever overthinking things. After
every defeat it seemed like in his mind there was a week long
inquiry going on with important findings. Its like in any work
environment if you need to turn things around, rather than some
novice who's got all the fancy qualifications and speaks in
intellectual tones, its the old sweat who's been around the
block a few times who gets back to basics and has the easiest
approach.
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