CV's Weekly Coaching News
With eyes firmly on a home?Euro 2024?and concerned about results,?the German FA brought an end to?Hansi Flick’s tenure as?national teamcoach.?Flick is the first manager of the men’s team to be sacked, following two years in the role and on the back of a 4-1 defeat at home to Japan.?Rudi V?ller, who led Germany to the?2002 World Cup final, took temporary charge for the?midweek 2-1 win against?France.
The Polish Football Association?(PZPN) has also opted for a change of direction with their men’s national team.?The PZPN relieved?Fernando Santos of his duties after Poland’s 2-0 defeat to Albania left them fourth in Euro 2024 Group E qualifying.?Santos won?Euro 2016?and the 2019 Nations League?with his native Portugal, but departs the Poland job after less than a year. In Ligue 1,?Lyon?have dismissed former France manager Laurent Blanc, with the club bottom on one point after four games. Blanc led Lyon to seventh last season, having been appointed in October 2022.?Deputy coach Jean-Fran?ois Vulliez has been appointed caretaker, working alongside former Lyon players Jérémie Bréchet and Sonny Anderson.
Moving across the globe, Nick Montgomery will continue his coaching journey in the SPL as?Hibernian’s new manager. The Yorkshireman had overcome the odds to achieve success?with Central Coast Mariners in Australia. He recently told his story to?The Coaches’?Voice, which you can read?here.? His predecessor at Easter Road,?Lee Johnson, takes on a new challenge at Fleetwood Town in?League One.?“We are delighted to attract someone with the calibre and record of Lee Johnson - we see it as a real statement of intent,”?said CEO Steve Curwood. Former Charlton and Birmingham boss?Lee Bowyer?has taken charge of the Montserrat men’s national team. In his first two games, Bowyer oversaw a 3-2 win against Barbados and a 3-0 loss to the Dominican Republic in the CONCACAF Nations League. Villarreal have named their new manager, opting for?Jose ‘Pacheta’ Rojo.?The 55-year-old has managed nine previous clubs, with highlights being top-flight promotions at Elche and Valladolid, which he told us?about?here.
COACHING KNOWLEDGE?/ THE NUMBER SIX ROLE
Arsenal’s signing of Declan Rice?in a deal worth ￡105m may have raised some?eyebrows, but?Mikel Arteta?recognised the value of a quality?number six. As the great?Vicente del Bosque?once said:?“Watch the game, you won’t see Busquets. Watch Busquets, you’ll?see the game.” In?this feature, we delve into the meaning, origin and responsibilities of the number six position, played so well for so long by Busquets, and now Rice.