Dear Cal

Of course being at a club like Liverpool gives you an edge. Just being at a pro club gives you an edge. You are very much mistaken if you think that its not so. Just the fact that the FA will assist in the Obtaining of the relevant coaching badges is a massive advantage. Joe average off the street would find it most difficult to obtain the Uefa A license regardless of his/her ability. The Cost of circa £3000 and Time factor of circa 2 years just to sight 2 reasons. Oh and thats just the A license not the pro license which currently only premiership managers have to have but by 2010 all football league managers will have to have it. It takes at least 18 months to obtain that 1, the cost im not sure of, but you know it wont be cheap. And you say being at anfield is not an advantage over anyone.

I think we should agree to disagree on this mate.

He spent 14 years playing in non league football after he left Liverpool and didnt manage till 1988.

Am I not right in saying the PFA pays for the coaching badges or back in those days was it FA?

Anyway this is all getting off the point of the orignal thread.

Youre right my friend. Without speaking to him directly i couldnt say what assistance he got with his coaching badges. However, i do know that apprentice players who are not going to be offered pro contracts at the end of their time are given help by the PFA and the FA especially in the areas of coaching badges. As an end note, i am merely saying that unless you have played professional football, obtaining a a position as manager of a professional club is highly unlikely. There may well be the odd exception to the rule as with all things, however the evidence is there in irrefutable form to more than back up what im saying.

I must say its been a pleasure chatting!

This is the best advice you will get, contact a local club and offer to help out. One of the biggest problems junior clubs face is finding people to manage/coach teams.

Hi all,

I'm new to this site, but was reading through and got to this point by mistake. The young coaches are the next generation and the way forward. I'm 21 years old and hold the UEFA 'B' License. Will definitely do the 'A' license when ready. My only advice here is that its about the knowledge, and not the qualification. The badge doesn't make the coach, the philosophy does.

I also hold a degree in sport development, and am training as a PE teacher. I work for Chelsea FC's Youth Academy.

My advice to anyone wanting to take qualifications is to aim high, but maintain realism. I would love to manage a pro 1st team. But, I have to be realistic about my career. Its important to work with experienced coaches and develop your own understanding. I may have a level 3, but I know nothing about football, and thats how I like to think. We're all students of the game. When you know it all, retire.

Age isn't the issue, experience is. Along with maturity. At 21 I work with a Premiership club, direct my own coaching company and a football club of 90+ players. I set this up myself. Anything is achievable with ambition and hard work.

A great first post, and you have done superb to be where your at. Why don't you stick around?

Thanks mate.

I've been lucky to work with some fantastic coaches. I always say I know nothing about football!! Thats how i like to think. Saying that, I'm a Leyton Orient fan...so I probably don't know anything about football!!

I am only 16 young like the guy who started this, i completed my level 1 in may 5 months after my birthday...I have done a prep level 1 to 2 course and doing my level 2 in augest... I want to do some part time work at accademys but I don't know where to start..This has helped me slightly.

I started coaching a in December for them and I have not paied a penny for my courses. So that is a benfit! And it is so enjoyable!

Hi all.

in regards to the 15 year old that wants to get into coaching, finish your level 2 then write to as many local pro clubs as possible hopefully you will be asked to do some volunteer work to start with and then perhaps get some coaching work in their football in the community scheme, although this is done by more so called "bigger" clubs.

other than that look to assist with a local sunday league side all experience is essential and will build your knowledge.

a good way of finding local teams and their contacts is to look on the fa website. www.thefa.com

and there will be a link called find a club just click that and write where you are from a list of local clubs will pop up with contact details and information.

hope this is of some help.

There is nothing wrong with ambition but also realism is vital.

A quick point to go along with the advice from everyone else on here is that to be a pro manager you will need more than coaching qualities and a great philosophy.

The role of a manager now includes the need to be knowledgable about leadership, psychology, science, nutrition, communication and many other skills involved in shaping a team and getting them to respond to you. You could have the best coaching ideas in the world but if you dont have the leadership skills and the understanding of peoples psychological makeups, they will not listen.

So go for it with the coaching badges but in your spare time remember that you need to learn about psychology, science and many other aspects involved in the modern game.

wba1968mp

You are 15, ambitious and enthusiastic.
That's a brilliant place to start!

Anything worth doing or being in this life is hard earned. So don't be put off by the odds.
You may be SPECIAL?

"They are able who think they are able!"

Go for it!

Personally I feel that no ambition is unrealistic if you have the desire to achieve it. My personal ambition is to become a Premiership manager. Now I know the chances of my achieving that are about nil, but I have the desire to get there and if I do not aim for it because I do not think I will get it, I won't get there, simple as. As unlikely as my dream may seem, I need to believe I can get there and have the desire to do so to have any chance. You cannot achieve what you do not aim for.

However that's not to say you have to go all out to get there and suffer depression when you don't. Have a realistic aim, and an ultimate goal. For me, the realistic aim is to be the manager of my home-town team and do well there (hell, maybe even win something...). However the ultimate goal is to take them to the Premiership. Think of it as setting out aims and objectives. What is my aim? What steps do I need to take to get there? Plan one at a time.

As for playing experience, well as far as I am aware there are no rules which dictate that you must have been a professional player in order to manage at a decent level. I believe I am right in saying that Mourinho never played professional football. Yet he's won the Champions League, Premiership, League Cup, UEFA Cup, and is now in charge of Inter Milan. Playing careers aren't in the rules, so it's another ambition of mine to prove that you don't need it, and that anyone can get to the top if they really want it.

Oh and as for getting players to listen to you, well that's simple. Have the right attitude and go about the job in the right manner and you'll get all the respect you need. If you try and be something you're not, never have been, and never will be, then they will see you as a joke and you will get nowhere. If the players are intelligent enough, they'll realise that if you genuinely are crap, you wouldn't have got the job. Add to that the fact that coaches and managers aren't required to play, so why would they need to be able to anyway?