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Duncan Ferguson: I'm addicted to coaching

(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
In an interview with The Times, the 43 year-old Scot explains that after a period away from the game in Majorca, he returned to football at the Blues' Academy at Finch Farm and hasn't looked back.
“This is my addiction. I love it," he says. "I'm a great admirer of Barcelona and Marcelo Bielsa, that Chile team, the way they played that intense press, 3-3-3-1.
“Developing from within is my big passion. I like to test myself on academy players, see where they end up. I started doing that four years ago, predicting their progression, seeing if I get it right.
“We've got a great set-up with the academy, education programmes that are second to none. There was nothing like that when I was coming through."
By his own admission, Ferguson earned a reputation for his mis-steps on and off the pitch but he is determined to carve out a lasting legacy as a coach then, perhaps, a manager.
"When I played the game I had the reputation. You can't get away from that," he continues. "I was sent off, played hard, made mistakes in my career, in my life. So maybe some people do say, ‘Duncan Ferguson? God almighty.' But they don't know me.
“I'm serious. I want people to remember me as a coach.
And when it eventually comes time to consider making the big step up to management, there is clearly nowhere else he would rather take it.
“I'm an Everton fan with a ringside seat,” Ferguson says. “I think everyone dreams of being Everton manager, don't they? Don't you?
"Everyone has dreams, but it's not something I'm anywhere near. We've got a top-drawer manager, outstanding, and I'm learning from him every day. I just want to be the best coach I can be. I'm working hard at it.”
Quotes sourced from The Times (£)
Reader Comments (22)
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2 Posted 07/05/2015 at 20:50:47
3 Posted 07/05/2015 at 20:53:33
Look at Roy Keane and Paolo Di Canio as examples.
4 Posted 08/05/2015 at 01:11:06
Dear oh dear, really Dunc, if RM is so good why oh why have we had such a bad season? Shite results shite football.
Who is next to spin the spin doctorÂs philosophy? Tony Hibbert, Darren Gibson, the manager is a genius, his expertise in physiotherapy has me feeling like the bionic man. IÂll be back next season and it will be like having a new signing.
5 Posted 08/05/2015 at 02:11:39
6 Posted 08/05/2015 at 02:40:41
HereÂs a bit of advice for Dunc on what to do when your keeper is glued to his line as per Howard. When facing very good headers use a zonal defence plus have a defender on each post.
That would do for starters – oh, and have them communicate with each other.
7 Posted 08/05/2015 at 03:14:57
From the Ferguson quote about Martinez being the most detailed manager heÂs worked with, we could also ascertain this. So I think you could well be right that by trying to focus on too many things some of the more basic stuff may have been neglected.. The neglect of defending from set-pieces is an obvious one that springs to mind, for me.
I would hope that with Martinez being a relatively young manager heÂll learn from experience when to use the array of tactical knowledge I have no doubts he has. Barring the exception of Villa I would hope that recent results are to starting to bear this out.
I think a lot of this also comes down to time management - with him only having so many hours with the players training in the week. I get the impression heÂd have the players living at the training ground if he had his way. I seem to remember in his vision of a redeveloped training ground there would be accommodation for players to stay overnight.
As for ÂBig DuncÂ. I enjoyed reading his interview. He seems a man of very few words so to hear his own vision of the game which is very adventurous and unlike the one I imagined him to have. It gives me optimism that he can offer more than just being a cosmetic appointment based on his legend status.
8 Posted 08/05/2015 at 04:18:08
Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the team and manager but it does annoy me when every item or article, even positive ones, are twisted and used as ammunition for more negative comments.
Duncan Ferguson has been through a lot in his life both on and off the pitch. He is a very experienced professional who has worked under a number of different managers and various clubs. I was happy when David Moyes invited him back into the fold and with his subsequent progress under RM. DF has obviously put in a huge amount of work himself too. If he says he is happy and enjoying life under RM then that is good enough for me.
9 Posted 08/05/2015 at 06:43:22
10 Posted 08/05/2015 at 07:32:07
I donÂt think I was taking a positive and turning it into a negative. I was looking at the words that Duncan used and extrapolating from it a reason why we may have underperformed during this campaign. I stand by what I wrote.
Roberto may lose sight of the basics because he over thinks the game – simplicity in most fields is usually the most successful. Think Lennon and McCartney in music, for example.
11 Posted 08/05/2015 at 08:09:15
12 Posted 08/05/2015 at 08:19:36
CanÂt we congratulate Ferguson on his passion for Everton, his attempts at intelligently dealing with the mistakes he feels heÂs made and having a little hope that maybe, just maybe, his passion for our club might have further affect on some of the less passionate staff we have?
I doubt that (as suggested) DFÂs appointment to 1st team coach was solely RMÂs decision, but heÂs doing the right thing by praising his boss, even if itÂs just to achieve an eventual goal of having the job he occupies.
At the arse end of what has been a disappointing season, IÂm looking for some positives and I think seeing a true supporter of the club, who seems to feel he owes it something, come out in the national press, when he hates giving interviews, and talk the way he is might just be a small positive!
13 Posted 08/05/2015 at 08:47:29
14 Posted 08/05/2015 at 09:11:05
Couple of years later and we signed him and Iain Durrant on loan under Mike Walker (?) I remember watching them away at Palace, not sure if it was their debut, but Ferguson did nothing, Durrant was just shocking. (Did we terminate his loan early?)
Already blanking the press, when asked by an Echo journalist if heÂd make the move permanent he barked "No way pal. IÂm a Rangers man". He was yet to be bitten by the bug.
First goal against Them, at Goodison, and he was in the Blue hearts. The shambles with his prison stay, even more shambolic reception on his release merely confirmed to him what we already knew.
Tellingly when he was sold to Newcastle, he agreed to give an interview to a fanzine (not the local press mind). The excited scribe asked "So whatÂs it like to have signed for Newcastle?". "ItÂs shite" was his less-than-expected reply, going on to explain to the open-mouthed fan that he was only there because Everton didnÂt want him.
How many players down the years, through the ages, have we heard similar stories from? Ball, Kendall, Young, latterly Cahill – none were from Liverpool or had any connection to the club until they signed on the dotted line.
15 Posted 08/05/2015 at 09:37:17
16 Posted 08/05/2015 at 11:16:58
I also count the words of our most successful manager to mean something when he suggests that Dunc would be a good manager, even if most seem to dismiss anything he says, although IÂm not confident enough to think it would be the right step to take after Martinez as he would need to prove himself at another club first before taking on such a massive job.
Signing Big Dunc up as manager would suit Kenwright down to the ground though as he tends to go for people who are trying to prove themselves from lower leagues and in my opinion are more easily controlled. The last two are from the Championship and you can bet your bottom dollar heÂs got his eye on Eddie Howe but who knows, maybe one day heÂll stumble on a top manager and it could be either of the above for all I know.
17 Posted 08/05/2015 at 14:02:46
18 Posted 08/05/2015 at 14:48:27
19 Posted 08/05/2015 at 20:46:35
20 Posted 09/05/2015 at 06:58:25
Enough said for me.
21 Posted 10/05/2015 at 17:36:38
A Sunday league manager wouldnÂt let this happen without putting a man at the near post to flick the ball on.
ItÂs so fucking embarrassing, itÂs a joke. Especially since yesterday was game 36, and we have been doing the same thing since game 1.
22 Posted 11/05/2015 at 20:58:16
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1 Posted 07/05/2015 at 20:39:07