Graham is new Guernsey coach
Friday 10th February 2012, 7:39AM GMT.
Guernsey Muratti squad coach Kevin Graham.
KEVIN GRAHAM has today been named as the Guernsey football coach for this season’s Kleinwort Benson Muratti Vase campaign.
The former island player, pictured, who is now based in England, will be assisted by Steve Sharman and Mark Coutanche.
His first game in charge will be in the semi-final against Alderney on Saturday 17 March.
Full story in today’s Guernsey Press.
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Bloody Joke!
Living in the UK but in the island most weeks.
This is gonna be interesting then. The only regular football he’s gonna be watching is Guernsey FC. I feel sorry for the guys playing regular Priaulx football who won’t get a look in.
Jobs for the boys, he’s not even an established coach.
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Graham was a great player and put a lot of ideas into training when he was playing for Guernsey. It is a shame that an established winning coach has not taken the job as it seems they have been overlooked. Maybe no one applied, does anyone know who were the others who did apply for the position?
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Did you apply Blue?
I think he’s here in the week to watch the mid week game, not sure about the Friday nighters.
Mark and Steve are going to scout for him apparently.
But, I’m not sure about Steve but MC has perhaps 1 season at coaching the +35′s? I’m not saying he does not know what he’s looking at just he’s not “proved” anything.
Could work well, may be a disaster!!!
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It’s an interesting appointment. Whilst Kevin may not have much formal coaching experience or badges (he may have….I don’t know) he’s likely to better than quite a few of the muppets coaching at present or in the recent past. The set up around him with Mark Coutanche and Steve Sharman is also interesting as they are fresh faces and may have new ideas/approaches than the more ‘established’ coaches.
However it does rather feel that the GFA have picked a coaching team that the players will respect rather than based on experience or indeed being the coach with the most potential and that’s very risky.
Being respected by the players as a criteria for selection is greatly exaggerated in importance. If they don’t know what they’re doing the players will quickly spot this and any initial respect will soon be lost and vice versa. Unfortunately picking your manager/coach on the basis that he was once a good player and that he’ll have the ‘respect of the current squad and the whole of local football’ is not a good way of doing it. History is littered with the examples of appointments just like this. Unproven and with no prior coaching experience, the Chairman thought they would work because the players would respect them. Men like Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Paul Ince, John Barnes, Alan Ball even the late great Bobby Moore…….the list goes on.
Having said all of that. Kevin is a bright bloke and will conduct himself very professionally. One can only imagine the chaos on the sidelines had one of the more likely suspects been appointed only to abuse the ref if decisions didn’t go their way then tripping over their own knuckles as they loped off to the dressing room 2 – 0 at half time to berate their players. Kevin won’t do this which in itself is a good thing.
The GFA are taking a risk but if the list of other applicants was the usual suspects that everyone has been touting then the GFA have been wise to try someone new. But it’s a big gamble.
I for one, wish him all the best. If we can’t win the trophy this year with the amount of football the players have played together…………
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Ed
No i didn’t apply, got more sense. Anything to do with the FA or GFA has become a nightmare.
Geoff
People did apply but a certain coach who’s won allsorts in the local game didn’t even get an interview. Speaks volumes really.
The old ‘Tics’ pals are reunited.
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Blue……just because a coach has won lots in local football doesn’t mean he’s any good. You might laugh but too often people attribute the success of the team at this level with the skill of the coach. He may be a brilliant coach but more likely he just has the best players. If you work with amateur players a few hours a week it’s very difficult to actually improve them much…..but you can certainly make them worse.
The sign of the great coach is one who can improve a team, little by little, year after year. Brian Clough took Derby from the old 2nd division to win the 1st division title. He then repeated that trick with Nottingham Forest and then took them even further with back to back European cups. Mourhinio at Porto. Fergie with Aberdeen. Rinus Michels with Ajax……even our beloved Harry at Spurs. All have taken poor or mediocre teams and made them much, much better. That’s the sign of a great coach.
You could have put almost anyone in charge of the Saints team last year and they would still have won everything as they had about 10 island players…….does that make them a great coach? Look at the teams who’ve won the Priaulx recently at North, Bels or Saints. Did they really have an amazing coach or did they just have the best players that season? What about the youth teams at North? Amazing coaches or just the best players? I think, in your heart of hearts you know what the answer is and to his credit, I think James Blower does as well.
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Richie
If you did your homework you would find that the great North youth teams all started out in the minis and have been coached and nurtured from a very young age by an excellent coaching set up. They have become the players they are today through good coaching and not signing the best players around to win things. Your theory falls flat on it’s face.
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Richie,
You said anyone could have managed the saints side from last season. You could say that about any Side ie the sylvans side of the 90 ‘s the rec side of the 80′s. So does make CR and TB bad or amazing coaches?
I think you should get yourself involed in football club because your know a great deal about local football and coaching? Lol
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Blue…..I fail to see how your point undermines my argument. In fact you’ve just helped to prove it.
It may well be true that the North teams have come up through the junior ranks and they may well have had excellent youth coaching and all credit to them if they do but my argument is that if you give Ross Cameron and whoever coaches the u18s or even u16s players with the innate ability that those squads clearly have then if they win things that’s not a reflection of their abilities as coaches……they’ve just got the best players. If it’s anything it’s a reflection of a very good youth set up, so please spare me the rubbish about winning lots of trophies means you’re a great coach. It doesn’t. It means you’ve got the best players, possibly developed by talented youth coaches. It’s they who should perhaps get the plaudits.
Onlooker………you’re not actually making any intelligent points merely resorting to sarcasm. That tells me all I need to know about your understanding of football. If you can’t make a coherent argument it’s best to keep quiet as you will likely embarrass yourself.
Vale Rec in the 80s Sylvans in the 90s……does it mean they had great coaches? I’ve no idea and neither does anyone else because the point I’m trying to make (which appears lost on you) is that if you have the best players (with half the island team or more), you’re going to win almost regardless of who is in charge. CR may be an exceptional coach but he had the best players so it’s impossible to tell. The sign of an exceptional coach is to take the same core group of players and to improve them.
I watched a bit of the North vs Vale rec. game last night and it was very obvious that neither side had been coached properly. They just looked like 2 typical amateur teams making the same basic mistakes all amateur teams would make. They had no understanding of the principles of play and a really good coach would never have allowed them to make those basic errors.
There are 2 coaches on the island….both recent Priaulx coaches who I’ve watched at close quarters (can’t say how I’m afraid as that would give the game away) but let me assure you they know virtually nothing about how to conduct a professional training session. The training drills are archaic, they have no understanding of modern training methods and their understanding of even the basic principles of play is non existent. Ask them to conduct a training session with 16 players working on the topic of say…..pressing…….and they wouldn’t have any idea what to do. None whatsoever. That doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t good in other areas. But as football coaches…who’s job it is to improve the team by coaching players through effective training sessions…….THEY ABSOLUTELY HADN’T GOT A CLUE and James Blower, an intelligent young guy, clearly realises that so well done to him. About time local football came out of the dark ages.
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Good for you Kevin, hope things go well
However, please be brave and pick the best team for the Muratti semi final, and not just from the players that GFC ‘allow’ you to have
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i would like to wish kevin,steve and mark a successful muratti future, i have worked with steve and mark as players in the past, and have spoken football matters with kevin on a number of occ
assions and i am sure that they will do a good job, by that i mean win murattis. Yes i am sure problems will arise with not living in gsy, but am also sure they will be overcome. and i find it senseless that rob in his comments page would think that these appointments would upset those of us who are not convinced as to the benifits and long term future of gry fc.
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as i have posted here i am for this team, but a question please.who is steve going to scout in the u.k.?
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Laurie, it would appear you are out of touch with what is happening in Guernsey football and especially GFC as you refuse to go and watch them. Steve still spends time in Guernsey and knows his football in these modern times which I am sure the players selected will respond too whether they play for GFC or not.
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FRISEE. i do not refuse to watch gfc, and if you ask why, i dont live in gsy, but take a great interest in gsy football. i only ask the question because in rob batistes comment column last weekend he stated that steve would be scouting in the uk. you dont have to tell me about steve,i had the pleasure of coaching steve from mini age until he left gsy, and we still have a great deal of respect for each other, and im sure he will be a great asset to muratti football
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