[Albion] Graham Potter joins on four-year deal

[ozzygull]

Not a bad style and certainly far more pleasant to watch.. https://www.swanseacity.com/media/43872

Look at the goal highlights when we were in our last season in the championship, we played pleasant football as well.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Last post on the Swansea board......some delusional fans about.


'GP needs to either go to, or stay with, a club on the "up". That certainly isn't Brighton, but may well be us. Think on'

Some delusional pricks on this board, too. One clown asserts TB does not know and never has known what he's doing

 

[GoingUp]

I dont want us to risk our Premier League status on an untested manager who is going to play nice football but get us battered tbh when Southampton took on Pochettino, if I remember correctly they wernt really looking at relegation (i might be wrong) and had a strong squad. I would rather we look at a tried and tested manager for now, but who is there around?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Hi, first of all I've come to say hi please dont steal him.

Second, I'm here to deliver Graham Potter porn. NSFW below.

Some Swedish article about Potter's leadership

"If I should mentioned me as a leader it is my math teacher from when I grew up outside of Birmingham. Mr Shaw. He was the difference between a good and a bad teacher. You focused on the lessons. This despite it being about algebra. You understand? Algebra! He really had an ability to lead, make us engaged, and develop both in math and as humans. We still have contact and I learned a lot from his ways".

"Everyone of my friends took the usual path through college and university into the corporate world. I guess I would have followed that if it wasnt for football. I was pretty good in school."

"Honestly, I dont think there is a lot of difference between leading a company and leading a football team, not from the leadership perspective. The contect is difference but the principles the same. A lot of groups, in society or in football teams, are talented and should be better than they are. But there is something in the organisation that makes them perform worse. Bad environment? Group dynamics? The leaders?"

[Östersund had just played 3-3- in a friendly versus Lokomotiv Moskva] "Vi did a lot of good things. Unfortunately we let in a few goals that looked a bit easy. But that happens. To develop the players in my team, or the colleagues in a company, you have to develop them psychologically. This is important in H&M or Swedbank or as a player in LÖstersund or Barcelona".

"To me its just that, developing the players both in football and as humans, that is the goal of my leadership. I focused everything on football, but one day - when I was 24 - I realised I could just barely read the easiest of tabloids. It was like my brain didnt develop when I just played football. I decided I needed to train my brain as well."

"We all do it, we pick up things here and there and try to become who we are. I went different coaching educations in England, they were uninspiring. I probably wasnt ready. The first leadership job I had was as head of development of the football at University of Hull and it didnt feel good. I wasnt comfortable. I'm not the type of person who feels natural speaking in front of people".

"In my style of leadership, one of the parts is to create an environment where people are challenged. This requires that you realise that people are different. Its important to be respectful, we are talking about people with their own careers and wills. If you show respect for these differences, you create a safe working environment".

"We make mistakes all the time. A football game is 90 minutes filled with mistakes. Then its important not too critisise as it creates fear. It is unfortunately pretty common in sports, and probably in other organisations as well. I dont want to point at a player and say "we lost because of your marking", because mistakes will happen again and again and again. Instead we need to use mistakes to improve to get better. I want people to grow, to feel that they are a part of what we're doing. Instead of critisising, I want to show what we can learn."

"You have to get a feel of the person you are dealing with. I think I am pretty honest when I give feedback. If I explain why I give the feedback - in order to help the player and help the club - there is usually no problems. I dont think anyone ever has gotten mad at me. Fundamentally it is because I set up a framework and explain why I say the things I say. That framework is important - anyone who wants to evolve needs to get feedback".

"It always sound easy when 'experts' on TV says what should have been done. But it is different when you are dealing with people.HOW you communicate your message, the words you use, is something where a lot of leaders fail".

"Its easy to say that you should learn from mistakes - the thing I tell others. But I know myself it is hard to accept your mistakes. We humans want to be good, succesfull, feel useful. And thats why as a leader you must be able to say "sorry lads, I made a mistake."

"If you want an environment where people feel confidence and safety then the leader must be the first one to admit to mistakes. I dont have all the answers. I need to be able to admitting that. I make plenty of mistakes every day. When it comes to leadership, you first need to understand yourself: "Why do I react the way I do? What are my weaknesses?" If you dont understand yourself, you are just roleplaying a leader."

"We've gotten new players that havent understood anything. 'What? We are doing theatre?'. Not everyone is excited. But they understand when I explain it: its a fascinating process and we all grow from it. We become more brave, I'm sure of it, from my experiences. Dancing was the funniest. The singing was the worst. "Jämtlandssången", in Swedish, in front of 1500 people. I was very uncomfortable. I practised with a nice little piano comp, and when it was time there was a whole band there. But I did it. Trust me, you feel like a rock star..."

And from the side text:

Career plans: "I have none. My plans follow the team. I dont make personal five- or ten year plans."

Swedish and British leadership: "Swedes are bit more reserved, usually. A bit more afraid of conflicts. But I like how calm most Swedish leaders are."

Swedish language: "I understand it pretty well. But Im not good at speaking it. My son, who speaks perfect Swedish, laughs at me all the time."

Travels: "Nowadays mainly to warm places that suits the kids."

Music: "Im pretty nostalgic. Currently its most Cranberries because it reminds me of when I was a young man, young and promising..."

***

Potter on his background and philosophy
After a year in Southampton, where no one had seen him play when they bought him, he moved down a level to West Bromwich in the second division. "I had a coach saying: "I cant make you better, but I can make you fitter. So we ran. 'If you run more than the other team you will win!'", he says, grinning.

"Another coach, Terry - bless him - used to say that if the opponents got a goal kick it was good, because then it was 70 meters away from our own goal. For a second I thought: Wait, that is not the answer. It triggers the mind. When we conceded goals from a corner, the coach was often speaking with the guy who lost his marking. That was all of the analysis. In my mind I thought: yeah, but we had to defend against 16 or 17 corners? Thats the problem right? You play against teams that control the ball a lot. They attack you. You start thinking."

Eventually the contract with York ended. Potter hears nothing from the club. Instead he reads on the teleprompter (or whatever the word is) that he is a out of a job, the same day he is marrying his wife.

Next destination is Boston United, a club that because of unpaid salaries tries to compensate their players with giving the players frozen turkey for Christmas. He gets to know Graeme Jones, but loses the motivation to keep playing. After a short session in Macclesfield, he quits, only 31 years old.

"I went through the coaching education but it was very traditional. It was not moving, just uncomfortable. To be a coach and stand in front of people and speak didnt feel natural. I could not go into professional football again with my toolset."

"There was a lot of ex players who didnt care, they thought they were born coaches and didnt have to learn anything about it. Maybe I didnt realise it then, but the most thing is to be able to sort and categorize ideas and put them together, structure things and people to make them better. My experience from playing and coaching wasn't that. It was just "things". Nothing. A place with "things" and people wanting a badge. No teaching, no learning."

"I realised I didnt have a damn clue about anything. I was just shit. I still realise that sometimes. But then, if I had become a coach I would have failed. I had no abilities and no ideas how to structure things. I had the education, but I learned nothing."

On his days off, Potter used to go to Swansea to watch Jones & Martinez training sessions. "They were killing League One with their ball possession. It was the first time anyone played like that in England, at least on a lower level. It became the identity of Swansea. There was a big reluctance against it within the club as well, but I saw how they were working towards something."

"You try to steal some stuff. I was looking for something as well. I had nothing. I had a bit of own thoughts but I needed a period of experimenting. I tried different systems and methods, and now when I think back that time was very important. I had a platform that showed me the things I needed to know and handle. Ideas of how I wanted to work started to grow."

"But it wasnt easy. There is this attitude in England, a culture that says: "the ball goes forward". We dont realise it before someone says: 'I saw something else'. It is a bit difficult, you need to think a bit different, you need to train a bit different, but it is possible, I knew because I saw it happening in Swansea."

Soon a vision of play got into his mind but when Potter moves to Leeds after 2,5 year in Hull he still thinks something is missing in his toolbox. "When I was playing there was no culture of learning. There was a culture of blaming, filled with mistakes and fear. As a coach you need to challenge it. But how do you do it differently?"

He starts a master education in emotional intelligence. It is provided by a psychiatrist who had earlier worked with special forces of the British army, among other places in Afghanistan where soldiers were to go into caves and tunnels and where a lot is about handling pressure in life-and-death situations.

Apart from the man wanting to become a football coach, he shares bench rows with a lot of surgeons. "How do you coop with failure and mistakes? That started to create a more theoretical understand of leadership in me. How am I going to use this knowledge in football? Mistakes happen. How do you react? How do we develop responsibility, self-conciousness and empathy? It is the most important thing in a football team. I knew it, but now I had the tools to develop it. Anyone can see a training session or practice on Youtube, but if it is delivered in a bad environment, its not going to work."

When he was done in Leeds, he was of interest to no one. "I was a university coach. No one was interested in me. They want to know: where are you signing players, what experience do you have of League Two, how are we getting out of this division? That sort of things. They dont wanna hear about a method, or how you work. Football is like that generally. When you start talking too much theory and tactics, people are going to see you as this high-brow *******. It doesnt help you being intellectually developed. You prefer someone who makes funny jokes."

"I knew I had to take another path. I wasnt exactly sure I had to go abroad. Very early, I got an offer from Swanseas youth academy, but it wasnt good enough."

In Östersund, he could in a safe environment use the methods he had been taught. He and Graeme Jones learned about "holistic" training principles on trips to Spain, and he learned about the physical periodization strategy of Raymond Verheijen. "In football, result is everything. It is too much. There is a lot of great work being done but since the team doesnt win its not interesting. Football is often simplified. The discussion seldom goes any deep, it stays short term and its danger, because we get into this conservative bubble. Then its easier to buy experience and refer backwards. That is why 95 percent of the leagues are determined by economical muscle. The big challenge of football is to leave the bubble."

Sounds dreadful. Tentative, capricious, whimsical, and can't spell 'context'.

I'm out.

 

[Weststander]

Some delusional pricks on this board, too. One clown asserts TB does not know and never has known what he's doing

Yet probably enjoys all the benefits of the Amex (Tony’s money) and PL football (again, Tony bankrolled getting here and in fact still subsidised season 2017/18).

 

[Gwylan]

I had a platform that showed me the things I needed to know and handle. Ideas of how I wanted to work started to grow. But it wasnt easy. There is this attitude in England, a culture that says: "the ball goes forward".

Sounds like the Stephens haters aren't going to like this guy

 

[clapham_gull]

Being interviewed today after Swansea gave permission for approach.

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

 

[Beach Hut]

Being interviewed today after Swansea gave permission for approach.

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

Very underwhelming but you never know

 

[TSB]

I dont want us to risk our Premier League status on an untested manager who is going to play nice football but get us battered tbh when Southampton took on Pochettino, if I remember correctly they wernt really looking at relegation (i might be wrong) and had a strong squad. I would rather we look at a tried and tested manager for now, but who is there around?

Hughes. Allardyce. Warnock. Pullis.
Inspiring list.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Being interviewed today after Swansea gave permission for approach.

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

Sounds from that like it's all done bar crossing the t's and dotting the lower case j's.

Seems like a decent appointment to me, but if it's not working by the November international break, we'll be looking at a plan B.

 

[BLOCK F]

Sounds dreadful. Tentative, capricious, whimsical, and can't spell 'context'.

I'm out.

Blimey, you didn't actually read all that did you?
I'm impressed!

 

[casbom]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...uit-graham-potter-chris-hughtons-replacement/

 

[dwayne]

He definitely talks the talk. A lot of his management speak sounds like one of the text books he studied in uni. That's the problem with football managers; most are so thick in this country; when you find one that has a Mickey mouse degree they seem amazing and refreshing.

What this guy probably hasn't been tested with yet in his career is a big runs of losses. Thats when it will be interesting to see if he can hack the pressure and keep to his philosophy like Hughton did.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[Bakero]

Very underwhelming but you never know

Who would you prefer?

Any appointment carries an element of risk but I won't be disappointed if it turns out to be Potter. However, his haircut is not Premier League ready.

 

[Deadly Danson]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...uit-graham-potter-chris-hughtons-replacement/

Interesting thanks. So we've already been given permission to talk and has his interview today. Could be wrapped up fairly quickly.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

One season in the Championship finishing tenth and getting Östersund into Allsvenskan really aren't credentials to make me believe this will go well.

I'm excited, but this is a massive roll of the dice. Massive massive gamble on an unproven manager.

 

[Beach Hut]

Who would you prefer?

Any appointment carries an element of risk but I won't be disappointed if it turns out to be Potter. However, his haircut is not Premier League ready.

I think we should be looking to recruit a Bundesliga manager, however, I have not pumped millions into this club and also I would hope many at the club have better expertise on football than me

 

[casbom]

Interesting thanks. So we've already been given permission to talk and has his interview today. Could be wrapped up fairly quickly.

Especially as I've found that John Percy is one of those Journalists who is right 9 times out 10.

 

[*Gullsworth*]

One season in the Championship finishing tenth and getting Östersund into Allsvenskan really aren't credentials to make me believe this will go well.

I'm excited, but this is a massive roll of the dice. Massive massive gamble on an unproven manager.

It feels we are going from steady as she goes stewardship to bollocks let's give it a go, scary.

 

[TSB]

One season in the Championship finishing tenth and getting Östersund into Allsvenskan really aren't credentials to make me believe this will go well.

I'm excited, but this is a massive roll of the dice. Massive massive gamble on an unproven manager.

Might as well appoint Frank De Boer and get it over with.
I hope we've a second shortlist in mind for when we have to sack him in December.

The only thing I can see that he has going for him is this:
'If Potter opts to turn down Brighton, Derby's Frank Lampard could emerge as another serious contender.'

****ing hell. Between the devil and the deep blue sea.