Hazylight1989
Well-Known Member
Football, especially at the elite level, is so well guarded nowadays it can often appear to exist in its own soundproof bubble.
So, when perched on a balcony above the Rangers bench at Fleetwood Town’s training ground, being able to listen to Grame Murty’s touchline instructions offers a unique insight into how he nurtures his young players.
Murty was thrust into the Ibrox hotseat twice, taking charge in difficult circumstances even though he hadn’t had a senior management job. He coped well and even threatened to challenge Celtic, until Rangers imploded after that bodyblow of a 3-2 loss at Ibrox in March 2018.
When adversity struck though, jibes were made about his body language and whether his personality was big enough to deal with such a pressurised arena. Rather than cut ties to rid himself of the baggage, he accepted his old job as the development team head coach, travelling around Europe as part of the ‘Games Programme’ designed to give youngsters diverse tests that Scotland can’t offer.
While his Fleetwood counterparts, former Rangers midfielder Barry Nicholson and former Celtic full back Stephen Crainey (who Eros Grezda’s cousin believed was John Hartson), speak to their players sparingly, Murty is a constant talker.
It’s not information overload though. Rather than throw instructions he poses questions to his players.
The 17-year-old right back Nathan Patterson is one player who could have had tinnitus by half-time, not due to the volume of the shouts coming from Murty, rather the number of times Murty was imploring him to think during the game.
Every coach has their own lexicon of words and their own quirky language which is specific to them. Murty’s may sound abstract at times but it is clear that his players are aware of exactly what is being asked of them, whether that be positioning or decision making.
“Can you fix it for us? Can you fix it for us, Nathan?” he shouts.
Stability in possession is clearly important to Murty. Patterson wasn’t high enough in support of Grezda to ensure he could counter-press if the ball broke down but that shout saw him adjust a few yards, and then adjust a few more until he was given the nod of approval. Within seconds, he had learned.
A few minutes later it was the turn of central midfielder Jack Thomson.
“More possession, less touches” is the message after a few ponderous turns leads to nothing more than a backwards pass. Seconds later, he received the ball again, this time pivoting before spraying it wide to Patterson.
“Really good, Jack… But can we do it in two touches?”. Murty might not seem the pushy type but he is intense and constantly asking more of his players to make them more efficient.
Some coaches rule by fear but that is now widely deemed an obsolete approach. Murty is a firm believer in encouraging his players to be brave in possession, which means not hammering them after it doesn’t come off.
During the first half, Daniel Finlayson tried to ping the ball Gerrard-esque to the opposite flank. It struck the hand of a player five yards away from him, making Finlayson look a little foolish. He got the free kick but before he took it there was a cursory glance to the bench as if he was anticipating a scathing assessment.
“Danny, good idea, son. It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Murty reassures. Finlayson went on to play four more of those cross-field switches in the first half, three of which were straight to James Maxwell.
Murty wants to instil leadership in his players. Instead of solving the problems for them he puts the onus on the players to learn themselves or pass on the message to their team-mate — even if they have 300 more games under their belt. Lewis Mayo experienced that task in the second half.
“Tell Jamie (Murphy) there’s no need for him to drop deep to protect you. The defence doesn’t have anyone to mark, so there’s no pressure on the ball if he does that. Tell him to move up.”
There is a slight recoil from some of the players, like when 18 year-old Dapo Mebude is told to let £2 million Albania international Grezda know he has to take more care in possession.
This is how Murty views development. It’s not just about technical ability, it’s about building character.
“Get a hold of the man in front of you. If you don’t tell him to work off the ball, he won’t. You need to tell him what you see.”
Mebude looked dangerous in flashes when able to use his pace, undoubtedly his biggest asset. Murty often has to coax it out of him, though. Twenty-five minutes in, Rangers were breaking through the middle but Mebude was ten yards behind left back Ryan Rydel.
“Get past him kid! Go on!…”
It’s three seconds later and Mebude is now the same distance in front of the defender. Murty offers an opinion to his bench but there’s no reply. “Everyone was too busy watching Dapo, weren’t they?” he laughs. Peter Lovenkrands nods guiltily.
There is no suggestion Murty is anywhere near as collegiate when dealing with senior players but he was boosted by the inclusion of first-team cast-offs Joe Dodoo, Grezda and Graham Dorrans, as well as Jamie Murphy, who is continuing his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury suffered this time last season.
The most explicit example of Murty handing the initiative over to his players was when Jordan Houston came on to replace Mayo at centre back. He asked Murty which side he and Finlayson should play on but the reply was clear: “You decide. I’ll let you bully him. You play whichever side you like pal!”
Fleetwood then made a substitution too, changing their shape in doing so. Maxwell was the student now: “What have they changed? How are they stopping you playing out? Are we going to do the same thing again? What have they changed? I’ll leave it up to the back four to figure out the solution.”
There was some alternative commentary provided by Grezda’s cousin, who goes by the name Mens. I asked how long he had been in Glasgow but received a reply with such a thick Glaswegian accent he made Lovenkrands sound like a non-native speaker. He’s been in Ayr for nearly seven years.
During an injury break he and Grezda’s father shouted to him — presumably in Albanian — as he walked to the bench for a drink. Grezda shrugged and let out a wry smile. I asked Mens what he said: “I told to him to get off his arse and score a goal!”
If only football were always so simple.
Murty’s Colts team face Ballymena in the third round of the Scottish Challenge Cup next month. He believes it is vital that they learn to manage the game independently rather than be spoon-fed by coaches if they are going to compete against men.
He said: “We’re not generally concerned with what I know. I already know what I know. I want to know what they know and what they don’t know. Those are the areas we need to support them in. In general we pose them questions and different problems to figure out and, for 90 percent of that game, I thought they did figure it out.
“They need to be able to give information. If the first-team player trusts them and goes and does it, then that’s a big step in their development. These kids will gain so much from organising them, having to structure the game and that’s something I can’t give them in training. They need to go and experience it in a game. It’s great for us when they work out how to beat the press (against Fleetwood) but they possibly need to see it earlier without my stimulus.”
Maxwell was the player who seemed to already know what was coming from the sideline. When he did need prompting, whether that was him being told to narrow the pitch to prevent a possible counter or make sure he is offering the overlap, it didn’t need repeated.
That’s not to say there weren’t similar pointers given. Murty turned in frustration when Maxwell dithered inside the opposition box before lashing a shot over with his weak foot.
He finished strongly though and gave Harrison Holgate a difficult time as he burst past him to the byline on a couple of occasions and feigned a cross another couple of times before cutting into the box. His gain is not dissimilar to Kieran Tierney.
He completed a good day’s work with a superb strike from 25 yards out to open the scoring, and Murty is pleased with him.
He said: “He’s been an interesting case. He started pre-season really well and is moving really aggressively towards becoming a good athlete. He’s had bits where he has excelled, a bit where he’s found it difficult and been below where he needs to be, but that’s part of his development. We had a good chat with him and I thought this was one of his better performances.
“He has a lovely languid style. He used to be a winger so we’re in the process of converting him into an attacking full back. That’s going to take time. He’s going to make loads of mistakes but what he has to manage is his expectation and his reaction when things don’t go to plan.
“If you’re going to be a modern full back, you need to be able to play in the front two-thirds of the pitch, particularly if you are a team trying to dominate the ball. Some of the best possession-based teams in the world actively profile for wingers to go and play as full backs because they know they have quality on the ball, can dribble past players and can deliver. James is one of them.
“He’s outstanding with the ball at his feet. He has a lovely way of manipulating the ball to get past players and he has got good quality when he delivers. He’s got a lot to learn but he’s made a good start.”
Rangers travel to face Ajax on Saturday. It is the type of fixture that has come to serve as a perfect rebuttal to those who questioned the breakaway from the Scottish Development League.
Murty will be his usual vocal self but he’ll be hoping that, up against the silky Dutch, his players will have learnt lessons as they aim to figure it out themselves against Europe’s best prospects.
So, when perched on a balcony above the Rangers bench at Fleetwood Town’s training ground, being able to listen to Grame Murty’s touchline instructions offers a unique insight into how he nurtures his young players.
Murty was thrust into the Ibrox hotseat twice, taking charge in difficult circumstances even though he hadn’t had a senior management job. He coped well and even threatened to challenge Celtic, until Rangers imploded after that bodyblow of a 3-2 loss at Ibrox in March 2018.
When adversity struck though, jibes were made about his body language and whether his personality was big enough to deal with such a pressurised arena. Rather than cut ties to rid himself of the baggage, he accepted his old job as the development team head coach, travelling around Europe as part of the ‘Games Programme’ designed to give youngsters diverse tests that Scotland can’t offer.
While his Fleetwood counterparts, former Rangers midfielder Barry Nicholson and former Celtic full back Stephen Crainey (who Eros Grezda’s cousin believed was John Hartson), speak to their players sparingly, Murty is a constant talker.
It’s not information overload though. Rather than throw instructions he poses questions to his players.
The 17-year-old right back Nathan Patterson is one player who could have had tinnitus by half-time, not due to the volume of the shouts coming from Murty, rather the number of times Murty was imploring him to think during the game.
Every coach has their own lexicon of words and their own quirky language which is specific to them. Murty’s may sound abstract at times but it is clear that his players are aware of exactly what is being asked of them, whether that be positioning or decision making.
“Can you fix it for us? Can you fix it for us, Nathan?” he shouts.
Stability in possession is clearly important to Murty. Patterson wasn’t high enough in support of Grezda to ensure he could counter-press if the ball broke down but that shout saw him adjust a few yards, and then adjust a few more until he was given the nod of approval. Within seconds, he had learned.
A few minutes later it was the turn of central midfielder Jack Thomson.
“More possession, less touches” is the message after a few ponderous turns leads to nothing more than a backwards pass. Seconds later, he received the ball again, this time pivoting before spraying it wide to Patterson.
“Really good, Jack… But can we do it in two touches?”. Murty might not seem the pushy type but he is intense and constantly asking more of his players to make them more efficient.
Some coaches rule by fear but that is now widely deemed an obsolete approach. Murty is a firm believer in encouraging his players to be brave in possession, which means not hammering them after it doesn’t come off.
During the first half, Daniel Finlayson tried to ping the ball Gerrard-esque to the opposite flank. It struck the hand of a player five yards away from him, making Finlayson look a little foolish. He got the free kick but before he took it there was a cursory glance to the bench as if he was anticipating a scathing assessment.
“Danny, good idea, son. It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Murty reassures. Finlayson went on to play four more of those cross-field switches in the first half, three of which were straight to James Maxwell.
Murty wants to instil leadership in his players. Instead of solving the problems for them he puts the onus on the players to learn themselves or pass on the message to their team-mate — even if they have 300 more games under their belt. Lewis Mayo experienced that task in the second half.
“Tell Jamie (Murphy) there’s no need for him to drop deep to protect you. The defence doesn’t have anyone to mark, so there’s no pressure on the ball if he does that. Tell him to move up.”
There is a slight recoil from some of the players, like when 18 year-old Dapo Mebude is told to let £2 million Albania international Grezda know he has to take more care in possession.
This is how Murty views development. It’s not just about technical ability, it’s about building character.
“Get a hold of the man in front of you. If you don’t tell him to work off the ball, he won’t. You need to tell him what you see.”
Mebude looked dangerous in flashes when able to use his pace, undoubtedly his biggest asset. Murty often has to coax it out of him, though. Twenty-five minutes in, Rangers were breaking through the middle but Mebude was ten yards behind left back Ryan Rydel.
“Get past him kid! Go on!…”
It’s three seconds later and Mebude is now the same distance in front of the defender. Murty offers an opinion to his bench but there’s no reply. “Everyone was too busy watching Dapo, weren’t they?” he laughs. Peter Lovenkrands nods guiltily.
There is no suggestion Murty is anywhere near as collegiate when dealing with senior players but he was boosted by the inclusion of first-team cast-offs Joe Dodoo, Grezda and Graham Dorrans, as well as Jamie Murphy, who is continuing his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury suffered this time last season.
The most explicit example of Murty handing the initiative over to his players was when Jordan Houston came on to replace Mayo at centre back. He asked Murty which side he and Finlayson should play on but the reply was clear: “You decide. I’ll let you bully him. You play whichever side you like pal!”
Fleetwood then made a substitution too, changing their shape in doing so. Maxwell was the student now: “What have they changed? How are they stopping you playing out? Are we going to do the same thing again? What have they changed? I’ll leave it up to the back four to figure out the solution.”
There was some alternative commentary provided by Grezda’s cousin, who goes by the name Mens. I asked how long he had been in Glasgow but received a reply with such a thick Glaswegian accent he made Lovenkrands sound like a non-native speaker. He’s been in Ayr for nearly seven years.
During an injury break he and Grezda’s father shouted to him — presumably in Albanian — as he walked to the bench for a drink. Grezda shrugged and let out a wry smile. I asked Mens what he said: “I told to him to get off his arse and score a goal!”
If only football were always so simple.
Murty’s Colts team face Ballymena in the third round of the Scottish Challenge Cup next month. He believes it is vital that they learn to manage the game independently rather than be spoon-fed by coaches if they are going to compete against men.
He said: “We’re not generally concerned with what I know. I already know what I know. I want to know what they know and what they don’t know. Those are the areas we need to support them in. In general we pose them questions and different problems to figure out and, for 90 percent of that game, I thought they did figure it out.
“They need to be able to give information. If the first-team player trusts them and goes and does it, then that’s a big step in their development. These kids will gain so much from organising them, having to structure the game and that’s something I can’t give them in training. They need to go and experience it in a game. It’s great for us when they work out how to beat the press (against Fleetwood) but they possibly need to see it earlier without my stimulus.”
Maxwell was the player who seemed to already know what was coming from the sideline. When he did need prompting, whether that was him being told to narrow the pitch to prevent a possible counter or make sure he is offering the overlap, it didn’t need repeated.
That’s not to say there weren’t similar pointers given. Murty turned in frustration when Maxwell dithered inside the opposition box before lashing a shot over with his weak foot.
He finished strongly though and gave Harrison Holgate a difficult time as he burst past him to the byline on a couple of occasions and feigned a cross another couple of times before cutting into the box. His gain is not dissimilar to Kieran Tierney.
He completed a good day’s work with a superb strike from 25 yards out to open the scoring, and Murty is pleased with him.
He said: “He’s been an interesting case. He started pre-season really well and is moving really aggressively towards becoming a good athlete. He’s had bits where he has excelled, a bit where he’s found it difficult and been below where he needs to be, but that’s part of his development. We had a good chat with him and I thought this was one of his better performances.
“He has a lovely languid style. He used to be a winger so we’re in the process of converting him into an attacking full back. That’s going to take time. He’s going to make loads of mistakes but what he has to manage is his expectation and his reaction when things don’t go to plan.
“If you’re going to be a modern full back, you need to be able to play in the front two-thirds of the pitch, particularly if you are a team trying to dominate the ball. Some of the best possession-based teams in the world actively profile for wingers to go and play as full backs because they know they have quality on the ball, can dribble past players and can deliver. James is one of them.
“He’s outstanding with the ball at his feet. He has a lovely way of manipulating the ball to get past players and he has got good quality when he delivers. He’s got a lot to learn but he’s made a good start.”
Rangers travel to face Ajax on Saturday. It is the type of fixture that has come to serve as a perfect rebuttal to those who questioned the breakaway from the Scottish Development League.
Murty will be his usual vocal self but he’ll be hoping that, up against the silky Dutch, his players will have learnt lessons as they aim to figure it out themselves against Europe’s best prospects.
