Following the monumental Champions League Final that turned out to be Real Madrid's long awaited tenth trophy - the now famous "La Decima" - you'd be forgiven for thinking Gareth Bale was the only Brit at Los Blancos.
A certain Londoner; Paul Clement, sat on the bench that night, alongside manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Clement has been Carletto's assistant since joining him at Paris Saint-Germain in 2012, and followed him to Madrid when Florentino Pérez came calling. The two men had first met when Ancelotti took the reigns at Stamford Bridge, back in 2009, where Clement was retained as First Team Coach, following Guus Hiddink's stint.
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| Clement (Left) celebrates La Decima. |
Following full-time stints at Fulham, Rep. of Ireland, Chelsea, Blackburn, and PSG, Clement now finds himself a Champions League winner, with a host of Premier League clubs considering taking a punt on him to be their next manager. His name has been mentioned alongside several others in consideration for the now-vacant Southampton hot-seat. A meteoric rise for a man who was taking PE sessions less than 20 years ago.
At the age of 42, he still has time on his side, and you feel assured that in the years to come, the name Paul Clement will become a household one, back home in England.
It is not uncommon in modern sport, to see more and more coaches in the top level, having had little or no former playing career. This is particularly the case in the USA, with many NFL coaches having not played the game.
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| Erik Spoelstra (Right), pictured with Lebron James, never played in the NBA. |
Indeed, none of the last four Super Bowl winning coaches; Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks), John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens), Tom Coughlin (New York Giants) or Mike McCarthy (Green Bay Packers) made it into the NFL. Similarly, current Miami Heat Head Coach, Erik Spoelstra, never made it into the NBA.
But just how common is this in modern European Football? Here's a few more famous cases of men that never made it, before going on to hit the big time on the other side of the white line.
The Other Guys
Brendan Rogers
This years Premier League runner-up and Manager of the Season has gained many admirers these last few months. With his free-flowing attacking philosophy, Rogers is regarded as one of the most exciting young coaches in the global game. Despite being signed by Reading at the age of 18, a genetic knee problem forced him to retire from the game early, at the age of 20, before having made any senior appearances.
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| Rogers gives instruction to his captain Steven Gerrard. |
Rogers continued to play at non-league level, whilst taking up a position coaching in the Reading academy, further pursuing his study of coaching methods in Spain. In 2004, he was invited by José Mourinho to join his staff at Chelsea, as Head Youth Coach, on the recommendation of then-assistant, Steve Clarke.
After being promoted to Reserve Team Manager, two years later, Rogers went on to manage Watford and Reading, before leading Swansea into the Premier League in 2011, as the first Welsh team to make it into the top tier of English football.
After finishing 11th in Swansea's first Premier League season, Rogers was given the job at Anfield and has since built the floundering club back into serious contenders.
José Mourinho
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| The Happy One |
Perhaps the most famous manager in the world; José certainly carries a massive reputation with him these days, following one of the most well documented rises to european footballing domination. It is often stated that José did not play football professionally, before becoming a manager, instead choosing a path through academia, gaining a degree in Sports Science in the process.
He is indeed on this list to dispel that rumour, as he did in fact make full senior appearances with Rio Ave, Belenenses, and Sesimbra.
AVB
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| AVB famously stalks his technical area with a strangely uncomfortable looking stance.. |
The Special One's assistant on the other hand, is a whole different matter. He most certainly has one of the most bizarre CV's in football. André happened to live in the same Oporto apartment block as their then manager Bobby Robson. Legend has it that AVB disagreed with one of Robson's squad omissions and wrote a host of reasons down as to why his favourite man should be playing. Robson allegedly picked up on this and met with the 16 year old lad, and invited him to scout for him.
AVB subsequently went on to complete several coaching badges under Robson's guidance, and ended up as the manager of the British Virgin Islands by the age of 21. Impressive.
Following this, he then because Porto assistant under José, and the rest is history. AVB went on to manage at Académica and Porto, followed by two ill-fated stints at Chelsea and Spurs. He is now the manager of Russian giants; Zenit St. Petersburg.
Arrigo Sacchi
Sacchi started his working life as a shoe-salesman, before becoming manager of his local side Baracca Lugo at the age of 26 - not being considered good enough to actually play for them. After coaching several sides in the Italian lower-leagues, Sacchi got his break as a youth coach at Fiorentina, before going on to manage Parma (twice), Milan (twice), Italy, and Atletico Madrid. He later became Director of Football at Real Madrid for the 04/05 season.
Sacchi was revolutionary in the fact that he adopted an attack-minded 4-4-2 system at a time when Italian football was deeply embedded in a defence-first outlook.
Sacchi famously came out with "I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first" - when questioned about his abilities, given no playing experience.
Gerard Houllier
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| Houllier with the UEFA Cup |
The old Anfield boss racked up over 130 appearences (as player-manager for AC Le Touquet) in the Calais divisions of the French non-league equivalent, but never progressed beyond that.
During his pursuit of an English degree at Lille University, Houllier spent time in Liverpool, attending his first Reds match in 1969. During his studies his father became ill, forcing Houllier to return home to work as a school teacher, and complete his studies part-time. During this time he took up coaching part-time, before making it a full-time profession, going on to manage Lens, PSG, France (at multiple age disciplines), Liverpool, Lyon, and finally Aston Villa. During this time he managed to achieve several major pieces of domestic silverware across both England and Frane, and a UEFA Cup with Liverpool.
Houllier stepped out of management due to ill health, on the 1st June, 2012.
Les Parry
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| Les Parry - Football Manager |
A much more outlandish entry, Les Parry was famously the Physio that surprisingly ended up taking the reigns at Tranmere amidst managerial turmoil. Following the sacking of John Barnes, after just 2 wins out of 11, Parry was placed in temporary charge of the club. After successfully managing to retain Rover's League One status, Parry was given the job full time, whilst retaining his job as physio; something i'm sure Don Revvie would have appreciated, if his character's words in The Damned United are to be believed.
Parry sadly only last 'til March, the next campaign, having finished 18th in the league, after a run of winning only 1 in 20, having been 5th in August. Parry left to join Accrington Stanley in a revisit to his former role solely as a physio; something more in keeping with his PhD in "Sports injuries in professional soccer and the effects of detraining" - gained from Liverpool John Moores University.
Reckon you have a more outlandish entry than Les Parry? Post a comment below or tweet us. Man points awarded for the best one.
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